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The “Persona” series is a spin-off from the larger “Shin Megami Tensei” series, both developed by ATLUS. The “Persona” games are popular RPGs based out of Japan but are still popular here in the United States. These games are more known for their social simulation mechanics, as you can control a character and develop bonds with people in all the mainline “Persona” games. “Persona 4 Golden”, which came out in 2012, is the enhanced version of the 4th main game in the series “Persona 4”, which offers extra characters, story, and quality-of-life changes.
In “Persona 4 Golden” you play as a high-school boy who moves from the city to the small fictional town of Inaba to stay with your uncle for the upcoming school year. As soon as you move into Inaba, strange murders end up plaguing the town’s safety. Around this time is when you learn about the rumor of the Midnight Channel, where supposedly if you look into a TV at midnight, you see your soulmate. Your character tries out this rumor but ends up finding he has a different experience, where he’s able to enter into the TV’s. Entering the TV, he awakens to the power of his Persona, which allows him to fight the shadows that reside inside the TV world. With his friends and all of their Personas, your character embarks to save the attempted victims of murder and figure out who is attacking people, all while attending school and passing all of his exams.
“Persona 4 Golden” has a reputation for being an amazing game, and I can understand why. Most elements of this game are perfect, especially the characters and music. Out of all the “Persona” games that I have played, this game definitely has the best characters, which is a big accomplishment. I think the small-town aesthetic of Inaba adds a lot to the environment and storytelling of the game more so than other “Persona” games. The main cast of characters actually feel like they grew up together which adds to how close they become over the course of the story. The music of the game also shines, specifically the day themes as you just walk around the quiet town.
In terms of gameplay, I think it is just good, but nothing special. The dungeon crawling of this game is honestly my least favorite of the ones I have played, and that makes it a bit of a chore to go fight the shadows. Some dungeons are definitely better than others (mostly all of the later ones are better than the early ones), but they all become very easy and fast once you have Rise’s navigational skills leveled up. The social simulation aspect is solid in this game, as I liked most of the social links available to your character.
Rating: 9/10
I loved playing this game a lot and I got very attached to the ending (especially since it’s a LONG game). It’s not my favorite “Persona” game, but I understand why a good majority of people say it is their favorite. The game has received universal acclaim throughout the years. It’s definitely a game that I will play again in the future and I would recommend it to a lot of people.
