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| Persona 4 [PS2] | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 27 2013, 09:15 AM (387 Views) | |
| Arayvenn | Aug 27 2013, 09:15 AM Post #1 |
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Stirred, not shaken.
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![]() This is an opinion based review. I am not a professional critic. Title: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 Release Date: Japan - July 10, 2008 North America - December 9, 2008 Developers: Atlus Genre: Japanese Role-Playing Game Platform: Playstation 2 Pre-Review Note I ordered this game off Amazon in June after hearing so much about it and just completed my second playthrough of it yesterday. I am left feeling that it is one of the most unique experiences I've had playing a video game. Disclaimer: I have not played any other installments in this series. This is widely regarded as the best and from what I hear, it does things a little differently. I will make no mention of the other games in the series nor will they have any affect on my opinion as I have not played them. Overview The fourth and most praised installment in the Persona franchise. Game operates on a calendar system and has a simulation aspect. Think of it as Harvest Moon meets Final Fantasy. Story The main character is given a name by you, so I'm just going to call him MC. In April of 2011 the MC arrives in the small town of Inaba to live with the Dojimas, who are relatives. You live with your uncle Ryotaro and your little cousin Nanako. You are told this arrangement will last one year while your parents are working abroad. Shortly after your arrival a TV announcer is found dead, her body hanging from an antenna. Saki Konishi, a student who discovered her body is later found dead in a similar fashion and it becomes clear that the murders are connected. This is a shock to the quiet, small town that is Inaba. This is where the game goes really Japanese on us, so bear with me. One day, while strolling through the mall with of your classmates, Yosuke, who happens to work at said mall, you stumble through a TV screen and into the TV world where you meet Teddie, a supernatural teddie bear. You had discovered you could put your arm through your television at home the night before, but Yosuke is skeptical so you do this to prove to him you were not lying. While exploring the TV world it becomes clear that the murders are tied to this realm and Yosuke and MC agree to do something about it. It appears as though the killer is murdering their victims by throwing them into this strange world and having the various monsters that live here kill them. Needless to say, MC and Yosuke aren't okay with this. Teddie agrees to help out MC and his friends solve the murder cases by allowing them to travel freely between the TV world and real world. ![]() Saki Konishi's body hanging from a telephone pole. MC and his friends obtain their own personas and start hunting down the killer. For some reason only they, the killer and the killer's victims are able to enter the TV world. The police cannot help them here, so they take matters into their own hands and begin trying to solve the mystery. Their first lead is a rumour about something called the midnight channel. The rumour goes, if you stare into your television screen at midnight your true love will appear. Upon hearing this rumour, MC gives it a shot, but it is not his secret admirer he finds. Instead he sees the next victim, though not as they normally would appear. Instead all of their insecurities are on display for anyone who may be watching. Fortunately, most of the city takes this channel for a comedy show rather than what it really is. ![]() MC watches the midnight channel. MC and friends enter the TV world. Yosuke's bladder encounters some problems. This is the format the game will follow. You will get a lead on the victim by seeing them on the channel and then you will have a set amount of time to get into the TV world with your pals and save the victim. They will come to terms with their insecurities, accept their true selves, obtain a Persona and then you will move onto the next one until the mystery is solved. ![]() Inside the TV world. Without spoiling anything, I will say this, the mystery is complex. There are many twists and turns and the revelations are pulled off perfectly. There are several things I didn't see coming, at all. In addition to this, all of the supporting characters have their own story arcs and each one is deep and solid. Most of them are emotional and really make you feel for the characters. Although most of the character development is optional and you have to take initiative to experience it, it is fantastic. Their stories are mostly touching and I would say all of them are worth experiencing. They range from helping a man bear with losing the love of his life in an accident and helping him move one, to helping a classmate cope with the fact that her walk-out father is dying on her and she feels horrible about the lost time. Doing these side quests will also grant you major benefits in dungeons. Final thoughts? The story is unique. I mean, it's flat out bizarre, but I love it. It develops nicely, the dialogue is good for the most part, the side quests are very good and the characters are likeable and develop nicely. I honestly have no complaints. The voice acting could be better, but it's not even bad. Gameplay Where do I begin? There's so much to talk about here. First off, the game is on a time limit, kind of. The game operates on a calendar system. Your day is cut up into several parts. The morning, which is usually spent commuting to school. In class, which is usually spent.... In class. Lunch, which is usually open for you. After school, which is also usually open for you and then the evening which is spent in your house either studying, interacting with family or watching TV. Obviously things will change with holidays and such. Days will pass. Some days will be spent carelessly, some days will be spent rushing to save somebody. Enough of that, though. Let's talk about the intro. I mean, this game really does start by giving you the impression that it's an anime you can play. I mean, when I first picked it up I really wasn't sure if this was even a game. By the time the opening concluded and I got real control of the game the first thing I did was save and my playtime was 1 Hour and 57 minutes. That's a long introduction. It does a decent job of pulling you in, because it shows you what's going to come, which is a good bit of simulation and a lot of dialogue and cut scenes. I'd be lying to say I wasn't at least a little bored by the end of the introduction, though. That being said, I enjoyed this game. See, the game really does consist of two parts that are almost complete opposites. One part is a simulation part. You'll study, raise stats like courage, dexterity and knowledge. You'll go to school, complete side quests around town, shop and raise the level of things called "Social Links". My friend CamTheMan likes to call this part of the game a dating sim, but that's not what it is. It certainly will feel that way at times, though. See, leveling up these social links is absolutely crucial to the other part of the game. Each supporting character in the game has their own corresponding Persona type and social link to go along with it. You raise the social link by spending time with the characters and helping them out with their various problems. By getting close to the various supporting characters in the game, learning their stories, helping them out and raising your social link with them, you earn benefits in the other part of the game. ![]() Leveling a social link. In this case, Nanako's. The other part of the game, is where the real gameplay kicks in. The TV world. This is where you go to save the victims you see on the midnight channel. A dungeon will become available the day after you see the victim on the midnight channel and you'll usually have about a week to complete the dungeon. So off into the TV you go to complete the dungeon and save the victim. Most of the dungeons can be completed in one day, but some of them will take a few days to complete. You usually have more than enough time to complete them unless you're severely under leveled or manage your time poorly. See, to replenish health and mana (Unless you've maxed out a certain social link, hint hint.) You have to exit the TV world, which skips time. So if you get low in a dungeon and have to leave and heal, you will waste a day. Waste too much time and the victim dies and the game ends. Complete the dungeon early and you have extra time to do sidequests and level social links while the game waits for a certain date to progress the story. Manage your levels and time wisely. So the TV world is where you'll go to do all your combat. You hop into the TV and most of the time are escorted to a dungeon where you'll fight your way through various random encounters before fighting the boss and moving on with the story. The dungeons are actually quite nice. They're all themed and all the bonus rooms are randomly generated. This means dungeons will be different with each playthrough. All the important rooms are consistent, but rooms that may only hold a hidden chest, or nothing but bonus enemies will change with each playthrough. The enemies are, for the most part, recycled throughout the dungeons and can get a little boring. Once you figure out their weakness, it's really just a matter of casting the right ability from enemy to enemy. Some new enemies are introduced from dungeon to dungeon, but for the most part it's the same stuff. It can get a little stale, but you didn't expect a JRPG to not be repetitive, did you? The way the battle system works is you fight with personas. Personas have a type and unique move sets. If it makes it easier for you, think of them kind of like pokemon. All the supporting characters have their own persona which they unlock by facing their many problems/insecurities. The main character however doesn't have silly little problems. He starts with his own Persona and can obtain new ones. This is where Social Links come in. ![]() In battle. Winning a random encounter will sometimes trigger a card game where you can obtain personas. You can combine many of the personas you obtain to create new, more powerful ones. The higher your social link is with the corresponding persona, the bigger the experience boost will be. For example. Say I combine two personas to make a magician type persona. If my magician social link is level 10, I might get an experience bonus of 50k experience. This means that the persona will end up being a much higher level than if my social link wasn't leveled up. Social links also have other benefits, such as shop discounts and hidden items, but I don't want to go into too much detail and spoil them. I will say this, some of the hidden benefits are VERY good and sometimes ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY for getting through the game smoothly. All in all, I enjoyed both parts of the game. The simulation part of the game is actually quite enjoyable and all the supporting characters have good stories. I think some are stronger than others, but all of the social links are worth maxing out and I would encourage you to play through the game a few times in order to do so. The stories are good. This is the part that really sets Persona aside for me and makes it special. The simulation part of the game is unlike anything I've seen in an RPG. It's not like going through a town and talking to NPCs in other RPGs. The game is cut into two very different parts. You can feel the difference when you're just boosting social links around school and when you're trying to solve the murder case in the TV world. The simulation part of Persona could be it's standalone sim game. Coming from someone who hates sim games, I'm glad Persona has this. It's a really enjoyable mechanic and without it Persona would be just another JRPG. The TV section of the game is quite good as well. As far as battle systems go, Persona's is good. It's not exactly revolutionary (I mean, it is the 4th game in the series), but it's good. Both parts of the game compliment each other and rely on each other, so it's important to pay attention and be careful with both. As far as difficulty goes, running through normal won't give you too much trouble. The hardest part about the game is becoming familiar with the time and calendar system and being careful not to waste time. The game is pretty unforgivable with wasted time and you can miss out on a lot if you're careless. As for the combat, just make sure you grind and keep up level-wise as some of the boss fights can be pretty tricky. Standard JRPG stuff. I will say one thing. Most of the game is sim. It's not 50/50. You will spend most of your time doing side things and raising social links rather than in dungeons. Graphics The game looks pretty good for a PS2 game. It's not anything very special, but it's not hard on the eyes. In fact, I really like the art style. The character designs are somewhat unique. The game is colourful and the themed dungeons look really nice for the most part. Enemy models leave something to be desired, but that's about my only complaint. Perhaps some of the animation is awkward during the sim part of the game, but it's nothing to really complain about. On the other hand, the battle animations are really good and this goes a long way. Battle feels fluent and it help keeps the game feeling fresh. This goes a long way in a JRPG where you'll be spending literally hours upon hours battling. As for the pre-rendered cut scenes, they're all done anime style and look nice. I don't have any complaints about the graphics. ![]() In-Game Screenshot. ![]() Cutscene Screenshot. Sound The game struggles here. The soundtrack is quite honestly, forgettable. I've just beaten this game for the second time in 3 months and there are really only two tracks that I can remember and even at that, they're not spectactular. Some of the pieces are good, but they're kind of rare. The soundtrack is mediocre at best. The voice acting also isn't perfect, but English voice actors rarely do Japanese media justice. Maybe it's just the anime fan in me, but I really wish there was a Japanese voice option with English subs. That being said, the English voice acting is not BAD. As far as things like this go, it's actually quite good. The voice actors all do a decent job and the voice acting doesn't really hinder the experience. In fact, in some scenes, the voice actors are really good. Comedic scenes especially. They go a long way in developing their character. So all in all, mediocre soundtrack, decent voice acting. I've linked three pieces from the soundtrack below. One of the battle themes. You'll be hearing this a lot. I like this one. Town theme. You hear this one a lot too. It gets old fast. Boss battle theme. A fan favourite. This one's pretty good too. Most of it is crappy Jpop to be honest. Then again, I hate Jpop, so I'm biased. Enjoyment I love this game. This is the best, recent JRPG that I have played in a LONG time. It's unique. It takes a bit of a risk and it works, for me at least. I'd say that if you don't like sim games you should avoid it, but I dislike sim games myself and love Persona 4, so I'm a little torn. This is a game that I honestly believe all JRPG fans should at least try. The story is strong, battle is fun and the sim parts really enhance the game. If you're a JRPG fan I whole heartedly encourage you to give this game a try. It's $20 on Amazon, give it an order, you will not regret it. It's quite the experience. Bonus note: The game has since been adapted into an anime. I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard good things about it. If you're not really into the whole sim thing and would rather just watch it as an anime (Which is almost what the game is anyway) this is an option. Summary Points - Complex and well executed story - Solid battle system - Touching and deep character development - Enjoyable simulation aspect - Interesting, Themed and randomly generated dungeons - Decent difficulty curve - Both parts of the game compliment and rely on each other - Mediocre soundtrack - Repetitive enemy pool - Recycled enemy models - Rather harsh learning curve when it comes to calendar system - Best played with a walkthrough Final Score - 9/10 Edit: I'm a terrible proofreader. Edited by Arayvenn, Aug 27 2013, 08:29 PM.
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| UnrealOdin | Aug 27 2013, 10:02 AM Post #2 |
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Trillionaire
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Good review, I've been looking at getting this game for the same reason you did, it keeps getting recommended to me not stop. |
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| Vizor | Aug 27 2013, 10:04 AM Post #3 |
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Good
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That's quite a review you got there, 10 outta A. I also find this game very enjoyable, except for the J-Pop, it's mostly terrible. |
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| UnrealOdin | Aug 27 2013, 12:48 PM Post #4 |
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Trillionaire
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| Rewardingcheese | Sep 2 2013, 10:02 PM Post #5 |
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Poor
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I prefer P4G cause its extra Features, but i think the Soundtrack is rather Unique and really speaks for what's happening, like the boss theme for most of it "I'll Face Myself" really speaks for the characters and the fact it has 4 sections it changes slightly says a lot about the Psychology of the series, Denial, Anger, {One other i can't remember off the top of my head} and Acceptance |
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2:22 PM Jul 11