Persona 4 Golden

玩了p4g你就彻底离不开稻羽八十了离不开这群一起生活的亲友了；会好想要一个没玩过p4g的脑子了；

I wasn't planning to review Persona 4 Golden but I’m reviewing each Persona game I’ve played as part of the series’ 30th anniversary. Before anything else, I’ll share a side story: I was planning to play the OG Persona 4 after beating 3 in big 2016 (aka P20th) but the PS2 I had was just borrowed and its controller was drifting more than it should have so I shelved it after 2016. When Golden was announced for Steam, I took the opportunity and bought it, even though topping up my Steam wallet for the first time was bloody enough. My laptop wasn’t cooperative either, so I upgraded its RAM. Mind you, that was the height of the pandemic, and I needed a distraction from brewing resentments. Take that you will about how much of a Persona fan I was (aspiring to be). Those aside, time to focus on Yu, a chad, as yourself. It’s a given for this series to have silent protagonists who you make choices for. Unlike 3, the Investigation Team is relatively happy-go-lucky when they’re outside the TV, making up for what Inaba can and can’t offer. Fortunately enough, you live in an uncle’s house with his very precious daughter and it’s where the world of investigators diffuses the who’s who behind the screen. Social links work mostly in the same way and thankfully, you can now befriend the bros but can only date the hoes. I didn’t really notice Yosuke’s homophobia at that time but couldn’t ignore how Teddie doesn’t have human rights. Never mind how a botched curry doesn’t change anything at all other than comedic value. Or how Kanji still fits within the team while being outwardly though but softer inward and being the butt of banter. While may be typical teenage social dynamics, it’s the “power of friendship” trope with realistic nuances. Even then, the mystery aspects of reaching out to the truth isn’t straightforward and remains cloudy until the leads are surprisingly familiar. When each party member first has to face their shadows and accept their true selves. After all, personas are tamed shadows so that’s a given. But not so when you’re the wild card; you have to be lucky with post-battle shuffles and fuse at the Velvet Room as needed. It was pretty obvious 4 was built using more or less the same template as 3, and its original PS2 games were released only a year or two apart, but that’s a feature for an Atlus that was taken by surprise by 3’s successes. The improvements made to gameplay are a welcome addition that made the experience more unique than uniform. Mechanics stayed mostly the same but refined such as allowing control of other party members and letting them save you from a fatal attack which made it more player-friendly and turns the power of friendship into a safety net. The deeper you’re friends with them, the more in-battle benefits you get inside the TV, naturally. That way, mechanics amplify outcomes and doesn’t just leave you to an RNG. You can say that this game is trope-heavy from high school life all the way to the final boss, but it’s executed with flavor it’s far from bland. The soundtrack is my personal favorite with its beat and vibe perfect for a game with a team enthusiastic for the truth. It’s been a playthrough that gave me hope for the series as it expanded beyond the original platforms. 8/10