Persona 4 Arena Ultimax review: Ken Yu Sho off once more?

It’s a good time to be a Persona fan. With Persona 4 Arena Ultimax out, Persona Q out in November, and with Persona 4: Dancing All Night and Persona 5 coming out next year, things are looking good! As a direct sequel to Persona 4 Arena, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax picks up a week  after the previous game ended. Now a mysterious red fog starts plaguing the Inaba, a fog similar to that inside of the TV world. This leads to a reunion between the Investigation Team, Shadow Operatives, and a brand new scar-faced antagonist — it’s Sho time!

As canon, P4AU links P3 and P4 storylines in what could very much be the end of both tales. This puts a heavy weight onto the plot. If you’re looking at the narrative from a canon perspective, the progression of these two storylines is advancing characters that you’ve possibly been in love with since 2006. This becomes a ‘walking on egg shells’ type of situation. Do you aim for enriching character development, inside/community jokes, or just have fun with it? How much evolution can occur in a fighting game? Is it better to look at P4AU as a separate entity just with familiar characters?

What makes a Persona game are the characters, not the plot. While P4AU is a fighting game, it’s not ‘just’ a fighting game. Hell, it's part visual novel. The Story Mode is lengthier than you’d expect with arcs that center around the different groups involved in this incident – think of the overarching story as a mix of P3 and P4. While the writing isn’t as solid as say P3 or P4, the story is definitely entertaining and blends those three areas previous mentioned. For the Persona fan who doesn’t care for fighting games, you can sim the fights which occur throughout.

Even without Story Mode, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax nails character portrayals with the ‘little things.’ There are so many minute details, phrases, and animations that fans will pick up on and love. This attention to detail is easily my favorite feature of this game. The addition to shadow versions of the majority of characters is where this really shines. From Yukari taking a shower like in the lovers dungeon, to Kanji transforming into a loincloth during his bathhouse dungeon, and Rise transforming her microphone stand into a stripper pole – the shadows are downright fantastic. These little things breathe so much life into fighting game characters. Even when the shadows talk s@#$ after a victory, it’s always relevant to the thoughts of “the true self.” Endless kudos to Atlus and Arc Systems Works on this one.

Due to the fact that P4AU is a Persona game, the music is phenomenal. From the option menu alone, you can listen to nearly every P3 and P4 song. What else could you want!? Battle themes consist of the various combat music from various Persona titles. The game often defaults background music to correlate to your opponent. For example, fighting Shadow Kanji will trigger the Bathhouse Dungeon OST. Again, it’s the little things about this game that stand out to me. Music wise, there is no way you’ll be disappointed. Hell, there are even some awesome remixes.

I suppose in this review, I should talk about gameplay. For P4AU, I like to use ‘learning to play bass guitar’ as an analogy. It’s really easy to pick up and learn the basics but the learning curve in mastering is through the roof. If you’re a diehard Persona nut and don’t know your way around a fight stick, you can still experience all of the game’s content. For many of the various modes, there is an option called “Safety” which is easier than easy. The infamous ‘auto-combo’ exists so literally anyone can pull off a flashy combo with even a SP Skill at the end if you have the SP in your reserve. The combination of Safety and the auto-combo can get you through nearly all the game’s content.

With all that said, the tournament scene is already very apparent. Between the challenge mode and training mode, you can literally just sit there for hours creating new, devastating combos to unleash online or in couch versus mode. Once you’re comfortable with a character, now you can learn their shadow version. These versions of the characters have similar move sets but play by different rules. They can’t burst, awaken, or use instant kill finishers. Shadows have more HP but do less damage. Additionally, SP Gauges fill nearly twice as fast, SP carries over rounds, can use Awakened SP Skills anytime, and can enter a Shadow Frenzy that reduces SP Skill costs and allows normal attacks to be jump canceled.

The combat is quite responsive, and for the Xbox 360, the frame rate is remarkable. Overall, the action comes off as smooth and entertaining. For an onlooker, the visuals and art are quite pleasing and true to the Persona style. The scenery is an ideal blend of familiar and new. There is a lot going on at once, but this actually plays as a strength. The combination of the action, control, visual stimulation, and audio jams – it’s easy to get lost in the engaging nature of the combat. The AI and various game modes have various difficulties attached to keep you challenged at whatever level you’re at. Or you can take skills online and fight nightmarish real players that exist to show you how adorable it is that you think you’re good (speaking from previous-personal fighting game experience here).

The new modes added since Persona 4 Arena are welcomed features. Besides Shadow characters, the most interesting new feature is the 'GoldenArena Mode.' Think of this as your own personal RPG experience in a Persona style. Choose a character, regular or shadow, start at whatever level of difficulty you’re comfortable with, and level your character’s stats however you like. This mode takes quite some time, but it’s fun. You get four skills based off your character and bosses you fight. Mix and match what you like and what will keep you alive. Even if you play as the same character, there is definitely replayability.

Since P4AU has a Story Mode, individual stories have changed from how the first Arena did it. Only certain characters will have mini story happenstances and dialogue happen between matches in Arcade Mode. If you’re looking for some more exposition, this mode is worth taking a go at. The Story Mode is split up into different sections that you’ll unlock as you complete each section. This is where the true bread and butter of the exposition will come from. I think of the story stuff from Arcade Mode as extra.

All in all, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax has a lot going on. There are fighting elements, visual novel aspects, RPG elements, and a whole lot of Persona stuff. While it’s primarily an arcade fighter, the content is accessible to any skill level. A ranked online profile caters to those who are more in it for the combat than the story. For everyone in between, there is a great gray-mix of everything.  P4AU speaks to both the Persona and fighting genre fan. If you happen to be someone who loves both, this game is really going to speak to you. Open your eyes to all the little quarks and bask in fan-pandering goodness.

Historian, teacher, writer, gamer, cheat master, and tech guru: follow on Twitter @AndrewC_GZ