Atlus Persona 4 Golden - out on Steam

[HoboForEternity]

so pretty much we are getting persona 5 sooner and later. how is it really compared to 4 and 3?

for 3 i like the story more than 4 but 4 have better gameplay (actual controllable party members and such) plus dungeons look at least more varied in 4. i also like inaba as a setting more than the city in 3

 

[Duraframe300]

Well technically you're missing the SQQ then though. But I assume you're already aware of that.

Yeah, but beating the first Persona game only one time is enough for me. (the encounter rate man...)

Plus, i like the PSX soundtrack better:

There's a patch for that, but I get ya. Encounter rate makes replaying a bit daunting.

 

[Jinn]

so pretty much we are getting persona 5 sooner and later. how is it really compared to 4 and 3?

5 is probably the best of the three in terms of gameplay. No random dungeons, great challenge on the hardest difficulty, nice equipment progression and itemization, classic Shin Megami Tensei demons, best sim elements.

I think the main reason people around here like to dig on it is that the story, themes, and characters are a fair amount weaker than Persona 4. And the pacing is extremely drawn out and laborious.

But again, in a place where gameplay is generally considered king, I'm often surprised that it isn't considered the best of P3-P5 around here.

 

[Duraframe300]

so pretty much we are getting persona 5 sooner and later. how is it really compared to 4 and 3?

for 3 i like the story more than 4 but 4 have better gameplay (actual controllable party members and such) plus dungeons look at least more varied in 4. i also like inaba as a setting more than the city in 3

The one thing Persona 5 is clearly better (but with many flaws) is providing actual dungeons with varied gameplay instead of the labrinth hallways of 3 and 4. 3 still has the best story. The combat gameplay isn't vastly better than 4 (IMO).

And while it features a crime/whoddunit story like 4, and technically a more complex one, it does so with a much worse execution. There's no moment like in 4 where you have to think for a moment and figure out who could possibly be involved for example. Instead it telegraphs everything with the force of a sledgehammer while trying to appear keeeeeewl and smart. On the other hand, if you can overlook that, it does all of that very stylish. TL: DR: Story wise very much style over substance.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

so pretty much we are getting persona 5 sooner and later. how is it really compared to 4 and 3?

for 3 i like the story more than 4 but 4 have better gameplay (actual controllable party members and such) plus dungeons look at least more varied in 4. i also like inaba as a setting more than the city in 3

The one thing Persona 5 is clearly better (but with many flaws) is providing actual dungeons with varied gameplay instead of the labrinth hallways of 3 and 4. 3 still has the best story. The combat gameplay isn't vastly better than 4 (IMO).

And while it features a crime/whoddunit story like 4, and technically a more complex one, it does so with a much worse execution. There's no moment like in 4 where you have to think for a moment and figure out who could possibly be involved for example. Instead it telegraphs everything with the force of a sledgehammer while trying to appear keeeeeewl and smart. On the other hand, if you can overlook that, it does all of that very stylish. TL: DR: Story wise very much style over substance.

While it is a worse "who dun it" how is the overall plot/characterization of Persona 5?

My biggest gripes with Persona 4 was the fact that character development (especially the main groups) and plot are rather weak compared to Persona 3. After all Persona 3 doesn't lock the party member character progression behind Social Links and actually heavily integrate them with the plot of the game. In Persona 4 the only one to do so is Teddy because his S.Links are updated with the main plot. I guess P4G will rectify this in way of the epilogue where you visit Inaba in the future.

Persona 4 also has a non-existent villain for like 85% of the game which makes the game feels sluggish. The party is a passive "wait someone get kidnapped to move the plot" for that 85% of the game too. Sure we are "investigating" but there is no clear opponent to fight against in that 85% of the game. Compared to this, Persona 3 is miles better with the teams being actively trying to prevent something and have Striga as a fairly strong secondary villain. And then you have the team internal conflict as well in Persona 3 which makes the in-between of major conflicts feel powerful. These are non-existent in Persona 4 besides the last stretch of that 85% when we are deducing who the murderer is.

 

[Readher]

Here's an article on the port:

https://personacentral.com/persona-4-golden-steam-edition-atlus-japan/

 

[Optimist]

So, how good it is? As a game, I mean, not a port? Every now and then I get a craving for a jRPG, last time I picked P5 and it was... OK-ish. I enjoyed the beginning, when the style was still fresh, with this "fish out of water" feel and when traversing the palaces was not always something you could do in a single day. Afterward, it got much easier, so I spent all that free time scrolling through inane anime dialogues, with nothing to break up the monotony.
I ended up soldiering on until the end-game mementos dungeon, got to the second save point there, and just put the game of a backburner indefinitely. It's been what, a year and a half, and other than the occasional voice telling me that a man should finish what he started, I'm not sure I have it in me to actually finish the game.
Can you screw yourself time-management wise badly enough to not be able to finish the game?

 

[Duraframe300]

so pretty much we are getting persona 5 sooner and later. how is it really compared to 4 and 3?

for 3 i like the story more than 4 but 4 have better gameplay (actual controllable party members and such) plus dungeons look at least more varied in 4. i also like inaba as a setting more than the city in 3

The one thing Persona 5 is clearly better (but with many flaws) is providing actual dungeons with varied gameplay instead of the labrinth hallways of 3 and 4. 3 still has the best story. The combat gameplay isn't vastly better than 4 (IMO).

And while it features a crime/whoddunit story like 4, and technically a more complex one, it does so with a much worse execution. There's no moment like in 4 where you have to think for a moment and figure out who could possibly be involved for example. Instead it telegraphs everything with the force of a sledgehammer while trying to appear keeeeeewl and smart. On the other hand, if you can overlook that, it does all of that very stylish. TL: DR: Story wise very much style over substance.

While it is a worse "who dun it" how is the overall plot/characterization of Persona 5?

My biggest gripes with Persona 4 was the fact that character development (especially the main groups) and plot are rather weak compared to Persona 3. After all Persona 3 doesn't lock the party member character progression behind Social Links and actually heavily integrate them with the plot of the game. In Persona 4 the only one to do so is Teddy because his S.Links are updated with the main plot. I guess P4G will rectify this in way of the epilogue where you visit Inaba in the future.

Persona 4 also has a non-existent villain for like 85% of the game which makes the game feels sluggish. The party is a passive "wait someone get kidnapped to move the plot" for that 85% of the game too. Sure we are "investigating" but there is no clear opponent to fight against in that 85% of the game. Compared to this, Persona 3 is miles better with the teams being actively trying to prevent something and have Striga as a fairly strong secondary villain. And then you have the team internal conflict as well in Persona 3 which makes the in-between of major conflicts feel powerful. These are non-existent in Persona 4 besides the last stretch of that 85% when we are deducing who the murderer is.

It's about the same as in P4 as in you have the plot dungeon or dungeon stretch that's themed on them and then you have their personalities (With further development hidden behind social links). And aside from that P4's cast is better (IMO).

Story wise I personally like that the plot of P4 unravels slowly (though I do agree P3 is superior) but that's me. Now imagine the same thing as P4, with no subtlety and someone constantly pointing at Adachi like "LOOKLOOKLOOK* (Sadly this is a problem that P4 Golden has if you do Social Links). Its made worse because it all cumilates in scenes where the game thinks it makes a *SHOCKING* revelation to you and you're just like *Oh, ok*.

So, yeah. Story wise, don't expect the structure of P3, instead expect a worse version of P4. Still entertaining though.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

So, how good it is? As a game, I mean, not a port? Every now and then I get a craving for a jRPG, last time I picked P5 and it was... OK-ish. I enjoyed the beginning, when the style was still fresh, with this "fish out of water" feel and when traversing the palaces was not always something you could do in a single day. Afterward, it got much easier, so I spent all that free time scrolling through inane anime dialogues, with nothing to break up the monotony.

The game is decently challenging in Hard. Probably Very Hard will be better later when you have many more options, but in general, Hard is the "SMT-like" difficulties. Not sure how it compared to 5 as people said that Confidant in 5 makes the game much easier.

In general, if you don't like anime then the series (especially 3 - 5) are perhaps not for you. Persona 4 is still very anime-ish thematically. If you want a more "non-anime" feel maybe you can try Persona 2 IS and EP.

Can you screw yourself time-management wise badly enough to not be able to finish the game?

There are certain deadlines for a certain point of the game. Usually, it is the day after 3 - 4 days of rain. Failure to clear the latest dungeon by that point is a game over. But really you are give more than enough time to do so. Time management is nice to unlock stronger Persona (as the strongest ones are usually gated behind completion of Social Link) but they are not mandatory to finish the game. I was playing like a dumb monkey with 0 Ultimate Personas on my 1st playthrough and can finish the game just fine in PS2. Your party members are usually strong and well defined enough that you just have to cover what your current team is lacking.

Story wise I personally like that the plot of P4 unravels slowly (though I do agree P3 is superior) but that's me. Now imagine the same thing as P4, with no subtlety and someone constantly pointing at Adachi like "LOOKLOOKLOOK* (Sadly this is a problem that P4 Golden has if you do Social Links). Its made worse because it all cumilates in scenes where the game thinks it makes a *SHOCKING* revelation to you and you're just like *Oh, ok*.

So, yeah. Story wise, don't expect P3, instead expect a worse version of P4. Still entertaining though.

I see. Honestly I never really feel the mystery of Persona 4 because if you pay attention it's just kinda there and the "criminal reveal" fell flat for me. If anything I think the Joker Social Link would establish the criminal better as his motivation and character were very weak in P4. But I didn't expect the giant space flea out of nowhere of the true final boss but I don't think anybody does. Is it even foreshadowed?

Well I guess it will depends on the cast then. I personally find Persona 4 casts to be weaker than those of Persona 3 (excluding some Social Link I guess. Sun and Devil are great in Persona 4.) so it will depend on Persona 5 cast. From trailers and spolierly stuff I read Persona 5 csat should be better for me than 4, but we will see when I actually play the game.

 

[Thac0]

So, how good it is? As a game, I mean, not a port? Every now and then I get a craving for a jRPG, last time I picked P5 and it was... OK-ish. I enjoyed the beginning, when the style was still fresh, with this "fish out of water" feel and when traversing the palaces was not always something you could do in a single day. Afterward, it got much easier, so I spent all that free time scrolling through inane anime dialogues, with nothing to break up the monotony.
I ended up soldiering on until the end-game mementos dungeon, got to the second save point there, and just put the game of a backburner indefinitely. It's been what, a year and a half, and other than the occasional voice telling me that a man should finish what he started, I'm not sure I have it in me to actually finish the game.
Can you screw yourself time-management wise badly enough to not be able to finish the game?

Uh end game memento dungeon in P5 means you are 95% done with the game. Maybe 99%. There is just like three areas and fives boss fights left. You might wanna do that just for the satisfaction of putting the game ad acta.
Catching one of those late game angels helps a lot with the random encounters in the deep mementos, Mahamamaon + Hama boost has a ridicously high chance to just wipe out an encounter there, since almost all enemies are weak to light. Id say 50% of random counter end on the first Mahamaon. Makes the xp roll in big and gives you a smooth ride to the final boss fight, who isnt anything spectacular but still adequate.

 

[overture2112]

I hate to be a snob but I really wish we got Persona 3 instead

I appreciate they priced this reasonably (just low enough it's probably worth buying over emulating).

 

[Readher]

I hate to be a snob but I really wish we got Persona 3 instead

I appreciate they priced this reasonably (just low enough it's probably worth buying over emulating).

Golden can't be emulated anyway.

 

[raesha]

Golden can't be emulated anyway.

Yup. If there's any of them that needed a port the most, it's the one you needed to possess a physical Vita for in order to be able to play.

 

[Reinhardt]

But again, in a place where gameplay is generally considered king

It's codex. Codex doesn't care about gameplay, it prefers VNs.

 

[Readher]

Hmmmm... noticed something strange here?

 

[LESS T_T]

Yeah I was suspicious about that too. It seems the number counts unlisted apps, and that includes unlisted DLCs. P4G has one unlisted DLC, buut it's associated with Deluxe Edition content. So, it's probably not related to the next release or something.

 

[GhostCow]

So I went with the Japanese voices to practice my Japanese and didn't even make it past the first scene. I really dislike Igor's Japanese voice. English it is. I hope the new Chie can beat the old one. Teddy sounds the same even with a new actor so meh on that

 

[GhostCow]

Ok now that I've played a bit I don't like the new Chie either. This is definitely a pick your poison situation

 

[Crane]

I'm waiting for Atlus to fix the stuttering anime cutscene bug. It's pervasive in my game, not just limited to the opening cutscene.

Update on this: I changed my power settings from Balanced to High Performance in the windows 10 control panel and now all cutscene lag is eliminated. What a weird fix.

 

[Thac0]

After playing the first few hours I really wish Persona 5 had kept the arcana shuffling from Persona 4 G. The sweep bonus is so satisfying and farming with sweep shuffle stacking is so much fun it isnt farming at all.

Demon negotiations are all fine and dandy but they can be a tad frustrating at times. Also its like in 15 different SMTs and in mainline SMT, so shuffle time could be a nifty thing for the Persona series to differentiate them more. After all they have the whole Tarot vibe.

Had they improved on the shuffling as much from P4G to P5 as from P3 to P4G it would have been the best demon aquisition system by far.

 

[GhostCow]

I'm waiting for Atlus to fix the stuttering anime cutscene bug. It's pervasive in my game, not just limited to the opening cutscene.

Update on this: I changed my power settings from Balanced to High Performance in the windows 10 control panel and now all cutscene lag is eliminated. What a weird fix.

I've seen this fix many things over the years and it really should be the default for all gamers

 

[Optimist]

The game is decently challenging in Hard. Probably Very Hard will be better later when you have many more options, but in general, Hard is the "SMT-like" difficulties. Not sure how it compared to 5 as people said that Confidant in 5 makes the game much easier.

Good to know. How's the split between combat and social stuff? Is it complete a dungeon -> eat burgers for three weeks, or is it more evenly spread out?

In general, if you don't like anime then the series (especially 3 - 5) are perhaps not for you. Persona 4 is still very anime-ish thematically. If you want a more "non-anime" feel maybe you can try Persona 2 IS and EP.

It's not that I dislike anime - last year I greatly enjoyed Bookkeeper Honda, me and Ms. Optimist occasionally watch Kaguya Sama as our dinner series, I enjoyed most of the all-time greats. I'm just really not fond of dialogues where characters explicitly describe each iota of how they feel/ what happened, going over each point a few times - and even that's tolerable for me unless I'm getting this shoved in my face over and over again for a prolonged period of time, the way it was with P5.

Uh end game memento dungeon in P5 means you are 95% done with the game. Maybe 99%. There is just like three areas and fives boss fights left. You might wanna do that just for the satisfaction of putting the game ad acta.
Catching one of those late game angels helps a lot with the random encounters in the deep mementos, Mahamamaon + Hama boost has a ridicously high chance to just wipe out an encounter there, since almost all enemies are weak to light. Id say 50% of random counter end on the first Mahamaon. Makes the xp roll in big and gives you a smooth ride to the final boss fight, who isnt anything spectacular but still adequate.

Guess I really should go for it, then.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

Good to know. How's the split between combat and social stuff? Is it complete a dungeon -> eat burgers for three weeks, or is it more evenly spread out?

Not sure how it is in P5, but if you play in Hard or V.Hard in P4 you probably need at least 3 visits to finish a dungeon first time around. 1st time until you beat the sub-boss. 2nd time until just before the final boss. 3rd time to get the final boss. Assuming you actually clear each floor and not just rush every stairs, of course. After clearing a dungeon for the first time, the game will spawn somewhat hard optional boss on the final floor (usually tied to Side Quest IIRC) so you have 1 - 2 visits to the dungeon again. Some Side Quests (usually gathering items) also usually appear after you clear a dungeon the first time so there is more reason for visiting them.

In general, you can expect 1 dungeon visit per week on average I guess?

 

[d1r]

Sub bosses don't fuck around on Hard.

First sub boss can instant kill your whole party with one move, even with lvl 16+.

 

[cosmicray]

I really dislike Igor's Japanese voice.

Blasphemy.