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Why is Persona 4: Golden so good?

the dungeon gameplay is pretty mediocre (although it's a nice touch that the personal feelings of the main characters influences it somewhat), but the rest is great, especially

1) excellent characters (backgrounds, voice acting)
2) excellent story (great murder mystery)
3) really funny at times
 
I went through the original on PS2 and couldn't get through Golden. Time and perspective.. I find it incredibly overhyped and not nearly as good as other SMT series games. Good cast and thats it. More high school sim than RPG. I found the dungeon gameplay to be pretty bad, which really stood out to me going through a 2nd time.

I've played through all SMT games since the PS2 gen and I just really enjoy the more gameplay focused titles like Nocturne and SMTIV more than the recent Personas.
 
A trully nice character development, a nice story, good turn based gameplay mechanics and a high replayability value! =)
 
BumRush said:
OP, to enjoy P4G, I feel like you have to have at least a (very) mild interest in anime.
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My story with anime before playing the Persona games was basically only Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon as a kid, and I still loved the games. This is not a requirement at all.
 
leng jai said:
It continually blows my mind why GAF feels the need to call this a must have game for everyone under the sun who owns a Vita when it's clearly a niche title.
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It is definitely a niche title, but as far as this type of game goes, Persona 4 is the most accessible one out there. It's streamlined and without being over simplified, and the most easily digestible of the Shin Megami Tensei titles. This makes it a perfect candidate for allowing people to sample these types of games, and perhaps serve as a gateway into the others.

The Vita is also a pretty niche console as well, so it stands to reason that the people who were willing to invest in it may be down to expand their horizon towards some of the lesser known Japanese games.
 
leng jai said:
It continually blows my mind why GAF feels the need to call this a must have game for everyone under the sun who owns a Vita when it's clearly a niche title.
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maybe they don't want it to be niche anymore and hit mainstream appeal sooner than later? of course people recommend titles like this because they are good and want them to be more successful. i honestly don't get what you are trying to say.
 
The core mechanic of P4 is choice and time management. There is a lot to do, and time is finite.

I love the battle system! The battles are fast paced and employ a lot of simple, but refreshing mechanics.

My only gripe with this game is the amount of grinding that must be done on higher difficulties, and some of the pacing in the game.

I've played through it twice within the span of 6 months(minimum 60-70 hours to beat). It's no joke probably my favorite game, and definitely my favorite game released in the last 5 years.
 
Psycho_Mantis said:
The notion that the Persona fanbase only cares about waifu's in terms of characters is completely wrong. The Persona series as reflected by many here have such great character casts compared to other jrpgs and are adored for their personality, growth and events experienced with them.

Just look at this character poll:

1. Yu (P4 MC) - 1451
2. Yosuke - 1139
3. Naoto - 834
4. Chie - 705
5. P3 MC - 574
6. Aigis - 512
7. Nanako - 412
8. Yukiko - 408
8. Teddie - 408
10. Shinjiro - 302
11. Rise - 297
12. Kanji - 286
13. Mitsuru - 230
14. Koromaru - 215
15. Adachi - 214
16. P3 FeMC - 191
17. Elizabeth - 171
18. Akihiko - 166
19. Tatsuya (P2:IS MC) - 156
20. Yukari - 138
21. P1 MC
22. Reiji
23. Fuuka
24. Theodore
25. Dojima
26. Labrys
My favourite Persona character has to be Minato.
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Good to see that Labrys is where she belongs on that list.

OP, I disagree with the people complaining about the combat. It isn't the most complicated thing in the world, but there is enough depth there to make it so you don't just attack your way through most of the game, which is what A LOT of other Turn Based RPGs can turn into. It's also a big plus that the combat music is also great, ESPECIALLY the boss music.

The dungeon's are pretty dull though. At least some of them have interesting settings and good music.

Lastly, there is only one real waifu in Persona 4.
Kanji.
 
Am I the only person that thinks that there is a new Persona 4 Golden Thread every week? Even 2? I loved the game to death and still feel empty inside since I finished it.

I need Persona 5 now.
 
My biggest gripes with P4G are as compared to the original version. They made an easy game even easier, and added pointless content, not to mention the most annoying character ever, real spoiler,
who ruins an even better one by association
.

That said, on its own merits, it's still great.
 
I tried to play P3 before P4 since I watched some of the Giantbomb Endurance run and really liked the game. I did not enjoy P3 at all, so much I never got around to play P4 :(
 
Andrefpvs said:
My story with anime before playing the Persona games was basically only Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon as a kid, and I still loved the games. This is not a requirement at all.
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Same here to be honest. However I'm quite interested in anime and JRPG'S. But as I said I have kind of been put off by bad JRPG'S in the past so never really ventured back into them.

Having played most of the good via games I'm willing to put the time and effort into persona 4 and see if it can change my perceptions of JRPG'S :)

I just hate the grinding that entails so easy difficulty for this is deffo what I'm going to do.
 
I tried to play this game, but all it wants me to do is walk around talking to people. Are all the story sequences over an hour long, or just the intro?

I play JRPGs for the battle systems and music, so I don't care about al this story fluff up front.
 
JCX said:
I tried to play this game, but all it wants me to do is walk around talking to people. Are all the story sequences over an hour long, or just the intro?

I play JRPGs for the battle systems and music, so I don't care about al this story fluff up front.
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Tough it out for the early hours of the game. You'll get the juicy parts soon enough. This game has both good battle systems and music, so you're in good hands.

Also, OP: The answer is options. You're never tied down by one thing for too long. Dungeons boring you? Go do social links. Want to beat shit up? Go do the dungeon. It's split up in arcs and is constantly adding characters, so it feels consistently fresh. Plus, every action you do positively affects the rest of the gameplay. Doing part time jobs makes you money, but also increases your social stats. Spending time with friends gets more experience for your persona fusions. Everything works in concert, so you constantly feel productive.
 
I've played Persona 4 on PS2 (and later PCSX2) many times, and now started my Golden run. It's just an awesome experience. Too bad there's no PS3/PS4 version.
 
I think the reason why its so well-liked (by vita owners, myself included), is the fact that the story and pacing works extremely well for a handheld device. You get a recap of things often, and it's basically pickup and play, if you aren't playing other games on the Vita. None of the things require a significant investment of time, and aside from the occassional cut-scene you can stop anything mid-scene.
 
Carroway said:
I think the reason why its so well-liked (by vita owners, myself included), is the fact that the story and pacing works extremely well for a handheld device. You get a recap of things often, and it's basically pickup and play, if you aren't playing other games on the Vita. None of the things require a significant investment of time, and aside from the occassional cut-scene you can stop anything mid-scene.
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A lot of people fell in love with Persona 4 way before it was a Vita game.
 
BillGaitas said:
Well, I went into Persona 4 with no interest whatsoever in anime. Actually, Persona 4 made me like anime and the such, and now I can't stop watching it.
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Yep, I didn't mean it was a pre-req, I just feel like if you HATE anime, you won't enjoy the ambience of P4G.
 
Persona 4 Golden has become my favorite game of all time, no joke. What makes it so good?

Well there isn't much I can say that hasn't already been said. But it's basically a game that has the full package. The gameplay (combat system) is intuitive and fun. Some people complained about the dungeon design, but I think they are very accessible and grinding in the game is actually enjoyable. So I personally loved breezing through the dungeons (especially how each dungeon was tied to a new member in the group, and had a deep personal/meaning to them). Plus, I'll take the unique dungeons in Persona 4 any day to the never ending dungeon that was Tartarus in Persona 3 (that shit became a mind numbing chore).

And what ties all of it together is the characters. They are all likable, and really fleshed out. By the end of the game, you feel connected to them. The game does a good job connecting these characters to the journey you all share, so by the end you aren't just the "hero" that defeated everything. It truly feels like a group effort. The social/relationship stuff adds to that, as the characters don't just grow physically, but emotionally.

Plus, I just loved the world/story. It has superb pacing, and is a good balance of funny/charming and mystery. So for me, it's just the perfect game that really brings all these elements together into one thing.
 
Azula said:
Persona 4 Golden has become my favorite game of all time, no joke. What makes it so good?

Well there isn't much I can say that hasn't already been said. But it's basically a game that has the full package. The gameplay (combat system) is intuitive and fun. Some people complained about the dungeon design, but I think they are very accessible and grinding in the game is actually enjoyable. So I personally loved breezing through the dungeons (especially how each dungeon was tied to a new member in the group, and had a deep personal/meaning to them). Plus, I'll take the unique dungeons in Persona 4 any day to the never ending dungeon that was Tartarus in Persona 3 (that shit became a mind numbing chore).

And what ties all of it together is the characters. They are all likable, and really fleshed out. By the end of the game, you feel connected to them. The game does a good job connecting these characters to the journey you all share, so by the end you aren't just the "hero" that defeated everything. It truly feels like a group effort. The social/relationship stuff adds to that, as the characters don't just grow physically, but emotionally.

Plus, I just loved the world/story. It has superb pacing, and is a good balance of funny/charming and mystery. So for me, it's just the perfect game that really brings all these elements together into one thing.
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It was very very good how the combat, the boss fights, EVERYTHING was a reflection of quality of relationships and helping and understanding. It's hard to relate how important and good that was in the game.
 
If it wasn't for the story and characters, I wouldn't at all be interested in playing it.

And even that couldn't keep me hooked to the point of completing it... the dungeon crawling gets very repetitive and killed it for me...
 
I think I'm going to start over on my current playthrough. I feel like I'm missing something that's just not clicking with me in this game. When I start to get into the story, the dungeons bring me down. Maybe I'll start on easy mode.
 
I don't usually play JRPGs but I got the game for my vita after all the glowing recommendations

I put a dedicated 10 hours or so into it, but just couldn't keep going. Yeah the story is interesting, but I found the game far too repetitive.
 
If this is your first venture into MegaTen games, or even just the Persona division, then you are honestly the better for it. This is honestly just a perfected version of an already great game. All of the complaints when it came to UI and interface were fixed, you don't have to worry about recycled enemies from the past games since they are new to you, the soundtrack is phenomenal, and you don't have to endlessly compare the story to the third one and pick a favorite.

The game is wonderful, and you honestly feel like your decisions matter. Not only does it affect actual gameplay, but the story and who you hang out with gives you different options later on down the road. It's just a real cool experience where you actually start to care about the side characters, and you definitely pick favorites.

The music is top notch, the design is gorgeous, the voice acting does a really good job, and all in all it is just believable. As well, I'm a sucker for a good mystery, and they put in enough clues for you to actually figure out the story as you go along.

The characters really are the highlight, and this game doesn't take the dark and helpless approach that most MegaTen games do, so you can ease your way into this great series of games.

All in all, it really is a must buy for the Vita, especially if you haven't played any of the other games. Just a warning, it's tough playing the other games after this one. You get spoiled by all of the little changes and tweaks they made to everything.
 
I think one of the reasons because it gets so much praise is because the characters are really well done and thanks to them you really feel like reliving your time at high school.

The social links are really well done and the dialogs feel "alive" especially during your first playthrough when you haven't tried all the different dialog choices. That adds a lot and really helps to add some immersion to the game.

And the characters in general, while being somewhat cliché, have some nice extra layers that makes them feel real.

On top of that, the battle system was quite cool (well, like in most MegaTen games) and the story was refreshing since it didn't have the "save the world thing"
unless you go for an optional ending

I agree that the dungeon design is quite boring, but that doesn't stop it from being me favourite JRPG ever.
 
BumRush said:
Yep, I didn't mean it was a pre-req, I just feel like if you HATE anime, you won't enjoy the ambience of P4G.
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I do hate anime. Well, not HATE, but dislike. Which is weird, since I enjoy almost every Japanese game, especially the ones that I'm told to be very anime. There hasn't been one anime that kindled my interest, and even if I tried watching, I just couldn't make it far. The only exceptions have been animes based on games I enjoyed (Persona 4 first and foremost, other than that Pokémon and maybe Sonic X). What I do hate is japanese voice acting (with some exceptions) and especially the "must-be-japanese-with-subtitles-or-it-is-shit" attitude going on in most of the "anime fanbase".

Yet I am here, playing stuff like Senran Kagura, loving Fire Emblem, having JRPG as my favourite genre and being able to read Katakana and Hiragana. Fml.

What I am getting at: I found Persona 4 (or JRPGs in general) to be very enjoyable even though I dislike anime. That said, the honorifics do get grating, but I can overlook that pretty easily with something as good as Persona 4.
 
Persona 4 Golden is essentially an anime.
Not a universally acclaimed anime, but a widely watched anime loved by its fans. Think Bleach. Not narratively, but in quality and appeal.

If that sounds good, you'll probably really like it. If things like that never appealed to you or no longer do, there is a decent battle system. There is a good time management system. Apart from terrible dungeons, it is a solid actual game, so there is still plenty to enjoy even if you're not enamored with the characters and story. You'll likely find yourself in the camp who simply like it. It is the anime sensibilities that make it "so good" though.
 
Gameplay, story, characters, art direction, score, so on and so forth. The game is perfect in my book.

ohlawd said:
Rise.

Rise makes this game so good.
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2014-07-2016_53_22-enxaerd.png
 
I liked the story, characters, and gameplay (yeah its a bit simple but I enjoyed it). The school sim/social links feel like they drag on forever though. They kill my interest and I usually don't end up beating them despite getting very far in the games.
 
Fantastic experience but it's too easy. Original P4 seemed more challenging to me.

By around 1/3 of the way through the game I was pretty much unkillable in the dungeons. I wasn't that strong but I never worried about losing a fight. By around 1/2 way I was a wrecking ball.
 
FStop7 said:
Fantastic experience but it's too easy. Original P4 seemed more challenging to me.

By around 1/3 of the way through the game I was pretty much unkillable in the dungeons. I wasn't that strong but I never worried about losing a fight. By around 1/2 way I was a wrecking ball.
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Yep, even on hard this holds true. Going through Very Hard right now hoping for something different, but so far it just has the "grind twice as long!" thing I had figured it to be. :(
 
The story and characters were great but I did not like the gameplay at all (And I really like JRPGS). In fact, I think I'd like the game significantly more if they just took out the dungeons/combat all together, and essentially made it a slice-of-life game.
 
Sodding_Gamer said:
Yeah that's what I mean by these two games have tainted my opinion on JRPG's. As I don't have anything else as a reference of good JRPG's apart from FF7. Which was ages ago and I can barely remember it.
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P4's strong points are pretty far from standard jRPGs, so I don't think that's a problem.

Meia said:
Yep, even on hard this holds true. Going through Very Hard right now hoping for something different, but so far it just has the "grind twice as long!" thing I had figured it to be. :(
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Try other Megatens (Nocturne or Devil Survivor on top of my head for the ones I found the hardest).

KingKiller said:
The dungeons were one of the strong points for me.
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What? But...Why?
 
I just started playing this. About 1.5 hours in and still haven't had a single battle but I feel like I am making headway with Chie so its all good.

Not the game I was expecting after playing SMTIV but I have to say that I am enjoying it. It is kind of like watching an anime crossed with a choose your own adventure book. Hopefully the RPGness will kick in soon though.
 
I think people who don't enjoy Persona 4 have no souls. It is THE greatest JRPG I've ever laid hands on. The music, characters, theme, UI, everything is damn near perfect. only the dungeon crawling is a miss.
 
Visuals, updated gameplay, new music tracks, events, more S.Links, etc.
I really enjoyed clocking 60 something hours into it.
 
Psycho_Mantis said:
Dead

I never imagined there would come a day when some people would call Persona casual.
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While that review is obviously troll bait, a common theme among a certain segment of SMT fans is to shit on Persona 3 and 4 for going in a different direction and becoming way more popular for it. God forbid they made the SMT combat require less buffing to win most of it's fights. WHERE IS MY DEPTH?!
 
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