Apart from the addition of Marie in Golden, there seems to be little to no disagreement over the fact that Persona 4 is a great game, rivalling the masterpiece that was Persona 3. However, this is not the case. Not even close. Even ignoring Marie and her godawful poetry, conditioning me to visit the Velvet Room only when absolutely necessary, there are still a myriad of problems with the game, making it feel severely lacklustre compared to all its predecessors and subsequent successor. To clarify, I have only ever played Golden and have no intention of playing the original game. So, if any criticism here does not apply to the original game, then please excuse it.
I would like to preface this critique by defending why I will be comparing Persona 4 to Persona 3 in certain cases. My intention for this is not to resurrect the old debate between the two, as my reasoning is much simpler. Despite the fact that I could certainly make fair comparisons between Persona 4 and the first two entries of the franchise, comparing Persona 4 to Persona 3 is nevertheless a much better comparison, as they both, unlike Persona 1 and Persona 2, share the calendar system. Moreover, the reason I specifically choose to compare Persona 4 with Persona 3 instead of Persona 5 is because Persona 5 was released after Persona 4, whereas Persona 3 was released before it. As such, it should be assumed that Persona 5 is better than Persona 4 (it is) solely based on the fact that the developers had the opportunity to improve on problems present in previous entries. For example, it is not a valid criticism of Persona 4 to say that the graphics are bad because the graphics in Persona 5 are better. Accordingly, it should also be assumed that Persona 4 is better than Persona 3 for the exact same reasons. However, if this is not the case, then the comparison is not only fair but the criticism is also valid, since the developers failed to produce something of equal or greater value than what they have previously proved themselves to be capable of.
The introduction is incredibly anticlimactic. There is not even the pretence of suspense. In the very first scene, the player is summoned to the Velvet Room. This scene would have been, for the most part, completely harmless were it not for the fortune telling performed by Igor. By revealing the fact that the player will encounter a "great misfortune" at their destination and that a "great mystery" will be imposed on them, any form of suspense the player may have possibly been able to experience when all the staff is summoned for an emergency meeting out of the blue, when a police siren can be heard in the background shortly afterwards, and when they later stumble upon a crime scene on their walk home and learn there has been a murder, simply evaporate into thin air; the revelations would have been far more impactful if they had not already been spoiled to the player 10 minutes prior.
Yu's awakening is utter garbage. I highly recommend the reader to actually take the time to first watch Makoto's and then Yu's awakening. After all, if a painting says a thousand words, and if a video is merely a series of frames, then a video should say at least 6 gorillion words. Needless to say, as the videos speak for themselves, whereas Makoto's has a great buildup, culminating in Orpheus being summoned by revealing the usage of the up until then enigmatic Evoker, Yu's awakening has no buildup. Izanagi is not even summoned for the first time during Yu's supposed awakening but rather in a dream that serves absolutely no purpose. I mean, seriously? Why would the writers reveal the existence of Persona before Yu's awakening? It is as if they wanted to eliminate any element of surprise the player could have possibly experienced whilst playing the game.
Then, there is the problem with Chie and Yukiko, two characters with a great introduction, and a dungeon that wonderfully explores their toxic relationship, who are later on written so awfully that they could be considered bipolar. Chie wants to "protect her friends" in her social link but physically abuses Yosuke and makes him pay for things in the actual story. Compare this dynamic to the one between Junpai and Yukari from Persona 3. Much like Yosuke, Junpai does dumb things and makes inappropriate comments, and Yukari, like Chie, does not appreciate that. The difference is that Yukari acts like a normal person would, whereas Chie does not. For example, when Junpei jokingly introduces himself as a detective, calling himself, "Ace detective," Yukari, thinking him to be annoying, retorts by calling him, "Ace defective." Was there any malice to what she said? No. It was merely a snarky remark, since they do not get along. However, Yukari nevertheless cares for Junpei, as is demonstrated when she apologises to Junpei for making fun of him for being scared during their meeting about whether they should fight Nyx after having realised that she had taken things too far when he angrily snaps back at her.
Chie, on the other hand, never apologises for anything she does. When Chie put Yosuke in debt, instead of apologising for her mistake and offering to pay him back the money she stole from him, she deflects the blame indirectly unto Yosuke by saying that "it's not her fault that Junes overcharges their products" (since he is the manager's son). When Yosuke, on the other hand, accidentally destroyed Chie's DVD (a considerably smaller expense than what Chie stole from Yosuke and never paid back), not only did he promise to buy her a new one, he also offered to buy her steak. Despite the fact that his motive is not to protect his friends, he is nevertheless more caring than Chie, whose actual motive is to protect her friends.
As for Yukiko, she has no discernible personality. Her entire character could easily be replaced with a piece of cardboard that has a tape recorder duct-taped to it, producing laughter at random intervals, and there would be no notable impact on the story. Although, within the context of her social link it seems as if she may potentially have a personality, despite it being weaker than Gennosuke's arms, since she is conflicted about wanting to leave the inn. However, since that has no bearing on the progression of the story after her dungeon, she defaults to cardboard. Honestly, I do not particularly mind her character having been reduced to cardboard, as she, at least, does not tilt me like Chie does. However, the fact that the writers thought it was a good idea to make her randomly laugh for comedic relief in a poor attempt to characterise her even slightly is frankly insulting.
What has always bothered me was the pace at which the Investigation Team became friends. In Persona 4, all characters immediately become best friends with each other after having been rescued. But that is not how real relationships work. It takes both time and effort for a relationship to deepen. To provide yet another example from Persona 3, after having defeated a Full Moon Boos, the player gets access to a new tactic. This represents how the members of S.E.E.S. have now gained a deeper trust for each other as they continue to fight alongside each other. The difference between S.E.E.S. and the Investigation Team is that the members of S.E.E.S. were not forced to immediately become best friends with each other simply because they joined the team but eventually became friends after having interacted with each other due to being a part of the same team and having lived at the same dorm together. One is organic and realistic, the other is forced and unconvincing. I mean, seriously, did the writers truly expect the player to believe someone who had up until then kept their repressed thoughts hidden from others would suddenly become best friends with someone who saw all that? Would you? I would personally avoid them like the plague for the rest of my life. Did they think they could speedrun a naturally evolving relationship simply by relieving someone's Shadow? The only people someone would be comfortable confiding in about such matters would be close friends, not total strangers.
Despite having received much praise for its inclusion of many slice of life segments (since it makes the main cast feel like real friends), there are a lot of missed opportunities. Ideally, slice of life should strictly be used as a means of characterisation or to enhance the plot in some meaningful way. Basically, it should serve a purpose. Unfortunately, this does not happen in Persona 4. What do we learn about the characters during the camp-out? That the girls suck at cooking? Very funny. I almost died from blood loss due to the right side of my abdomen having been sent into orbit. What do we learn about the characters from the beach trip? That Teddie is a pervert? I believe anyone even remotely paying attention would have been able to deduce that much by then. What do we learn from the characters from the live performance? That Rise has experience working as an idol? What a reveal that was. What do we learn about the characters from the beauty pageant? That people are uncomfortable appearing in front of large crowds wearing embarrassing outfits? Truly a groundbreaking discovery in the field of sociology. What do we learn about the characters from the stay at the inn? Believe it or not, quite some, actually. First of all, Nanako is revealed to only open the door to people she is acquainted with (a detail that is of great importance later on). We also learn more about the inn itself and, because of that, the kind of environment Yukiko grew up in.
In contrast, there are only two slices of life segments in Persona 3, and whereas one of them is decent enough (as it characterises Rouji), the other one is actually really good, because it is used to further the plot. Like how the stay at the inn in Persona 4 is used to character Yukiko, the trip to Yakushima characterises Mitsuru. We learn not only about the kind of household she grew up in but also explore her relationship with her dad in addition to introducing her dad. Additionally, it is revealed that her dad's motive for funding S.E.E.S. is to atone for the sins his dad committed. Not only that, we also have it confirmed from the footage shown that eliminating all 12 Full Moon Shadows will result in the Dark Hour disappearing, providing S.E.E.S. with a much clearer goal going forward. However, seeing as the cause for the explosion that set them free in the first place was caused by Yukari's dad, we come to learn more about Yukari's struggles, and how she gains a newfound motive to atone for her dad's past sins, too, as a result from having learnt more about her dad, which was her original reason for joining S.E.E.S. And the cream of the crop is that best girl is finally introduced!
There seems to be a consensus that the dungeons in Persona 4 were an improvement on Tartarus, but the fact of the matter is that they are actually lacklustre compared to Tartarus. The dungeons in Persona 4 consist of nothing but linear hallways, with very few and equally barebone exceptions. The problem with this design (besides being incredibly lazy) is that it forces the player to wait 30 seconds (which feels like 5 hours) every time they encounter a Shadow for it to turn its back on them so that the player may strike from behind and gain the advantage. And due to the overly simplistic layout, there is simply no other way to do that, which is worsened by the sluggish movement of the Shadows, and the Shadows being absolutely massive and taking up like 40% of the already narrow pathway (when you are not overleveled, that is). Not to mention that, due to their AI being hot garbage, they have a tendency (which is effectively guaranteed in Kanji's dungeon) to get stuck in the wall, preventing them from being able to turn around. There is also another type of behaviour, resulting from the terrible AI: if you happen to open a door, be noticed by a Shadow who then inities its chase programme, run back to the room you came from, and then go either left or right, the Shadow will then be stuck in the corner of the respective direction you fled to. And you have better odds playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded chamber, hoping it will jam, than triggering a chance encounter in this situation.
Despite the sluggish movement of the Shadows being present in Persona 3 as well, the problem is in no way as bad is it is in Persona 4, because the environmental design is actually fairly decent, comparatively, which is not so much a compliment of Tartarus as it is a criticism of Persona 4. The reason for this is that there were oftentimes means of circumventing the Shadows baked into the design of the floor. Besides empty hallways, there were a few other layouts. There were large, open areas. These were great if you wanted to slip past a Shadow since all you had to do was hug the wall to evade it. And in the case of the fourth block, the open area had been improved upon. There was a bridge in the middle of it, which could be used to hide behind, so as to wait for the most opportune moment to strike, or to run past the Shadow, without having to brute force oneself through, in case one were to be low on SP. Of course, you could also just run along the sides of the stairs or simply climb the stairs themselves. It was a simple yet infinitely more complex design choice than anything that can be found in Persona 4.
The most enlightening revelation I had when writing this was that I enjoyed Persona 4 the most when the story was the least present, and I believe this part is what most people reminisce about as well when they claim Persona 4 is a good game. To many, Persona 4 is "nostalgic," which would make sense if you grew up in the country, but I severely doubt everyone who is able to sympathise with this sentiment did so. The reason the term "nostalgia" is therefore used is not because it reminds them of their adolescence but rather because nothing else would be able to accurately describe this strange phenomenon. Persona 4 is a mixed bag of good and bad. It has a few decently high peaks but has many terribly low valleys as well. The way out biology works is that we tend to forget the bad and only remember the good. As such, it does not matter if the bad outweighs the good counterpart as we will only remember the good in the end. The name for this phenomenon is "nostalgia" and is the reason people like Persona 4: they only remember the good parts of it, like taking in the calming atmosphere of a quiet town, listening to the great soundtrack, fighting Shadows using Personas, and ranking up some social links. And whilst these are all very enjoyable things, they do not excuse the horrible writing. As such, it is for this reason I consider the first part of the game to be enjoyable, since that is when the story is the least present, whereas the remainder is godawful, since that is when the story begins to kick into high gear.
Nanako's kidnapping is absolute garbage with zero redeeming qualities. The sheer amount of plot convenience required for this absolute shitfest to transpire is truly remarkable in its own right. And the most depressing part of all that is that this is considered one of the highlights of the game... First of all, in-order for Namatame to be able to kidnap Nanako, the writers needed to come up with a convenient excuse for why Nanako would be home alone, since, at least in the original game, the player could not even go out at night. So, under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible for Namatame to kidnap Nanako, since Yu would have been home with her. So, they decided for Adachi to send Yu another warning letter, and for Dojima to be the one who retrieves it from the mailbox. The problem is that there is no reason why Yu would open it right in front of Dojima. Anyone even remotely using their brain would immediately be able to deduce that, after having previously received an unmarked letter that revealed itself to be a warning letter, the second unmarked letter one receives would probably also be another warning letter. And since Dojima is a detective assigned to the murder case, the contents of the letter is not something he would simply brush aside. In other words, why would Yu open it in plain view of Dojima? There is no reason for him to do that, at least in the game, since the anime at least tried to salvage this mess by having Dojima glare at Yu, forcing him to open it.
And for some reason not even god knows, Dojima decides to take Yu down the police station, because when a relative receives a threat reading, "if you dont stop this time, someone close will be put in and killed," your first course of action would naturally be to leave your 6-year-old daughter home alone, as she is clearly perfectly safe and is in no danger whatsoever. Then, after having subjected the player to lethal doses of cringe, Dojima decides to confiscate Yu's cellphone and have him stay the night. Why? Because, according to Adachi, he is "worried about you." Apparently, the same cannot be said about Nanako who was left home alone despite the killer having revealed to Dojima that he knows where they live. So, what is the actual reason? To hinder Yu from warning his friends when he sees Nanako's silhouette appear on the Midnight Channel and prevent her kidnapping.
Also, as a side note, when Naoto is trying to get to the Dojima residence as quickly as possible, why did she not ride her scooter? You know, instead of running? I am fully aware that the scooters were only added in Golden, but that does not mean it is not a problem in Golden. There is absolutely no reason for her not to be able to ride her scooter. There is not even an attempt, however pathetic, to explain why she did not. I would have been fine if they at least tried to handwave it by saying her scooter was out of gas or that it was raining, even though the game does not prevent you from riding your scooter when it is raining. If anything, you are incentivised to do so.
Let me be crystal clear: the single most retarded thing that ever happens in this game is Nanako being resurrected due to the power of friendship. First of all, there is no reason for her to be in mortal peril. Granted, she was sick and had been forced to strain herself during her kidnapping. But the problem with this little theory is that the doctors confirmed that they could not identify the cause of their illness. In other words, she did not die due to a bad cold. And, yes, the doctors would have been able to diagnose the fucking common cold. Unless you were not aware, Japanese people go to the doctor if they think they have a cold. There is not a single Japanese doctor that would not immediately be able to diagnose the common cold. Not to mention that the doctor's sprite clearly portrays him as older due to his grey hair, meaning he probably has tons of experience. But that begs the question: did her cold simply disappear? Unfortunately, the only answer to that question is inconsistent writing.
Regarding the argument that Nanako's declining health was a result of exposure to the fog in the TV world, as proposed by the so-called "Investigation Team," it had clearly been established, mere moments before, from the check-ups they underwent, that the fog had not had any negative impact on their health. Furthermore, the cause for the supposed rise in illness when the fog slipped into the real world was clearly established to have been the result of mass hysteria. In other words, there should not have been any reason for Nanako to die. But she did, because reasons. Not that her resurrection makes much more sense either for that matter.
Regardless, the reason for Nanako's death should be obvious: to enrage the Investigation Team so as to give them ample justification for killing Namatame by throwing him inside the TV, which is why the canon solution for the true ending makes little to no sense. In-order for them not to have killed Namatame, Yu would have had to have been canonically unaffected by Nanako's sudden death. Otherwise, he would have simply acted on impulse and killed Namatame rather than to have come to his senses and convinced the others to not kill Namatame. And when considering the fact that Yu (who has been established to care deeply for Nanako) is canonically supposed to act this much out of character, it makes the entire scene seem really poorly written. Should he not have been the most outraged over Nanako's death?
As for Namatame's behaviour in this scene, it is incredibly frustrating. When they enter Namatame's hospital room, he is trying to escape out of a window, fueling their rage even more. It may be nitpicking, but I am fairly certain it was established his room was on the second floor of the hospital; I doubt he would not have suffered injuries if he had jumped. But I digress. The main problem with this scene is his erratic behaviour, not because it is unwarranted but rather due to whether or not he is mentally sound being wholly dependent on what is most convenient for the writers. During their first visit, Namatame is obviously distressed. This is because the writers did not want him to be able to properly defend himself and answer their questions (such as, what did he mean by "'saving' people"), leaving their preconceived belief that he is the true killer unchallenged. But when they later return to question him the following day after having decided to hear his side of the story, he has suddenly completely regained his composure. Alike Nanako who died, only to be revived later on, as her death had then served its purpose to enrage the Investigation Team, Namatame is treated as nothing more than another plot device who only exists to further the narrative, no matter how absurd the surrounding circumstances may seem.
I would like to believe very few were at the very least not hesitant to throw Namatame into the TV, since it clearly was not the correct course of action in this scenario. Anyone who was even remotely paying attention would have been able to understand that intuitively, given the manner in which the choice was presented. However, there is a clear difference in bad writing between forcing the player to choose a precise answer from a bunch of equally vague options, to an unnecessary amount of questions, and misdirecting the player entirely, which is the reason Namatame's Shadow's appearance on the Midnight Channel is most definitely the second worst thing that happens in the game.
The most basic guideline for good writing is consistency. If a rule or fact is established, it must remain so for the entire story, unless it is established something else at a later date, before it can be exploited, especially in a murder mystery (if this game can even be called that). This is an example of how not to do that. During this moment, the player has not had any reason to doubt the legitimacy of what is shown on the Midnight Channel. Although some may have already deduced that the Shadows and dungeons only show exaggerated depictions of its ego's repressed feelings, there has never been any reason to doubt the gist of what is shown, since the repressed feelings shown have been established to fundamentally be the truth, despite being exaggerations. For the writers to have been allowed to do this, it should have been established or, at the very least, even remotely alluded to that what is shown on the Midnight Channel is merely what the public wants to see, not what is the truth.
But what turned this scene from a horrible to an appalling one were the questions, which one were forced to answer consecutively correct to unlock the true ending, so that one may torture oneself even more. But I am getting ahead of myself. To clarify, I would not even have been that salty if this shit had been pulled in, for example, Umineko, but because it instead happened in Persona 4, I have every right to criticise it. The difference between Umineko and Persona 4 is that Umineko actively encourages the reader to think for themselves and solve the mysteries, whereas this is not the case in Persona 4, where the mysteries were always so easy to solve that there was never any reason to actively make deduction or take notes, at least, up until this scene. Whenever the Investigation Team speculated about the killer's modus operandi, asking the player to give their input, the correct option was not only always painfully apparent to the player, they had already figured it out one entire dungeon prior. It is for this reason the questions are incredibly insulting. The game had already made it clear that there was no reason to actively engage with the mystery in any capacity. Even if one were to pick the wrong answer, another character would simply figure it out, and the game would progress.
If you want to write a story where the dialogue choices have an impact on the story, that is completely fine. Visual Novels do it all the time with different routes and whatnot. But this mechanic must be present from the beginning. And even if it is not, you cannot expect the player to suddenly expect the dialogue options to matter when they have spent the majority of the game picking dialogue options that all lead to the same destination, knowing they will all have the same outcome with the only difference being a slight difference in dialogue. When I watch a slice of life anime about cute girls doing cute things, I am not going to approach it with the same amount of attention and respect as I would when I read philosophy and vice versa, because I know that is not what the director intended for the viewer to do.
Lastly, how was Yosuke actually swayed by the supposed true dialogue options in any way? There is nothing of actual substance to them that would have logically been able to convince him that they, in fact, are "missing something." All that is said is that they need to calm down and think about it more carefully because they are missing something. But all that I am seeing that they are missing is what this "missing something" even is. Yosuke even asked what they were missing but received no proper answer. How, exactly, did "Calm the hell down!" convince him of anything? What, exactly, were they missing? What, exactly, did they need to mull over? Nothing. Yu does not provide even the slightest hint at any concrete counter-evidence to the belief that Namatame is the true killer. How was anyone convinced by this? Pure pathos? Well, that would require the story to actually make sense, which, if anything, has been established to not be the case.
My problem with Adachi is not that he is a poorly written character. On the contrary, the mere fact that a lot of people are able to relate to his struggles is proof alone that he is a realistic and well-written character. My problem with Adachi is that he is a poorly written antagonist. Normally, a character's motive should condition their behaviour. For example, the main villain wants to conquer earth and therefore tries to conquer earth. But, in the case of Adachi, it appears as if his motivations are instead a result of his actions. This is because Adachi was merely given the role of the antagonist to tie all the loose plot threads together and, as a result of that, has a myriad of different motives, which is the reason his character is a complete enigma to most players, resulting in a lot of people mistakenly conflating Adachi's lies with hsi true beliefs. This is because he does not have a concrete goal. After all, he simply behaves however the plot demands he does. Everything he says is more or less a lie or a twisted version of the truth, said only to deflect blame from him, or because it is the most convenient excuse for him to perpetuate in that particular moment. For example, he claims that he did not intend to kill Yamano or Saki, and that he did not even know the TV world was dangerous, but then he says in a flashback, after having pushed Saki into the TV world, that the would never "walk into a death trap like that," referring to the the TV world. It is for this reason it is impossible to believe anything he says prima facie, unless it aligns with his actions.
Accordingly, Adachi did not become a murder because he lacked "talent," as many like to believe. Although, his perceived lack of "talent," in addition to having been sent to Inaba, eventually culminated in Adachi lashing out by taking his frustrations out on Yamano and Saki by killing them, instead of relieving his stress by having sex, as was his original intention, until they did not reciprocate. Adachi's motive for killing them was not due to his lack of "talent" but was instead due to them rejecting his advances. Similarly, his belief that he lacked "talent" was not the reason he sat back and watched as Namatame kept perpetuating a cat-and-mouse game with the Investigation Team. It was, as he himself admits when asked about his motive, because he could and it was entertaining to watch. Why did he want everyone to turn into Shadows? Was it because he lacked "talent?" No, it was because he had become a wanted criminal in the real world and no longer had any reason to care about what happened to it, in addition to the possibility that no one would care if he had murdered people if every started to act on nothing but impulse and were blind to everyone and everything around them, including a murderer.
Adachi should have been the final boss, and the game should have ended shortly thereafter. Absolutely no one fucking cares about Ameno-Sagiri, Ameno-who-fucking-cares (Marie), and Izanami because they have no build-up to speak off and just pop out of nowhere. The reason why people like Nyx compared to these nobodies is due to the epic execution of her characterisation. Unlike the deities who have no build-up, the entirety of Persona 3 is the build-up to Nyx. Every Full Moon Shadow S.E.E.S. defeat is another part of Nyx and the culmination of their defeat results in the birth of Nyx. From there on, Tatsumi Port Island becomes increasingly more desolate: its inhabitants succumb, one after another, to Apathy Syndrome, people start wishing for Nyx's salvation, and the Cult of Nyx spreads like wildfire, all the while garbage bags and flyers fill the streets, as everyone has given up on life. As such, Nyx actually feels like the final boss. After all, her avatar is the culmination of everything that has happened in the game, which is beautifully illustrated by the Arcana readings, eventually leading to Death, Nyx. There is nothing that could replace Nyx, there is nothing that could supersede Nyx, and there is nothing that should supersede Nyx, because Nyx served her thematic purpose well. Similarly, there is nothing that could replace Adachi, there is nothing that could supersede Adachi, and there is nothing that should have attempted to supersede Adachi, because Adachi served his thematic purpose well. As such, these bosses are completely redundant. All they do is repeat the exact same thing that had already been established by Adachi. They serve no other purpose than to dilute an already long and poorly written story.
In conclusion, it should not come as a surprise that I think Persona 4 is a bad game. There is nothing redeemable about it. The story is an absolute trainwreck, the characters are poorly written, and the dungeon crawling somehow managed to be a downgrade from Tartarus. I could definitely understand how someone could overlook some minor issues due to its game development having been rushed. But these problems are far more severe and far more frequent than simply some minor problems, here and there, that could have easily been fixed if the game had only been in development for a few more months.
As such, even if Persona 4 were to get a remake (which seems possible given the success of Persona 3 Reload), it would still be impossible to salvage it due to how ingrained the flaws are with the story. The only way to actually fix Persona 4 would be to take some extreme creative liberties. By that I mean, scraping the entire, original manuscript and rewriting it from the start, since, in case you have not been paying attention, the very first scene in the game is shit.
It is not like with Persona 3 where the only real problem with the game was that Tartarus was poorly designed. That is a very minor problem that is not integral to the story besides being thematically brilliant, but since this is not an analysis of Persona 3 (despite my attempts), I will refrain from going overboard. Basically, it does not matter how the blocks of Tartarus are designed. They can look like they did in the original or in the remake. It does not matter because it does not impact the actual story. But this is not the case with Persona 4. It is a fundamentally bad game, through and through.
4/10