Reviews from

in the past


i love fighting games so of course i like this game too! story's not the best (aloooot of reading) but the gameplay is fun! would recommend!

It plays similarly to GG with some exclusive mechanics that makes it stand out from other 2D fighters from ArcSys. Oh yeah and Adachi is playable so that means it's peak.

the best persona spin off, arc system works never misses

If you love anime fighting games, go ahead and play it. However, if you love Persona, I'd recommend skipping it. The story is somewhat of a mess with two sides that you can't connect with each other, and there are useless explanation texts during dialogues that the game skips if you turn auto play on. The extra modes and online features aren't worth it either, as the former is just grind, and the latter has a high difficulty ceiling for new fighting game players.


fighting game stuff is pretty fun but i played this game to see what happened to the P3 characters and their characterizations are so bad it was genuinely saddening. unlike other spinoffs, this game can't be dismissed as pseudo canon, so its hard to brush off how poorly they portrayed the P3 cast.

This was kind of a banger. I really enjoyed my time here more than I was expecting. Kind of a tale of two games though, the original persona 4 arena story was a little messy, and a chore to play through, but the overall story was good and I enjoyed it.

The new "ultimax" content though, was really great, and was tied together in a much better way, and a better flow to it. It was great getting to see the persona 4 cast again, but even more so, it was SO great seeing the Persona 3 cast again, and getting an update on them being older, and what they've been up to since the events of Persona 3. I really wish some of the persona 5 spin offs would have given us this, but they didn't go in that direction for whatever the reason.

The actual fighting game itself? It's fun. I'm not a GIANT fighting game fan, so I won't pretend to know if this is peak quality or not, but it was fun, the graphics were really gorgeous, and a lot of unique characters and way to play in it.

Overall, a fine send off to persona for me. I've played almost everything I've wanted too now (besides Persona 2 and the Q games, hoping they get ported/remastered). But that'll be it for now, with a 5 Royal replay likely in my future.

Bless Persona. The second greatest video game franchise of all time!!!

Better STFU before I whip out my persona man.

amazing fighting game and a decent story expansion for both Persona 3 and 4

Whatever the fuck they did to the Persona 3 cast in this game (looking at you Akihiko, why the FUCK did they turn him into an empty-headed meathead???? that's like completely missing the point of his original character) is a travesty and I will not stand for it

This review contains spoilers

I mainly played this for the story, and thought it has some good moments, both storylines (both Arena and Ultimax’s follow-up) and their respective new characters weren’t much to write home about and the stories themselves felt like they went on for waaaay too long. It’s a very visual novel-like presentation, but the game in itself is entirely too verbose. I feel like you could cut away a bunch of text and not miss anything of note, and that’d be hours worth of reading that nobody would have to put up with. Labrys’ origin is pretty interesting and told well, but Sho Minazuki’s entire shtick and just the character as a whole feels like a very edgy copy of Adachi, with none of the interesting development, characterisation or charm.

As a complete beginner to fighting games though, after I got the hang of it… this is a pretty beginner-friendly fighting game. I didn’t really like the persona mechanic at first but after getting to grips with it, it ended up being pretty unique, even if I’m still not a big fan of it because of the ‘puppet-figher’y nature of the mechanic. If you got some friends to play against and like persona, I’d say it’s worth your while.

P.S.: Elizabeth and Margaret are busted.

Actually, a very solid game if you take Elizabeth out of it.
No, really, she is broken af.

P4AU is an incredible sequel to (after P4A) Persona 4. Crossing over with Persona 3 doesn't just offer great fanservice but it makes the world of Persona truly feel connected, and lovingly makes it so all these characters are canonically aware of each other's existence. Labrys's character is so lovable, and Sho is someone you love to hate. The game itself is fun, having the Persona summoning system to shake up the core mechanics of a fighting game by essentially giving every character a puppet gimmick.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax es un juego de pelea en 2D que adapta el mundo y personajes de Persona 3 y 4 al género de fighting games en un título 1vs1. Persona 4 AU funciona como relanzamiento y a la vez secuela de Persona 4 Arena añadiendo nuevos personajes, incluyendo todos los DLC de P4 Arena y un nuevo modo historia que continúa la historia de P4 Arena.

La jugabilidad se basa en un esquema de controles de 4 botones [A,B,C,D] sumado a ciertas mecánicas únicas y clave que vuelven único a este título. La mecánica más destacable es la de invocar a una “Persona” que servirá principalmente para aumentar el rango de ataque y para causar más daño. Todo esto sometido a la mecánica de Persona Breaker que inhabilita a la Persona si recibe mucho daño. Awakening, una mecánica que cuando la salud del jugador cae por debajo del 80% se activa un estado en el que se potencia la ganancia de medidor, además de que el autocombo de A concluirá con Lvl 3 en vez de Lvl 1 siempre que esté disponible de manera automática, junto a esta mejora de medidor la Persona quedará debilitada siendo más susceptible al Persona Breaker. Sin embargo, esto solo está disponible para los personajes usuarios de una Persona, otros dependen totalmente de su moveset para sobreponerse en combate sin la utilización de una Persona. También cuenta con One more cancel que a grosso modo funciona como input cancel que permite cancelar inputs o motions input débiles en otros inputs más fuertes, pero que también permite cancelar inputs para crear nuevas rutas de combo y conservar medidor. Sumado a ello, también existe una mecánica de BURST que permite interrumpir la presión del rival y Push Block, que permite empujar al rival en el blockstring.

El gameplay está enfocado al ataque y a la agresividad y no tanto a la defensa, dotando a los personajes de múltiples herramientas con las que avasallar al oponente y superar la defensa del oponente, aunque en este juego se respeta la división clásica por arquetipos, algunos personajes resultan bastante inortodoxos y no son fáciles de clasificar por estilo de juego, simplemente puede decirse que cada uno cuenta con sus particularidades. Como aspecto a señalar, el juego presenta un sistema de estados que pueden variar desde dificultad para ver la pantalla hasta controles modificados temporalmente, este aspecto puede ser atractivo a nivel de narrativa o en modos singleplayer, pero a nivel competitivo, no es una adición muy atractiva para ser un fighting game.

En términos de historia, P4 AU sirve como secuela directa de Persona 4 y Persona 4 Golden, aunque sea autoconclusiva y ocurra aparte de los hechos de la línea principal. En esta ocasión, la versión “Ultimax” expande todavía más la historia con un capítulo aparte. La historia no tiene desperdicio y siendo una saga como “Persona” no merece ningún spoiler ni adelanto, ya que la gracia de estos juegos reside descubrir qué nuevas aventuras deparan a los protagonistas de cada entrega y sumergirse de lleno en su mundo y su lore. Como aspectos destacables de los personajes, estos representan la moda dentro del JRPG en el que un grupo de jóvenes que, sin tener nada en común, ven sus destinos unidos y estrechan lazos irrompibles de amistad para enfrentarse a un destino apocalíptico orquestado por fuerzas malvadas divinas (o casi). Los personajes son clásicos arquetípicos dentro de la literatura japonesa, muy fáciles de identificar: Protagonista líder, mudo y de perfil psicológico bajo para que al jugador le sea fácil identificarse con su figura; El amigo del protagonista que sirve de apoyo emocional del protagonista y, a veces, contribuye al avance de la trama con una personalidad enérgica, un poco rebelde pero con un fuerte sentido de la justicia; “Tomboy", personaje femenino muy simpático con ciertos gustos típicamente asociados a hombres que tiene una lucha interna entre sus gustos y su deseo de verse más femenina; Yamato Nadeshiko, se trata de un personaje femenino que representa la figura de mujer japonesa ideal. Actualmente, estos personajes limitan su desarrollo entre su deseo de seguir su propia voluntad y la presión social de seguir con la tradición, donde suele perder siempre la segunda; “Pervertido cómico”, personaje que funciona como alivio cómico, el humor se basa en cómo es rechazado unilateralmente por las mujeres ante sus intentos de “conquistarlas”.

El apartado audiovisual de Persona 4 AU es, como suele tener como costumbre la saga Persona, sobresaliente por variados motivos: El diseño del menú principal y en general de los menús es extravagante, llamativo, alocado e implementado tanto en el contexto del juego como dentro de la paleta de colores que varía sobre todo entre azules y amarillos (colores complementarios), todo esto sin sacrificar ni un ápice de intuitividad, haciendo que navegar por su interfaz sea un gusto. El diseño del HUD en batalla es recargado, lleno de detalles y pormenores muy disfrutable de ver. Los escenarios son curiosos y con un sentido sobrenatural que llama la atención al instante. Por otro lado, el diseño de los personajes posee una estética fiel al anime y los ataques y movimientos son extravagantes y veloces. La música en P4 AU es una delicia auditiva. Los temas familiares de la serie se mezclan con nuevas composiciones que se adaptan perfectamente a la atmósfera de los combates.

Uno de los apartados más destacables de persona es su narrativa, sin ser ninguna locura, consigue una historia interesante y atrapante que si bien no van a cambiar ninguna vida, cuenta con un correcto storytelling que sabe mantener los elementos más jugosos de la trama ocultos y los libera poco a poco sabiendo mantener la curiosidad del espectador en todo momento. Los personajes, aunque arquetípicos, respetan la propiedad de la situación en todo momento, consiguiendo así interacciones creíbles y orgánicas, añadido a eso, absolutamente ningún personaje, ya sea malvado o bueno, resulta pesado en pantalla, ni por tiempo ni por diálogos, en su justa medida, todas las interacciones son relevantes y ninguno se hace de odiar. Respecto al panorama actual, a fecha de esta reseña, una historia que, sin ser excelente, consiga mantener el interés del espectador todo el tiempo, posea personajes interesantes, y sepa llevar correctamente el ritmo de la trama, demuestra más que nunca la necesidad de mantener unos estándares narrativos altos.

The story of P4AU is slightly batter than P4A, but the story isn't the important part here. I originally only got this game to see the P4A and P4AU stories, but once I started doing battles with friends I realised this game actually does have a bit of value to it, it's just a shame that the story doesn't do anything with it.

Como um jogo de luta é divertido, acho que se eu jogasse ele em um arcade eu iria adorar, o jogo é lindo com ótimos visuais, as pixel art são sensacionais e o design dos personagens durante a luta tem muita personalidade.

Mas é só isso mesmo, a historia do Arena original é insuportável e o esquema de contar a mesma coisa de novo e de novo por diferentes personagens se iguala a tortura psicológica, a história do Ultimax é significantemente melhor, traz uma ordem cronológica e um plot extremamente mais interessante, mas é totalmente vazia, é levemente decepcionante comparando com o Persona 4 dancing, que é um spin off com uma historia muito interessante.

Os designs dos personagens de persona 3 são horriveis, dolorosos demais, menos o do Akihiko q está uma delicia (uma estrela dessa review é dedicada somente aos peitões dele), e os novos personagens deixam a desejar demais

Recomendo jogar somente a história do Ultimax pra se divertir um pouco, não vale o preço entretanto

Best Persona spinoff by far. Story mode was actually extremely good, thought Sho was a really good villain, and I like the way P3 and P4's stories are merged. Gameplay is also extremely fun.

This review contains spoilers

This is Adachi's best appearance and it's not even close. I actually love this character now holy shit

Solid fighting game I guess with mediocre story

A massive improvement over the original Arena in a lot of ways. Combat is more fun to play and with a bit of a bigger roster as well. Story is better structured compared the original Arena though I have a slight issue with it. I get Atlus wanted the P4 and P3 casts to have their own campaign but honestly I wished both were combined into a single campaign cause this is a narrative that works better when both casts get equal time to share the spotlight rather then one at a time. I like the game overall thankfully and I would play it again.
P.S. Love that Adachi got his own story dlc and he had some pretty good development in it.

I AM LITERALLY A FUCKING GOD AS NAOTO TRY ME BITCH

Awesome fighting game (especially on Steam since you have rollback online and for free), story mode a little eh.

Fuck Sho, though, and not literally in a sexual sense. Edgy asshole that wishes to be 5% as good written as that other main villain.


I think the whole story is extremely well done I like Sho and Labrys : )

Arc system works simply can not fumble a fighting game. This is definitely one of the more solid persona spin-offs. The graphics and gameplay are clean despite being over a decade old. Would recommend to fans of the franchise and fighting game fans alike.

Also, CHIE SUPREMACY LETS GOOOO

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is a definitive version of Persona 4 Arena with a lot of fun to be had in it. Featuring the original roster alongside all DLC it is a very good Arc Systems game that somehow manages to cram most of Persona’s turn-based battle mechanics into a fighting game format.

Unlike JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R, another one of my favorite fighting games, it is much harder to enjoy P4AU if you are not a Persona fan. It leaves out vital information about the characters from Persona 4 and returning ones from Persona 3 that would require knowledge of those game’s plot lines. The story mode for the game is, in a way, a direct sequel to Persona 4 Golden, just in a different genre.

Though Persona fans will get much more enjoyment out of P4AU, that does not mean non-Persona fans will find it worthless, though it will be far less likely of a purchase for them. If you’re interested in the game but do not have a lot of knowledge on the series, I’d recommend BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle which features a number of the P4AU characters, using the same movesets and sprites.

Fun fighting game with a good story and unique mechanics that could only work with the persona series. I also love the pixel art and all the new and character portrait and cutscenes mad for this game. My only problem with this game is that the online community isn't that active which makes it hard to get the online achievements.