Persona 4 Review

This Time it's Persona-l...get it?
by Duncan

If you’re completely fed up by the sheer number of mediocre console RPGs being pumped out, then get in line. While a fan of the genre, myself, I’ll be one of the first to stand up and say that many of them do nothing to make themselves stand out. Not so with Atlus’ most recent RPG to hit shelves under their Shin Megami Tensei franchise: Persona 4.

Now, if you’re already a fan of the MegaTen games, or just the Persona sect itself, you won’t be disappointed. If you’re a newcomer, jaded by hours and hours spent on sub-par battle systems and contrived plot devices, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

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Here’s the basic rundown of the story: You play the role of a Japanese high school student who has transferred from the city into a small country town called Inaba to live with your uncle while your parents are away. From there you begin a year of school and everything seems normal…until a string of mysterious murders begins plaguing the small town. After some events unfold, you learn that you and a few of your classmates can journey into an alternate world inside the TV populated by monsters known as Shadows. From there, you and your friends learn how to unlock their hidden power of Persona—inner selves born of the characters’ emotions—in order to defeat the Shadows and solve the mystery.

Now, this is just the basic of basic rundown, much more information would give out spoilers and I certainly wouldn’t want to ruin a MegaTen game.



Gameplay: Throughout your days, you are given the choice to either enter and explore the TV world or hang out and form Social Links with your classmates and others within the town. Increasing the levels of these Social Links will enhance future Personas created by a fusion process, therefore granting you more powerful abilities to use in battle. In this aspect, the closest thing the game can be compared to is a Japanese dating sim, though very few ‘dates’ are actually involved.

Let’s talk about battles. The battle system appears to be a standard turn-based combat system. A deviation from the previous Persona title is that you now have the option of controlling each character’s actions yourself whereas in Persona 3, they acted on fairly competent AI while adhering to various tactical commands issued by you. However, a deeper glance reveals that P4’s combat system is not about fighting tough, but smart. Most battles revolve around trial and error, learning enemies’ weaknesses and exploiting them whenever possible. You have the option to attack with your weapon or to use one of the Persona’s many skills. When a skill is selected, the character will raise a tarot card into the air and shatter it, summoning their Persona onto the field in order to perform the attack. Upon exploiting a weakness or scoring a critical hit, the enemy is knocked down and you gain an additional turn with that character signified as “1 More!” If all enemies are down you are given the opportunity to perform an “All-Out Attack” causing all of your party members to rush the enemies and do a large amount of damage in a single blow. Playing strategically can mean that battles last only a few seconds at times, while only resorting to the attack option will make battles much more difficult and frustrating.


Sound: The music is rather upbeat, along the J-Pop genre in some areas with some very nice rock and orchestral tunes thrown in. I have never been in a section of the game where I thought ‘this music doesn’t fit at all.’ It blends very well with the areas and different sequences that take place. As a small bonus, they also toss in a bonus soundtrack CD with some nice tunes from the game.

Presentation: The game balances itself out fairly well. Most of the game is voiced, but instead of the standard ‘stand and watch’ sequences (I’m looking at you, Xenosaga.) players will be treated to dialogue boxes with character stills on the side depicting different emotions as the dialogue goes by. This, in itself, improves the quality of the voice acting because there is no required lip-syncing with the exception of a few anime-style cut scenes peppered into the game. The characters are believable and rarely get on your nerves. Also, new characters and story arcs are introduced at a comfortable pace, giving you plenty of time to explore and improve your Social Links without feeling rushed. The art style fits the theme and gives the entire game a very nice comic book/manga feel that really helps push the story.


The Game: This game is what I consider to be one of my better purchases as far as games go, especially since I have been looking forward to it since I found out about it. I rarely go out and buy a game that’s been out less than a month, but this was an exception and I have no regrets about getting it when I did. (9/10)

The Time: This isn’t quite a ‘pick up and play’ game, though save points are available at a good pace. That being said, this is one of those games that can have the fun, yet slightly dangerous ‘just a few more minutes’ aspect to it. It’s possible to feel rewarded after putting in about 30 minutes of playtime without feeling like you’ve short changed yourself. However, this is a deep RPG, so be ready to clock in 70+ hours as well as being up for tackling New Game+ content once you clear it the first time. However, since the standard retail price is around $35 US, you get more for your money especially with the bonus soundtrack disc. (6/10)

The Verdict: I was extremely pleased with how the game turned out. The Shin Megami Tensei label has a prestige to it that its fans are very aware of and P4 did not disappoint. Even if you’re not familiar with the series, it’s definitely worth looking in to. I accept no responsibility, however, if you go about destroying Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh cards while shouting “Persona!” at everybody you see in the streets.