In recent years, the Western World seems to have veered away from Japanese RPGS. Games like Final Fantasy were out, and The Elder Scrolls were in. As a result, in the past few years there have only been a few JRPGs released, which is a huge shame as this is without a doubt one of the best genres on the market, if you are willing to put the time in at least. Just a few years back, a fantastic game was released on the Playstation 2, to very little fanfare, mainly because the PS3 was in full swing. This was Persona 4. The game which took the genre to completely new levels. The version that is the subject of this game review is Persona 4 Golden, which is basically a rather hefty 'remake' of the Playstation 2 game, and boy, are you in for something special.
Let's start with the story, as I honestly feel as though this is what makes any RPG great, even though a couple of them have had wavering stories in recent years. The story in Persona 4 is absolutely cracking, and a far cry from anything else you will find anywhere else. Rather than incorporate a ton of fantasy elements, here you are looking to at a good old crime and mystery game. The game gets incredibly deep, and it is worth playing! You will get hooked on this highly realistic story rather quickly.
When it comes to graphics they are OK, but don't expect them to be to great. The Persona 4 Golden graphics come nowhere close to what is on offer on some of the Final Fantasy Games. However, I am of the opinion that when you write a game review, the graphics should take second fiddle to the game play, and this game has some pretty serious game play mechanics, more on that soon.
Before I cover the game play though, I want to discuss the sound a little. Believe me when I say that the sound in Persona 4 Golden which absolutely blow your mind. The voice acting is absolutely top notch and this I feel helps pull you into the story. Couple this with an epic soundtrack and you truly are absorbed in the world that surrounds you. In my opinion, this is one of the games with the best sound that I have seen for a long time!
Now to cover the game play, because this is obviously what makes or breaks a game. When it comes to Persona 4 Golden, the game play is superb. If you play the game without doing anything 'special' then expect to be sinking around 60 hours of your time into the game. This is a huge amount, and obviously isn't suited for those people that love completing games in six or seven hours. One of the plus points here is that it doesn't really feel like a 'drag'. In fact, when you play Persona 4 Golden you will be hooked so much that you won't really be thinking about how much time you have invested in it.
I am not going to go too in depth on what is on offer in the game. However, expect a far amount of dungeons exploration and character building with a unique twist. Dungeon exploration involves improving your characters, and each dungeon you face has a pretty amazing boss for you to battle at the end. One of the more unique elements about this game is that you are able to build up your 'social connections' with other characters in the game, something which is important to advance. In addition to this, you have all of the standard RPG elements thrown in for good measure. If you love RPGs, you will love this. So is this game worth your purchase? Well, hopefully this game review has shown you that this is one of the better Japanese RPGs as of late, and if you love that genre then you can't go far wrong. Couple this with a lot of play time, and replay value, you would have spent your hard earned cash on one of the best games available on the Vita at the moment. This is a must buy.
Let's start with the story, as I honestly feel as though this is what makes any RPG great, even though a couple of them have had wavering stories in recent years. The story in Persona 4 is absolutely cracking, and a far cry from anything else you will find anywhere else. Rather than incorporate a ton of fantasy elements, here you are looking to at a good old crime and mystery game. The game gets incredibly deep, and it is worth playing! You will get hooked on this highly realistic story rather quickly.
When it comes to graphics they are OK, but don't expect them to be to great. The Persona 4 Golden graphics come nowhere close to what is on offer on some of the Final Fantasy Games. However, I am of the opinion that when you write a game review, the graphics should take second fiddle to the game play, and this game has some pretty serious game play mechanics, more on that soon.Before I cover the game play though, I want to discuss the sound a little. Believe me when I say that the sound in Persona 4 Golden which absolutely blow your mind. The voice acting is absolutely top notch and this I feel helps pull you into the story. Couple this with an epic soundtrack and you truly are absorbed in the world that surrounds you. In my opinion, this is one of the games with the best sound that I have seen for a long time!
Now to cover the game play, because this is obviously what makes or breaks a game. When it comes to Persona 4 Golden, the game play is superb. If you play the game without doing anything 'special' then expect to be sinking around 60 hours of your time into the game. This is a huge amount, and obviously isn't suited for those people that love completing games in six or seven hours. One of the plus points here is that it doesn't really feel like a 'drag'. In fact, when you play Persona 4 Golden you will be hooked so much that you won't really be thinking about how much time you have invested in it.
I am not going to go too in depth on what is on offer in the game. However, expect a far amount of dungeons exploration and character building with a unique twist. Dungeon exploration involves improving your characters, and each dungeon you face has a pretty amazing boss for you to battle at the end. One of the more unique elements about this game is that you are able to build up your 'social connections' with other characters in the game, something which is important to advance. In addition to this, you have all of the standard RPG elements thrown in for good measure. If you love RPGs, you will love this. So is this game worth your purchase? Well, hopefully this game review has shown you that this is one of the better Japanese RPGs as of late, and if you love that genre then you can't go far wrong. Couple this with a lot of play time, and replay value, you would have spent your hard earned cash on one of the best games available on the Vita at the moment. This is a must buy.
