"If I play a game you like, will you play a game I like?" - Ethan, or me, I don't fucking remember anymore.
It was this sentence that sent me on a two year long obsession with these games and its surrounding universe. Ethan played Okami, I played Persona 4 Golden.
Despite its obviously dated aesthetics, I didn't take it any less seriously than when I played P3R two years in the future. The game itself is presented in a characteristic mid-2000s light, especially weighted its character design and outfits, environment, and dialogue. When I first heard "Heartbeat, Heartbreak," my spine began to recoil a little bit, I will admit. I gave Ethan a game with a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack that's reminiscent of traditional Japanese historical music and he gives me this seemingly annoying pop/electronica theme? Seemed like a scam to me. I even asked Gavin if I was going to be hearing this song often, and I was very much disappointed in the response I heard back.
Oh, do I ever so proudly stand corrected.
Not only did I fall in love with the song, catching myself humming its melodies even away from the computer, I fell in love with the entire soundtrack. Every song was a banger, and every song on every future Persona installment continued to appeal to my ear.
I knew nothing of this game's story going into it, so I kept a very open mind. If there's one failsafe genre to get me to stay hooked in a piece of media, it's murder mystery. Twin Peaks, Dark, Sherlock Holmes, all these shows helped foster my love for the genre, and I was pleasantly surprised with what was presented to me.
What I ended up getting from the story was not just satisfaction that I had finally finished a game for the first time in many years, especially a 60-hour-long one, it was also the connection that I formed with characters in it. Although there were some truly annoying characters (ahem, yosuke), I truly, from start to finish, rooted for their victory. I cried at their losses, and my blood pressure rose at their every epiphany.
Never has a game hooked me as much as Persona 4 Golden. Or maybe I should just play more games. :)
It was this sentence that sent me on a two year long obsession with these games and its surrounding universe. Ethan played Okami, I played Persona 4 Golden.
Despite its obviously dated aesthetics, I didn't take it any less seriously than when I played P3R two years in the future. The game itself is presented in a characteristic mid-2000s light, especially weighted its character design and outfits, environment, and dialogue. When I first heard "Heartbeat, Heartbreak," my spine began to recoil a little bit, I will admit. I gave Ethan a game with a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack that's reminiscent of traditional Japanese historical music and he gives me this seemingly annoying pop/electronica theme? Seemed like a scam to me. I even asked Gavin if I was going to be hearing this song often, and I was very much disappointed in the response I heard back.
Oh, do I ever so proudly stand corrected.
Not only did I fall in love with the song, catching myself humming its melodies even away from the computer, I fell in love with the entire soundtrack. Every song was a banger, and every song on every future Persona installment continued to appeal to my ear.
I knew nothing of this game's story going into it, so I kept a very open mind. If there's one failsafe genre to get me to stay hooked in a piece of media, it's murder mystery. Twin Peaks, Dark, Sherlock Holmes, all these shows helped foster my love for the genre, and I was pleasantly surprised with what was presented to me.
What I ended up getting from the story was not just satisfaction that I had finally finished a game for the first time in many years, especially a 60-hour-long one, it was also the connection that I formed with characters in it. Although there were some truly annoying characters (ahem, yosuke), I truly, from start to finish, rooted for their victory. I cried at their losses, and my blood pressure rose at their every epiphany.
Never has a game hooked me as much as Persona 4 Golden. Or maybe I should just play more games. :)