Persona 4 Golden was one of many PS Vita’s defining video games. An expanded model of the PS2’s Persona 4, which first launched in 2008, Golden is broadly thought to be among the best JRPGs on the market — and it is nonetheless straightforward to see why.
Many would argue that Atlus’ collection actually got here into its personal with Persona 4. It took the blueprint behind the already implausible Persona 3 and ran with it, broadening its ambitions with a wider (and extra in-depth) forged of characters, a greater realised setting, and a heavier concentrate on the socialising aspect of gameplay.
The sport primarily takes place within the rural Japanese city of Inaba, which stays one of many style’s most memorable areas. It is an idyllic, if considerably uninteresting place to be a young person, however as quickly as you arrive on the town as a switch pupil from the large metropolis, issues get loopy. A string of inexplicable murders shakes Inaba to its core, and it is as much as you and your new highschool buddies to resolve this macabre thriller.
However you will not be dusting for clues or questioning suspects on this specific case. As an alternative, you enter TV screens and discover one other dimension that is stuffed with harmful, shadowy creatures. It sounds mad written down like that, however in some way, the sport makes it work. That is most likely due to the title’s extremely likeable forged, who floor the expertise at each flip.
Certainly, these are some excellent characters. From stern detective Dojima and his lovable daughter Nanako, to classmates Chie the tomboy and Kanji the kind-hearted delinquent, Persona 4 is bursting on the seams with relatable and extremely entertaining personalities. And you will get to know most of them by the sport’s social hyperlink system, which has you hanging out together with your potential buddies with the intention to deepen your bonds with them.
In the event you’ve performed Persona 5, you will already know that stronger bonds means stronger persona creation. These manifestations of your interior self will serve you in battle towards the aforementioned shadows, and so they act because the hyperlink between the sport’s dungeon crawling motion, and the day-to-day highschool socialising. It is the identical glorious design that is been carrying Persona as a collection for over a decade now, and it is particularly effectively balanced, and meaningfully carried out, in Persona 4.
As at all times, the method of fusing stronger and stronger personas shortly turns into addictive. In the meantime, you are assembly attention-grabbing new individuals, delving into more and more harmful dungeons, and powering up your occasion with expertise factors and gear. Persona 4 takes just a few hours to essentially get going, however as soon as it does, you will battle to pull your self away from its glorious gameplay loop.
There’s just one factor that will get in the best way of the sport’s implausible circulate, and that is the dungeon design (which is one thing that Persona 5 particularly got down to enhance upon). Although distinct of their visible kinds, Persona 4’s dreamlike lairs are made up of samey corridors and never a lot else. The layouts are randomised every time you enter a ground, however there isn’t any getting round simply how monotonous they’re to navigate. The dungeons aren’t a dealbreaker — in spite of everything, the turn-based fight is the principle draw of any delve — however they could be onerous to abdomen relying in your expectations.
However as we are saying, it is the battles that’ll maintain your consideration. Each on a mechanical and visible stage, fight is lifted immediately from Persona 3, however it’s higher balanced right here — notably on the subject of squaring off towards boss enemies. Hitting your opponent’s weaknesses with sure expertise and skills continues to be the secret, scoring extra assaults and different party-based bonuses. It is the tactical but approachable system that Persona 5 would arguably go on to good — however it’s nonetheless very effectively executed in Persona 4.
So, how does Persona 4 Golden maintain up on PS4, away from the famously crisp display of the PS Vita? Effectively, the sport’s charming PS2-era graphics stay intact, however enhanced texture work provides some welcome element to Inaba’s intricate locales. What’s extra, the entire thing runs at a rock stable 60 frames-per-second — though we’re not big followers of the movement blur impact that happens indoors. An pointless distraction at occasions.
And, in fact, we could not probably leap to this overview’s conclusion with out mentioning the soundtrack. Persona 4’s music is the right associate to its vibrant visible palette, and the monitor checklist is stuffed with bangers that you’re going to be buzzing for years to come back.
Conclusion
An immaculate RPG filled with nice characters and constructed on a close to flawless gameplay loop, it is nonetheless onerous to high Persona 4 Golden. Certainly, there are a variety of issues that Persona 5 does higher, however with its vivid colors, uplifting soundtrack, and excellent setting, there is a distinctive attraction to Persona 4 that units it other than its friends. An absolute gem of a recreation.
