After Persona 5 Royal consumed my life I took a break for a couple weeks. Then, I saw Persona 4 Golden on deep discount on the Nintendo eShop, and then immediately jumped into it and somehow got even more hooked. Beat the entire game in a week because I literally couldn’t put it down. The mystery element had me constantly wanting to play just one more day to get closer to the truth.
The graphics were definitely a step down coming from P5 Royal and it took some adjusting to the older visual style. But once the story got going I completely forgot about the dated graphics. The randomly generated dungeons are objectively worse than P5’s handcrafted palaces but considering this game is much older it makes sense and didn’t bother me much.
What P4 Golden does better than P5 is the cast feels like actual friends. The Investigation Team has this close-knit dynamic where everyone genuinely likes hanging out together. They feel like people who would actually be friends in real life rather than just teammates brought together by circumstance. The way they support each other through their personal issues and the group events like the camping trip and culture festival create these bonds that feel authentic.
Inaba as a setting works so well for this story. The small rural town atmosphere makes everything feel more personal and intimate compared to Tokyo. Everyone knows everyone and that creates stakes when people start disappearing. The contrast between the mundane daily life and the TV World investigations keeps things interesting throughout.
The Social Links here feel even more integrated into the main story. Your party members’ links directly affect their combat abilities and seeing them overcome their shadows and then continue growing through their links is satisfying. The side character links are just as compelling with some genuinely touching stories about family, identity, and growing up.
Combat is simpler than P5 but still engaging with the same weakness exploitation system keeping battles fast. The persona fusion is a bit more limited but still deep enough to experiment with different builds. All-out attacks might not look as stylish as P5 but they’re still satisfying to pull off.
The soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal and completely different from P5’s jazz style. Several tracks are permanent fixtures in my playlist now and I’m not tired of them months later. The battle theme is an earworm in the best way and the more emotional tracks hit hard during key story moments. Each game has such a distinct musical identity that fits perfectly.
The murder mystery structure keeps you engaged throughout as you gather clues and try to figure out who’s behind everything. The true ending requirements are a bit obtuse but it’s worth looking up because the payoff is fantastic. Every revelation feels earned and the character development throughout is top tier.
This is another 60+ hour game that I’d recommend to literally anyone who has the time. Even with the older graphics and simpler dungeons the story and characters more than make up for it. These games are something special and I understand why the fanbase is so passionate now.