Persona 4 Golden (Vita)

Just started getting back into this game. I bought it when it came out, but put it down and never got back to it. I'm on the second dungeon now and finding the story really compelling so far.

Has anyone else played this? How long did it take you to beat it? What did you think?

I tried playing on normal before, but this playthrough I set it to easy. I don't think I have as much time in my life to grind.

I also found Strange Journey for DS in my collection. I forgot I owned it... I wonder if it's worth playing.

I remember my friend didn't like it because the story changes were mandatory. In Persona 3FES, the side quests and extra parts of the storyline were optional. He kinda hated the said changes to the P4 story. I haven't gotten much into it so far though.

I never got around to playing it on PS2, but I finally picked it up when it was released on Vita.

I started my very first playthrough on the hardest difficulty and I'm glad that I did, since the majority of the battles seem pretty easy so far as long I don't break my flow. I haven't played it in a while though. I just finished the 3rd dungeon the last time I was playing it. While I do enjoy the story and the characters, the visual novel style setup kind of makes it difficult for me to get back into it. The dungeons themselves are kind of bland, but the fun battle system makes up for that.

I've been wanting to pick it up, as I stalled on the PS2 version about half way years ago. Maybe after Danganronpa 2 I'll pick this up finally

I tried it but I've never been able to get into the Persona series. The pacing feels too strict. You're told where to be and are given little choice to do otherwise. It's a beautiful game with a cool cast and great audio, but I find the progress avenues more than a little off putting.

Magician said:

I tried it but I've never been able to get into the Persona series. The pacing feels too strict. You're told where to be and are given little choice to do otherwise.

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So how is it different from any other RPG?

Dr Shroom said:

So how is it different from any other RPG?

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Ha ha. Yes, it's true.

I just finished the third dungeon. The dungeons are DEFINITELY bland. They have almost the same dumb layout and are almost exactly like Persona 3.

The whole high school sim aspect of the game is really starting to pick up. Some interesting story parts have begun, and I'm kind of getting hooked. I will stick with it ..

Poison Sama - I have NO IDEA how you play this on the hardest difficulty setting. I found the game to be really frustrating on Normal. I still think Easy is too difficult. Apparently the NewGame+ mode is really fun in this.

Persona 5! http://kotaku.com/first-good-look-at-persona-5-1629198360

I finished P4:Golden not so long ago. I'd never played any of the Persona games on PS2 (finished Persona 2 on PSX years ago). The way the games feel to me is that they are visual novels with gameplay added in. I think the combination is really good, although I understand the frustration of having to do things on certain days but this, in a way, adds to the replay value.

I think it took me around 60 hours to get through but I did I lot of dungeon crawling to get persona to fuse so maybe a little less if you just play it to finish it.

It is really good but it needs to be tackled in one lump rather than having months long breaks in play (like I tried, then ended up starting again).

pulstar said:

I finished P4:Golden not so long ago. I'd never played any of the Persona games on PS2 (finished Persona 2 on PSX years ago). The way the games feel to me is that they are visual novels with gameplay added in. I think the combination is really good, although I understand the frustration of having to do things on certain days but this, in a way, adds to the replay value.

I think it took me around 60 hours to get through but I did I lot of dungeon crawling to get persona to fuse so maybe a little less if you just play it to finish it.

It is really good but it needs to be tackled in one lump rather than having months long breaks in play (like I tried, then ended up starting again).

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I'm getting that vibe. A digital novel with a light RPG thrown in.
I also completely agree about playing in one big lump. I waited a year between my last time playing ... I had no idea what was going on so I just started again. It was actually kind of cool going through the beginning again, I'm definitely looking forward to new game plus.

RBjakeSpecial said:

Poison Sama - I have NO IDEA how you play this on the hardest difficulty setting. I found the game to be really frustrating on Normal. I still think Easy is too difficult. Apparently the NewGame+ mode is really fun in this.

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My strategy is to never exit the TV when a new dungeon pops up, instead staying inside until I complete it. I do this by getting as far as I can inside the dungeon, only returning to the hub area for healing when it's absolutely necessary, and I try to fuse better personas whenever I do. At this difficulty, it's very important to keep the end-of-battle bonus going for as long as possible. By doing this: the party can be healed without having to exit the dungeon, the personas can be strengthened much more quickly, and new personas can be quickly obtained for fusing. Another important thing to do is memorize all of the weaknesses of all the possible enemies in a dungeon, and exploit them ASAP to get extra turns and constant knock-outs for party/partner attacks. It's also important to get first strikes on enemy groups, since this can prevent the enemies from ever having a chance to attack you at all. So as not to waste turns switching personas, I use one main one customized with magic attacks that cover most of the elements. It can also be helpful to keep the network function enabled so that other players can help out a bit.

I guess some of this strategy might be seen as too grindy, but I enjoy the battle system so much that it doesn't bother me.

Magician said:

I tried it but I've never been able to get into the Persona series. The pacing feels too strict. You're told where to be and are given little choice to do otherwise. It's a beautiful game with a cool cast and great audio, but I find the progress avenues more than a little off putting.

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See that's what I actually like about the Persona series. It's the open world RPG's that I can't complete usually. I take too long a break from playing because I get busy...start back up, and have ZERO IDEA what the hell I'm supposed to be doing

Poison Sama said:

My strategy is to never exit the TV when a new dungeon pops up, instead staying inside until I complete it.

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This is the best way. Try to get it all done in one entry because then you have more time to complete the social links and upgrade your stats (Charm, Academics, Courage). Social Links are the key to getting through the game easy. Your personas take too long to level up so if you have them level up like 6/7 levels (with Max S. Link) when you first fuse them it makes everything a lot easier.

I'm trying this strategy (the one you guys mentioned above), keeping TV time to one day and then just building social links the other days seems to be the way to go. I'm on the fifth dungeon now and have completely overpowered my characters. My Personas are all way too tough. They're killing monsters even when they're resisting my powers. It's my fault for playing on Easy. I get to sit back and enjoy the story now, it's really starting to get good.

I'm getting excited for Persona 5, but after playing this on the Vita, I'm not sure I can sit in front of my TV and play one of these JRPGs nowadays. I think the portable factor really helps the grinding and linear story.

Just beat Persona 4: Golden. It was fantastic! I'm on new game plus now. I was a bit harsh on the game the first time through, but playing it again.. it's a really fantastic RPG that makes you care about the characters. A strong recommend.

I think I'm going to play Muramasa or Disgaea 4 next.

Persona 4 is really good and was the reason I picked up a Vita in the first place (missed P4 on the PS2). Muramasa is highly recommended by me. Very good game, nice art style which is well executed.