There are little to no things that resonate with me as much as Persona 4 does, when i first played it back in 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, attending only to online classes, and my only social circle being online friends, there was no better game than Persona to play.
My experience with the franchise up to that point was only having finished Persona 3 and 5, so coming of off those games to this one was a bit weird, i wasn't used to Persona taking place in small cities, where everyone has at least a small connection to each other, to me, Persona was about living a student life on big japanese metropolises and getting to know people and make friends there, but P4 is different, the setting has a completely different vibe, and one that i vastly prefer, Inaba is a cozy, run of the mill japanese countryside town, and 30 minutes after you arrive you're already making friends and getting the gist of the place, because as i said, it isn't a big touristic town, so a person from somewhere else going there is a rare thing, and one that the inhabitants appreciate, and this feeling of being welcome permeates throughout the whole game, this allows the game to make you feel connected to those characters like no other game can, you truly see that the characters really appreciate each other's company, and simply watching them and being there with them is extraordinarily heartwarming and comforting.
Not too long after, you're introduced to the main mystery of Persona 4, the murders, and i must say, it's one of the best things Atlus every wrote, you're at the edge of your seat everytime it comes up, and the resolution is very well done and satisfying.
When i was thrown in on the first dungeon, it was a bit weird, and it's still not an aspect i'm very fan of, the randomized nature made sense in P3, but here, it just feels bland, and it's not like Atlus didn't know how to make good dungeons, heck they had made Nocturne 5 years ago and that game's dungeons are great, but for some reason they decided to go with procedurally generated corridors, don't get me wrong, they're not annoying or boring, just kinda dissapointing, if a P4 Remake ever comes, i'd really like to see them do actual humanly crafted dungeons.
The combat here is a major evolution from P3 FES, now you have control of all party members again, and while the game remains much easier than mainline SMT, it's not braindead and some bosses took me some thought to beat, i feel like the combat could have a bit more spice, but it's fine as it is.
Now we get to a point which is at the same time of the greatest qualities and perhaps the greatest flaw of P4, the message, it can be summarized as "accept your true self", which means acknowledge that both your flaws and qualities are part of who you are, and that you shouldn't ostracize your weaknesses, but accept them and become a better person each day, and while i think that the theme is well executed for the most part, some character's conclusions seem to work against it? I don't want to get into spoilers, but those who played it know what i'm talking about.
Overall, Persona 4 is a game that came to me at the right place, right time, and probably, it's the game i enjoyed playing the most, that's why i have it listed at number one, i could write much more, but for now, i think i managed to get across what i felt.
My experience with the franchise up to that point was only having finished Persona 3 and 5, so coming of off those games to this one was a bit weird, i wasn't used to Persona taking place in small cities, where everyone has at least a small connection to each other, to me, Persona was about living a student life on big japanese metropolises and getting to know people and make friends there, but P4 is different, the setting has a completely different vibe, and one that i vastly prefer, Inaba is a cozy, run of the mill japanese countryside town, and 30 minutes after you arrive you're already making friends and getting the gist of the place, because as i said, it isn't a big touristic town, so a person from somewhere else going there is a rare thing, and one that the inhabitants appreciate, and this feeling of being welcome permeates throughout the whole game, this allows the game to make you feel connected to those characters like no other game can, you truly see that the characters really appreciate each other's company, and simply watching them and being there with them is extraordinarily heartwarming and comforting.
Not too long after, you're introduced to the main mystery of Persona 4, the murders, and i must say, it's one of the best things Atlus every wrote, you're at the edge of your seat everytime it comes up, and the resolution is very well done and satisfying.
When i was thrown in on the first dungeon, it was a bit weird, and it's still not an aspect i'm very fan of, the randomized nature made sense in P3, but here, it just feels bland, and it's not like Atlus didn't know how to make good dungeons, heck they had made Nocturne 5 years ago and that game's dungeons are great, but for some reason they decided to go with procedurally generated corridors, don't get me wrong, they're not annoying or boring, just kinda dissapointing, if a P4 Remake ever comes, i'd really like to see them do actual humanly crafted dungeons.
The combat here is a major evolution from P3 FES, now you have control of all party members again, and while the game remains much easier than mainline SMT, it's not braindead and some bosses took me some thought to beat, i feel like the combat could have a bit more spice, but it's fine as it is.
Now we get to a point which is at the same time of the greatest qualities and perhaps the greatest flaw of P4, the message, it can be summarized as "accept your true self", which means acknowledge that both your flaws and qualities are part of who you are, and that you shouldn't ostracize your weaknesses, but accept them and become a better person each day, and while i think that the theme is well executed for the most part, some character's conclusions seem to work against it? I don't want to get into spoilers, but those who played it know what i'm talking about.
Overall, Persona 4 is a game that came to me at the right place, right time, and probably, it's the game i enjoyed playing the most, that's why i have it listed at number one, i could write much more, but for now, i think i managed to get across what i felt.