I am convinced that it is the best RPG ever. When I first played Persona 3, I thought to myself "wow this is so good, no way is Persona 4 as good as this." But it is. Better characters (best I've run into in an RPG), better handling time deadlines, better social links.
I suppose the story is less important than Persona 3's - 3's stakes are higher, and in the Persona universe I suppose 3's characters and actions matter more. But 4 is still a well-told story with a great atmosphere. It's more charming, and that's saying a lot since P3 was pretty charming as well.
Only a couple bad things.
-Having to figure out clues about a couple of the characters wasn't too fun. Those felt like fetch quests and I can't say I approve.
-Instant deaths/game overs are an issue in both games. I think if you removed those altogether you wouldn't really lose anything.
-There's quite a few "gotcha" moments. Like "this guy is the killer, oh whoops just kidding" and then "actually this guy is, oh wrong again." Given how they explain in the ending that you avoided every wrong turn and found the truth, I'm willing to forgive that. It fits well with the theme.
Those are minor complaints. Persona 4 is awesome. I hope they make a 5!
Edit: Play Skyrim because it will become your favorite RPG ever. My fiancee and I have been looking for good JRPGs to play lately and we've both kind of settled on P4, actually - it should be here soon. I'm not trashing on your amazing experience, I'm just saying...
play Skyrim.
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"SMOKEDOG42O taught me how to feel love, but fetus taught me how to make love." - Pablo Escobar
One weird thing to think about is that because of how the time system is setup, there's never really an opportunity tohave a post-game. This isn't like FF7 where you clear the final cutscene and then go max all your materia and levels and beat the optional bosses and beat all the sidequests for the next 40 hours. Having a New Game + makes that work though.
I've played a couple of hours of Skyrim and like it. I'm waiting for a PS2 -> USB controller adapter to come in so I can play with a controller on my PC, I think that'll be an improvement. I've been holding off on the game while waiting for that.
From: OmarsComin | #009 I've played a couple of hours of Skyrim and like it. I'm waiting for a PS2 -> USB controller adapter to come in so I can play with a controller on my PC, I think that'll be an improvement. I've been holding off on the game while waiting for that.
Ah, that's a fair point. I'm much more of a controller person myself, too.
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"SMOKEDOG42O taught me how to feel love, but fetus taught me how to make love." - Pablo Escobar
From: OmarsComin | #012 I wonder if you're supposed to get the good ending your first time through without a guide. You have to do some pretty specific stuff.
If you have been paying attention, you should at least avoid the Bad Ending.
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"Yeah. You damn well better listen to me. I am the authority on raging about stupid things." ~SmartMuffin SuperNiceDog: Bracket: Good, Taste: Bad
The atmosphere was totally different in the two games. Persona 4 felt way too much like one big joke for me to take it seriously, whereas the vast majority of Persona 3 was tense and exciting.
Disclaimer: I only got about 15 or 20 hours through Persona 4 the time I played it, so if it gets significantly better after that than I may be wrong. I do plan on finishing it at some point though.
Persona 4 gets pretty friggin dramatic and tense towards the end. Yosuke yelling at everything and car chases and all sorts of stuff. Overall the atmosphere is more lighthearted though for sure.
The whole time when a certain character gets kidnapped and rescuing that character was like... the most intense thing I've experienced in a game. I was like, on a mission, man.
I really like how it changed from "once a month you fight a boss" to "you have x number of days to finish this dungeon." Really changed the whole character IMO and for the better.
I way prefer P4 in general. P3 was fun, but P4 just has way better characters.
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"As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero." -Vaarsuvius, Order of the Stick
I wonder if Persona 5 will come out for 360. If not, it's pretty much the only game that might cause me to pick up a PS3. I haven't liked a series this much in a while. The last time I was willing to buy a console for one game was FFX.
It hasn't been announced.... so, that's probably what that means.
right but some dude from the company said they've started work preliminary work on it and are using their own engine so it might take a while. hopefully it's not FFVersus13 "a while"
Teddie so low. What. I guess I can see why. And Kanji only at #6? Oh well.
how about dat adachi and dojima. But yes, P4 is amazing. I liked some things about P3 and how it raised the stakes, but P4 seems like a much more complete game overall.
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Rank 9, Dr. Peace? Pffft, nothing compared to Rank 1, Dr_Football! when thinking of Krystal, does GMUN's pants get overcrowded? ~ GMUN
Teddie and Aigis are on my "indifferent towards" area, I don't dislike them. Teddie did have some good moments for sure.
Adachi and Dojima are both so good. Adachi having that sudden character shift after you out him was jarring though. He seems like a likable guy when he's visiting for dinner. I guess that's the point.
the top 8 all strike me as pretty excellent characters. But Yosuke and Chie are the best and Junpei and Akihiko are pretty great too, couldn't justify putting Kanji over any of them
Everything about P4 is better except the music. The worst characters in P4 (Yukiko and Naoto) are better than everyone but the best characters in P3 (Aigis and Yukari and MAYBE Junpei).
And Rise is awesome and Akihiko is the 2nd worst character in P3, so wtf @ those rankings.