Persona 4

[Gunsmith]

Did I miss something? Did someone already review this?

Some notes:

Skimming across some other reviews I agree with the consensus that this is what P3 should have been, or rather this is like 2k2 Unlimited Match, if only for the fact that you can now completely control your team mates. It's also much easier to move around town due to a new shortcut menu. I haven't seen any of my team mates get tired from battling as yet, but your time in the dungeons is limited to the amount of SP items you can buy, which are also limited, stocks of which refresh from time to time. This is less frustrating than P3 and keeps gameplay varied by forcing you to engage in other activities such as 'dating'. There are also new factors which affect your journey such as weather and fusion forecast, which give bonuses on certain days.

Presentation is uber. Same thing really just ... cleaner, sharper, brighter!

The gimmick of bringing out your persona is of course no way as cool as P3, and not really explained- I'm talking about the crystal 'smashing'.

The story starts off quite cleverly, how the personas of your team mates are introduced, but I've heard the end part of the plot is a bit of a let down. To be honest I still prefer P3's plot, so far.

I don't see weapon fusion but I hope this is just because I've only just started the game, or maybe they're saving that feature for Raidou 2.

Chie's English VA sucks. And Margaret's.

Crappy mascot character.

Wait, it's starting to sound negative isn't it? Well I better play some more and I feel inclined to, as opposed to P3 FES. Note the game seems much tougher but I'm enjoying it because I'm 'forced' to level up each demon I find, which only leads to better demons and better fusion results.

Anyone else playing this?

[Gunsmith]

I can't believe nobody else is playing this. It's good! No weapon fusion though

[Gunsmith]

40 hours in and rather happy with the story, and 50 mini quests to deal with!

She annoyed me at first, but now I MUST fuck Margaret.

Slightly annoyed that I have to play the game twice to get the ultimate persona, but hey ho, don't really care.

[leapyear29]

Does it live up to the greatness that was Persona 3? Does P4's MC live up to the awesomeness that was P3's MC?

[Gunsmith]

It's been a while since I've finished the game and... it gets quite awesome near the end, after you really get your personas going.

However.... I feel that 3 was better, overall. And then, saying that, and having now played Devil Summoner 2, I'd say Nocturne is still more enjoyable and more awesome than them all.

[Edgey]

I just finished it and now i'm replaying Persona 3 on the PSP.

I think I like both equally but I found P4 harder to get the social links up. I also found it wasn't as emotional as P3 was. I only cried once in P4 while P3 wrecked me.

I dunno I thought it was good. I still found myself attached to the characters. With that said I also found this one more light hearted in a way. It had a lot of laugh out loud moments.

The only thing I really have left to say is, Kanji's dungeon... WTF!?

[Gunsmith]

We're going offtopic but whatever:

Did you pick the female route for P3P? I heard it was ... limiting. How do you feel about not being able to play a total manipulating slut? The guy can do it, why not the girl?

[Edgey]

We're going offtopic but whatever:

Did you pick the female route for P3P? I heard it was ... limiting. How do you feel about not being able to play a total manipulating slut? The guy can do it, why not the girl?

Not really limiting. She only used a spear as opposed to any weapon in the world.
Ummm I wouldn't say not... you see..

*SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!*

I had her get into a relationship with Shinjiro. Then he goes into a coma (yup I saved him from death XD ) and what do I do? I persue his best friend Akihiko. Yeah.... I'm an asshole. XD Oh yeah and the main character can also go pedophile and get into a relationship with Ken. *shudders* Hellooooo Shota Cat!

*end of spoiler*

Fun Fact: When maxing Aigis out, you get a pseudo lesbian robot sex like scene. Oh come on we know what "You spent a long time with _______" REALLY means.

it also let me be rude to Yukari... which was very satisfying to say the least. God I hate her.

So back on topic,
I'm replying P4 so I can get max social link. For some really stupid reason... in both P3 and P4 I NEVER get the Tower Social Link.

[Gunsmith]

... I didn't read the spoiler but you left the other one open? Argh!
P4 is all about Christmas and special outfits!

Anyhoo I'll be giving the female route a go. If I can't manipulate all the guys and cock block them from hitting on others, I'll be a little disappointed

[Edgey]

... I didn't read the spoiler but you left the other one open? Argh!
P4 is all about Christmas and special outfits!

Anyhoo I'll be giving the female route a go. If I can't manipulate all the guys and cock block them from hitting on others, I'll be a little disappointed

Trust me you'll be greatly disturbed by what the female MC is capable of. XD

[Apathy Wind]

I initially avoided P4 due to the proximity of it's release to P3 (which I spent 1000 years finishing and which IMO dragged/grinded on at the end). Additionally after witnessing the stylish depiction of P3 I thought P4's more generic character designs and rural setting were by no means appealling. And then there was that Teddie thing... Long story short - I only bought P4 because it was on sale for like $8 from Amazon; I never actually thought I'd play it.

Boy, I'm glad I decided to give it a chance

For me P4 was better than P3 in almost every way. I found it's characters much more appealing, particularly since they were far more fleshed out then anyone in P3. P4 was the first game in the series (possibly excluding IS - curse you Atlus...) where the psychological issue of personas and shadows was touched on - it made each characters's confrontation with themselves and the resulting persona awakening make sense. Even the MC and antagonists abilities to summon persona was addressed by the story - unlike P3 where members of SEES could just do it for some reason (unless I'm forgetting some plot point). Having social links for each party member (as opposed to just the ladies of P3) also helped develop their characters. And I even grew tolerant of Teddie (relatively speaking. Well even failing that, Teddie at least was better than Fuuka...).

Combat, while still IMO a weak bastardization of Nocturne's beautiful press turn system, was improved as well. Being able to control the other characters is an obvious improvement but I liked being able to craft their usage by being able to choose their skills this time. Boss battles were actually challenging at times in P4 and the game made buffs/dekaja/dekunda worthwhile again. P4's themed dungeons and their limited floors had alot more personality then P3's 200+ level generic dungeon (being able to leave and return to your last floor was a blessing). The death of P3's stupid fatigue system has to be celebrated as well - SP limitations is a much more reasonable way to keep players from rushing through the dungeon sections IMO (nothing sucked like having to 'sit' a character for days in P3 because they were sick or tired).

While I miss the lack of EXP, item, and money cards in P4's shuffle I did like the arcana cards (particularly since P3's weapon cards only yielded junk anyway). It was also gratifying that P4's rare treasure chests actually yielded viable weapons - I hated the fact that the weapons you found in P3 were worse than the latest ones available in the stores. And while my memory can't confirm this fact but I want to say that P4 had more varied secondary effects (i.e. cause's confusion, 20% decrease in physical damage) to their weapons and armor; let alone their accessories.

continued

[Apathy Wind]

Surprisingly, I actually preferred P4's murder mystery story to P3's overall tale (odd as I don't care for mystery stories) - they did a great job of keeping the player engaged and kept you guessing up to the end. P4's actual end was a little hackneyed I suppose but no more than 99% of RPG endings (P3's included) so it doesn't detract IMO. And I liked the subtle ways P4 referenced P3 (if only because it proved that my beloved Chihiro was a hottie - eat it, haters!!!).

The improvements to the social link system were effective - it was nice being able to multi-task and raise money, attributes, and SL levels at the same time. The game even let you work on SL advancement during 'off-hours' with things like dreaming of friends, exam results, group activities, and sharing lunches. It was interesting that your attributes were tied into SL development as well (I don't recall if this was the case in P3) - it gave you a reason to work on that diligence stat. And it was awesome to have your team's social link actually yield some benefit in battle - surviving attacks, secondary follow-ups etc were a great reward for improving these relationships. On one level I liked that the personas' evolution was tied to SL maxing but on another I regretted this same fact (probably since I ran out of time to maximize my last two teammates = oh well, I never used them anyway).

The myriad of small improvements in P4 were appreciated as well - a skill indicator to grasp the purpose of new skills (I'd hate to have leveled that lvl 94 persona to max just to get some worthless skill), no time limit on quests, easy travel via the square button etc.

The only things I didn't like about P4 were more criticism's of Atlus' design then anything else. For example I HATE the fact that you have to replay the game to get the ultimate equipment and persona and to face the strongest optional bosses. I spent 123 hours playing P4 and have no desire or intention to essentially START OVER to see this content. I know there's a New Game + but since it doesn't carry over your levels or equipment you're really back to level 1. This is like the third or fourth game in a row that Atlus has placed this mechanism into - for GODS SAKE let players access this content from their original playthrough!!! I don't want to have to grind my way back to level 90 something, damnit (particular since P4 lacks a Monad style 'power dungeon' as found in P3).

I will say that I didn't like the 'road' you had to take to actually get the true ending. The specific dialogue choices in the first instance and the unnatural visitation choices in the second were not something most players would do naturally IMO. I actually bombed out on both instances and got the bad/so-so endings. I don't like having to check a FAQ to determine how to get the true finale (particularly since I spoiled the killers identity for myself researching the first) - a title should give you a bit more guidance in game for these sorts of things.

Even with those complaints, P4 is a great RPG and worthwhile successor to P3 (and surprisingly my beloved P:R and P2:EP). Even as dated as playing a PS2 game is now I revel in the beauty, style, and crafting of Atlus' offerings. I throughly loved my time in Inaba and now actually look forward to the eventual P5.

[Dark_Chaotix]

Tried this game, stopped in 20mins and never played it again....