Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 - Harry Potter 6 Books

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84 in Video Games
• Brand: Atlus
• Model: PS-53030-4
• Released on: 2008-12-09
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platform: PlayStation2
• Dimensions: 2.00 pounds

Features

• Every copy of Persona 4 is a special two-disc set including the game and a soundtrack CD featuring music from acclaimed composer Shoji Meguro
• Contains a sountrack CD featuring selected music from Persona 4
• unprecedented team control with emphasis on developing bonds in the fight to solve mysterious murders
• 60 plus hours of gameplay
• Manage and integrate your activities withing each day to determine your progress

Amazon.com
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 is a console role-playing game (RPG) for Sony's PlayStation 2. Chronologically the sixth installment in the Persona series, Persona 4 is a suspenseful countryside murder mystery with multiple twists and turns in the plot that will have you guessing all the way to the end.

Chronologically the sixth installment in the Persona series, Persona 4 is a suspenseful murder mystery. View larger.

The silent male protagonist wields a two-handed sword weapon. View larger.

Using Mayonaka TV, you can phase into the television set and enter a shadowy world. View larger.

game play and style are similar to Persona 3, but there are plenty of new twists and additions. View larger.

Myth and Occult Mixed with Contemporary Japan
Megami Tensei was originally based on the novel series Digital Devil Story by Aya Nishitani. A major franchise in the RPG genre, MegaTen games take place in the contemporary or near-future Japan, mixing occult and cyberpunk elements. The games feature mythological references from multiple mythologies, and the player is often asked to make moral or philosophical choices that affect the game's storyline and ending.

The silent male protagonist who represents the player in Persona 4 attends Yasogami High School with Chie, Yosuke, and Yukiko. His entire personality and name is decided and portrayed by the player's in-game actions and decisions. He wields two-handed sword type weapons, but unlike Persona 3, he doesn't use alternative weapons.

Mysterious Murders Abound
Persona 4 takes place in a rural town named Inaba where mysterious murders occur whenever there is fog after heavy rain. The town has a television channel that airs only at midnight called Mayonaka TV, during which it is said that one can see their "other half" while staring at the screen. After hearing about a recent unsolved murder, some characters realize that they had witnessed the murder victim while watching Mayonaka TV.

The protagonist discovers that during midnight when the channel is on, his body can phase into his television set, using the set as a gateway to another world infested with shadows. Mayonaka TV and the town murders seem so connected that it's possible that the victims may in fact victims of Mayonaka TV itself. The characters decide to solve the mysterious murders by exploring the hidden world of Mayonaka TV.

Brand-New Yet Familiar game play
Persona 4's game play and style are similar to the popular Persona 3. Players familiar with Persona 3 will quickly recognize the social links and dungeon crawling game play, as well as the engine itself. The battles also have some similarities, such as the One More system, All-out attack, and the AI controlled support characters.

However, unlike Persona 3, characters can be set to take commands from the player, new glasses allow characters to see through the heavy mist inside Mayonaka TV, and tarot cards can be shattered to summon the characters' respective Persona. Other changes include an increase in player stats from three to five, and the removal of health status, allowing players to explore dungeons continuously.

Let the Action Begin
Battle-wise, Persona 4 lets you directly control the actions of other party members and continually exploit an enemy's weakness. Post-battle card shuffles have added Arcana Chance, which bring you good or bad status depending on the Arcana. Battles now occur after school instead of at midnight, like in Persona 3, giving the player less time in which to do social activities. This turns out to be significant because Social Links now have a greater effect on battle.

At higher levels, the player's allies progress from occasionally protecting the protagonist from a deathblow, through occasionally offering follow-up attacks, to eventually allow the persona of the corresponding ally to evolve into another persona. And persona can retain or even lose weaknesses and can be immune to certain kind of magic attacks. All allies who have their corresponding Social Link levels maxed out now have a chance to survive an otherwise fatal attack, leaving them with one remaining HP.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic game for the jrpg fanatic
I was blown away when I first played Persona 3, and then blown away yet again when P3:FES came out. Because of this, I had high expectations for Persona 4. Needless to say, not only did the game meet expectations, it exceeded them.

This game has a few elements that the casual gamer might find difficult to pick up, and the day-to-day social activities might not appeal to some gamers.

The translation for the game is spot on and the voice-actors fit the characters pretty well. I haven't stopped playing it since I received the game and it's been 70+ hours.

All-in-all, this is a must have game for jrpg players.

One of the best RPGs of all time
First of all, I want to say that I LOVE this game, and I would highly recommend it.

Next, I have to address the points of the person who gave it 2 stars.
(1) the music - yes, it gets a bit repetitive (but what RPG's music doesn't, especially when it's such a long game?). They could've added more, but what they do have carries emotion, it's catchy, never grating. I was actively humming along.

(2) the graphics - this is a PS2 game, so you can't expect more than PS2 graphics. That said, I had no problem with them.

(3) the English voice acting - it was GREAT. Far exceeded my expectations. That 2 star guy has NO IDEA what he's talking about. Clearly, you haven't heard much english dubbing. The actors were well-suited to their roles, and the way they delivered their lines was spot-on - they were able to convey the level of emotion that was required of them. I certainly felt emotional (or laughed at loud) at many points.

Of course, it has its flaws... the game had a bit too much control for my liking (as in, the game would tell me what I was going to do or say next at certain points when I would've liked to decide myself), and some choices that I made had no impact on the main story (I understand why this was done, it would've made the game much more difficult to make, but it sometimes made interactions annoying).

But overall, it was a LOT of fun. The storyline was utterly engrossing; I was dragged in and actually sad to finish (even after 100+ hours, going through both a bad ending and the true ending). It had some depth to it; there were times when I just sat back and reflected on what had been said. I was charmed by the characters, and intrigued by the mystery. The enemies were unique, especially the bosses. The battles were challenging, but never to the point where I wanted to quit.

It was just... awesome. Go out and buy it! :)

Keep Working On It Atlus
Briefly put, the Persona game line should be a combination of Sims 3 and the book and dice game World of Darkness except set in high school. Sadly, it has many flaws and no virtues of these. The music is tedious, the graphics are ugly, and the game thieves from uncredited sources without redeeming quality. The English voice acting is horrible, the anime sequences (like Robotech) seemed ripped from an unrelated anime, and the graphics are dated to old Sierra adventure games.

I love the basic concept of the Shin Megami Tensei Persona games. Problem being, it's not executed very well at all. Even with the example of the western game Sims 3, Persona sticks to a somewhat poorly wrought story, moronic dialogue, and a plot that wavers between modern day chivalric romance (where it shines) and the authorial decision to interpet that a striking ten day discussion creates eternal friendship.

This specific Persona game, Persona 4, suffers badly in comparison to Persona 3. There is less exploration outside the city, less identification of the city as something to protect or even worth protecting, less interesting characters, and even exacerbatingly boring school options. Of course, Persona 3 was not a glorious nor triumphant game in any way, even in these presented categories of exploration, identification, characterization, and width of gameplay.

If I could suggest anything to the game designers, I'd tell them to play Sims 3, to play Mage: the Awakening, to play Rome: Total War. At that point they might build Shin Megami Tensei Strategy, with the Persona games permitting a player to act as an individual agent (with NPC friends) in the strategic situation they are undergoing. Either that or to make Persona more of a Sim-Life at high school, exploring a larger city, making friends and companions freely. Get rid of the tight-knit story, it doesn't work.