I'm not going to tell you anything you don't already know. Persona 4 Arena is a fighting game based on two of the arguably best Atlus rpgs of all time. (Unless you are a Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga, Devil Summoner, or Persona 2 Innocent Sin purist) Like it or hate it, the Persona series has become Atlus's biggest franchise!
I'd be lying if I said I had doubts going in. Though Atlus can be accused of publishing some weird and outright awful drek on occasion, their in-house games are always effortless home-runs that knock the ball out of the park! During an era when most game companies are afraid to take risks and go so far as to equate screwing over customers as being the status quo, Atlus remains the belligerent yet noble hearted rebel with a cause giving a big middle finger to the establishment! Upon cracking open my P4 Arena case I was treated to yet another soundtrack cd and a beautiful full color manual in multiple languages. I keep waiting for Atlus to screw me over and treat me like an unworthy mongrel but as of right now they've continued to kill me with kindness!
To be frank I "like" fighting games. Like is in parenthesis because though it's not impossible to get me to play a round of Mortal Kombat, King Of Fighters 13, or Super Street Fighter 4 on occasion, I'm not a big part of the fighting game community. This generation both capcom and ASW have released countless rehashes of the same games with added features and if I were to try and keep up with all the iterations of Blazblue or SF 4 I'd be a penniless hobo in debt up to my eyeballs. There's simply something about being forced to purchase the same title over and over again with slight tweaks and small refinements that royally annoys me to no end.
Admittedly, I feel as if I'm taking a risk with P4 Arena. Atlus has a perfect reputation with me but ASW has been in the dog house ever since I bought the original Blazblue followed by Continuum shift and STILL didn't end up with the very best version of that game. (Extend is the 3rd installment of Blazblue and I wish I had been more patient as opposed to buying its` two inferior predecessors) Will I be "betrayed" later when 2 or more superior versions of P4 Arena release in the future? Only time will tell but hopefully ASW has learned its' lesson. (I wouldn't mind a legitimate "sequel" to P4 Arena. I simply don't want to endure the same rehashed plot-line over and over again as a couple of new characters get tacked on here or there. Aka, give me a "new story" and enough "new features' to make me excited again!)
Yet for the moment, let me judge P4 Arena on its' own merits! Put simply, this is a complex fighter that looks gorgeous and actually offers accessibility for beginners by creating an option for easy input commands. "Fighting game enthusiasts" may hate this feature but fortunately there is the option to set up your own conditions when you start up a room or search online for potential opponents.
Air dashes, back steps, cancels, hops, counters, combos, sweeps, throws, recoveries, and ridiculously over powered finishing moves are all here. (With enough devotion and practice you can become seasoned enough to easily overcome the novices throwing cheap auto-combo chains at you.) The biggest difference is you can now call in a persona as a tag team partner of sorts. Both the protagonists and their epic alter egos have a fierce and normal attack. "Personas" can sustain damage and be taken out of commission during bouts so this adds to the strategy. You must be meticulous and thoughtful when it comes to busting out the swag! Additionally, characters can even suffer from "status ailments" akin to a traditional rpg. These include being drained of sp (magic required to do certain special techniques), having your controls reversed, and being poisoned as your health bar slowly but gradually dwindles.
The voice acting, background arenas, character designs, and layout of the menus are all impressive but I figured Atlus would soar in these areas in the first place! My faith was not misplaced. From what I can tell, Chie and Teddy got new VAs and at least in my opinion they did a fantastic job. Even Labrys's distinctive Jersey accent "fit" with her character. (I felt no need to make wise cracks about Jersey shore!)
The story brings together characters from P3 and P4 and does it in such a way it actually makes sense and feels 100% natural. Luckily for us, this isn't a poorly done set up just to get a bunch of best friends to beat the crap out of each other.
Ironically, my biggest qualm is that the standard story mode is more wordy than it has to be. (This coming from the guy who is a staunch advocator of including decent character development and believable motivations within fighting games) You'll have to endure reading pages upon pages of inner monologue before the characters actually say anything to each other. I felt as if this "padding" was unnecessary. However, if you're more patient with visual novels than I am, you'll be right at home! The arcade mode gave out enough tidbits to make the narrative interesting yet it also moved on at a brisk refreshing pace. I found it to be more enjoyable myself.
It's difficult to say whether or not these 13 young pugilists will appeal to your tastes. There's everything from missile-rack totting android girls (Aigis) and fan wielding inn hostesses (Yukiko) to otherworldly entities zipped up in mascot costumes (Teddie). Luckily, the traditional archetypes are also represented. Mitsuru has a lethal and forceful fencer style, Yu takes cues from his samurai ancestry, Yosuke is the quick double blade wielding wage-slave ninja , and Akihiko, Chie, and Kanji fill in for the traditional brawler types. Naoto uses a hand gun but she's also decent at some rather impressive rush down aerial crescent kicks as well as utilizing her persona for close up piercing attacks. Though the roster sits in at a mere 13 characters , every demographic seems accounted for. (Still, if you feel uncomfortable around the zany awkwardness of personas, teenaged supernatural investigators, fem-bots, and mysterious inner dimensional television portals, perhaps a traditional fighter such as KOF 13 would be more attuned to your preferences.)
Though P4 Arena is not apart of one of my more favored genres (those being rpgs,action platformers,survival horror, and beat em ups), it's still a classy package! Whether you're a Persona fan or someone who enjoys eclectic fighters such as Dark Stalkers, Rival Schools, and Jo Jo's bizarre adventure, I highly recommended this purchase!
Pros
+Characters are varied and look great (And are faithful recreations of their rpg counterparts)
+Gameplay is easy to pick up but hard to master
+ Askys went to great lengths to make the game accessible for everyone
+ Catchy soundtrack
+ Storyline that makes logical sense within the continuity of the Shin Megami Tensei Persona universe
+Stellar VA work
+Great menu design
+Mitsuru in a skintight spy suit. Yeah baby! I just hope her fur coat isn't all that's left of poor Koromaru!
Cons
-At 13 characters the roster is on the small side
-We're left to wonder if ASW is going to milk P4 Arena dry with an unnecessarily high number of revisions and reiterations (P4 ARENA SUPER EXTEND ONYX NYX EDITION TURBO!)
-Story ends on a deliberate cliff-hanger (Such and such is being controlled by a mysterious UNKNOWN POWAH! Oh, how original Atlus. C`mon, you can do better than that!)
-A part of me thinks this would have been a better co-op beat em up/rpg hybrid in the same vein as Code Princess and Dragon Crown
-Story mode is probably more longwinded than it needs to be (Don't get me wrong! I'm grateful there is an actual narrative. Yet the text screens have the tendency to linger and ramble on whilst overstaying their welcome)
-Certain traditionalists maybe a little disheartened P4 Arena has a 4 button layout as opposed to the 6-8 button layouts found in other fighting games.
5 out of 5
A 5 out of 5 means the people who made this game did so with love and care. While I can bag on P4 Arena for not being my favorite kind of game or bag on it for being trite fan service, the truth is that it excels in both its' technical and visual presentation.
It was a smart decision to make P4 Arena a 2D Brawler as it really enhances the charm and personality of the beloved cast of characters we've gotten to know from Persona 3 and Persona 4.
As much as I've ranted angrily about ASW for their capcom inspired business practices they are skilled and adept at making good fighting games. P4 Arena is no exception!
Sure, I'll probably be outraged when ASW announces P4 Arena Nyx Black Diamond edition and P4 Arena Blue Sapphire Jack Frost edition but for now I rather push that negative premonition aside to dwell in the realm of my warm fuzzy nostalgia!
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Persona 4 Arena--Aigis Trailer
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 24, 2013
Platform For Display: Xbox 360Verified Purchase
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A Ryan Jackson
Awesome Fighting Game.
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on September 11, 2020Platform For Display: Xbox 360Verified Purchase
Romanticrights
Top notch Arcsys fighting game.
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