The second game in Atlus’ recent port to PlayStation 4 is none other than Persona 4 Golden, bringing its poppy and vibrant colors to the series while tackling deep-thinking concepts by defeating monsters. P4G’s journey is filled with wacky hijinks and tense, dramatic moments, but it all culminates together to create a closely-knit group of friends that you’ll never want to leave.
For those familiar with the most recent entry into the series and you’re not sure what you’re getting into, then imagine this: If Persona 5 is a tense, high-action combat scene featuring all the good guys kicking butt, then Persona 4 is downtime where the team walks down to the park on a rainy day while singing Mr. Blue Sky. Both games carry their own energy, but neither title suffers too much with pacing in telling their story.
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▍A Friendship Story That’s Somewhat Enhanced By The PS4 Engine
Once again, a bunch of teens band together with stands to defeat monsters and solve the problem that plagues their surroundings. Coming from the city, the protagonist moves to the sleepy town of Inaba for the next year while his parents work abroad.
Two mysterious murders occur soon after he arrives and attract the attention of the protagonist and his new friends, who set out to discover the culprit of the case as the self-dubbed Investigation Team. The connection between the murder victims and the mysterious Midnight Channel is the only lead they have, so what are the chances that a ragtag group of teens can solve a mystery that has the police stumped?
The voice acting in P4G breathes life into its characters during the game’s highs and lows, and the expressions on each character’s portrait help emphasize the tone of each cutscene. For a story about finding and accepting yourself, each character struggles with issues that most people can relate to; even at their more cliché or bland moments, you might think of how you’ve gone through similar successes and struggles.
The PS4 port brings a sharper presentation than its PS Vita version, especially for its UI and 2D visuals. It’s a shame that the 3D environment wasn’t given a touch-up to take advantage of the platform’s powerful engine and retain its original PS Vita-level quality. It’s jarring how unpolished the environment looks compared to other visual components of P4G, even at the beginning of the game.
There were also several instances where the game would momentarily lag during the transitions between each day. The visual effect used when traveling to and from the TV World actually suffers from the 60 FPS cap, as it looks a bit clipped even if it isn’t an extremely noticeable error.
▍Some Small But Welcome Additions
One of the highlights of the Persona 4 Golden port to the PS4 is the addition of the Album, which lets you replay Social Link cutscenes and explore other options. Ever wanted to be a jerk but couldn’t because you needed those Social Link points? The feature lets you do all of that, though it won’t overwrite the results of your current save file.
You can also Quicksave anytime, which is helpful when you need to take a break after slogging through a long dungeon.
▍Combat is Business as Usual
Combat in P4G isn’t significantly different from P3P or P5, as you can directly control the actions of your team members, letting you reliably hit enemy weaknesses. You can also swap your Persona multiple times in a turn unlike in P3P, where you were locked to the Persona you swapped to even if it was a mistaken selection.
Improvements to the Shuffle Time system also make it much more bearable. You’re allowed to pick multiple cards with the ‘One More’ tag, which changes the rewards offered by a card but allows you to pick another one. Grab them all, and you’ll activate a Sweep Bonus; a guaranteed Shuffle Time after the next battle, and extra chances to draw cards!
Empowering a Persona is the same as other versions of P4G, as Stat Cards are common in Shuffle Time. Picking up a Magician card can also force a skill to upgrade; with enough luck and some farming, you can get powerful skills such as Agidyne or Vorpal Blade extremely early on in the game. With how easily you can trigger Shuffle Time, it’s not unheard of to use a single, weak Persona like Izanagi in the endgame.
▍Persona Fusion Realigns With Modern Games In The Series
P4G’s original release on the PSP allowed players to select which skills could be transferred over during fusion, and that function has thankfully stuck around for the PS4 port. Taking the Magician Skill Card in Shuffle Time into consideration, you can create some pretty powerful Personas – barring the level requirement, of course.
The Compendium is also unlocked much earlier compared to P3P, so you can speed up Social Links more easily. The PS4 port didn’t do anything to change this part of gameplay, so you won’t be surprised by any curveballs.
▍P4G’s Debut on The PS4 Could Have Used More Love
Persona 4 Golden was a beloved game when it first arrived on the PSP, and its experience has not changed on the PS4. I’ll admit that there are definitely some portions of the game that have aged poorly; how Kanji is treated by some of the other characters is one noticeable example.
Honestly, if you’ve already played P4G on other platforms you won’t be missing anything unless you’re looking to replay the game at a higher framerate. On the other hand, those who haven’t experienced this game will find that P4G is an excellent entry into the series that may start slow, but will capture your attention and immerse you in its twists and turns.
