Persona 4: It's bear-y good!

[Kim]

So I just beat it, only I didn't because I think there is an alternate ending with more epic boss fight as well as finishing of some Social Links if you toss Namatake inside the TV. I could be wrong, but I don't want to be. Especially with every single question since ever still being unanswered.

So, anyone want to confirm my hopes? Anyone else have thoughts on the games?

I love this one a lot more than Persona 3, which was pretty awesome already. Social Links, especially with teammates, are much more vital and important to gameplay. The way weaknesses were done changed slightly to, which was also good. Favorite change though? I can control my teammates. That is marvelous.

Story and music are also a lot more to my liking as well. I'll elaborate further after I toss Namatake into the goddamn TV for killing Nanako even though she's okay in the end.

[Red Fighter 1073]

Well, it kinda depends though. Did you throw Namatame into the TV when you beat the game the first time? If you do end up doing that this time around, then make sure you save before you do so. I don't want to give away anything so that you can experience it for yourself, but if you want to know anyway I can tell you in a later post.

Also, I loved the game too, but there are so many little nuances in which speech options you have to choose as the MC in order to avoid getting the bad ending, or actually getting the best ending. Biggest things I would have to say though is MAKE SURE you save on 12/02 and 3/20 because 12/03 and 3/21 are like the two most important days of the game. And if you want to get the best ending possible, I would suggest looking at a guide for what to do on 3/21 because it's really not clear what you have to do in order to get the best ending.

But, with those gripes aside, I liked this game more than P3. The Social Links were a lot easier to level up this time as almost all of them couldn't be reversed. Also yeah, I loved loved loved being able to control my teammates this time around.

I'll post more of my thoughts on the game later on when I actually have time.

[Aerozord]

I really want this game, but I dont know if my PS3 will run it

[Regulus Tera]

I want to try this one since I keep hearing praises of it being the best JRPG of the decade or some other shit. Will I be at a loss if I play it before Persona 3?

[Belm]

I wouldn't say you'd be at a loss, they're both their own stories. You'd be able to enjoy the little references more if you played Persona 3 first, and it's kinda hard going back to 3 when Persona 4 improved on some stuff. For example, you can't control your teammates in 3, but you can in 4.

They're both good games but I'd start with Persona 3 FES if possible.

[bluestarultor]

P3 is a good game (which I have yet to finish, honestly, but I liked it a lot before getting burned out), which only had a few flaws. To wit, I would have killed someone to make it possible to control my party because they could be incredibly thick. Also, I disliked the fact that the only factor in losing was losing the MC. Especially when the other characters could be so THICK.

Also, why, why did they have to give Mitsuru Marin Karin? It's an absolutely useless spell that only charms weak enemies you're going to kill in the next round anyway and doesn't do damage or work on bosses. And she uses it ALL THE TIME.

Past those complaints, though, it's an absolutely amazing game. If I had the time, I'd probably go back to it and maybe even finish it off (on Easy, where you get 10 self-revival items in case your party's idiocy gets you killed). If P4 really does improve on it, it will be well worth the wait (and pain and agony trying to get a copy around these parts! you'd think it was printed exclusively on the steel of ancient meteors and packaged in paper from the Dead Sea Scrolls or something!).

[Kim]

For the uninitiated, the Persona series is basically if you combined a turn based RPG with dating sim, then marinated the concoction in religious symbolism. Add lovable, interesting characters to taste.

[Ryong]

I can't play P4 for the same reason I can't play P3: The whole game is a gigantic guide dang it. You need to plan ahead a lot. It's like playing harvest moon, only you have to build up your farming skills. My only chance of playing P3 decently would involve playing most of P3 and then start playing P3FES to transfer the social links and stuff. Top it off that I find the battles a bit boring and now P3 and P4 are like Earthbound to me: Great games which I can't bring myself to play even though I really like the story and the characters, but has something that makes the game move at a terrible pace what with constant battles that, while not taking so long, seem boring. P3 and P4 have the added bonus of causing me to go nuts trying to do everything but without wanting to check a guide every 10 seconds which causes anger when I actually check a guide and notice I've missed a bunch of important things.

[Kim]

Well, in that respect, P4 is actually a lot more forgiving than P3, and easier, too. I remember having to grind like mo-fo just to beat some mini bosses in P3, when I can beat most mini bosses in P4 first try, and beat about half the bosses in P4 first try, and I haven't had any problem meeting the time limit since Yukiko's dungeon.

[Red Fighter 1073]

Really? Maybe it was because I was playing on Easy Mode in P3 but I never ever had to grind and in fact I was pretty far behind as far as going up the floors in Tartarus too. I've found P4 to be harder especially with the bosses because in P3 almost every single enemy including bosses had a weakness and it was just a matter of exploiting that weakness constantly.

I think the biggest crutch in P4 is not being able to recover SP. Especially with bosses early on in the game, I would need a Party Revive that comes with playing Easy Mode because my SP would always run out and I would be screwed with no option to use anything besides normal attacks.

[Kim]

So, I'm on my way to fight Izanami. I haven't actually gone into the dungeon yet. Is there a way to recover SP for this dungeon? Also, any other tips for this last dungeon?

So, I'm prepared to say that the best thing about the whole damn game is Teddie, his character and backstory. He is the awesome.

EDIT: Also also, do social links carry over in New Game Plus?

I don't have very many Social Links maxed out, only half of them, but can anyone tell me what some of the best Personas to have at this part of the game are. I'm leaning a little towards switching from Black Frost to focusing on Loki, but I'm not sure.

[EVILNess]

No they don't, but you get to keep anything in your persona compendium, even the ultimate Personas. You do get to keep your social stats though so it is much faster to raise your social links.

As for tips here is a basic one for SP recovery, buy the TaP and Dr. Salt from the vending machines in the shopping district. The TaP restores 10 sp and the Dr. Salt restores 5 sp. That doesn't sound like a lot, but take into account that you can get 5 of each every few days, and you can have a stockpile of them in the time lull before and after a dungeon. Trust me, they help. Also you can equip a Persona with Cool Breeze (Pazuzu a Devil Persona has this) or Invigorate, and put Taoist Badges on your party members (10 Silver Fox Fur Dropped by Divine Mother on Yomotsu Hirasaka) to keep your SP up as you go along. I would say use Victory Cry, but Getting Lucifer to level 99 seems kinda overkill.

[Kim]

So I just beat it, and it definitely ranks as one of my favorite RPG's of all time. A few things bothered me, but it still ranks up there pretty high, and the ending was a good way to end the game, even if I did save the day with the power of friendship.

What I like...

Combat has some depth to it. You've got your buffs and debuffs, as well as items to remove buffs from enemies and debuffs from your party.

There are a variety of interesting status effects, and having your character blocking will actually prevent them if you know an enemy is going to cast one. (ie: the last boss)

The weakness/strength/nullify/repel/absorb thing they've got going on for the varying elements is wonderful. Use an enemies weakness, or get a critical hit, and it knocks them down. Do it when they're knocked down, and it can prevent them from acting for a turn. Knock all your enemies down and you can do an all out attack that usually kicks ass. The enemies you're fighting will generally cause you to vary your tactics greatly because of these things, when in most games I've played most fights work the same, with the exception of boss fights

Speaking of boss fights, they are appropriately epic. Each dungeon has a boss, and every boss is unique and designed with symbolism in mind, maybe a bit overhanded symbolism, but symbolism just the same. The fact that they become personas afterward is also kinda nifty, giving a more tangible reward for beating them than here's a nice weapon, or here's a plot McGuffin. It's a plot McGuffin you can beat people up with.

Social links... Who would think that by combining dating sim elements with a turn based RPG, you'd get a great way to break up the time so the whole game isn't grinding. This time around, social links with your teammates are vital, with benefits such as them taking mortal blows for your character, curing status effects, or surviving mortal blows.

Music... Most of it is pretty good, though I'm more fond of some songs than others, but overall the soundtrack is a great listen, and certainly worth checking out.


What I don't like:

Persona Fusion because I'm terrible at picking good ones. Not really a problem with the game so much as myself.

The end boss that wouldn't end. By that I mean the game's whole making you think that this is the last boss, except it isn't, several times to the point I got a little annoyed. I will, however, forgive it, as it actually ties in to some of the themes and the villains motives so yeah.

[Red Fighter 1073]

Yeah I agree, combat is great in this game and I think it's a lot better this time around than in P3 because that game was way too much about exploiting enemy weaknesses, and it's basically the same case with P4, but I feel much more of a need to use buffs and debuffs this time around because most enemies don't readily have a weakness so beating them requires a much better strategy besides exploit weakness/all-out attack x10.

I love the music too. The main battle theme is meh to me, but I love the main dungeon boss theme, and I love the cloudy day theme too. Sucks that they change that cloudy day theme in December (I guess with good reason, but I hated the new cloudy theme).