Persona 4 Golden

If you’re worried about Persona 4 Golden showing its old age, don’t, because it maintains its allure and sparkle even after being buried away on the PlayStation Vita for over a decade. Atlus has managed to make the re-release of a re-release of a game that came out in 2008 feel like a fresh new experience. Persona 4 Golden is an absolute must play for any Persona fan, with its immaculate soundtrack, colorful cast of characters, and addictive gameplay loop.

Truly a standout JRPG experience, Persona 4 Golden is easily a must-play for any self-respecting RPG fan. Great visuals, excellent music and sound production, and one of best narratives in any RPG cement Persona 4 among the greatest experiences on PS2, PS Vita, and now the modern suite of consoles. Recycled elements from previous entries in the series may annoy some players especially when played in sequence, but while it is showing its age in some other respects, this hardly detracts from the impeccable gold standard it sets for its peers.

I understand that Persona 4 Golden has a special place in the hearts of those who played it and want to revisit the classic, and that it's still a great choice for those who have never played it, but an addition to the story, new Personas or even a more elaborate work with graphics could've brought this still excellent RPG to a new high in 2023.

An immaculate RPG packed with great characters and built on a near flawless gameplay loop, it's still hard to top Persona 4 Golden. Without a doubt, there are a lot of things that Persona 5 does better, but with its bright colours, uplifting soundtrack, and superb setting, there's a unique charm to Persona 4 that sets it apart from its peers. An absolute gem of a game.

Persona 4 Golden is like that bedside book that you are so fond of, a world that you want to return to again and again to meet characters you even dream of. If you forgive the passage of time, we are facing a title that even surpasses the fifth installment, bridging the gap.

Persona 4 Golden is a masterpiece and one of the best JRPGs ever. If you've waited for a competent version of Persona 4 Golden on PS4, your wait has been worth it, but Atlus should've done more for those playing on PS5 and PS4 Pro.

Persona 4 Golden is just as good as the fifth game despite the years it takes. It is a dark world in which we will spend hundreds of hours fighting enemy forces on the one hand, and dealing with our daily lives on the other.

Despite being essentially the same game that was first released over a decade ago, Persona 4 Golden manages to avoid feeling dated to this day. A great cast of characters, an intriguing murder mystery story, and satisfying storytelling that moves at an unhurried pace are all completed by fun combat mechanics to preserve the game’s high standard. Even as the Golden iteration added some new content to it, these core sentiments remain largely unchanged. With a handful of exceptions, the majority of Social Links and sidequests underwhelm, while dungeons can be lengthy chores and the day-by-day calendar system makes completing all the behind-the-scenes checklists unnecessarily stressful, but though these annoyances require some getting used to, the game ultimately remains as much worth playing today as ever. The PlayStation 4 release may not bring anything new to the table, but those who’ve never experienced the game before will find a filling and satisfying meal awaits.

It’s hard to say P4G is definitely better. While still somewhat procedurally generated, the dungeons feel like more of a slog given how the design, heavy on long corridors, makes thing more spread out, and while there are great stories in the social links they can certainly sag a bit. The focus on boundary-pushing inner turmoil hasn’t aged as gracefully as some might remember either, Kanji’s struggle with masculinity and Naoto’s with gender both weak swings that never amount to much.2 Still a fantastic adventure, but not the shining jewel it was once touted as. [Issue#24, p.82]

Persona 4 Golden remains a very good JRPG, but the most important virtue of this re-release is that it makes you appreciate even more Persona 5 and the later entries. Unfortunately, this remaster will not make the list of best practices. In particular, the graphics are underwhelming, so only those with nostalgia for the PS2 era will probably be able to enjoy it fully. The rest of the players will tolerate it together with other quirks of the game, in order see through the great story, while focusing on the gameplay experience. With some more effort and budget invested, we could have gotten a true remaster, which could have elevated the entire game and make it memorable for new audiences.