Funyarinpa
Member
post theme: Snowflakes
It's funny how small bets can change lives.
Everything started with a PSN sale in November which dropped Persona 4 Golden to only 10 bucks. I'm well acquainted with the Vita fanbase, so I was well aware of the reverence around this game. I'm not interested in JRPGs so I didn't expect to like the game, however, I decided to risk the $10 to play the most acclaimed game of my favorite system.
Practically all I knew about the going in was that it had a system where you got closer to people by hanging out with them, and that it was a JRPG. I didn't expect to like it. I expected to be able to say "P4G is overrated in my opinion, I tried and didn't like it".
The first 3-4 hours until finishing Yukiko's dungeon, I thought my exceptions were pretty much right on the money. I didn't stop though, for whatever reason. I kept going. Then the game opened up by letting me do whatever I want in my free time.
I'm pretty sure that was the moment P4G had sunk it hooks onto me. There's something addictive about the level of freedom the game grants you, that's the only explanation I have. I somehow managed to give the game a break of a few weeks between November and December (was finishing up a couple of other stuff), I think I still thought of the game as only "pretty good" by then. The moment I picked P4G back up, I played for 3-4 hours straight.
From that day on, for a period I estimate to be around 10-14 days, I was completely immersed in Persona afterwards. I think I ended up playing 6 hours a day at one stretch (I was curious as hell about Rise so I cleared her dungeon in very few days, then I tried to initiate her S.Link, couldn't stop haha).
The cast is just too good! Spending time, forming bonds, I still can't properly explain how the game managed to establish such a beautifully crafted daily routine that it drew me in with each passing day. Isolated, practically every single element of the game falls apart. I'm utterly blown away that somehow they came together and formed the masterpiece that is P4G.
...I'm sorry, this post isn't becoming anywhere as long as I want it to be. P4G is just an experience that's hard to explain. I don't think I'll feel satisfied with this post until I've dissected every single day. Then again, I expect anyone who's read up to this point to be finished with the game's true ending, so I'm confident you'll understand.
My favorite moments were easily the day-long events that took place with the whole TV inspection crew. The earliest example I remember right now is the school campout.
I was overall impressed by the JRPG part in that the boss battles were very engaging and there was very little grinding (only grinded for around 5 hours overall). Personas were a pretty deep mechanic, which was nice. My favorites during the course of the game were Ippon Datara, Black Frost, some green-black-silver swordsman (Ma Tin?) and Trumpeter (which was my last go-to Persona).
The BIGGEST reason, even though not the initial one, of my love for P4G is the cast. I didn't want a single person to not be there. Yosuke's a bit of a douche but still friendly (reminds me of myself with of how often he screws up and needs the cast to help him out), Kanji's rash but considerate, Yukiko's reserved but at times the liveliest of the bunch. It's just a bunch of wonderfully realized characters- I can't have enough of them yet I'm perfectly content with the true ending.
I guess this is the part where P4G directly resonates with me. I'm 16, so the troubles of the cast (finding of self, deciding the future, trivialties like exams and trips) directly related to me and how I feel nowadays. I loved how close the cast was. I loved how they spent practically every day together and shared so many things. They were schoolmates, classmates, villagers, teenagers, comrades, life-changers, even lovers. I'm also a very nostalgic person, I still miss the neighborhood where I was born and my friends from primary school. I mostly have fond memories of the past, and I have a very weak spot for nostalgia.
...Then came the 21st of March. I'd been aware for the last 15 game hours that the date of parting was swiftly approaching but nothing quite prepared me for 03/21. The cutscene where everyone runs alongside the peron as MC's train leaves and says their parting words...I'm getting teary eyed as I write this...
...I'm crying. Again.
The epilogue was priceless too. Seeing how everyone was different yet the same (seeing Kanji with shirt, glasses and black hair shouting "CUT IT OUT, DAMMIT!" was priceless). Nanako with long hair and offering to play the piano for Dojima. Namatame trying to pay the town back. Inaba sunny again. Marie as a cheerful, upbeat news anchor.
Nothing, NOTHING, ever touched me Persona 4 Golden did. I'm thankful for this game. I felt like I truly lived a wonderful life inside P4G. Normally, the games I play are in the 20-30 hour range. I can't comprehend how 70 hours of P4G felt so short. I can't believe I clocked 70 hours, for me, 70 hours came as a result of a month of playing a huge game, spread thin and thus not very effective. It still hasn't fully hit me that those people are not real and there's little more to their character and what they think and say and do and want than what was written for them by actual, living people. The thing is, though, I don't mind. I felt that I truly left Inaba for good at the end of P4G. I felt that I spent valuable time with them, and I can look upon them as friends I once had upon the past (in the context of the game). I can look upon P4G as one hell of a ride, I don't need a NG+ or a replay. I'm just fine with leaving Inaba on 03/21.
Loving it so much that I'm okay with leaving it behind... That's what P4G taught me.
It's funny how small bets can change lives.
Everything started with a PSN sale in November which dropped Persona 4 Golden to only 10 bucks. I'm well acquainted with the Vita fanbase, so I was well aware of the reverence around this game. I'm not interested in JRPGs so I didn't expect to like the game, however, I decided to risk the $10 to play the most acclaimed game of my favorite system.
Practically all I knew about the going in was that it had a system where you got closer to people by hanging out with them, and that it was a JRPG. I didn't expect to like it. I expected to be able to say "P4G is overrated in my opinion, I tried and didn't like it".
The first 3-4 hours until finishing Yukiko's dungeon, I thought my exceptions were pretty much right on the money. I didn't stop though, for whatever reason. I kept going. Then the game opened up by letting me do whatever I want in my free time.
I'm pretty sure that was the moment P4G had sunk it hooks onto me. There's something addictive about the level of freedom the game grants you, that's the only explanation I have. I somehow managed to give the game a break of a few weeks between November and December (was finishing up a couple of other stuff), I think I still thought of the game as only "pretty good" by then. The moment I picked P4G back up, I played for 3-4 hours straight.
From that day on, for a period I estimate to be around 10-14 days, I was completely immersed in Persona afterwards. I think I ended up playing 6 hours a day at one stretch (I was curious as hell about Rise so I cleared her dungeon in very few days, then I tried to initiate her S.Link, couldn't stop haha).
The cast is just too good! Spending time, forming bonds, I still can't properly explain how the game managed to establish such a beautifully crafted daily routine that it drew me in with each passing day. Isolated, practically every single element of the game falls apart. I'm utterly blown away that somehow they came together and formed the masterpiece that is P4G.
...I'm sorry, this post isn't becoming anywhere as long as I want it to be. P4G is just an experience that's hard to explain. I don't think I'll feel satisfied with this post until I've dissected every single day. Then again, I expect anyone who's read up to this point to be finished with the game's true ending, so I'm confident you'll understand.
My favorite moments were easily the day-long events that took place with the whole TV inspection crew. The earliest example I remember right now is the school campout.
"The game of my dreams" said:Yukiko & Chie: (wearing bikinis) Why're you guys here?
Kanji: (turns around) uuuuuhhhhh....
Chie: What's wrong, Kanji?
Kanji: Uuuuuuuuuhhhhh.... (refuses to face Chie)
Chie: (grabs him, turns him around, sees nosebleed) YOU FILTHY-
(Yukiko and Chie throw him into the river)
*5 minutes later*
(hearing Mr. Morooka belch and puke upstream)
Yosuke: Wait, is that...
Yukiko: I've heard Mr. Morooka was throwing up upstrea.... (trails off)
Yosukein river) (on the verge of tears) ...I'll... never... feel clean again...
I was overall impressed by the JRPG part in that the boss battles were very engaging and there was very little grinding (only grinded for around 5 hours overall). Personas were a pretty deep mechanic, which was nice. My favorites during the course of the game were Ippon Datara, Black Frost, some green-black-silver swordsman (Ma Tin?) and Trumpeter (which was my last go-to Persona).
The BIGGEST reason, even though not the initial one, of my love for P4G is the cast. I didn't want a single person to not be there. Yosuke's a bit of a douche but still friendly (reminds me of myself with of how often he screws up and needs the cast to help him out), Kanji's rash but considerate, Yukiko's reserved but at times the liveliest of the bunch. It's just a bunch of wonderfully realized characters- I can't have enough of them yet I'm perfectly content with the true ending.
I guess this is the part where P4G directly resonates with me. I'm 16, so the troubles of the cast (finding of self, deciding the future, trivialties like exams and trips) directly related to me and how I feel nowadays. I loved how close the cast was. I loved how they spent practically every day together and shared so many things. They were schoolmates, classmates, villagers, teenagers, comrades, life-changers, even lovers. I'm also a very nostalgic person, I still miss the neighborhood where I was born and my friends from primary school. I mostly have fond memories of the past, and I have a very weak spot for nostalgia.
...Then came the 21st of March. I'd been aware for the last 15 game hours that the date of parting was swiftly approaching but nothing quite prepared me for 03/21. The cutscene where everyone runs alongside the peron as MC's train leaves and says their parting words...I'm getting teary eyed as I write this...
...I'm crying. Again.
The epilogue was priceless too. Seeing how everyone was different yet the same (seeing Kanji with shirt, glasses and black hair shouting "CUT IT OUT, DAMMIT!" was priceless). Nanako with long hair and offering to play the piano for Dojima. Namatame trying to pay the town back. Inaba sunny again. Marie as a cheerful, upbeat news anchor.
Nothing, NOTHING, ever touched me Persona 4 Golden did. I'm thankful for this game. I felt like I truly lived a wonderful life inside P4G. Normally, the games I play are in the 20-30 hour range. I can't comprehend how 70 hours of P4G felt so short. I can't believe I clocked 70 hours, for me, 70 hours came as a result of a month of playing a huge game, spread thin and thus not very effective. It still hasn't fully hit me that those people are not real and there's little more to their character and what they think and say and do and want than what was written for them by actual, living people. The thing is, though, I don't mind. I felt that I truly left Inaba for good at the end of P4G. I felt that I spent valuable time with them, and I can look upon them as friends I once had upon the past (in the context of the game). I can look upon P4G as one hell of a ride, I don't need a NG+ or a replay. I'm just fine with leaving Inaba on 03/21.
Loving it so much that I'm okay with leaving it behind... That's what P4G taught me.
