Sometimes patience is a virtue in the gaming world; with the way that big games release now, it's often a bit of a scandal among fans who want the best performance they can get when they boot up a new title. We've all become used to the idea that waiting a few months can mean coming to a more optimised and calibrated experience, after all.
A perfect case in point is the game I'm currently pouring hours into on my Nintendo Switch 2, which released to widespread criticism of its performance: Persona 3 Reload. This super-slick remake of Persona 3 had been out on PlayStation and Xbox consoles for a while, but only dropped on Switch 2 last October.
I play a lot of games, but there are still plenty of occasions on which a big title doesn't really fit into my plans, and with a runtime that basically can't be any shorter than about 60 hours, P3R is a game I've had to plan around for some time.
I've got a window now, though, and it's pretty clear that waiting this long has played into my hands, since I'm now able to enjoy the game's solid performance mode. When it first launched, P3R only had a single mode on Switch 2, and ran at 30fps, which sorely disappointed some fans.
While the game's main challenge comes in the form of turn-based combat that doesn't really need smooth frame rates to prosper, it nonetheless involves a lot of exploration and moving around, and all of that feels far more sluggish at 30fps, even if it made for crisper visuals.
Now, though, thanks to a patch released a couple of months after release, you can enjoy the game at 60fps when docked, thanks to a performance mode that's been added. It still plays at 30fps in handheld mode, sadly, but that extra bump when you're docked is a pretty massive bonus.
It means that I can properly lock in on the classic Persona formula that P3R presents, one that I'm happily now able to slip into without any real adjustment, after having completed Persona 4 Golden, Persona 5 Royal and Metaphor: Refantazio in recent years.
That means all the fun of managing my time slots and stat progress without the blind groping of not knowing what to focus on – and plenty of time to set conversations to "auto" and let gentle, often cliched storytelling just wash over me.
In some ways, therefore, there's nothing drastically new to the experience here for fans of the series (or the original game), but the way it's been sanded into shape and de-frictioned really is impressive. Gone is the guesswork about which social links are available at what times; the combat mechanics are also far quicker, and the whole game seems to flow really impressively.
I'm also adamant that the Switch 2, like the Switch before it, will be the best place to play this franchise, regardless of visual presentation. It's a matter of lifestyle – these day-based, turn-based games are ideal for picking up in short sessions, since you can accomplish things in short bursts, and I've always loved playing them on a handheld rather than being locked onto my TV.
We're coming into a really busy period of releases, so being able to be flexible with Persona 3 Reload is just another reason why I'm glad I'm playing it on Switch 2 now – but we'll see whether I end up sticking with it to the bitter end with other eye-catching releases on the horizon.
