Board 8 > Persona 4 Golden First Playthrough

(+) Yeah! (+)

*SPOILERS* progressively for this game, but please do not spoil the story. Pretty please?

All I really know about this game is that there is a point where you actually have to figure out yourself who the killer is. Because of this I kind of wanted to log my suspicions of the various characters throughout.

Probably like a lot of other people the first and only other Persona game I've played is P5R. I will inevitably make comparisons to it but I'll keep spoilers to that to a bare minimum and tag when I do. I also played a decent bit of SMT4 a long time ago but rage quit it when the guest characters kept healing bosses. Don't expect to hear much more about that.

Playing on Hard Settings. Was going to do Very Hard but when I saw the only real difference was Exp and Money Gained I decided to avoid the inevitable grinding I'd do to make up for it. Also I will be using a guide for S-Links because fuck doing that blind.

Good luck! I love P4G (top ten game ever for me), but it's tough for many people to play the other Persona games when they start with 5.

Tag

Yeah I started with P5 and had a hard time getting into P4G. I gave up after like 30-40 hours.

Sorry the first post of actual substance took so long.

Current Day: 4/16

• I've only known her for a few days, but if anything happens to Nanako I will kill everyone in the room and then myself.
• Dojima seems almost too nice. He also seems to think suit jackets are never to be worn only held. Even when holding an umbrella in the other hand.
• I had heard things about Chie's VA in Golden but I was not prepared. I'm not even sure I'd call her a bad VA per se. I'll bet I've heard her in something else I liked her better in. But it's like she got her lines in a random order and with no direction whatsoever so she's just guessing how to deliver them at any given point. It's just bizarre. Ignoring that I'd say I like the character but it's hard to get past.
• Even with the goofy antics they introduce him with, Yosuke seems kinda bland so far. Similar background to the MC makes it seem like he's just sort of a stand-in for that perspective. He has plenty of time to come around. Hopefully any future shadows reveal something less obvious than "I'm just bored" though.
• Not much to say about "popular but oblivious to it" girl whose name I currently forget. Thanks for wearing a kimono so we could identify a blurry image of you? That said, the reporter that was basically thirsty AF talking to her was...something. I'm not even sure they were playing that as if he were doing something wrong like they did in a similar scene in P5 where a TV studio employee was hitting on Ann and Makoto even after they told him they were in high school.
• Okay how does Morooka still have a job? That guy is just beyond problematic. Also immediate suspicion for being obsessed with keeping the kids from having sex when the first victim was a lady who was in an affair. Not much to go on yet but it's a start.
• I was going to say that I wasn't going to suspect anyone who wasn't properly introduced as a character with the two others in the love triangle specifically in mind. Then just before I started writing these up they apparently gave those two solid alibis so I guess the game's on the same page as me. Same goes for that reporter I mentioned earlier, but if he keeps showing up he's going on the list. I think it was the same guy interviewing the second victim as well?
• I didn't expect to be introduced to the second victim with basically no time for me to start caring about her. Guess a second victim had to happen quickly to establish that it's a serial killer though.
• The MC can just go inside any TV? That'd be pretty convenient if they didn't have to keep doing it in the middle of a store.
• After P5 I just kinda assumed Teddy would be a party member. Still will take him over Morgana so far. Dude just wants to live alone in his swamp.
• The killing method is supposedly just throwing people into the other world, but they end up back in the real world obviously posed when so far Teddy is the only one shown who can get people back to the real. This is an obvious contradiction that I'm sure they'll address.
• First mini-boss took me 2 out of 3 potions they gave me. This does not bode well.
• I'm kinda suspicious of Adachi and I really can't explain why.
• For the time being, I'm going to exempt all playable characters from suspicion. I don't really want to get into why.

Current Most Likely Suspect: Morooka
Confidence Level: <1%

Suspicion Tier Lists
Wtf is wrong with you?

• Morooka

Inexperience as a cover?

• Adachi

Boy that'd suck

• Dojima

No real reason to suspect you

• World history teacher
• Principal who made announcement

Boy that'd be disappointing

• Teddy

Nanako

• Nanako

(I reserve the right to change tier names at any time. As well as forget, I mean purposefully exclude, people from the list.)

kevwaffles posted...

I'll bet I've heard her in something else I liked her better in.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Fitzgerald

she honestly kinda sounds the same in everything she's in, or close enough that I instantly recognize her VA when I hear her

Okay yeah she was perfectly fine as Wakaba in P5. I don't get what's up with her here.

I did that write up right before the Midnight Channel. I wasn't expecting a clear image let alone Princess Yukiko or whatever was up with that. The personality shift at least makes her interesting even if it's probably not really her.

tag - got some interesting takes there!

Good luck getting into it. If you played P5R first, getting into P4G is going to be a bit rough. I should go back to P4G since the story is still pretty great.

Erin Fitzgerald IS Chie, though. As in... the character is her actual alter ego.

For what it's worth, a few characters were recast for Golden (like Chie), and so they had to re-record all their dialogue. Teddie is another one whose VA is new. The weirdness may be a product of that, but it's honestly been so long that I can't remember what their old VAs sounded like.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

If you played P5R first, getting into P4G is going to be a bit rough.

I can tolerate bad or disappointing gameplay if the story is good enough. Honestly that's probably the other reason I dropped SMT4. I couldn't really even tell you what happened in the parts I played. Even if it wasn't bad I clearly wasn't engaged at that point.

The opposite also holds true. I'm looking at you, FFX-2!

Playing P3 will be even tougher if you ever try to go back to it. The gameplay really does improve with each game.

P3 doesn't let you control other party members, right? I'm much more hesitant to try that one.

That's the reason I never finished P3. It got the party wiped a good half-dozen times, and the last time it happened was totally egregious and like an hour into a dungeon dive.

I feel like persona 4 isnt much less playable than p5- Persona 3 is where it really drops off. The dungeon grind was just too long and too monotonous

Even in p5 I thought the dungeons were too long- I was always eager to get back to the social stuff

I'd for sure replay p3 with cheat codes, though

Do you want any warnings about which social links have time limits before they expire? There are different reasons for the time limits, so don't worry that it says something specific about a character because it actually doesn't.

Personally I'd recommend looking up a no spoilers guide as to which links you need to finish before a certain time; I did and the plot from the full links was worth it.

I played 5 -> 4 -> 3 and 4 didn't feel bad to go back to. 3 was where I really felt the lack of future features.

Going through the same exact dungeon in P4G 10 times is really what did it for me. But I also didn't like the characters or plot either.

Im in the middle of my first playthrough of P4G right now, too!

Im quite a bit further (November). Having not done this, I wanna make a minor suggestion and say start leveling your party member social links as soon as you can for the combat benefits.

I jumped right into Persona 4 after P5 cause I was craving more Persona and it didn't end well. I tried again after giving it some time to breathe and I enjoyed it the second time around. I still think Persona 5 outclasses it in every way but as long as you can stop yourself from comparing the two it's a good time!

kevwaffles posted...

Okay how does Morooka still have a job?

almighty tenure

FakeAccount3000 posted...

Personally I'd recommend looking up a no spoilers guide as to which links you need to finish before a certain time; I did and the plot from the full links was worth it.

I'm using the S-Link guide on this site and trying not to look further ahead then needed. It doesn't seem to give too much more info than necessary (so far).

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/293013-persona-4-golden/faqs/64630

If there's a better one people know of by all means let me know!

Amazing game, looking forward to reading this as you go!

MZero posted...

I jumped right into Persona 4 after P5 cause I was craving more Persona and it didn't end well. I tried again after giving it some time to breathe and I enjoyed it the second time around. I still think Persona 5 outclasses it in every way but as long as you can stop yourself from comparing the two it's a good time!

I played P5R in early 2020, so it's been a while. As far as comparisons go I'm pretty much limiting it to some of the more obvious character parallels so far, because there are plenty.

I do need to play Strikers at some point but I really haven't been feeling up to it.

I've only played the original on PS2. I am curious about the Golden version though.

Current Day: 4/17 Before Bed

• Holy shit Yosuke swinging around weapons in public in broad daylight and it goes as well as expected. He was already clearly the "dumb" party member but I didn't expect him to be that much of a fucking moron.
• Thanks Dojima for bailing us out! Feel free to hang Yosuke out to dry next time though!
• Turns out Yukiko is actually missing now. *pikachu shock face*
• Hey thanks for telling us all of that Adachi! Also why would you tell us all of that Adachi?
• Convenient weapons shop
• Do they really not have save points in the dungeons or am I just overlooking it? Maybe it's just because this one was so short.
• The game wants me to sneak up on enemies in completely open corridors. Sure thing, game.
• Chie sounds much better when she has a clear reason to emote. Her Shadow also sounded great.
• Oh thank goodness that Dungeon Retry starts you at the current floor.
• I purposely re-did the entire dungeon (available to this point) because I didn't realize it would end so quickly and I didn't get a Strength Persona like the guide recommends. Since it was so short I didn't mind. It then took me so long to actually find Sandman that I was starting to think I was being trolled.
• This also led me to discover that dungeons are randomly generated. Given how bare bones the layout was this makes sense. I also vaguely remember hearing something about Mementos being more like old Persona dungeons. I guess that makes sense now.
• I discovered too late that leaving the floor will also generate new chests for you. I'd have a lot more stuff in my hunt for Sandman if I had done that earlier.
• Dojima apparently had follow up concerns regarding us getting arrested. No sir, I'm definitely not getting caught up in any dumb teenage anime bullshit!
• In retrospect, the more I look at Adachi's character portrait the more he seems primed for an Ace Attorney style villain transformation. I expect he'll overtake Morooka at the current rate for suspicion.

I won't necessarily do an update every game day. Just felt I had a lot to say.

Current Most Likely Suspect: Morooka
Confidence Level: <1%

Suspicion Tier Lists
Wtf is wrong with you?

• Morooka

Bafflingly Informative

• Adachi

Gut Punch

• Dojima

Non-Sus

• World history teacher
• Principal who made announcement
• Old Man Daedara

Anti-climactic

• Teddie (now spelled correctly!)

Nanako

• Nanako

I have a soft spot for Adachi because his voice actor is so iconic.

Also for the record I fully accept the possibility that I haven't even been properly introduced to the killer yet. These games are long and they have plenty of time. That's not going to stop me from doing these lists though.

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

I have a soft spot for Adachi because his voice actor is so iconic.

Nah he's just dead weight.

kevwaffles posted...

Nah he's just dead weight.

Oh man, I had no idea.

Save points in Persona dungeons are pretty stingy, but even if you leave the dungeon to save outside (always make sure you have plenty of the item that lets you instantly leave a dungeon), you can restart at the floor you left off on, so there's that.

Leonhart4 posted...

Save points in Persona dungeons are pretty stingy, but even if you leave the dungeon to save outside (always make sure you have plenty of the item that lets you instantly leave a dungeon), you can restart at the floor you left off on, so there's that.

Oh yeah, also if you ever restart at floor 1, you cant leave and restart at the previous floor you were on.

One time I accidentally chose floor 1 instead of 7, and had to do basically an entire dungeon again. Not the biggest deal, but when the dungeons are the weakest part of the game, its a bummer.

Current Day: End of 4/21

• Morooka has summoned me to the gas station at night. This is very normal and unconcerning.
• Okay it was for a school uniform. And he had me come here because he was busy chewing out another student for being out late. Then he gets to chew me out for being out late at his behest. What a jack ass.
• "Hanging out with women, going on dates with them, that's fine. Killing them? Not so much." -Stylish student
• I gave a kid a soda and he gave me two ladybugs in return. Gaming logic tells me this was a good thing.
• I haven't said much about the Velvet Room residents. Hung out with Marie. Still don't have much to say about them.
• Joined the soccer team on the basis that joining the basketball team can keep you from getting a book for some reason.
• Entered the TV to rescue Yukiko on the 21st.
• Got Electrode'd into a party wipe. Turning on Battle Retry. Might turn the rest of the settings to normal.
• Oh wait Battle Retry isn't really retrying. It's apparently just a full on the spot heal. That seems like a little too much.
• I just accidentally fused away my Lightning coverage and realized I forgot to register everything first. Oops. I'm just gonna start over.
• Went ahead and changed the difficulty to normal. Even then I had to blow through every MP restoration item I had to get through the dungeon in one attempt. I'm kinda appreciating the P5 system that forces you to do the main boss on a separate day.
• I'm just gonna say it. Shuffle Time sucks. If you're too weak or too strong it becomes unreliable to trigger. You can chain Full Sweeps pretty reliably once you're lucky enough to get one, but then you're forced to take a bunch of Half Exp/Money cards you didn't otherwise need to.
• Does this game ever introduce Baton Passes? Feel free to actually answer that.
• They replayed that reporter interview with Yukiko at some point in the dungeon with her true feelings. Still it seemed to be on the general theme of hating her life being chosen for her and not the reporter being a total creep.
• Both Chie's and Yukiko's shadows have been much more interesting than Yosuke's. The symbolism of Chie's standing on others and Yukiko's being a bird in a cage is cool even if it's so obvious I hesitated to actually call it symbolism.
• Oh goody another simp mascot. Just what I always wanted.
• Yukiko doesn't remember anything useful about the person who threw her in. I am shocked, shocked we didn't solve this immediately.
• We'll wait for her to fully recover. Naturally I'm sure that will take just slightly longer than the rest of the time we had to save her.
• Dojima and Adachi show up at home to give us the good news that Yukiko has been found. I decide to be as suspicious as possible by saying I already knew that. It really doesn't get much of a reaction.
• I will say that if it is Adachi he seems utterly unfazed that we foiled his plans. Then again regardless of who it is I have to consider that actually killing people may not be the primary purpose given the impersonal MO.

Current Most Likely Suspect: Morooka
Confidence Level: <1%

Suspicion Tier Lists
Keeping you at the top mostly out of spite let's be real

• Morooka

Bafflingly Informative

• Adachi

Gut Punch

• Dojima

Non-Sus

• World history teacher
• Principal who made announcement
• Mr. Kondo
• Mr. Hosoi
• Old Man Daedara

Tied to a club choice and therefore I feel they might make an awkward choice

• Daisuke
• Kou

Anti-climactic

• Teddie

Nanako

• Nanako

kevwaffles posted...

* Does this game ever introduce Baton Passes? Feel free to actually answer that.

Persona 5 mechanic only, so no

leaving topic out of pure disgust for choosing soccer over basketball

MZero posted...

leaving topic out of pure disgust for choosing soccer over basketball

Tbf soccer was the only sport I was even remotely decent at as a kid, so it's what I would have chosen at that age if I had to pick one. Basketball is probably my worst sport and that's saying something.

Now if we're talking about what I enjoy watching, give me basketball any day.

Arti posted...

Persona 5 mechanic only, so no

I thought so. Dang.

You can get all the books from Basketball, but for some reason there are VERY specific days you need to hang out with them to get them.

I don't think of Teddie as a simp

Leonhart4 posted...

I don't think of Teddie as a simp

He flirts with Yukiko a little here and there, but it's nothing out of the ordinary for high school angst. It's not like Morgana's ever-enduring hard-on for Ann, which is one of many reasons Morgana is annoying. Teddie is fine by comparison.

(Edit: I used the Japanese spelling for Ann, whoops)

Teddie flirts (although he doesn't even seem to really understand what he's saying most of the time), but yeah, he isn't constantly pining desperately for anyone's affection.

Yeah, if it doesn't go on and on every scene like it does with Morgana I'll retract that label. Their first meeting just gave me flashbacks.

Don't get me wrong. Teddie's antics can be annoying. I just don't think he's a simp.

I didn't personally label Morgana as a simp at first because I figured he'd chill out after a little bit with that but he never did. I fully admit my initial thoughts to seeing Teddie act even a little bit similar are completely colored by that.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

He flirts with Yukiko a little here and there, but it's nothing out of the ordinary for high school angst.

No, he does a bit more than that, lol

I played persona 4 twice but never golden. Is it different enough to replay again?

_stingers_ posted...

I played persona 4 twice but never golden. Is it different enough to replay again?

There is a good bit of extra content (your mileage may vary on how good it is), but if you're a big fan of the original, I don't see any reason not to play Golden.

_stingers_ posted...

I played persona 4 twice but never golden. Is it different enough to replay again?

I played P4 once and then P4G a few years later, and I thought it was a slog a lot of the time. By the end, I was very ready for things to be over. That said, if you really love P4, it does have more P4 content, that's for sure.

I suppose that is something else I've heard. That the extra semester isn't great. I'm still doing it regardless.

I enjoyed the extra semester in P5R fwiw. I think the very nature of the extra semester sort of screws with the pacing even it is good but I can deal with that knowing it's just extra content.

Current Day: 4/30 Evening

• Yosuke wants to hang out. Fortunately for him the GameFAQs guide that makes my life decisions agrees that I should do that. I do need to go back into town to get a Magician Persona though. Yosuke is nice enough to not question this.
• Kou however tries to break my predestined schedule. Sorry, bud.
• Club choice time again. The guide recommended Drama because there weren't any choices that relied on attributes, but I looked ahead and that literally happens once in Music. So screw it gonna be a band nerd like I was IRL. (Although I quit by the Hero's age.)
• Unlike the sports' clubs it seems you don't actually get acquainted with the person of the club you don't choose. I'm still gonna toss Ayane in that category but really it's basically a narrative impossibility for it to be her.
• Three different people apparently lined up to get me to hang out today. I can't please everybody!
• Purposefully eating very expired food raises Courage. I think it should really lower Knowledge.
• Made me watch the Midnight Channel to see nothing. Then they cut to the shopping district to have "Voice" say nothing. Thanks Persona.
• Hey look it's Yukiko back in school right on schedule.
• Literally the first thing said by a newly-introduced Mr. Yamada: "Hm? Yukiko-san is back. That's good, I'm glad the only cutie in the class was able to return. Wouldn't you guys agree?" JFC this entire town needs to be thrown in horny jail.
• Then he immediately backpedals as hard as he can. Too late buddy you earned a higher spot on the tier list and you're not shaking it any time soon.
• So the culprit literally walked up, rang the door bell and called for Yukiko? They must either know the victim isn't going to have a clear memory or they never expected the victim to get out and are the luckiest sob in the world. Or it just isn't the culprit and her memory loss goes back further, which is what the group goes with for now.
• Apparently the allure of instant noodles was so strong Yosuke and Hero just ate the girls' food.
• Oh look here's Adachi showing up right as we're discussing the killer.
• Again with the diarrhea of the mouth. "W-Wait were you listening to all that!?" Dude you were literally responding to a question Chie asked you.
• Into the TV to find answers maybe I guess?
• Yukiko immediately puts on the joke glasses. I instantly like her more.
• And then we did nothing else. Sure whatever. I guess it's nice of us to visit Teddie.
• The Dojima family is going on a trip. The script of my life says nothing about it so I say I'll come, but I'm guessing detective work will interfere with that.

Current Most Likely Suspect: Adachi
Confidence Level: 3%

Suspicion Tier Lists
Your Timing and Info is just way too much to ignore

• Adachi

Spite/Hate

• Morooka

Kamoshida would be proud

• Mr. Yamada

Gut Punch

• Dojima

Non-Sus

• Ms. Sofue (finally told me her name again)
• Principal who made announcement
• Mr. Kondo
• Mr. Hosoi
• Old Man Daedara
• Mrs. Nakayama

Tied to a club choice

• Daisuke
• Kou
• Ayane Matsunaga

Anti-climactic

• Teddie

Nanako

• Nanako

Boy you're going to be so shocked when Nanako is the killer

_stingers_ posted...

Boy you're going to be so shocked when Nanako is the killer

BRB redoing my tier lists.