It has been two years since I jumped into the Persona world. Back in June 2020, I reviewed the PC version of this and came out of the experience with a glowing review. That said, I still have some of the same immediate feelings that I did the first time around. Those were:
– So much dialogue. Yes, there are branching narratives mixed into it that make you feel like you’re shaping the story, but you’re going to do a lot of reading.
– The competing gloominess of the story with a fair amount of oddity and humor make for a good narrative. Definitely an interesting one.
– David Lynch would still be proud of the musical score, as it matches the tone.
– A good turn-based game.
Let’s dig right into it again.
Story drives this puppy
Love the story. Absolutely adore it. I think that it still has well-thought-through plot points that bridge together well with each other. I like that they cast this underlying gloom and doom about people pulled from the real world into another against their will. It’s creepy and unsettling, and it creates intrigue that motivates you to keep pushing forward in the game. The story is the centerpiece of the experience and without it, everything just falls into the usual category of JRPG structure.
Now, as much as the overall story is amazing, there is way too much dialogue. It’s basically a visual novel, though the visuals are stunning and interesting. That said, the excessive dialogue builds a beautifully structured narrative before it digs into the gameplay, which to be truthful, I didn’t expect because I have never experienced anything like that before in my gaming history. T put this in perspective, there is a total of three hours of chitter-chatter from the start of the game between characters and about 2-3 fights mixed into that time span. I do realize that this seems like an exaggeration, but this is the truth. As stated earlier, the story is the centerpiece, so the game will absolutely not start gameplay until it gets to the point where that gameplay was built into it. Ultimately, that is fine, but if you’re looking to get into an RPG action segment quickly, then this ain’t it, Master Chief.
Anyway, back to the story, it revolves around a young kid who is staying with his uncle and cousin for a year in a small Japanese village called Inaba. The main character (you) must find a way to fit in with the local crowd, as well as with students at his school (easy enough). While finding his comfort in the community, a local reporter and a local government official are caught in a scandalous affair, which ripples through Inaba and seemingly affects everyone in some way. To add more drama to it, the young reporter, who is caught in the scandal, is found dead, hanging from a telephone pole with no suspects in mind. The situation gets worse, as people involved somehow with the young reporter begin to either show up dead or missing. The story hits close to home with the main character and his school when a young student is found dead as well. The bodies seem to pile up in the most serial killer of ways with no clues on how/why, and then stranger shit starts occurring — incredibly strange shit.
The three initial main students of the story, decide to peer into a television on a rainy night at midnight in hopes of seeing their soulmate. It completely seems sensible. The seance quickly turns from giddy flightiness into a terrifying reality when a dimensional portal opens up in the main character’s television, which eventually sends our main character (and friends) into a world that is directly connected with the murders in Inaba. In the dimension, they meet a creepy-ass bear that tells them that someone is throwing people into his dimension, which eventually leads to the deaths of said people. To make matters worse, to uncover the mystery of what the hell is going on, our main characters have to fight shadows, incredibly vicious dimensional beings, in hopes of uncovering clues and solving the mystery.
While the massive amounts of dialogue can weigh down on a gamer’s patience, the music and story grabbed me and showed me exactly why this game series had been revered. I get it now and understand all facets of why gamers enjoy the series, why it takes so long to write a review for Persona games, and why the entire series is nothing short of time-consuming.
Persona 4 Golden is very methodical in how it creates its story and doesn’t really give a damn whether gamers want to jump into gameplay or not. It’s solely focused on grabbing gamers with its narrative, which I absolutely adore and appreciate, though still feel a bit dragged down by the dialogue. Its design and process of story-first works and I would replay this game just to change my dialogue choices and play the game differently if I had another 5-10 days to do so. In short, I really thought the story was the selling point of the game and it collaborated so well with the music, voice actors (who seemed to give it their best), and overall creepy tone that Sega and Atlus devs were trying to achieve.
Shining Gameplay
The gameplay design had a traditional turn-based component to it, where you choose how you’re going to attack/defend and work with teammates for strategic moves. Essentially, the game is built on 2012 intentions, where it’s simplified through leveling up after countless fights, gaining skills along the way from leveling up, and gathering together a team of fighters to JRPG one’s way through the storyline. In other words, gamers are going to tread on familiar territory in gameplay design that you’re used to from a standard JRPG turn-based structure.
You’ve got guard, attack, special moves, and motivation to keep getting better through confronting and defeating enemies. Yes, there is a grind component to this, which is present through the turn-based design of any game in the past (looking at you Phantasy Star I – IV), which is not as present as other JRPGs thanks to the variety of creative enemies which are something out of a nightmarish anime-style dream. You will be given plenty of motivation to keep going in the game, despite the grind, thanks to a solid leveling system and the variety of enemies a gamer would encounter. Persona 4 Golden makes sure you get the right amount of everything when it comes to execution and design. One cool addition to this gameplay structure is the use of Personas, which are alter-egos that help you bring powerful attacks or defense to the fight. They can be upgraded, meshed together, and bring a unique way of fighting in this JRPG. Their use is extensive and they bring a new way of making the gameplay fun. They’re so anime in their methods and overall execution.
Another cool aspect of the gameplay is how you can band together at particular points in the fight and just go after an enemy all at once. This is akin to a final move in an action game and can either end a fight or be poorly timed to end up on the receiving end of losing. The fact that this exists makes for a deeper gameplay experience with the title and a fun one. Everything about this gameplay seems so methodical and meticulous. It was truly thought through and everything is there for a reason. It isn’t wasted at all.
Now, as mentioned previously with enemy design, the art style in the game is out there and frightfully good. The enemies certainly push the creepiness of the narrative and seem to up the ante with each major boss encounter. The wacky animated environments have a touch of horror in them, especially when gamers skip to an alternate dimension. For example, the first-time gamers meet Teddie (the clown/bear/thingy mentioned previously), the tone of the scene is set through a foggy yellow environment and the character’s creepy expression of unusual happiness, makes the moment dreadfully uneasy. Of course, it only gets worse from there with drops of murderous clues through dialogue and visuals. I don’t want to give anything away because it’s best to experience it, but visually this game works well with the narrative. I love those two elements the most when it comes to the gameplay design.
If you’re looking for extensive gameplay that is going to occupy you for hours, you’ve come to the right place. The mixture of a good story with great execution of actual gameplay makes for a long and memorable time with Persona 4 Golden.
PlayStation 4/5 – nothing to write home about visually
There wasn’t a huge difference between the Vita and PC two years ago, aside from some textures getting some updates from small screen to big. The PlayStation 4/5 release follows the same suit. The textures are a little upgraded, especially shadows and lighting, but nothing particularly impressive to write home about. The graphics are on par with the PC version and not too far from the Vita. The textures and the number of details won’t be overly impressive whatsoever. Graphically, you would want a remake for a big system like the PS5, but this is not the version of the game that is going to bring any of that home to you. There are still some incredibly unimpressive visuals with this game and aren’t something anyone should praise. It’s certainly not as remade as Resident Evil 1-3 on the PS5. The visuals are just unremarkable and don’t use the hardware to improve its situation.
Somewhere down the road, there is going to be a remake of this and then it will look superb. It’s certainly a unique enough experience to warrant one and it has an enormous following. So, Atlus/SEGA, let’s get to it!
On that note, let’s wrap up.
Conclusion
My second time around with Persona 4 Golden was still a positive one. While I’m still a little put off by the amount of dialogue the game features, I completely understand that it’s for good reason, as the overall story is absolutely thrilling as it is terrifying. It’s a gorgeous centerpiece to superb gameplay design and I have nothing but praise for it. The only knock with P4G is that I wish it gave more reason to own it on the last and current generation of consoles.
