Make no mistake about it: Final Fantasy XII is an average game. But it’s a kind of average that most games can only dream of. It is spectacularly average, and could very easily have been an all-round superb experience if not for all the ways it went wrong.

Final Fantasy XII is the second traditional Final Fantasy Title to be produced for the Playstation 2. It is also the last. FFXII incorporates many features new to the franchise–most notable a real-time combat system–that has unjustly polarized fans. You either love it, or you hate it. Indeed, it seems that the game in its entirety is either loved or hated, depending upon who you ask–and when you ask him or her. It’s all very subjective, and very messy.

Much of the strong emotion swirling around this title seems to be sorely undeserved. Final Fantasy XII, is should be nowhere near as polarizing as it is. It’s a game that fails to add any substantial new element to the ever-more tiresome RPG genre, and fails even to produce a strong narrative–something that has been, traditionally, the hallmark of the series. In some areas FFXII does very, very well. In other areas, it does very, very poorly. In the end, it’s nothing but a mediocre affair.

Who was the protagonist, again?

The aspect of Final Fantasy XII that gets the most (unwarranted) criticism is the combat system. The game gives the player expansive, detailed environments crawling with a variety of beasts to fight. You engage in combat by approaching any monster you choose (or are forced into it by the monster choosing you) and thereby initiate combat.

The game uses the very same active-time battle system that was featured in FFVI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy X-2. Instead of the game automatically deciding when a turn ends–and thereby when you can issue commands to various party members–you get to choose when to pause the game and issue commands.

Because all actions occur in real-time in the overworld map (the ONLY traversable map in this game) there is always the possibility that additional monsters can join the fray. Also, when an enemy retreats you are able to pursue it–just as the enemies can choose to pursue you, should you choose to flee. It’s the same combat system we’ve always had with some flash and dazzle sprinkled on top–and the cosmetic changes work marvelously well, turning what would otherwise be a lethargic repeat of games past-played into something seemingly new and invigorating.

A particularly well-embraced feature of the game is the Gambit System. The gambit system is little more than an artificial-intelligence that you can customize for each individual character that determines which actions they take in particular situations. Other games (notable the .hack and Tales of… series) have had similar features, but Final Fantasy XII’s Gambit system is by far the most detailed.

Gambits range from the very-general–such as having a character set-up to immediately attack any enemy that is targeting the party leader–to the very specific–having a character use the spell Firaga whenever an enemy’s health is below 30%. Gambits direct the initial actions of the other characters in the party, but individual orders from the party leader (the player, naturally) will Always override the gambit. Gambits can be turned on or off, depending on the player’s preference.

In addition to the over-abundance of mundane monsters (too many of which use the same models with different coloring) that must be fought for hours on end in order to level up and/or attain that precious gil there are three types of “special” enemies. There are rare monsters, that only appear after certain conditions are met, there are “Hunt” monsters which compose the majority of the side-quests in the game, and, as always, there are bosses.

Above all else, it is important to mention that Final Fantasy XII’s combat system is actually fun to play. Yes, it gets repetitive–but it is addictive and it is fast. No other RPG comes close to this level of sheer enjoyment in combat–from big bosses to mundane random monsters wandering the desert. It’s the same system, at heart, as it’s been for years–but in Final Fantasy XII it has an energy that previous titles have lacked. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that you can speed up or slow down the pace of the game, at your leisure.

It’s been seven years since we last saw the Persona series, and when we did, it took the gaming community by surprise. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 changed what the Persona series used to be and created one of the freshest Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPGs) to ever hit the PlayStation 2.

A few months after the release of Persona 3, Atlus brought us Persona 3 FES, an expansion which includes the main story (The Journey) with a hard mode and new additions, and it also includes the follow-up story (The Answer). Is Persona 3 worth another semester if you have the original, and what about newcomers?

The plot for The Journey is unchanged and if you would like details on what the story is about along with how the main game plays, please read our Persona 3 review. If you have a save file for the original Persona 3, you are able to transfer your progress, personas, attributes and social links. The Journey features new scenes which are accessible at the dorm or by talking to your party members. These new scenes are hilarious and add more personality to the characters. New personas and social links are added into the main game, and a few of the social links have been moved around to different times to fix some of the pacing issues. Instead of waiting for the plot to advance or doing meaningless exploration in Tartarus, you can now do a few social links during the night.

A big addition to The Journey is the weapon synthesis system. In the antique shop, you are able to fuse Nihil weapons with personas to create new, powerful weapons that aren’t available otherwise. Fusing different personas with weapons will create weapons with different special bonuses. For example, fusing one persona with a weapon can give the weapon an attack power bonus, whereas fusing a different persona with the same weapon can give the it an evasion bonus. Another addition is the costume change where certain armors modify the appearance of the characters during battles and dungeons. You can finally have the SEES members battling in their swimsuits.

The biggest addition to Persona 3 is the 30 hour follow-up story to the main story titled “The Answer.”  In The Answer, you take the role of Aigis, and the story takes place a few days after the events of The Journey.  At midnight, the newscast reveals that the previous day has looped (Groundhog’s Day style), and the SEES members find themselves trapped in their dorm. Metis, who claims to be Aigis’ sister, barges into the dorm and threatens to kill all SEES members, except for Aigis, in order to stop the time repetition. Aigis awakens to Orpheus, the same persona the main character from The Journey awakened to, and puts a stop to Metis. After a while, Metis reveals the Abyss of Time under their dorm which is causing the day to repeat. The SEES members must now investigate the Abyss of Time.

The Answer is a great conclusion and answers any confusion you had about the ending of the main story, hence “The Answer.” The story is exciting and makes you keep coming back for more. Translation and dialogue remains very strong, but there are a few lines that fall flat. Unlike The Journey, you have to work your way through dungeons for the plot to advance. One disappointing thing about The Answer is the lack of character interaction which was beauty of Persona 3. There are no social links in The Answer, and you’ll have very little to no input on the dialogue.

Battling remains the same where only the main character is controllable and is capable of changing personas. Dungeons still suffer from being random, repetitive and tedious, and the distance between save points is lengthy. There is no difficulty option for The Answer, and it’s a little tougher than the main game. If you had a difficult time with battles in The Journey, you better do some arduous grinding and hope for the best. This harder difficulty makes you play wisely and makes battles more intense. Persona compendium is absent from The Answer which is disappointing. You can no longer register your persona and throw them away without having the fear of losing them forever. Once you get rid of a persona, you lose that persona until you can find him again.

Shoji Meguro returns as the composer for Persona 3 FES. Seventeen new tracks are present in the FES edition, with some remixes of previous Persona tracks. The new tracks are great and don’t suffer from being too abrasive or abstract. The same voice actors return for FES and still deliver solid voice acting. FES has no graphical upgrades, but the art style is still impressive.

Persona 3 FES offers remarkable depth into the main game and a splendid conclusion, making the entirety a more thrilling experience. For $30, you get the complete package of one of the best RPGs for the PS2. If you were one of those people who missed the short-lived print of Persona 3, then Persona 3 FES is a great second opportunity.  For those who have the original, be prepared for another year of high school.

The Shin Megami Tensei series is known for having mature themes and being more difficult than your average Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPGs). They have been largely ignored by western gamers, but it has gathered a cult following. Atlus’ Persona 3 is a more accessible game for JRPG gamers due to the inclusion of an easy mode and friendlier atmosphere. Persona 3 takes an interesting approach by combining sim-dating elements with traditional RPG elements, but how well does it mix them? Does it create a mess or a masterpiece?

You take the role of a nameless, transferred high school student. Upon arriving, the main protagonist notices an unusual change in the city and his classmates living at the dorm won’t tell him anything. After a shadow attack and awakening to his persona, his classmates finally tell him about all the shadows and the “Dark Hour” – a period of time that occurs every midnight which only a few people are aware of and remain conscious during that hour, and shadows appear.

Along with the Dark Hour, the main protagonist learns about the mysterious, enormous tower that appears during the dark hour: Tartarus. Where did the Dark Hour, shadows and Tartarus all originate? In order to answer these questions, he agrees to join SEES and use his persona abilities to fight off shadows. Now you have to balance your double life – high school student at day and shadow hunter at night.

You don’t need to play the previous entries in order to understand the story. The plot starts off slow, but it’s worth the wait. The story is excellent and is filled with exciting, unexpected twists. While there are a few pacing issues and you’re sometimes waiting for the plot to advance, it actually works well for a 70+ story. Translation and dialogue are very strong and witty at some occasions. Characters are well designed and filled with great and unique personality. There was one character in the party that added nothing to the story, and there was no good reason for the person to join the party other than having the persona ability.

One of the beauties of Persona 3 is interaction. You’re the main protagonist; you not only play but become a part of Persona 3. For the main story, there will be a couple of dialogue options in which you decide what the main protagonist will say. It’s a nice feature to have, but there were a few problems. A few dialogue options felt completely unnecessary, and the options you had were pretty much the same. Another underwhelming thing is they are one-liners. It was rarely a complete conversation between you and another person.

The best implemented interaction is the social links, and this is where the sim-dating elements come into play. Persona 3 uses a day-to-day calendar, and each day is divided into different times: morning, after school, evening and the dark hour. During the morning, the main protagonist goes to high school where he will make new friends, take tests and participate in some funny school events. In order to be a successful, well known high school student, you need to build up his attributes which include courage, charm and knowledge.

After school, you can hang out with your classmates, meet new people or date. When you hang out with a person, you’re given dialogue options and choosing the wrong line can cause you to lose that person’s friendship. One of the best things about the social links is each person has a unique story. You learn a lot from the person and all the struggles the person is experiencing.

Persona 3 uses a traditional turn-based battle system with a few twists. Only the main protagonist is controllable, while the AI controls your party members. You can’t give them specific commands, but you can change their tactics. You can tell one party member to be on support, and that member will heal party members or remove ailments. For the most part, the AI can handle itself pretty well, but there will be times when they will frustrate you by casting something you didn’t want. Enemies are visible in the dungeons, so battles aren’t randomly encountered. If you attack the shadow from behind, you are given a player advantage which grants the whole party a full turn to attack. If an enemy attacks you first, there will be an enemy advantage which grants them the first full turn to attack.

Each shadow and persona has their own strengths, weaknesses or nulls. Exploiting the enemy’s weakness knocks down the enemy and gives you another turn. When all enemies are knocked down, the party can go for an all-out attack which resembles like a cartoony, comic brawl. Beware; enemies can also exploit the party’s weakness which will grant them another turn, but they can’t go for an all-out attack. It becomes frustrating when the enemy knocks you down because you’ll just use your turn getting up instead of attacking or supporting your allies. Battles in Persona 3 are difficult, but they are fun to play and satisfying after you beat them.

Personas can be best described as summons, and a character can summon a persona by shooting themselves in the head with an evoker which resembles a handgun. What’s cooler than seeing high school students shooting themselves in the head? The main protagonist is the only one who can change between multiple personas during a battle, but he can only one change one per turn.

When you’re running out of room for personas, you’re able to register them in the compendium at the Velvet Room. You can fuse your personas in order to create a whole new persona. Building a strong social link can increase the experience earned for the fused persona. Some problems when fusing are the personas might not likely have the skill you desire, and you won’t know what the skill does. Even I, who has played a good amount of Shin Megami Tensei titles, had problems figuring out what those skills did.

Exploring one huge tower isn’t pretty and can become tedious. You’ll have to explore several floors before you reach a save point, and it becomes frustrating when you die after you explored a nice amount of floors and have to start all over again. Excessive grinding is required to advance through floors and to battle against bosses. Boss battles never seem to be repetitive, and most are filled with some nice twists keeping you on the edge of your seat. They are some of the best boss battles I’ve seen in a JRPG.

Once you decide to end the exploration of Tartarus, the day is over and a new day begins. Persona 3 becomes addicting and gives you the “just one more day” feeling. There were times where I said to myself, “I’ll just finish the next day and stop playing after that.” Nope; I continued playing and after each day, I kept telling myself the same thing over and over again.

SMT music composer, Shoji Meguro, does a fantastic job on the soundtrack and wonderfully combines J-Pop, rock and hip-hop. At first it might be a little embarrassing to listen, but it’ll eventually become stuck in your head. Surprisingly, the battle theme never gets old and becomes catchy. There were a few music selections that felt weird and a little annoying, but overall it’s a solid soundtrack. Voiceovers are pretty good, especially for a JRPG. Most of the voice actors really nailed the personality of the characters especially the character of Junpei. I wish there was an option to shut Fuuka up.

Persona 3 focuses on art style instead of being a technical powerhouse. Personas and shadows have great designs, and the levels also have a great art design and style. One of the best thing about Persona 3 is the use of anime-styled cutscenes instead of CGI.

Atlus has delivered a unique and memorable experience by seamlessly combining sim-dating and traditional RPG elements. The story and characters are great, combat is fun, character interaction is wonderful, and the day-to-day calendar gives you an addiction. While the excessive grinding, length and not being able to control your party members might turn some players off, especially newcomers to JRPGs, this is one of the best and freshest JRPGs to hit the PS2.

What do you get if you cross Final Fantasy and Disney? Kingdom Hearts. KH is a crossover between Squaresoft (Now Square-Enix), and Disney Interactive. Released in 2002 Kingdom Hearts is an Action RPG of epic proportions. Being the first game in the series it’s got a lot to prove to both Action and RPG fans alike. Can it satisfy both? Or does it just come off as mediocre across the board? Hit the jump to find out.

The strongest point in Kingdom Hearts is the story, the game begins on Destiny Islands, where three of the main characters; Sora, Riku, and Kairi live. The three friends want to leave the islands to explore new worlds and have prepared a raft for this purpose. However one night the island is attacked by creatures called the Heartless.  Sora seeks out Riku, his best friend, however Riku disappears into a dark portal. It is at this time you obtain the KeyBlade, the most effective weapon against the Heartless. However, the islands are destroyed and Sora drifts out into space. Meanwhile, King Mickey of Disney has left his world to deal with the increasing numbers of Heartless emerging and has left instructions for mage Donald and knight Goofy to find the “key” that will protect the worlds from the approaching darkness.

Kingdom Hearts is often regarded as one of the best RPG’s on the PlayStation 2, and has created an IP mix unlike any other. It has a fascinating story, that will completely immerse you. The gameplay is great, with an engaging battle system that doesn’t get tiresome. The single player story mode is satisfyingly long, with plenty of extra content and secrets to keep you coming back even after you finish the game. The exclusion of multiplayer is no loss, as adding it to an Action-RPG would just seem desperate.

Everyone wished they could play as Riku.

Kingdom Hearts looks great, graphically it’s not the best game on the system, and you’ll occasionally be confronted with jagged edges, but the colour and style is fantastic. Mixing the fantasy genre with Disney without turning it into toddler town is no easy feat, the balance between the two is perfect. The cinematics are astounding as well, smooth animation and textures that would make you cry. It may not be the best looking title out there but it’s sense of style holds it up among the best looking games.

There are some truly memorable tracks in Kingdom Hearts, there are plenty of Remixed Disney tracks in there, and the main theme song; Simple and Clean, is brilliant. You’ll hear plenty of your favourite Disney voices and the memories will flood back. The voices for the main characters are fairly good too, except Sora’s voice can seem kind of whiny sometimes. The voices of Genie, Jack Skellington and all the classic characters offer a fresh take on old childhood favorites.

The battle system is fantastic, real time battles take place at complete random. With Heartless spawning anywhere and everywhere you have to be on your guard. You have your basic attack and magic buttons, but you can also power Sora up with special abilities, such as Roll, Glide or extra Combos. There are a huge multitude of abilities available in the game so you have plenty of choice. There are also a number of KeyBlades in the game, each with varying strengths and weaknesses, and some with added abilities. The KeyBlades are often based on the Disney worlds you find them in, or after the character that gives it to you.

In his spare time, Sora is a locksmith.

Kingdom hearts is a blast to play, the dialogue will keep you entertained and the story will completely suck you in, it has Disney appeal for aspiring young gamers and a deep ability system for the hardcore. Gamers of young and old are sure to enjoy this game.  There are a plethora of secrets scattered throughout the game, for example, if you collect all 101 Dalmatians hidden in chests throughout the world, you earn a secret ending! The difficulty curve is nice and steady, being relatively easy at the beginning of the game leading to a  test of your accumulated skills at the end. Kingdom Hearts will continue to challenge you, but it’s a challenge that you can overcome, despite the level cap of 100.

For a brand new IP Square should be very proud, they took a shot in the dark with this unexpected crossover, and it paid off big time. Kingdom Hearts is now a must have classic for the PlayStation 2. It’s combination of a compelling story with action packed battles makes it a strong candidate for most gamers.

When I bought Kingdom Hearts, I didn’t know what to think, it looked strange and I thought it was a bit childish. After I played for an hour or so, I realised that there was so much more to it. The Disney exterior is just the surface of the game. Overall Kingdom Hearts is a must buy, for RPG or action fans, or if your unsure and want a new game, pick this one up. Kingdom Hearts is a game you really have to experience yourself, and I finally have a game that combines my inner child and outer gamer harmoniously.

]]> http://gamerlimit.com/2009/03/gamer-limit-review-kingdom-hearts/feed/ 15 http://gamerlimit.com/2009/02/eternal-poison-review/ http://gamerlimit.com/2009/02/eternal-poison-review/#comments Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:50:19 +0000 Jesus Gonzalez http://gamerlimit.com/?p=6178

Part of Atlus’ 3 big releases for the Holiday Season along with Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 and Luminous Arc 2, Eternal Poison was the one with the least anticipation or hype due to it being a new IP and a strategy-RPG, one of the least popular genres. There was something about Eternal Poison which caught my eye; maybe it was the attractive box art. Developed by Flight-Plan, known for their Summon Night series, their latest RPG to make it to the United States introduces us to medieval, gothic world of Besek filled with unusual demons and great art direction. Atlus’ latest strategy games weren’t met with praise, but can Eternal Poison change this trend?

The story starts off with the demonic world of Besek mysteriously emerging into the world, and then the Princess of Valdia is kidnapped by the Majins. Sounds pretty cliché huh? Not to worry since the story is much deeper than just rescue the princess. There are five stories in which each tells a different perspective to the story and not all of them have to do with rescuing the princess. The main character Thage, who is a witch accompanied by the silver wolf Ranunculus and her servant, Retica, is in search for the Eternal Poison. What is the Eternal Poison you ask? This is for you to find out and finding out why she wants the Eternal Poison is another mystery.

When beginning the game, you’ll notice the potential in the story department. The story in Eternal Poison is good, but pretty much everything remains vague until the end. The farther you get into Eternal Poison, the more sense and interesting the story becomes, but if you hate waiting for the story to kick in, then sadly Eternal Poison isn’t for you. The translation is strong, but the dialogue can get repetitive. Character development is weak, and many characters will feel lifeless throughout the whole game – no personality, no background, nothing. Minor characters have no business doing there, and their reasons for joining you on the exploration of Besek is very poor. There are a few exciting parts when a few characters will play with your mind just out of nowhere making you think whether they’re on your side or not.

Like stated before, there are five “stories” in one where each story has different characters showing different perspectives of the story which all ties up together which is a pretty interesting approach. You decide which one to start with, and each story has a good and bad ending. In order to get the good ending, a few requirements are needed, but those requirements will be nearly impossible to achieve on the first play-through. If you do get the bad ending, the story will restart, and you are given another chance until the good ending is achieved.

Eternal Poison is a turn-based strategy-RPG and battling is simple, quite possibly the simplest it can get in a strategy-RPG. There’s no picking up huge number of allies and throwing them like in Disgaea; no, it’s actually pretty straight-forward like Final Fantasy Tactics. Movements in battles are grid-based, and only the leader can call for a combo attack. Battles can suffer from repetitiveness where each battle is pretty much the same as the one you played before – the same enemies with the same objective. After reaching a certain level, your characters can change class and learn new skills, but be warned; they can’t change class after that. Skills can be assigned to  characters by setting them to their armor at the store. There’s no turn limit meaning you don’t have to worry about finishing battles before turn 20 ends. There are a few features which separate it from other strategy games.

Multiple paths can be taken, and each path leads to a different boss which can determine the ending of the story. Each path has different secrets such as refugees, band members or rare majins to capture, but only one path leads you to the true ending.

Battle animations sounds pretty awesome, but sadly the execution to the animations is poor. Battle animations take a while to load, about 5 to 10 seconds, and while it might not sound bad, it does become annoying after a while. Also some of the battle animations are underwhelming in terms of length which lasts about a second or two, so waiting about five seconds to see a two seconds animation isn’t really worth it. Luckily, battle animations can be turned off even during battles and make battles tolerable.

Each majin will have an overkill HP and reaching the overkill HP lets you capture the majin, but if the overkill number isn’t reached, then the majin just disappears. Exposing the majin’s weakness is the key to achieving the overkill HP. Capturing majins is a good thing to do because you can extract skills or pp, which are required to summon majins during battles. Summoning majins is helpful in case you’re short of allies or need someone with a certain skill to defeat a majin, but majins disappear after a couple of turns. In Traviata House, you can set which majin you want to summon during battles along with extracting their skills or pp.

Eternal Poison is a difficult strategy-RPG and not recommend for anyone new to the genre. After each battle, you are taken back to town to recruit members, save and buy items, weapons or armor, and once you leave town, you choose the next path to go forward, deeper into Besek. It’s pretty much linear, and there are no optional battles for leveling up. There’s no turning back to play with the easier stages, and it’s really frustrating because some of your characters will remain under-leveled and die quickly in battles making you not use those under-leveled characters for the rest of the game.

To make matter worse, there are level requirements for both armor and weapons, so don’t expect to rely on buying the newest, strongest equipment available all the time. If your allies die in battle, you won’t loose them forever which is a great thing because if allies were lost forever, then you’d be stuck with only the main characters. Do everything you can during in battles to level up properly, or else you’ll have a hard time during the second half of the game. There’s no option to save during battles which is a little frustrating because some battles can last quite a while, and if the main character gets wiped out, then it’s game over; even if all your allies are alive and there was only one majin left.

Stones of fate is an optional mini-game found at the town’s pub, and it’s one of the best mini-games to be found in a strategy-RPG. The game takes place on a board of 33 squares, and the objective is to remove all pieces by hopping over them. The pieces must be adjacent, and there must be an open square for the piece to land on. There are a total of 50 stages of Stones of Fate, and after beating a stage, some concept arts are unlocked which can be viewed at the gallery.

Speaking of art, Eternal Poison oozes with a great gothic art style. The characters, majins and environments are well designed. The music in Eternal Poison ranges from jazz to rock, and while it’s mostly decent, there are some tunes that are just beautiful to listen. Voice acting is mostly solid, but a few of the main characters along with some minor characters sound bland, uninspired and just plain annoying. The nice people at Atlus decided to include a soundtrack CD with the game along with the artbook (for a few copies), and these bonuses are welcomed with open arms.

Despite its flaws and a few questionable features, Eternal Poison is actually an enjoyable game. The art style is engaging, the multi-perspective story is interesting and the difficulty of the game will make you strategize your moves ahead of time and make battles exciting.

Everyone who’s ever lifted up a controller, or set hand to a mouse, to play a game knows that some games  are good, some games are bad, and some games can be so enthralling experience that they defy any such  label. Those are the games we find ourselves playing when the alarm clock buzzes at six in the morning,  and we realize we forgot to sleep. Those are the games that drive us to become what we are: gamers.

Persona 4 is one such game. I could call it a good game, or a great game, but neither term fully captures  the essence of Persona 4. Persona 4 is a game that will devour a great swath of time from your life—and  you will be thankful for every spent hour.

Are You In Love Yet?

Persona 4 is a Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) whose story revolves around a group of high school  students gaining superpowers, fighting bad guys, and having fun, while all the while balancing both the  supernatural and mundane aspects of their lives. Sounds clichéd? It is—not that it matters in this case, but  I’ll get to that later—and it should also sound very familiar. The premise of Persona 4 is painfully similar to  that of Persona 3, which was released to critical acclaim in 2006. It is true that Persona 4 introduces  nothing new to the JRPG genre, or even the Persona series itself. The premise, story-structure, character  archetypes, presentation, graphics and gameplay are virtually identical to Persona 3, and even were we to  forget that, the basic presentation and mechanics are nothing unique. But, even with that, Persona 4  remains an exceptional game.

Gameplay in Persona 4 is rigidly divided into two distinct areas: the “real life” part of the game, where the  player runs through town making friends, working, and going to school, and the “fantasy world” part of the  game, which is devoted almost entirely to combat. This rigid divide means you’ll always know when to  expect dialog-led social interaction, and you’ll always know when to expect a fight. Things can be a bit  predictable, but Persona 4 endeavors to maintain a laid-back atmosphere throughout, so the stark  juxtaposition never becomes too disconcerting.

The fantasy-world of Persona 4 is very different from Persona 4′s Dark Hour thematically, but very similar to  it structurally. The game plays out in the Japanese town of Inaba. At the player’s discretion, you can go to a  particular point in town and, from there, travel to the fantasy realm to progress through the story, level up,  or search for various items that the people of Inaba want you to find for them. There are a handful of  different dungeons you access one-at-a-time as you progress through the game. Each time a dungeon  opens up, you have a set amount of time to beat the dungeon (which advances the story) or the game will  end. Once you’ve cleared a dungeon, however, you can move back through it again, at your leisure, and  attempt to defeat that dungeon’s hidden boss.

Though the aesthetics of these dungeons can be very, very cool (ranging from a strip-club to an 8-bit  themed Dragon Quest tower) the actual layout of the dungeons is very simple. In a change from Persona 3,  the dungeons in Persona 4 are no longer random, so every level will always look exactly the same—though  there are some hidden and extra boss battles that spice things up. The various enemies are represented in  the dungeon map as either hovering black balls or floating semi-sentient black puddles. These enemies  move around along very short pre-determined paths, and when you encounter one you either attack it, or  flee. When you attack an enemy—or when an enemy gives chase and catches up with you—you initiate a  battle and shift to the combat portion of gameplay we’ve seen in every JRPG since the NES days. Attacking  an enemy in the dungeon can give the player an advantage, but letting an enemy attack the player will give  the enemy an advantage: the advantage is usually a full extra turn.

Kill It With Fire!

If you’ve ever played a JRPG, you should be pretty familiar with how Persona 4′s combat works out. You  control 4 characters—either directly, or allow the AI to control the three additional characters with a handful  of pre-selected behavior scripts—and take turns beating the crap out of monsters. The monsters also take  turns beating the crap out of you. It’s all so very… symmetrical. Certain enemies have weaknesses, which  will require the standard fire and ice-themed elemental spells to take down. The combat is fast-paced and  the battle music is catchy, so combat is generally fast and fun, but every once in a while you’ll find yourself  fighting a monster that is immune to ever single kind of attack save one. Those battle can be particularly  infuriating when no one in your party is capable of causing any damage.