One hell of a game...
Persona 4? and what's new?
First of all this game is an expanded remake of the not so known original SMT (Shin Megami Tensei) Persona 4 for the Playstation 2, but I'm sure if you were a fan of the original you'll more than likely enjoy giving the story another shot with this version. I have never played the original but from all the stuff I've read and seen, there is quite a bit of added content. New events, scenes, dialogue, social links, expanded ending, and even a new ending. Extras crammed with the soundtrack of the game, live concerts videos, a quiz game, and some lectures about Junian Psychology and more. There is also a new online S.O.S. system during the dungeon runs however it's not really that important. There are more personas and in the fusions, you can now choose the moves you want them to inherit. There is a bunch of other content I can not remember off the top of my head but that's the basics.
The Story:
Instead of describing the premise to the story I'm just gonna type exactly what's on the back of the game case...
"A rumor is going around school that by looking at a TV screen at midnight on a rainy night, the face of your soul mate will be revealed. But a grisly chain of murders seems to be connected to the rumor, and you must gather a team strong enough to brave the bizarre world inside the TV to solve the mystery." - Back of Persona 4 Game Case
The story is an extremely lengthy, yet incredibly enjoyable journey that spans an entire (in game) year. Some cutscenes will last for at least twenty minutes. You'll laugh, get warm feelings during happy moments, and sad during the sad. It's a memorable story that's light hearted despite the dark theme that surrounds the game. There is a lot of character development, and lots of individual little strands of mini stories that rise from each social link you decide to pursue. There are multiple endings, most of them do not give a satisfying ending but when you get the "true" ending (which isn't difficult to obtain), it is definitely satisfying.
Gameplay: Split Into Two Parts
P4G has an amazing aspect (along with some other games in the persona series) in that it's half dungeon crawling JRPG combat and half social simulator. This game also does a fairly good job holding your hand at the beginning as it won't give you entire freedom till at least a few hours into the game and once you're starting to grow more accustomed to how it works.
The JRPG Aspect: Each dungeon has it's own unique theme in Persona resulting in diverse environments that really have been spectacularly done. You fight shadows, collect treasure, climb floors, and fight bosses like any traditional game. Persona uses a JRPG based combat so if you don't like turn based that means you may have some issues. The combat is rich however in that it can add some depth to your strategy. The game rewards you for attacking enemy's weaknesses by giving that character an extra turn, it also downs the enemy and if all enemies are "down" you can do an all out assault (or choose not to). You use "Personas" to unleash special abilities and for your main character, he has the ability to summon multiple personas so you can fuse, and get completely new forms of persona (reminds me a little of pokemon because you'll want to collect as much persona as you can). There is probably a lot more to talk about in the combat but the one last thing I will say and it is an extremely fantastic system is "Shuffle Time". After some matches (especially ones where you utilize the enemy's weakness) you'll get to pick a card out of a random few. These can result in stat bonuses for your persona, more money and experience, and many other things. This makes grinding not so terrible and mind-numbing as I would sometimes look forward to those shuffle times.
Social Sim: This part was also highly addictive. When you're not traversing the dungeons and fighting shadows, you can be walking along the streets of the town, the hallways of the highschool, down by a river, and a few other places. There you will meet new people and see friends to which you can choose to hang out with them. Spending time increases their specific "Social Link" and increasing it can lead to a few perks. You help people out through their problems, have humorous and entertaining conversations, and you can choose whoever to hangout with and whatever you wanna do with your days and nights. Get part time jobs, eat a restaurant, watch a movie, and more. This adds to some replay value as well as more than likely you won't max out every social link (of course it is possible but I wouldn't worry about it) and so in a second playthrough you can see where those previously undiscovered friendships will go.
The Music:
Just have to add in a little section for this. The Music is pretty great, Atlus has great pride for their soundtrack but I will warn you that you will hear the same songs over and over and over again. Interestingly enough though, you won't typically get too sick of the repetitive music possibly because it's is nice to listen to, or maybe the music itself is enchanting and makes you think it's good. No matter what the reason, P4G has pulled off it's music well (most of it is probably the same as in the original).
Overall and Bottom Line: This game is fantastic. It is highly addictive and vastly entertaining. If you have a Playstation Vita, then Persona 4: Golden is a must have that will be worth every penny for those seeking a good RPG. In my opinion it could be worth buying a Vita just for P4G (I didn't I'm just saying...) All in all, this is one hell of a game...
Pros:
Good Story
Rich in depth character development
Perfect Blend of Social Sim and Dungeon Crawling and how they relate
Voice Acting is great (some people complain about the new voice of Chie but I don't mind it)
Grinding is not such a chore considering the Shuffle Time System.
Flexible
LOTS of Content
Loading times are fast
Combat is unique and intriguing
New Game Plus adds Replay Value
Great Soundtrack
The Extra Content is worth playing for those who will be revisiting this story
Cons:
The Difficulty is a bit on the easy side (although you can compensate with a higher difficulty)
The game disables any music playing in the background of the VIta system (ex: Music Unlimited) NOTE: this was a con for times in grinding when the music does get a little tiring...
Almost all the endings besides the "True" one are not satisfying...