Persona 3 Reload comes down to its cheapest price yet on Steam Deck

You’d be hard-pressed to find any RPG series that is as stylish, brilliant, and intriguing as the Persona franchise. From combat that brings flair to engaging life simulation mechanics, there’s a reason this series remains beloved even decades after it first began, and you can now grab Persona 3 Reload at its cheapest price yet on your Steam Deck.

Even years after its original release, Persona 3 remains one of the best RPGs, and Reload is the same core experience but with some major changes for the modern era. Like many other entries, you’ll watch beautiful interpersonal relationships grow through the main narrative, while the gameplay gives you gripping turn-based combat that works extremely well on Valve’s handheld console.

This single-player game puts you into the role of a high school student – something that may sound familiar to Persona fans – as you return to the city you grew up in over ten years after your parents’ deaths. It’s not a relaxing game, though, even if the premise sounds very Stardew Valley, as an event called the Dark Hour leads to our protagonist getting attacked by Shadows, before joining a team called SEES (Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad) to defeat these strange creatures.

Persona 3 Reload’s brilliant story leads to some incredible JRPG gameplay, with a lot of strategic thinking required to get you through the game’s toughest battles. It’s not all complex, though, as the turn-based combat puts even the best action games to shame, with plenty of stunning visuals full of flair and wonder. It’s not style over substance, instead, it’s both.

While our Persona 3 review wasn’t for the Reload version, many of the insights apply equally to both versions, with Ruby Spiers-Unwin calling it “a masterpiece” as well as one of her “favourite games of all time.” There are a few issues with the version we reviewed, but Reload fixes many of them, making it a brilliant Steam Deck game.

If you’re hoping to dive into Persona 3 Reload’s action on the Steam Deck (or the best Steam Deck alternatives), you can grab it for just $31.49 / £26.99 from Fanatical. That’s the lowest price the game has ever been, and even cheaper than the Steam storefront, so it’s the perfect way to dive into this iconic RPG.

Before diving into Persona 3 Reload, I’d suggest grabbing one of the best Steam Deck docks on the market, as seeing the action on a bigger screen is truly impressive. If you’ve got the Persona bug right now, I’d recommend reading our list of the best Persona games for your next adventure in the long-running series.