Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 39 Ratings

  • Summary: Persona 4 Arena uses hand-drawn, high definition 2D anime-style fighters and colorful, over-the-top special effects to bring to life a roster of fighters from Persona 3 and Persona 4.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 17
  2. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. May 13, 2013
    100
    Thus, Persona 4 Arena is a standout game; it marries theme and mechanics closely, and through its apparent simplicity allows a total novice to enjoy it all while layering on levels of strategy for advanced play based on positioning and timing rather than specific dexterity at inputting attacks.
  2. 85
    Even if you don't care about the Persona mythos, there's a very solid competitive fighter here. Both local and online multiplayer are incredibly solid (the latter thanks to an update released two days after the game), with only the minor annoyance of no quick-rematch option. As it stands, anyone seeking a fresh, stylish take on traditional 2D fighting should enter this Arena.
  3. Apr 27, 2013
    85
    Persona 4: Arena is the result of an especially improbable, but successful marriage. Developer Arc Systems bring us one of the deepest and at the same time most accessible 2D-figheter ever. Atlus on the other hand, worked on the presentation with enough love and care to give Persona 4 a worthy successor. Do know that you're getting into though. Whoever wants to play a fighting game a few hours a week, will merely crush the tip of the iceberg.
  4. May 9, 2013
    74
    Enthusiastic beat-'em-up good for newbs, but with confused design principles. [June 2013, p.73]

See all 17 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 2 out of 7
  1. Easy for beginners and a lot of depth for fighting game aficionados. Persona 4 Arena is basically two games in one. The Story mode is a lengthy digital novel for each character with 8 or so 1 round matches breaking them up while arcade mode is what most people would assume a normal fighting game would be. I'd say it's a must buy for any Persona 4 fan since it's not only a great chance to catch up with the Investigation Team but it seems to be filling in and setting up for the next Persona game. Expand
  2. 9
    Persona fans, don't let the fact that this is a fighter scare you away. I was hesitant at first to buy this but any Persona fan will love this, mainly because of the lengthy story mode here that basically completes the Persona 4 storyline. I'm not a fighting game fan by any means but the fact that this game adds more to one of the best series in gaming right now made this a fairly easy purchase in the end for me. Up front, this is not a simple fighter. It's easily one of the more complex fighters out there, which is not surprising since it's from the makers of Blazblue and Guilty Gear. Fortunately, you won't have to worry about ultra cheap computer A.I. in the story mode as even with the characters you might not be able to initially grasp, the battles there are pretty easy. However, if you want to delve deeper into the gameplay here, you'll find a refreshingly hardcore system here with plenty of different reversals, counters, and every type of air attack/defence you can think of, which makes it a good purchase for fighting game fans out there, especially fans of Blazblue, like I said earlier. It's not perfect by any means, mainly for the fact that if you want to get even halfway decent at the game, you'll need to put in many hours in training mode to learn the many different aspects of the game. But, for those fans of the Persona series who may feel like you won't get enough out of this game because it's a fighter, you'll be plenty pleased by lengthy story mode, which will span upwards of 20-30 hours when all is said and done. So it was an easy buy for me and I don't particularly like fighting games but love the Persona series. If your a person who likes fighting games and likes the Persona series, then this game will consume you for days and weeks to come. This will easily tide me over till Persona 4: Golden comes out later this year with updated everything and it's nice to see some, not all, of the characters from Persona 3 get some love here too, even if they kinda ruined some of the characters and how I thought they would develop after all these years. But buy it if you like either fighting games or the Persona series and, if you like both, then buy a few copies to share with friends. Expand
  3. Persona 4 Arena is an amazing 2D fighting game. The graphics are superb, the sound and music is the best I've heard since Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike, and the gameplay is super solid...

    Check out my full video review for all the details - http://youtu.be/bTLGhbk5KQE
    Expand
  4. This has truly been a great year for fighters, but in my mind Persona 4 Arena stands out as one of the best. It controls silky smooth, effortlessly integrates the Persona feel into a bunch of great fighting mechanics, which in itself is something of an achievement. Great story, great characters, great fighter. My only real complaint was the online lag I occassionally had to suffer through. I just wish that this game had more of a fanbase. Collapse

See all 7 User Reviews