Summary
Persona 3 Aigis: The First Missionis coming to Steam and the Nintendo Switch. However, this long-forgottenPersona 3spin-off will not be treated to an official English localization.
Six months afterPersona 3 FEShit the store shelves in April 2007, Atlus releasedPersona 3 Aigis: The First Missionin Japan. The feature phone action RPG was available to users of NTT DoCoMo and Softbank’s mobile networks. Looking at thecompletePersonatimeline,Aigis: The First Missionis among the chronologically earliest entries in the franchise; it takes place in 1999, a full decade beforePersona 3, and tells the origin story of Aigis, at least the part of it that wasn’t mentioned in the third mainline game.
Persona 3 Aigis: The First Mission Making a Return After 17 Years
17 years following its debut,Persona 3 Aigis: The First Missionis making a return, with Japanese publisher G-MODE just announcing its Nintendo Switch and PC ports. The company plans to relaunch the game as part of its G-MODE+ Archives, a series of mobile rereleases which started out in 2020. When exactly that will happen remains unclear, with this prequel still waiting for an official release date. But seeing how its Steam page describes it as “coming soon,” it’s plausible thatAigis: The First Missioncould hit the market beforethePersona 3 Reloadepilogue chapter,Episode Aigis: The Answer, which is scheduled to launch in September 2024.
Persona 3 Aigis: The First Missionwon’t be the series' first J2ME spin-off to get ported to modern platforms. G-MODE also previously brought backMegami Ibunroku Persona: Ikuu no Tou Hen, an action RPG connected tothe originalPersona. The 2006 feature phone game was ported to the Switch and PC in 2023. If that re-release is any indication,Persona 3 Aigis: The First Missionwill likely retail at around $11.99 (¥1,800). ItsSteam pagedoesn’t yet list any pricing information.
P3 Aigis: The First Mission Is in Japanese, But a Fan Translation Could Be Possible
What it does say is thatPersona 3 Aigis: The First Missionwill be released in its original form, which was only available in Japanese. Althoughthe Switch isn’t region-locked, users will still need to make a Japanese Nintendo account to buy this re-release via eShop.
On the other hand, the Steam version ofPersona 3 Aigis: The First Missionwill be available globally. The PC port also has a decent chance of being treated to a fan translation. That is precisely what happened withMegami Ibunroku Persona: Ikuu no Tou Hen, which received an English fan localization mod calledPersona: Anomalous Tower Chroniclein March 2024.
Persona 3 Reload
WHERE TO PLAY
Step into the shoes of a transfer student thrust into an unexpected fate when entering the hour “hidden” between one day and the next. Awaken an incredible power and chase the mysteries of the Dark Hour, fight for your friends, and leave a mark on their memories forever.Persona 3 Reload is a captivating reimagining of the genre-defining RPG, reborn for the modern era.Experience the pivotal game of the Persona series faithfully remade with cutting-edge graphics, modernized quality-of-life features, and signature stylish UI. Fully immerse yourself in an emotional, gripping journey with new scenes, character interactions, and additional voiceover. Choose how to meaningfully spend each day through various activities from exploring the Port Island to forging genuine bonds with beloved characters. Build and command your optimal team to take down otherworldly Shadows and climb closer to the truth.
