REVIEW: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4

Developer: Atlus | Publisher: Square Enix| Format: PS2

Reviewer: Craig Jay Gallagher

For those out there who have yet to experience the world of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona you really are missing out. For not only is it a thoroughly entertaining franchise the latest entry Persona 4 is perhaps the greatest RPG ever released.

The game takes place in Japan of the near future and against most RPG conventions the heroes aren’t mystic wizards or knights they are in fact high school students. The story follows our nameless protagonist who also happens to be the new kid in town living with his policeman uncle and his daughter. As the game progresses the game takes an unexpected twist when a spate of murders begin to plague the town. If things weren’t odd enough it becomes clear that people are being sucked into their televisions and killed by creatures who live within them. The story is absolutely fantastic and the level of respect with which it’s treated is impressive. Hell the story is so important that it doesn’t even really kick in till around the 5 hour mark.

A large portion of the game sees the gamer making their way through dungeons in an constantly evolving and changing demonic world. Each of the dungeons is based on the mind of the people who are sucked into the TV meaning that each new dungeon looks and play different to the one which came before. To help fight the man obstacles that you come across each character has their own person, a demon who expresses their innerself. The only character without such a unique person is our protagonist who can change his persona at the drop of a hat, that is after he collects them during the course of the game.

Battles are as hard as they come, hell the most basic creatures can easily tear you apart in just two turns. The turn based combat is far more intricate than first appearances will lead you to believe. You can carry up to 5 personas with you at any given time. Each of these personas gains new skills as it levels up making it more powerful. The games is set over a year. You proceed day by day giving you 365 game days to complete the mystery.

Each day plays a part in the over all strategy you will employ. Each of your personas abilities and powers are tied into its corresponding social link. Hanging out with your friends will do more for you fighting abilities than simply rushing from battle to battle. At times Persona 4 is kind of like the Sims only far more entertaining.

The shadows (Bad guys) only attack after it rains so if rain is reported for 3 days time that means that you have 3 days in which to save their life. The question now is do you head straight into the TV world or do you continue to work on your social skills for another day as you feel that it could be the deciding factor in you saving a life.

Given the sheer amount of gameplay here you could be forgiven for expecting sub par graphics but this is far from the case. If anything these could be the best graphics on the PS2 to date. That they never dip in quality over the games 100 hours is something to be celebrated. Throw in the fantastic score and pleasantly delivered dialogue, Persona really is the best game on the PS2 and as good as any next gen title.

If we had a rating system then Persona 4 would score solid 10’s in all categories. It’s quite simply put, the best game in the history of the PS2, one of the best titles currently available on any platform and the single best title released in the past two years. In fact so good is Persona 4 that it’s in this reviewers top 5  games of all time.