I completed this game today and I want to relax while typing this review since the game was very good. In this review I will compare most things to Persona 5 so for you know. Ofcourse I will balance things out to not let the game down since Persona 5 is a far better game. Hopefully the review is balanced out correctly to not let the game looks bad compared to the next title. Thanks
Story - 8/10
Persona 4 Golden is a good and compelling story just like Persona 5 Royal. From Inaba to all the dungeons everything about the story is very good. I absolutely loved the atmosphere and it connects with the story so well. You can feel that you are a part of the town and you actually feel the town folks go through hell with all the murders and the suspects.
Characters - 10/10
This game has the best crew that I know in gaming. Every character is insanely good and I love the funny, stupid, sad and ofcourse the Yosuke dialogue. The dialogue options with all the socials links were incredible as it gives more character to the Hero (Yu Narukami). I didn’t really liked Marie but in the end she had a decent redemption and was written very nicely in the story.
Gameplay - 8/10
The gameplay was incredible at times but dull in some moments. That doesn’t ignore the fact that it aged very well over the years and isn’t awful. Still it has it limits. The gameplay is alright for it’s time and how it connects with the story, characters and atmosphere. Nothing more can be said about the gameplay in my opinion.
Dungeons - 6/10
The dungeons were horrible most of the time. The themes surrounding the characters do it for me. I understand that it’s old and limited but it doesn’t really had charm for me. There wasn’t really a consistent feeling to it nor the battles in the dungeons were incredibly hard or super easy. For some dungeons I spend 5-7 hours grinding and completing it while the quickest were the Hollow Forest and Yomotsu Hirasaka. It felt weird to me that the last two dungeons were the easiest, while the Hollow Forest had a decent mechanic to it.
Combat - 7/10
Combat wise it was alright. I first would blame everything that was wrong with this game on the combat but after a certain point I realized that the combat was good for what it was. The combat is not something to get hyped about but it does it’s job pretty effectively. From the point were you get Rise and when your main team is maxed out with social link it’s a piece of cake. Before that time it was not very fun for me even when you focus on weaknesses, crits and physical damage. After Rises dungeon it was alright and I have peace now knowing that the combat is alright. It doesn’t always have to be flashy or appealing to be effective to fit in the story.
Conclusion - 10/10
The conclusion for the Bad Ending was terrifying. It’s very dark that a group of 15 year old can think of something like that. The game shows you that it had actual impact on Inaba and the characters. The complete cutoff from the interaction with the group to almost no interactions at all and the credits occurring was actually scary and really something that sticks around.
The conclusion for the Good Ending was good. It gave a good closure to the story but something missed from the character interactions. After completing the True Ending you realize that the threat wasn’t over and it certainly was weird to think about that.
The conclusion for the True Ending was the most satisfying. Getting a extra dungeon even though it was a easy one was so complete. The characters coming together for the last day to destroy the ruler of the Fog within and outside the TV was epic. Every maxed out social link came in clutch for Yu and summoning a special introduction to the power system.
After that the timeskip was the best. Everyone changed in there own way and accepted what they faced; their own selfs.
The game was a absolute blast and ofcourse that it has it’s flaws, and the fact that it’s 15 years old now doesn’t change that it is a absolute must play for any JRPG and Turn-based folks.
Total Score - 8/10 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Story - 8/10
Persona 4 Golden is a good and compelling story just like Persona 5 Royal. From Inaba to all the dungeons everything about the story is very good. I absolutely loved the atmosphere and it connects with the story so well. You can feel that you are a part of the town and you actually feel the town folks go through hell with all the murders and the suspects.
Characters - 10/10
This game has the best crew that I know in gaming. Every character is insanely good and I love the funny, stupid, sad and ofcourse the Yosuke dialogue. The dialogue options with all the socials links were incredible as it gives more character to the Hero (Yu Narukami). I didn’t really liked Marie but in the end she had a decent redemption and was written very nicely in the story.
Gameplay - 8/10
The gameplay was incredible at times but dull in some moments. That doesn’t ignore the fact that it aged very well over the years and isn’t awful. Still it has it limits. The gameplay is alright for it’s time and how it connects with the story, characters and atmosphere. Nothing more can be said about the gameplay in my opinion.
Dungeons - 6/10
The dungeons were horrible most of the time. The themes surrounding the characters do it for me. I understand that it’s old and limited but it doesn’t really had charm for me. There wasn’t really a consistent feeling to it nor the battles in the dungeons were incredibly hard or super easy. For some dungeons I spend 5-7 hours grinding and completing it while the quickest were the Hollow Forest and Yomotsu Hirasaka. It felt weird to me that the last two dungeons were the easiest, while the Hollow Forest had a decent mechanic to it.
Combat - 7/10
Combat wise it was alright. I first would blame everything that was wrong with this game on the combat but after a certain point I realized that the combat was good for what it was. The combat is not something to get hyped about but it does it’s job pretty effectively. From the point were you get Rise and when your main team is maxed out with social link it’s a piece of cake. Before that time it was not very fun for me even when you focus on weaknesses, crits and physical damage. After Rises dungeon it was alright and I have peace now knowing that the combat is alright. It doesn’t always have to be flashy or appealing to be effective to fit in the story.
Conclusion - 10/10
The conclusion for the Bad Ending was terrifying. It’s very dark that a group of 15 year old can think of something like that. The game shows you that it had actual impact on Inaba and the characters. The complete cutoff from the interaction with the group to almost no interactions at all and the credits occurring was actually scary and really something that sticks around.
The conclusion for the Good Ending was good. It gave a good closure to the story but something missed from the character interactions. After completing the True Ending you realize that the threat wasn’t over and it certainly was weird to think about that.
The conclusion for the True Ending was the most satisfying. Getting a extra dungeon even though it was a easy one was so complete. The characters coming together for the last day to destroy the ruler of the Fog within and outside the TV was epic. Every maxed out social link came in clutch for Yu and summoning a special introduction to the power system.
After that the timeskip was the best. Everyone changed in there own way and accepted what they faced; their own selfs.
The game was a absolute blast and ofcourse that it has it’s flaws, and the fact that it’s 15 years old now doesn’t change that it is a absolute must play for any JRPG and Turn-based folks.
Total Score - 8/10 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐