I love this game so much. I know it sounds like hyperbole but this game changed my life. I have so much to say it might be the longest review I've done. So the rest of this paragraph is a TLDR before I start the real review: Persona 4 is the friends you made along the way in the best way possible. Every main character in the story works so well with each other, they feel like a real friend group from a small town and speaking of the town is a character of itself because you get to know a lot of people in it. Because of that it really helps the murder mystery narrative, and it had me at the edge of my seat in the emotional climax of the game. With (OG) Persona 5 I felt a satisfying end, with Persona 4 I didn't want it to end, not just because of the great gameplay and the premise of "the world inside the TV" but because I felt these characters were my friends too (as cringe as that sounds lmao).
Ok. Time to gush about Persona 4. I'm going to break it up into spoiler free parts.
Characters. All the mainline characters (friends/family/villain) in the game are so well done, I love them. There are obviously better written characters in other games no doubt about it but what makes Persona 4s work so well is there dynamic with each other, they feel and act like a genuine friend group. Keeping it spoiler free just incase. They hang out and do things together sometimes all of them sometimes not, they roast each other, they're there for each other, they study together, not everything they do revolves around the murder mystery. P4 does better than P3 and P5 in shaping the main character, you can be a kind boy scout, a jackass, a weird guy, giga chad, a bad person (if you go bad ending) or do what I do and self insert. Although I feel the "cannon" way to play is a kind, but weird himbo. Finding your identity is a major theme in the game and in the main social links with your friends, once they confront themselves and face their shadow the issues they're struggling with aren't immediately solved. They're still conflicted with who they are and who they want to be, and with some of them by the end of the social link it's still not completely set in stone, which I love because they're high school students, it's rare to know who you are and what you want at that age.
Themes. Along with identity, truth is a major theme of the game. What is the truth of the Midnight Channel? The world inside the TV? About the murders? And the truths about ourselves? And what I love about finding the truth about ourselves is that it's tied to identity, their are multiple facets to our identity, just as their are multiple truths about ourselves, it's never singular. You are your emotions, your thoughts, and your actions. There's a lot of discussions about certain characters and if they're good people or the more controversial topic, what sexuality this character is and I won't go into spoilers but nothing is really definitive, the game doesn't focus on sexuality identity. You get some truths with characters of course but never all of them. Some fans will claim this person is or isn't gay but the characters themselves never directly say whether they are or aren't. It's left to the eye of the beholder I suppose, and maybe that's the point, the characters aren't real (as much as I'd like them to be) make your own head cannon. But I'd be remiss not to mention that this game has progressive (for Japan in 2007) underlying's. Yosuke has cut voice lines in both English and Japanese in the game files saying he likes the main character romantically. You as the main character have the choice to complement men appearances (among other things that I won't spoil). And certain characters express attraction to more than one gender.
Story. As mentioned earlier the story (other than the friends you made along the way) revolves around a spring of murders in the county of Inaba and you and your friends make a connection to the Midnight Channel which comes on during foggy nights at midnight, a world that exists inside TVs, and the victims. It's a murder mystery you solve with your friends, very Scooby-Doo in the best way possible, while you balance school, a social life, relationships, and all the other slice of life stuff in between. P4 legitimately made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions, couldn't believe how much funnier it was than P5 or any other game that I've played for that matter. The comedy is a little goofy and sometimes dated but their are moments that can make almost anyone laugh. Leading up to the climax of the game was a wild ride with twists I didn't see coming. P4 also has multiple endings. There is a good ending, a bad one, a really bad one, and the true ending (I think that's it). I recommend multiple save files incase you don't get the ending you want but the game does let you know when most of the major choices are coming.
Gameplay. The gameplay is fantastic. P4 sometimes feels closer to P5 than to P3 to me, P5 gameplay is better (as it should it's a sequel that came out 7 years after) and much more stylized but P4 is still a high end JRPG and holds it's own against a lot JRPGs that are coming out today. Minus the dungeons, each floor is randomly generated in every dungeon in each playthrough. While the visual designs and concepts for them are great it is telling that it's randomly generated. The game as a whole looks dated as it's a PS2 game, but regardless it's colourful, runs smoothly, and has enough of it's own style.
Music. Absolutely amazing. Been listening to it constantly for over a year. To me it is on par with P5s music if not better (I go back and forth). As a musician it makes me so happy as good music can have a tremendous impact on your experience and I never got tired of a any track in over 70 hours of game time and the countless hours I've listened to it outside of playing.
I think that's it (finally, it's 6am at the time of me finishing this). It's a good thing I left spoilers out as it probably would've been twice as long. If you made it thing far thanks for reading! If you haven't played the game please do, beautiful game. Never thought this game would change my life like P5 or TLOU did but it has. If it ever gets remade from the ground up or gets a legitimate sequel and plays like P5 I might cry. I love everything about Persona 4, and I hope you do too.
Ok. Time to gush about Persona 4. I'm going to break it up into spoiler free parts.
Characters. All the mainline characters (friends/family/villain) in the game are so well done, I love them. There are obviously better written characters in other games no doubt about it but what makes Persona 4s work so well is there dynamic with each other, they feel and act like a genuine friend group. Keeping it spoiler free just incase. They hang out and do things together sometimes all of them sometimes not, they roast each other, they're there for each other, they study together, not everything they do revolves around the murder mystery. P4 does better than P3 and P5 in shaping the main character, you can be a kind boy scout, a jackass, a weird guy, giga chad, a bad person (if you go bad ending) or do what I do and self insert. Although I feel the "cannon" way to play is a kind, but weird himbo. Finding your identity is a major theme in the game and in the main social links with your friends, once they confront themselves and face their shadow the issues they're struggling with aren't immediately solved. They're still conflicted with who they are and who they want to be, and with some of them by the end of the social link it's still not completely set in stone, which I love because they're high school students, it's rare to know who you are and what you want at that age.
Themes. Along with identity, truth is a major theme of the game. What is the truth of the Midnight Channel? The world inside the TV? About the murders? And the truths about ourselves? And what I love about finding the truth about ourselves is that it's tied to identity, their are multiple facets to our identity, just as their are multiple truths about ourselves, it's never singular. You are your emotions, your thoughts, and your actions. There's a lot of discussions about certain characters and if they're good people or the more controversial topic, what sexuality this character is and I won't go into spoilers but nothing is really definitive, the game doesn't focus on sexuality identity. You get some truths with characters of course but never all of them. Some fans will claim this person is or isn't gay but the characters themselves never directly say whether they are or aren't. It's left to the eye of the beholder I suppose, and maybe that's the point, the characters aren't real (as much as I'd like them to be) make your own head cannon. But I'd be remiss not to mention that this game has progressive (for Japan in 2007) underlying's. Yosuke has cut voice lines in both English and Japanese in the game files saying he likes the main character romantically. You as the main character have the choice to complement men appearances (among other things that I won't spoil). And certain characters express attraction to more than one gender.
Story. As mentioned earlier the story (other than the friends you made along the way) revolves around a spring of murders in the county of Inaba and you and your friends make a connection to the Midnight Channel which comes on during foggy nights at midnight, a world that exists inside TVs, and the victims. It's a murder mystery you solve with your friends, very Scooby-Doo in the best way possible, while you balance school, a social life, relationships, and all the other slice of life stuff in between. P4 legitimately made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions, couldn't believe how much funnier it was than P5 or any other game that I've played for that matter. The comedy is a little goofy and sometimes dated but their are moments that can make almost anyone laugh. Leading up to the climax of the game was a wild ride with twists I didn't see coming. P4 also has multiple endings. There is a good ending, a bad one, a really bad one, and the true ending (I think that's it). I recommend multiple save files incase you don't get the ending you want but the game does let you know when most of the major choices are coming.
Gameplay. The gameplay is fantastic. P4 sometimes feels closer to P5 than to P3 to me, P5 gameplay is better (as it should it's a sequel that came out 7 years after) and much more stylized but P4 is still a high end JRPG and holds it's own against a lot JRPGs that are coming out today. Minus the dungeons, each floor is randomly generated in every dungeon in each playthrough. While the visual designs and concepts for them are great it is telling that it's randomly generated. The game as a whole looks dated as it's a PS2 game, but regardless it's colourful, runs smoothly, and has enough of it's own style.
Music. Absolutely amazing. Been listening to it constantly for over a year. To me it is on par with P5s music if not better (I go back and forth). As a musician it makes me so happy as good music can have a tremendous impact on your experience and I never got tired of a any track in over 70 hours of game time and the countless hours I've listened to it outside of playing.
I think that's it (finally, it's 6am at the time of me finishing this). It's a good thing I left spoilers out as it probably would've been twice as long. If you made it thing far thanks for reading! If you haven't played the game please do, beautiful game. Never thought this game would change my life like P5 or TLOU did but it has. If it ever gets remade from the ground up or gets a legitimate sequel and plays like P5 I might cry. I love everything about Persona 4, and I hope you do too.