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I hate, hate JRPGs. I used to say that for all RPGs, but I'm playing Borderlands and Book of Memories at the moment over my usual fare, and enjoying it. So things do change. I'm wondering whether or not to give this a shot to see if I can get into this realm as well.

Persona 3 Portable is a cheaper way to see if you'd be into that style of game.

The first thing I noticed when starting up P4G is that there's a TV Listings mode that offers a lot of supplemental video/audio content for the game. There are places for music and animation from the game that you'll unlock as you play more, but they also offer stuff about the Persona series as a whole, some Persona live concert stuff, and something about Jungian psychology that is a central theme behind the series. It's really neat to see that sort of bonus content when some of these HD remakes/remasters are more barebones than they should be.

Also, P4G supports PBS:


Edit: I'm surprised by how much they've changed the intro to the game: There are new things added to the intro before you get on the train about the big affair story and your old teacher announcing to your class that you were leaving to go to Inaba, which was apparently a shock to them since you seemed to be popular before leaving. You also run into the new social link girl at the train station on the way out, so they make sure that she's easy to find. When you get lightheaded at the gas station, you're free to go roam the shopping district and explore as a way to "walk it off." This is the fastest of the 3D Personas to go from start to character control.

I've played a few more hours since I last posted, enough to get more of a free reign on the first dungeon and my first taste of night exploration. They've made some interesting changes to the game.

Combat is basically the same as before. You wander around floors of the dungeon, try to hit enemies that you come across for a player advantage, and then take advantage of their weaknesses for easy victories. So far, Shuffle Time is less shuffle and more like they give you a few cards to choose from that feels more like what they did in Persona 3 (or maybe it's just in Portable) with Coin, HP/SP recovery, weapon, and Persona cards in the mix. P4 just had Persona, blank, and penalty cards from what I remember, so these can help extend your stay in the dungeon than before.

Camera controls are a little weird from my experience. You can choose between using the shoulder buttons or right stick, but one is inverted while the other isn't. There's an option to invert/uninvert them, but that just reverses the situation. The camera control works fine, but that odd quirk bugs me when it's not the same for both.

They just introduced costumes with the introduction of the night town exploration, which features a little segment where Morooka calls you to meet him at the gas station so he can give you a package. This seems to be like Persona 3's armor that sometimes changed the character model in dungeon/fights but this stuff is just a visual look without stats attached to them at the moment.

They've also tweaked Personas a bit so that there are now skill cards that you can use to enhance a Persona's abilities like in Persona 3/Portable.

From what I've seen of the trophy list, anybody that gets a platinum would need to put some serious time into the game to get everything they require.

There's an interesting new feature making use of the new network functionality that lets you see what other players have done on that same day. On the first day that this is available when you first get the option to do whatever, about half go into the TV and the other half spend time with Marie, the new S. Link character.

You may notice a trend in this post, as Persona 4 Golden so far seems to be a mix of the best parts of Persona 3/Portable and Persona 4 with some further enhancements beyond that.

Originally Posted by FriskyTanuki From what I've seen of the trophy list, anybody that gets a platinum would need to put some serious time into the game to get everything they require.

Challenge accepted?

I know there are trophies for maxing all social links, reading all of the books, max out all of your social stats, complete the Persona Compendium, and some other stuff like that.

Originally Posted by FriskyTanuki I know there are trophies for maxing all social links, reading all of the books, max out all of your social stats, complete the Persona Compendium, and some other stuff like that.

Hopefully its over multiple playthroughs...I hate using guides to get shit like this...I like to discover/play at my own pace.

Originally Posted by FriskyTanuki I've played a few more hours since I last posted, enough to get more of a free reign on the first dungeon and my first taste of night exploration. They've made some interesting changes to the game. Combat is basically the same as before. You wander around floors of the dungeon, try to hit enemies that you come across for a player advantage, and then take advantage of their weaknesses for easy victories. So far, Shuffle Time is less shuffle and more like they give you a few cards to choose from that feels more like what they did in Persona 3 (or maybe it's just in Portable) with Coin, HP/SP recovery, weapon, and Persona cards in the mix. P4 just had Persona, blank, and penalty cards from what I remember, so these can help extend your stay in the dungeon than before. Camera controls are a little weird from my experience. You can choose between using the shoulder buttons or right stick, but one is inverted while the other isn't. There's an option to invert/uninvert them, but that just reverses the situation. The camera control works fine, but that odd quirk bugs me when it's not the same for both. They just introduced costumes with the introduction of the night town exploration, which features a little segment where Morooka calls you to meet him at the gas station so he can give you a package. This seems to be like Persona 3's armor that sometimes changed the character model in dungeon/fights but this stuff is just a visual look without stats attached to them at the moment. They've also tweaked Personas a bit so that there are now skill cards that you can use to enhance a Persona's abilities like in Persona 3/Portable. From what I've seen of the trophy list, anybody that gets a platinum would need to put some serious time into the game to get everything they require. There's an interesting new feature making use of the new network functionality that lets you see what other players have done on that same day. On the first day that this is available when you first get the option to do whatever, about half go into the TV and the other half spend time with Marie, the new S. Link character. You may notice a trend in this post, as Persona 4 Golden so far seems to be a mix of the best parts of Persona 3/Portable and Persona 4 with some further enhancements beyond that.

so best to play persona 3 before attempting this ... still on the fence about keeping mine preorder or canclling

Originally Posted by slidecage so best to play persona 3 before attempting this ... still on the fence about keeping mine preorder or canclling

All of the Persona games are on sale on the PSN store. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable (now: $9.99 original price: $19.99)

Wow. Persona fusion got two big upgrades that I wasn't expecting to see. The first is a Persona Search option that just tells you what Persona you can make based on the current crop you have. The second is the ability to actually choose which skills to pass down from the fusing Persona to the new Persona, which is kind of a huge deal to me.

Originally Posted by FriskyTanuki Wow. Persona fusion got two big upgrades that I wasn't expecting to see. The first is a Persona Search option that just tells you what Persona you can make based on the current crop you have. The second is the ability to actually choose which skills to pass down from the fusing Persona to the new Persona, which is kind of a huge deal to me.

something like Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor ??


dont know to buy this or Ragnarok Odyssey

Originally Posted by slidecage something like Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor ?? dont know to buy this or Ragnarok Odyssey

P4G. I've heard Ragnarok is hit or miss.

Originally Posted by slidecage something like Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor ?? dont know to buy this or Ragnarok Odyssey

While I have the 3DS version of Devil Survivor, I don't think I've gotten far enough to know how they do demon fusion there.

The search just tells you all of the possible outcomes for fusions based on what personas you have in your party, so it streamlines that process quite a bit. You can see the different ways you can make a certain persona to see if there are benefits to fusing one way or the other.

The skill inheritance shows red slots on the persona screen where you can pick which of the inheritable abilities to give to the new persona so you don't have to back out and reselect those persona to see if you can get an ideal set of skills, which is a biggie for me since that's been one of those "it would be nice if they did it this way" nitpicks that I never expected to see added at any point.

Edit: I also forgot to mention that once you find the stairs to the next floor, you can explore the rest of the floor and warp up to the next floor from anywhere.

Atlus has uploaded 28 gameplay videos showing off the game and some of the new stuff they've added:

Persona 4 Golden: Extras: Vox Populi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEuaamWoY3c

Persona 4 Golden: Extras: Difficulty Settings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCS-Jo7mw04

Persona 4 Golden: Extras: Weather

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6IeW0ePHtg

Persona 4 Golden: Extras: TV Shows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyehpN_xKNE

Persona 4 Golden: Extras: Home Gardening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zeuLMurLEU

Persona 4 Golden: Personas: Shuffle Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poGHBGDmy50

Persona 4 Golden: Personas: Special Fusions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRK6Vu4ShdI

Persona 4 Golden: Personas: The Velvet Room

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJpZCs60FN4

Persona 4 Golden: Personas: Persona Compendium

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNK0P8zUT_Q

Persona 4 Golden: Social Links: A Plethora of Bonds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk-dXo3Xwy0

Persona 4 Golden: Social Links: Ranking Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWL6ISFPkiQ

Persona 4 Golden: Social Links: Bonding for Battles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeEJGad1F0s

Persona 4 Golden: Battles: Simultaneous Attacks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDFgk8H0Fmc

Persona 4 Golden: Battles: 1 More

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRlHo9O6B3c

Persona 4 Golden: Battles: Costumes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxQoZh4nmDM

Persona 4 Golden: Battles: Summoning Personas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WYA5NEzQuM

Persona 4 Golden: Battles: Bike Chases

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbeaieXYvxY

Persona 4 Golden: Battles: All-Out Attacks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJF5KvWnrzU

Persona 4 Golden: Battles: Cheer Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOuwkVdXcdM

Persona 4 Golden: Dungeons: Requests

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0jxj8y5yDQ

Persona 4 Golden: Dungeons: Investigation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJiC7LUWDaQ

Persona 4 Golden: Dungeons: Ask for Help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw8w3i-VHi8

Persona 4 Golden: School Life: Hit the Town

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAJdzLQtf3E

Persona 4 Golden: School Life: Part-Time Job

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOBvBQk7Uto

Persona 4 Golden: School Life: Clubs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duVyIeoK4BE

Persona 4 Golden: School Life: Classes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeOswFKtKv0

Persona 4 Golden: School Life: School Events

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKzE7jI_QqQ

Persona 4 Golden: School Life: Let's Go Play!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWtNDdz1SGQ

I have half a mind to report that post...

EDIT: all those videos

For what?

P4G: Solid Gold Edition unboxing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIq83uRtgjA

Totally jealous. I wasn't thinking of buying a Vita, so I didn't bother reserving the LE. Now that I got one, I'm totally kicking myself for that now! @_@

This game seems overwhelming in the amount of content it provides, yet I have never really played a Persona game before. I've played an hour or two of 4 on the PS2 and 3 on the PSP, but that's it, never really went back for various attention reasons. Currently eyeing this as a Christmas hint for the wife

still trying to figure what i want

the SOLID GOLD at 69.99 what i have preorder off amazon

or

Normal what i have preordered offf newegg for 29.99



got 3 days left but probally going to cancell the amazon one .... 40 bucks for a pouch is insane in a way

Originally Posted by slidecage still trying to figure what i want the SOLID GOLD at 69.99 what i have preorder off amazon or Normal what i have preordered offf newegg for 29.99 got 3 days left but probally going to cancell the amazon one .... 40 bucks for a pouch is insane in a way

But it looks soooo freakin' good. ._.