LTTP: Persona 4 | Or how I learned to stop worrying about the fog and love my friends.

[yeah_93]

Well, "love" is quite strong word for it. But damn, this game was amazing. I loved every second of it.

I found the story to be quite unusual considering it takes place in the real world, and that your character also has to go to school and do stuff a teenager does. The murder plot is also strange and makes the game be a little dark, but overall I found it great.

The graphics are average, but they do the job. I loved those animations that play above the characters' heads that show their current emotion. The music is great. Particularly the tracks that play during fights. Dat Boss theme riff.

But where the game truly shines is with the characters. They are SO fleshed out and developed, the game doesn't miss a moment for the characters to grow. I really grew to like my friends and their quirks: Yosuke and Chie fighting, Yukiko's laugh, Kanji's strangeness, Rise's blatant hits on you, Naoto's detective stuff. Yeah, they are mildly annoying to a degree (especially Teddie) but never did I lament a moment spent with them (as opposed to my experience with several RPGs with annoying casts. I mean, without them, the experience certainly wouldn't be so good; and many scenes are hilarious.

The Voice acting is also good. Troy Baker is better than ever as Kanji, I find it difficult to picture a different voice in the role; while Yuri Lowenthal's Yosuke knocks it out of the park due to how truly comfortable he seems with the role. Chie's voice isn't so good (I remember the first time I heard her voice I thought "Man, am I stuck with this for the whole game?") but it eventually grew on me.

And the game is so long. I mean, I expected a 20h-something game, but I beat it in 60 hours. Imagine my surprise when I found out I wasn't even through with half of the game. But really, the game is truly good. It's coming out on PS3 for only $10, so do yourself a favor and grab it if you haven't played it.

 

[APZonerunner]

Yep. It's a truly wonderful RPG, and 99% of it is really down to a wonderfully well-built cast of characters. The story itself is neither here nor there in the end, and though there is some really great execution on the serial killer plot line, the ultimate conclusion is a bit weird and not all that satisfying - but it's MADE satisfying by the cast of characters that surround you. That doesn't just go for the playable party members, but also for the supporting cast. From your slimeball teacher to your surrogate father and sister, and every single one of the social links... it's a very special game.

I really like Persona 3, too, but P4 is basically a lightning-in-a-bottle moment. I expect P5 to be good, but I'd be amazed if it's as good as this.

I dunno which version you played, @yeah_93, but they replaced Chie's voice with a better one in the Vita version, IMO.

 

[yeah_93]

I played the PS2 version. And I agree with you, a special game it is.

 

[TRI Mike]

Played the Vita version in early 2013 and loved it so much that it's one of the few RPGs I started again immediately after finishing it the first time. Rise is quite possibly my favorite character in the RPGs of this generation along Wilbell (Atelier Ayesha) and Pascal (Tales of Graces). I'm thinking about buying a figurine of her.

 

[Princess Lenna]

Easily my most played of RPGs. Three rounds on Persona 4, two rounds on Persona 4 Golden. That's about two weeks worth of my life I'll never get back. I was rocking a level 99 Izanagi with high-tier skills and stats on the original P4, and I can't even begin to say how many fusions and arcana chances doing that required.

P4G was great. The new content was mostly comedy, but they were done very well and never felt out of place. The skip function and difficulty change option on NG+ were both lifesavers and allowed me to immediately dive into the game. P4 lacked the option, unfortunately, which makes me rather unwilling to get the PS3 version.

 

[buddhafied]

(Took me a while to find this thread, glad I did... hate double topics!)

I bought the game last year when I got my Vita, but only spend about 8 hours in and got busy. So a week ago, after finally finishing FFIX (yes, I have THAT big of a backlog) and took a break, I restarted the game. I had fond memories from the first 8 hours last year, even though I have very polar opposite feelings about the art direction in this game (I basically love everything from colour character designs except for the Personal designs. I just was never a fan of that manga/anime art style), I am enjoying it tremendously. It took me a little to get used to how different it is from some of the JRPGs that I've played, but thankfully I've played enough of them as well as dating sims style games, it's not too difficult to dig in. It does become overwhelming a little bit with the amount of things I can do though... like right now, I just unlocked sport clubs, cultural clubs and part time job... I try not to rely on online guides, but I did have to check once or twice just to make sure if I should try out everything.

Anyone want to give some tips for me how to continue on with the game? I am only about 3 hours in right now, just about to rescue

Spoiler

Yokiko

. Last time I ended right around

Spoiler

Kanji

.

 

[yeah_93]

Uh, I used a guide to beat it. It is a really really long game, and I didn't want to screw things. My advice is that you train hard and use your time wisely for jobs and Social Links. Also, use a guide.

 

[ScienceNonfiction]

I guess I'd say to focus more on S. Links than raising the social stats (charm, intelligence, etc.), especially at nights. I dunno, I just found it to be a way better use of in-game time to talk to S. Link people at night instead of studying or reading or whatever. Those stats are important though... So I guess it's all about balance (which I know sounds stupid). I think the best advice is just to play how you want. Anyways, Yukiko gets incredibly overpowered by the end of the game.

And personally I didn't use a guide for this game (since I rarely ever use guides for anything), but I don't think anyone will blame you for using one once you get to December.

 

[Fin]

I focus on raising all the personal qualities and party member S. Links in the first playthrough, and then try to max all of them in the New Game+. I have a habit of completing the dungeons all in one go as well; just seems like a better use of time since it is so limited.

 

[ScienceNonfiction]

Yeah, that's one of the many things (in my opinion) that 3 did better than 4. P3 actually gave you a good reason to go through the central dungeon a little bit at a time, whereas in 4 there's rarely a reason not to blast through each dungeon all in one go.

 

[buddhafied]

Thanks, everyone! Actually really sound advises.

I've been trying to avoid guides, for the reason that I one of my biggest problems with JRPG is that I tend to want to do it all on the first go. There's nothing wrong with that exactly but my issue now, as a man in his mid-30's is I need to balance my life (Whoa, just like the game itself!) I don't mind spending months playing a game, but when it comes to JRPG, I tend to forget about the story about 2 months in (by the time I finished FFX back then, I could barely remember who Yunalesca was as I spent close to 129 hours getting everything in the game on my first play through.

That said, I did quickly check a few things here and there for P4 because there seems to be way too many decisions needed to be made early on in the game.

How do you guys like the soundtrack of this game? I find myself, surprisingly, loving the music. After years of being Nobou Uematsu's themes, I sometimes don't know how I react to other composers when it comes to games. P4 provided me a very good mix of different vibes, also they fit with the games so well. My favourite so far is "Heartbeat, Heartbreak". I'm humming it all day at work

 

[yeah_93]

All of the Boss Fight themes are amazing. I love them.

 

[ScienceNonfiction]

My favorite songs are the second to final boss theme and the final dungeon theme.

 

[buddhafied]

Just passed through Kanji's section! Wow, I didn't expect the plot to switch to that.

Spoiler: Kanji's story spoiler

After going through that dungeon, I went online to read how's everyone's reaction to Kanji's sexuality. I was surprised there were such a debate about it. As a gay man myself, I went through similar phase as Kanji's awkward "coming out" phase. Obviously, the developer purposely left it slightly vague (and as I read through comments people said it will remain vague) if Kanji is in fact homosexual or not. But there is no doubt that he has a very strong homosexual tendency.

I really like that the story is so mature, even on social link characters such as Yumi and Kou, etc. Absolutely enjoying this game.

 

[ScienceNonfiction]

Kanji is the best character in the game.