Persona 3 Reload already has a functional female protagonist mod
Persona 3 Reload is missing an important character. The long-awaited remake of Atlus’s 2006 entry in the RPG series does not feature Kotone Shiomi, the beloved female protagonist of Persona 3 who appears in Persona 3 Portable. However, modders have the community’s back – as always, and it seems that they have already made astonishing progress in putting together a Kotone mod during the short period of time since the remake was released.
Persona 3 Reload launched on February 2, delivering a sleek reimagining of the beloved Persona 3, with entirely new graphics and numerous QOL improvements. Although the remake is largely faithful to the original story and characters, Kotone Shiomi, referred to as “FeMC” in the community, was left out. At the time of writing, there are no official plans to add her to the game in the future. Kotone Shiomi is the female counterpart of protagonist Makoto Yuki, and she was canonically introduced in Persona 3 Portable (2009).
The decision to leave out Kotone was disappointing for many Persona fans, but, as with past titles, it seems Persona 3 Reload lends itself to modding quite well too. Seen above is footage shared by modder Rirurin of what appears to be a functional P3RE mod that replaces the male protagonist with Kotone. Aside from Kotone’s model, the mod also appears to have a modified color palette and UI. Apparently, further work is also planned in terms of social links, dialogues, and voiced lines. The joint project and its progress can be followed closely via GitHub and the dedicated Discord server.
In response to seeing Kotone’s appearance in Persona 3 Reload, the community has grown very excited for a fully functional Kotone mod. At the same time, many users are still maintaining hope that Atlus may release official DLC that will allow them to play as Kotone.
Persona 3 Reload is available for the PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam, Microsoft Office) and can be played via Game Pass.