Maybe this is just me. I know that expansions to games are nothing new. And hey, I really don’t mind them! It’s nice when I’ve completed a game and six months later they say, “Hi, friend! Here comes some more of that game you liked!”. I’m also aware that expansions are an important part of the ballooning cost of game development; you have to make your money somewhere and it’s far easier to add to something that already exists than to start over. This is all logical.
But for the love of god, nothing makes me want to stop playing a game more than early expansion announcements. I’m not even talking about ‘expansion passes’ that give a hint of a clue of a promise of future content. Those stress me out, too, but at least they usually don’t treat you like a sucker and announce the content after you’ve already bought the deluxe edition.
I say ‘usually’ because my ass got conned into buying the best version ofPersona 3 Reloadonly to find they weregonna draw blood from the other arm too. I haven’t even cracked Persona 3 Reload yet and you’re already asking me for $35 for more content that was in older versions of the game? On top of the cost of a deluxe package? I know I’m stupid for falling for it! But it still sucks!
In my mind, there is absolutely no reason for me to play a game if you’re already telling me it’s an incomplete story. None. I’m not going to put 80 hours into Persona 3 Reload now in the hopes I’ll remember everything vital to the plot in six months when they release the real ending for the game. I know that I’m an outlier. I also don’t care. When you do this, you’re basically telling me that your own game isn’t worth completing until later. You’re telling me your game is unfinished.
And, to repeat, this annoyance doesn’t apply to things likeShadow of the Erdtree. Sure, we knew it was coming, but did you notice howFromSoftwaredidn’t release a trailer for it a few days afterElden Ringcame out? Did you notice that at no point were we made to feel like we were missing something? I could play the game without worrying that I was ruining it by not waiting for the ‘full’ experience. There’s a difference between expanding a story and holding a piece of it in the air with the promise it’ll be delivered eventually for a lot of money. When a new TV show comes out, the creators don’t rush to the podium to tell everyone that this season is fine, whatever, butnextseason is when it gets good.
I respect that I’m splitting hairs here. I’m describing some very similar things very differently. Whatever. And a lot of it has to do with how it’s announced and when. When I boughtDiablo 4, I knew there would be more Diablo 4 content - butBlizzarddidn’t go out of their way to explain why Diablo 4 alone would be an incomplete experience without it. The devs didn’t release a story trailer for an expansion the moment the core game booted up. Because, if they did, I’d probably have just sat on my ass and waited for a complete experience.
There’s also a difference in thekindsof expansions. If a fighting game gives mea schedule of when fun little new guysare jumping in, whatever. That doesn’t affect the entire narrative experience. But announcing entire paid story arcs that won’t be available for months is annoying. Especially, and maybe I’m just mad at Persona 3 Reload here, when that story arcalready exists in the thing you just remade. As other people have said on this site, it’sa trick and a trap and kind of a scam. This isn’t an addition to the experience, it’s thecompletionof the experience. An expansion should not be called an expansion if it’s absolutely necessary to enjoy the core experience. And it definitely should not be announced within the first month a game exists.
Of course, there’s the argument that people love director’s cuts of movies. Why not change the ending? Why not add something new? Which, yeah! People do like those! But there’s a reason you rarely hear movie studios announce a director’s cut is coming on the exact same day as the normal film release. Oh, there may be rumblings! But again, there is a difference between ‘there will be more content’ and ‘we are giving the true ending later, so just attempt to remember what happened and keep your wallet handy’.
When I buy and play a game, I want to know I’m getting the full experience. It’s not fun for me otherwise. It feels like going to a club that makes you pay a cover charge when you get in and pay again when it gets interesting. At the very least, I want tothinkI’m not getting screwed over. Lie to me by omission for a little while. At least give your own game the courtesy of being able to stand on its own before you nickel and dime everyone by treating it like a half-formed baby. Treat your game like it counts, not like it’s half of a game that we’re lucky to sample for the low, low cost of $60. Or, really, $70 for the edition that includes a digital soundtrack you’ll never play once in your entire corporeal existence. I always fall for that stuff, too.
Persona 3 Reload
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Persona 3 Reload is a ground-up remake of the RPG classic, aligning the aesthetics with the more recent Persona 5. It does not contain any of the changes or extra content from Persona 3 FES or Persona 3 Portable.
