Persona 3 Reload: All Romance Options & How to Start Them
A huge part of Persona 3 Reload is making friends and forging close bonds, as is Persona series tradition. This commonly takes the form of the social links, a story-driven mechanic that nevertheless has a significant impact on your role-playing battles. However, some relationships can be taken to the next level, as Persona 3 Reload has a suite of Romance Options for the protagonist to consider taking on as his girlfriend, which can have minor consequences in-game.
The girlfriend and romance options are fairly standard across all versions of Persona 3, but what's quite interesting is that in the pantheon of Persona 3 releases, P3 Reload is nevertheless quite unique. The way its romances work is different to vanilla, FES, and Portable versions of Persona 3 - taking a few cues from the later games in the series to improve the romantic offerings in this remake of the game. This page covers the Reload romance changes, who the romanceable characters are, and other elements of romance in P3 Reload you should be aware of.
How Romance works in Persona 3 Reload
At its core, Romance in Persona 3 Reload is basically an extension of the S-Link system, and so in order to chase a romance you can basically follow our P3 Reload social link guides to max out the social link of and impress the girl you're most interested in. However, there's a little more to it than that.
A core thing to explain is that romance in Reload has been tweaked to function more similarly to Romance in Persona 5. In the previous versions of Persona 3, you'd automatically enter into a romantic relationship once an S-Link proceeded to a certain point. In Reload any character that's a viable Romance Option has an explicit 'path split' in their S-Link - meaning you can now choose between a romantic or a platonic max rank.
This means that there are new scenes for each of the romance characters, or certain events have been rewritten to accomodate the additional factors introduced by these changes.
Additionally, players now need to be more careful. In previous versions of P3, you could go for a 'Harem' play through and romance multiple characters - but if you get romantic with multiple characters in Persona 3 Reload there will be consequences. Thankfully, there are no negative consequences for turning down romantic advances - ranks can no longer rank down or backwards in P3R.
Persona 3 Reload Romance Options & How to Unlock Them
In Persona 3 Reload, there are ultimately six different romanceable characters the protagonist can pursue a more-than-friends relationship with. These six romance options are slightly truncated from the most recent release of the game prior to this - but that's because Persona 3 Reload lacks the female protagonist, so only love interests for the male protagonist are available.
The romance options are as follows:
Yukari Takeba
Lovers Arcana representative and SEES member, Yukari can be romanced and is an impossible-to-miss character. Despite meeting her very early on in the game, her social link doesn't open up until fairly late, which means romancing her and making her your girlfriend will also turn up later on.
- Unlock Date: From July 24
- Requirements: Rank 6 Charm Social Stat
- Hangout Start Location: School, Classroom 2F on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday - not during Exam time.
- Romance Starts: Rank 9
For help ranking her up, see our Yukari S-Link guide.
Mitsuru Kirijo
The de-facto leader of SEES (other than the player), Mitsuru is another party member that can be romanced. Much like with Yukari, it'll be quite a while into Persona 3 Reload, long after you meet her, before you have the chance to truly befriend and therefore romance Mitsuru.
- Unlock Date: From December 1
- Requirements: Rank 6 Academics - doing well on the school tests will help
- Hangout Start Location: School Faculty Office on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday daytimes. Not during exams.
- Romance Start: Rank 9
You can use our Mitsuru S-Link guide to get through, once she becomes available.
Fuuka Yamagishi
Romancing Fuuka will require you to unlock hangouts with her in the first place, which is difficult and can only happen fairly deep into the game. This concludes the trio of the 'playable' romance options - though of course as navigator, Fuuka is the one member of SEES that truly isn't romanceable.
- Unlock Date: From June 22
- Requirements: You'll need Rank 6 Courage, plus you must have unlocked the Fortune S-Link and have it at at least Rank 1.
- Hangout Start Location: School 2F Hallway on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday daytimes.
- Romance Start: Rank 9
For help with that, check our Fuuka S-Link guide.
Chihiro Fushimi
Chihiro is similar to Fuuka, as a quiter and more reticent romance option. Through a friendship, you can bring her out of her shell - and that can turn romantic, if you want your bespectacled classmate to be your girlfriend.
- Unlock Date: From April 27
- Requirements: On April 27 or later, join the Student Council. After this, find Chihiro at school to befriend her.
- Hangout Start Location: School 2F Hallway on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday daytimes. Not during exam time.
- Romance Start: Rank 9
Navigating the relationship once started is easy, as our Chihiro S-Link guide helps you to do.
Yuko Nishiwaki
Yuko is encountered via the athletics club at school, and is the Strength Arcana S-Link but can be advanced into a romance, allowing the sports team manager to become your girlfriend.
- Unlock Date: April 25
- Requirements: Start and attend the Chariot Social Link, and keep inviting Yuko to walk home. After she eventually agrees, you can hang out with her.
- Hangout Start Location: School 2F Hallway, on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Romance Start: Rank 9
All of the dialogue choices to rank Yuko up fast can be found in our Yuko S-Link guide.
Aigis
Aigis having a full social link was added to later versions of Persona 3, and it's been retained for Persona 3 Reload, making this a romance that's semi-exclusive to this version of the game. This is a very late-game unlock, so you'll need to be patient.
- Unlock Date: January 8
- Requirements: None, other than simply waiting right until the very late game for it to unlock.
- Hangout Start Location: Your Classroom at School.
- Romance Start: Rank 9
Once the time comes, our Aigis S-Link page has you covered with all the dialogue choices and the like.