Persona 4 Golden

Genre: Turn-Based Monster-Collecting JRPG

Players: 1, Passive Online Features

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in Persona 3 Portable & Persona 4 Golden Bundle, along with Persona 3 Portable. It is also included in Persona Collection, along with Persona 3 Portable and Persona 5 Royal)

The Persona series of Turn-Based Monster-Collecting JRPGs has been around since it first spun off from the Shin Megami Tensei franchise in 1996, and while it is undoubtedly in Persona 5 that the series skyrocketed in popularity, many series fans still maintain that Persona 4 may be the best game in the series. Tastes differ, of course, and everyone has their favorites, but Persona 4 certainly has a lot going for it.

Originally released on PlayStation 2 in 2008, this game was later re-released on PlayStation Vita in 2012 as Persona 4 Golden, an enhanced port with new story and gameplay content, and even some light use of online connectivity. Unlike Persona 3, which has different versions that each have their own positive and negative qualities, Persona 4 Golden is unquestionably the definitive version of this game – so much so, that during the PlayStation Vita’s short lifetime it was generally considered one of the platform’s must-have games. It is this version that has generally been the one ported when brought to newer platforms, releasing on PC in 2020, and brought to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2023.

Now, with this release being based on a game that’s 15 years old does mean it has aged somewhat, but in many respects it still remains fresh to this day – the game still has its quirky style with an often upbeat presentation despite the story dealing with some really heavy elements, with the main plot focused on a series of deaths plaguing a small town. The anime-style character designs are all wonderful here too, with some great voice acting in both Japanese and English, along with a solid soundtrack (though honestly, it’s probably my least favorite soundtrack of all three of the modern mainline Persona games released thus far). However, there are still some catchy pop-style tunes, like Signs of Love, Reach Out to the Truth, and Heartbreak, Heartbreak. And this release improves the resolution and textures in the game, as well as giving us higher-resolution character portraits and intro video.

Having said that, this game does shows its age – the 3D scenery and character models are fairly low-poly, with some sparsely-detailed environments, though given this game being a decade and a half old, I’d say it fares pretty well, all things considered. Players expecting the same highly-expressive visuals of Persona 5 will be disappointed, but I think players expecting something on the level of a PlayStation 2 game will likely be delightfully surprised.

As with other entries in the Persona series, Persona 4’s story centers around a group of high school students secretly fighting demonic enemies using their own collectible “persona” demons. In Persona 4, as mentioned earlier, the game’s plot revolves around mysterious deaths happening in the town. The game’s teenage protagonists discover they have the ability to predict these deaths using a “Bloody Mary”-style ritual involving looking into a blank TV screen at midnight during the rain, and soon after discover that they can enter a parallel realm via a TV set, where they can find and ideally rescue those who would otherwise be doomed to die.

I think one of the reasons many players consider this game to possibly be the best in the series is its story. While not shying away from the series’ more bonkers occult and fantasy elements, I would say this is one of the most grounded modern Persona games, with a really likeable and memorable cast of characters, like the energetic tomboy Chie and the down-on-his-luck Yosuke.

What’s more, perhaps better than any other game in the series, Persona 4 really explores these characters in a way that makes them feel three-dimensional, because before joining your party each must confront their “shadow”, a dark reflection of themselves representing all the things that they want to reject or ignore, but must ultimately come to accept before they can move on. These struggles with feelings of inadequacy, jealousy, and hidden frustrations with the world around them really help to flesh out all of these characters, and make discovering more about these people just as compelling a gameplay element as leveling up and gaining new abilities.

Of course, combat and the way you build up your party of demons, as in any Shin Megami Tensei game, is also mostly fantastic. It’s irritating that by default you can only directly control your own character in combat, but thankfully there’s an option to change this in the game’s “Tactics” menu, and being able to automate your team should help make grinding go more quickly. Persona 4 also has you strengthening your Persona’s abilities by building up your social ties to other students in school, making for a nice “dating sim” element to the game.

Here’s where I listed off a bunch of complaints in my Persona 3 Portable review, but this time I don’t have much to complain about. I feel like the pacing and progression are much better this time, the dungeons less samey and visually-dull, and unlike Persona 3 Portable, this is a case where I can truly say that this is the definitive version of this game. In fact, the only places where I feel this game are held back from being superior to Persona 5 Royal are that it just can’t compete with the latter game’s presentation – Persona 5 is not only graphically superior, it has a better soundtrack, and it’s stylistically more visually-appealing too.

However, that’s not to say that Persona 4 isn’t well-worth getting. Despite its age, I still feel like this is absolutely one of the best JRPGs of all-time, and players looking to play it on the go should be delighted to hear that this is surely the best way to do so (sorry, PlayStation Vita fans!). It sure took Atlus long enough to bring the Persona series to the Nintendo Switch, but now that it’s finally here, Persona 4 Golden is a must-have for any fans of the genre who consider the Nintendo Switch their platform of choice.

tl;dr – Persona 4 Golden on Nintendo Switch is a remaster of the PlayStation Vita remake of the original PlayStation 2 release of Persona 4, and this is still one of the best games in this series and the genre as a whole, even if it has aged somewhat. It’s not as flashy as Persona 5, but Persona 4 features a wonderful story with great characters, excellent gameplay, and this is overall a great port of the definitive version of the game. If you’re a JRPG fan with a Nintendo Switch, this game is a must!

Grade: A-

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