Whether it be forming meaningful bonds between other characters to fighting Shadows in the TV World, Persona 4 Golden offers an experience that will keep players engaged for hours to come! After what seemed like forever, Atlus has finally put a Persona title on steam which is sure to bring many newcomers!

Plot
I had a blast exploring the little town of Inaba! I wasn’t expecting to get pulled into this game as much as I was! Persona 4 introduces the player to the town of Inaba as a high schooler that moved to the countryside to live with his uncle and cousin while the hero’s parents are working abroad. The game begins with introducing the player to a series of mysterious murders that occur on foggy nights that the player soon realizes is connected to the bizarre phenomenon known as the “Midnight Channel.” On rainy nights, the channel comes on at midnight and hints at the next target that is going to be murdered. The hero, along with his new friends, decide to solve the mystery after discovering their ability to summon Persona’s from accepting their “true selves” which allow them to fight shadows and explore the depths of the TV World in order to save victims before it is too late.

My thoughts on Persona 4 Golden
I found myself working on Social Links so I could learn more about the Persona 4 cast. These S. Links also help in fights which makes getting them even more worthwhile! Some S. Links are tricky so you may want to refer to a guide to help you properly flesh each S. Link. These links are crucial in order to create stronger persona’s for battle! The battles in Persona 4 are fun and require the player to think carefully before acting. Sometimes you are better off setting up buffs/debuffs instead of spamming a single button. I had a boss fight that took me several tries due to me not setting up proper defenses. These fights are complemented with amazing battle themes that almost make you not want to end the fight just so you can jam out to them! But this isn’t just limited to battles. The music played throughout Persona 4 is a delight to the ears. I can’t help but hum along to the ost as I run along Inaba/the TV World.

Issues/Bugs
So far, I’m having a blast with the game! Although, I have had my fair share of bugs here and there. I was unable to play on my MacBook Pro and had to switch to an older laptop which was a little bit upsetting, but I completely understand so that’s just a personal complaint. Besides that, I had several issues with cutscenes not functioning properly. For example, the opening cutscene will not play and I have to skip over it. This happens any time there is a cutscene in the game. The cutscene will try to play but it is very choppy with distorted audio. It’s a tad annoying to be unable to watch the cutscenes as the game progresses. (I just watched them on YouTube according to my place in the game in order to get around this!) Lastly, I have an issue with All-Out Attacks during fights. During battle after using this move, a semi-translucent image of a character will remain on the screen for several seconds to minutes. The game is stuck at this frame and is unable to progress the battle. However, everything else in the background is functioning as it should. Characters are still moving, and you can even try to “rush” the fight, but nothing will happen. (Sometimes pressing alt + tab or alt + enter can help resume the battle.) I'm hoping these bugs get patched within time

TL;DR
+ - Amazing soundtrack!
+ - Fun characters with interesting and unique personalities
+ - Fun gameplay
+ - Engaging story

- - Bugs