Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4

 PlayStation 2
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 785 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 576 out of 785
  2. Mixed: 32 out of 785
  3. Negative: 177 out of 785
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  1. BobF
    Jul 10, 2009
    7
    Aside from the dungeons it was very in depth and addicting. The dungeons are just.... ach.. one after another of bland repetitive frustration, along with the enemies. But hey, i played through it two times so obviously i didn't mind that part that terribly much
  2. vahn
    Nov 7, 2012
    7
    I really loved persona 3: it's probably one of my most favorite game of all time and when I saw the sequel coming out I was so impatient and excited to get my hands on it. The day came, I got the game, and what I found was...a good game, with some improvements from the previous game, and MANY downdgrades as well. First of, I do like the new settings and new characters: they look good andI really loved persona 3: it's probably one of my most favorite game of all time and when I saw the sequel coming out I was so impatient and excited to get my hands on it. The day came, I got the game, and what I found was...a good game, with some improvements from the previous game, and MANY downdgrades as well. First of, I do like the new settings and new characters: they look good and are actually "normal" people who have their lives and just do teenage stuff and you can easily relate to them, (unlike the previous where the characters were a lot more weird and strange, almost different than a normal person). On top of that, now these characters have a more normal relationship with you and you can also finally do a social link (basically the only way to create better Personas) with ALL of them, instead of some, and this not only it's a good thing, but also "vital" since it can make their persona evolve into a better one. But here comes one big issue that I had during the game: once you meet them and make your group, you basically never see them again, except in obvious parts where you need them all, and the only way to actually see them properly is to do the events and increase their social links...but the problem is that you haven't got enough time to upgrade all of them and that means you're stuck on upgrading the characters you need and want the most. And infact, here comes another BIG issue, and that is the Dungeons. While in the previous you had (basically) 30 days for exploring a dungeon, in here the days aren't clear! According to the game, whenever there is 3-4 days in a row of rain, you're FORCED to go and do the dungeon part, or else it's game over and you need to restart from a week before (or sort of). The days aren't counted but you definitely have less than 2 weeks for upgrading and training your characters, AND also study, AND increase social links, and so this makes a huge mess in organizing your daily routine and studies. Not only that, you can do dungeon only during the afternoon, and this is a HUGE issue also. While in the previous you went into the dungeon at night (I'm sorry if i compare, not my usual way, but it's just for showing a particular flaw), that meant that you could easily upgrade your social links AND also go to the dungeon. There were social links also at night, but far less than in daylight, and you could easily do a lot in a single day. In here, if we go to the dungeon, our day is ruined, and once we exit, we can only go to sleep: we can't study (and so upgrade possible social links), nor upgrade social links at all (and some are during the night, as well). In other words, there's a feel that you have to rush out and maximize AND plan each single day in a crazy way, so much that I basically did the dungeon in few days, train the most I could, and upgrade social links until the time was up. This is such a pity because even if I did enjoy the game, the story not only is far more simple, but it's also uninvolving. The story itself isn't bad, at all, but the way it's told it reminds me of those mistery show for kids and doesn't feel sometimes as serious as it should be...we're still talking about demons you know! (I know it can sound like a joke, but it feels like I'm playing a Scooby-Doo game...with a bear instead). I liked this game but I did not enjoy as the previous game, but if you liked the previous game and, of course, other games of the Shin Megami Tensei series, it's actually a game to check it out: has flaws, but also good things, but to me it's not gonna be as good as the previous game.… Expand
  3. Slsr
    Jul 26, 2013
    7
    It's rather fun game but dungeons get kinda repetitive and it eventually got boring for me, concept itself had great potential though, if writing would be better than dungeon system would be slightly more interesting this could be somewhat ideal game to me :P.
  4. death12123
    Dec 1, 2019
    5
    The weakest entry I ever made for SMT games and Persona.
    I did not like Persona 4 really. It felt way too happy and it didn't really feel like a SMT game. The story didn't grow on me whatsoever, the soundtrack became really annoying after just two hours, the characters are by far the worst choices with the worst development, the analysis characters become really annoying, the main    The weakest entry I ever made for SMT games and Persona.
    I did not like Persona 4 really. It felt way too happy and it didn't really feel like a SMT game. The story didn't grow on me whatsoever, the soundtrack became really annoying after just two hours, the characters are by far the worst choices with the worst development, the analysis characters become really annoying, the main character is the worst choice, Mr. Perfect and the school life somehow is WORSE then the 3rd game.

    I had to force myself to finish this game and the payoff wasn't even worth it. Newer fans might like it because of how happy and lighthearted it is in comparison but for me it's not worth ever playing again.    … Expand
  5. VidyaBum
    Jul 23, 2015
    5
    So I finally finished P4 on my second try. It wasn't easy.

    First major problem: Gameplay is terrible. While an RPG's value is usually in stacking different characters' powers to create a battle strategy, here no. A long explanation on how the gameplay is weak isn't necessary to explain how it sucks, I'll just give you the strategy for 90% of the fights in the game: -Use the    So I finally finished P4 on my second try. It wasn't easy.

    First major problem: Gameplay is terrible.
    While an RPG's value is usually in stacking different characters' powers to create a battle strategy, here no. A long explanation on how the gameplay is weak isn't necessary to explain how it sucks, I'll just give you the strategy for 90% of the fights in the game:

    -Use the elemental weakness of the enemy
    -Spam your strongest physical attack
    -If you have a Persona who repels the enemy attacks, put it on and then go light a smoke while the fight plays itself.

    That's IT. It counts for most bosses too! The system is so poorly done that while you have all the basic RPG elements of buffing/debuffing, status effects and elementals, apart from bosses the way those are implemented make them wholly useless. You're almost always better off spamming the same 2-3 strategies for EVERY single fight. In short the gameplay is painfully uninteresting.

    Second major problem: Anime.
    Now you might think " well duh, this is an anime game", but Persona wasn't nearly so anime before. It was a dating sim in Persona 3, but it was a dating sim with a tons of dark, gloomy, depressed, sad, and deep characters. While the depth is very present in this game and every character feels well rounded and realistic, an ungodly amount of them feel like the worst saturday morning anime you can think of.

    This game in short has about 3/4th of its stories that try to be slices of life, but they're all very boring and the worst kind of anime stories, they're overly lovey-dovey/yay for the power of friendship and love, but they all fall incredibly flat.

    And to give a clear example on what I despise with a lot of social links:
    Yukiko 1: "I want to not inherit my Inn!"
    -Me : "Ok then cool"
    Yukiko 2-9: "Let's go out buy eggs and talk and let me tell you about my life of being a good, plain girl who does what she's told but feels a little cramped!"
    -Me: "ok whatever"
    Yukiko 10: "In the end I'll inherit the inn because that's where I belong!"
    -Me: "....why was I here?!"

    How am I of any importance to her personal dilemma? None of her decisions are influenced by me. Her entire social link is taking her out to boring places, nothing fun or special happens and I don't feel like I'm ever being anything else than "the guy" while she's "the girl". My interest is dead for so many social links because I feel special to nobody and nobody feels special except Kanji, the Dojimas, and the stepmother who can't communicate with her son. With these I either feel like I'm facing a very tragic and peculiar life situation, or like I'm being helpful and special to these people. It feels good and it's what P3 did with great talent at almost every single social link. P4 is riddled with failures in comparison.

    That also applies to the main storyline. The story essentially repeats itself 5 times doing the same predictable, boring, annoying, and honestly offensively stupid pattern:

    Midnight channel shows shape. Shape is x character. Stupid Yosuke calls every time to say "hey, did you just see what you just saw?!". Try to save x character from being kidnapped. Always fail. Always go into dungeon and save x character. x character is now a part of the Team!

    More than FOUR TIMES the same storyline with Yukiko, Kanji, Rise, Naoto, and the others. The 4 I just cited are almost carbon copies of one another! Nothing is as infuriating as knowing that what I'm currently doing is pointless because the plot said so, and still the game makes me do it anyway!
    When Mitsuo Kubo is brought back and the entire team lashes out at him, I cringed more than I did even in the worst final fantasies. HE IS SO OBVIOUSLY NOT THE KILLER. A MILLION ELEMENTS INDICATE HE'S NOT THE KILLER. WHY IS THIS STUPID GAME GIVING ME SCENES OF HIM BEING HATED ON WHEN HE'S THE MOST OBVIOUS RED HERRING THERE IS.

    The story takes me for an idiot...

    Lastly, the game is plainly tone-deaf.
    P3, again, was dark through and through. All the characters were dark, all the stories were sad or tragic.
    P4 feels like this.
    "Hey, let's go to the beach have fun! We'll take some drinks and swim and maybe take a peek at the girls' boobs!
    -Yosuke you pervert!
    -Hey let's not also forget if we haven't killed the bad guy in two days time the world will be destroyed!
    -Yo Naoto, make me a man!
    -Secretly the killer may be watching us!
    -Yay! Look at me girls, isn't Teddie the sexiest thing alive!
    -OOOOH, I saw a dark Shadow last night in the fog!
    -Hey, the Death Star!"
    What. The. Hell.

    Fix a tone! Are you trying to be animeshtt or to be taken seriously?! Because as is, it's a horrible mess that never knows what it's trying to make me feel, a kinda dull teenage anime story or something dark and profound about the hidden side of the human soul, I never know and it's horrible.

    To conclude, like all Persona games this game is super rich and has so many little gems that it still earns a 5, but it falls very short of the previous Personas.    … Expand
  6. HuffmanJ.
    Dec 15, 2008
    5
    This game is just trying to coerce more money out of the fan's pockets. Barely any work was done for the localization. The translation is iffy. The voice acting is poor. Atlas insists that Japanese honorifics are included into the game on top of saying "Mr," Mrs," et cetera. It is a sloppy patchwork job. The music is good as it is with Persona 3. The story feels like something out of This game is just trying to coerce more money out of the fan's pockets. Barely any work was done for the localization. The translation is iffy. The voice acting is poor. Atlas insists that Japanese honorifics are included into the game on top of saying "Mr," Mrs," et cetera. It is a sloppy patchwork job. The music is good as it is with Persona 3. The story feels like something out of Scooby Doo. Horribly cliched and much of the plot is cringe-worthy and often you will spend 30 minutes pressing x to get through cheesy dialogue before you can move onto fighting again The battle system is quite good. The grinding is horrible. The game's style is good. I'd have to say that young kids will enjoy this game, but with the adult themes that are included... I'm really puzzled with whom Persona 4 is meant for. Just a poor game all around. I would expect only kids would have the attention span or desire to play through it.… Expand
  7. Steeldude
    May 5, 2015
    6
    Even though I was not very impressed with P3, I decided not to give up and try Persona 4, as it was praised a lot more. So, is it a better game? Well ... It's hard to say.

    Positives: - Compared to P3, the characters and the story are slightly more interesting which is definitely a positive. - Visual novel/dating-sim portion of the game is as fun as in P3. Mixed opinion: - The    Even though I was not very impressed with P3, I decided not to give up and try Persona 4, as it was praised a lot more. So, is it a better game? Well ... It's hard to say.

    Positives:
    - Compared to P3, the characters and the story are slightly more interesting which is definitely a positive.
    - Visual novel/dating-sim portion of the game is as fun as in P3.

    Mixed opinion:
    - The super long boring Tartarus is no longer present (thank god), but on the other hand, this time you have to go through 8 or so dungeons whose floors are much bigger than in P3 and you have to do so without healing midway, so it's practically the same thing.

    - The combat is as dull and stupid as in P3 and the dungeons may have different visual look, but are still boring and there are only long hallways and rooms in the shape of a square to be found there.

    Negatives:
    - The gibberish in musical themes is pretty annoying.

    - Considering this is the 4th game in the series, I can't understand why the RPG elements in this game still suck so bad. Analysis is useless and doesn't do anything, enemies can inflict status changes on your whole party, thus preventing you from being able to recover, some enemies use 1-KO attacks that you cannot predict, when your hero dies you automatically lose the game and you cannot revive your hero even if you have a reviving skill in your party (probably the biggest **** in the whole game) etc.
    Once again, I have to say that the RPG part is bad and shouldn't be a part of this game. It should be a VN/dating-sim instead.

    - The ending is bad and the real killer's motive is stupid.

    - Persona Fusion never allows you to select the attacks that you want to have, thus making it better to have 2 Personas with different abilities as opposed to having a stronger Persona with only 1/4 of the abilities that you need.

    All in all, even though there are some improvements in this game, the fact that the RPG part of the game brings the game down still applies. The ruined ending does not help either. So, I have to give this game the same rating as P3. It's a **** RPG game, but a solid VN/dating-sim.    … Expand
  8. Schism78
    Jul 24, 2018
    7
    I was never really into the J-Rpg, but this game, even if you do not like it, is worth playing.
    7.5
  9. Shimmeywill
    Feb 19, 2020
    5
    Great music and presentation doesn't overcome the average gameplay and mediocre writing.
  10. BambiRue
    Mar 30, 2020
    5
    Good game, but far from perfect.

    The game has some really good elements, a concrete story, and great battle system, but this is probably my least favorite persona game. The plot is TOO happy (with music to match) and it makes the game being about murder off putting and you'd wonder how a game that is a cousin of the SMT series came out with this. The characters are so really boring -    Good game, but far from perfect.

    The game has some really good elements, a concrete story, and great battle system, but this is probably my least favorite persona game. The plot is TOO happy (with music to match) and it makes the game being about murder off putting and you'd wonder how a game that is a cousin of the SMT series came out with this.

    The characters are so really boring - other call it 'realistic' but some of the characters life issues come across as whiny and makes them unlikable. They are also the type to sit around and wait while someone is dying in another dimension and it feels in character considering the snarky comments they like to make towards eachother. If I wanted this kind of dull and mean I'd go talk to random people off of the street and not play a video game. The weather mechanic also was a lot less straightforward than following moon cycles like Persona 3.

    But when it is good, it is really good. The murder storyline was good, the twists were good, and the use of 'your true self' laid bare is good as both a story beat for developing characters and great for boss battles and creative imagery in the dungeons.

    So while I don't think it is unplayable, I think 'overated' would be a good word for this game.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PS2 Game of 2008
1
#1 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2008
1
#1 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 47 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 45 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 47
  3. Negative: 0 out of 47
  1. RPG Fan
    94
    Among the cookie-cutter sequels and half-hearted remakes, Persona 4 is a near flawless example of the perfect balance between "falling back on what works" and "pushing the genre forward." That said, I wholeheartedly recommend it as one of the best RPG experiences of the year.
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  2. Gamervision
    100
    An outstanding achievement in gaming. There’s no question that this is going to be one of my top games of the year, and any fan of JRPGs should be playing it when it’s released next week.
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  3. 1UP
    100
    What really sets Persona 4 apart, though, is its endearing, relatable cast.
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