Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4

 PlayStation 2
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 943 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 713 out of 943
  2. Mixed: 44 out of 943
  3. Negative: 186 out of 943
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  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. Shimmeywill
    Feb 19, 2020
    5
    Great music and presentation doesn't overcome the average gameplay and mediocre writing.
  5. 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
  6. shootingstars99
    Aug 23, 2019
    4
    This game has to have been written by a turtle with how slow it is, there is so much talking that ultimately goes nowhere in a majority of the cutscenes, and like Persona 3, everything between "Date A" and "Date B" where the plot will progress just feels like filler. The initial mystery is hooking, but when almost everyone's shadows center around their teenage angst and how flustered theyThis game has to have been written by a turtle with how slow it is, there is so much talking that ultimately goes nowhere in a majority of the cutscenes, and like Persona 3, everything between "Date A" and "Date B" where the plot will progress just feels like filler. The initial mystery is hooking, but when almost everyone's shadows center around their teenage angst and how flustered they are with their sexuality or gender, the mystery ultimately goes nowhere until much later in the game, taking a back seat for quite a while so we can watch what makes Kanji all hot and bothered... This game could go from 70+ hours to 15-25 if the plot was devoid of filler. At least in this one you can actually choose to control every party member...… Expand
  7. Dumbass555
    Aug 23, 2023
    4
    Although it is a very good game nice story and gameplay
    It is just too grindy
    Like when you play the game for 50 hours trying to level up you will only level up by 4 levels
  8. ookami
    May 25, 2013
    3
    I feel like I am the only person who just didn't get this game. I enjoy a great engaging story line but I just did not find it with this. Forget that it took me 5 hours of real game time to actually have my first battle because the introduction took so long but I really didn't find this game enjoyable. I didn't like having to take on part time jobs or join clubs, it felt like I was beingI feel like I am the only person who just didn't get this game. I enjoy a great engaging story line but I just did not find it with this. Forget that it took me 5 hours of real game time to actually have my first battle because the introduction took so long but I really didn't find this game enjoyable. I didn't like having to take on part time jobs or join clubs, it felt like I was being forced into these things when I really wanted to go out and kill something. Then the game gives you a guilt trip if you don't actually engage in these extra activities. I didn't like being forced to follow a calendar, or have to figure out when I am supposed to do XYZ, and if I miss the time then you supposedly miss a major event. Ain't nobody got time for that. I tried my hand at this game several times, I really tried, and I just couldn't continue with it. I suppose I am just the other side of the bell curve in this game because everyone else seems to love it. I didn't enjoy it. I felt I should post my review only because it has so many positive scores I wanted it said that not everybody enjoyed or connected with this game. I certainly didn't. The bottomline for me is the story was quite interesting, thats where the 3 points come in, but delivery and execution of this game left much to be desired. The wait to actually do something like combat other than walk around and talk to people was just too long for me. If I want to socialize I'll do it with real people. As a side note I am a major RPG fan, played through many a JRPG and RPG alike, this was the first one I did not enjoy. For those that loved this game, more power to you.… Expand
  9. hggxqgaj
    Oct 20, 2011
    3
    This game has entire days worth of content.
    This content being teenage sexuality issues and level grinding.
    Now this would be fine if I cared about the characters, but I don't because the horrendous voice acting and awkward dialogue makes the already fairly bland character completely unlikable, which in a game that's basically a character study with a tacked on dungeon crawler is an    This game has entire days worth of content.
    This content being teenage sexuality issues and level grinding.
    Now this would be fine if I cared about the characters, but I don't because the horrendous voice acting and awkward dialogue makes the already fairly bland character completely unlikable, which in a game that's basically a character study with a tacked on dungeon crawler is an unforgivable sin.    … Expand
  10. Jabbernec
    Aug 17, 2013
    3
    Nearly the same game as Persona 3 with better graphics, but not as interesting overall. Same combat, same daily grind..really should have done something more with it, but if you've never played a Persona game, try this and Persona 1
  11. MoonCanLight
    Feb 11, 2019
    3
    This could be really nice game, but 3 things throw it out from my best 10 games list. 1. school events was really bad written and had something I hate in japanese culture. Bullying boys by girls in anime always acts on my nerves, and all school events in P4 was the same. Even main hero's girlfriend acts like she hate him, when it comes to main story events. 2. In main story, when you tryThis could be really nice game, but 3 things throw it out from my best 10 games list. 1. school events was really bad written and had something I hate in japanese culture. Bullying boys by girls in anime always acts on my nerves, and all school events in P4 was the same. Even main hero's girlfriend acts like she hate him, when it comes to main story events. 2. In main story, when you try to resolve mystery, even when you have to choose what to say, someone always repeat what you just said and all characters ignore fact that you said it first. It is stupid and takes away all satisfaction. 3. fighting shadows is really boring and frustrating, when you need to analyze every new enemy to find its weaknesses.… Expand
  12. anthonybobby
    Jul 22, 2021
    0
    The negative people, take your negative asses outta here! I've had it with hate! OUT! OUT!!!
  13. SyStematicalAB1
    Jul 26, 2019
    0
    I rather play fortnite than this crap. Persona 4 is absolute poop, no metaverse...
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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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