Unofficial Nintendo DS Demake Brings Persona 3 Dual Meme to Life

The Persona fanbase is known for its quirky inside jokes, and one of the most beloved is the playful notion that Persona 3 Dual, a fictional Nintendo DS port of Atlus’ 2006 RPG Persona 3, is a real game that everyone has experienced. In a twist that might either ruin the joke or make it even more hilarious, a group of dedicated fans has transformed this meme into reality, as Persona 3 Dual is now an actual game playable on Nintendo DS hardware.

The P3D Project team unveiled a new trailer for the Nintendo DS demake on June 28, celebrating the release of version 1.0. The trailer clearly shows that this isn’t just a lazy copy-and-paste effort. While some elements, like the animated cinematics, have been adapted to maintain authenticity, the game itself has been completely rebuilt from scratch.

Moreover, Persona 3 Dual introduces some features that even Atlus didn’t include in the upcoming 2024 remake, Persona 3 Reload, such as the ability to play as a female protagonist. You can check it out for yourself, as the development team has made the demake available for free on its official GitHub page, complete with instructions for running it on official Nintendo DS/DSi/3DS hardware.

For some background, the Persona community has been joking about a nonexistent Persona 3 Nintendo DS port for at least five years, and the origins of this joke are so murky that it might even date back further. Fans have taken the joke seriously enough to create fake screenshots of the imaginary Nintendo DS version, tricking others into believing it was real.

Now that the joke has become a reality, it seems they might have to retire it, but honestly, there’s no better reason to let a joke go than this.