Time to return to the Midnight Channel
Console: PS Vita
PERSONA 4: Golden is a remastered version of the PS2 classic Shin MegamiTensei: Persona 4.
For those who aren’t aware of the story in Persona 4; it is a classic story of whodunit except it involves magic TV filled with monsters who are the personification of our inner most feelings, ok maybe not so classic.
The story follows the main hero and his friends as they try to find out who is behind a series of strange murders happening in their town. This includes hopping in and out of a TV to save people who have been put in, and many other twists. One thing I rather enjoyed was the mechanic of Social Links.
By spending time with your allies and NPCs in the game, you form stronger bonds them. This makes your allies stronger by having them gain new abilities or allowing you to fuse stronger Personas. Social Links also serve as a way to learn about different characters stories.
My personal favourites being the Social Link with a nurse and a character called Kanji Tatsumi.
Inside the TV world is where the combat happens. The Combat is turn based where you instruct your allies to use magic or physical attack on enemies. The difference being that certain enemies are weak to certain elements and if you hit them with that weakness they become downed and you get another turn.
One of the features added to the remastered edition is the VoxPoppuli. The VoxPoppuli allows you to call for other players to help you out if you’re losing a battlean example being giving your party health when they’re low. Another mechanic that factors into combatis the use of personas; Personas are what allow you to cast spells and other abilities. The main character has the unique ability to fuse personas to make stronger ones allowing them to gain abilities from previous personas as well as having their own. Fusing personas is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game because you’re always excited to see what new, interesting persona you get next (You can get Thor to fight for you, just saying)
Overall Persona 4 Golden is a fantastic remake of the RPG that still has one of the best story and characters in a videogame I have ever seen. If you own a Vita and don’t own this game you’re doing yourself a disservice.
90/100
Recommend: If you enjoy Turn based RPG’s, Enjoy Anime, Own a Vita
Don’t Recommend: If you can’t stand Anime, Dislike Turn based Combat
Reviewed by Jack Van der Merwe.
