History TearJerker / Persona3Reload

** Shinjiro's death in particular is made even sadder when Koromaru sadly tries to get his hand over his head, to which Shinji weakly pets him one more. Ken's SkywardScream is also made even more agonizing in ''Reload'' by having Koromaru howl with him.

* In contrast to the original game, the moment when the protagonist returns from Nyx is a fully animated (and fully voiced) cutscene in which the entire S.E.E.S. team tearfully reunites with their friend. Though it doubles somewhat as a moment of [[Heartwarming/Persona3Reload heartwarming]], the wobbly tone of all the characters (sans Mitsuru) and the animated character portraits with tears show how worried they were that they had lost another friend to the Shadows. Though it comes off as much harsher in hindsight if the player is aware of [[CastFromLifespan the context of the Deep Seal's power]] and [[ForegoneConclusion if they already know how the game ends]].

* Maiko's Social Link being fully voice-acted means you get to ''hear'' this child's sobs of anguish as she deals with her parents' messy divorce and, in one case, full-on abuse, and Grace Lu's voice acting selling it makes it ''much'' worse. Her text invites are similarly heart-rending, the one preceding Rank 4 (where you find out her father hit her) simply being a single "distressed face" emoji.

* Maiko's Social Link being fully voice-acted means you get to ''hear'' this child's sobs of anguish as she deals with her parents' messy divorce and, in one case, full-on abuse. Grace Lu does an amazing job. Her text invites are similarly heart-rending, the one preceding Rank 4 (where you find out her father hit her) simply being a single "distressed face" emoji.

* When you max out Akinari's Social Link, there the scene that plays is especially heartbreaking, as when you see him, he gives you his notebook before suddenly disappearing. It's heavily implied that he died sometime between the Rank 9 and 10 events, and his soul came to give you his notebook before passing on.

* There's two small parts before and after the Nyx Avatar fight that give it a hint of melancholy: before the fight starts, you're given a pair of dialogue options to choose from. One of them is the more standard, heroic-sounding "The world won't end"...while the other is "Let's go, Ryoji." Then, during the ending sequence where you catch up with your Social Links, you receive a message from an unknown sender (implied to be Ryoji) that simply says "Thank you". Just the implication that enough of Ryoji's self still exists within Nyx Avatar to send that last message is heartwrenching enough, but the fact that he's still grateful for the time you spent with him despite how it turned out in the end hurts even more.
* The PostFinalBoss fight with Nyx's core is still mostly the same, with two changes. The first, after the protagonist endures the first Death casted by Nyx, they are struggling to stand, only through ThePowerOfFriendship with S.E.E.S. surging through them that they can move. This is reflected by the protagonist moving much more slowly towards Nyx's core to attack and progress the fight. The second change is the version of [[ThemeMusicWithholding Burn My Dread -Last Battle-]] that plays, where the lyrics are much more melancholy. The lyrics appear to be from the protagonist's perspective, accepting of the fact that he is going to die once this battle is over, thanking his friends for letting them into his life as he's about to make the ultimate sacrifice for them.
* In contrast to the original game, the moment when the protagonist returns from Nyx is a fully animated (and fully voiced) cutscene in which the entire S.E.E.S. team tearfully reunites with their friend. Though it doubles somewhat as a moment of [[Heartwarming/Persona3Reload heartwarming]], the wobbly tone of all the characters (sans Mitsuru) and the animated character portraits with tears show how worried they were that they had lost another friend to the Shadows. Though it comes off as much harsher in hindsight if the player is aware of [[YourDaysAreNumbered the context of the Deep Seal's power]] and [[ForegoneConclusion if they already know how the game ends]].
* During the ending sequence where you walk around town to talk to the various people you've bonded with via their Social Links, you find Akinari's mom in place of him, since he's since departed. While the dialogue is the same as the original, it's now fully voice acted. Even for voicing a mostly unnamed character, her voice actress delivers a very heartwrenching performance.
* In the original ending sequence, talking to Junpei leads to a slightly amusing conversation where he feels like forgot something important that happened recently. Now, talking to Junpei leads to a conversation where he mentions Kenji being excited that all the new teachers are female. Junpei laughs at this and says that "none of that really matters to me. I already got a special someone..." He then goes silent and asks "I... did have a special someone, right?" confirming that Junpei's memories of Chidori were also initially erased. Thankfully, like the rest of memory erasure, it presumably doesn't last, although this also means that Junpei doesn't remember Chidori at all in the bad ending.

* The PostFinalBoss fight with Nyx's core is still mostly the same, with two changes. The first, after the protagonist endures the first Death casted by Nyx, they are struggling to stand, only through ThePowerOfFriendship with S.E.E.S. surging through them that they can move. This is reflected by the protagonist moving much more slowly towards Nyx's core to attack and progress the fight. The second change is the version of [[ThemeMusicWithholding Burn My Dread -Last Battle-]] that plays, where it sounds much more melancholy and accepting of the fact that the protagonist is going to die once this battle is over.

* Even the '''Opening''' of the game is a tearjerker if you know how the story will play out, as both the song and the animation contains many allusions to the game's story, themes and ending. This goes double for the full version of the song, as the last part of the lyrics practically spells out the ending and [[AnAesop message]] of the game.

* Shinjiro's Linked Episodes can be hard to sit through if you know what his fate is. Mitsuru and Akihiko spend the duration of it insisting that he return to school, but he refuses. When the protagonist asks why, Mitsuru reveals that the three made a promise to graduate together when SEES first began, which Shinjiro confides to the former later that the reason for him refusing to return is that [[YourDaysAreNumbered he's dying and thus can't keep that promise]]. And after Shinjiro's death, Mitsuru and the protagonist find the completed forms for Shinji's re-enrollment at Gekkoukan--showing that despite his bluster, Shinjiro had wished that he could've.

* In contrast to the original game, the moment when the protagonist returns from Nyx is a fully animated (and fully voiced) cutscene in which the entire S.E.E.S. team tearfully reunites with their friend. Though it doubles somewhat as a moment of [[Heartwarming/Persona3Reload heartwarming]], the wobbly tone of all the characters (sans Mitsuru) and the animated character portraits with tears show how worried they were that they had lost another friend to the Shadows. Though it comes off as much harsher in hindsight [[ForegoneConclusion if you know]] [[YourDaysAreNumbered what happens next...]]
* During the ending sequence where you walk around town to talk to the various people you've bonded with via their Social Links, you find Akinari's mom in place of him, since he's since departed. While the dialogue is the same as the original, it's now fully voice acted. Even for voicing a mostly unnamed character, her voice actress delivers a very heartwrenching performance.

*** The original scene which simply showed the protagonist lying on Aigis' lap gets revamped into a full-blown in-engine cinematic, as Aigis's dialogue gets interspersed with the rest of the S.E.E.S rushing to the roof, and the cherry blossoms surrounding the school are far more prominently featured, signifying the new beginning the protagonist won for all his friends, even though we all know he won't be there to see it with them. The first-person narration delivers one last gut punch as instead of "Your eyes feel heavy", you now read "My eyes feel heavy" right as the game ends.

*** The final cutscene of the good ending lingers on the sleeping protagonist before fading to white after his friends reunite with him and Aigis on the rooftop, as if his soul slipped away from his body once he sensed the promise they all made fulfilled.
* In NewGamePlus, the title screen [[EvolvingTitleScreen gets a significant update]] that's equal parts somber and joyful. Instead of silhouettes of S.E.E.S. in a moonlit classroom, you see an Evoker and S.E.E.S. armband on a desk with a clear blue sky outside. It's no longer silent, as "Because I Will Protect You" softly plays in the background. The fight is over, and the protagonist's journey has come to an end... but at what cost?

* In NewGamePlus, the title screen [[EvolvingTitleScreen gets a significant update]] that's equal parts somber and joyful. Instead of silhouettes of S.E.E.S. in a moonlit classroom, you see an Evoker and S.E.E.S. armband on a desk with a clear blue sky outside. It's no longer silent, as "Because I Will Protect You" softly plays in the background. The fight is over, and the protagonist's journey has come to an end.

* Shinjiro's Link Episodes can be hard to sit through if you know what his fate is. Mitsuru and Akihiko spend the duration of it insisting that he return to school, but he refuses. When the protagonist asks why, Mitsuru reveals that the three made a promise to graduate together when SEES first began, which Shinjiro confides to the former later that the reason for him refusing to return is that [[YourDaysAreNumbered he's dying and thus can't keep that promise]]. And after Shinjiro's death, Mitsuru and the protagonist find the completed forms for Shinji's re-enrollment at Gekkoukan--showing that despite his bluster, Shinjiro had wished that he could've.
* Although quite wholesome, Koromaru's Link Episodes are not without some depressing moments. The fourth episode sees the protagonist and Koromaru helping a stray dog (coincidentally the same dog Koromaru scared off in a previous Link Episode when it was threatening a kid) find its owner, only to learn from Officer Kurosawa that the owner is in the hospital after succumbing to Apathy Syndrome. Worse, Kurosawa says this isn't the first time it's happened and similar cases are on the rise.
* At the end of Koromaru's final Link Episode, he makes it clear that he wants to stay with the Protagonist after the battle with Nyx is over, something that fails to materialize because of the latter's death at the end of the game.

* In NewGamePlus, the title screen [[EvolvingTitleScreen gets a significant update]] that's equal parts somber and joyful. Instead of silhouettes of S.E.E.S. in a moonlit classroom, you see an Evoker and S.E.E.S. armband on a desk with a clear blue sky outside.

* Whilst the Protagonist can get out of outright rejecting Fuuka, Mitsuru and Aigis as romantic interests through earlier dialogue choices in their Social Link, the same cannot be said of Yukari, who, realizing that she has fallen for the Protagonist, asks for his honest feelings about her; despite accepting staying as friends, she is visibly holding back tears.

* After Shinjiro's death, Mitsuru and the protagonist find the completed forms for Shinji's re-enrollment at Gekkoukan--showing that despite his bluster, Shinjiro had decided to live up to his side of the promise to graduate alongside Mitsuru and Akihiko.

* Whilst the Protagonist can get out of outright rejecting Fuuka, Mitsuru and Aigis as romantic interests through earlier dialogue choices in their Social Link, the same cannot be said of Yukari.
** Yukari, realizing that she has fallen for the Protagonist, asks for his honest feelings about her; despite accepting staying as friends, she is visibly holding back tears.

* Whilst the Protagonist can get out of outright rejecting Fuuka and Aigis as romantic interests through earlier dialogue choices in their Social Link, the same cannot be said of Mitsuru and Yukari.
** Yukari, realising that she has fallen for the Protagonist, asks for his honest feelings about her; despite accepting staying as friends, she is visibly holding back tears.
** After Mitsuru accidentally confesses her feelings for him after her confrontation with her fiancée in Rank 8, the Protagonist has to outright say that he doesn't reciprocate her feelings in Rank 9 after she gives him a more formal confession. She at least ''does'' take rejection well, with her only quibble being a request that the Protagonist treat her for some takoyaki.