Persona 4 Arena

 PlayStation 3
User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 380 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 198 out of 380
  2. Mixed: 23 out of 380
  3. Negative: 159 out of 380
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  1. Ramen_King
    Aug 17, 2012
    5
    10/10 for the game. Excellent fighter, arguably the best Arc System Works game since BlazBlue.

    Bu, unfortunately, 1/10 for the region lock. Unless you read niche gaming blocks, you may not be aware this game contains a lockout preventing PS3s from outside of the USA and Canada from reading the disc. As I have the FFXIII limited edition PS3 from Japan, I cannot play the game. I    10/10 for the game. Excellent fighter, arguably the best Arc System Works game since BlazBlue.

    Bu, unfortunately, 1/10 for the region lock.

    Unless you read niche gaming blocks, you may not be aware this game contains a lockout preventing PS3s from outside of the USA and Canada from reading the disc.

    As I have the FFXIII limited edition PS3 from Japan, I cannot play the game. I bought it completely unaware of this, and now am stuck with a $60 coaster. After googling the issue I found information on it, but now it is too late. I will have to purchase a Japanese copy of the game to play it.

    If you have a USA PS3, I highly recommend this game as it is amazing, but if your console is imported be aware you will have to buy the version that matches your region or it will not work.

    Atlus, in the future if you must region lock again, please print a warning sticker or something to prevent unaware buyers from purchasing the game. Nothing sucks more than playing $60 to be stuck with a coaster.    … Expand
  2. tenforten
    May 1, 2020
    7
    How I rate games:
    Game-play, Music/Sound, Graphics & Visuals, Story/World-building, and Characters each get 0-2 points adding up to a score /10. 0 is non-existent or bad, 1 is average or N/A, and 2 is better than average.
    Game-play: 0 For a fighting game, the game play is very broken with some character being gods or having spam-able abilities while others are near-useless.    How I rate games:
    Game-play, Music/Sound, Graphics & Visuals, Story/World-building, and Characters each get 0-2 points adding up to a score /10. 0 is non-existent or bad, 1 is average or N/A, and 2 is better than average.

    Game-play: 0
    For a fighting game, the game play is very broken with some character being gods or having spam-able abilities while others are near-useless.

    Music/Sound: 1
    The music has some new tracks that aren't terrible memorable and some tracks from P4. None of the sound effects are too annoying or amazing.

    Graphics & Visuals: 2
    The graphics are a fun mix of drawn images for backgrounds and pixel art that keeps the artstyle from becoming dated with time.

    Story/World-building: 2
    Oddly enough, this is the strongest part of the game. The use of adding details from P3 and interrogating them with P4's setting works wonders expanding the world and creating a story that is appropriate for the series.

    Characters: 2
    It is mostly existing characters, but the new ones are stronger than you'd expect for a spin-off.

    TOTAL: 7/10    … Expand
  3. Kai82
    May 28, 2022
    7
    A strange decision to continue the story of a RPG in a fighting game. It is as far as I can see competently made and they put a lot of effort into the game. However I was mostly here for the story and a bit out of curiosity. The game itself is a continuation from Persona 4 and Persona 3. You should definitely know these games aka the stories as you will get lost really fast otherwise. ItA strange decision to continue the story of a RPG in a fighting game. It is as far as I can see competently made and they put a lot of effort into the game. However I was mostly here for the story and a bit out of curiosity. The game itself is a continuation from Persona 4 and Persona 3. You should definitely know these games aka the stories as you will get lost really fast otherwise. It starts when the protagonist of Persona 4 Yu returns to Inaba to visit his friends. Shockingly when he and some of his friend meet the Midnight Channel that should be gone reappears and a fighting tournament is announced by one of their friends that is not present. They want to investigate this in the TV world which is a manifestation of human subconscious / mind (Without Persona 4 knowledge you are lost and it should look strange). Meanwhile the characters from Persona 3 are now part of an organization that deals with issues related to the subconscious world and are in the area investigating a missing anti Shadow weapon (Again without Persona 3 knowledge you are a bit lost). With this the story starts. I like the story and characters. The twists and reveals are nice and overall I was satisfied. However there are weaknesses. A mayor twist can be spotted from miles away, it feels a bit forced sometimes and the story is told in character chapters. You have to unlock additional chapters to continue the story and / or see other perspectives. The gameplay is O.K for me. Fighting games / beat em ups are not my favorite genre. I am familiar with Street Fighter, Tekken and Mortal Kombat but not as much to be anywhere near expert knowledge. They managed to give the Persona feeling without a doubt. The characters, move sets, Personas and areas are familiar and enjoyable. What should I say you have basic attacks, special moves, a SP gauge for devastating attacks etc. The characters are different and have their unique moves. For me it has depth and works well. I repeat take this with a grain of salt as I am no expert in the genre. I will however point out that some characters are better or easier to use. Maybe a balance issue or just my lack to use these efficiently. As other point out the same I lean more towards the issues. The presentation is top notch and they nail the visuals and style of Persona 4/3. The soundtrack and voice actors are excellent and enhance the atmosphere. Overall while it was a nice game I dislike the fighting game approach. It is not that great while I will defend that it is well made. A 7/10 is fair.… Expand
  4. DanHazy
    Feb 27, 2016
    7
    I will tell my 3 favorite games so you will know what type of gamer is writing this review.

    Atelier Totori  Danganronpa Fire Emblem  (You should know this review is of the story mode only.) THE GOOD: VOICE ACTING: Great voice acting, voice acted about 80 percent of the time.  MUSIC: Great music, from piano melodies to heavy guitar riffs.  CHARACTER CAST: Great    I will tell my 3 favorite games so you will know what type of gamer is writing this review.

    Atelier Totori 
    Danganronpa
    Fire Emblem 

    (You should know this review is of the story mode only.)

    THE GOOD:

    VOICE ACTING: Great voice acting, voice acted about 80 percent of the time. 

    MUSIC: Great music, from piano melodies to heavy guitar riffs. 

    CHARACTER CAST: Great characters and character interaction.

    GRAPHICS: Game has a great look in my opinion. My brother said he couldnt get past the fish lips though. He meant when the characters talk, the way thier mouths moved up and down very quickly looked like a fish in some way.This didnt bother me because i hardly ever looked at the mouths of the characters. When they talk, you will most likely be reading along with the text so i dont think this will be an issue for too many people. It was worth mentioning though. 

    GAMEPLAY TIME: Long story mode for a fighting game. Over 20 hours. A lot of this time is spent reading. About 85 percent reading and 15 percent battles. Definently more of a visual novel then anything else if you are playing in story mode. This wasn't really a bad thing though. The story is written well enough to keep you rather intrigued. 

    THE BAD:

    Watching the same scenes over and over with another persons outlook got old. You will do this often. 

    Gameplay is drab. I won every fight with the same combo. If you and your opponent are running to each other, you will always get your combo in before them. Its the way the ai is programmed. I won every fight by just running up to the opponent and pressing square multiple times. Difficulty could have been amped up I believe but i didnt see the need as i dont particuraly care for fighting games anyway. Played this one mostly for the story. 

    Another slight complaint is the way you have to read the people thoughts in each character storyline. They are not voiced and the dialogue is shown in bright white letters with a bright background. Found myself squinting my eyes just to read this.You should definently take a break from this game every hour or so in my opinion. Just to let your eyes rest. I did try adjusting the brightness on my tv but it didn't help much. 

    I would reccomend this game to a persona fan who wanted to keep in the know with the story but if you dont particulary care, I might pass. You should know that this game can be bought for under a 20 dollar price tag though. 

    That wraps this review up.Hope it helps someone. Just in case you didn't catch this, Persona Ultimax is a sequel to Persona Arena and not a remake.     … Expand
  5. Fightingchances
    May 4, 2020
    5
    You’ll love it if you love persona and don’t play fighting games much, but if you actually like fighting games this is pretty broken and you’ll be annoyed with the campaigns long cutscenes.

Awards & Rankings

16
#16 Best PS3 Game of 2012
47
#47 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2012
50
#50 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 47 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 47
  3. Negative: 0 out of 47
  1. Official PlayStation Magazine Benelux
    Sep 4, 2013
    86
    Fans of the series will rejoice, but newcomers who never tuned in unto the Midnight Channel may be overwhelmed by the walls of text developer Arc Systems throws at the player. Luckily for them, there is still an arcade mode to enjoy. [June 2013, p.78]
  2. Everyeye.it
    Jul 30, 2013
    85
    Persona 4: Arena is a great fighting game, able to conquer without much difficulty the hearts of the genre lovers.
    Read full review
  3. SpazioGames
    Jul 2, 2013
    85
    It takes a lot from Blazblue's combat system, but remains a great game in its own right, due to some brilliant mechanics and a balanced and varied roster.
    Read full review
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