LogFAQs > #951343775

#7 - Persona 4 Golden (VITA, my GotY for 2012 [sorry VLR, switched to Golden so your 2012 GotY has been rescinded] and 2008)


Back in the early 2000s, I had heard faint rumblings about this transformative JRPG called Persona 3. I didnt really know the first thing about Japanese culture back then, but the gameplay loop seemed neat. One day, I found a used PS2 copy at the local Gamestop, and figured Id take the risk. A few months into the game, being unable to control my squadmates drove them to do something really stupid, every died, and I lost like an hour of progress. This was the third time it happened, and I just wasnt invested enough to deal with that bullshit time after time, so I gave up for good and havent touched the game since.

A few years later, the new Persona comes out and lets you control everyone you want. Im a bit unconvinced though, because it sounds like culture shock for 2008 me. The most weeb thing Id done at that age was watch Adult Swim on Saturdays occasionally. I just decided to pass on it for quite a while.

Then a few years later, Giant Bomb picked the game up for their Endurance Run series. The escapades of Charlie Tunoku and Co. really sold the game on me, and I quit watching a bit into the first dungeon so I could play it myself. Coincidentally, Punny was having a big game sale on eBay right around there, and Persona 4 was on the docket. As soon as it arrived over Christmas Break of 2011, I started it up, and flew through the entire game in a matter of a month.

Less than half a year later, a new version was out on VITA with bonus content and a lot of quality of life upgrades that sounded great. Except I didnt have a VITA. But shortly after, I learned of the existence of CowBoom, a Best Buy subsidiary that sells closeout and refurbished stuff, and they had a slightly used VITA for sale for under $100 back in late 2013. That is a more-than-acceptable price of admission for this and the recently-announced localization of Danganronpa. Given the content of my top 10 so far, I would say thats one of the best $100 Ive ever spent.



Persona 4 was already an incredible game. You play as a transfer student that has to move out to a small town called Inaba, to stay with your uncle for a year for.. reasons. There, you start school, meet a bunch of friends, and have a wonderful time, talking about rumors around town about a channel that comes on the TV if you leave it off at midnight on a rainy night and whatnot.

Well, for two whole days, before some random person ends up murdered in town, and the police carry out a big investigation to try and catch the culprit. Later, you figure out that the Midnight Channel rumors are steeped in truth, and beyond the screen lies a foggy world full of shadowy monsters. Fairly quickly, you deduce that the people you find in that world have been thrown in against their will and are murdered if they arent rescued after a few weeks. Throughout the rest of the game, you persuade several of your classmates to accept themselves, so they can join you in battling the shadows in your quest to get to the bottom of the origin of the TV world and solve the mystery behind Inabas attempted murder spree.



Its a solid, if bizarre, setup for a game, but it primarily works because of its exceptionally strong cast of characters. Every single Investigation Team member has a lot of charm to them, and they interact super well together. They are all incredibly realistic, have relatable issues, and react to goings-on in ways that make perfect sense. Everyone has high stakes in teaming up together, and while theyre all just hanging out, their banter back in forth is hilarious. I would go as far as to say Persona 4s cast is the strongest in any video game Ive ever played. Even the supporting cast is super great, especially the close ones like Dojima, Nanako, Adachi, and most importantly, the fox.

The gameplay is right up my alley, too. Trying to take as few runs at the dungeon as possible, by limiting the magic you use as you navigate floors is a great mechanic. In most RPGs, the only limit to how much you grind is the amount of time youre willing to spend doing it. If you misuse your resources, you can just go back to a town and sleep in an inn or stock back up on items. In Persona, if youre too wasteful, thats going to cost you a precious day that could be spent raising stats elsewhere. It leads to some crucial decisions that otherwise wouldnt hold any weight whatsoever. I know these enemies are all weak to wind, and I could just cast Magarula and be done with this battle instantly, but I could also probably just do regular attacks for most of this and heal up later, which would cost me less SP in the long run. I wouldnt consider myself a JRPG expert, but I dont think Ive ever come across another game where nuke all of your opponents with a medium-sized spell isnt necessarily the correct choice.

Then youve got your personas. The main concept of the game is going through dungeons, acquiring new personas, using those, and then when they become obsolete, you fuse together two lackluster ones into a better one with better moves, and you can inherit the old moves, so they have a nice mix of relevance and strength, and then maybe that persona gets used in a triple fusion and becomes a mega persona. It gets addictive trying to find out paths to get personas that would be very useful that can resist as many elements as possible. The personas are pretty cool, too. Every time I go through, I kinda have a set list of my favorite, most useful ones: Sarasvati -> Rakshasa -> Parvati -> Black Frost -> Kikuri Hime -> Hariti -> Thor -> Sraosha -> Futsunushi -> Zaou Gongen/Lucifer (Priestess is OP). Also, one of them is a dick chariot.



Persona 4 Golden is definitely the way to play this game nowadays. There are new areas to explore, new scenes to view, new minigames to play, new social links to max out, and a brand new ending to get. You can choose what skills your personas inherit when fusing (what a fucking godsend, I spent at least 10 hours wasting my time with this bullshit in the base game). You can see what everyone else who played the game decided to do every day. There are tag team attacks, chariot attacks, all-out attacks that are boosted by Rise, more voice-overs, more music, all kinds of stuff. And on top of that, you get to tweak the difficulty to your choosing. Do you want tougher enemies, but for them to still give you lots of exp and money so you dont have to grind? You can tweak all of those completely separately, to get the experience you want.

INVESTIGATION TEAM RANKING:
Yosuke > Rise > Kanji > Naoto > Chie > Marie > Teddie > Yukiko

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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