Makoto Yuki Awakening - Persona 3 Reload 

Maybe I've been devoured by nostalgia, but PS2 awakening cutscene hit that eerie and dark tone especially when they add heartbeat in background which add more to the tense situation.

Even though the original is better, Makoto’s scream in Reload when Thanatos shows up is insanely well done

still prefer the original anime cutscene tbh, i just love how stylized and heavy the atmosphere was. plus, a lot of the moments in it just work better in 2d. (i.e orpheus being torn apart, thanatos killing the magician)

I miss Thanatos' roar from the og. Seeing it HOWL before the full moon was incredible

I kind of wish the awakening itself had a little more build up and more of the creepy factor but other than that? Awesome. Love the animation

The original scene is better, but only really because of two factors imo: Yukari's evoker landing in a pool of blood, and Thanatos' distorted breathing and screaming. Cutting those two details out defangs the scene a little too much for my liking.

seems like they took the liberty of making the awakening closer to the movie compared to the original game's cutscene which had a lot of short term dramatic buildup, I still like it though to be honest thanatos is also stanced up the same way as in the movie with how he destroyed the arm god damn

aleks le did such a great job voicing makoto!

I can only picture Aleks Le's small shadow video as Orpheus get summoned and the screams syncing to when Thanatos gets unleashed, idk why

Honestly, first time seeing this scene was badass af. Am I the only one?

Two types of people I've witness in the past few days; Old players: "Man, they really butchered this scene, big L for Atlus" New players: "Holy shit this goes hard as fuck!" XD

i think the part where ryoji rips himself out of orpheus is kinda underwhelming but makoto’s SCREAMM tho that was insane. i do miss the way unavoidable battle felt more edgy and “scary”

Anyone noticed that Akihiko is wearing his new SEES outfit?

Well it’s a better awakening scene than the Portable version.

Looks like they've referenced the movie. Nice touch.

Mmmmm if i had to give my ranking Movie>original>reload For this cutscene like dont get me wrong its great but the movie's version was a tier of its own and the original built tension for the moment. This one sorta felt like it tried to do the same thing but accidentally rushed the tension

People here are too hung up on their nostalgic memories. This goes hard af

Tbh, the Storyboarding and sound design is weak. But it does set a precedent for the quality of cutscenes for the rest of the game so I guess it’s fine. It’s just unfortunate that these scenes had to be undercut, but if other scenes get to be uplifted somewhat for a more consistent quality overall, then that’s nice.

Honestly my only issue with this scene is how much they toned down Thanatos's violence, like in the original he straight up mauled Magician like EVA-Unit 1 on Berserk Mode, now all we get is a single sword slash and arm squash...

In my opinion the story of p3 is not as decisive as 4 and 5. This one is more So about the themes that colorate within the characters. Its more symbolic then cut and dry linear story

probably my biggest gripe (and really only this overall) with this game is that the animation feels a little too fluid, and some impactful animations just, don't feel impactful. like thanatos coming out of orpheus, or in combat makoto getting hit just doesn't look like he really took a hit, yknow?

I can't wait to play this 😫

The party members each have little speeches before summoning their personas for the first time (most of them are already awakened though), so are you planning to make a video that compiles all of those? I actually really liked those moments, even if they weren't at the level of a dedicated awakening like this one, y'know?

Man unavoidable battle feels so weak

Oh yeah! Can't wait for you to start doing the boss battles, I love watching those.

Anybody else noticed Akihiko’s already wearing his new uniform?

There's some things that hold this back, like it being the second protagonist awakening not animated, the continued lack of yellow eyes and how weird the CG looks here, but it's still really good

The animations other than the main cutscenes makes this feel like a weak ps3 game. I'm so disappointed. You're telling me they couldn't have Yukari have the shortsword in her other hand and give it to the protag instead of an animation where she pulls a small item out of her pocket?

“Finally. Freedom” *shoots himself and summons orpheus* “God dammit”

I can't unhear Zenitsu

I believe the original is make more sense, because in that scene Yukari did shoot herself twice to Summon IO, that's why the mc know how to use the evoker but here, he suddenly shoot himself, 😂

Done more than justice. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Ngl loved the scene, coming from someone who only played 4 and 5, I think the reason I like this scene though is the scream. Joker’s scream in 5 along with the music was perfect. My only gripe is it’s not in a 2d anime style and the music seems a little off, but even so it looked really good. In the original when he picks up the “evoker” it’s in a puddle of blood, upsetting they didn’t do something like that here.

The awakening scene is good but i liked the dramic build up from the ps2 version better.

After watching the Movie Version, OG, and this one. This one fell a bit flat, but it’s not bad. Still solid!

I really prefer the anime cutscenes over in engine ones for these.

I think the original was better for two reasons. The original version had more energy and carried the mood better, but the way more important reason is... they botched the timing in the new version completely. First of all, the boy says "go on" in the new version after he picks up the gun, while it felt like those words triggered the entire awakening in the original. This one is not that big of a deal though, the second issue is way more severe. It's Ikutsuki in the command room. In the original he says "wait" as the protagonist picks up the gun, basically saying "There is something happening there". In the new version he says "wait" BEFORE the protagonist even attempts to pick up the gun and they have no reason to believe he is ready for that, basically saying "I'd like to see if something might happen, even though I will put those two in danger by not sending help" I don't know if that was on purpose, but I somehow doubt it.

I don't think this is terrible like some others, but this scene was just done better in the original. This has a lot less tension at the start and worse sound design (who decided to put the drums that far back in the mix for unavoidable battle, seriously). Thanatos also just comes across as a lot less uncontrolled and savage.

They really butchered the direction of this scene, the way the scene is shot and the sound design doenst really convey the same atmosphere that the original scene did and this feels too slow and less impactful. Ofc the visuals are better quality wise, but still overall dissapointing.

Best awakening of the series

The flashing imagery was waaaaaayyyyy better in og

This one is good, it's just missing the oomph of the original a bit.

8:25 song?

It was good, but I feel like Thanatos in the original was a bit more menacing

Yes, everyone in the comments. Its just your nostalgia speaking.

Though the original is better, this one is cool too. It does its job well.

Not quite as cool as the anime movie’s version of this scene, but I still like it

looks really disappointing mehhhhhhhg movie>ps2

Akihiko's in the wrong outfit lmfao

Wow, they *really* butchered this scene. The is even worse than in the movie. As much as I love the movies, the awakening and overall action in the first was NOT its strong suit. Sound effects are far too quiet compared to the music, animations are oddly stilted, it hangs way too long on certain shots, they unnecessarily dump exposition way more than they should here. I like the game's music quite a bit but it's just not energetic enough for a scene like this. They also very clearly take a lot from the movie but do it much worse here. It looks like they were trying to show off their animation skill here but they're really just not at all good enough to replace the anime cutscenes. I guess it's better than in Portable? Though that's really not saying much.

Too long and a bit disappointing but I'll let it pass for the rest of the game

They butched the wholse scene.F*cking terrible

Very disappointing

Ps2 awakening was much better, its a bit disappointing tbh

Og did this better

i was super disappointed with how crap the awakening was compared to the original, no tense moments no errieness or creepiness it was as if they were told to rush the moment and make it the most unmemorable thing you can think of. I’m happy the original still exists to go back to. Also people calling it “nostalgia” is a piss poor excuse of by passing lazy creative decision making.

Yeah this shit is awful compared to the original

I don't like the story of P3 but this moment may be one of my favorite moments of the persona series