Persona 3 Portable female protagonist Kotone Shiomi is officially making a comeback by way of Persona 5: The Phantom X. Fans have been calling for the Persona 3 Portable lead’s return for quite some time, and now the series is making good on it.
Kotone Shiomi originally premiered in Persona 3 Portable, the PSP version of the game, giving players the option to play as her instead of Makoto Yuki, the game’s standard protagonist. The character is popular, but much to the chagrin of her fandom, she was completely absent from Persona 3 Reload, the 2024 remake of the original title. Now, the Atlus franchise is providing a different opportunity for her to make a triumphant return.
Kotone Shiomi is Coming to Persona 5: The Phantom X
Persona 5: The Phantom X is gearing up for a special celebration in honor of Persona‘s 30th anniversary, and has revealed that Kotone Shiomi will be added to the game as a playable character. A new trailer has given a glimpse at her character and others from Persona 3, with more details expected to arrive on September 21 during a special broadcast. Her character will officially be added to the game beginning on September 24, and will likely be accompanied by a new side story for players to dive into.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
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When Persona 3 Reload was announced, many fans had expressed excitement over the notion of Shiomi finally making a comeback. Outside of Persona 3 Portable, she’s only appeared in spin-off games and media, like Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, which utilizes a “chibi” graphics style. Shiomi hasn’t ever appeared in a game with a high-resolution modern 3D model before, so Persona 3 Reload seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring her character back. However, the producer of Persona 3 Reload explained Kotone Shiomi was missing due to a combination of not enough time and budget constraints. While many would have liked to have seen her at least added at a later date as DLC, that hasn’t happened, making this new crossover appearance the first time players have seen her since the late 2010s.
This isn’t the first brush that Persona 5: The Phantom X has had with the Persona 3 universe, as the global version of the game already added standard protagonist Makoto Yuki, as well as SEES members Akihiko Sanada and Yukari Takeba in a prior update. The original Chinese version of the game, which is ahead of the global version in most character releases, has also seen the addition of Mitsuru Kirijo, Fuka Yamagishi, Junpei Iori, Koromaru, and Aigis. It’s not known at this time if the remaining Persona 3 characters will be added to the global release near or alongside Shiomi, but fans of the game will have more to look forward to in Persona 5: The Phantom X, regardless.
While many gamers are extremely eager to see and play as the Persona 3 FeMC once again, others have expressed disappointment regarding the collaboration. Persona 5: The Phantom X is a gacha game, which means that outside of any event story, players will need to try their luck in order to add her to their party. The argument could nonetheless be made that it’s still a better result than leaving her behind entirely in older portable games. In any case, players won’t have to wait long to learn more about her abilities and to get a first look at her in-game appearance in Persona 5: The Phantom X.
