Difficulty Differences and Best Difficulty Settings

Persona 3 Reload (P3R) comes with different difficulties that you can adjust according to your preferences. Find out the differences between these difficulties, the new Heartless difficulty for Episode: Aigis, and the best difficulty settings to suit your playstyle in this guide!

Difficulty Differences

All Difficulties and Their Features

Change the Difficulty at Any Time

Should you find the game a bit too easy or too difficult for your liking, you can opt to go to the System option in the menu screen and change the difficulty setting from there. Do take note that this may require you to restart your game from the last checkpoint.

Best Difficulty Settings

Peaceful Mode for First-Timers

Every game has first-timers who have either only heard of the game recently, or have known the game for some time but never got the chance to play it.

Persona 3 Reload not only retains some of its previous versions' mechanics but also comes with several new content, which may disorient beginners. If this is the case, Peaceful Mode is highly recommended, which comes with multiple gameplay support.

Easy Mode for Casual Players

Persona 3 Reload boasts a riveting story with amazing gameplay that pops with amazing artwork. More often than not, players will be looking to play it to enjoy these aspects, but will not be able to do so if the enemies are too powerful.

If you're looking to focus on and enjoy the story or if you're just looking to pass the time, then Easy Mode should be your go-to option for a slight challenge in combat but still lets you fully focus on the story.

Normal Mode for a Balanced Experience

Sometimes, players may find enemies that are easy to kill a bit dull, and believe that a good challenge in battle leads to a more immersive gaming experience.

If you are looking to have a fair fight and a good balance betwen exploration and combat, then Normal Mode will suit your playstyle best. This difficulty will let you focus on the game's story while requiring you to properly strategize for future endeavors.

Hard Mode for Veterans

Persona 3 has been around for quite some time, and those who have played and completed it several times might want a deep challenge as they already have a gist of what they're supposed to do.

For experienced players who are looking to put their Persona 3 knowledge to the test, Hard Mode is your recommended difficulty setting. This difficulty is also recommended for those who are starting their New Game Plus run.

Merciless Mode for Highly-Experienced Players

Heartless Mode is only recommended for players that truly know the ins and out of the game. You'll have to maximize your usage with all attack types while being knowledgable about every Persona and their stats and learnable skills.

For the hardened players who are looking to push themselves to the limit, Merciless Mode is your difficulty setting. Note that starting a New Game Plus in Merciless Mode will not carry over the progress from their first run.

Heartless Mode for Veterans Playing the DLC

Heartless Mode is the equivalent of Merciless in Episode Aigis. As this DLC is focused on its tough boss battles, we only recommend players to choose this difficulty option if they truly know the ins and outs of the game.

All Episode Aigis Guides

Persona 3 Reload Related Guides

All Tips and Tricks

Episode Aigis

All Episode Aigis Tips and Tricks
What Carries Over From Base Game	How To Start Episode: Aigis
Differences From the Answer	How to Transfer Save Data
The Abyss of Time Guide	How to Get Lady's Stool
Elizabeth's Request (Episode Aigis)	All Episode Aigis ATheurgy

Daily Life Tips

All Daily Life Tips and Tricks
Social Stats Guide	Quizzes and Exam Answers
How to Use the Computer	Fortune Telling Services
How to Increase Courage	How to Increase Charm
How to Increase Academics	What Happens if You Sleep
How to Use the Kitchen	Film Festival Dates and Results
All Part Time Jobs

Social Link Tips

All Social Links Tips and Tricks
Fix Reversed Social Links	All Romance Options
Best Social Links to Max First	All Clubs You Can Join and Their Schedules

Exploration and Battle

All Tartarus Tips and Tricks
Battle System Guide	Tartarus Exploration Guide
Theurgy Skills Guide	How to Shift Guide
Moon Phases Guide	Status Ailments Guide
Shuffle Time Bonuses	How to Open Locked Chests
How to Summon the Reaper	All Characteristics and How to Get
Fusion Skills	How to Get All Major Arcana Cards
Great Clock Guide	How to Give Direct Commands
Monad Chambers Guide

Persona Fusion and Leveling Tips

All Persona Fusion and Leveling Tips and Tricks
Fusion Guide: Normal and Triangle Fusion	Can You Inherit Skills?
All the Best Personas	Fusion Accidents
How to Increase Persona Slots	How to Skip Fusion Animation

Farming Guides

All Farming Tips and Tricks
Twilight Fragments Farming Guide	Gem Farming Guide
Money Farming Guide	How to Level Up Fast

Rare Enemy Guides

Rare Enemy Weaknesses
Rare and Greedy Shadows	Wealth Hands
Precious Hands	Supreme Hands
Ethereal Hands	Luxury Hands
Miracle Hands	Glorious Hands

Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks

All Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks
Best Names for the Protagonist	How Long to Beat
Can You Change Soundtracks?	Best Difficulty Settings
Can You Still Use the Bathroom?	All Trophies and Achievements
Missing Persons Guide	How to Fix the Broken Machine
Can You Save Shinjiro?	Ghost Investigation Questions and Answers
How to Use Rewind	How is Experience Shared?
How to Escape the Hot Springs	Does Persona 3 Reload Have Auto Save?
New Game Plus Guide	Advanced Tips and Tricks