Now, please sit back and enjoy the game.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Playstation 2
Release Date: December 9, 2008

Graphics: 10/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Sound: 9.5/10
Control: 9/10
Replay Value: 8.5/10
Overall: 9/10

This was my first experience with a game from the Shin Megami Tensei series and man, was I in for a surprise! I haven't been so immersed in an RPG since my Final Fantasy days (I spent a total of 75 hours on this game), but this game takes RPGs to a whole new level. There is just so much that I would like to say about this game... where to begin?

Persona 4 follows a year in the life of the silent protagonist, who has just moved from the city to the quiet town of Inaba to live with his uncle Dojima. He begins making friends at his new school, when suddenly the friends stumble upon news of a gruesome murder that took place right in their very own peaceful town. Soon, there is another murder of someone close to them, followed by a mysterious disappearance of one of the friends. The group decides to take action and try to figure out who the murderer is to stop them. These events lead to the discovery of the Midnight Channel, which broadcasts an image of the next victim, and the protagonist soon discovers his strange ability to enter the TV. The group of detectives must navigate this TV world to find clues to the identity of the culprit. While inside the TV, they encounter shadows which attack them, causing the characters' true selves to emerge from them in the form of a Persona, which aids them in battle. It sounds a little strange at first, but then again, this is a video game. The story becomes very enthralling and entertaining, with plenty of humor, plot twists, and emotionally driven scenes.


The aspect of this game that impressed me the most was the character development. I was so intrigued by (almost) every character of the game, and began to feel a deep connection and sense of understanding for many of the characters and their situations. The cast of characters was so interesting, from the hard-kicking Chie who trains hard to protect her friends, the beautiful Yukiko who is at first very shy but opens up and becomes ridiculously silly, the tough-guy Kanji who reveals a much softer side of himself, the sweet and innocent Nanako who is trying to cope with her mother's death, the stressed Dojima who can't figure out how to connect with his daughter Nanako, the bumbling detective Adachi who doesn't know when to shut his mouth, and the silent protagonist who interacts with them all and gets to know them on a deeply personal level. One of the best features of the game is the player's ability to spend time with his friends and family and develop “Social Links” with them, which results in a sort of side-story during which you learn more about that character's troubles and thoughts about life as you try to help them through their problems and connect with them on a personal level. You find yourself becoming immersed in certain characters' lives and wanting to find out more. The stories I found to be the most intriguing during my first playthrough were those of Kanji Tatsumi, a tough-acting punk who has an unexpected affinity for sewing and is struggling to cope with other's opinions of him and his hobby, and Naoki Konishi, a depressed boy who is trying to cope with his sister's recent death and the townspeoples' expectations of how he should be acting. You could also end up in a relationship with one (or more) of the female characters by leveling up their Social Links to the max (I'll admit that I squealed like a girl when Chie finally agreed to go out with me, and when she gave me a very heartfelt “I love you!”) The other intriguing aspect of character development came when you had to battle certain characters' shadow selves. During these cutscenes and battles, the character's shadow self would spew forth the character's deepest held secrets and thoughts, which were often rather shocking and embarrassing. Once the character refused to accept the shadow as their own, the shadow would transform into a hideous manifestation of their inner feelings which you must defeat in order for the character to come to terms with their true self. Many of these battles will turn out to be the strangest, and sometimes the most uncomfortable, boss battles you'll ever encounter in a video game, while simultaneously resulting in a very emotional experience as you get to know the characters true feelings.

The other area where this game scored major points with me was the graphics. The game contains many beautifully drawn cutscenes that look like they were taken right out of an anime. The characters are drawn in a similar manner when they are speaking to you. I was extremely impressed with this anime art style, which worked wonderfully for the game and was so different from most of the other games I've played. The rest of the game is designed in excellent 3D graphics; everything looks very crisp and smooth and very detailed. The game menus are also beautifully executed, as they appear and disappear from the screen in a fluid manner and are colored in a rich yellow hue which is pleasing to the eye.

The sound was another high point of the game. The voice acting for this game was top-notch! The English actors delivered all of their lines very naturally and put some real emotion into them, and the dialogue was very entertaining. The voice acting was also very entertaining during battles, when characters would shout things like “I'm pissed now!” or “Whee! We won!” My favorite line during a battle was whenever Chie would dodge an enemy attack and go “Yoink!” and trip them up. Admittedly, however, some lines become rather annoying when characters keep saying them multiple times every battle (“Someone finish this one off!”) The only voice which might be annoying to some would be Teddie's, although after awhile I did start to find Teddie to be rather charming, with his odd voice and his awful puns. The game's soundtrack was also excellent, featuring J-Pop tracks and heavy beats and tunes which become stuck in your head for days. My copy of the game came with a bonus CD containing some of the game's music, which I promptly added to my iTunes. My only disappointment with the game's music comes from the battle theme, which becomes slightly obnoxious after battling hundreds of enemies and hearing it every time. I wish they would have chosen a few more tracks for different battles so that the battle music didn't become quite so annoying. The boss battle music, however, never failed to pump me up for an awesome battle!


The gameplay here wasn't the game's highest point, in my opinion. I did enjoy running around town interacting with people, building social links, battling, and creating different personae. However, I found navigating the different dungeons of the shadow world to be very tedious and monotonous. These areas, such as Yukiko's castle, were mazelike areas consisting of up to 11 floors which were all essentially the same. The paths would change occasionally, causing you to have to re-navigate the same floor again. Some areas were different, such as a floor in the Void Quest which would warp you to various areas, and a floor in Magatsu Inaba on which your goal was to avoid all of the enemies, but these exceptions were very few. Although this aspect of the game was somewhat disappointing, it didn't really affect my overall appreciation for the game. After all, the game for me was more about watching the enthralling story unfold before my eyes. As for replay value, the game is particularly long so you may not want to jump into it again immediately after finishing it, but with the multiple endings and all of the content of the game which you may not have completed the first time around (mostly Social Links), you'll surely come back to the game eventually for an equally great and possibly different experience.

Overall, Persona 4 is a superb game, which has gotten me very interested in the rest of the Shin Megami Tensei series (I just went out and bought Persona 3 a few days ago). It's definitely an experience which cannot be passed up by the avid gamer. It's a work of art on many levels, as well as a commentary on psychology which causes you to look deeper at your own life and the lives of the people around you. I look forward to the day when I pick up Persona 4 again for my second playthrough!