Persona 4 Game Review

Persona 4 is a RPG game dedicated for gamers who love Persona series. After the well-known Persona 3, Atlus decided to release the next series : Persona 4. The story begins with a boy who gets transferred to a rural town which is obviously pale in comparison with the big city he used to live in. There, he lives with his Uncle from his Mother side (Dojima) and his little cousin (Nanako). After moving there for a while, he realized that somehow strange things happen right after his first visit to the TV world : People whose faces' are shown in Midnight Channel die after a few days raining in the real life. There, he has to balance it out between solving a serial murder case that has everything to do with an infamous rumor Midnight Channel with his academic and highschool life so that his Uncle wouldn't get suspicious and still think of him as nothing but an ordinary highschool boy,

Here's the menu when Player and his friends fight with monsters. Player can control the movements of each characters/ There are 8  options that the MC can use, from Analysis to Escape (this option is unable to choose when the opponent they have to defeat is the dungeon's Boss). The 'Persona' option can only be chosen by MC, it enables MC to change his current Persona.

Here, player is given full control on how to manage the MC's time. The key to be able to survive in this game is only one : pay attention to the weather forecast. If it's raining for a few consecutive days in the real life, that means in the TV world the weather is as clear as day, which means people who get thrown into the TV world won't be able to hide from the monsters, thus they'll die the longer you let them unrescued. How many days until they eventually die? I actually have no idea, but for precaution, I always try to rescue them 2 days before consecutive raining days are over.

With every opponents the player gets to defeat, he'll get EXP's an MONEY that he can use to buy weapons and armors. Not only that, they also can create secret weapons from rare things the defeated monsters leave behind.

The name of the Game : Persona 4
Publisher: ATLUS, Square Enix
Platform: PlayStation 2
Price: $14.99
Genre: RPG
Release Date: July 10th, 2008
Theme: Highschool-life, Anime
ESRB Rating: Teen


I really like this game because :
1) The anime-like and Japanese RPG-typical graphic
2) Openings and tunes used in battles and sentimental moments
3) It's a full-strategy game. You get to choose when you rescue the victims in the TV world. You can rescue it as soon as you can, or you can take it slow and rescue them near the end of consecutive rainy days, it doesn't matter.
4) Player is given full responsibility to manage the MC's time. For example, the MC is able to do Part-Time jobs (from tutoring, until becoming a caretaker for kids and janitor in hospital) to get more money. Of course, requirements for each job are applied.
5) Player is also given choice whether they want to be considered genius or dumbass in school. The MC is given a STAT to show where exactly (for example) the MC's Knowledge is. The stat doesn't only show Knowledge level, but also Courage, Diligence, Expression, as well as Understanding.
What does it affect? It affects the Part-Time jobs you can take. Being a nurse in a hospital for example, requires MC to have a high-level of Understanding. The same can be said for being a tutor that requires a high-level of Knowledge and Diligence. The higher levels you can get in those STATS, the more money you'll be paid in your Part-Time jobs

6) The game requires the Player to have as many Friendships as possible. See, like many other Persona series, the game teaches Player that you cannot do anything (especially in Battle) if you have no friends. For your teammates for example, when each teammate gets to Level 6 of Social Link with the MC, he/she can take deathly blow for MC if the MC's life is threatened by those blows.
In the Ending Battle, all friends of MC's (teammates and non-teammates) who already get to Level 10 of Social Link with the MC, their prayers can help the MC deliver his finishing blow in the last battle.

GAME RULES
Victory Condition :

1. Win if the Player can defeat the big boss in the end of the game

2. Lose if the main character gets defeated

Player Control :

Adventure

1. Player can move the main character to areas in town, highschool building, home, and    
    neighborhood area.

2. Player can interact with NPC

3. Player can go fishing  and cook for lunches (if there’s the ingredient)

4. Player can take part-time jobs

5. Player can do quests

6. Player can upgrade weapons and armors

Battle

1. Player can ambush the enemy first

2. Player can heal himself and his party members

3. Player can fuse Personas (monsters)

4. During the battle, Player can change which Persona he uses from time to time

5. Unless it’s big boss or event boss, Player can escape from battles

6. Player can use special skills

Reward :

1. Money and items from battles and chests spreaded throughout the dungeon

2. EXP from battles

3. Money from part-time jobs

4. Social links

5. Stats (Intelligence, Courage, Understanding, etc)

6. Discounts in grocery store (whenever it rains)

7. Special skills from his party members (IF the social link is MAX)

Challenges :

1. Part-time jobs with their own requirements

2. Fog that comes right after a few consecutive raining days (still have no idea how many days
    exactly before the fog’s there) that can increase the difficulty of battles significantly

3. Some chest boxes contain enemies inside

4. Unable to escape if you face big boss or event boss

5. Player and his party members can go fatigue if they’re involved in battles for far too long

6. Player cannot go home if he doesn’t have a particular item (thus forces him and his party members     to keep going up the tower to find a device that can get them home)

7. Enemies get stronger each floor

8. Event boss is in random floors

9. Fusing Personas in rainy days can cause random unexpected result

10. Different way of encountering enemies result in different turns in battles (advantage or    
      disadvantage)

OPENING INTRO :

GAMEPLAY (7 minutes):

Author : Aliya Fathma Najihati
NRP    : 5113100012