A superb RPG complete with an engaging story and likeable characters that many fans and newcomers will definitely enjoy.
The story takes place in the rural, quiet town of Inaba. Enter the traditional, silent protagonist, which the player can name at the start of the game. The protagonist's parents have been sent overseas, causing him to move from the city to the countryside where his uncle would take him in. As soon as he arrives there, a string of shocking, mysterious murders take place in the area. Seemingly, they always occur when a massive fog blankets the area. Also at midnight, when one watches the Midnight Channel, their 'soulmate' is revealed right in front of their eyes. Nobody can prove a believable explanation to why these bizarre phenomena have occurred. When the protagonist befriends classmates from Yasogami High School, they unintentionally stumble inside the TV world and meet a mysterious bear who resides within. While the latter explore the dungeons, they encounter the shadows, creatures born from humanity's negative energies, wishes, and desires. They also awaken to their personas, manifestations of their 'inner psyche'. With their personas, the investigation team explore the mysterious TV world and attempt to solve the mystery and possible connections between the murders in Inaba and why the TV world even exists.
Story-wise, Persona 4 gets deeply into it, but mostly involves character development. Each character who experiences the world inside the TV confronts their shadow, or their inner, suppressed self. Basically, their shadow harshly puts the characters in the open, revealing things they never want for other people to know about, and things they do not want to admit to themselves, even though it is the truth. When they keep denying the truth, their shadow goes haywire and takes on a more violent form. Their shadow symbolizes their true feelings and inner desires. Only then when they finally accept and admit the truth that their shadow subsides and transforms into a persona. The game gets you hooked into the story in such a unique way that you find yourself deeply into it, and understand the characters even more. I think, for a fact, that we can all relate to it, because we all have something to hide from people.
Persona 4 succeeds in creating a dark side for the overall plot, but also presents a light, comical side. The game has a better and more solid script and dialogue, making it much less cheesy from its predecessor, and you would actually bear listen to more of the dialogue than before. Although the game shares many bizarre moments, there are many hilarious events between the characters which are enjoyable to watch, and you can expect yourself to laugh at most of the scenes and even some of the jokes (some of them sexual) they contain. The game tries to put their jokes across, and did a great job in doing so.
For those who have played Persona 3, the gameplay elements in Persona 4 can be nostalgic. For example, hitting the enemy's weaknesses will cause the enemy to be 'knocked down', granting the player another turn to strike the enemy again. Hitting another enemy's weakness will grant the player another turn, and so on and so forth. When the player has successfully knocked down all enemies in the battlefield, the player can then perform an 'All-Out Attack', in which all party members charge at the knocked down enemies, engulfing them in a comical, cartoon-ish cloud, dealing massive damage to the enemy shadows.
Also, the player has been given the opportunity to control all characters in battle. Whereas in Persona 3, the player can only directly control the main character, and would have to reluctantly rely on character AI. This relieves some tension and possible difficulties a player may experience in battle, and gives them time to think and come up with the best strategies to eliminate the enemies. Battles are more forgiving than before. Some vexations have also been eliminated from Persona 4. The option to talk to other players and checking their status while exploring the dungeons has been taken away. This also makes exploring less problematic, especially when the player wants to hit a shadow or acquire treasure without even worrying about accidentally talking to a team member and make things frustrating sometimes.
Persona 4 has the revitalized version of Persona 3's gameplay mechanics, making everything flow more and makes it enjoyable. For example, when you hit at least one enemy with their weak points and miss with the rest, you are still granted another turn. As gameplay is nothing new, the same can be said for boss fights. Although they require a little bit of strategy, battles can get pretty repetitive over time, because it's always the same approach every enemy over and over again.
Social/dating simulation makes a return in Persona 4, a feature presented in previous Megami Tensei games. Social links now have a much greater effect in battle. In the previous games, social links were being focused only in expanding the player's persona compendium. But in Persona 4, when the player reaches a certain social link level and keeps leveling it up, greater support is enhanced while in battle. Sometimes, the other characters perform follow-up attacks when the main character successfully knocks down an enemy. When the social link level is high enough, other characters will save the protagonist from a fatal attack, or even help them up when they are knocked down or are hit with a status ailment themselves. Social links can be a bit more entertaining than Persona 3's since they all have some partial voice-over dialogue, making the social links more lively and keeps the player entertained both in battles and the dating simulations.
Virtual dating and mackin' on girls…you could say it's a video game nerd's ultimate fantasy. I mean, come on, there aren't any role-playing games that let you date as many girls as you want, right? Spending time with social links can take your mind off battling and grinding through the dungeons. Having a double, virtual life sounds pretty cool, if you think about it. Aside from that, spending time with social links really helps your progress in the dungeon. Leveling up social link ranks means you get access to some of the strongest personas in the game. It's a win-win situation for the player, both in the TV and real world.
The health status has also been eliminated from the game. This also enables the player to explore dungeons continuously for longer periods of time without even have to worry about any of the characters getting tired in battle. Also, when the player decides to leave the dungeon, their HP and SP do not revert back to full health. The only methods to recover them are when the player leaves and rests at home, or talking to the fox when he joins the party later on in the game. The protagonist's status has also been changed. Instead of just improving academics, courage, and charm, the player can improve their courage, expression, understanding, diligence, and knowledge attributes. The player can improve them by taking up part-time jobs, fulfilling requests or by hanging out with social links. The higher these stats are, the more social links are available to the player as the game goes on.
Stores in Persona 4 provide weapons, armor, accessories, and health items that are necessary for dungeon exploring and endurance grinding. There are two main stores the player can access for items. The first one is Daidara's Metal Works, where the player can buy weapons, armor, and accessories. What's new about this store is the item exchange. When exploring dungeons, most of the shadows you defeat tend to drop items that seem useless. Well, yes, they are useless, but Daidara disagrees completely. Basically, selling more of these items to Daidara means he will make better weapons and armor for the party. The more items you acquire, the more likely Daidara will make better weapons. Plus, you get extra money for selling these items to him. The second store is the Shiroku store, where the healing items are sold. More and more healing items are available as the game progresses, and prices are the lowest during rainy days.
Persona fusion is also a recurring element in the Megami Tensei series, with some new changes in P4. First of all, the fusion forecast has been added. The Fusion Forecast determines how personas gain bonus stats or abilities when they are created in certain days. The player can just talk to Margaret to determine what type of fusion forecast is expected on a particular day. More conveniently, you can actually view the information on each of the persona's moves, making fusion a little bit easier for the player to determine which moves are useful and helpful, and which ones are not. Players who have never played a Megami Tensei game wouldn't actually know right away that 'Agi' is to cast fire, 'Tarukaja' is to temporarily increase attack, or 'Dia' is to heal an ally.
Another change is your Persona Compendium completion. As you register more personas in the compendium, the more you fill it up. When you succeed in registering 25% of the personas, the player is granted a discount in summoning costs. When you get to 50% and 75%, the prices lower, and the player is able to summon personas without worrying too much about spending all your cash on them.
Speaking of cash, there are many ways to earn some Yen. Taking up part-time jobs in Inaba are loaded with money, and can be a great alternative to earning some cash when you find that spending time in the dungeons and trying to get as much money as you want from defeating shadows isn't enough for you. Aside from that, spending time in part-time jobs can increase any of your five attributes, from Diligence to Understanding. It's a great way to earn so that you can afford to buy other things. Besides, you might meet a new social link in one of these jobs (hint-hint-wink-wink).
Exploring the multiple dungeons inside the mysterious TV world can be fun and enjoyable, but issues on the camera movement can be a bit of a nuisance. Although this is not a huge issue, it can also be a bit unnerving at times. Sometimes the camera angle tends to get too close to the player, and can disrupt the flow of gameplay. Also, some of the persona arts and designs are reused from its predecessor. This also strains the dungeon-exploring experience, if only for a little bit. Nevertheless, it is not a major issue and the player can still enjoy the overall gameplay experience and exploration even though with these problems present. Each dungeon strays off the repetitive side of things, because every separate dungeon has their own unique design, and does not take too long to finish and reach the top floor.
Graphics look much more polished compared to Persona 3. The retro look of the game fits its setting. The scenery animation and sometimes even the weather effects in the background are beautiful to look at. Its overall stylish environment is very well done. Music and sound is also catchy and makes playing the game more enjoyable than it already is. Shoji Meguro makes a return as the composer, and provides us again with such memorable music. You never hear the same music all the time, so a different song plays depending on the weather. For example, you would hear a mellow song on foggy days, or listen to an upbeat song when the sun shines brightly. No song plays on rainy days, as it sort of reminds the player how silently depressing the rain can be. The same can be said for dungeon music. Every dungeon has a different song, which means the music does not get so old fast. The retro-style sounds more upbeat, and is absolutely catchy to listen to. Some of the battle theme songs can get the player pumped up and get motivated into some of the battles. Persona 4 also has an all-star voice acting cast, making the characters they portray more colorful, funny, and lively.
Overall, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 is an excellent role-playing experience that fans and those new to the series will surely and most likely enjoy. Players will be immersed with entertaining gameplay, engaging, humorous story, a realistic cast of characters, and an experience not likely to be forgotten. It is certainly a unique game that is recommendable to everyone.