Wow.

I did it.

After spending 80 or so hours painstakingly selecting the right dialogue choices (there are no right choices), grinding through this wonderful world of shadows and personas, thick fogs, elaborate dungeons and whatnot, I've finally beat the game. I got the good ending (and accidently, the bad ending lmao). I beat the main boss. I beat the bonus dungeon. I did everything there is to do except the romance routes of every character other than Naoto.

My honest opinion?

I loved Every. Single. Moment.

This is an odd masterpiece. I am not sure how to elaborate on that, but I'll try anyways. The story begins when Yu Narukami moves to the countryside of Inaba to spend a year with his uncle and niece after his parents start working abroad. Soon after Yu arrives odd things start to creep up in town. Thick fogs and mysterious murder cases start to pervade the town of Inaba. Narukami has to navigate his life as a growing high school student balancing his school life (tests, activities, etc), creating bonds (social links, romance routes) and solving murder cases in this once quiet and boring town.

Persona 4 Golden has a VERY straightforward storyline that some people still manage to misinterpret. The bare bones theme of it is "the search for truth" which is a little abstract and on paper sounds dumb but as the game progresses and the world unveils itself and you interact with every character you see what exactly p4 tries to tell. "Shadows" are the unpleasant reality of self we hide deep within our conscience; they are a literal manifestation of the human anxieties and complexes. Once a character defeats a shadow and having essentially faced themselves, they gain a "persona" which is their "truth" and individuality that manifests itself (again, literally) as a power. It's kinda like a stand. The game has a bunch of storylines that converge and tell different types of "truths" both on personal and societal scales (Adachi/Marie confrontation). The main thing you have to do is max out the social links.

The characters are really lovable here. They're archetypical, sure, but they're done right, which is what makes them charming despite being tropey. Kanji and Naoto are easy standouts (and are interestingly controversial as well). Kanji is a man tied down by societal values which lead him him to question his own orientation. Someone considered queer just for being good at knitting and other traditionally feminine activities. He puts up an aggressive masculine front to hide that side of him. In a similar fashion Naoto is someone who feels dissatisfied with her gender as the detectives she grew up admiring and her families' detective aces were all males. She's someone who feels that her gender limits her career prospects. In the same way, she also feels her age to be a hinderance. Both these characters suffer similar situations that arose from rejecting oneself. But the game one again tries to tell us how rejecting the truth, your own truth, causes nothing but pain and anguish. You'll always find yourself living a lie in perpetuity. Kanji is a feminine guy; he's NOT a homosexual. Naoto struggles to find her voice in a male dominated field; she is NOT trans. Kanji deals with traditional masculinity. Naoto with sexism and ageism. These are very simple characteristics the game presents, yet some players still manage to misinterpret them and get mad that the game doesn't go the direction they want it to go. It's hilarious. Other characters like Yukiko, Chie, Yosuke, etc. are also great, but another standout character would be Rise. If you've played the game then you know why she's one of the best characters in the game (if you haven't then do so already). Nanako, Adachi, and Marie are also great (I'm just listing every character at this point, but I don't have the strength to break down all of them...). Like I said in the beginning, there's a lot of lovable characters here. Except Teddie, he's a great comic relief, but holy shit he's such a stupid character. His social link isn't that great either.

And now the gameplay. For the most part, this is a visual novel. There's really no going around it this is a visual novel 2/3 of the time, sadly, and I'm a little, just a little bit mad that this is the first visual novel I've ever played in my life and I didn't even know about it until halfway through the game. I promised myself not to even touch this medium. No wonder this shit is 80 hours long. Anyway, outside of the dialogue-heavy "gameplay" (most of it is actually good dialogue, and is voice-acted great, so that's good) it's an rpg simulation game where you go talk to people and create bonds. It's the main method of fleshing out story beats and getting a clearer idea of the themes (god, I'm starting to hate this word) at play. The real fun happens in the dungeons where most of your hours will be spent. Every dungeon is unique and has different attributes. The persona fusion, six element system, with persona/enemies having strengths and weakness makes this infinitely more fun where there's always room for experimentation. Grinding for levels is never fun, but that's true for every game.

Overall, Persona 4 Golden is masterful. I wouldn't call it a gem because it's freaking persona, but people tend to overlook p4 nowadays because of 5's monumental popularity. I have still yet to play p5, but I can definitely say that, as a beginner, p4g is a fantastic way to enter into the persona franchise. By the end of it, you'll be so emotionally attached to it that all the hours spent will seem insignificant and you'll want to jump right back in and experience the world of p4 once again. The soundtrack, the look of the world and everything, it's just perfect.

I love you Persona 4 Golden you will always be famous I just wish you didn't have a mute protagonist for the audience to project themselves onto that's so fucking boring dawg why doesn't my man SPEAK LET HIM TALK.

"I knew it wasn't lying, but I was so ashamed that I didn't want to admit it. You're me, and I'm you. When you get down to it, all of this is me."
—Yosuke Hanamura

"Yeah, I kinda get it now. You are me. A side of me I couldn't forgive, that I tried to ignore. But you still exist. You're a part of me."
—Chie Satonaka

"'I want to run away', 'I want someone to save me'. You're right, those feelings are part of me, too. I understand now...you're me."
—Yukiko Amagi

"Yeah, I know. I've known all this time I had something like you! It ain't a matter of guys or chicks, I'm just scared shitless of being rejected. I'm a total pansy who tries to make everyone hate me. C'mon, get up. Anyone who looks like me, I know they ain't so weak that they can't take a punch. I already know that you're me. You're me...and I'm you, dammit!"
—Kanji Tatsumi

"I'm sorry, you must've been in a lot of pain up to now. You're part of me, but I kept refusing to admit you existed. I was trying to figure out who the real me. But I realize now that I was on the wrong track. There is no 'real' me. It just doesn't exist. You, me, even Risette, they were all born from me. All of them are...me."
—Rise Kujikawa

"I'm sorry, I kept ignoring you, pretending you didn't exist. But you are me, and I am you. You've always been inside me. What I should yearn for...no, what I must strive for isn't to become a man. it's to accept myself for who I really am."
—Naoto Shirogane

Fuck me I'll always love this gang. sobs