Summary
Unlike Tartarus and the Midnight Channel, Palaces, inPersona 5/Royal, are distortions created by the negative and/or corrupt emotions of a Palace Ruler. Each Palace has a Treasure, which is essentially the catalyst of said Palace in physical form. Stealing this treasure causes the Palace Ruler to have a “change of heart,” and the Palace itself to collapse.Persona 3 Reloaddoes not have “Palaces,” but rather Tartarus.
WhilePersona 3 Reloadhas added many quality-of-life changes from the originalPersona 3, but not everything fromPersona 5’s gameplay could be transferred. This is obviously due to Tartarus being nothinglikethe Palaces. However, it’s hard not to miss several features that were mostly-exclusive to Palaces.
6Will Seeds
Accessories with Effects
Will Seeds are distortions of a Palace Ruler that take root in the Palaces themselves. They didn’t exist inPersona 5and are aRoyal-exclusive category of items. There are three Will Seeds per Palace, and when they’re gathered, they’ll become a Crystal, which is an Accessory that can be equipped. They can be taken to Jose in Mementos to become a Will Ring,changing their effect/skill(ex, Diarama) into an exclusive effect/skill (ex, Champion’s Cup).
What made Will Seeds useful wasn’t just their combined abilities but the fact they restore 20SP. This was perfect for infiltrating Palaces, especially since SP-recovery items are difficult to come by in the beginning.Persona 3 Reloadruns into the same problem in which SP-recovery items aren’t so readily available, and restoring SP at the clock on Tartarus' first floor always costs 7 Twilight Fragments.
5Treasure Demons
Koh-i-Noor, Regent, etc
Treasure Demons are obviouslyP5’s version ofthe “golden hand” ShadowsinPersona 3andPersona 4. What makes them different is Treasure Demons can be “recruited” and added to the compendium. Unlike regular Personas, Treasure Demons can’t be used in battle. They’re only used for fusing and usually have a set of Passive Skills, Magic Skills, etc.
Of course, Treasure Demons aren’texclusiveto Palaces and can be found in Mementos, too. SincePersona 3 Reloadhas a variety of challenging sidequests and tricky boss fights, having Treasure Demons to help with building Personas would have been ideal. Instead, players will have to try their luck with the Skill Cards that appear in Shuffle Time, and use the Inari Shrine to duplicate any Skills they want to give to their Personas.
4Disaster Shadows
Exploding Shadows
Like Treasure Demons, Disaster Shadows aren’t exclusive to Palaces. These are Shadows with a purple and black aura, and they can be more dangerous than their regular counterparts. Attacking a Disaster Shadow causes it to counterattack, but defeating one can net some useful items,such as Snuff Soul. Disaster Shadows will alsoexplodewhen defeated, damaging nearby Shadows in-battle.
Persona 3 Reloadhas Monad Passages, which house challenging enemies. However, there’s nothing like Disaster Shadows in Tartarus. It’s likely if Disaster Shadows, or something similar, appeared inReload, they would drop Skill Cards, Twilight Fragments, and SP-restoring items.
3Grappling Hook
Take Shortcuts in Palaces
One of the graphics in the pause menuin the originalPersona 5featured Joker using a grappling hook. It wasn’t untilSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatethat it made an out-of-menu appearance (as Joker’s recovery move), andPersona 5 Royalwhere it could be used in Palaces to take shortcuts, find hidden rooms, and more.
It’s clear the grappling hook item was made forPersona 5 Royal’s Phantom Thieves, so it would be difficult to adapt it toPersona 3 Reload. However, with the upgraded SEES uniform, it would have been nice to have something in line with the grappling hook. This was likely impossible to do, since Tartarus' entire layout is different from the Palaces, meaning there’s not much room to “take shortcuts” nor hidden rooms housing rare treasure.
2Puzzles in Palaces
Fetch-Quests, Riddles, and More
Since Palaces don’t follow the same layout as Mementos, Tartarus, or the Midnight Channel, there’s more room for puzzle-solving, andPersona 5 Royaltakes full advantage of this.In Madarame and Sae Niijima’s, the Phantom Thieves would need “permission” from the Palace Ruler in the real world to affect the cognition of the Palace, thus opening their path to wherever they needed to go. Most puzzles/riddles inPersona 5 Royalwere simple to overcome, but others relied on players to pay attention (ex, Maruki’s Palace, Kaneshiro’s Palace).
For those who liked this puzzle-solving gameplay inRoyal, it’s unfortunately absent inReload’s Tartarus. Given the original Tartarus didn’t have puzzle-solving mechanics, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise as there’s no room for Palace-esque problems during the Dark Hour. Regardless, the problem-solving made Palaces less one-note,providing more of a challengethan just running in and defeating Shadows.
1Hiding Behind Corners
Easier Ambush Mechanic
Ambushing Shadows to get an advantage in battle is nothing new to thePersonagameplay. InPersona 5, there was an easier way to sneak up on enemies by hiding behind corners. This was only possible in areas of the Metaverse where Joker wasn’t confined to the Mona Bus (i.e, Mementos), but that doesn’t take away its usefulness. When hiding, the Shadows wouldn’t be able to see Joker, and pressing the right button when a Shadow was near would trigger an Ambush.
If players worked through Yoshizawa’s Social Linkbefore the third semester, they would unlock the Chaine’s Hook. This would allow Joker to ambush enemies from afar by using the Grappling Hook.
Persona 3 Reloaddoesn’t have a “hiding” mechanic, but players can unlock a powered-up sprint and attack that will always result in an Ambush. Unfortunately, if the enemy spots the protagonist, it can potentially give chase. So, while the Tartarus-crawling Ambush mechanic is better than it was in the original, it doesn’t have the same advantages ofP5’s hiding and Chaine’s Hook abilities.
