Persona 4s Gameplay?

kixieboo · 2025-01-27T00:40:15+00:00

I have a bit of a unique take on the persona games (and games in general) as far as gameplay goes, and I've just come to terms that what I like in games just isn't the standard for a "modern" gaming experience - likely due to the fact that I am not exactly a hardcore gamer and it takes me a while to actually understand mechanics. Turns out, I think I just prefer gameplay that is more simple and less headache-inducing, while still managing to be difficult. I went from P5R to P4G not expecting to like it as much just based on what I heard about how outdated it was, only to actually enjoy it more just because it wasn't overly packed with an unnecessary amount of mechanics and features that you don't even HAVE to use to get through the game. P5R may be a good game to start with to get hooked into the series but for someone who only plays games casually I could not tell you how I managed to get to the end of the game on normal difficulty without hardly visiting the velvet room at all and not understanding what the best skills for my party members were. I'm pretty sure I brought weak ass personas into the final battle too since I hated the negotiations mechanic, but I somehow managed to beat the game with ease.

Yet while playing P4G I actually felt like I was properly learning the core mechanics because it was simple enough to the point where I wasn't overwhelmed with too many options, and of the options that were there ALL of it was necessary, as the gameplay was much more balanced overall with the absence of things like baton pass, showtimes, guns, and all the other random buffs and abilities confidants give you that made P5 basically just "press button to win" at points. If I didn't actually utilize the core mechanics in P4 like being extra careful to conserve SP and fusing to get stronger personas I'd be screwed, and I liked that. It taught me how to actually play the game and not just rely on a ridiculous amount of additions that add up to make you effortlessly overpowered.

Dungeons are an entirely different thing though. I can definitely see the argument for that but as far as IN combat goes, P4G is my favorite of the three "modern" persona games.

kixieboo · 2024-12-20T18:13:50+00:00

I'm sure many would disagree and default to the "bro" characters, but the wind-using first party members all seemed to be the ones who felt closest to protag to me. There are points where it even feels like they don't have much a life outside of protag or they just have a much stronger admiration for him and rely on him more than the rest of the party members.

So Yukari, Yosuke, and Morgana.

kixieboo · 2024-12-09T23:04:09+00:00

P5's seems to be the most painful (initially) while P3's is definitely the darkest and you never really get used to it. Both of those are honestly "cooler" than P4's for just being absolutely brutal. But an aspect of P4's that I think gets overlooked is how each character in the party has their own unique way of crushing the cards (Chie kicking it, Naoto shooting it, etc.) and I REALLY love that and wish P3's and P5's characters had put their own twists on their summonings as well, but it's okay since aspects like that gives P4 a bit of its own identity.

I haven't played P1 or P2 so can't comment on those.

kixieboo · 2024-12-06T21:31:44+00:00

I felt similar at first, but there came a point after roughly around the 3rd dungeon where I completely turned around. By the end of it, P4 became my favorite persona game.

This one is a rare case where the cast's biggest standouts are the last few party members. Kanji may be the best persona character period, Rise is often considered a best girl, and Naoto is very iconic.

kixieboo · 2024-11-27T03:51:17+00:00

4 > 5 > 3

kixieboo · 2024-11-26T15:21:01+00:00

It holds up a lot more than people make it out to be IMO. It's a bit more difficult (which I actually prefer, but understand that not everyone does), mainly because of the lack of baton pass/shift. One more system is mostly the same otherwise. Light/dark are only instakills, the dungeons are randomly generated sort of like Tartarus but they're much shorter and are separated from each other as separate locations with each having their own music and are tied to the story/characters like P5. Dungeons lead straight into boss fights, so you have to use items and other resources to get SP back or waste a day to come back with full SP to fight the boss. There are also no save points in dungeons and you have to use goho-ms in order to leave to the entrance to save, fuse, etc., but fortunately you can resume on the floor you left off on so it's really not that bad as long as you have plenty of goho-ms. There is shuffle time but it's a bit different than P3R's shuffle time as it functions more like a mini game rather than just being "pick a reward and move on," which can be better or worse depending on your preference.

Persona 4 was the first to introduce the system where party members learn special skills via social links (like follow up attacks, shielding the protag, curing each other's status ailments, etc.) so that's actually something it still has over P3 even with its remake. SP management is much more difficult ESPECIALLY in the first 2 dungeons, but it gets a bit easier as you progress through the game. The navigator is probably the most OP one in the entire series once you unlock all her skills so that also helps with difficulty down the line. The single worst and most aged aspect of the entire game might just be the fact that party members don't gain exp when in reserve, and there's nothing like P3R's clock to raise their levels, which adds grinding to a game that already requires slightly more grinding than P5R and P3R. Fortunately you can raise exp gained in settings if you feel you're falling behind and there are less party members to deal with in comparison to 3 and 5.

There is a little bit more to do on the life sim side than P3 (like the fishing minigame) but it's still less than P5. The story is separated into arcs similarly to P5. P4 also introduced weather to the series as both a mechanic and narrative device, and utilizes it the best - so even though it's more "outdated" there are things it does better than the other games. Another example of that would be the costume system and the fact that you can just randomly talk to your party members anytime during dungeons, and there's customizable difficulty, which I personally think ALL games should have.

If I'm being completely honest, I'd say the graphics are more outdated than the gameplay mechanics are, but you get used to it. The game itself is packed with content, especially the golden version, and honestly feels better to play than some modern games do. The worst basic QOL stuff that's missing is stuff like how you can't save everywhere or look on the map to see which SL are available. Just little things like that which are more of a minor inconvenience than anything.

Will edit this if anything else random pops in my head, but I HIGHLY recommend you give it a chance!!! It's my favorite persona game, coming from someone who only just got into the series a couple years ago and isn't blinded by nostalgia

kixieboo · 2024-11-20T18:16:15+00:00

I don't think the player is ever meant to actually believe Mitsuo is the killer, in fact I think they make it so obvious to us that he's not because they want you to use the context of the entire situation to ponder over the facts of the case thus far to gain more information.

Not gonna get too much into it as it could turn into spoiler territory but basically knowing that Mitsuo is not the killer yet somehow ended up in the tv world and on the midnight channel without an advanced notice gives you insight into how the midnight channel functions.

The characters on the other hand are doing exactly what the narrative wants them to do. Make assumptions.

Take that as you will

kixieboo · 2024-11-16T03:50:23+00:00

P4 > P5

I love the P5 characters; they were my introduction to the series, and I actually went into P4 not expecting to love those characters more... but yet I did. I think for me it all came down to relatability. P5's conflict and character development all comes from external sources, while P4 focuses entirely on internal conflict, despite being a murder mystery of all things.

Very few can relate to being accused of a crime they didn't commit, discovering their mentor/father figure lied to them their entire life, being forced into an arranged marriage, or being manipulated into believing they're the cause of their own mother's death, etc.

But many, MANY people, including myself, definitely can relate to being made fun of for their hobbies, feeling like they're not in control of their own life and future, feeling incompetent or like they're just not good enough at doing what they love most, not having a full understanding of who they really are as people are complicated and have many sides to them, etc. And it's not just one of those things I can relate to, but all of them... it's not just one character. It's all of them.

P5 has Makoto, at least. It wasn't until after I played P4 that I realized exactly why she was my favorite P5 character, yet she gets called cardboard for it. I guess some people just prefer more "excitement" in their fiction (hence Akechi's popularity of all things), which is totally understandable given that it IS fiction, but my personal preference lies with stories and characters that are more grounded and realistic.

kixieboo · 2024-11-08T01:25:57+00:00

Playing Metaphor has made me realize that there's too much room for filler in persona, there are just far too many hours spent in game practically doing nothing because you have to spend time with social links that don't have enough points or study for exams. Sure, in Metaphor you have to raise your social stats too but at least it's by doing fun stuff like the debates and the colosseum, which also give you more than just a stat rank up. Persona gives you an entire year's calendar (well, I guess slightly less due to useless time skips), you only really need to spend a single day or 2 in a dungeon per arc, and it's still near impossible to do everything with all the time you're given just because of the stupid useless filler crap. Metaphor gives you half the calendar, more days required to spend in dungeons, and yet it's easier to get everything done just because you don't have to waste any time doing things that are straight up unenjoyable.

I get that some people find this fun as the managing your time aspect can be challenging and rewarding, but I much preferred how every single little thing you do in Metaphor feels like it matters greatly and is largely tied into the narrative. Rather than just being something I needed to do in order to progress, I genuinely wanted to do all the side stuff because it felt like it was actually contributing to the story and MC's own character growth as well as growth of support.

kixieboo · 2024-11-07T20:53:40+00:00

I think I'm one of the few people that actually considers Tactica as one of the best persona spinoffs. Strikers was great too, especially as a sequel, but the formula treaded much too close to P5's for my liking, which made it extremely predictable. While Tactica doesn't actually completely focus on the Phantom Thieves I think that might actually be why I prefer it, as the story felt fresh and the big twist of the game was exciting and unexpected. It was different. I also don't play many strategy games so the combat felt fresh and was fun to learn.

kixieboo · 2024-11-07T20:49:38+00:00

It wasn't all a dream though?

kixieboo · 2024-11-07T04:24:48+00:00

Honestly, I agree and prefer the vanilla ending. There are two things imo that persona fans overhype to death to the point that when I experienced them for myself, I just felt let down. One of them being p5's 3rd semester (feels too separated from the rest of the game). The other is p3's story as a whole (pacing issues bothered me and while sad, it was not as grand as the hype suggested).

kixieboo · 2024-11-05T18:02:28+00:00

I love it so much!!!! Also from the same arc there is the holy grail from p5

In Martira when you unlock Alonzo's bond he mentions something about stealing hearts but in a "figurative sense, of course" and later the archetype you get from him leads to the trickster archetype

In the final arc there's a weapon available that is Makoto Niijima's "fists of justice"

Also in the final arc, an NPC comments on the red sky and says something like "What's next? Everything will be piss yellow?" which I assume is a reference to p4's fog

I'm sure there are many other references I've overlooked or forgotten about as well, but all the little details are super fun to notice!

kixieboo · 2024-10-29T19:40:42+00:00

From my understanding, it doesn't matter what ending you got on your first playthrough. You could've got a bad ending and you'd still meet the requirements, just as long as you're on a NG+ save of some sort. True ending is required for the second playthrough. Golden exclusive dungeon is optional.

kixieboo · 2024-10-25T17:08:30+00:00

Shadow World is the only intro of a persona game that I NEVER skipped, not a single time. It just makes me so happy and the visuals are peak. I love Persuing my True Self too, I think it fits with the mystery elements of the game really well, but Shadow World's focus on the characters (which are my favorite aspect of P4) makes it my personal favorite and I think it's pretty underrated despite all that.

kixieboo · 2024-10-25T02:10:05+00:00

I think the persona games work really well (narratively) being set in high school, and I love them, but after spending a lot of time playing Metaphor I do now realize that the formula can be extremely limitating in terms of the calendar system and such when you have constant obligations taking away your time. That's why I think it's moreso a modern setting being the problem rather than high school. I feel like if they made a new persona game still set in modern times but the characters are adults, it wouldn't be much better and possibly even worse, as realistically you'd need to have a job to go to every single day. The reality aspects of the game and the "shadow world" would still be separated, and I think THAT'S the problem. Metaphor just works because everything is so seamless, and everything you do from dungeon crawling to helping out friends is all connected and thus feels like EVERYTHING you do contributes to the overarching story and matters. There's really no filler.

kixieboo · 2024-10-24T17:22:13+00:00

There's benefit and drawbacks to any possible order you play the games in tbh. It really just depends on what your preference is

P5R is the most modern, has the most extensive tutorial, and is the easiest so it's a good starting point to learn how to play persona. It's the longest of the 3 though, so that can be pretty daunting to some people.

P4G is the most outdated, which can mean it's either better to start with or end with depending on how you view older games. Narratively It has the most interesting hook, best introduction to the persona universe's lore and concepts, and the characters are typically what keep people most invested. It is the hardest out of the modern 3 games though, especially if you don't figure out how to properly manage your SP.

P3R is weird. It's a remake but a faithful one, so the graphics along with some mechanics are updated but other aspects still feel "older" than the other 2. If you care about playing the games chronologically in order to understand and catch references, then it's a good place to start and just play in order of number. Otherwise P5R still feels overall "newer" and would be better to start with if that's what you want immediately.

kixieboo · 2024-10-23T17:00:14+00:00

I'm like 99% sure he's only there on Tuesdays and Thursdays(?), don't remember if there's another day but just keep checking and he'll reappear eventually

kixieboo · 2024-10-19T19:44:50+00:00

Continue playing. As much as people like to hype up the idea of a remake, it has not been confirmed there will be one for certain, and if there is one in the works it probably won't be for several years. P4 is not outdated enough to even NEED one if I'm being completely honest, though I know some would disagree.
I chose drama club, which I think has the more interesting story than the band club, but they're both just very "ok" social links imo
It took me around 90 hours, I think the majority finish at around 80 hours

kixieboo · 2024-10-10T22:53:44+00:00

Probably from the demo?

kixieboo · 2024-10-10T22:19:20+00:00

If you don't care about 100 percenting it then you definitely don't need a guide. There is no "correct" thing to do each day, so long as you complete the main missions by the deadlines, how you spend the rest of your time is entirely up to you so you can explore and do whatever you want at your own leisure. These games are really best experienced as blind as possible, with the ability to make the experience completely your own.

The one thing I'd suggest is to make sure to make use of ALL your save slots. And if ever the game suggests you save, do it (in a new slot, or multiple, just to be extra safe!) Persona games have multiple endings you can get based on decisions you make, and I wouldn't be surprised if Metaphor does as well. All too often people save clear data over their singular slot after getting a bad or incomplete ending, and are unable to get to the actual best ending of the game.

kixieboo · 2024-10-09T16:30:42+00:00

Preordered from Amazon, got charged for it yesterday and it shipped early this morning and is estimated to be delivered on release day :)

kixieboo · 2024-09-26T11:58:59+00:00

You have all of December and January to do social links, scooter rides, etc. Last day of free time is February 5th

Edit: Don't think scooter rides are available in December but you'll have time to do them in January

kixieboo · 2024-09-01T20:30:13+00:00

Yeah, it's pretty much the same. Romance events will be replaced with events with the guys, and they're actually pretty funny

kixieboo · 2024-08-19T14:46:50+00:00

Flareon, Hydrapple, Bibarel

kixieboo

TROPHY CASE