Warning: The below story contains a potential spoiler for Persona 3 and Persona 3: Reload.
The Persona series has long had issues with gay and trans panic, but Persona 3: Reload at least removes the transphobia from one scene in particular.
The Persona 3 scene in question had the party trying to hit on women at the beach, with Akihiko, Junpei, and the protagonist approaching a character referred to as “Beautiful Lady.” After some back-and-forth, Akihiko points out a bit of facial hair on her chin, to which Beautiful Lady responds, “I-I missed a spot?!” Junpei then exclaims “she’s a he?!”
The dialogue is very slightly changed in Persona 3 Portable (the character is named “Pretty Lady” instead of “Beautiful Lady”), but still includes the same trans panic.
As first reported by Kotaku and verified by IGN, however, Persona 3: Reload changes the dialogue quite a bit. The end result is the same – the party running away from the woman – but instead of it being due to her being trans, it’s because she’s actually a conspiracy theorist trying to sell them sunscreen.
In the new scene, the conversation starts to go awry after “Pretty Lady” tells them, “You know that sun in the sky isn’t real, right? That’s an artificial sun that got sent into space back into the 1980s.”
Her character name then changes to “Delusional Lady” as she tells them that “normal sunscreen doesn’t” work” against that fake sun, and tries to sell them “special” sunscreen for 300,000 yen. The gang figures out this character is a little off, and scurry. The scene’s still a little odd, but the transphobic aspect, at least, is gone in this new version.
This isn’t the first time Altus has made a change based on homophobic or transphobic content in the Persona series. In 2020, Altus changed certain scenes in Persona 5 that were considered offensive and homophobic by fans for the Western release of Persona 5 Royal.
For more on Persona 3: Reload, check out our review, where Michael Higham gave the remake a 9/10. With a stellar visual overhaul and countless small but impactful changes, Persona 3 Reload tells a timeless story of tragedy and hope with sharp emotional sincerity,” Higham wrote.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
