Sports Legends features reviews from our panel of experts, including our editors as well as editors from our sister sites. We rate games on a scale of A+ through F. Anything we score in the A+ through A- range is considered excellent, B+ through B- is good, C+ through C- is average, D+ through D- is bad, and F is terrible. At long last, here is our exclusive Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 Playstation 2 review.
Improving on its stellar predecessor in every conceivable way, Persona 4 shows that engrossing Japanese roleplaying's far from extinct.
THE BOTTOM LINE:An expansive and engaging experience, Persona 4 is quirky, original, and innovative enough to set it apart from an army of mediocre RPGs. With an amazing cast of characters and fantastical game world, P4 is an experience any role playing aficionado shouldn't miss!
For all of the restless hand-wringing over how Japanese role-playing games must evolve from their dusty, dated conventions and myopic cultural perspectives in order to appeal to Western gamers, I think it's telling that one of the most successful recent Eastern RPG exports is also the most unapologetically Japanese. Atlus imports Persona's modern-day Japanese trappings completely intact, requiring Western players to juggle myriad polysyllabic Japanese personal and place names, a host of linguistic honorifics (sure, everyone knows -san, but how about -tan?), an unfamiliar Japanese academic and holiday calendar (when was the last time you celebrated Respect for the Aged Day or lugged your backpack to school on a Saturday?), and plenty of exotic cultural conventions. Oh, and this is all on top of a series in which the protagonists summon "Personas" -- obscure mythological figures from various worldwide religions and folk traditions that take the form of demons -- in order to battle evildoers.
Of course, Persona succeeds not because it's intrinsically Japanese -- it succeeds because it's simply so unique.
And with Persona 4, you can add one more descriptor to this controversial demon collector/school sim/dungeon crawl/Japanese cultural primer: stylish murder mystery. A serial killing spree's gripped the quaint rural Japanese town of Inaba, and it's up to a scrappy band of high schoolers to nab the culprit. So if Persona 3's secret shadow-slaying society played out like Harry Potter in a metropolitan Japanese high school, this adventure's more small-town Scooby-Doo -- complete with a (shockingly not annoying!) fuzzy anthropomorphic teddy bear sidekick.
Like its predecessor, Persona 4 divides the day-by-day progression into two distinct segments: the social aspect, where you forge various Social Links with classmates and assorted town denizens, and the dungeon portion, where you explore randomly generated otherworldly labyrinths and engage in fast-paced turn-based combat (and for the uninitiated, all enemies are visible on the field map). What elevates the game above Persona 3 -- in my mind, at least -- are more tangible goals, a more cohesive narrative, and more enjoyable dungeon exploration. Rather than tackle one gargantuan, intimidating tower over the course of a 100 hour-plus adventure (as in Persona 3), you confront a series of challenging, bite-sized dungeons, which now even take a cue from Atlus' other stellar dungeon crawler, Etrian Odyssey -- gather materials from felled foes and sell 'em at the ironmonger in town and he crafts some potent weaponry. You've got a finite amount of time to complete each dungeon before the killer strikes again, though, which lends the game a frenetic pace and contributes to a foreboding sense of dread.
Though Persona 3's much-maligned A.I.-controlled party setup returns, you now have the option to assume direct control over your entire crew. Combat's quick and fun but not brainless; success is about exploiting your enemies' weaknesses, so you can't simply mash buttons to succeed. And other RPGs could take a cue from Persona: Status-effect spells even work on bosses (hell, that they also work on regular enemies is a novelty itself!), which actually adds to the strategy. Perhaps best of all, you can now view all Persona ability descriptions both on the battlefield and when fusing them in the enigmatic Velvet Room. That may sound like a tiny detail, but trust me -- it makes a big difference.
The interface is even streamlined outside the labyrinths: Since you'll become familiar with dinky backwater Inaba pretty quickly, the developers smartly realized that you don't need to see the entire shopping district or riverside path each day; you can handily transport in and out of each area with a press of a button. And the accompanying music's a bit more diverse this time around, with each labyrinth featuring a novel take on rock, techno, and other genres. You wouldn't think a jazzy J-pop ballad would work as a dungeon theme, but it does! While the music's awesome and definitely on par with the previous game, Persona 4 ultimately suffers from the same problem as its predecessor here: Any song gets old over the course of 100 hours. How about offering different in-town tunes for spring, summer, autumn, and winter instead of playing the same songs for the entirety of the game? And no, the chirping summer cicadas don't count.
What really sets Persona 4 apart, though, is its endearing, relatable cast. While I loved Persona 3, I never really warmed to most of my cohorts, who suffered from what I like to call Ian Ziering Syndrome -- thirtysomethings impersonating high school kids. From the moment my spunky tomboy classmate invited me to sit next to her in Persona 4, though, I felt an immediate connection -- and the sense that these could've easily been guys and gals I went to high school with. They're all normal kids with mundane problems: a big-city dude who's adjusting to life in the country, a girl whose friendship with a classmate might not be without ulterior motives, a girl who's trying to reconcile her public image with her private desires. Nothing earth-shattering -- just the personal, internal battles we all fight. Moreover, spending time with your Social Link party members offers tangible combat enhancements this time around -- a friend may take a lethal blow for you in battle, for example.
Of course, that connection to your comrades wouldn't work without smart writing and engaging dialogue, so I can't overlook the folks at vastly underrated localizer Atlus, who've authored yet another sublime translation. Once again, they manage to capture the cultural implications of the original Japanese while still sounding colloquially cool.
And despite minor problems here and there -- slight loading issues and a few dead periods while you're waiting for the plot to advance -- I've got very few qualms with how Persona 4 unfolds. In fact, my biggest concern isn't actually related to anything in the game. Nope, it's the inevitable message-board flame wars the Persona 3/Persona 4 rivalry's sure to inspire among the hardcore fandom. See, great as Persona 4 may be, some players will doubtlessly prefer its predecessor. Really, they're both incredible games, so it all boils down to what you're looking for. Would you like one single, seemingly never-ending labyrinth, or do you want a little more variety in your dungeon crawling? Do you prefer Persona 3's stylish big-city protagonists, or Persona 4's more down-to-earth crew?
But before that gaming holy war breaks out in earnest, here's something everyone can agree on: Persona offers some of this decade's finest RPG epics. If you're a role-playing freak who somehow still hasn't given this series a shot, I got news for ya, buddy: I'm comin' to take your nerd card.
PROS:Amazing story; beautiful animation; really pushes the PS2 to its limits
CONS:
Takes a while for the story to get going; so engaging that your social life may suffer
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