How much J-Pop can you handle?
Persona 4 is a journey. It's a definition of what the word "experience" could mean in regards to a video game. It's an emotional and relatable trek within a believable yet unfamiliar setting. But perhaps most important of all, it is unforgettable; by the time the credits roll, you too will be saying goodbye to the cast.
The Persona series is home to perhaps the most interesting and unique JPRG concept; some might say even video game in general. That being, it takes place in a common, everyday Japanese high school. Persona 4 is very similar to its predecessor, Persona 3, with similar instances of mechanics and, of course, setting. The game situates you as a transferring high school student, who is due to be in the small town of Inaba for the upcoming year. Your parents are away for the duration of that year, while you are sent to live with your uncle and cousin. Shortly after your arrival, a series of murders begin to occur, and all components seem to revolve around the mysterious Midnight Channel. Thus introduces the main mechanics and gameplay of Persona 4. For the entirety of an in-game year, you will be managing your time around battling your way through the mystery, as well as strengthening your relationships and character traits of the "real world".
The actual gameplay in Persona 4 is simply that of a typical JRPG. The twist on the subject matter is how those standard JRPG elements are tackled. The various dungeons across the game are all accessed within the "TV world"; the side of the game where the majority of the action takes place. Battles are turned based along with the standard "Attack","Guard", "Item" and "Skill" commands; however, the addition of personas of the game is where the battle system begins to come into its own. Personas act strangely similar to pokemon. For instance, there is a total of 179 to collect, all while filling up entries into the compendium, which in itself is similar to the pokedex. Personas each have their own personal stats and will level up individually. Also, as these personas level up, they gain more skills than they can use at once; thus forcing you to remove one in order to continue, again, similar to pokemon. However, it goes without saying that Persona 4's system goes more in-depth than pokemon ever has, thanks in large part to fusing process. After receiving a variety of personas from the outcomes of battles, you can later go into the Velvet Room (a mysterious plot-centric area that I'm still not entirely sure what it is) to mix and mash a number of personas to ideally produce one stronger and suitable persona. The process at first glance seems rather simple, but once you begin diving into mixes with three different personas, the idea of producing a persona without the absolute best skills available is daunting.
Going into the "TV world" and managing your personas is only half of Persona 4's package. As uninteresting as it may sound, the other half is spent in high school and socializing with the community - and it's the best part of the game. It is during these instances that the majority of its murder-mystery-esque plot unfolds. However, in between the events where the plot unravels, your time is mostly spent increasing your social links. Social links are an essential part of Persona 4's core gameplay. As you level up each main character's link, certain perks will be added to personas derived from the same given class. Not only will more experience be awarded, but the links also affect your fellow battling friends. Raising their links will add certain AI abilities that would otherwise be unattainable.
Despite everything regarding social links and the previously unmentioned small bits of story that come along with it, the main enjoyment of Persona 4 comes with the writing. All the core characters are instantly likable, and the situations are awkward and hilarious in all the right ways. There were moments where I legitimately laughed more than I ever have in a video game. It is some of the best writing you will ever see in a video game, especially surprising considering it's a Japanese-translated game.
There is little to complain about Persona 4, without crossing into nit-picking territory. Sure, the dungeons are bare and the music is repetitive - and I mean really repetitive. The OST is made up of various J-Pop tracks and electronically-produced songs. While the latter is fine, and the former fits the game's setting, it goes without saying that you can only listen to that "After school" theme so many times without personally going berserk. All that aside, deeming Persona 4 one the best JRPGs on the market is not a far-reaching task. In fact, one would not be mistaken to include it among the greatest out of video games in general. Personally, it is now #3 on my all-time list; if that's not convincing enough than I'm not sure what is.Obviously, the genre will never be for everyone, but if you are mildly interested in this title stop reading this now and buy it. Persona 4 is a masterpiece and to deem it anything else would not be doing it justice.
