A classic of jrpg arrives on Steam
“Once, I dreamt I was a butterfly”, with these words opens one of the most peculiar series of the videogame world: Persona.
Born in 1996 as a spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei, Person has managed over the years to conquer an increasingly large audience, seeing its popularity increase in particular in conjunction with the release of 5 person e Person 5 Royal, the first major title of the franchise entirely localized in Italian.
Its spiritual prequel (each Persona tells a story in itself perfectly enjoyable without having played the previous titles), 4 Golden Person, is recently available on the Steam platform and, thanks also to the low system requirements required, it represents an indispensable opportunity to rediscover a small masterpiece of gameplay and narrative.
A golden game
4 person was originally released on Playstation 2 in 2008, but the ATLUS, with a superb labor file and the addition of exclusive content, including a new character and a new ending, decided to bring it back in a revised and expanded version in 2012.
That was how he saw the light 4 Golden Person, one of the most precious exclusives of the almost forgotten Play Station Vita, in this regard we suggest reading the our in-depth article on the Sony laptop). In summary, translated into a proportion, Persona 4 Golden stands for Persona 4 just as Persona 5 Royal stands for Persona 5.
Not only that, the Steam version boasts some further additions such as higher resolution and the choice between English or Japanese dubbing. Finally, the game has a fairly low price, € 19,99 for the basic version and € 24,99 for the deluxe version with digital artbook and soundtrack included. How to miss this golden opportunity?
The return of the Persona
Yu Narukami, the protagonist, is a high school student who has just moved to the pleasant Inaba due to the work reasons of his parents, who, forced to go abroad, have preferred to entrust their son to the care of an uncle.
However, soon the small provincial town is overwhelmed by a series of serial killings and it will be up to our main character to investigate to discover and stop the culprit.
A normal high schooler probably wouldn't have much chance of success in the business, but Yu is special, he holds the Wild Card, the ability to make a contract and summon several Person, manifestations of the personality and heart of his contractor.
Having discovered a world parallel to ours that can be accessed by crossing the screen of a TV, the protagonist and his friends will begin a new adventure full of twists. Will you be able to solve the case before it's too late?
Jrpg you go, battle system you find
Persona 4 Golden's combat system is very similar to that of other Persona. The fights are turn-based, ideal for developing strategies able to exploit all the peculiar abilities of the party characters.
You can choose between simple or Persona attacks, skills, enemy analysis, defense or use of objects. Those who have already played a title in the series will immediately feel a feeling of familiarity with the game controls, which however are sufficiently intuitive to be simple enough even for newbies.
Furthermore, from the beginning the player is asked to select the difficulty, which can be changed at any time during the game, thus making it possible to balance the game experience based on one's familiarity and ability.
Carpe Diem
As the Latin poet Orazio said, you need to know how to live for the day, seize the moment, and in Persona 4 Golden, in addition to the mystery investigative component, another slice of life is added.
In the game there is a calendar and day by day you will have to organize the activities of the protagonist deciding how to invest his time.
You can focus on maximizing Social Abilities (Courage, expression, understanding, knowledge, diligence), decide to spend time with one of the Social Links, characters with whom a special bond is established between them and the protagonist, or even do secondary quests or dive into the TV to train the party.
The choice is yours and if you fail to reach the maximum rank in social skills or with social links there is the possibility at the end of the game to start a New Game Plus. Remember, however, that time does not wait for anyone and the perpetrator of the murders he is still free, ready to make his next move, and only you are able to solve the mystery of Inaba.
Some technical considerations
The very fact that Persona 4 Golden was released on PC is and deserves admiration, but the port is not without its flaws. The innovations and improvements made are discreet, but a remastered would have been preferable and the game has not been localized in the Italian language.
In particular, it is noted that in some PCs, although the computer largely meets the required system requirements, the opening of the game and the introductory movie are subject to slowdowns and frame drops. It is possible to fix the problem by changing some settings and the gameplay does not exhibit any slowdown.
final Thoughts
It is undeniable that Persona 4 Golden was one of the spearheads of the Playstation Vita and even today the story, the combat system and the characters are unforgettable.
The graphics will not be excellent, but it is very "nostalgic" and although the technical sector is an important aspect of the game, it absolutely does not undermine the beauty and depth of one of the best Jrpg in recent years.
In conclusion, if you love jrpg and games with a compelling storyline and memorable characters, go to steam without delay to buy it, you have found the video game for you.
