There is much that I've said about Persona 3, that much is true. However, I noticed that I have yet to speak my thoughts on Persona 4.

Progress report: I'm roughly 37 hours in, and given that I'm savoring every picosecond, I've yet to enter the month of July. Yeah, I'm that slow, so don't expect anything in-depth for a little while yet.

I'll try to keep this short: everything that I love about Persona 4, and that I think has been improved upon since Persona 3, can be represented by the following screenshot:



Yup, just one screenshot. I'll elaborate now, in list format!

1. The Menus

Well, perhaps a little video would have been better, but if you thought Persona 3 had style before, Persona 4 is a f*cking revelation. All of the menus and HUD details slide in and out of scenes like a powerpoint presentation by God. The animation for the Shiroku item shop alone puts many next-gen games' plebian menu fumbling to shame. That little TV-screen shaped silhouette that frames each of your turns in combat? Masterful. The yellow cutouts of your party standing in the hallway of the main menu, their glasses shadowed in white? Inspired. If there's every been any proof Godliness being in the little details, this is it.

2. The Personality

Yes, I'm beginning to think video would have been a better illustration of my points, but here we are. Again, the beauty is in the little touches, such as how there's no music on rainy days, or the generally less grating quality of the composition, though it forces itself into your brain and refuses to leave for days at a time. But what really sets it apart from its peers, even its forbears, is the voice acting. It's bubbly and vivacious, perfectly suiting the more positive tone of the story

Persona 3 already had very good voice acting, but its men and women had fairly straightforward personalities, and with few exceptions were more aloof, more serious, more hip and mature (city folk indeed). Persona 4's cast is more diverse in attitude and outlook, and it shows. There were so many ways they could have screwed up, from tripping up the honorifics and pronunciation (particularly risky considering that Atlus wanted to emphasize more correct tonal emphasis) to the high-pitched squealing so common in anime.

Atlus largely succeeded with its writing. They weren't afraid to mix the "senpai" and "laters", seifuku and totally valley-girl "Ooh-myGAWD". They may still not sound like realistic teenagers (as if teenagers were interesting to listen to), but they deliver it like they care.

3. Those Little Orange Flowers That Emerge From Characters' Heads When They're Happy.

They're adorable. It's the visual equivalent of a self-satisfied sigh! Not even the most uncanny valley-esque facial animation's been able to touch on that. Those flowers also show off the newer, closer camera angle. Like the more intimate, rural setting and more intimate, small-town plot, the camera's set to show off the detail, the orange-yellow tones, the sweat-drop emoticons. The newer camera angle also persists into dungeon-crawling. It's a little less useful there, as the zoom makes it harder to maneuver around enemies to attack them from behind or get your bearings in the more convoluted mazes, but it does highlight the level architecture more.

4. The Scooby-Doo Antics

This isn't for everyone, I know. A lot of folks preferred the "darker theme", and groan and moan at the anime pratfalls and gags (sorry thefil). Look a little closer, however, and you see a more complex, personalized plot, centering on the characters. This isn't just a story about you anymore, but about you and your friends. The fact that you've got social links for your whole cast as opposed to just one for the group, plus others for the love interests, proves it.

In some ways the story is less meandering, more straightforward, but every character ends up more developed as a result. I can't really elaborate without spoilers, but I'm definitely more attached to this group of mystery-solvers than I was to my previous squad of world-savers. That says a lot, given how much I worship Persona 3.

The meaningless dialog options also help. There are so many more opportunities in this game to just say stuff as you feel it, without consequence, that it allows you to more deeply invest yourself into your silent protagonist, without worrying that you've broken this or that social link.

5. Chie

I usually prefer the mature, older-girl, "onee-san" romance options (Mitsuru <3, Ms. Toriumi <3), but Chie's my Persona 4 girl. That is all.

In conclusion, Persona 4 is the perfect sequel, preserving the most lovable parts of its gameplay, smoothing out the rough patches, and slathering polish over the entire work. This has made just about every iterative improvement possible without a drastic change of platform or mechanics. This is the PS2's swan song. Give Atlus more money.

And now for something completely related: