Diary of a Persona Newbie
I must admit right off the bat that it was the Endurance Run series here that got me into the game of Persona 4. I had read about the series previously, but I still hadn't tried it. Now, just a few days ago, I completed the game and feel like I have to join the choir of people singing this game's praises, because it really is that great. It's a Playstation 2 game and there are far shinier and prettier Playstation 3 games out now, but what many of the new games lack that Persona 4 has got in spades is personality.
The story is about a young man who's to attend school in the little town of Inaba for a year. He stays at his uncle and niece who live there and from there the story goes into a murder mystery where people are killed and end up in weird places, where the main character and the supporting cast have to go into another world to save people from vicious shadow creatures AND come through your tests with good grades! The life of a student sure isn't easy.
The story is memorable and thought-provoking, the characters are distinct and interesting and the voice-acting is good. There are some cultural differences regarding the game's Japanese setting that you get used to while playing, such as going to school on Saturdays and having many days off from school (such as different Appreciation Days). Your own character doesn't have a voice, but your choices in conversations can get very distinct replies from the people you're talking to. The music is great as well if you like Japanese pop and rock music but in my mind that just adds to the atmosphere of the game and grounds it firmly in Japan.
As to the gameplay part of Persona 4 it's a mixture of dungeon crawling (like the PC game Diablo and others like that) where you fight monsters, level up your characters and collect loot and find new personas to use in battle. There's a forging component where you mix your personas to get new and more powerful ones with new powers. Then there's the socializing part where you spend your days building relationships and improving your own character's attributes like Knowledge and Understanding which opens up new conversation options and gives you the opportunity to even get a girlfriend! These very different parts mix together in an amazing way because you get to do very different things and only some level grinding can really get the way of your enjoyment and that's really just nitpicking.
The gist of it is that if you're into roleplaying games like Final Fantasy or the previous entries of the Persona series, you really have to get this game. I also believe that it's a great game if you're into engaging stories and memorable characters or you're into the loot aspect and mixing up new personas with awesome powers.
