Persona 4 Golden has to be the best game on the PS Vita. It’s certainly the best RPG on the handheld which was a system filled with great RPGs. It was a port of the PS2 original that debuted in 2018 in North America. Four years later it made the jump to the PS Vita in 2012, and now it’s back again over a decade later.
This latest port of Persona 4 Golden does not have much in terms of improvements. The best thing about it is that it’s accessible off the PC and PS Vita now. Is that where the praises stop? Does this game not hold up beyond that?
8 The Detective Story
Persona 4 features all the great gameplay elements from the other entries in the series. However, the story is one of the best things about it that is still fun to go through. It’s a detective story at its core with a series of murder cases infecting protagonist Yu Narukami’s new town.
There are supernatural shenanigans going on as well as the case doesn’t involve a guy simply murdering people with a knife. It’s a long haul but one that is supported by a great cast of characters.
7 The Anime Cutscenes
Video games, especially big RPGs, relied heavily on cutscenes to help tell their tales in the 90s and 2000s. The Persona games are some of the remaining franchises that still use cutscenes. In this case, Persona 4 uses anime cutscenes for pivotal moments such as when Yu awakens his inner abilities.
There was even a full anime adaptation of the game, which made these anime cutscenes even better. For those that love this game and anime in general, the adaptation is worth looking up along with the Persona 5 series and the Persona 3 movies.
6 The Stylized Graphics
Persona 4 was not pushing graphics on the PS2 and the port to PS Vita was no better. This new adaptation doesn’t do much to remaster anything besides smoothing things out. However, it still looks good thanks to the stylized art.
The colors are one of the big things that help Persona 4 stand out with yellow playing a big role in the overall layout. Despite the game taking place in 2011, the colors seem to be inspired by 70s styles. It’s another thing that helps the art pop.
5 The Dungeons
The dungeons were a huge improvement in this game over Persona 3. That game had players ascend Tartarus, a looming spire, wherein all floors looked almost identical. While dungeons still use repeated layouts in Persona 4, each dungeon has a theme based around it.
For example, Kanji’s was based on a bathhouse while Yukiko’s looked like a classic Disney castle. It made exploring each new dungeon in the game more than exciting.
4 The Audio
Persona 4 has a good mix of pop and hip hop from the battle themes to the music that plays while running around town. Even the jingle for the local department store, Junes, is catchy, although that might be because Yu’s cousin, Nanako, adorably loves to sing it.
This brings up the concept of voice acting which is a big part of the game. Everyone in the English dub is giving 100%, but so are the Japanese actors for those that prefer subs over dubs. It’s a great audio mix from top to bottom and is one of the best in the series.
3 The Social Aspects
This game is not a simple dungeon-crawling, turn-based RPG. A big part of the gameplay relies on players socializing with their party members outside of battle via the Social Links system. That’s how players will get so attached to their party in Persona 4 as the game allows more time to be spent with them in meaningful ways.
Players can also befriend other characters that will help with combat in other ways from a random fox running around town to an elderly woman who loves to sit by the river. It’s like a giant simulation of the life of an anime schoolboy who also happens to be good at solving murders.
2 Your Home Life
Persona 3 took place in the dormitories, allowing players to interact with their classmates and party members on a regular basis. It was a good HUB for an RPG, but Persona 4 brought things back to home life.
Yu’s uncle, Dojima, along with his aforementioned cousin, Nanako, help keep the character grounded amidst the chaos of fighting monsters. It’s fun to relax and eat or watch TV with the family after a tough day in the dungeons. It’s all part of the anime schoolboy simulation.
1 The Fast-Forward Feature
This game is going to take nearly a hundred hours to finish. That’s the case for beginners who have to go through the entire story from scratch. However, the game includes a feature for veterans to skip past the story to get to the battles quicker if they so choose.
This fast-forward feature is not as good as a pure way to skip cutscenes like in other RPGs with giant stories. However, as there are a lot of dialogue choices, it’s understandable why this has to be the way it is.
Persona 4 Golden was re-released on January 19, 2023, and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.