(What a coincidence, am I right?)

To think that I watched the Persona 4 anime long before I ever got to P4G, thinking at the time "Ehn, it was a'ight", only for the actual game to make a solid entry into my Top Ten once I finally played it. Really speaks volumes of its quality.

To this day, Persona 3 Portable is still the most stressful game I've ever played. Having gone into it blind, I was not prepared for the visual novel elements and the limits of the schedule system. And yet, Persona 4 Golden still managed to blow me out of the water, even though I knew (almost) the entire story AND I was playing with a 100% guide.

Because P4G fucking NAILS IT when it comes to writing, as every character, from team member, secondary Social Links, tertiary characters, even the nameless mute protagonist. I love them all. They all have incredibly captivating storylines, connect to the environment you're in, and offer gameplay benefits for you exploring these quite optional interactions. P4G's main theme of 'Truth' also jelled with me a lot, as the story takes place in a rural town, developing wondefully from a Scooby Gang mystery to full-on philosophical inquiries about the very concept of Truth, and what it entails.

While there's a degree of separation between the visual novel/dating sim aspects and the turn-based RPG combat that I would like was less prevalent in Persona games, I cannot deny that they were explored to their fullest, while sticking to the main schedule mechanic in these games. Combat is straightforward yet frenetic, with great quality-of-life options. The grinding is minimal and (almost) entirely optional, since it all comes down to your in-game schedule management. And the Pokémon-style compedium of figures from mythology and fiction that serve as the protagonist's Personas is a feature I am enamored with, especially when just going off exploring each and every one on my own time.

There's certainly some points of contention. Besides the combat being split from the rest of the game, most of the sidequests are about item farming; which gets very annoying if you're playing for optimal time management and you can only go to combat areas at specific points in your schedule. And the exploration is also lacking, sadly. I'd appreciate it if a future entry would be more willing to just let us play the RPG part with more frequency. You've nailed the writing and I love the characters, please let me play the game mindlessly at my leisure!

And lastly: yes, I did fall for the game's final trap; and yes, it was as if someone punched through my fucking heart while looking me in the eye with the sternest face, and saying "You did this to yourself". And they'd be right. Fucking Valentine's Day.

UPDATE: Illustration nuked from my Redbubble page by SEGA. Consider supporting me through SubscribeStar.