Single-Player Game with a Season Pass!?!
As if paying 70 dollars USD wasn't enough for them & potential consequences moving forward
|This post has a voiceover version for those who prefer to listen or if reading isn’t an option. Please enjoy!|
|Please watch the video above to have a better understanding of the context|
June 8th, 2024 is when I first saw the video of the expansion pass for a childhood game which recently got remade to earlier this year. What I’m referring to is the Persona 3 remake called with the moniker, Reload. A RPG I really enjoyed playing on my PlayStation Portable back when I was young. The $70 price tag did put me off at first but will eventfully get it. Until I saw it had DLC at its launch and later bought on the season pass and asked myself: “Why is there a season pass for a single-player game?” Right then and there I had to write about it for this was absurd. I waited a little over two months getting to it now to gather evidence to make my case. It’s been worth the wait and now I can properly discuss what’s going on for those reading/listening this.
Let’s Get Started!
Some History
Unfortunately this whole season pass attached to a single-player game isn’t new. Before I get into that, a little history for some context for how Persona 3 Reload came to be. the Persona series is a spin-off of the Shin Megami Tensei line of games. All of which are part of the overarching Megami Tensei franchise.
This gigantic video games franchise was created by Altus whom are now currently owned by Sega.
Despite being a spin off to the main series, Persona is actually more recognizable to the general JRPG audience even though they share many elements between them.
Mainly due to being more accessible for a wider demographic as in difficulty, setting (high school), relatable characters, etc. Shin Megami Tensei line of games are known for being very challenging so not really surprised there.
Thankfully there’s no need to go deep into this rabbit hole for I only want to give an overview for those who are not are not in the know. Getting back to Persona specifically Persona 3, it originally released on the PlayStation 2 on July 13th, 2006 for Japan, August 14thfor North America one year later, February 29th both in Europe and later Australia on March 6th the year after. All for the retail price of $49.99 or your countries currency equivalent which was a industry standard at the time.
Here’s where I think the |topic| of this post originally started.
Rereleases
After the initial release, Atlus release an enhanced port of Persona 3 with the added moniker FES (Festival) one year later in all available territories. This rendition of the game came additional content called The Answer which we’ll get to later. This port however was $20 cheaper than the original. ($29.99)
Keep that word [enhance] in mind as it correlates with the issue at hand. Looking back on that with the Persona series current standing… I never thought something like this could turn out for the worse. After Persona 3, Atlus made it a tradition of making enhances ports of their previous titles and rereleased them. Thus making the customer buy their games twice which persist to this day. I personally got into Persona series with Persona 3 Portable (yes… they rerelease the game a third time) and this version let’s you play as a female and experience the game in a different point of view.
Granted this version was a downgrade to the Ps2 game but made up for it in other ways. However this method paved the way to more “interesting” practices after this with their next game, Persona 4.
Taking it to the Extreme
The next entry, Persona 4 got the same treatment with a enhanced port to the discontinued PlayStation Vita four years later.
After that however is where Atlus milked this particular title as much as they could. Going down the list, Persona 4 got: A fighting game duology, dancing game, and collaboration game (got a sequel later) which spans from 2012 though 2015.
All of this happened when I was going though high school! (how ironic) This continued in Persona 5 pushing the series into new heights with other JRPG’s giants (Final Fantasy, Tales of, etc). If you thought the milking of Persona 4 was bad then Persona 5 takes it up a notch!
Persona 5 when it first came out back in 2016/2017 on PS4/PS3, It had DLC (excluding the ones you get for free) released two weeks after launched.
Yes its “optional” and “doesn’t really the effect the game” if you exclude the additional Persona’s you can get which does effect gameplay. The question I have to ask is: “Why isn’t this in the game in the first place?” Granted, The enhance port of Persona 5 i.e. Royal has all the DLC from the vanilla version. If you wait three years after all the spin off titles (except one) Altus came out with this game.
Don’t get me started on the amount of collaborations Persona 5 had with many other IP’s in Japan during its run. It even has a mobile game on top of it!
Turns out, I’m not the only one that’s felt this way for there’s a couple videos on Youtube that does have people bringing up these growing problems.
Persona isn’t the only franchise that going through this for other Ip’s Atlus have are getting the same treatment as well.
So the whole releasing a already made game with a enhancements isn’t new and stuck around.
Now that I caught you up to speed I will now be going over the results of this problem in the current game in the franchise: Persona 3 Reload.
Content Overview
As the name implies, the Ps2 title Persona 3 got a remake fifteen years later. Very nice for those who played the original now with updated graphics. It is a gorgeous game and I can’t denied that.
Wish I can say the same about the pricing…
Reload compare to previous titles has day one DLC. Again, while optional but with a $70 price tag now? (or your countries currency equivalent) It has started to become ridiculous.
I recalled people complaining about DLC practices when games were at $60 not that long ago.
Its almost as if things didn’t change at all...
Looking at the Steam reviews for the expansion pass it came with? At the time of this writing/recording? Mostly negative. So… What are you actually getting when purchasing this?
Like the other season pass I seen over the years from multiplayer games. You’re preordering content that has yet to arrive. The Answer which was included in the original ps2 version repackaged to sell again because of course it would be the case. It doesn’t come until September this year with no exact day. So the thing that everyone whom bought P3R care about the most will have to wait.
An “attempt’ in holding people over is from March and May are soundtracks from pervious titles (P4 & P5 mostly) and costumes. That what Atlus & Sega thought this is worth for $35…
You cannot get the The Answer separately without paying the entire thing. Can’t even get it included if you pay beyond the base price. So if I were to buy the base game with the expansion pass right now, I am paying $104.98 after taxes!
The reviews when the pass became available came to a resounding conclusion that this expansion pass is a no go. Although many still bought it despite knowing its a bad deal. A shame really…
Future Implications
I concluded that the Episode Aigis Expansion Pass is terrible value for the money. This sets an already bad precedent in both game development and consumers perceptions. With no signs of stopping anytime soon for Altus/Sega is not the only ones doing this.
Very unfortunate that single-player games are adopting practices online games been doing. Its working out for Atlus/Sega since their latest for the entry mainline series which Persona had branch off too, Shin Megami Tensei V(5) also got an enhanced port.
To much success so this practice is clearly working so why not keep doing it? I don’t really got an answer to this ongoing problem but what I can do is provide an alternative where both the developers and consumers benefit. Of course, no solution works for everybody but still willing to try.
Closing Thoughts
Even though I gave Persona 3 Reload season pass a wide berth. I cannot tell people what they do with their hard earned money. If people want to go through with purchasing Persona 3 Reload & the expansion pass despite all this? Or really anything that has these practices?
Let em!
I can only inform those of what their getting into and decide for themselves. What happen afterwards is frankly none of my business. That’s really all myself or anybody can do during this time.
One can hope for those to at least understand what their getting into…
Sources
Persona 3 Reload Season Pass Section on SEGA Website
The Persona Series: Where to Start? From RPG Gamer
PlayStation Store for Persona 5 (vanilla)
Atlus Pulls The Trigger On Persona 3 FES(R) For North America
I hope this is not a trend in other games. Publishers are trying to do whatever they can to monetize their titles but this goes beyond excessive.