Persona 4: Golden Shows Off its Characters and Other Charms, 10.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating

Forced to move to the small, rural Japanese town of Inaba for a year while his parents work abroad, a young man soon discovers he has the ability to travel into another world on the other side of the TV screen. This place, which serves as demented reflection of our world, is filled with dangerous monsters known as shadows who are produced by the darker side of the collective unconsciousness. It quickly becomes clear that someone else in Inaba also has the same ability to enter the television world and is using it as a means of murdering people. So the young man joins up with a growing group of diverse individuals and oddballs in order to rescue those trapped within the TV world and uncover and stop the murderer once and for all. Such is the setup for Person 4 Golden, an exclusive Vita remake of the 2008 PS2 RPG Persona 4. The original P4 is generally considered among the very best RPGs to ever grace that system, but the question remains: Does this Vita version have what it takes to hang with its predecessor or should players switch the channel for good?

Persona 4 Golden is a game that succeeds on every level and nowhere is this truer than in terms of the compellingly original tale that drives its action. First and foremost a murder mystery that also happens to weave in an equally strong psychological drama, the story in P4G is one that will appeal to newcomers and longtime fans of the Megami Tensei series alike. In my opinion, the story in P4G works even better than the one seen in Persona 3, which, for all that I loved that game, at times suffered from a somewhat disjointed feeling. By comparison, Persona 4 Golden deftly weaves the seemingly more low-key story about a growing group of teenagers getting sucked into a series of murders with a distinctly Megami Tensei twist into a greater whole. It is a story that manages to work as effectively in smaller episodic chunks as it does as a larger single whole, much in the way the best serialized TV shows do.

One of the driving elements of the game (in both terms of story and gameplay) is its attempts to capture the feel of experiencing a year in the life of its main protagonist. Between trips into the TV world and battles with supernatural foes, players will live out the day-to-day trials and tribulations of an otherwise fairly typical Japanese high school student. Homework, clubs, sports, part-time jobs, and more are the name of the game and it all has a very authentic feel to it. Of particular note are the frequent dialogue choices to be made. While most of them have little impact on the actual ending players will receive–as in, say, The Walking Dead–they go a long way towards allowing players to shape the personality and attitude of the game’s lead character. Role-playing is in the name of the genre after all and here is a game that truly embraces that aspect in a way that has nothing to do with stats or loot.

Perhaps the greatest success of the story in Persona 4 Golden is the way it ties the growth and emotional journey of its main cast in with the progression of its plot. By the very nature of the story, each party member right before they join the team has their psyche laid bare before both the rest of the team and the player and this helps to guarantee a strong introduction for each. It is hard not to feel anything upon hearing Kanji’s plaintive cry for acceptance or Yukiko and Chie’s dual realization of just how much they each need their mutual friendship, for example. All in all, P4G features one of the most fully fleshed out and realized group of leads to ever grace a video game and every single one has a multitude of sides to left them above mere cliché or archetype. Indeed, often the sheer simple joy of watching this diverse set of personalities interact across everyday moments in life is reason enough to keep progressing through Golden’s massive story.

Yet, P4G does not stop there and is equally careful to keep this strong focus on characterization going with the many minor players who also populate its story. As with Persona 3, the game places a major emphasis on “Social Links,” i.e. key individuals with whom the main character can form, develop, and nurture a strong personal bond with. While all the major players in the story (including the seven that compose the remainder of the playable personalities in P4G) are included as social links, there are nearly a dozen additional supporting characters available for linking with as well. Every single one of these has their own interesting arcs to play out and reaching the conclusion of these stories can lead to some of the most powerful and moving moments in the game. Overall, Persona 4 Golden features some of the best writing in the industry today and all in service of a memorable and highly charged narrative that will likely as not stick with players long after they have finally finished with the game for good.

In terms of gameplay, Golden follows in the footsteps of Persona 3 by essentially dividing itself into two halves: in this case the goings on in Inaba and the struggles inside the television. The latter is where the majority of the more traditional RPG gameplay occurs, with players exploring a number of randomly generated multi-floored and monster-filled dungeons. These monsters are visible on the field and players can either try to run or strike first for a bonus once battle proper begins. Said battle plays out in the kind of separate battle screen that has long been a standard of turn-based RPGs. From the flow of battle to the way party members and enemies have distinct elemental strengths and weaknesses, it is all familiar and fairly safe.

Which is not the same thing as saying it is badly designed and indeed combat rarely (if ever) drags in Persona 4 Golden. There is a lot strategic potential and the game is not afraid to go hard against players and give them a real challenge depending on the chosen difficulty level (there are five: Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, & Very Hard). Players also have a wide variety of equipment, items, and abilities to call upon and the main character can even bring any number of the series titular Persona (think Pokémon, except with figures inspired by mythology and religion in place of adorable animals) into battle for more options. The ability to fuse Personae to create even more powerful warriors also returns and the version of this function to be found in Golden is probably the most accessible and well-designed take on the concept to date.

Outside of the TV World, P4G essentially switches genres completely and takes on a feel akin to a simulation game. Two main factors play into this side of P4G: time and a set of unique non-combat stats exclusive to the main character. The latter consist of five categories (Understanding, Knowledge, Courage, Expression, & Diligence) and can be raised up to a maximum level of 5 via a variety of methods. Many of the social links in the game require a certain level in these stats in order to progress as do the various part-time jobs and other optional content available, so the forward progress of these stats is every bit as important as the combat oriented ones. Each day in P4G generally features two periods of time (afternoon and evening) that players can fill as they see fit and deciding on what to pursue when is a big part of this aspect of P4G.

As previously stated, players will have a wide variety of potential activities and interactions to partake in. These can range from studying and doing homework to fishing in the local river to maintaining a small garden (one of the new additions created especially for Golden) to more esoteric fair like folding origami or catching bugs. Of course, there is always the social links. With so many options available to pick from it is all but guaranteed that a player will not be able to see everything the game has to offer in a single play-through (unless they make strict use of a guide). Thankfully a New Game+ option is available and players can fast forward cutscenes at any time with a push of a button to help ease replays. As far as content-rich games go, P4G is packed to the gills in a way that few other titles (especially on the Vita) can hope to match.

In terms of production values, Persona 4 Golden holds up well for a game that is in practice four years-old and originally designed for the PS2. That being said, this is one aspect of Golden that is more akin to an HD remaster than a full remake and certainly the visuals in the game do not come even close to pushing the Vita to its limits. Still, the original was hardly a bad looking game and the visuals remain well designed and effective in terms of what they need to do. Locations in Inaba all look true to the real world and are packed with lots of little details and touches to help give them a nicely lived in feel. Meanwhile, the TV world looks suitably off-kilter and if the random nature of the dungeons means that floors of a given dungeon tend to blend together, at least each dungeon remains highly distinct from any other. A number of new areas on both sides of the TV screen have been added to Golden and they all fit in seamlessly with the already existing locations. Aurally, the game is beyond reproach, with a terrific soundtrack that deftly mixes orchestral and vocal tracks while featuring a wide variety of styles. P4G only features an English voice track, but fortunately the voice acting across the board is top notch and of the highest quality.

Person 4 Golden is a game with a lot to offer any player, but it is also a one that some might find intimidating to make their way through. Understand that, P4G is perhaps the single most accessible game in the entire Megami Tensei library (at the very least it is the most newbie friendly of the games readily available at this time) but that does not mean the game is a simple walk in the park. Anything but the very easiest of the game’s difficulty settings is going to bring at least some real challenge to bear combat wise and there is a lot to keep track of and take care of over the course of the game’s (at minimum) 50 to 60 hour long story. While doing so is rarely cumbersome or a pain, P4G is still ultimately a game that requires its players be prepared to invest serious time and energy in order to complete. In my opinion, this is the exact opposite of a weakness, but those looking for something of a more casual and brief good time would be advised to perhaps consider looking elsewhere.

For everyone else however, there is no question that Persona 4 Golden is by far one of the best RPGs available on the market today. Complex without being inaccessible, deep without being overwhelming, fun without being mindless, smart without being pretentious, and heartfelt without being saccharine, this is a game that has easily stands shoulder to shoulder with the best of its genre. A wide swath of new additions such as two new social links, the ability to ride scooters to new areas, an entire new optional dungeon, and several new endings were also added to the game as well. They join a host of tweaks and improvements made to the pre-existing content (including increased voice over dialog and animated cutscenes) to help ensure that even those who have played the original Persona 4 will find plenty of new experiences to encounter.

A few minor hiccups occasionally mar the P4G experience (chief of which is the fact that the game takes around three to four hours before it fully opens up), but in the overall scheme of things they are easy enough to ignore. Certainly, they should not serve as a barrier for anyone interested in playing the game. Few enough titles are literally worth buying an entire system in order to play them that I can count out on two hands the entirety of that list. Now a new addition has arrived in the form of Persona 4 Golden. There is no question in my mind that this is currently the best game available on the Vita, especially in terms of dollars to time spent playing, and one that anyone who owns a Vita needs to add to their library as soon as possible. Persona 4 Golden might one heck of a time sink, but that is all for the good, since most people will find not even a year in Inaba is long enough.

A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes and played for about 50 hours. The game is a PS Vita exclusive.

Also, feel free to follow the reviewer on Twitter @bigred_13 please if you feel so inclined.