Just under two years ago, Atlus released Persona 3 in the US. Before then, Atlus and their Shin Megami Tensei series of RPGs were well-respected, but had only a small cult following outside of Japan. With Persona 3, everything changed.
Suddenly, the Persona franchise became a top tier one in the RPG community. Gamers all over the world loved it, as did critics, and it went on to achieve incredible success, including a special edition release titled Persona 3 FES. No one but Atlus saw Persona 3’s success coming, and part of the reason it became such a fan favorite—and RPG classic—is that it had almost no hype building it up. Unlike other hit series, the latest Persona was a nice, unexpected surprise in terms of quality and entertainment. So now that Persona is on the radar of all RPG players, how does Persona 4 compare to the stellar previous title?
Well, it doesn’t quite compare to Persona 3 at all—it leaps over it and leaves it in its dust, becoming not only one of the best RPGs this decade, but one of the top ones the PS2 has seen in its storied existence. Part of the reason why is the direction Atlus took when making the game. Rather than craft an entirely new game, they instead took the core basics from Persona 3, tweaked them, added some stuff here and there, and came out with a more polished, and much better gaming experience. If you loved Persona 3 you’re still going to love Persona 4, but if you had issues with P3 (unbelievable characters, the giant single dungeon, plot progression, lots of walking, too difficult, etc.) go ahead and give P4 a shot, because you'll probably end up loving it.
One of the reasons the Persona series has always been one of my favorites is the writing and story. While most RPGs almost always go for fantasy or sci-fi, few try to base themselves in a more realistic setting, let alone a mature realistic setting. Persona has always done just that, and 3 was the best example yet – until 4. While Persona 3 was a game rooted in realism with elements of the fantastical sprinkled heavily on top like an overload of sprinkles, Persona 4 feels even realer (but still just as fantastical).
The story revolves around the protagonist, a teenage boy who moves to a small, rural town to live with his uncle and young cousin. His uncle, a detective, is working on a sudden problem in the town: people keep getting killed. Unfortunately, no one can figure out why, and the case isn’t going anywhere. As you can imagine, having a serial murderer on the loose without a single lead or break in the case isn’t exactly the best thing to find out about your new home.
Still, life must go on, and the protagonist enrolls in the local high school where he meets and befriends several classmates. It’s through them that he learns of an interesting rumor circulating among the school: if you stay up past midnight on a rainy night and watch a specific TV channel, you’ll see your soulmate. Like anyone hearing such a thing, the protagonist is intrigued and decides to try it out himself. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t see his soulmate, but instead sees horrific scenes relating to the recent murders, and learns that he can enter through the television (like a reverse Sadako) and discovers an alternate, in-TV reality.
Turns out the police can’t solve the murder because the murderer is out of their jurisdiction; it’s supernatural, and unfortunately for Japan they have no Mulder or Winchester brothers to save the day. So the job falls squarely on the shoulder of the protagonist and his high school classmates. By day, they attend class and do the normal teenager thing; by night, they enter the alternate reality inside the TV to try and prevent murders from happening, and find out just who—or what—is committing them.
I know, it sounds a bit like a modernized bastardization of CSI and VR Troopers, but it’s anything but general audience and Saturday Morning friendly. Just like past games, Persona 4 is very, very mature. Unlike the past ones, though, the characters are actually believable and realistic. So while the story itself is now a murder mystery instead of a “Save the world!” affair, the result is more grit, more emotional impact, and much more relatable and enjoyable characters. While you won’t recognize every classmate you run into as someone you knew in your own school days, there are going to be more than a few you do. Persona 3 had fun characters, but my problem was that they never felt authentic to me; in Persona 4, they’re so authentic you’ll find yourself becoming attached to them quickly, and feeling what they feel as their lives twist and turn throughout the 100+ hour narrative.
This is in no short part thanks to the many subplots, twists, and events the classmates go through. I don’t really want to spoil anything, but the issues facing the teens runs the full gamut; there’s even a main character struggling to accept his own homosexuality. Persona 2 Innocent Sin may have featured the ability to partake in a homosexual relationship—and RPGs as far back as Chrono Trigger featured gay characters—but Persona 4 is the first to actually have a character struggle with the issue, and it’s one of the largest subplots in the game. It just goes to further prove that games aren’t meant just for kids, and while it’s the best example of a major subplot creating a memorable and relatable character, it’s by no means the only.
In terms of the gameplay, as I’ve mentioned, if you’ve played Persona 3 you’ll feel right at home with Persona 4. That’s not to say improvements weren’t made, though. Perhaps my favorite improvement—and the one fans wanted the most—is the ability to fully control your party members. In Persona 3, you were forced to allow the AI to control the other members of your party. The results were usually fine, but occasionally disaster struck and you would find yourself loading a saved game because of a stupid mistake the computer made. This time around, you won’t be able to blame the computer for dying, because it’s all on you.
Dying is also a bit harder to do in Persona 4. The game is still much harder than other mainstream RPGs, but out of the SMT and Persona titles it’s probably the easiest game yet. Gone is the constant worrying about being one-shotted in a dungeon by a generic enemy, and the new guard mechanic allows you to spend a turn defending, which nullifies the disadvantage characters face against certain elements. Weak against a foe’s affinity? Just keep guarding and you won’t be handing your HP to it on a platter. The dungeon crawling aspect was also reworked, and rather than having the single Tartarus-like dungeon occupying all of your time, the dungeons are instead broken down into separately themed ones. They’re still randomly generated, but you won’t be seeing the same surroundings for 30+ hours which is a very welcome change.
Where the Persona series becomes unique from others is the way it splits time between real life and “typical RPG stuff” elements. Once again, your character will have to attend school, connect with friends, take tests, join clubs, and perform the normal everyday tasks when you’re not saving someone from being murdered. It's a feature which turned many people on to Persona 3, and in Persona 4, much like the story and gameplay, the social aspect has been completely refined and shines like a gem.
Obviously there are new characters to befriend, date, and talk to; it’s a new town, after all. But there are also new rewards in the social link dynamic. Even working part-time jobs gives actual character progression benefits (not to mention money), and as a whole the social element feels much more in-tune with the game this time around. In Persona 3 I felt like the social aspect was just keeping me from seeing what I wanted to see and doing what I wanted to do, but in Persona 4 it’s much more connected, and flows a lot better. In other words, the chores feel less like chores and more like actual key gameplay points.
If Persona 4 has any faults, it's that it's too good. That may sound crazy, but keep in mind the game will take around 100 hours for some to complete. When it's this good, you want to complete it; you need to complete it. But, unfortunately, many people just won't have the time to do so. It's sort of like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey, and then letting the carrot rot before you let the donkey eat it. It's a fantastic, wonderful game -- if you have the time for it. Factor in that save points are far between and that you can only really play if you have at least one or two hours of completely free time, and it becomes a difficult game for those with fulltime jobs, families, or significant others to enjoy. But if you can find the time to play it -- even if you spread it out over the course of months -- it's worth every minute.
It’s ironic that in a day and age where Square Enix is trying their hardest to make RPGs appeal to Western gamers, it’s a completely and unapologetically Japanese RPG that ends up being the best (and most memorable) RPG in years. Persona 4 not only lives up to the expectations surrounding it, but surpasses them so handily that even I, a huge fan of the last game, was surprised. If you enjoyed Persona 3 (or if you enjoy RPGs and, gasp, never played it) it’s a must-buy, no questions asked. The PS2 may be fading off into the sunset, but Atlus has given us at least one more reason to keep the ol’ girl hooked up to the TV.
Full disclosure: Pantheon Labs, parent company of GameCyte, is owned by Richard Kain, general manager of TriplePoint PR. At time of publication, TriplePoint represented Atlus for Persona 4.
Yap, I whole heartedly agree, I've been a fan of The SMT titles since Nocturne & when Persona 3 came out it just exploded. I love the game & even the character.. Persona 4 made me an even bigger fan, congrats to Atlus for putting their effort in producing a unique yet entertaining game, I love you all...
January 4th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Yap, I whole heartedly agree, I've been a fan of The SMT titles since Nocturne & when Persona 3 came out it just exploded. I love the game & even the character.. Persona 4 made me an even bigger fan, congrats to Atlus for putting their effort in producing a unique yet entertaining game, I love you all...