Taking an intellectual property from one genre into a completely different one is always a huge risk. Final Fantasy had to stumble through Ehrgeiz before getting to Dissidia, and projects like 2K’s Marin’s XCOM couldn’t even hit store shelves before they were crippled by fan derision. With something as old and storied as Megami Tensei, a translation into the quirky idiom of an Arc System Works’ fighting game sounded like quite a gamble, but after playing it I can safely say that this was a rare instance of the fabled genre-jump that paid off multiple times over.

Persona 4 Arena takes place immediately after its namesake RPG, so almost everything about that game’s plot is spoiled right out of the gate. The previously unnamed protagonist (now called Yu) is coming back to Inaba to visit, when a strange program begins broadcasting on rainy nights. Soon enough, the Investigation Team is thrown back into another mystery, along with several familiar faces from Persona 3, as they get to the bottom of this new threat.

The story mode of P4A is standard for an ASW fighter–each combatant has an individual path, which plays out like a visual novel. Long sections of text buffer the ladder of relatively easy fights, and the player is confronted with a few minor choices that minimally affect the story. The narrative itself is interesting, especially if you’ve already grown to care about the characters involved, but it also retreads some old ground. Kanji is still dealing with his masculinity issues, Chie is still harboring jealousy towards Yukiko, etc. If you want the full range of emotion and characterization that the Persona experience can provide, play the RPGs.

Kanji takes tickle-fights very seriously.

That’s not to say that the game has no heart. On the contrary, there is genuine humor, warmth, and pathos to be mined here. It’s just that the license is somewhat paradoxically utilized to its full potential in an area you wouldn’t expect: the fighting. With all of the similarities between Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, you’d be forgiven if you had expected Arena to simply be a re-skin of the formula that has made those franchises so beloved. Surprisingly, Arc System Works went the extra mile and made this game feel completely different, and the result is fantastic.

Each character has two buttons for attacks (light and heavy) as well as two buttons for Persona attacks. The result is that every fighter plays a little bit like Eddie from GG or Carl Clover from BB, but without the absurd reliance on synergy with the being you’re tethered to. An auto-combo system can be utilized by just mashing the light attack button, but more experienced players will find a system that is both intricate and rewarding waiting for them. Different bursts, dashes, All-Out Attacks, and more make up a menagerie of mechanics that can be overwhelming at first, but the substantial tutorial is more than adequate to orient a newbie into the proceedings.

Which button is stop, drop, and roll?

The cast covers a satisfying range, with characters representing just about every archetype. Yu is solid jack-of-all-trades but master of none, Yosuke is a fragile speedster, while Aegis is a devious zoning character, and Kanji is the sole grappler. Pretty much everyone has their own niche, but it’s difficult to say the game is wholly balanced. Fighters like Akihiko and Naoto are situational at best, and match up quite poorly against foes like Yukiko, who has a nasty mid-range game. I would say that P4A is more balanced than previous ASW titles–where competitive play was dominated by Ragna and Noel–but there are clearly still a few distinct tiers.

Nevertheless, it’s difficult to express just how much fun this game is. The interplay between fighters, personae, and the various ancillary mechanics is as fascinating to witness as it is to command. Tie that together with smooth animations, colorful sprites, detailed backgrounds, both new and fan-favorite music tracks, and enough fan service to please any MegaTen addict, and you have a game that is already worth your money. But we haven’t even scratched the surface.