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LTTP: Persona 4 Golden

I thought I would dislike the setting and Anime style .. but the game really draws me in. Many said the first two hours will bore most people out there .. but I enjoyed the story so far .. it's a mysterious charm in the game that attracts me in.

I wish there was an option of Japanese voiceovers with English subtitles though.
 
Persona 4 Golden was pretty much my first game for the Vita, and I enjoyed it very much for the month or so that I played it non-stop.

Not really a big anime fan, so some of the more "out there" elements like Teddie were somewhat cringe worthy, but overall the characters were great and I enjoyed the world very much. Good soundtrack, and a fun, simple turn based system help fuel the fun of this game.
 
Persona 4, the best worst game ever.

Such amazing art style, hud design; sense of 'place'; music, great characters in Nanako and Dojima and all of the rest of it.

Awful random dungeons; anime cliches, terrible characters like Chie, voice acting, plot twists, mediocre battle system and finally Chie.

It's such a bizarre mix. I'm glad I played through it but it got really old by the end and it was the worst villain an RPG has ever had.
 
disastermouse said:
I can't believe how much it feels like P4G was made for me. I haven't enjoyed a game this much in quite a while.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the characters, the music, the aesthetic, the writing, the humor + The option to grind, collecting Personae, customizing, battle system, + + + New Game + etc. It's incredible. But I can also see where it wouldn't be for some people as there is a lot of "non-game" to it.

I think it's balanced really well, and I think someone said it earlier that one of the things that makes the game great is all the little deadlines and organization a person needs to have to get the most out of the game. Literally every day there's something you can do to make your party or your social links better.

I love that it's a semi-serious game that doesn't take itself too seriously. Kind of like a "Shaun of the Dead" scenario where the thing itself isn't scary or too tense, but because the characters (at least to me) are so likable anything that potentially happens to them carries more weight than usual.
 
I'm currently playing P4 and it just had curious effect on me.

I have just rescued
Nanako
recently and in the down time when
Dojima and Nanako
are both in the hospital, I'm actually feeling rather lonely.

I like to think that it was intentional on behalf of the writers and not me being weird.
 
KimonoNoNo said:
I'm currently playing P4 and it just had curious effect on me.

I have just rescued
Nanako
recently and in the down time when
Dojima and Nanako
are both in the hospital, I'm actually feeling rather lonely.

I like to think that it was intentional on behalf of the writers and not me being weird.
Click to expand...

It definitely was, it is a lonely feeling coming home at night and not seeing either of them there.

You're so used to hearing "Welcome home, big-bro!" so often, that when it's not said it's a feeling of .."oh damn"
 
Haha holy shit I just got to Okina and had the
pick-up
contest with Kanji and Yosuke.

I'll rip off your head and spit down yer neck!


OH GOD YOSUKE HAHAHAHA.

AND THE MUSIC. HAHAHAHAHA

OH MY FUCKING GOD THE SCOOTER LMAO
 
Onto the second dungeon, which are the weakest part of the game. Just long corridors with not much in them. I guess that's the cost of procedural generation, and a big reason why I'm skeptical of deep down. The payoff just isn't there. I would much rather a planned out dungeon with unique features then the same corridor in a different format every time. I hope Atlus take a leaf out of Zelda's book with Persona V, if dungeons are featured again.

Aside from that and the sometimes grating voice overs, the game is awesome.
 
GaimeGuy said:
Haha holy shit I just got to Okina and had the
pick-up
contest with Kanji and Yosuke.

I'll rip off your head and spit down yer neck!


OH GOD YOSUKE HAHAHAHA.

AND THE MUSIC. HAHAHAHAHA

OH MY FUCKING GOD THE SCOOTER LMAO
Click to expand...
Just you wait until the girls get scooters as well :D
 
It really is one of the best RPGs ever made.

Probably ranks up there with one of the best games ever made too.

Also Chie is the best girl. You know it is true.

1379875488589.jpg
 
Griss said:
Persona 4, the best worst game ever.

Such amazing art style, hud design; sense of 'place'; music, great characters in Nanako and Dojima and all of the rest of it.

Awful random dungeons; anime cliches, terrible characters like Chie, voice acting, plot twists, mediocre battle system and finally Chie.

It's such a bizarre mix. I'm glad I played through it but it got really old by the end and it was the worst villain an RPG has ever had.
Click to expand...
Awful stuff all around here, no one listen to this guy.
 
I love the hell outta this game, but man are the dungeons tedious. Would be nice to have the characters and social links of a Persona game with the dungeons and combat of one of the mainline games.

Yukiko is best girl by far IMO.
 
Ichor said:
I love the hell outta this game, but man are the dungeons tedious. Would be nice to have the characters and social links of a Persona game with the dungeons and combat of one of the mainline games.

Yukiko is best girl by far IMO.
Click to expand...


They are walking a fine line though. I certainly agree that they need to take inspiration from other games as far as dungeon design goes, but Persona 4 is already an amalgamation of many types of games and franchises, Pokemon and Final Fantasy being the two most recognizable inspirations and I'm sure many of the best dating and "life sims" in Japan.

While I do think they should do the same with Dungeon design, I'm worried they will just get slammed for not being able to come up with their own ideas.
 
I just beat Shadow
Teddie

Tough fight, took me nearly an hour (after getting my ass kicked in a previous attempt).

I'm playing on Very Hard mode - Here's the team I won with, would like to hear about other teams since I feel like this was a very grindy fight and I'm wondering if there's better ways to win, aside from using higher levels. Though I think I was underleveled by 5-10 levels...

First, the equipment:
Hero - Sharp Shovel, Desperate Plate, Falcon Eye
Yosuke - Inaba Trout, Desperate Plate, Fire Suppressor
Chie - Adios Shoes, Battle Camisole, Fire Suppressor
Yukiko - Flying Disc, Steel Panier, Ice Suppressor


Now, stats and moves... important moves bolded
Yukiko - Level 28. w/ Konohana Sakuya (Str against Fire, Wk against ice)
St 12, Ma 25, En 19, Ag 17, Lu 18
Recarm, Agilao, Me Patra, Maragi, Media, Mudoon, Divine Grace, Amrita.

Yukiko was the healer of the group. Media to heal HP, Amrita to cure silence. Agilao to damage otherwise. Guard after Teddie uses Mind Charge since Mabufula stings.


Chie - Level 27. W/ Tomoe (Str against Ice, Wk against fire)
St 21, Ma 15, En 17, Ag 20, Lu 16
Assault Dive, Counter, Bufu, Rampage, Ice Boost, Skull Cracker, Mabufu, Revolution

Chie was the simplest role of the group. Use regular attacks or Rampage (and rely on Yukiko to heal HP). Also provide SP healing support to yukiko and the hero (and status support to yukiko), and HP support on rare occasions to everyone.

Yosuke - Level 27. W/ Jiraiya (Str against Wind, Wk against Elec)
St 18, Ma 19, En 21, Ag 20, Lu 11
Garu, Tentarafoo, Dia, Trafuri, Sukukaja, Makajam, Sonic Punch, Magaru

Yosuke had a similar role to Chie (minus the Rampage). He also at times used Sukukaja to provide a hit/evade boost to the hero and yukiko.


Hero - Level 27.
I mainly used three persona during the battle:

Shiisaa - Level 26 (Weak to fire and dark, null Elec, Str against Ice)
St 27, Ma 26, En 20, Ag 20, Lu 17
Null Rage, Balzac, Mabufula, Invigorate 1, Mazionga, Marakukaja, Silence Boost, Resist Fire.

Titania - Level 28 (Weak to Fire, Null Ice)
St 12, Ma 25, En 15, Ag 22, Lu 17
Diarama, Magaru, Zionga, Tarunda, Tetrakarn, Red Wall

Jack Frost - Level 25 (Weak to fire, null ice)
St 14, Ma 24, En 24, Ag 16, Lu 19
Bufula, Ice Break, Mind Charge, Mazio, Resist Poison, Dodge Fire, Sukunda, Ice Boost

The hero's role was to buff party defense and debuff shadow teddie's attacks. Use Marakukaja with Shiisaa, and Tarunda with Titania. Switch to Titania or Jack Frost after a mind charge to block mabufula. Sparingly cast Sukunda if you can afford to waste a turn.
 
Playing through Golden reminds me of how despite how much I enjoy the boss fights, getting through dungeons in P4 is such a bore. It feels like a chore to get through most of these floors.
 
I am about 4 hours in and really enjoying it. I haven't played a turn based menu JRPG in a long time because ugh.... but, this, I love how fast this is. Even navigating out of battle is so quick, I never feel like it's taking me ages to get anywhere and no random battles is how all JRPGs should be.
 
I got this game last Christmas on a whim because "Screw it, I wanna play something on my Vita." Had no idea what the game was about, or what reviewers thought of it. My friend was like "You gotta play this game man!"
so I just bought it.

And I loved everything about this game. This is definitely my favorite game of all time. Also got me into the SMT series in general, which is also pretty great.

Amazing game, amazing experince. My only regret is that I'll never be able to experince playing through this (or P3) for the first time ever again.
 
flyinpiranha said:
Dude ... no. The graphical design aspect of the game just pops on the Vita. I love my 3DS ... but no. In fact I am usually the other way around, I wish most games on the 3DS I played had a version for the Vita.
Click to expand...

Yeah lol I wish every single 3DS game I own could be played on my Vita, just a better piece of tech, but Nintendo has a great library that makes not owning a 3ds impossible.
 
I'm LTTP on this game as well... I have a few questions hopefully someone can shed some light on.


  1. Does the active persona at the end of the battle get the experience?
  2. What happens when personas level into new abilities but they already have 8?
  3. Should you focus on spreading your experience among personas, or bringing up a few powerful ones to merge?
  4. Are the TV dungeons all the same hallway/corridor thing? This is by far my least favorite part of the game so far.
  5. What percent of the game would you guess is spent fighting random battles versus meeting new characters, exploring new areas, etc (which I find far more interesting).
  6. Are your allies always stuck with a single persona or am I missing something?
  7. I absolutely despise grinding battles, should I restart on easy? (Currently normal, just finished saving
    Yukiko
    ).
  8. The persona system seems overly complicated and random, is that its appeal or is it just because I haven't gotten used to it?
  9. Is it possible to really hurt yourself by making uninformed choices early on?
  10. How similar/dissimilar are this game and Persona 3?

Thanks!
 
Millsington said:
I'm LTTP on this game as well... I have a few questions hopefully someone can shed some light on.


  1. Does the active persona at the end of the battle get the experience?
  2. What happens when personas level into new abilities but they already have 8?
  3. Should you focus on spreading your experience among personas, or bringing up a few powerful ones to merge?
  4. Are the TV dungeons all the same hallway/corridor thing? This is by far my least favorite part of the game so far.
  5. What percent of the game would you guess is spent fighting random battles versus meeting new characters, exploring new areas, etc (which I find far more interesting).
  6. Are your allies always stuck with a single persona or am I missing something?
  7. I absolutely despise grinding battles, should I restart on easy? (Currently normal, just finished saving
    Yukiko
    ).
  8. The persona system seems overly complicated and random, is that its appeal or is it just because I haven't gotten used to it?
  9. Is it possible to really hurt yourself by making uninformed choices early on?
  10. How similar/dissimilar are this game and Persona 3?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

1. Similar to Pokemon, whatever Persona's had a hand in the battle will get a share of the experience.
2. Again, similar to Pokemon, you choose to forget the new move or replace an old one. I really wish they gave you the option to preview what the ability does when this happens.
3. Merging is the way to go here. Just make sure you're maintaining a good spread of types to use e.g electric, fire, ice etc. Also, make the most of Social Links and merging forecast bonuses.
4. Yes, the dungeons are the weakest part easily. The corridors vary in their most basic appearance from dungeon to dungeon.
5. The social side of the game is the vastly more common side of it, but it ultimately depends how much time you invest in level grinding.
6. It appears to me that is the case yes. Each character serves a specific stat purpose as it pertains to their type of Persona. I agree that it would've been good if you could provide your party members with a variety of Personas for them to use.
7. No, stick with normal. The future dungeons are challenging but not overbearing. Your biggest effort will be managing SP and items and examining enemies and their weaknesses. Bosses can be very challenging.
8. I'm not sure what you mean by random. Each Persona has their own advantages and disadvantages. Merging is essentially random in the sense that every trait of your two Persona's is considered when the game decides which one you will get back.
9. Yes, although not early on as in
Just after Yukiko where you are.
You're still way too early in the game for major decisions to take root. Just make sure you manage your time effectively.
10. Couldn't tell you, I've never played 3.
 
Millsington said:
I'm LTTP on this game as well... I have a few questions hopefully someone can shed some light on.


  1. Does the active persona at the end of the battle get the experience?
  2. What happens when personas level into new abilities but they already have 8?
  3. Should you focus on spreading your experience among personas, or bringing up a few powerful ones to merge?
  4. Are the TV dungeons all the same hallway/corridor thing? This is by far my least favorite part of the game so far.
  5. What percent of the game would you guess is spent fighting random battles versus meeting new characters, exploring new areas, etc (which I find far more interesting).
  6. Are your allies always stuck with a single persona or am I missing something?
  7. I absolutely despise grinding battles, should I restart on easy? (Currently normal, just finished saving
    Yukiko
    ).
  8. The persona system seems overly complicated and random, is that its appeal or is it just because I haven't gotten used to it?
  9. Is it possible to really hurt yourself by making uninformed choices early on?
  10. How similar/dissimilar are this game and Persona 3?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
1. Yes
2. You get to replace a move with the new move or you omit learning the new move.
3. You should focus on building up your social links to get experience boosts for fusing new personas. Grinding Persona experience through battle isn't really a fruitful endeavor.
4. Yes. Some of them have a gimmick or puzzle but they are dungeon crawlers.
5. Probably 65% hanging out in Inaba, 35% hanging out in the TV world.
6. Your allies Personas can evolve when you max their social links. But yes they are stuck to a single individual one. You're the special one who can change into hundreds of personas.
7. If it's too hard, go for easy. But normal is pretty easy in Golden, you're just neglecting something probably. You don't grind in this game, and if you do, you're kind of doing it wrong.
8. You haven't gotten used to it.
9. No.
10. Persona 3 is very similar.
 
I just saved Yukiko last night. It wasn't hard, but I really wasn't sure how much time I should spend doing social link stuff or going into the TV, because I knew I had a time limit, but I did't know how many floors the dungeon was. I ended up beating the dungeon after the first rainy day.

Also, I'm always intimidated when I run into this fusing system stuff. I don't know if I should level demons or fuse the shit out of everything. Should I keep Izanagi? I know he is Yu's Persona in Arena and the Anime. I've fused it, but summon it back, because I feel like I should always have it, like Ash and Pikachu.
 
You can only put a major hurt on yourself by making wrong decisions very late in the game, in the month of
first week December
. Just keep separate save files when that month starts.

Also, don't bother trying to 100% on your first run. It is NOT fun. It is also impossible. Just play blind and enjoy the game.

---

Beating the first dungeon in one day is very impressive. What difficulty? You shouldn't get attached to Personas. They come and go whenever you find something better. Izanagi can be good late game but you can do that with every Persona through serious effort.
 
Oni Link 666 said:
I just saved Yukiko last night. It wasn't hard, but I really wasn't sure how much time I should spend doing social link stuff or going into the TV, because I knew I had a time limit, but I did't know how many floors the dungeon was. I ended up beating the dungeon after the first rainy day.

Also, I'm always intimidated when I run into this fusing system stuff. I don't know if I should level demons or fuse the shit out of everything. Should I keep Izanagi? I know he is Yu's Persona in Arena and the Anime. I've fused it, but summon it back, because I feel like I should always have it, like Ash and Pikachu.
Click to expand...

The key of this game is fusing, even if you doing it semi-randomly its just gonna make you stronger.. the fusion designed to being anti-fail, don't worry.

Get rid of Izanagi as fast as you can is actually recommended, its just initial persona and not gonna help you in battle than another demon or helping you for social link arcana matching.

But yeah most player having difficulty to just get ridding him incluuding me because he have such a badass design :(
 
Here, everyone playing this game for the first time, let me give some friendly overall advice, as I learned this the hard way after playing P3 all those years ago.


The game's leveling system is interesting. Your MC and your party members leveling up system is pretty basic, and very straightforward. Your Persona's leveling up system is anything but, however. On average, it'll take your personas 2.5x the amount of experience to level up per level as it would take your MC or your party. This may not seem like a big deal, but the MC works a little differently.


When a party member gets experience, their persona levels up, and the stats on it level up. Seems simple enough. However, the MC isn't tied to one persona, and whatever stats his current persona has, is tied to the MC. For example, if the MC is level 50, he'll have health and SP of a level 50 character. BUT if he's using a lv20 persona, well, his stats will be that of a level 20 character. This is the easiest mistake every new player to this game falls prey to, especially in a game where if the MC falls in battle it's an automatic game over.


Ideally, keep your persona levels within 5(10 at worst) of your MCs level as you play the game. Keep a varied set of skills on your personas as well. It's easy enough to just have a persona that covers your party makeup's holes(Team Chie/Yosuke/Yukiko won't have strong Ice attacks, nor any Lightning attacks for example), but Personas can actually learn some moves before your team does(not hard to get an Agilao persona before Yukiko learns it in level, for example. Doubly so with healing spells).


Also worth noting that this is why Social Links are so important, as you can make an even leveled persona, then have it gain anywhere from 1-7 levels immediately depending on how big your link is with that arcana. Making a magician Persona when having Yosuke at level 1 for example will cause you to get 1 level, while at max may cause it to get 7 levels. This is crucial when you realize the MC's stats are tied directly to his persona, and while you can't fuse a new persona that's higher in level than you, you CAN have the result be higher in level if bonus experience makes it so(MC is level 50, I can't fuse a level 51 persona, but I can fuse a level 50 persona that then gets 7 free level ups once it's made).


So how long should you keep a Persona? Ideally, until it doesn't have any more skills it can learn that you'd want, but don't gimp yourself by keeping a much lower level persona on you for too long. The beauty of fusion is the abilities of one persona can go on another. While it's nice to have a persona with multiple elements, the real boon is getting things like Fire Boost and Fire Amp on a persona that has strong Agi spells to begin with, as these "boosts" stack. An Agidyne will do 100 damage. An Agidyne with Fire Boost will do 110 damage. An Agidyne with Fire Amp will do 125 damage. An Agidyne with both will do like 140 or something. And yes, Fire Boost is only available on much lower personas in comparison.
 
Wolf Akela said:
You can only put a major hurt on yourself by making wrong decisions very late in the game, in the month of
first week December
. Just keep separate save files when that month starts.

Also, don't bother trying to 100% on your first run. It is NOT fun. It is also impossible. Just play blind and enjoy the game.

---

Beating the first dungeon in one day is very impressive. What difficulty? You shouldn't get attached to Personas. They come and go whenever you find something better. Izanagi can be good late game but you can do that with every Persona through serious effort.
Click to expand...

I didn't beat it in one day. I beat it on the first rainy day out of the 3 consecutive rainy days that would result in fog and a game over. I'm playing on normal.
 
Got it in the EU sale just after I finished P3. Preferring P3 so far, but that's not to say I'm not really enjoying this one, especially considering it's still early.
 
Oh, and others have said, you CAN max out every social link on a first playthrough, but you need to follow a guide to the letter to do so, which can really effect your enjoyment of things. The thing that's the most time consuming in the game is raising your stats(courage, understanding, etc), and those stats carry over from one playthrough to the next, so it's usually encouraged to do a max run only on a second playthrough. :)


I mean, you can get mostly done with almost everything on a first one anyway, just don't waste time by going home early or something, as there's always SOMETHING to do.
 
I am now about 3 hours in. I take it I should be soon done with the tutorial/intro and the actual gameplay should begin right?
 
The
Swimsuit contest
is by far the best moment in the game, and Mr. Teddie is the best character in any jrpg period, what an awesome character.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4: Waifu Quest is a game that has done everything right but the jrpg elements. That's curious because most of jrpg is the opposite.

The story is good
Characters are enjoyable
Plot makes sense for a light game
Mechanics of evolution of characters (Social Links) are good and motivates you to keep going.

Dungeon Crawling is fucking awful. (The battle mechanics are pretty good though)

I really hope that Waifu Quest 2 (aka Persona 5) be like Waifu Quest 1 but with a improved dungeon crawling system.

P.D: Fuck that tomboy Chie, Risette is the best waifu to pick.
 
This game....wow.

I think 2013 has been a pretty crappy year when compared to previous years.

Fire Emblem & Bioshock were great and I'm still waiting for SMT: IV to be released.

But this year has been so memorable gaming wise due to Persona 4 and 3. Which I played for the first time this year. Truly amazing stuff.

It was exactly the sort of game I was after. A game to make me go "well video games are just the best god damn entertainment medium out there, no way I wanna stop playing these any time soon". Think the last game to make me feel like that was Mass Effect.

But it is also a game which has made me even more picky with games. There is simply nothing else like Persona. And it is a damn shame too.
 
Anyone know how many knowledge points the various books give?

Not sure if it's more beneficial to study or to read for purposes of raising knowledge.
 
Love this game to death but it's got some problems like bad dungeon crawling and half assed battle system.

I forgive 'em tho cuz Rise da best and Kanji is my husbando.

No one please renovate my ass. If you are gonna do it, build it back twice as good.
 
GaimeGuy said:
Anyone know how many knowledge points the various books give?

Not sure if it's more beneficial to study or to read for purposes of raising knowledge.
Click to expand...

IIRC, it's based on how many notes pop up on your character's head when the game says "_______ has increased". Knowledge takes the longest to rank up since you naturally get some during lessons.

To be honest I didn't bother with books that only give Knowledge. Studying during rainy days (and Sundays?) gives you extra. You can also study at the school library after class.
 
This game is bad for my health. I've spent many an early hour up playing it. Going on something like 40 hours now with no sign of letting up.
 
KimonoNoNo said:
URRR! I can't land that damn Sea-Guardian.

What possessed Atlus to make that a condition to max out a S-link.
Click to expand...

It's the only thing they made harder in golden honestly. It was kinda easy to get on Persona 4 vanilla, golden you got more hoops to go through. ;)
 
Ichor said:
I love the hell outta this game, but man are the dungeons tedious. Would be nice to have the characters and social links of a Persona game with the dungeons and combat of one of the mainline games.

Yukiko is best girl by far IMO.
Click to expand...

Just run past all the monsters but golden hands. Problem solved.

+1 on Yukiko. Social link, P4G extras, and in battle. She can easily get too powerful and break the game.

Chie is a total sweetie. My second choice. Twin Dragons? Oh my!!
 
Just realized I hadn't gotten the true ending yet. Luckily I had a well placed save file. Persona 3, you're on pause for the moment. Let's do this!
 
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