SMT Persona 4 Golden is Golden

Shin Megami Tensei Persona 4 (Playstation Vita) was plenty nice on its own. Old school mystery combined with elements of the supernatural, the mythological, and the what-the-heck made for a perfect game to play when you're looking to wile away the hours. Personally it still irks me a little whenever the main protagonist of a game is silent, but I'll get over it.

 

For those who know little of Persona 4, a one-line summary would be this: Several high school kids gather in a country town to solve a murder case that takes place inside...a television set? Bizarre as that may be, it's true! And skipping over the obvious act of simply showing the adults proof that people can go inside TVs, a couple of high schoolers are convinced only they can solve the case. As they delve deeper into not only the identity of the culprit and victims, the protagonists have to figure out their own internal issues and battle strange monsters along the way.

 

How's that for a one-paragraph summary?

 

Besides bringing back the old, Persona 4 Golden has a knack for upgrades that have multiple versions to a single scene and sub-plots that grab at the heartstrings. This game caters to mystery lovers, romance goers, RPG players, Persona criers, and fans of slapstick comedy between characters. Don't think that I don't notice how most of Persona 4 Golden's changes are packed near the end of the game instead of being scattered throughout, when everything is almost over, but the little changes dabbed here and there are enough to hook a player and hold them until the bigger treats arrive. New characters, new music, new animations with old characters, extended epilogues, scooter rides to expanded areas, a dozen new ways to do the same thing all over again, such as expanding every Persona you have to the max possible stats, and a simply adorable fast forward feature make Persona 4 Golden a joy to replay over and over until someone cries mercy.

 

 

Rarely do I say a game is worth the money, but yes. Persona 4 Golden is worth the money. It casts a wide net for a even wider range of audiences and has enough to satisfy everyone from the casual to the hardcore type of gamer. Considering that the SMT Persona series don't catch everyone's eye right off the bat, that's pretty impressive.