Persona 4 Golden: A Maze of Complicated Feelings
If there's a single game I go back and forth on more than any game I love, it's Persona 4 Golden. At times, it's one of my favorite pieces of media ever. Other times, it falls off in my favorite games and I think, there must be other games I like better than this. If you asked me years ago, it was a lock in my top five favorite games. Now, it sits just under Portal 2 at number six.
Don't get me wrong, I still love Persona 4 Golden. It just took me awhile to figure out it's not a game I love based off gameplay, or the things in its story it does right, but more of what it means to me personally.
This Small World
Persona 4 Golden focuses your time on the small town of Inaba. For me, atmosphere is one of the key elements of any video game. While I love games where the atmosphere is so well realized they are unnerving, such as Bloodborne, Silent Hill 2, or Bioshock, Persona 4 Golden stands out because it makes such a small town not only feel so special but makes it one the player grows to love.
After spending something close to sixty to eighty hours in Inaba, you will know the entire town like the back of your hand. The local town shops that remain are pleasant to walk by, or something as dumb as visiting the local shrine to see the Fox is charming each time.
The big city is something to be curious about, what is out there in such a large space for you to get lost in. Some games have these massive places you marvel at because of scale. But I never feel truly connected to them. Inaba is so condensed it feels lived in, like you are part of the game's town. Even in it's empty, abandoned shops, it's believable when you realize that modernization is slowly turning the town into something completely different. It's a transformation that is realistic but sad to see. I don't usually get that kind of feeling from a game.
This strong world building is also highlighted by the cast of characters Persona 4 Golden hosts.
Friendships Built to Last
The cast of Persona 4 Golden is built off that small town feeling. The Investigation Team is well woven into feeling like a legitimate group of friends. The stakes are low in comparison to 3 and 5, so there's more time for the main cast to simply do dumb shit.
Each character is diverse, and while not every character is a hit, you really do get to know them well and their struggles. Being a friend is more obvious than ever in a game like Persona 4 Golden than the other modern Persona titles.
I love the characters that feel the most real:
Ai struggles with self-image.
Eri battles her own self-defeating attitude and problems with being a stepmother.
Kou is adopted and wants to find his own person against the choices forced upon him, while Daisuke is a character that builds up to be himself.
Naoki deals with the death of his sister from the events of the main storyline.
Hisano faces survivor's guilt and depression, who can't forgive herself about the death of her husband.
And how could anyone forget your guardian, Dojima, and the adorable Nanako? Both struggle to be around each other and bond and face their own demons in differing ways.
Each of these characters develop over the course of their time with the player character, and you are the person to bring out the "truth" that they should follow. It makes their character development real and gives you a reason to care about the tightly knit community of Inaba.
Then, there is the main cast in the Investigation Team. The ones that stand out to me the most are Yosuke, Kanji, and Naoto, who just so happen to be the most controversial characters in the game.
Yosuke is your standard 2000's teenager who cannot seem to appreciate the people around him or the place he is in. Yes, the things he says can be perverted and homophobic. But there is small hints of visible character growth in dungeon dialogue and change in attitude towards Kanji that show that throughout the story, he can change. And in his social link, he does change. He finds value and comfort in Inaba because the player brings a reason and perspective he has not encountered before.
Kanji is a character that fights conventional norms set by society. He hides behind a tough exterior to shelter his softer, kinder interior. This dynamic is always fun, and I think Kanji is one of the best examples of this. His own character doesn't suffer from any faults that usually comes from Persona writing. While the game tries to make him the butt of the joke, he has tough enough skin to brush it off, but also sticks to what he loves, no matter what other people think of him.
Naoto is pressured from a career field that looks down upon women. Naoto goes to the lengths to conceal her own gender, just to find footing and recognition. But after fighting her shadow, Naoto realizes she does not need to change to pursue her own passions, that isn't who she is. It's an empowering story for women, but it's also the one that from a modern perspective, can be controversial for people in the trans community. I think the way she is written; it does not exactly make sense for her to be trans, but interpretation of media differs for everyone, and I'm not one to stop others in seeing the character that way.
Withered Writing
Of course, this comes with some annoying writing caveats, and one of my bigger gripes with this game. The writing has not aged well. By standards of 2008, and specifically Japan, this game fits well. Hell, the things "said" in this game aren't even that far off from what specific friend groups say to each other in person. However, when playing Persona 4 Golden, on more recent playthroughs, that Hashino direction just comes off badly. I think the obvious homophobia is where the issue lies, but one comes from just how social links work. Social Links are optional, so that growth will never actually show in the main story for the most part. It just feels stiff sometimes to see incredible growth in party members, only for them to walk three steps backwards.
Signs of Growth
But I think the most important thing out of all of this is not that the themes are believable, but they feel realistic to me. As someone who grew up in a small town, Persona 4 Golden was a comfort. It's the kind of thing that I do not exactly see so often, but the feelings these characters go through I have been there and seen. Yosuke's disposition of the place and people around him, Ai's self-image, Kou's self-worth, Kanji's struggle with enjoying himself. These kinds of themes hit home super hard, where in my first playthrough, I had shed some tears from how impactful it felt. I have seen other people go through the exact same thing, but that growth is what makes us people. And that kind of realism is something I cannot see myself forgetting for a long time.
I feel as if I’ve somewhat rushed this reflection of the game, but these are my thoughts summarized. While I may look down upon the gameplay of Persona 4 Golden with its randomly generated hallways and see how something like Persona 5 Royal's Third Semester blows anything this game done out of the water, I cannot say there is a game that hits home quite like this game. It's a special experience with enough relatability that it will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Let's just hope they never do a Persona 4 Rerun and recast my beloved Adachi.
If there's a single game I go back and forth on more than any game I love, it's Persona 4 Golden. At times, it's one of my favorite pieces of media ever. Other times, it falls off in my favorite games and I think, there must be other games I like better than this. If you asked me years ago, it was a lock in my top five favorite games. Now, it sits just under Portal 2 at number six.
Don't get me wrong, I still love Persona 4 Golden. It just took me awhile to figure out it's not a game I love based off gameplay, or the things in its story it does right, but more of what it means to me personally.
This Small World
Persona 4 Golden focuses your time on the small town of Inaba. For me, atmosphere is one of the key elements of any video game. While I love games where the atmosphere is so well realized they are unnerving, such as Bloodborne, Silent Hill 2, or Bioshock, Persona 4 Golden stands out because it makes such a small town not only feel so special but makes it one the player grows to love.
After spending something close to sixty to eighty hours in Inaba, you will know the entire town like the back of your hand. The local town shops that remain are pleasant to walk by, or something as dumb as visiting the local shrine to see the Fox is charming each time.
The big city is something to be curious about, what is out there in such a large space for you to get lost in. Some games have these massive places you marvel at because of scale. But I never feel truly connected to them. Inaba is so condensed it feels lived in, like you are part of the game's town. Even in it's empty, abandoned shops, it's believable when you realize that modernization is slowly turning the town into something completely different. It's a transformation that is realistic but sad to see. I don't usually get that kind of feeling from a game.
This strong world building is also highlighted by the cast of characters Persona 4 Golden hosts.
Friendships Built to Last
The cast of Persona 4 Golden is built off that small town feeling. The Investigation Team is well woven into feeling like a legitimate group of friends. The stakes are low in comparison to 3 and 5, so there's more time for the main cast to simply do dumb shit.
Each character is diverse, and while not every character is a hit, you really do get to know them well and their struggles. Being a friend is more obvious than ever in a game like Persona 4 Golden than the other modern Persona titles.
I love the characters that feel the most real:
Ai struggles with self-image.
Eri battles her own self-defeating attitude and problems with being a stepmother.
Kou is adopted and wants to find his own person against the choices forced upon him, while Daisuke is a character that builds up to be himself.
Naoki deals with the death of his sister from the events of the main storyline.
Hisano faces survivor's guilt and depression, who can't forgive herself about the death of her husband.
And how could anyone forget your guardian, Dojima, and the adorable Nanako? Both struggle to be around each other and bond and face their own demons in differing ways.
Each of these characters develop over the course of their time with the player character, and you are the person to bring out the "truth" that they should follow. It makes their character development real and gives you a reason to care about the tightly knit community of Inaba.
Then, there is the main cast in the Investigation Team. The ones that stand out to me the most are Yosuke, Kanji, and Naoto, who just so happen to be the most controversial characters in the game.
Yosuke is your standard 2000's teenager who cannot seem to appreciate the people around him or the place he is in. Yes, the things he says can be perverted and homophobic. But there is small hints of visible character growth in dungeon dialogue and change in attitude towards Kanji that show that throughout the story, he can change. And in his social link, he does change. He finds value and comfort in Inaba because the player brings a reason and perspective he has not encountered before.
Kanji is a character that fights conventional norms set by society. He hides behind a tough exterior to shelter his softer, kinder interior. This dynamic is always fun, and I think Kanji is one of the best examples of this. His own character doesn't suffer from any faults that usually comes from Persona writing. While the game tries to make him the butt of the joke, he has tough enough skin to brush it off, but also sticks to what he loves, no matter what other people think of him.
Naoto is pressured from a career field that looks down upon women. Naoto goes to the lengths to conceal her own gender, just to find footing and recognition. But after fighting her shadow, Naoto realizes she does not need to change to pursue her own passions, that isn't who she is. It's an empowering story for women, but it's also the one that from a modern perspective, can be controversial for people in the trans community. I think the way she is written; it does not exactly make sense for her to be trans, but interpretation of media differs for everyone, and I'm not one to stop others in seeing the character that way.
Withered Writing
Of course, this comes with some annoying writing caveats, and one of my bigger gripes with this game. The writing has not aged well. By standards of 2008, and specifically Japan, this game fits well. Hell, the things "said" in this game aren't even that far off from what specific friend groups say to each other in person. However, when playing Persona 4 Golden, on more recent playthroughs, that Hashino direction just comes off badly. I think the obvious homophobia is where the issue lies, but one comes from just how social links work. Social Links are optional, so that growth will never actually show in the main story for the most part. It just feels stiff sometimes to see incredible growth in party members, only for them to walk three steps backwards.
Signs of Growth
But I think the most important thing out of all of this is not that the themes are believable, but they feel realistic to me. As someone who grew up in a small town, Persona 4 Golden was a comfort. It's the kind of thing that I do not exactly see so often, but the feelings these characters go through I have been there and seen. Yosuke's disposition of the place and people around him, Ai's self-image, Kou's self-worth, Kanji's struggle with enjoying himself. These kinds of themes hit home super hard, where in my first playthrough, I had shed some tears from how impactful it felt. I have seen other people go through the exact same thing, but that growth is what makes us people. And that kind of realism is something I cannot see myself forgetting for a long time.
I feel as if I’ve somewhat rushed this reflection of the game, but these are my thoughts summarized. While I may look down upon the gameplay of Persona 4 Golden with its randomly generated hallways and see how something like Persona 5 Royal's Third Semester blows anything this game done out of the water, I cannot say there is a game that hits home quite like this game. It's a special experience with enough relatability that it will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Let's just hope they never do a Persona 4 Rerun and recast my beloved Adachi.
7 Comments
Bitches and whores.
That one jobless friend on a random Tuesday
I disagree (+1 like)
not reading all that
Bloodborne is shit
no
Reddish
10 months ago