Persona 4 Golden
This JRPG favourite has aged like a fine malt.
Starting a new school is a difficult time for anyone. But the teenaged protagonist of Atlus’s sprawling JRPG has it particularly tough. Having moved from the bustle and bright lights of Tokyo to the supposed rural calm of Inaba, he’s barely unpacked his bags before a series of gruesome murders shocks the sleepy town. So he bands together with a group of classmates, each holding supernatural powers, to investigate this disturbing phenomenon.
First impressions aren’t especially promising. This is, after all, a port of a port: it’s based on the eight-year-old PS Vita version, which was a refined edition of the 2008 PS2 original. As such, it’s showing its age visually, even if strong art design mostly compensates for its technical shortcomings. And it’s still a slow starter: Golden streamlines the original’s infamously languid introduction, but it’s still a good couple of hours before the training wheels come off and you’re given full control. You’ll need a bit of patience before you get to see what makes the game so very special.
Eventually, you’ll be able to decide exactly what you do outside school hours, and it’s not long before you’ll be spoilt for choice. The game sometimes follows you into lessons, where you’ll be invited to answer a multiple-choice question for small boosts to your character’s social qualities.
Each time one of your peers disappears, you have several days to prepare to save them before they’re gone forever. For each rescue attempt, you’ll venture inside a shadow world which is accessed through a television set. Here, you’ll explore rooms and corridors of multi-floor mansions, attacking patrolling shadows that transform into a range of outlandish creatures to be fought in turn-based combat.
Combat is brisk and engaging without being especially innovative. Targeting an opponent’s elemental weakness lets you take another shot at them, while you can encourage your party to pile onto downed enemies. It may be getting on a bit, but the belated arrival on PC of one of the finest contemporary JRPGs is extremely welcome.
CHRIS SCHILLING
A bare-bones refit, but this remains a captivating JRPG, marrying drama with stylish demon battling.