For more than a decade now, fans of Atlus’ Persona series have been raving about every new release. Persona 3 was seen as a revelation among RPG fans upon its original PS2 release and it only got better with the expanded FES re-release. Persona 4, similarly, was praised as possibly the best RPG on Sony’s aging system back when it came out in 2008. This praise even followed over to the PS4 with Persona 5: these fans just can’t get enough.
Somehow, I had never taken the plunge over the years. Be it my general dislike of turn-based RPGs or simply not having the proper systems at the right time, I had yet to experience this weird slice of teenage existentialism. That has finally changed with Persona 4 Golden’s release on PC. Maybe it didn’t light my world on fire, but I can safely say that I finally understand the hype behind this quirky series.
Getting Schooled
The majority of this review will focus on what aspects this new PC port brings to the table, but I’ll give a quick recap for those unfamiliar with the series. Ever since the third entry, the Persona series has followed a group of high-school students as they attempt to juggle their daily responsibilities against trying to solve some kind of mystery. The specific one in 4 is that of a murder mystery, with people going missing for days on end and then turning up dead.
There is a wider plot going on that ties all of these killings together, but the basic flow of Persona 4 Golden isn’t specifically about plot twists and revelations. This is a coming of age story set against the backdrop of rural Japan. Everything P4G does is about creating the atmosphere of being a high school student, worrying about test scores, and which girl likes you while also trying to confront your true self.
The writing is what ties this all together. The plot might be a bit overstuffed for its own good, but the characters are very likable and their struggles with daily life are incredibly relatable. Short filler arcs are peppered between major story elements and that helps flesh out the setting of Inaba, Japan even more. I’m feeling nostalgic for this town and I’ve never even left the country.
About the only time where the writing falters is with a few characters that tackle LGBTQ themes. I won’t reveal anything specific, but I’m happy we’ve progressed past jokes with punchlines of, “What if he’s gay?” These moments don’t ruin the otherwise sunny and introspective plot, but they could stand to be tweaked to be less offensive in nature. They really don’t make up the majority of P4G, so you can simply let them pass by and be done with it.
Staying Engaged
The gameplay of Persona 4 Golden is where things get even more complicated. It certainly is true that the bulk of the mechanics take the form of a turn-based RPG, but it would be more accurate to say that Persona is Pokémon meets a visual novel meets a dating sim. When you’re not exploring dungeons, you’ll be tackling different multiple-choice questions when dealing with your friends and schoolwork. When you aren’t doing that, you’ll be building relationships with these friends that may result in dating someone. There’s a lot of variety here.
I’m pretty blown away at how different these segments feel from each other. It’s true that the beginning drags on for two hours with almost nothing happening, but every other moment sees you engaging with a unique system. That helps keep the 70-hour campaign from feeling like a complete drag. Even the bits that are so clearly filler remain interesting because of your interactions.
There’s a lot I could keep talking about, but Persona 4 Golden is a game you should experience firsthand to find out if it’s for you. A description won’t give the entire picture: I know my past knowledge of the series certainly didn’t prepare me for what I played. I thought it was just a standard JRPG and hadn’t realized there were elements of Shenmue and Phoenix Wright in it.
With regards to this new PC port, the biggest change over the previously available versions would be HD resolution output. You can finally run P4G at 4K, though the menu has a weird glitch in where it lists the setting as 1440p. Since this is based on the Vita port, it’s almost guaranteed to run on any machine configuration possible.
There were a few bits where I noticed stuttering (mostly during All-Out Attacks in combat), but performance issues are minimal. Some graphical glitches pop up, but there are no crashes, no overly long load times, and certainly no gameplay bugs. Where this port falters is that there isn’t a lot of customization. You won’t be able to tweak literally anything about the graphics, but I’m not sure why you would need to.
On my aging PC, I was getting north of 100 FPS all of the time. That did create some strange ghosting when character models moved across the screen, but otherwise, it runs and looks perfectly fine. It is a remarkably clean game once you’re able to push past the 540p of the Vita port.
Sound quality could be a little better in that different effects sound compressed. Even the dialogue is similar, but the music is pristine and clear. You’re able to use mouse/keyboard to control the game with mostly rebindable controls. Gamepad support is included, too (with prompts for both PS4 and Xbox One controllers), though I encountered a small bug where the A button would double press at random.
SHOO-BEE-DOO-BEE!
There’s really not much else to say about what Atlus has provided here. It’s a fairly basic port, but one that runs without a hitch. That it comes in at $19.99 means I can accept the mostly barebones offering. You’re getting the full game with all of its Vita extras for cheaper than it has ever been.
Maybe this new release could have been a chance for Atlus to tweak other aspects of the game, but Persona 4 Golden remains a thoroughly enjoyable romp through teenage life. If you have any interest in the setting or genre mash-up games, don’t hesitate to grab this.
A PC copy of Persona 4 Golden was provided to TheGamer for this review. Persona 4 Golden is available now for PC and PlayStation Vita.
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