Playing this game in High School was such a highlight. These characters felt like genuine friends, and the game felt like an entire anime worth of content. It was a gaming experience that will never be replicated.
The original Persona 4 is not only my comfort game, it practically saved my life when I was in a very dark place. P4G encouraged me to buy a Vita, and apart from a couple voice acting changes, it very much became the definitive version for me.
I picked up P4G shortly after beating P5R last October and I KNEW it wouldn’t have the same gameplay and visual quality, BUT, I ended up loving it and I personally loved it more than P5!
5 literally just attempts to copy paste p4 with a new story. It doesn't do everything better than 4 and ends up feeling like they tried a bit too hard to do so. 4 feels far more genuine and natural in the end. 4 has better music, it's not even close I won't argue, 5 went way too far with the big band type of tracks that aren't exactly the best. Also characters, 4 has it beat by miles
@@jonathansoko1085 very subjective stuff, saying the music isn't even close is kind of a wild one though tbh. P5r music is fucking fantastic, and definitely comparable in quality. I think as a whole package I prefer it 5r also just has gameplay beat in 4g by a huge amount. I can understand liking 4 more but let's not pretend 5 is "not even close"
P4 ending hit me harder than any of them. That last scene at the train station ruined me. It really was like saying goodbye to my best friends what with the crying and the background music. The post game depression is real.
It wasn't the same in P5. By the time that ended everyone on the team is telling you about their plans to move on. It's like, damn they won't miss Joker like the P4 team missed Yu 😂
Even if it’s not your thing you gotta respect the fact that they released it at only $20. They could’ve easily charged us $30 or even $40 with how things are nowadays. Also it’s a super clean update! Smooth 60fps too. Looks great on handheld not to mention on the OLED.
@@jamilgonzaga7081 Considering they disgraced and insulted Persona 3 and its fans for over a decade, "passionate" might not be the most fitting term. Also, Atlus did not make P4Golden Port and neither P3P port.
Played this after high school when my friendships faded and I was working 70 hours a week a 2 different gas stations. I didn't have much of a social life outside of my gf (now wife). THESE CHARACTERS. My god, so amazing. These were my friends in a time I really needed some. Played it entirely during work LOL. What an experience. My favorite JRPG ever. Still the best Persona IMO. Great video! I'm trying not to replay P4G with all the games coming out lol
I have to thank Matty again for getting me into JRPGs. Has was the one whom convinced me to play Persona 5 Royal and I loved it it took me around 110+ hours to complete. Started it back in October and finished it in the first week of January. I started Persona 4 day before yesterday and I'm enjoying it already. Thank you so much, Matty! These games came to me in a time when I needed them the most but you were the one who turned me onto them. Love you, Matty! PEACE!!
I'm following a streamer who started playing P5 in the April of last year, and he's playing it until today, my guy has 182 hours into the game and he just finish Arc 6 (AKA Sae's palace).
I remember starting persona 4 when I first started college. Still my favorite persona game, and it became one of my favorite series of all time. Resisting the urge to buy this game for the 4th time lol
I feel so happy when people love this game as much as I do. This game is so special to me I can't put it into words, like you said when the game was done and the credits rolled I felt like I lost friends and I have never felt that feeling in any game ever again. This game helped me through some tough times ngl, remember you are loved and you do matter :)
Haven't even started the video yet, but the answer is YES, this game is the GOAT. It's the first Jrpg I ever played, and really changed my life in a number of positive ways. Can't wait to see you talk about this one, because I know you've mentioned it's one of your all time favorite games. Let's GOOO!
I played this on vita release at work in break times and my gamer friends thought it was super weird but were also deeply interested in it and thought it was insane 😂. It’s funny how persona has become pretty much mainstream now. It was a weird game for geeks back in the day.
I started it like a week and a half before reload was out, and when it launched I hadn't finished it yet so I couldn't really get into P3, I continued playing P4 until I finished it and I believe it's one of the best games I've played.
My favorite game of all time, started off with the PS2 and then golden. I’m playing it again, and oh man it’s like being wrapped up in a warm blanket and all I can describe with this is just extreme happiness… I love this game so much
I can't believe you stopped at "that part"! And you're exactly right, even if you stopped the game right there, it's still a great game! I think it was by luck I made the right decisions my first playthrough.
I made the same mistake. Thankfully it only took me 2 months to realize it. P4G is one of my favorite games of all time. Also the true ending made tear up.
@@paulmiller7838 wow I didn’t even know what this series was until P5 I saw a RU-vidr stream it then my cousin gameshare it with me and the rest is history lol
Honestly, the simpler fighting mechanics honestly brings this home for me because I felt like with all of the things that you had access to especially by persona 5 Royal even on the hardest difficulty it was a cakewalk I like one or two shot the final boss I'm pretty sure.
Vanilla Persona 5 is harder than Persona 4 in Hard Mode. It was made in response to the strong critique to Persona 4 by hardcore fans in Japan first and in the west later, since the game originally dumbed everything down to make it more accessible compared to Persona 3, one of the most hardcore games ever made.
persona 4 may be my least favorite of the main 3, but it has my favorite cast of characters, Inaba feels like a second home, and it’s the game in the series that makes me the most happy. i loveeee this game
I started playing persona this year through gamepass thanks to your videos. I started with P5R and absolutely fell in love, to the point that I really believes has changed my life. I played around 80 hours and unfortunately it left gamepass and I wasnt able to finish it. So I decided to start P4G until P3Reload hits gamepass and OMFG!!! At start it was a little difficult to adapt after P5R bur holy damm the story and characters are sooooooo amazing. I truly believe I am falling in love even more with P4G than P5R. So much fun and addictive.
Persona 4 is the greatest Persona game! It is how i became a fan! It's better than P5 Royal. And when the day Atlus decides to REMAKE/RELOAD P4 I will be buying on 1st Day! It is still my favorite Game Soundtrack in all of the Persona series! It actually brought tears to me and I actually felt I was part of their cast and friends. TOP 3 BEST RPGS games ever! Replacing Chrono Trigger.
I played persona 5 and persona 5 Royal on my ps5. Yesterday my steamdeck came in and I couldn’t decide what game to get first. I saw persona 4 golden and just had to give it a try
Saw it was on sale for 11.99 on switch e shop and picked it up. Currently feeling myself becoming obsessed. Such a good feeling to just be getting into a masterpiece. I never thought I could top my excited that I felt for NieR Automata but thankfully this game is filling the void for me 😊
3-5 have been solid games through and through, but i believe that 3 will always hold the strongest significance to me. It was my first persona, but not only that, it did something the rest of the serious thus far really hasn't. Your party members have their own arcs throughout the story outside of their social links. This gives them a bit more flesh to the bone so to speak. In 4 or 5 your party members don't really grow much past their dungeons and the growth they gain is more or less them having to lean heavily on you to a point where its almost like without you they just cant do anything whereas your team in 3 have their own lives. Sometimes Yukari cant make it to Tartarus because shes got archery or Junpeis hangin with his friends at the arcade but their arcs that result in their evolved persona happen because THEY overcame their troubles. You didn't pull them through it kicking and screaming. You didnt force them. You were around sure but THEY accomplished large character growth. In a way i wish they'd go back to that sort of storytelling for them. As it stands Persona 3's cast is the only cast with canonical evolved Persona and thats kinda sad
3 is the best one. 2 has the best story, it’s just the gameplay… I hope they remake the persona 2 duology so bad. I loved persona 3 reload (p3 FES still has my heart)
I'm playing through this game for the first time right now (my first Persona game too), and I feel like I'm experiencing it at the perfect time in my life. I graduated high school back in May, and I'm in my second semester of college, so it's not exactly the same, but I can really get behind the themes of self acceptance and discovery throughout adolescence. Certainly helps that it's just a fun game in general! I was originally considering getting P5R as my entry to the series, but I'm glad I waited for Golden to be ported to modern consoles.
My wife bought me p4 golden and a ps vita, back then we were just dating. It easily became one of my favorite games. And one of the first signs that she was perfect because she knew me and what I liked
This was my first persona and made me LOVE the series. The premise of a murder mystery in a small town intrigued me. And boy it did not disappoint. The music is SO GOOD too. Atlas just knows how to make good RPGs ❤️
I honestly feel like playing this game improves my diligence. This game really invigorated my drive to study Japanese and I’m enjoying reexperiencing the game in Japanese this time although I love both dubs.
This video inspired me to play this game on Xbox over 3 weeks ago and I just finished it. Thank you Matty, this was truly an amazing recommendation. One of the best jrpg’s I’ve played hands down.
I like Trails of Cold Steel's Social Link system better from a narrative perspective, since the characters lives go on without you, so you don't have stuff like Yusuke's art exhibition being scheduled around whenever you get around to becoming buddies with him. I do wish that you got enough relationship points to do all the relationship events in one playthrough without needing to be in New Game Plus, though.
Great video as always Matty! I’ve never thought about it until now for some reason (maybe because this game is so narrative based) but it’d be nice to hear a “spoilers” version of your thoughts on this game as well as others. I’d love to hear what you think about certain characters towards the end of the game, the story, and well, the ending as a whole :)
It sucks that there isn't a physical copy of P4G on current consoles, also sucks the ps2 copy is expensive too, because this is a game I'd love to have on my shelf
I just finished the game on Vita, the characters and story are the most charming and endearing I’ve ever experienced ! Playing Dancing right now and the soundtrack slaps incredibly hard, again probably the best soundtrack I’ve heard
Thank you for showing the manual. I wish I had it now finally getting around to playing P4 Golden on Vita. I'm having a hard time keeping up with the enormous amount of things you're supposed to do. The dungeon I'm in (I think it's the second one) is very hard. The enemies jumped in difficulty a lot all of a sudden and I don't understand how I'm supposed to gain exp/levels since there is a time limit on the story. I'm actually feeling anxiety about it instead of enjoying it like everyone says I should be. I hate to look up a guide right at the beginning of the game. Everything else about it is really great like you say in the video. The game is incredibly well written and I don't mind the look and feel of the dungeons. It's really this idea that time is progressing with everything I do and I have to get the dungeon done by a particular day or I'll lose everything I've worked for that I don't understand.
Remember that Persona 4 was also AS ruthless with the cards as Persona 3. You could Still grab Death, you could grab inversed cards that would make the enemies stronger, it was SUPER HARD to grab them. It was Persona 4 Golden that made the system better. XD
I never really appreciated the music in a game when I was younger but that all changed with Persona 5. That is the best soundtrack in a game I have ever heard and the same is said for Persona 5 Strikers. Years later I find myself jamming to the songs on RU-vid. Persona is one of my all time favorite franchises
P3 for the Story, P4 for the Characters and P5 for the gameplay. I love them all for different reasons but they're all great. Even the older ones are great.
Thanks for getting me into this game when it came to steam in 2020. One of my absolute favorite games ever now. Also made me reflect on my own high school experience
I started with 5 and while I do like a lot of the quality of life changes in that game and the generally flow of combat. The atmosphere and tone of 4 is just the best.
I first played this game during covid pandemic, the really fun, or ironic thing was that the pandemic came just when I was on my 2 second year of High School, just as the guys in the game, I felt really immersed in the story, like I was part of it, and it felt like a compensation for not being able to live that year in presence while we were on online classes, one of my favourite games of all time, never wanted to left Inaba, it just hit like no one before… It changed my life, and how to face up the truth, even if it hurts, this was my entry to the persona series. The persona games are just a type of game that comes to you when you need them, a change a lot your life, givin you different perspectives, I dunno, it’s not just a JRPG, It feels real
My intro to the series was P5 but P4G was the first one I beat. Having it on the vita was so vital to why I beat it before P5. Now P5R is on the switch and I’m close to beating it after so many years of attempting to beat it. The P4G soundtrack absolutely bangs and Heartbeat Heartbreak was my most listened to song last year.
Personally I didn't hate the way three houses did it. It worked for that game and honestly had they just copied P4G that imo would have made it worse. I love SMT and Persona but I can't fault FE for not copy pasting their social links in a 1:1 ripoff. I also don't believe P4G or P5R will be the peak gameplay for these types of games forever. Personally even though I love those games and indeed do feel they're top level with regard to that, there's still plenty of room to grow. I'm happy 3H was its own game. All of these games are in my top JRPGs, I don't think that would be the case if they did that and just copied Persona 4.
As a Persona 4 hater, (I was a much bigger fan of 3) I ended up being incredibly impressed with golden upon finally giving it another shot. Its a far more fun game than Vanilla, at least on HM. Ghd one issue I do have is that I feel they gimled certain bosses too much. Definitely gained far more respect for the game
Persona 3 is the worst game in the series sorry. They forgot to write the first half of the game and you're stuck doing the exact same thing for like 6 months before something actually interesting happens. In the 2nd half, it's the opposite they keep forcing you to skip days and so you barely get any time to do the social links. Tartarus is also a slog to walk through. Speaking of social links, they're dreadful. For one, none of the male party members have one and you only get the girls if you max one of the stats and even then you only get them near the end of the fucking game. Once you start dating them though and max them out, you go straight back to being treated like friends because they couldn't be bothered to write more dialogue. It's dreadful. Doesn't come close to 4 or 5. I would've liked it alot more if Junpei and Akihiko had social links and if they properly balanced the free time/main story aspects.
I’m so sad they didn’t do physical copies of P3P and P4G on new platforms. Even P4A Ultimax got a physical Japanese copy even if no English . These games don’t have a physical version anywhere in the world haha
Loved the rural setting and I think the gameplay and story peaked here. Some characters could be annoying, but it came across in a fairly realistic way and most of the characters are great. The mascot character is the most annoying in the series (yes, more annoying than the cat), but that's really my only issue. Persona 5 added things that were nice but mostly unnecessary. This game is nostalgia acted out in real time.
Considering how dark the themes and social commentary are, i've never a single time thought of Persona 4, or any Persona, as "uplifting". At least not primarily. It's also the least cozy of the modern Persona trio. It's literally a town where people are being brutally murdered and gets foggy and gloomy as hell.
I feel like I can’t like several of the games because I always see people arguing about them, not only that, they can’t seem to say one game is good without completely trashing another. I just like them all.
I recently beat Persona 5 Royal and I’m a little over halfway through Persona 3 Reload. I’m already trying to figure out what I’m going to do when I beat P3R. I’m either going to play P4G or Shin Megami Tense 5 Vengeance. I know SMT will probably be harder and be missing the social elements I like in persona games.
How you’ve described Persona 4 is how I’ve been feeling while playing Persona 5 Royal. (I still haven’t finished it yet but I’m in the true ending content) It makes me excited to experience Persona 4 for the first time!
holy shit this game is incredible. i haven’t completed either of my playthroughs of p5 and p5 royal, but i just started up p4 on a whim and it connected with me so much more than p5. p5 is excellent, but the vibes here just appeal to me more. p4 golden will def go down as one of my favorite games
Many years ago I watched a Playstation Access video. I want into rpgs back then. So I didn't mind a spoiler for this game. It haunts me to this day. I've put off playing it because I know the big bad. Just got it on switch, so hopefully the journey isn't spoiled by the spoiler.
Yeah I have to say while I do love P5R and the message of breaking free from you’re fate and pushing forward for a better future, I think P4G message of finding yourself and the truth not only in the murder mysteries but in yourself, truly an amazing game.
Finished P4G some time before and it was just awesome. Speaking of sad moments there is one in december (avoiding spoilers) that just destroy me, idk how to even describe that feeling but it was terrible and no other game could do that to me. Well played atlus. Even P5R which i prefer a little more than P4G could not do that (but Inaba's killer is nowhere around the royal part antagonist, imo it is the best antagonist of all games at all). Spoilers below (for P3 P4 P5)! You have been warned! . . . . . . . . . . . . When i was playing P3R and Shinji dies I was like "Well okay". It seems to be a very dramatic moment but I don't get it at all. But when nanako dies I was just done with. It's feels like I lost my real sister (and doesn't matter that I don't have one) and THIS after a silly jokes all around it feels even worse. Atlus on purpose emotionally tied you to her just to do that. Thanks God she is returned to us...
I played this and P3P back in the day and while I loved it I think I approached it differently or rather how it should have been played, like I got maybe bored just wanting the dungeon crawling / fighting and the story and social element got in the way perhaps 🤔 but.....I bought P3P the other day for Switch and am playing it PROPERLY now haha and plan to buy this asap😊
For me personally Persona 3 Fes has best story Persona 5 best overall game And persona 4 best cast of characters. I've never felt more inclined to get to know the cast then I did in p4
How about you all play Persona 3 FES?, it is even better, the persona game which change the game play of persona games becaue to tell the truth even though 1 and 2 were great games but the gameplay was shitty, birth of social links, Excellent story, Excellent voics acting , Better and cooler Personas like Satan, Helel, Messaiah, Shiva and The strongest Persona Orpheus Telos, Susanoo, Beelzebub, Orpheus Telos is better persona than Yoshitsune really, Story about Life , Memories and Death, and Nyx avatar(Death) is even a better final boss than Izanami...
This game is THIS close to perfection. A well done remake has NO EXCUSE to not be a 11/10 game. Just take, implement, improve, distill, and polish the best from P4G itself, P5R, and P3R.
I've known about Persona for years but I had never actually played it, I didn't even knew about the Personas, I just knew that I liked Chie's design, years later, as in, 2 months ago, I saw a friend play through 5 on Discord and I thought "Wow, that was actually pretty good" and since we have our steam libraries shared and he had 4 I decided to play it Even with the outdated dungeon design and the pretty basic JRPG elements, which I really hope they'll improve when the Remake releases (There's no fucking way they DON'T do a Remake of 4), I really loved the game, thing is straight up carried by it's lovely characters and it's story, Kanji is my fucking favourite character in the game he is fucking hilarious and such a sweetheart, December 3rd fucking DESTROYED ME I was staring at the screen in disbelief thinking what was happening was actually my fault cuz I hadn't completed that character's social link yet And the soundtrack, dude, I've been blasting Persona 3, 4 and 5 on my Spotify for weeks now, shit is just so good By the time I finished the game I was so enamored I actually went ahead and bought 3 Reload and even as Elden Ring's DLC came out I didn't even touched it until I actually finished it 4 really needs a Remake and I really wanna see it, cuz while I got no problem playing games that are older, I know that most people nowadays don't and people who played 5 will probably jump into 3 Reload rather than the over 10 years old game, even tho so far it's got my favourite story of the 3
it's a very simple formula: if you played P4 first, you love it. If you played P3 first (like me) you love it. Pretty sure the same holds true for P5 fans. If you played these games while you were at the same age as the characters, bonus points for you and you are probably hooked for life. Going to P4 from P3 i found the story weak and the gameplay the too samey. I know that P4 blew up in the west, i don't care, i'm not from America and I was playing Nocturne, DDS and Raidou before i played P3 on the PS2.
