Those were the fastest 79hrs and 53min of my life

[dragonlife29]

I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE GAME AS A WHOLE, SO THERE WILL BE ***SPOILERS*** YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

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First off, what the heck! Isn't it kinda risky to subject people to--what I assume is--the bad ending? I mean, that thing shaves off plenty more hours of play time! I got it and immediately knew I got the bad one because it was such a ####ing slap to the face--not funny at all. I wasn't going to take such underwhelming ####, so I had to retry three freakin' times! You know what that means!? Around 20 minutes of cut scenes, even when holding down the triangle....aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhh!!!

Obviously I failed those three times, so I went and asked on a forum for help (I was off by ONE choice on my very first attempt!), and was told that there would still be a chance I could get the bad ending, so to be careful...

I confirmed that I got the normal ending, which was pretty touching, to be honest ='( HOWEVER, THIS BRINGS ME TO MY NEXT POINT!

For the love of everything that is whatever: no more silent protagonists!!! Ugh...I get a nice ending that genuinely makes me feel for the other characters, and I'm some soulless asshole that can't do anything but "Mmm" and nod? YEAH, WAY TO SHOW YOUR AFFECTION TO THOSE YOU'VE BONDED WITH FOR OVER A YEAR, BITCH. I bet he was thinking, "Hmm...what will I have for dinner?" as he looked at them running after the train.

Ugh. He and his popped collar can die in a freakin' fire for all I care.

Seriously, though, I did feel kinda sad leaving the gang behind =( I want to see them again! ='( I want to be in Inaba again! Sequel, please! It'd be a crime not to give us one, seeing as how the game has some of the better characters-as-friends ever! ='(

Anyway, the reviews were pretty much right with the game's pacing...it is not good at all; I mean, what the heck--I have my full party after 40-50 hours of playing? That's kind of...yeah...and that's just on that one thing.

lolz, I only knew to pick Adachi as the culprit outside the Chinese place because I accidentally stumbled upon his art book page XD Of course, I was a bit slow to pick up on the fact that he was the killer since I thought maybe you'd have to save him or something, like the others, so it wasn't a total spoiler.

Anyway, Adachi's intentions could have been a little better...I don't know...it didn't feel satisfying, I guess, but it didn't really bother me...so...ambivalency is my thought on it, I guess.

Oh, and the two boss fights were pretty easy :P I know there's a whole other dungeon/boss, and while I'm somewhat disappointed I couldn't experience them, I'll live. That said, I really, really liked "The Almighty" <3 Such a cool final battle theme :D I also really liked "A New World Fool;" lolz Hippie Jesus.

Persona 4 is definitely much better than Persona 3 in like, every possible way: color palette, setting, mood, music, battle system (it's amazing that such small adjustments can double the awesomeness), characters, and so on.

One of the greatest additions ever was the wonderful SQUARE button; oh, how I love thee.

With P3, I got kindaannoyed near the end: "Ugh...come on, be over already." Not once did I feel like that in P4--ever. At one point I recall thinking, "I hope it's not over yet ='(" (It wasn't). Also, once I saw the ending credits for P3 and saved an extra file for the New Game +, I never went back--I didn't want to. I usually replay my games, but just something about P3 made me never want to touch it again (I did love the Nyx battle to death, though--that was awesome). With P4, I immediately wanted to restart (and on Expert! :D), but decided against it until I get my guidebook.

Man...I love this game. A lot.

Of course, I'm still a little heartbroken/butt-hurt because I couldn't get with Kanji T_T I coped a little by always having him in my party, though T_T (He's an awesome asset, btw). Haha, him and Teddie were probably my favorite characters XD Of course, all of them were great. I've mentioned this, but I really liked Kanji and Rise's dungeons the best...although it's kind of sad that their true selves are only brought up minimally throughout the story (as well as their S. Links--but then again, I didn' max Rise's, just Kanji's).
I wish this game success! I'm currently arranging for the friend I got into the Trauma Center series to get P4 as well--Atlus needs more love :grouphug: I'm even going to pay for half, dammmit--I want her to play it that badly >=) I told her there was a cool gay (bi?) character in it just for that extra push. Her reaction: \o/ (insta-buy!).

Oh, this game messed me up in a lot of ways, too! Thanks a lot, Atlus >_> It ruined my sleep pattern, so now I can't fall asleep until 2-3 AM; it made my usually-high hygiene go down a little :oops:; and most importantly, it made me remember that I have too much time on my hands :P

[Sseklebeast]

I just died on the True last boss ... *grumble* I'll get em soon enough! I find P4 a much more satisfying experience over P3. :)

[Iris]

The thing that really struck me the most about this game was how well the foreshadowing was handled. There were lots of hints about what was coming that didn't make me think twice until after the fact, and then I remembered them and went "aha!" You can pick up on clues but not to the point where it's slamming you in the face with them.

I really liked Adachi's motivations, myself, but I just really loved Adachi in general. He's leaped up onto a high spot in my favorite villains.

[dragonlife29]

I just died on the True last boss ... *grumble* I'll get em soon enough! I find P4 a much more satisfying experience over P3. :)Dude, I went back and got the true ending! :D The boss was cake XD

Did you beat it yet?

[Flußkönig]

I have to disagree, I though that P4 had some really serious pacing problems. This was mostly due to the extremely low dungeon crawling to social interaction ratio and the lack of events in the later months.

This was especially weird considering how many events were packed into the final month. The game would have been much better if they had scrapped the bad ending and made some of those events occur a month earlier.

I would generally take a day to get to the boss (and sometimes beat the boss on the same trip) and then beat the boss the next day. Then I would wait for a rainy day later on to finish up quests get materials and other stuff and that was the extent of my dungeon crawling for the month.

I felt that P3 did a way better job of spacing out the dungeon crawling, battle time and events so that I wasn't as bored with 20+ days of nothing to do but social interaction until the plot progressed.

[dragonlife29]

Oh, I agree ^



Anyway, the reviews were pretty much right with the game's pacing...it is not good at all; I mean, what the heck--I have my full party after 40-50 hours of playing? That's kind of...yeah...and that's just on that one thing.
Having all party members that far in was just one of my examples. I went through what you did, though...it got a little boring/annoying sometimes when I'd finish the dungeon super early and have to wait for quite a while for official story progression, and it's not like there's much reason (for me) to go back, usually.

Sometimes I'd get so bored that I'd grind, but rarely. I didn't dig the quests too much, either, but only because I wasn't concerned with them. Maybe next playthrough!

[Flußkönig]

Oh, I sort of just skimmed through the review so I guess I missed the part you quoted. :oops:

lolz, I only knew to pick Adachi as the culprit outside the Chinese place because I accidentally stumbled upon his art book page XD Of course, I was a bit slow to pick up on the fact that he was the killer since I thought maybe you'd have to save him or something, like the others, so it wasn't a total spoiler.

I am so glad I didn't look through the artbook before I beat the game.

I had ruled Adachi out as the killer in the first few months of the game due to his lameness, but after Nomatame (sp) was out Adachi was the only real choice. I thought it was obvious because the game had tried so hard to make it seem like it couldn't have been him. Plus he was the only main story character left at that point in the game.

[Sseklebeast]

I just died on the True last boss ... *grumble* I'll get em soon enough! I find P4 a much more satisfying experience over P3. :)Dude, I went back and got the true ending! :D The boss was cake XD

Did you beat it yet?

Yeah I beat it yesterday. I probably would of killed it sooner but I paced out my play times somewhat. Well, it was pretty tough for me when World's End would status effect my MC and then Send to Yomi would kill him. I have Enduring Soul but I messed up a few times and used it up in the other attempts. Debilitate + Heat Riser = win :P If I did not debilitate then Naoto and Yukiko would usually die one shot haha. I'll say it again, playing on expert was a ton of fun.

[Zephyrous]

I pretty much new it was Adachi the second I heard him speak. (why would JYB voice such a minor character? ...oh)

[dragonlife29]

Oh, I sort of just skimmed through the review so I guess I missed the part you quoted. :oops:

It isn't a review, just a rant :P

It's pretty messed up that you have to answer every one of Yosuke's questions correctly if you want the normal and true endings. It's so easy to get the bad ending that it's almost a little scary, considering that it's so underwhelming, and you're pretty much losing out on more play time.

I pretty much new it was Adachi the second I heard him speak. (why would JYB voice such a minor character? ...oh)He played one/some of the students, too.

I know where you're coming from, though, and I've caught on to Atlus's evil scheme >=) I made it a rule that if the same VA does the MC, alongside another important (READ: they have portrait art) character, that other character is the bad guy.

[Hamel]

Just finished the game yay
I thought it was Adachi the first few months but then things didn't add up (like Rise's kidnapping while we were after that guy with the camera) but when I had to chose it was obvious he was the one behind it

[ProudClod]

Just finished the game yay
I thought it was Adachi the first few months but then things didn't add up (like Rise's kidnapping while we were after that guy with the camera) but when I had to chose it was obvious he was the one behind it

Same here.

For some reason, I kept thinking it was either Adachi or Dojima. Dojima was ALWAYS out on foggy nights, and it made me really suspicious of him.

I dropped suspicion of Adachi when Rise was kidnapped, and he was with me.

Later, I dropped suspicion of Dojima when Nanako was kidnapped. I knew that even IF he was a murderer, he would NEVER in a million years kill his daughter. (especially after I maxed out his Social Link).

It was an awesome sucker punch to the face when I started putting the clues together at the end. I love me some good murder mystery! When I chose Adachi, I had this insane "A-####ing-ha!" moment.

Though to be honest, Teddie was my first choice when guessing the killer. Some of you may laugh at me, but it made sense to me, especially after finding out that he can leave his world. I mean, I wasn't really thinking straight at that point, and it WAS only a guess... But I think Teddie being the killer could've worked - at least at that point in the story.

[Hydra]

I skipped over all the theads here.... cause I have to play the game all over again....
I had no save files to back up to, and I got an ending I didn't like very much.... damn. And I had a clock time of 110 hours, too..... Skipped right over the romance plot, too; it seems. Now I gotta decide if I wanna go after the same girl again, or go for another, too. I was going to just go for all of them, just to see what happens on the second playthru; but now, I don't think I want to try that....

I didn't like the newgame+ of P3, because retain level made battles far too easy, but it seems that this newgame+ puts everyone back at level 1, for P4. Well I think it does. I haven't gotten to the point where you fight, or can open your menu yet. So, don't really have a clue what got carried over from Expert mode, to Expert mode.

Probably will have 220 hours in this game, before too long... Well, at least, I can enroll in the drama class this time around.... and maybe get all the S-links as well. Justice really messed me up a bit in that first playthru, as well as personality requirements for the others... had Justice at 9 when the game thru a curve at me. Now I know to make Justice/Hierophant a priority, with the game giving you a bit more time for Devil and Tower.

[Zambatoh]

I just finished the game today and ironically today is Dec 23rd. The day the final battle ended lol. Oh the sweet irony of it all. xD
But now that I think back on it the final battle didn't feel quite as epic as Nyx. That Eye looking thing wasn't even that powerful.
Merry Christmas everyone!

[Zephyrous]

I think back on it the final battle didn't feel quite as epic as Nyx.


The true final boss feels a LOT more like Nyx than the eye boss does.

[Zambatoh]

I think back on it the final battle didn't feel quite as epic as Nyx.


The true final boss feels a LOT more like Nyx than the eye boss does.

:o you mean...I didn't get the true ending? Doh!
That thing took a long time to kill despite its weak power levels.

[Hamel]

I think back on it the final battle didn't feel quite as epic as Nyx.


The true final boss feels a LOT more like Nyx than the eye boss does.

:o you mean...I didn't get the true ending? Doh!
That thing took a long time to kill despite its weak power levels.

Was your boss a guy or a girl?
guy-not true ending
girl-true ending

[Zambatoh]

I think back on it the final battle didn't feel quite as epic as Nyx.


The true final boss feels a LOT more like Nyx than the eye boss does.

:o you mean...I didn't get the true ending? Doh!
That thing took a long time to kill despite its weak power levels.

Was your boss a guy or a girl?
guy-not true ending
girl-true ending

uh..well it did spawn from Adachi so I guess its a dude, soooo yeah.

[dragonlife29]

Zambatoh, you can still get the true ending! Do you have a save file before or after your "final battle"? ("After" being when you're looking for your friends with MAX S. Links to say goodbye).

[Zambatoh]

Zambatoh, you can still get the true ending! Do you have a save file before or after your "final battle"? ("After" being when you're looking for your friends with MAX S. Links to say goodbye).

Not anymore. I already overwrote with my New+ data. I guess I could start over from my Beauty Pageant save to save time from starting over. What do I have to do during the goodbye scene?

[dragonlife29]

Talk to absolutely everyone; when you're done, you'll be asked if you want to go home (say "no"). Go to Junes, check the elevator, and say no once more (you'll be asked if you want to go home). Go into the food court, and you should be on your way to the true ending.

[Zambatoh]

I see. Well now I regret saving over -_-
Oh well, thats life.
Thx for the info.

[Syra]

Zambatoh, you can still get the true ending! Do you have a save file before or after your "final battle"? ("After" being when you're looking for your friends with MAX S. Links to say goodbye).

Not anymore. I already overwrote with my New+ data. I guess I could start over from my Beauty Pageant save to save time from starting over. What do I have to do during the goodbye scene?

Instead of returning home after talking to all your s.link friends, you have to go to the Junes food court(try twice, the first time it will ask you to return home again). Once there you'll unlock one final mystery to solve, leading to the final, final, final boss(It may continue to prompt a return home when entering some areas, tell it no always). I haven't actually faced the boss yet, set the game down after unlocking it so that it can last me one more day(Though I know I'll be playing a new game+ probably only hours after beating it). :P

One bonus on doing it during a new game+ is you'll supposedly get another item to face a secret boss.

The endings this time were pretty well hidden. Avoiding the bad ending was a bit overkill, but getting past the normal ending isn't bad at all. P3 made it far too simple with the "Option A or B?" approach.

[Zambatoh]

Oh I know right. P3, I was like "hmm to kill or not to kill..."
P4 on the other hand is a bit complicated with the whole 6 questions and the no...no... Food court! thing lol.

[Vigiliance Aurelious]

lawl I was liek tested the Bad Ending it's sad =/ =/ =/
and the Normal Ending it's kinda normal lawl.. but not satisfied yet...
I'm TRYING to finish the TRUE ENDING but... THE REAL PROBLEM IS..
The so-called HEAL.. My fox's social link is only Level ONE LOL..
And it's soooooooooooo EXPENSIVE X_X... so it will take time to go to the final boss =( man.. lawl.. Rise is hot XD lolz...

[Kakizaki]

^I've noticed a trend with your posts. Chill out on the emoticons please.

[Eternal Sin]

Just beat P4 on normal and saw true ending. It was definitely one of the best games i've ever played. Theres definitely room for a sequel but thats obviously not going to happen. And after seeing the true ending i see why there wont be a FES version; the true ending itself is the FES "encore" element included into the game. Still its a happy ending with a sad feel to it, i wish there would be a sequel... i wonder what SMT plans are for the next persona installment after their current project.

I love beginnings, and i hate endings. As childish as it sound i hate when things end, it makes me sad :(

[Enzo_Kensei]

Just beat the game on bad ending no. 1, bad ending no. 2 and True ending. 2 more endings! The bad ending no. 3 and the normal ending. ^^

[Gen Eric Gui]

lawl I was liek tested the Bad Ending it's sad =/ =/ =/
and the Normal Ending it's kinda normal lawl.. but not satisfied yet...
I'm TRYING to finish the TRUE ENDING but... THE REAL PROBLEM IS..
The so-called HEAL.. My fox's social link is only Level ONE LOL..
And it's soooooooooooo EXPENSIVE X_X... so it will take time to go to the final boss =( man.. lawl.. Rise is hot XD lolz...

If your Rise is level 77, go back to an early stage like Yukiko's castle and fight some battles with just normal attacks. Her Healing and Relaxing Wave skills will gradually heal you to full as you win battles.


As for figuring out if you got the true ending or not, I thought it was rather obvious. You don't unlock level MAX for the Judgement arcana until you beat Adachi, so the game has to give you SOME point in which to fuse and use that bonus EXP.

[soldat]

all in all, i didn't feel like the true ending was as...epic, i guess, as the third one. what i mean by that is that in p3, you fight death itself...holy crap, that's awesome. in this, eh...a goddess...not as epic. plus that fact that mankind would simply turn into shadows wasn;t as scary sounding as mankind just dying. plus, i really thought the villains in p3 had much better motives. Adachi threw people into the tv cause he could? sounds a lot like something takaya would do, with his whole "living for the moment" thing. anyone get what i'm sayin?

[Enzo_Kensei]

^ yeah. My opinion is that, the reason for the Tartarus and Midnight Channel to exist its because its made through mans own desires. So Takaya and Adachi were just simply an instrument for something bigger, like Nyx in P3 and Izanami in P4. I do agree though that it feels a lot more epic in P3 coz the main character fought death itself.

[cj iwakura]

I loved the true final boss, especially recalling the mythology of Izanami/Izanagi.

I can see why he left her behind, because her true form was horrifying.


The lack of VA from the main at the train was hilarious, but hey, that's just how he rolls.

I didn't think I'd want an NG+ so badly after beating it.

[Pibbman]

I have to disagree, I though that P4 had some really serious pacing problems. This was mostly due to the extremely low dungeon crawling to social interaction ratio and the lack of events in the later months.

This was especially weird considering how many events were packed into the final month. The game would have been much better if they had scrapped the bad ending and made some of those events occur a month earlier.

I would generally take a day to get to the boss (and sometimes beat the boss on the same trip) and then beat the boss the next day. Then I would wait for a rainy day later on to finish up quests get materials and other stuff and that was the extent of my dungeon crawling for the month.

I felt that P3 did a way better job of spacing out the dungeon crawling, battle time and events so that I wasn't as bored with 20+ days of nothing to do but social interaction until the plot progressed.

I completely agree with this post. Usually it only took me 2 (in-game days) to beat a dungeon, then I sat there the rest of the month just doing social links and stuff. P3 really outdid P4 in this area.

In persona 3, the events were more memorable, such as them going into the school at night, their trip to the hot spring. Heck you could actually walk around and do things on your own in these places, in P4 you just gotta sit there and read what happens with no control over it.

In Persona 3, you could also keep going up harder and harder floors, and not have to wait for some event to happen first, instead you're stop at gaining worthless exp in a world you already beat. While it's true in Persona 3, you'll eventually hit the point where you gotta wait for a block to remove in dungeon, at least it was more challenging. I wonder if it had to do more with an SP thing. They are a bit more generous this time around with how much you can have. In P3, running out of SP usually forced me to stop for a day, so it made me have to plan out things more and so forth.

To me it kinda seems like they took Persona 3, and cut some of the yummy fat off of it and called it Persona 4. There missing of Heart Items, the ability to pick what effects your weapons had (ailments), the cards like Knight, King, Queen Card. You really had a LOT more control in Persona 3, however Persona 4 does have the missing direct commands.

I also kind of miss the outfits too, what happened to the steel bikini outfit deal that P3 had? I also liked seeing the reaction that your team mates had when you gave them a new weapon and the sort. Persona 4's accessing of skill menu in dungeon is nice, especially if you want to specifically heal a single person.

In any case, Persona 4 is still an excellent game (with an awesome cast of memorable characters), but a lot of the things they took out, is what gave Persona 3 that special charm imo. I hope at the very least they go back to the same dungeon design as in Persona 3 for the next one. I can't stand fighting weaklings in dungeons just because I have to wait for an event to occur first, or maybe I'm just too damn awesome or they made difficulty easier. :X

[Hamel]

You had to wait for events in P3 too because you reach the end of a dungeon and then have to wait for a full moon

[Pibbman]

That's true, but it wasn't forced upon you. Since the boss you fought was separate from the dungeon and occurred somewhere in town. So in a way, it made you have to plan out things more.

Maybe I'm just playing Persona 4 wrong, I've noticed that fighting enemies before the boss battle is that you have more challenge, and also more EXP to gain. After the boss is defeated it's like all the sudden they are weak small shadows now. I think in my second playthrough, I'll just keep the boss battle until a day or two before the fog appears.

[Iris]

I wonder if it had to do more with an SP thing. They are a bit more generous this time around with how much you can have. In P3, running out of SP usually forced me to stop for a day, so it made me have to plan out things more and so forth.

...wait, what?

I found SP to be a far more precious commodity in P4, especially before you get the Hermit link. P3 would restore you to full if you returned to the bottom of Tartarus. Yeah, tired people would leave, but it was still very exploitable.

I also found way more SP restoratives in P3 than I did in P4. I think I had like ten Somas sitting untouched in my inventory when I finished P3. In P4 I got two the entire game.

[Gen Eric Gui]

I think in my second playthrough, I'll just keep the boss battle until a day or two before the fog appears.this is completely unrelated, but this quote just made me think of something.

Does anyone else find it weird that the -faster- you rescue somebody from the dungeons, the -longer- it takes for them to recover?

They spend one day in the TV, it takes them a month to recover. They spend a month in the TV, it takes them a day to recover.

Very strange indeed.


And to stay on topic: SP is far more precious in P4 than it ever was in P3. I hardly ever ran out of SP in P3; in P4 I often can't go a couple of floors without having to stop and regenerate my SP in some form or fashion.

[persona3rocks]

well i think they did the recovery thing so u would pace yourself through the dungeons.
well i always stocked up on the one kind of soda but the machine ran out so i always waited a week to get a ton of sodas to regenerate my SP.

[jeffx]

Does anyone else find it weird that the -faster- you rescue somebody from the dungeons, the -longer- it takes for them to recover?

Isn't it completely scripted? They become available at set dates.

[Gen Eric Gui]

You can rescue people pretty much as soon as they show up on the Midnight channel. The first day after that that you can go into the TV you can rescue them. If you rescue them early, each day, instead of saying "so-and-so is still in the TV, we should hurry and rescue them" it says "so-and-so is safe now, we just have to wait until they recover."

So like I said, the faster you get them out, the longer it takes for them to recover their strength, since you HAVE to wait until the scripted day for them to enter into the story again.

[Pibbman]

SP is definitely more precious in P4, but I feel that it came at a cost. That is normal shadows in Persona 4 are fairly easy to beat, so less SP is given because of it.

I feel the reason they did so much SP in Persona 3 was because the normal shadows were definitely more challenging. I guess it's all a matter of opinions.

In Persona 3 there was also a "status" system in place for your characters. Just because you could replenish your SP all the time didn't mean you could always keep going on, because eventually your characters get tired and go home or even get sick, and the same applies to the main character. I think that should of been left in.

[Gen Eric Gui]

I actually found the enemies in P3 to be much easier. P4 has a lot more shadows that have no weaknesses, or that reflect/absorb everything that isn't their weakness.

The "tired" status had no place in P4 with it's much shorter dungeons and daytime exploration.

[Pibbman]

The type of shadows you're talking about I haven't seen until the last 2 dungeons in the game myself.

[Gen Eric Gui]

The Table enemy in Yukiko's Castle Nulls everything except Wind, and there's a Fuzz enemy in Marukyu that repels everything except Phys.

And there are a lot of enemies that don't have weaknesses, starting with one of the Mage enemies in Yukiko's castle.

[Pibbman]

The Table enemy in Yukiko's Castle Nulls everything except Wind, and there's a Fuzz enemy in Marukyu that repels everything except Phys.

And there are a lot of enemies that don't have weaknesses, starting with one of the Mage enemies in Yukiko's castle.


You're right, I do recall them now. However, I didn't have any real difficulty with them. They were fairly easy. It might had to do with the fact that I had Yosuke along for the Table one, and my characters are always equipped with the best weapons too.

[Gen Eric Gui]

Well, they're still not much of a problem in the end, no. But the point here isn't about the individual enemies, it's the fact that the higher occurrence of enemies LIKE that renders the game more difficult than P3, where there were very few enemies like that. At least, imo.

When one game has hardly any enemies that pose a threat at all, and the other has multiple enemies that pose a slight threat, the latter game is generally considered to be the tougher one.