Party members that join late in a game often suffer due to that fact, but Naoto Shirogane of Persona 4 Golden shows how such a character can be done right. As the character who rounds out the party in Persona 4 Golden, it would not have been a surprise if Naoto came off as underdeveloped compared to the rest of the team. Instead, she is just as interesting as the rest of the group despite only joining in the game's latter half. Naoto is the sort of character that similar late party members should take inspiration from.
The plot and events of the Persona games are tied to a strict in-game calendar. Naoto's Social Link in Persona 4 Golden opens near the end of October, making her the last character to properly join the party. As soon as her dungeon is completed, the only remaining dungeons are those that take place during the game's final stretch. Naoto's limited presence was worse in the original Persona 4, as Golden added events that take place during January, February, and March while the original game mostly skipped that time period.
Persona 4 Golden's Story Leaves Room for Naoto
Most of the time, party members in RPGs that join late in the game tend to feel underutilized due to their late appearance. Unfortunately, one prime example of this comes in the form of Persona 5's Haru Okumura. Haru was a character that felt like she should have been important, since her father was one of the Palace Rulers that acted as one of the major bosses. However, Haru has no presence in the dozens of hours before the chapter involving her father's Palace, and the conclusion of said Palace starts the build towards the endgame. Sadly, Haru can feel like an afterthought compared to the other characters due to her limited appearances.
While Naoto suffers from joining the party right before the endgame, her role in Persona 4 is far more significant. She makes her debut before Kanji's dungeon, the second of the game, and is a recurring character who appears several times before officially joining the party in Persona 4's dangerous murder mystery. The player is able to get an idea of who Naoto is as a person thanks to these events, and she feels like an important part of the plot because of how her actions affect the investigation. By the time she finally joins the team, she's already a well-explored character.
The main thing that is done right with Naoto that many other late-game characters miss is that the entirety of her character isn't confined to the game's final few hours. When a character is treated in such a way, it makes them feel like they were tacked-on to the end of the narrative. Unless the character happens to be exceptional, or has a good gimmick like Persona 4 Golden's Fox Social Link, players will have far less reason to devote their limited remaining time to them rather than continuing to focus on the characters that have been with them longer. By establishing herself early, Naoto sidesteps that problem.
Even though she is the last character to arrive in Persona 4 Golden and is usable for less than half the game, Naoto feels just as much like a member of the team as Yosuke and Chie, who were there from the beginning. The player knew that she was important well before her dungeon ever came along, so her joining the party near the end of Persona 4's long and interesting story feels like an added treat rather than an unnecessary extra character. If other games take a similar approach to what Persona 4 did for Naoto, then a lot of late-game characters would be more appreciated.
Persona 4 Golden is now available for PC, PS4, PS Vita, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
