There is something to be said about Atlus. This company is capable of many great things. This game, is definitely one of their crowning There is something to be said about Atlus. This company is capable of many great things. This game, is definitely one of their crowning jewels. For me to express my absolute respect for the company would require more space than the 5,000 character limit of this site would allow. So instead, I'll go into further detail about not only what made Persona 4 a fantastic game, but also the pinnacle of JRPGS (in my opinion) to this date.



First of all, let's talk about why I immediately consider this game to be superior to its predecessor. The cult classic Persona 3/Persona 3 FES, is argued to be a better game and the most common (frustratingly so) arguments are because it has a better atmosphere and storyline. Allow me to say, that atmosphere does not mean a better game. My biggest issue with the atmosphere of the first game, while I did enjoy it, was that it made anything outside of the suppressive feeling in the game, feel extremely out of place in the game. While that is usually the point of such moments, the drastic difference just makes you feel like there is a transition that you missed getting there. Persona 4 does not have that problem. It has a naturally lighter atmosphere and the way the characters act in said atmosphere, makes for a much less jarring change between and a much more natural transition for the characters. Then there is the issue with the storyline argument. While I will agree that the overall story of Persona 3 is fantastic and it has some great character mini-arches throughout, the biggest issue is that almost none of the main characters are likable for the vast majority of the game. With no character development for any of them for far too long, the only character I ended up liking for the longest time was one who was there for less time than most of the Social Links in game. Persona 4 did not make this same mistake. It gave access to Main Character Social Links almost immediately after gaining the person in your party. Not to mention that the way the dungeon system works, has you getting to know people even before you get them as party members. Another thing this game did better was dungeons. It separated them all by person and level range in the Persona 4 which I thought was really smart.



So what does Persona 4 have wrong with it? Well, nothing that I would consider a universal problem. If you don't like long games, give this one a pass. I would have to say the average first play through of the game is a minimum of 80 hours if you are not entirely invested in doing things and over 100+ hours if you really get into it. Like I said, not a big issue but I can see some people having an issue with it. The other thing is... how do I put this... do you know what "moe" (pronounced "mow-ay") is? "Moe" is like a really bright, bubbly type character with a high voice and some "overly cute" mannerisms. Well there is one in this game by the name of Teddie. Like I said, not a universal problem, but I do know that there have been people who quit the game because of this character.



All-in-all, I award this game a 10/10 and a recommendation to buy it, either in this form or its portable form on the PSVita Persona 4 Golden. … Expand