Persona 4 Golden Review (PS4)

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 probably the greatest 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 improbable 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 deal with the socialising facet 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 youngster, however as quickly as you arrive on the town as a switch scholar from the massive 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 unravel this macabre thriller.

However you will not be dusting for clues or questioning suspects on this explicit case. As a substitute, you enter TV screens and discover one other dimension that is full of harmful, shadowy creatures. It sounds mad written down like that, however by some means, the sport makes it work. That is most likely because of 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 cute 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 way of the sport’s social hyperlink system, which has you hanging out along with your potential buddies so as to deepen your bonds with them.

Should you’ve performed Persona 5, you may already know that stronger bonds means stronger persona creation. These manifestations of your inside self will serve you in battle in opposition to the aforementioned shadows, they usually act because the hyperlink between the sport’s dungeon crawling motion, and the day-to-day highschool socialising. It is the identical wonderful design that is been carrying Persona as a collection for over a decade now, and it is particularly effectively balanced, and meaningfully applied, 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 folks, delving into more and more harmful dungeons, and powering up your occasion with expertise factors and tools. Persona 4 takes a number of hours to actually get going, however as soon as it does, you may wrestle to pull your self away from its wonderful gameplay loop.

There’s just one factor that will get in the way in which of the sport’s improbable 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 flooring, however there is no getting round simply how monotonous they’re to navigate. The dungeons aren’t a dealbreaker — in any case, the turn-based fight is the principle draw of any delve — however they may 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 instantly from Persona 3, but it surely’s higher balanced right here — notably on the subject of squaring off in opposition to boss enemies. Hitting your opponent’s weaknesses with sure abilities and skills remains 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 excellent — but it surely’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? Nicely, 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 strong 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 bounce to this assessment’s conclusion with out citing the soundtrack. Persona 4’s music is the right accomplice to its vibrant visible palette, and the observe checklist is stuffed with bangers that you will be buzzing for years to come back.

Conclusion

An immaculate RPG full of nice characters and constructed on a close to flawless gameplay loop, it is nonetheless onerous to high Persona 4 Golden. Indisputably, there are quite a lot 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.