Persona 4 Golden

 

 Persona 4 is frankly a game I never believed I would get a chance to play. With the PlayStation 2 copy being fairly rare it means getting a copy of it would set you back a fair amount of cash and I couldn’t bring myself to do that for a game that is nearly two decades old. Even the Vita version is somewhat of a hot commodity due to the consoles limited lifespan and Persona’s obscurity here in the UK. My visual impairment also prohibits me from getting the maximum enjoyment out of any handheld console and so it seemed that all hope was lost of my ever getting a chance to play what is supposed to be the best Persona game in the series. However, while discussing Persona 4’s anime with a couple of friends, I learned that there exists a device called a PlayStation TV that allows you to play most Vita games on a widescreen television. With this new knowledge in mind, I sped over to Ebay to check the prices of these consoles only to have my dreams crushed yet again. To purchase both a copy of Golden and a working PSTV I would have to shell out well over a hundred pounds and that's just not something I believed I could do for a console I may never need again and a game I may not even like. Then came the final plot twist in this saga. After telling my friends I didn’t think I’d be able to dish out the money all at once or perhaps even at all, one of them told me that he wouldn’t mind selling his PSTV to me. My eyes lit up with excitement realising the silver lining I’d been offered. The feeling that finally something had gone right in this story. So I bought the console from him. He even threw in a freebie, the Persona 4 animation on DVD. Getting a copy of the game now was gonna be easy because I knew another friend of mine who owned a copy and would happily lend it to me. Now, the reason I wanted to use this little anecdote is because December last year was a tough month for me. Without going into detail it just could’ve been better and I felt even more than ever like I needed an escape. A world to explore, a story to be gripped by and some new likable characters to meet just to take my mind away from the real world. When I started playing Persona 4 Golden, everything faded away. See, video games are powerful things. They immerse you in the vibrant worlds, exotic characters and tightly woven narratives. It took me two weeks to beat Persona 4, and my god was it all worth it. So thank you. Thanks to everyone who helped make my dream to play Golden possible. You’ll never know how much it means to me. Now with all the soppy storytelling out of the way, let's gush about this masterpiece. 

 After playing Persona 5 for over 130 hours I pretty much knew what I'd be doing throughout my time in Ineba. Crawling through dungeons, fighting personas, catching said personas and fusing those personas to create ultimate puppets of destruction. It’s familiar but still so satisfying. Instead of negotiating with personas after battles as you would in P5, Persona 4 uses a mechanic called Shuffle Time carried over from Persona 3. This mechanic asks the player to choose from a few randomly generated tarot cards after most battles and this mechanic became one of my favourite parts of the whole package. Choosing between increasing experience gained, money earned or a new persona adds another layer of strategy to the combat and even choosing negative cards that decrease money, experience, or items earned can have a positive effect. By choosing these decrease options the player is usually afforded the opportunity to choose 1 to 4 more cards increasing their chance of earning a sweep bonus which assists the player the next time they enter Shuffle Time. This system truly allows Persona 4’s combat to shine as you are able to level your character and their personas in your way with player agency being at the forefront perhaps even more so than in Persona 5. 

The dungeons themselves offer interesting character studies of flawed individuals. The environments reflect the ruler’s personality and desire but obviously with much less flair than Persona 5. Most of the floors within each dungeon are randomly generated leading to plenty of replay value but also plenty of flat looking textures and some rather generic geometry. There is a level of grinding required  if you want to stay on top of the bosses every few floors even though this didn’t bother me too much because I enjoyed levelling up my character and their personas. I found that leveling up around ten times per dungeon allowed me to feel not overly powerful, but not underleveled either. The boss battles with the dungeon rulers offer several shifts to the formula and will challenge the player to work out any patterns or weaknesses they can exploit. The largest subversion however comes in the eighth dungeon. The party’s inventory is completely stripped and a strange new gimmick  is implemented out of nowhere for in all honesty very little reason. After every battle, the party’s SP is halved leading to an over reliance on physical attacks and items gathered in the dungeon. It was my least favourite dungeon certainly and does drag on a bit too long. In contrast, the fourth dungeon set inside a videogame is brilliant. It utilises 8 bit aesthetics and music to set the tone and works perfectly making it easily the highlight.

 

 

 

 

 

 Obviously the other half of what you do in a Persona game is completing social links, ranking up social stats and becoming a high school student. The social links are where I got most of my enjoyment out of Golden and the ones for the Investigation Team themselves shine brightest. Kanji’s story of dealing with his femininity is handled extremely well without being overly preachy or pretentious. Yosuke’s trouble dealing with the loss of somewhere dear to him makes him and Narukami (the default name for the main character) feel like close friends and the story's conclusion only strengthens their bond together. Even the weakest party social link in Golden with Yukiko clues you into the kind of person she is. Non-party social links are worse here though than in Persona 5 in my opinion. Dojima and Nanako are the highlights with their package story needing to be experienced on an initial playthrough because of how it ties into the main story but some others fail to impress. Ai is mostly an unlikable character who spends most of her social link being rude to your character and Yumi’s has some laughable dialogue and moments even if it does tell a somewhat compelling story. Hisano and Kou also offer interesting stories but overall, Persona 4’ social links feel like a slight step down from Persona 5’s. The two new social links in Golden offer a bit more development for an existing character in Adachi and offer a new character and alternate dungeon with Marie so are worth getting to if you have the time.

 

 

 

Golden’s narrative is a whodunnit set in the small rural town of Ineba. After your character arrives he is quickly wrapped up in a serial murder case that leaves a famous announcer and a student at his new school Yasogami High dead. A mysterious Midnight Channel also exists in Ineba and it is up to the Investigation Team to determine who the killer is and who created the Midnight Channel. From there, the plot unfolds naturally over roughly 70 hours and will surprise you with some of its themes. Even though the tone is much lighter than Persona 5’s the subject matter can become increasingly somber. The narrative manages to both deliver and surprise without becoming tedious or plodding. The 6th dungeon in particular hits a fantastic crescendo with plot twists and revelations galore. The actual investigation your party undertakes manages to bring them all together in a big way. These characters feel way more like friends than the Phantom Thieves ever did and pre-existing relationships between Yukiko and Chie and a will they won’t narrative with Kanji and Naoto help tighten the bands shared between the eight main characters. Even Narukami feels more connected with his friends than Joker did because he helps them deal with personal issues multiple times. Teddie exists as this game's Morgana and is easily my least favourite character in the game. He is not funny and his flirting with the female party members is pure cringe. Nevertheless, I mostly want to praise Persona 4’s story. It manages to tell an engaging plot and exposes the characters by having each party member have to overcome their shadow. This has the benefit of teaching both the player and Narukami about the people they are rescuing, making their connection to the main character even more important because he is the one who helps change their world view. There are some scenes in Golden just like Royal that have the party members relax and have fun and for the most part these are great. I love most of these scenes and do mostly think the game has a very good sense of humour, especially when Kanji or Yukiko are making the jokes. 

 

 

 The Golden version of Persona 4 includes extra content in the form of a new dungeon, two new social links (as previously mentioned) and several new group scenes and to be honest I really couldn’t care for much of this conetnt. The dungeon is my least favourite and Marie and Adachi are nice editions but don't come close to matching Maruki or Kasumi from Royal. Some of the added group scenes also heavily stall the game’s pacing. The gap between the fifth and sixth dungeons is huge and even though I enjoy the music performance, it is a bit too anime for me. I think the content is certainly worth playing in order to get the true ending but if you stopped talking to Marie three ranks in I would totally understand why (you will miss a very fun ski trip though). It’s a shame too because the music in that additional dungeon and the final boss battle music rank up there as some of the game’s best music (which we shall get to soon).

 

 

 

 Persona 4 has none of 5’s style but for the most part I think that’s ok. The Phantom Thieves were almost superheroes and treated like gods so the flair and style fit perfectly in that game. Here, the investigation team are unknown heroes so the more basic colour pallet, menus and setting fit the narrative much better. I played the game on a 42inch screen and to me, the game holds up fairly well. The visual novel style cutscenes still have an appeal to me and the dungeons all look distinct even if none of them match the worst examples from Persona 5. The game’s voice acting is great with icons like Troy Baker and Laura Bailey turning in great performances that rank up there with any of their best work. And the music is sublime. More than six months after beating Golden I still consistently listen to this game’s soundtrack. Whether it's Shadow World waking me up in the morning, Heaven relaxing me while  I work, or Genesis pumping me up for the day ahead, the soundtrack shines in both depth and quality. I love almost every track and either sing them, hum them or listen to them daily. In comparison, P5R has some absolute bangers but perhaps doesn’t have Golden’s variety. Regardless, both are great and Golden has joined Royal as one of my favourite soundtracks ever.

 

 

 Conclusion

 Golden is a special game to me. Like Royal before it Persona 4 is a game I had heard about but never believed I would play. After beating 5 and realising the fantastic series I had been missing, Golden seemed the next logical step. And when almost half a year later I was finally able to play it, a weight had been lifted. Persona 4 Golden is brilliant. It tells a great story, has great characters and puts the player in deep, engaging combat scenarios. It gripped me from minute one and had my jaw on the floor several times throughout its duration. All I could think about after beating Golden was Persona and I am so grateful that I got to play it. 

Rating: Golden Ticket

10/10