One of the big new features of Persona 4 Golden is the addition of a new character in Marie. The Aeon social link isn’t just a new character though, as she also serves as one of the game’s tougher optional bosses.
Marie is a character that’s shrouded in mystery for Persona 4 Golden players. A sort of sidekick to Velvet Room attendant and fellow optional boss Margaret, the player is tasked with exploring her past, her relationship to the Velvet Room, and her role in the events playing out in Inaba. That leads to a dramatic new chapter to the Persona 4 story that wasn’t included in the original PlayStation 2 release.
Marie serves as the boss of the Hollow Forest, a new dungeon added after the player discovers and defeats the person who killed Saki Konishi and Mayumi Yamano. The boss battle isn’t especially difficult but could be a serious challenge if players don’t figure out the trick and are worn down from the trek through the dungeon.
How to Defeat Marie in Persona 4 Golden
Players can beat Marie through the use of single-target spells and a bit of patience. This is a frustrating fight at face value, but shouldn’t be too much of a challenge for an appropriately leveled party.
SP struggles are a defining feature of the Hollow Forest area, and they don’t end with the Marie fight. Players are best served using single-target spells to defeat her. Marie resists physical attack and has a unique counter-passive called Alienation Wall that can beat back players who try and take her out with their weapons.
After players whittle down Marie’s health, she activates another ability called Shell of Denial which repels everything. Players might be tempted into using Almighty magic at this point, but that should be avoided. Simply have the party guard for a few turns, as the Shell of Denial ability is actually meant to set up the second phase of the boss fight.
How to Defeat Kusumi-no-Okami
Players can defeat Kusumi-no-Okami using the Breaker items that they found in the Hollow Forest. While these items are useful outside this battle, they’re primarily meant to be used for beating Kusumi-no-Okami.
Kusumi-no-Okami retains the effects of Shell of Denial and will reflect back almost all forms of damage. Players can remove this by using items like Ice Breaker and Fire Breaker, which will get rid of the boss’s resistance to Bufu and Agi spells, respectively. After using these items, Kusumi-no-Okami is quite a manageable opponent.
Continue using Breaker items and appropriate magical spells and her health will quickly drop. After lowering her health she will begin using the ability Cry of Denial to reset the party’s affinities. This isn’t too troublesome though, as parties with the right skills can defeat her in just a handful of turns.
Persona 4 Golden is available now on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Game Pass, and PC.
