Mainlining the Midnight Channel - Persona 4

[Falselogic]

I think I'm ready to play Persona 4. Do I play the Golden version or the normal version? Why does Howlongtobeat show that Golden is about 4 hours shorter than the original?

What is the best way to go about taking this sort of very long game on, when you have like. A lot going on? Help me Talking Time posters you're my only hope!

 

[ASandoval]

I prefer Golden, personally, if for any other reason then the quality of life improvements to the gameplay. I also like most of the additional scenes, though that's very YMMV. No idea why HLTB has it as being shorter, that's just not true at all.

I'm a weirdo who gets very addicted to Persona's gameplay loop really easy so I'm not the best person to talk about managing your personal time with the game. However, once you get past the introduction*, Persona games are can accommodate short play sessions very easily if you have better self-control than I and can accept that you'll be playing the game for a while. I've heard it suggested to try and just play the game one in-game day at a time, which means a play session could be no longer than 15 minutes or as long as 2-3 hours during the big story moments (which you can control by simply saving boss fights for days when you have more time then less). I could probably never play that way, but maybe that can work for you?

*Seriously, make sure you have at least 3-5 hours set aside so you can get through the early story and tutorial.

 

[Yimothy]

I’ve just started a run of Persona 3 Portable with the intention of following the in-game calendar, i.e., it is currently April 22 on my save (because I finished April 21 today but couldn’t save until after school on the 22nd). Tomorrow I will play the rest of the 22nd and probably save on the 23rd (or I might start saving before bed where possible and finish each day on the next day). I haven’t been playing very long so I dunno how it’ll turn out, but it’s kind of a natural way to engage with a long game without spending really long sessions on it. (Edit: somehow I missed ASandoval suggesting this already)

P4’s calendar starts on April 11th, so you could get caught up pretty quickly if you start now. I haven’t played Golden so I dunno if it’s better or not. Regarding being shorter, I wonder if it has faster load times or quicker animations or something. That could add up over the course of a game that big.

 

[JBear]

Why does Howlongtobeat show that Golden is about 4 hours shorter than the original?

I've never played a Persona, but this makes sense to me: presumably a bunch of folks playing Golden were playing the game for a second time, and thus were quicker.

 

[Issun]

BRB renaming the Not Worth It's Own Thread Thread I started a year ago to the "Apparently Not Good Enough for Falselogic Thread".

 

[estragon]

This thread exists here.

 

[q 3]

Not worth two threads

I will say about half the stuff in Persona 4 Golden that I found most obnoxious turned out to be additions not in the original (not even talking about Marie, I mean stuff like the rock band show). ymmv. then again I'm a Persona hater these days so

 

[Falselogic]

BRB renaming the Not Worth It's Own Thread Thread I started a year ago to the "Apparently Not Good Enough for Falselogic Thread".

Damn, I never search back far enough...

 

[FelixSH]

I haven't played P4 Golden, but I think instead of letting you run around freely at school, you just have a menu to bring you to the different rooms. Over the course of 80 hours or so, this might add up.

 

[Patrick]

That’s the case in P3P, but I don’t think they did that for P4G.

 

[Adrenaline]

A PS Vita is smaller than a PS2 so the game is shorter

 

[ozacrot]

One thing that helped with choice paralysis in P4G is that you can press a button to figure out what other players do with their free time on any given date. This feature (which was in P5 Royal and P3 Reload) was useful for getting a sense if something especially valuable or time-constrained is coming up.

 

[Paul le Fou]

Damn, I never search back far enough...

Some threadcromancer you are!

 

[Falselogic]

I looked! I did!

 

[Falselogic]

This thread exists here.

Not worth two threads

I will say about half the stuff in Persona 4 Golden that I found most obnoxious turned out to be additions not in the original (not even talking about Marie, I mean stuff like the rock band show). ymmv. then again I'm a Persona hater these days so

Some threadcromancer you are!

What are you all talking about?! This is clearly a Persona 4 thread!

 

[Falselogic]

I started paying P4G yesterday. The game starts on 4/11 and I made it to 4/15. @ASandoval you were right about setting aside a big chunk of time to fully get into the game. At this point I've had my first big battle (getting Yosuke's persona) but otherwise it's all still introducing me to the game.

I've beat P3P but that was probably close to a decade ago, and as someone mentioned above menu based for traveling which does streamline things quite a bit.

I feel like someone did a Let's Play of this back in TT2.0 because I know I've never played this game but a lot of this seems very familiar... Or maybe it was just that when this game came out TT was very much into it and there was a lot of discussion of it. I'm sure @Eirikr and @Zef had a lot to say, though I'm not sure if either is here any more...

 

[Patrick]

Yes, TT2.0 was collectively obsessed with Persona 4. I preferred P3, but they're both good games.

 

[Falselogic]

Typical of me to get into something TT was obsessed with 10 years or so after the fact... Look forward to my thoughts on Armored Core 6 in 2030!

 

[Patrick]

Hey, games don't expire. Go wild.

 

[Violentvixen]

Yes, TT2.0 was collectively obsessed with Persona 4. I preferred P3, but they're both good games.

Yeah, I vastly prefer P3. The cast of 4 is just too dumb, incompetent and mean for me. I also seem to remember people on here thinking Kanji's characterization/self-discovery (trying to be vague for Falselogic to avoid spoilers) was well done at the time but I never enjoyed it and now it seems to be generally considered not great? Naoto is also one that hasn't aged well I think but it's been a while since I've reviewed what happens. I get the criticism that these characters are more typical teenagers than 3 but that's not really something I wanted.

Also Aigis is a less annoying mascot.

It is neat to have a game in more rural Japan though. You definitely don't see that a lot and that's why my spouse likes it, the town in 4 is much more like where he lived in Japan than any game he's played.

 

[q 3]

I appreciated that P3 gave more room for its cast to be their own persons with more varied interpersonal relationships, even including some genuine antagonism. Whereas in P4 it felt like once someone joined the team their individuality largely disappeared as they were absorbed into the friend blob. Like how it's impossible to visit your sick niece in the hospital without bringing your entire friend group along even though most of them have no particular connection to her. Or the epilogue timeskip sanding everyone down to normalcy, especially Kanji whose new design gives me the instinctive need to give him a swirlie and call him poindexter.

Also P3 has a queer female protagonist, so

 

[Falselogic]

I made it to the 25th. I think I'll try the one or two days at a time thing y'all suggested. Seems like a manageable way to take on the game! Though it does appear that some days can go much longer than others!

 

[FelixSH]

Kat Bailey tries doing it week by week, instead of day by day. That might be worth a try, too, and gives you a bit more freedom. Just a suggestion.

 

[Falselogic]

Kat Bailey tries doing it week by week, instead of day by day. That might be worth a try, too, and gives you a bit more freedom. Just a suggestion.

It will probably be a mix of the two, depending on what my work and personal schedules look like! I do appreciate that the game allows you to play it day by day though.

 

[Falselogic]

I signed up for the soccer club. Love to hear y'alls thoughts on the characters I've met so far: Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, Marie, Kou, and Daisuke I think are the ones I've met so far.

 

[FelixSH]

Yosuke (it's the first dude you meet, who is another persona user, right?) is a homophoc jerk. I liked him otherwise (at least from my memory, it's ages since I played it), but that really soured me on him. He has one or two interesting things going on, personality wise, but eh.

Chie and Yukiko were fun. I only remember enjoying their presence, and their social links.

That's all from the few memories I have about this game. Should replay it sometime.

 

[Violentvixen]

Yosuke is supposed to be your best bud but as Felix noted he's homophobic which already seemed dated and bad even back when the game came out. Also he's dumb as a brick. Yukiko has some annoying traits but is generally fine (there are internet armchair theories that she's autistic but that doesn't make sense to me). Marie was added in Golden and you can't skip her bad poetry scenes, I honestly don't remember her that well. Chie is probably the most normal of them all with her steak and anger management issues. I don't remember your club buddies that well.

Golden has one of the best versions of the boss music I think, they only use it for the new stuff they added but I wish they'd used it more.

Obligatory Hi I'm Daisy comic for the early game (other ones have spoilers but you're past where this one is).

 

[Falselogic]

Do I need to use a FAQ or guide with this game, do you think? I'm trying to avoid the trap of min/maxing and just enjoying the game. But the way it is set up with Days/Times, etc. and FOMO are really triggering my anxiety. I want to see as much of this game as I came and every decision I make about how to spend time has me worried I could be making better choices...

How did y'all handle this?

 

[FelixSH]

You don't need a guide. Decide who you like most, and spend time with them, to max out their social link, to get the boni that come with that.

That should be enough. You will miss out stuff, of course, but that's by design. You could max out all social links (at least you could in the original), but it would make a guide that you use for all day activities and dialogue necessary. I enjoyed it at my second playthrough, but most would find this awful. But even I wouldn't do it the first time.

The game is intentionally made, that you can't do everything. You won't be too weak (as mentioned, max out a handful of social links, but which is up to you). There are no right or wrong (or better/worse decisions). Just spend time with people you like, that should let you enjoy the game.

 

[ozacrot]

I made a half-hearted effort at a "perfect run" in both P5R and P3R, and in both cases realized in the last 10% that I wouldn't have time to complete every link. You could use an FAQ to make sure that all your stat/link growth is on schedule, but IMO that really makes the game a bit too chore-like for me.

I do use guides for the S Link conversations, which does just enough for my jRPG FOMO by ensuring I'm not "wasting" an afternoon. That'd be my recommendation if you want to see as much as possible while minimizing anxiety about getting it wrong.