Persona 4 Golden
Game » consists of 9 releases. Released Jun 14, 2012
- PlayStation Vita
- PlayStation Network (Vita)
- PC
- PlayStation 4
- + 3 more
- Xbox One
- Nintendo Switch
- Xbox Series X|S
Persona 4 Golden is an update of the critically acclaimed PlayStation 2 role-playing game. New additions and changes have been made exclusively for the PlayStation Vita.
Which difficulty did you start with?
From forum comments I've been reading, it seems that there have been a surprising amount of people who have started the game on the "Easy" difficulty or even "Very Easy", presumably so that they didn't need to bother with any difficulties during combat, so I'm curious to see the results of this poll.
Like the original game, I started off with Normal. The game itself says that it's "the best balance of difficulty and tension" and I always start games with how developers intended them to be played. Also, I'm 50 hours in and I'm finding "Normal" to actually be really easy compared to the original game because of the new additions they've introduced in Golden (such as the new Shuffle Time and the Rise buffs).
Normal and yeah, it's deffo a lot easier than vanilla. However, I don't know that I would have been able to clear Yukiko's castle in one day playing on Hard so I'm satisfied with my choice.
Hard; I played Persona 4 on Normal originally, and that ended up being really easy towards the end of that game. I figured that other than just seeing the new content in Golden, the challenge of playing it on Hard would be fun. It turns out Hard isn't that much harder than I remember Normal being. Maybe they tuned it down from P4 but it definitely doesn't quite feel hard... maybe it'll ramp up. I'm only at the end of Kanji's dungeon right now.
Started and finished my first playthrough on Normal, so I'm going to tone it down in NG+ to try to get all the Social Links maxed out among other things without much difficulty.
I'm playing on Normal first (though I'm finding it almost too easy, I rescued Nanako in one day). I like using the SOS feature to see what other's have named their characters and stuff... but I feel like I'm cheating when I use it, so I try to do so sparingly. Also, that fact that Rise frequently pops in and gives me tons of SP back contributes to that, too. I plan on playing through a New Game + when I'm finished, and I'll probably do so on Very Hard. Why? Just 'cause.
@TooWalrus said:
I plan on playing through a New Game + when I'm finished, and I'll probably do so on Very Hard. Why? Just 'cause.
Yeah, that's what I'm planning to do. It's just a bit disappointing that things are so easy on Normal, though I'm enjoying being able to 1-day every dungeon I've encountered thus far. I'll be interested in seeing the different dynamic Very Hard brings.
Normal for me, which is usually what I always do on my first cycle through anything. 'course, I'm in early November now and I've managed to one-day at least the last three dungeons. So I'm definitely going to bump it up to Hard or Very Hard on my next run, maybe even try going solo in places, or at least the Izanagi challenge. Unless you're a total SMT/Persona newcomer, straight-up Normal is just... babytown frolics. I think I wiped once against the first boss and once against the king, and that was it.
New Game+ lets you adjust the difficulty with fancy sliders, right? Maybe I'll Silent Hill this thing and pump up the combat difficulty while keeping some of the other elements low. Most of the battles are far too simple right now, but I'm not interested in making the drops any grindier, even if I cycle into my next run with all the yen.
@StarvingGamer said:
Normal and yeah, it's deffo a lot easier than vanilla. However, I don't know that I would have been able to clear Yukiko's castle in one day playing on Hard so I'm satisfied with my choice.
I'm going in at normal having never actually played the game by watching the ER. I don't do dungeons in one day though, so I guess you guys just avoid shadows and go straight for the stairs.
@NegativeCero said:
I don't do dungeons in one day though, so I guess you guys just avoid shadows and go straight for the stairs.
No, I face every Shadow I come across and explore entire floors before going up the stairs (until I hear the ominous sound of chains) and, even by doing that, I've finished every dungeon in the game in a single day so far. If people were just skipping every Shadow, how would they be able to face the bosses at the end of the dungeons? I think one would have to be really clumsy at managing their team's resources or not fusing Personae adequately to actually not be able to do them in one day. It's one thing to tap out early because one just doesn't want to deal with the grind, and another to tap out because one actually can't continue.
@FluxWaveZ said:
@NegativeCero said:
I don't do dungeons in one day though, so I guess you guys just avoid shadows and go straight for the stairs.
No, I face every Shadow I come across and explore entire floors before going up the stairs (until I hear the ominous sound of chains) and, even by doing that, I've finished every dungeon in the game in a single day so far. If people were just skipping every Shadow, how would they be able to face the bosses at the end of the dungeons? I think one would have to be really clumsy at managing their team's resources or not fusing Personae adequately to actually not be able to do them in one day. It's one thing to tap out early because one just doesn't want to deal with the grind, and another to tap out because one actually can't continue.
Quick question about fusing: do you fuse whatever is strongest or do you try to have the types that correspond to your S.links? Or does that not factor in raising links? It's still early but I could probably do better about fusing.
Have never done anything but Normal, personally. I don't play the Persona games for challenging gameplay. I just want to absorb the world and the characters.
@FluxWaveZ said:
@NegativeCero said:
I don't do dungeons in one day though, so I guess you guys just avoid shadows and go straight for the stairs.
No, I face every Shadow I come across and explore entire floors before going up the stairs (until I hear the ominous sound of chains) and, even by doing that, I've finished every dungeon in the game in a single day so far. If people were just skipping every Shadow, how would they be able to face the bosses at the end of the dungeons? I think one would have to be really clumsy at managing their team's resources or not fusing Personae adequately to actually not be able to do them in one day. It's one thing to tap out early because one just doesn't want to deal with the grind, and another to tap out because one actually can't continue.
The first one can be a little rough to finish in one day. Running out of SP at that point is quite easy, and there is no easy way to get it back without some lucky chests and copious amounts of TaP Soda.
Does anyone know how hard P4G is on Very Hard? I played through Persona 4 on Hard (or expert whatever they called it) and I could one-day most dungeons. On Very Hard do they put on the really dumb 4x cost of pulling Personas from the compendium like Hard does in Persona 3? No more 2.5 million Yen Odin's, please.
(or to put it into perspective of P4 Izanagi at level 5 would probably cost somewhere between 12,000 - 15,000 Yen)
@NegativeCero
What I normally do when I play Persona is fuse who you are strongest with or need to fill gaps in your arsenal. Not only just what you can hold but what your party lacks. Towards the end of Persona 4 you are pretty much a support machine because nobody learns Debilitate . No Akihiko to cast all the debuffs on so you can focus on dealing sick damage :(. For the most part you are going to be fusing Persona that you have high S.Links with, which will end up kind of determining you playstyle. For example I maxed out Kanji's Social Link as soon as possible (and Hidetoshi in Persona 3 so I guess I like Emperors) so I used and fused lot of Emperors who are all about physical and electricity. In general until later on in the game you should have two or three "Power Arcana" that you will mostly use, with a backlog of additional Personas that have useful skills.
Then, when it is time to leave the TV, pull out the cheapest dudes that you don't already have for Social Linking. You can fuse them into stronger Persona later or just abandon them. Since there is no compendium rate hike and it is really easy to earn money in Persona 4 you don't have to worry too much about managing who you need to socialize with. If we are talking about efficiency by the time you need more than 3 or 4 Persona at a time to match Social Links you should already be at the maximum 12 capacity anyway.
Sorry for the way-too-long post.
@NegativeCero said:
Quick question about fusing: do you fuse whatever is strongest or do you try to have the types that correspond to your S.links? Or does that not factor in raising links? It's still early but I could probably do better about fusing.
Depends on the kind of Persona I'm aiming to fuse, really. If the type of Persona I'm aiming for also has the supplement of bonus S. Link EXP, then that's the one I go for.
@wemibelec90 said:
The first one can be a little rough to finish in one day. Running out of SP at that point is quite easy, and there is no easy way to get it back without some lucky chests and copious amounts of TaP Soda.
The castle? Even then, I didn't have any difficulty. Most of the Personae I've been fusing have been oriented towards physical attacks, so SP is not that much of a worry; the SOS system plus some of the TaP sodas I had at that time were helpful for regaining SP; Shuffle Time is incredibly useful, especially with the Sweep Bonus, and it can net you stuff like regaining SP/HP, boosting a Persona's stats and, one that's been way too useful, the "Skill Level Up".
Normal, cause that's what I did in P4 vanilla, which was actually kinda challenging until Mitsuo (then it got easy). But I didn't know aboot all the changes that made it waay easier, such as OP skill cards, nerfed bosses, choosing fusion attacks, and those rare mobs that give WAY TOO MUCH EXPERIENCE. But then again, the easyness means I can spend more time Slinking/story, which is the best part of P4.
@FluxWaveZ said:
@wemibelec90 said:
The first one can be a little rough to finish in one day. Running out of SP at that point is quite easy, and there is no easy way to get it back without some lucky chests and copious amounts of TaP Soda.
The castle? Even then, I didn't have any difficulty. Most of the Personae I've been fusing have been oriented towards physical attacks, so SP is not that much of a worry; the SOS system plus some of the TaP sodas I had at that time were helpful for regaining SP; Shuffle Time is incredibly useful, especially with the Sweep Bonus, and it can net you stuff like regaining SP/HP, boosting a Persona's stats and, one that's been way too useful, the "Skill Level Up".
It's certainly doable. I just meant it can be a little trickier for people who don't fuse that way and/or newer players to the game. I'm sure I could have made it through the Castle in one day, but I didn't really care/need to do so on my current playthrough of Golden.
I was going to play on easy since given a choice with most RPG's I usually stick to easy since I'm usually playing it for the story not super hard combat. But it sounds like normal isn't that tough so I might as well start with that when I get around to playing it.
playing on hard. found most battles too easy in the first game outside of some of the bigger enemies and bosses. I am certainly finding myself dying more and running out of sp more. Im only in the second dungeon though. I hear its gets easier after the first 3 dungeons. I wouldn't say its brutally hard just unforgiving.
Normal, I'll say it feels a little bit harder in some ways and easier in others. Only just saved Yukiko but like adding weaknesses to bosses but then some enemies having no weaknesses is crazy to me. Never ran out of SP on the PS2 because I utilized weaknesses but this one I had to re enter the dungeon a few more times to beat it and grind.
I also HATE:
- No save point at top of dungeons anymore, so going down to grind thus locks me down on the lower levels and have to fight my way back up, sucks.
- Enemies have crazy distance and can follow you the whole level, it's crazy. Way more of a challenge, more tense so hate it but love it until I adjust to the system.
After hearing about the Shadow Yukiko nerf, I decided to pick Hard. It's not even as hard as I remember Vanilla P4's Normal being, save for occasionally getting one-shot by exploding dice. That "restart on current floor" mechanic they added is a godsend, though.
I hear the only difference between Hard and Very Hard was that they took away that, and you had to re-load whenever you wiped. Is it actually any harder?
Played vanilla on Easy, so I went with Normal for Golden. Turns out Normal is a lot easier then what Easy was in vanilla. Helps that the golden hands give a bunch of exp now instead of just 1.
I read a lot of stuff about how easy they made "Normal" in P4G so I went with "Hard." Maybe I'm just not very skilled at these games but I'm finding it pleasantly challenging.
In vanilla P4 I beat the infamous first boss in one try on normal, but now I'm having to actually form a strategy and really think about my fusion choices and item management.
It is awesome.
The Contrarian King is still a fucking bitch on normal, damn. 3 levels higher than him and still one shots my whole team with Rampage. Tried it like 5 or 6 times, used the team to buff me then guard, Jack Frost Bufula took him down 250 HP at a time and just prayed to god that he didn't launch a Rampage. Poor Yosuke died on the last turn and missed out on the exp.
Played on Hard,since Normal is way to easy,especially with new content (skill cards). However Very Hard is a pain in the uranus.
@Nightriff said:
The Contrarian King is still a fucking bitch on normal, damn. 3 levels higher than him and still one shots my whole team with Rampage. Tried it like 5 or 6 times, used the team to buff me then guard, Jack Frost Bufula took him down 250 HP at a time and just prayed to god that he didn't launch a Rampage. Poor Yosuke died on the last turn and missed out on the exp.
That's because his Rampage is bugged
@Bocam said:
@Nightriff said:
The Contrarian King is still a fucking bitch on normal, damn. 3 levels higher than him and still one shots my whole team with Rampage. Tried it like 5 or 6 times, used the team to buff me then guard, Jack Frost Bufula took him down 250 HP at a time and just prayed to god that he didn't launch a Rampage. Poor Yosuke died on the last turn and missed out on the exp.
That's because his Rampage is bugged
And they left it in Golden? That's weird
@Nightriff said:
@Bocam said:
@Nightriff said:
The Contrarian King is still a fucking bitch on normal, damn. 3 levels higher than him and still one shots my whole team with Rampage. Tried it like 5 or 6 times, used the team to buff me then guard, Jack Frost Bufula took him down 250 HP at a time and just prayed to god that he didn't launch a Rampage. Poor Yosuke died on the last turn and missed out on the exp.
That's because his Rampage is bugged
And they left it in Golden? That's weird
It was bugged in the Japanese version of Golden at least. He will always kill you with it, if you don't have the proper defenses.
I'm playing on normal, and having a little bit of trouble. Most of it comes from me trying to keep my level down for the Rise trophy. Even so, I was able to run through and beat the castle, sauna, and club secondary bosses with Kanji, Teddy, and Yukiko, and beat the video game dungeon with the "A" team in the same day. Mostly it was thanks to me buying the 48 soda special from Tanaka, but both Yosuke and Chie ran out of SP during Mitsuo's boss fight.
Hey, I've been going back to some of the Endurance Run after every dungeon (hey, it's been a few years). I'm just now realizing that stuff like Christmas events and max S-links are fully voiced now.
...P4: Golden is really somethin' else. This is how you re-release a game, people!
I started on Very Hard and then realised that EXP and money gets reduced by 60% so I restarted on Hard, which is still harder than Expert in P4 anyway. I was fine with Shadow Yosuke nearly ending me but fighting Shadow Yukiko at level 7/8 (which I read was a possibility) is bananas so I was having none of that.
On NG+, I'll play on Very Hard but use the slider to return EXP and money to normal. I'm not a low-level challenge kinda guy.
I ended up starting with very hard...because I'm an idiot XD (I've never actually played P4, only watched the endurance run lol ) I had an awesome fuck up pretty much on the first floor of the castle where I did a Vinny style wiff of a mob, not only was it 3 mobs that proceeded to decimate Yosuke, but just when I thought I was going to barely scrape by the game decided that I should fight 3 more enemies XD. I also just barely beat the Yosuke boss. If my attack had missed or done a little bit less damage on the final hit I would have ended up dieing lol.
@Neurotic said:
On NG+, I'll play on Very Hard but use the slider to return EXP and money to normal. I'm not a low-level challenge kinda guy.
Hell yeah, that's the way - not too easy, not too hard. I played first time through on Normal, as always, then followed it up with NG+ as you say and am now doing a fun run through Normal again.
In any difficulty you can abuse the SOS feature to make it easier, just for those who are worried about how the game is going to be deeper in. Though, I'll note that Yukiko's Dungeon is perhaps the hardest in the game, and if you get through that you should be good (assuming you fuse some good stuff going forward - I always recommend Sarasvati with Invigorate 2 and all 4 ma- spells as a good sweeper first time through). Also, if you get a Magician card in shuffle time, choose it to get Invigorate 2 bumped to Invigorate 3.
I'm going with hard. From reading some posts around it seems the game might be a bit easier now. I wonder if I'm in the minority, but I really enjoy the whole Pokemon type collection system that Persona has. When I played the game on PS2 I ended up spending multiple days in dungeons and tried to get as many Personas as I could even though its completely unnecessary and you end up losing out on S-links and other things by spending more than a day or two in a dungeon.
Hoping its a challenge, but I also hope I dont regret going hard because the opening bits of the game can be hard to go through when you've played the game multiple times already. Although you can fast forward, it'll still take a while to get past the gamepaly bits. Going through the opening again is not really something I want to do.
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