Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 – PS2 – Review

Sent to live with his uncle in the
spring month of April, the silent protagonist of Persona 4 is in a world of
trouble as the community of Inaba witnesses crazy murders that end with the
victims being hanged from high places. In search for the perpetrator, the
protagonist and his cohorts find a gateway to another world where they encounter
their powerful Personas that are also tied to their souls. Players looking for a
unique dark-themed RPG will find it within Persona 4’s diabolical world full of
insane characters and enemies.

Persona 4 isn’t without its clichés.
The protagonist’s Persona wields a huge sword and is dressed in a large strapped
black coat, something that’s seen in many RPGs nowadays. Tagging along are
classmates who have their own Personas such as Chie Satonaka’s Tomoe and Yosuke
Hanamura’s Jiraiya. Tomoe has a head like Pyramidhead from Silent Hill though
she’s clad in all yellow. Jiraiya, like many of the other Personas, is tall and
skinny while also being tightly wrapped in white leather and has a red scarf
such as Hotsuma from Shinobi on the PlayStation 2. Even with these similarities
to other eastern franchises, Persona 4 is still vastly clever in design in
comparison to recent role-playing titles.

One thing that especially stands out
about Persona 4 is the difficulty level. There are three difficulty
levels to choose from: beginner, normal, and expert. The normal difficulty
level, while not extremely hard, provides a heaping amount of challenges. If
you’re familiar with the Persona then the normal difficulty level will be
fine starting point. But if you’ve never played the any of the past titles then
the beginning level is an appropriate start due to it allows you have ten
chances to continue on with your game after death.

Each day of the characters lives has
events to schedule such going to school, joining clubs, meeting new people to
form Social Links and much more. While in school, professors will ask you
questions and if you answer them correctly, your stats will increase. With
Social Links, the closer you become to your new-found friends, the higher the
rank you’ll increase to gain bonus experience points. The game world isn’t
exactly enormous, but there are tons of objectives to accomplish so you’re time
with Persona 4 won’t be a short one.

If you’ve played Persona 3, then
you’ll find it eerily similar even though the setting has changed from a city to
the country side. The storyline of Persona 4 occurs 14 months after the third
iteration and still begs you to attend classes and fight demons at night. Using
the same engine from Persona 3, there are a few significant changes such as five
stats rather than three including strength, magic, endurance, agility and luck.

If you grow tired of your personal
Persona, you can obtain a new one by winning a battle or performing fusion.
There are exceptions to this rule since you aren’t able to obtain a Persona of a
higher level than the protagonist unless through a fusion with a Social Link.
It’s always a pleasant time when your Persona gains new skills to use in battle.
Creating a more powerful Persona is beyond the best attribute of Persona 4
but then again, I was always fond of creating new monsters in the Monster
Rancher series so it’s natural that Persona 4 would be an attractive
RPG.

The visual department hasn’t
exceedingly changed, but that doesn’t remove the fact that it’s one of the
better looking RPGs on the PlayStation 2. The art is deviously interesting with
an exotic look celebrating sinister themes. On top of the peculiar artwork, the
soundtrack is superb. From top to bottom, the soundtrack is outstanding but if
one track stood out, the ending theme was hands down the best. Overall, the work
by composers Shoji Meguro (Trauma Center: Second Opinion) and Atsushi
Kitajoh (Trauma Center: New Blood) was excellent.

If it had to be said, Persona 4
is among the best RPGs on the PlayStation 2 in many years. The overall
package is fantastic with a mysterious storyline – which is well put together –
and an incredible technical department due to the soundtrack. I do hope that the
same dedication is put into the next-generation of consoles when the developers
finally make the leap since Japanese-oriented RPGs look to be on the decline the
past few years if you exclude the PlayStation 2.

Gameplay: 8.8
If you’ve never played Persona 3, then it’ll be overwhelmingly fresh entry
to the RPG genre. If you’ve actually played Persona 3, then there have been more
than enough changes to warrant a revisit through the universe of Persona. It’s a
satisfying RPG that continues to prove that it’s one of the better franchises in
the genre.

Graphics: 8.4
It won’t take away your breath, but the graphics get the job done with the
PS2 on its last leg.

Sound: 9.2
Not a single soul should go without hearing the soundtrack of Persona 4
before the end of 2008.

Difficulty: Medium
Persona 4 isn’t like Microsoft’s Blue Dragon — which was increasingly easy
for its difficulty level upon the launch of the title — rather Atlus has put
together a tough RPG to push through.

Concept: 9.0
There’s no other RPG like it on the market. Dark and gloomy, the storyline
pulls you in and holds you into the end.

Overall: 8.7
One of the top five RPGs of 2008, Persona 4 provides a distinctive
experience that isn’t found in any other RPG this year. Personally, I can’t wait
to see Atlus move onto the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 with their titles in the
future – gorgeous environments, bigger worlds, and shorter loading times are
items on my Christmas wish list for the Persona franchise.