Persona 4 Golden a good idea for a newcomer to the series?

As much as I hate "Is this game good" topics, I'm kind of making one. Also, there's only a PSP game recommendation game topic it seems. Anyway, I've never touched a Persona game. I know little about the series. But supposedly I'm not taking full advantage of my Vita purchase by having not played Persona 4 Golden, or something...

So all I'm asking is how easy would it be for a newcomer to the series to just jump in and start playing it? Will I have any idea what the hell is going on within a few hours of playing it? Notably, I've also never played a JRPG, or any Japanese-typed games, except for Gravity Rush, which I'm enjoying thus far. Probably irrelevant to mention that since they probably aren't anything alike... but I'm becoming more open to different games, I guess.

Seeing as it's the highest rated Vita game and I'll soon be out of games to play on the Vita, I figure I should finally look into this game sometime soon.  I just don't want to waste my time playing something I'm not going to get into. Any explanations, advice, convincing, or calling me an idiot for not playing it yet would be appreciated, thanks.

I was in the same position back in January - I'd never really played a JRPG, and the phrase "turn-based battles" sent shivers down my spine! But like you, I felt I should widen my horizons and try the highest rated game on the Vita.

133 hours later, I can confirm it's a highly enjoyable and accessible game! Not having played other games in the series didn't matter at all. I'm now considering giving Disgaea 3 a go, to try another one of this great genre.

I was in the same position back in January - I'd never really played a JRPG, and the phrase "turn-based battles" sent shivers down my spine! But like you, I felt I should widen my horizons and try the highest rated game on the Vita.

133 hours later, I can confirm it's a highly enjoyable and accessible game! Not having played other games in the series didn't matter at all. I'm now considering giving Disgaea 3 a go, to try another one of this great genre.

TheFlyingSkull

Yeah you can easely start with Persona 4 Golden into the series, there's nothing really interessting you're missing (except maybe recognize some stuff which is not important).

Disgaea 3 (I just saw you talked about it) is also pretty good to ge tinto the series, but unlike Persona 4 Golden, Disgaea 3 has a few scenes (at least in post game) you might not fully understand or you won't find funny because they're referencing past games

I was in the same position back in January - I'd never really played a JRPG, and the phrase "turn-based battles" sent shivers down my spine! But like you, I felt I should widen my horizons and try the highest rated game on the Vita.

133 hours later, I can confirm it's a highly enjoyable and accessible game! Not having played other games in the series didn't matter at all. I'm now considering giving Disgaea 3 a go, to try another one of this great genre.

TheFlyingSkull

More thanks for additional responses. I finally decided to purchase it. I'll try to jump into it relatively soon. Gotta wait for it to arrive and still going to work on a game or two before then.SoNin360

I had never played a JRPG before either, but Persona 4 is one of my favorite games on the Vita.

And don't worry about not knowing what to do. The game takes careful time to get you acquainted with all of the features.

If you start on Persona 4 Golden for the love of god don't purchase Persona 3 Portable down the line, I did and Regret it, can't seem to bother finishing Persona 3. If you want to buy Persona 3 get the PS2 version.

If you start on Persona 4 Golden for the love of god don't purchase Persona 3 Portable down the line, I did and Regret it, can't seem to bother finishing Persona 3. If you want to buy Persona 3 get the PS2 version.

Blake135

[QUOTE="Blake135"]

If you start on Persona 4 Golden for the love of god don't purchase Persona 3 Portable down the line, I did and Regret it, can't seem to bother finishing Persona 3. If you want to buy Persona 3 get the PS2 version.

funsohng

Persona 3 FES ? Much better then going from Persona 4 to Persona 3 Portable.

Yes p4g is a good start for anyone. Even if you're not an RPG fan you can skip the battles and go right into the social side of the game. 

I hate when people jump on the bandwagon just because a game is reviewed well, play persona 3 at the very leastPoisoN_Facecam0

What ? A game that is Reviewed very highly and deserves those Reviews shouldn't be enjoyed by more people ? I don't understand, Persona 4 is the highest Rated Persona game in the series and improves on alot of the past Persona Games why shouldn't he enjoy the best in the series especially when their stories and Characters don't connect at all ? *Jumping On The Bandwangon* Sounds like a person that says * I Liked this band before they were *cool*:? Persona is a pretty Niche Series I don't give a **** how ANYONE found out the Persona series, if more people find out either by word of mouth or Reviews and enjoy it AWESOME. I want the series to thrive and more people experiencing it is more money for the developers.

I hate when people jump on the bandwagon just because a game is reviewed well, play persona 3 at the very leastPoisoN_Facecam0

As much as I hate "Is this game good" topics, I'm kind of making one. Also, there's only a PSP game recommendation game topic it seems. Anyway, I've never touched a Persona game. I know little about the series. But supposedly I'm not taking full advantage of my Vita purchase by having not played Persona 4 Golden, or something...

So all I'm asking is how easy would it be for a newcomer to the series to just jump in and start playing it? Will I have any idea what the hell is going on within a few hours of playing it? Notably, I've also never played a JRPG, or any Japanese-typed games, except for Gravity Rush, which I'm enjoying thus far. Probably irrelevant to mention that since they probably aren't anything alike... but I'm becoming more open to different games, I guess.

Seeing as it's the highest rated Vita game and I'll soon be out of games to play on the Vita, I figure I should finally look into this game sometime soon. I just don't want to waste my time playing something I'm not going to get into. Any explanations, advice, convincing, or calling me an idiot for not playing it yet would be appreciated, thanks.

SoNin360

You will only miss a couple references that have no effect on the game or story at all.

You can play persona 4 with no knowledge of anyother game and enjoy every bit of it. Youll be just fine.

Just do yourself a favor since youre new to jrpgs in the first 2 dungeons you come across in the game, grind each one when you get in there for 45 minutes to an hour. I know its a bit boring but youll thank me later.

I hate when people jump on the bandwagon just because a game is reviewed well, play persona 3 at the very leastPoisoN_Facecam0

I don't see the problem. Yeah, the high scores are essentially what drove me to finally check out this game, but dammit I don't regret that one bit. I'm about 30 hours in thus far, and I'm loving it. It took a while to get going, but I'm fairly comfortable with everything at this point. The story, characters, and even the weird battling strange ass creatures bits are awesome. I'm not sure why it would upset anyone for someone else to become interested in a game that has received stellar reviews. I mean, come on, I might as well try out the highest rated game on the handheld that doesn't have too deep of a library at the moment.

Thanks again to everyone for all the input, this game is as newcomer-friendly as I hoped it would be, even if it took a number of hours to really catch my interest. For now I'll probably keep this as my only Persona game, or JRPG for that matter, but I'll definitely look into Persona 5, whenever that may happen. And just out of curiosity, how similar/different are other games in the series (or even genre) to Persona 4? Are they all pretty similar/routine? Or does Persona 4 just stand out the most for some reason?

yeah, you can start from P4

You gonna have a good time! 

[QUOTE="PoisoN_Facecam0"]I hate when people jump on the bandwagon just because a game is reviewed well, play persona 3 at the very leastSoNin360

I don't see the problem. Yeah, the high scores are essentially what drove me to finally check out this game, but dammit I don't regret that one bit. I'm about 30 hours in thus far, and I'm loving it. It took a while to get going, but I'm fairly comfortable with everything at this point. The story, characters, and even the weird battling strange ass creatures bits are awesome. I'm not sure why it would upset anyone for someone else to become interested in a game that has received stellar reviews. I mean, come on, I might as well try out the highest rated game on the handheld that doesn't have too deep of a library at the moment.

Thanks again to everyone for all the input, this game is as newcomer-friendly as I hoped it would be, even if it took a number of hours to really catch my interest. For now I'll probably keep this as my only Persona game, or JRPG for that matter, but I'll definitely look into Persona 5, whenever that may happen. And just out of curiosity, how similar/different are other games in the series (or even genre) to Persona 4? Are they all pretty similar/routine? Or does Persona 4 just stand out the most for some reason?

All are different in terms of Themes and the *Social/Gender* Issues they tackle. Persona3 for example is alittle darker in theme. Persona4 is reviewed the best simply because they have improved everything from past Persona games, People argue that they don't like the *Highschool* Nature of the game due to past Persona's having older characters or they feel the theme is not dark enough. that side of it is simply up to individual taste.