Persona 4 Golden Review: I am a Shadow, the True Self

To wrap up reviews on all the modern Persona games, today, here’s the review for Persona 4 Golden, or P4G. If you want to hear my thoughts on Persona 3 Portable or Persona 5 Royal, those reviews are here on this site as well. So, without further ado, let’s get into this review. As per usual, please be aware of spoilers. I’ll try to keep them to a minimum, but no guarantees from this point onward.

Now, if you’ve read any of my other Persona reviews, then you’ve probably realized that I’ve rated them all the same. A 10 out of 10, and I wouldn’t be surprised by your skepticisms on why that’s the case. To me, these perfect scores have less to do with these being perfect games, even though they are pretty close, but more based on my enjoyment and how much I would be willing to replay these games. Persona 3, 4, and 5 are all great games that any fans of RPGs should try without a doubt. As this is another Persona review, I’ll be referring to the protagonist as Yu Narukami.

Persona 4 Golden Review

So, to start for my Persona 4 Golden review, let’s start with the gameplay and user interface. Just like the other entries in the series, Persona 4 Golden follows the same formula. Half of the game is spent in the real world, building up Social Links and raising social stats. The other is spent in dungeons, and for this game, this would be the TV World.

When it comes to the set up, Persona 4 Golden is just as you expect for any of the Persona games. Personally, I think this game does it the best when it comes to the dungeons. The real world segments of the game are almost identical in the three games. So if you enjoy exploring the setting and meeting people, in this case, the people of Inaba, then you’ll find enjoyment in this game for that. I personally think Persona 4 Golden has the best characters and settings, but we will discuss that later.

What I will discuss are the dungeons, which I believe Persona 4 Golden does the best out of the three games I’ve played. Where Persona 3 Portable was long for the numerous floors of Tartarus the characters climb, and Persona 5 Royal combined Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable’s style of dungeons, I believe Persona 4 Golden strikes the perfect balance. Gone are the endless floors of Tartarus. Instead, each dungeon is tied to a character. Yes, you will have to climb many floors again, but this time, they cap out at 10, which is reasonable compared to the 50 plus sections of Tartarus per plot point.

All the dungeons in Persona 4 Golden have their own personalities. The songs that play in the background perfectly reflect the world and they are great songs to listen to. Even the controversial Hollow Forest dungeon was fun. I think that was the dungeon I had the most difficulty with, but that’s only because of how under prepared I was.

It was a challenge, but a fun one. Back to the topic at hand, I really think Persona 4 Golden had that perfect balance for dungeon design. They were all unique and fun. They never overstayed their welcome. And they all had great OSTs. This style of dungeon is arguably the best between Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal.

Now, when it comes to the user interface, I think the thing that Persona 4 Golden loses out on is the summoning of personas in battle. In Persona 3 Portable, the characters summon their personas by pointing their evokers to their heads and pulling the trigger. Absolutely metal. In Persona 5 Royal, each Phantom Thief pulls off their masks to reveal their personas. Also very cool.

In Persona 4 Golden, the characters would destroy the arcana of the persona they are trying to summon. Although each member of the investigation team has their own way of summoning their personas, it doesn’t have that same oomph as the other games. Yu crushing his arcana, or Naoto shooting theirs is cool, but I prefer the other ones instead. Just putting it out there, my favourite summoning method is the Persona 3 version.

When it comes to atmosphere, I think now it’s a good time to discuss the soundtrack. As usual, Persona games have amazing soundtracks. Persona 4 Golden is no exception. From I’ll Face Myself, and all its other renditions, to Pursuing My True Self, to specialist, to even Your Affection, none of the songs miss.

I particularly enjoyed Heaven for the dungeon it played in, and even SNOWFLAKES, which played in the notorious Hollow Forest dungeon. All great songs, and also an OST I recommend listening to. Never More is a great ending theme as well. Not as good as Memories of You from Persona 3, but it’s still up there.

After the OST, let’s discuss the plot of this game. Compared to ending the Dark Hour in Persona 3 Portable or changing the hearts of corrupt adults in Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden follows a murder mystery. After Yu arrives in Inaba, a small town out in the sticks, as it is referred to in game, two murders happen. Due to the supernatural nature of the murders, it’s up to our investigation team to solve this murder.

Personally, I enjoyed this kind of story. It was nice going around the town collecting clues and trying to solve this mystery along with the characters in the game. I can’t say the real culprit really surprised me, but seeing the change in that character before and after finding out they are the culprit was great.

Now, in Golden, there is additional plot after the murderer is caught, and it revolves around Marie, the new character introduced in this expansion. I personally liked the addition to the story, as it concluded the story in a nice way and tied up loose ends. All in all, a solid story and a fun one to experience for the first time. There were many things that happened throughout the story that I didn’t expect. I don’t want to get into too many specifics, as this is the kind of story you need to experience for yourself.

Now the final two aspects I want to discuss are the setting and the characters. And these are the two aspects that I think are the best between the three main titles.

So, to start, we have the setting. Persona 4 Golden is set in Inaba, a small town far away from urbanized communities. I think what makes Persona 4 Golden have such a great setting is that the community feels smaller and homier. When you walk through the town, you get a sense of a strong community. Pair this with the murder mystery of a plot, and you get really sucked into the place.

You can really see the effects of your progress on the case as the game goes on. Comparing this to Persona 5 Royal, which is set in Tokyo, and everything there feels a lot higher paced. In Persona 4 Golden, you get to grow up with the town as you play. And just like the characters, it might not seem like much at the beginning, but it really sucks you in with its charms. By the end of the game, I really appreciated the smaller setting, and during the epilogue, I even felt a sense of nostalgia when walking through the town.

Now, I think the greatest strength of Persona 4 Golden is the main cast of characters, our investigation team. Compared to the other main characters from the other two games, I would argue that the group in Persona 4 Golden are the only ones where the friend group feels like a real friend group. Not only are the interactions between the members natural, but they also act like any big friend group as well.

During the game, you have the opportunity to start a relationship with certain characters, and depending on the choices you made, there are small changes in the dialogue to reflect those changes in the relationship. All the characters have natural chemistry with each other too. For the investigation team, you can tell that they’re all great friends outside of the investigation team.

I think this is what is missing from S.E.E.S. or the Phantom Thieves. Outside of the story, it’s harder to see these characters being the close friends that they seem to be for plot purposes. I know this might sound cliché, but it reminds me of my friends groups, and it was fun to experience the game with these characters besides me.

Since the best part of this game are the characters, I’m going to give some of the backstory on the investigation team and some of the other important characters. Now, this section will contain spoilers, so please be warned.

So, first let’s go over Yosuke Hanamura, the best friend archetype. Normally, these characters are quite shallow, but I think what I appreciate about Yosuke’s character is his dynamic with the group and the town as a whole. Yosuke, like Yu, moved in from the city. Being the manager’s son of a franchise department store, think your Walmart or Superstore, he was always treated a bit like an outsider and never had many friends.

It was great watching him develop to appreciate the town and everyone in it. Chie Satonaka is the other founding member of the investigation team alongside Yu and Yosuke. Chie is your typical tomboy, with a passion for kung fu. Her best friend is Yukiko Amagi, the next in line to take over her family business running the Amagi Inn. The two share a close friendship, but are jealous of each other’s strengths. Chie was always teh strong one, who would always protect Yukiko. However, Yukiko was always the prettier, who was always approached by the boys in her class.

Teddie is a being that the team meets in the TV world who always sports a bear costume. His story has too many story spoilers in it, but his whole arc is about finding himself and a place in the world. The next member to join the team is Kanji Tatsumi, a typical delinquent. However, Kanji has a heart of gold and only puts on airs to appear more frightening to hide his softer personality. His whole arc revolves around accepting the less masculine parts of his personality and to be true to himself.

Following Kanji, we have Rise Kujikawa. Rise was part of the entertainment industry as an idol. Eventually, the pressures got to her, which led to a temporary hiatus. Her whole story arc is about finding out her passion and accepting that her idol persona is still a part of herself. The final member to join is Naoto Shirogane, also known as the Prince Detective. Contrary to the name, Naoto is actually a female.

Her whole story arc revolves around accepting herself and to stop trying to be someone she isn’t. At the start of the game, Naoto dresses more boyish and acts more mature, as that is the only way she believes she’ll be shown respect while working as a detective. I know I scratched the surface level of these characters, but they have a surprising amount of depth to them. As I mentioned before, they also share great chemistry between each other and as a group as a whole.

Besides our main cast, the supporting characters are also great. Ryotaro Dojima is yu’s uncle, and his guardian while Yu moved to Inaba while his parents worked abroad. While being a detective, Dojima learns to balance his work life with his personal life, while also dealing with the grief of losing his wife to a hit and run. Not only did Dojima lose his wife, but the case is a cold one, and all leads are practically non-existent.

The only thing keeping him going is Nanako, his daughter. Nanako was also a surprisingly great character, almost like a little sister to Yu. I think what’s tragic about her character is how much she’s forced to grow up after losing her mom at a young age. In the game, Nanako is 6, but she also has to handle most of the household chores since her father is always busy with detective work.

Now, the final character I want to mention is Marie, the new one added to Persona 4 for the Golden expansion. Marie plays a surprising pivotal role in the later parts of the story. She is your typical tsundere. Cold and mean on the outside, but has a soft spot behind the walls she’s made. She also has amnesia. I really enjoyed the addition of her character and it added an extra layer to the story.

Beside the game, Persona 4 also has two animated series. One is the animated series for the original Persona 4. The other is for the Golden expansion. Where the first animated series deals with the plot points, the Golden animated series essentially feels like an animated version of Marie’s Social Link. In the anime, Marie’s presence is added more to the major plot points of Persona 4, which gave me a greater appreciation of her character. Either way, solid character, and I loved her addition.

Overall, Persona 4 Golden was a masterpiece of a game. Honestly, until I finish Persona 3 Reload, I think Persona 4 Golden might be my favourite Persona game I’ve finished to date. I think what solidified this as my favourite game is due to the epilogue at the end. Both Persona 3 and Persona 5 had great endings as well, but there was an extra layer in Persona 4 that I experienced. By the end of the game, Yu has to return to the city, but promises to visit Inaba during the summer break.

While this scene was happening, I could feel the sadness and longing that the other characters were feeling too. It was a bittersweet moment, and I realized I loved that town and the people in it. I think what made it better is that in Golden, after Yu leaves, we get another scene months into the future where the group gets back together.

There, you see that everyone has grown up a little and changed after everything they’ve gone through. Even though in real life, it was a few seconds between the scenes, when I saw them again in that last cutscene, it felt as if I was visiting again after a long time. It was a magical feeling, and it was a great end to a great game.

If you haven’t played the game before, I would highly recommend it. If you haven’t played Persona at all, I would recommend it. If you’re a fan of RPGs and don’t mind reading, I would recommend it. It’s a great experience that everyone should enjoy at least once in their life.