Persona 3 Reload, Atlus’ remake of the PlayStation 2 classic, is a 70+ hour-long RPG. Wouldn’t you hate to play all that video game, with all the dungeon crawling, social linking, and question-answering, just to mess up and take a wrong turn, resulting in reaching its “bad” ending? We’re always here to give you advice on how to play one of these games, because they can get pretty overwhelming—but luckily, Persona 3’s branching path is not that complicated.
Let’s go over what to do to get the game’s actual conclusion.
Editor’s note: Spoiler warning if you haven’t finished Persona 3 Reload yet. But also, if you haven’t finished it yet, why are you clicking this? Stop that. Go finish it. — David.
How to get Persona 3 Reload’s true ending
The diverging path in Persona 3 Reload starts on New Year’s Eve. Throughout the month of December, you and the rest of your shadow-fighting squad will be forced to ponder a life-altering decision. You’re told by Ryoji, a new transfer student who actually has some significant ties to main character Makoto Yuki, that the world will come to an end next year, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. However, if you kill him, you will erase all your friends’ memories of the supernatural threat you’ve been fighting the entire game and live your final months in relative comfort.
After Ryoji returns on 12/31, you have to make a choice: Will you kill Ryoji and forget about all this, or will you spare him and face Nyx, an all-powerful being capable of bringing about the end of the world? Ryoji swears to you this battle is unwinnable and begs you to kill him and spare yourself the emotional anguish.
Ryoji will meet with the party at the dorm on New Year’s Eve, and he waits in Makoto’s room for you to make the choice. All your friends are determined to fight Nyx, but when you’re given the option to go one route or the other, you’re alone in Makoto’s room. They would have no idea if you decided to kill Ryoji and save them from all the fear and torment. In order to get Persona 3 Reload’s true ending, you must spare Ryoji. He will argue with you and try to convince you by taking on a demonic shadow form, but stay strong-willed, and the game will continue towards its natural conclusion. After this, you’ll have to travel to the top of the shadow-filled tower of Tartarus by January 31, then you’ll face Nyx’s Avatar as the final boss. After that, you’ll see the game’s incredible final moments.
However, if you save before you make this decision, you can see an alternate ending by killing Ryoji. The credits will roll, and you’ll never have to deal with those final fights. It’s the blissfully ignorant ending Ryoji promised. It’s cool to see, but it’s not the most satisfying ending.
Is it possible for Persona 3’s main character to survive?
So, if you’re trying to find the true ending of Persona 3 Reload, you might also be wondering if the ending in which Makoto Yuki dies on the Gekkoukan High School rooftop means you did something wrong along the way. Nope. This is an unavoidable outcome, and there’s no decision or quest you can do that allows him to live. You can learn more about his fate in Persona 3 FES’ playable epilogue called The Answer, but rumors are floating around that this might be added to Persona 3 Reload as DLC.
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