Persona 4 Golden Catch-All

beanman101283 wrote:

Is Arena's story enough to get you through if you don't typically like fighting games?

It's pretty interesting. In "story" mode, you have tons and tons of dialogue broken up by a couple brief 30-second fights. Every person tells the story from their own perspective, and there are enough differences to where it's tough to wonder which one if any will be canonical. The story is a bit fan service-y, but otherwise fine. Some interesting stuff with one particular character from P3...

Do you mean:

Spoiler:

Mitsuru and the whole Labrys story?

I enjoyed the P4A story, though it can get long winded at times. Long winded scenes in P4 I don't mind as much, but when Minarchist says "tons" what he means is it can be 1+ hours of dialogue between fights at times. I eventually started fast-forwarding through a lot of the stories, especially when it became obvious which parts were just re-hashed from other characters stories.

Also, if anybody wants to do some P4A versus, I'm always down. That game is so much fun, and it never got it's proper time in the weekly fight nights.

FWIW, P4A is coming to PSN tomorrow evening; not free, but there may be a discount for PS+ members.

Noooooo! Play on 360 with me!

No fighting games should be played with the 360's D-pad.

Too true, which is why I run with a home-built custom arcade stick. No fighting game should be played with *any* d-pad.

[Dirty filthy skimmer alert!]

I started playing P4G a couple of weeks ago, and really digging it, though I'm still pretty early in the game (bath house). I so far have not consulted FAQs of any kind (i.e. recommended after-school actions to take), but I have been perusing through the online "thought bubble" summary. Am I shooting myself in the foot? I think I'm comfortable knowing that I probably won't get the Super Ultra Awesome Ending, as long as I can make it through the game relatively frustration-free. I believe I'm currently at 8 S-Links, at an average of rank 3.

Also, how much of a d*ck am I being, by hitting the "SOS" button after every single battle, even just to top off the tanks? I'm returning the favor every time I see it pop up, but it seems like I hit the "provide help" button far more frequently than I see returned... I just don't want to overstay my welcome.

merphle wrote:

[Dirty filthy skimmer alert!]

I started playing P4G a couple of weeks ago, and really digging it, though I'm still pretty early in the game (bath house). I so far have not consulted FAQs of any kind (i.e. recommended after-school actions to take), but I have been perusing through the online "thought bubble" summary. Am I shooting myself in the foot? I think I'm comfortable knowing that I probably won't get the Super Ultra Awesome Ending, as long as I can make it through the game relatively frustration-free. I believe I'm currently at 8 S-Links, at an average of rank 3.

Also, how much of a d*ck am I being, by hitting the "SOS" button after every single battle, even just to top off the tanks? I'm returning the favor every time I see it pop up, but it seems like I hit the "provide help" button far more frequently than I see returned... I just don't want to overstay my welcome. :)

Don't worry about perfection in the first playthrough; the game's got a robust NG+, where a lot of skills & such carry over, giving you more time to beef up social links and aim for perfection.

Re: the SOS button; after a certain point, probably around September-November, you'll find that you have skills which heal you & boost your SP between fights enough that SOS becomes a major slowdown.

merphle wrote:

[Dirty filthy skimmer alert!]

Also, how much of a d*ck am I being, by hitting the "SOS" button after every single battle, even just to top off the tanks? I'm returning the favor every time I see it pop up, but it seems like I hit the "provide help" button far more frequently than I see returned... I just don't want to overstay my welcome. :)

I don't think you're being a dick, in the sense of like wasting a valuable resource. Doesn't cost us anything to hit the help button. I ultimately decided that the SOS was too annoying to rely on, though.

Not being a jerk at all hitting the SOS button as long as you're helping others in return. I used to do it even at full health just to send my approval to other players for their outstanding taste.

I'm led to understand that NG+ is where it's at for the best ending.

On the other hand, I'm feeling like quite a bad person. Early November:

Spoiler:

I'm level 84. I don't even want to "go there" with my main Persona. At this point I might as well try to max out my level.

I finally got aroun to starting this during the last week. I'm only 6 hours in and am loving it. The simple functional changes from P3P really help make it a more enjoyable experience.

I'm at the boss of

Spoiler:

the secret lab

and I haven't used SOS yet. I actually forgot that was even an option. Finally maxed out a social link, with a bunch more at 9. I think I'm on a pretty good pace to get a lot of them. I also have no doubt I will play a new game + in this, which is unheard of for me.

Finally opened up my last Social Link, the Tower. I'm one notch of diligence away from maxing out all of those stats. I'm in late November, and

Spoiler:

Nanako has just woken up

.

Just finished the optional boss in:

Spoiler:

Secret Lab

so now I'm on to the next area. I need to spend some quality time fusing new personae, I'm relying too heavily on my older ones. They're high level, but their abilities are starting to lag behind. Except Dominion, can't lose that one (Mahamaon + Hama Boost = <3).

Is there any particular reason to play through the game again? Extra content? Unlocked story bits?

There are some conversation options you can only choose on NG+. The other big reason is to max out all social links, which while possible in NG is tougher than it is on NG+.

So really the answer is trophies.

DSGamer wrote:

Is there any particular reason to play through the game again? Extra content? Unlocked story bits?

Different girlfriends

ahrezmendi wrote:

Too true, which is why I run with a home-built custom arcade stick. No fighting game should be played with *any* d-pad. :D

Touché

Hold on... No... I got something... Quit buying wins!

I accidentally got the bad ending last night. Didn't realize I was THAT close to the end of the game. Looked up a guide, reloaded a save, and am continuing forward. I'm at 82 hours in the game so far. I think I finished Persona 3 Portable at around 110. I doubt I'll do a NG+, at least right away.

beanman101283 wrote:

I accidentally got the bad ending last night. Didn't realize I was THAT close to the end of the game. Looked up a guide, reloaded a save, and am continuing forward. I'm at 82 hours in the game so far. I think I finished Persona 3 Portable at around 110. I doubt I'll do a NG+, at least right away.

As an aside, I love how easy the game makes it to slip into the bad ending by leveraging your righteous anger against you. Good for you, Atlus.

Minarchist wrote:

As an aside, I love how easy the game makes it to slip into the bad ending by leveraging your righteous anger against you. Good for you, Atlus.

In retrospect, I think I appreciate that too. At the time though, I was pretty miffed I had to go back and watch a bunch of cutscenes over. At least it let me fast forward through them!

Also, there are 2 opportunities to get the bad ending. I can see that getting annoying if you mess up twice in a row.

One more Easy Mode Anguish Update. November 3.

Spoiler:

I accidentally opened a chest with the Reaper in it. I didn't know there was such a thing. At level 89, with teammates in the low 80s and a mid-80s level Raphael at my side, the battle only lasted a few rounds. I even got a screenshot of Chie and Yukiko hitting him with Twin Dragons.
Most battles - including rare hands - have become a race to see whether MC/Raphael or Naoto are going to cast Megidolaon first. Rise replenishes enough MP to let those two use that skill perpetually.
Main Character is now level 91. He now has a god-slaying sword and an angel who smites entire battlefields without almost no effort.

Still, I'm thankful for the challenge of time management and social links. And, again, a lot of this is mindless farming while I'm either watching my kids or on the exercise bike.

From my perspective, "Easy" may be an even bigger game breaker than Chagall Cafe. There's always Normal difficulty in New Game+, if the rest of the pile can wait for it.

Wow, at that same point in the game I was in the high 50s, and fighting any kind of Hand is a race to see if I can even kill 1 of them, let alone clear the battlefield. That 40% XP penalty sure does make Very Hard a totally different game.

I imagine so. Hands were like that for me early in the game - and I kind of miss it. Everyone else in the thread seems to be having a good challenge, and the game is spoon feeding the battles to me. Hands are a big part of how I got to this ridiculous experience level.

So, yeah, Easy is unbelievably nerfed. The monsters aren't acting as vicious as it seems they should. When the monsters do use their most lethal techniques, their damage is negated by both the "easy" setting and the likeliness of your party being overleveled. I know that a lot of the people who are going to play this game are already playing it, but I wanted to still throw this out there. This doesn't feel as satisfying as it could. Especially not now.

Also worth noting that it's really difficult to get the Hardcore Risette Fan trophy on anything lower than Normal. Because you out-level all the enemies you encounter, you miss out on a ton of her dialogue. Just FYI for any trophy hunters out there.

Pretty sure I beat the last boss, unless the game's got a curveball to throw my way.

Spoiler:

I'm at New Year's Day, and defeated both Adachi & his Eyeball/Technodrome friend. I'm going on lots of dates with Yukiko to clear out the year, seems like. After that, on to NG+! I got 5s in all of my skills, except for Diligence (4). Next game, I'll be aiming for maxed out social links.

Tanglebones wrote:

Pretty sure I beat the last boss, unless the game's got a curveball to throw my way.

Spoiler:

I'm at New Year's Day, and defeated both Adachi & his Eyeball/Technodrome friend. I'm going on lots of dates with Yukiko to clear out the year, seems like. After that, on to NG+! I got 5s in all of my skills, except for Diligence (4). Next game, I'll be aiming for maxed out social links.

Spoiler:

That's not the end. Assuming you did what's required to get the "true" ending you may want to go back and see. But the final boss is sometime in March, I think, and kind of hard to find. And it's not Adachi.

I just got through the 12/3 event, and ran into my first real gripe with the game. Serious spoilers obviously:

Spoiler:

Adachi? Are you kidding me? I cannot believe Atlus just pulled a "The butler did it". Total weak sauce.

Not only does he completely lack motive, which is what makes for the most entertaining villains, but his story doesn't even hold up. Accepting that he might not have been noticed shoving Mayumi into the TV, there's no way nobody noticed at the police station. Security tapes from the interrogation room? Other police officers seeing her come in, but not go out? His whole monologue screams of a shoe-horned in plot twist, and I think Atlus could have done better.

Namatame would have been a far more interesting villain. He had a solid alibi, but he also had motive and history with the victims. Him being the villain could have played out much like Evil Under The Sun did, with a twist at the end you couldn't see coming a mile away. Instead he's the fall guy, and not even the fall guy by intention, he's the fall guy completely by accident! Ugh, such a wasted opportunity.

It doesn't ruin the game for me, but I'm very disappointed. I had higher hopes for the story, since it started out so strong.

ahrezmendi wrote:

I just got through the 12/3 event, and ran into my first real gripe with the game. Serious spoilers obviously:

Spoiler:

Adachi? Are you kidding me? I cannot believe Atlus just pulled a "The butler did it". Total weak sauce.

Not only does he completely lack motive, which is what makes for the most entertaining villains, but his story doesn't even hold up. Accepting that he might not have been noticed shoving Mayumi into the TV, there's no way nobody noticed at the police station. Security tapes from the interrogation room? Other police officers seeing her come in, but not go out? His whole monologue screams of a shoe-horned in plot twist, and I think Atlus could have done better.

Namatame would have been a far more interesting villain. He had a solid alibi, but he also had motive and history with the victims. Him being the villain could have played out much like Evil Under The Sun did, with a twist at the end you couldn't see coming a mile away. Instead he's the fall guy, and not even the fall guy by intention, he's the fall guy completely by accident! Ugh, such a wasted opportunity.

It doesn't ruin the game for me, but I'm very disappointed. I had higher hopes for the story, since it started out so strong.

Just wait. It goes even deeper into Japanese cop-out land. Only click below if you plan on going no further or aren't going for the "true ending".

Spoiler:

In the "true ending" even Adachi is a puppet of an outside power.

I am going for the True Ending, so I'll read your comment after I've finished. I hope it won't make me even more disappointed.