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Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4

aka: Persona 4, Shin Megami Tensei: P4

Description official descriptions

Recently, strange murders began to occur in the quiet Japanese town Inaba. People are found dead under mysterious circumstances, and rumors say that something very wrong is going on with local TV system. A high school student moves into town, living at the house of his uncle, a police detective named Ryotaro Dojima. Shortly after his arrival, a TV announcer is found dead, her body hanging on a TV antenna. A while later, the student who discovered the victim is found dead as well. The new student and his friends accidentally discover that a parallel world exists within the realm of television, populated by supernatural creatures known as Shadows. The young people also find out that their own Shadow Selves are able to grant them unique powers. They must travel into that mysterious world and find out who is responsible for the murders.

Persona 4 is a Japanese-style role-playing game with light social simulation elements, similar in concept to its predecessor. The player controls a party of characters who must solve the crimes by venturing into the TV world and exploring its dungeons. Each dungeon is associated with a potential victim and carries a unique theme; their layouts, however, are randomly generated. Enemies are visible on screen, and contact with them leads to turn-based battles, which heavily rely on exploiting enemy weaknesses and unleashing powerful attacks after having successfully knocked them down. As opposed to the previous game, the player can issue direct commands to the main character's companions during battles. Similarly to other Persona games, characters' abilities and attributes change by merging them with supernatural beings known as Personae, which can also be fused at special locations to create more powerful ones.

Like the previous installment, the game is stretched across an entire school year, strictly following a real calendar, each day divided into different periods (school, after school, evening, etc.). The protagonist can interact with other characters, study, join clubs, take part-time jobs, etc. Spending time with characters builds up Social Links, which grant the player benefits when creating new Personae, unlock skills for companions, and increase the protagonist's own attributes (Understanding, Diligence, Courage, Knowledge and Expression); these attributes, in turn, influence further interaction and character-building.

Spellings

  • ペルソナ4 - Japanese spelling

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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

211 People (204 developers, 7 thanks) · View all

Director
Art Director
Composer
Chief Planner
Scenario & Social Link Planning Leader
Scenario Writer
Event & System Planning Leader
Event Planner
Event Sub Planner
Social Link Event Planner
Social Link Event Sub Planner
Battle & Field Planning Leader
Battle Planner
Battle Sub Planner
Chief Programmer
Battle Programmer
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Discussion

Subject User Date
This is different! St. Martyne (3644) 2009-01-07 20:29:30

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The PS2 version of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Awards

  • GameSpy
    • 2008 – PS2 Game of the Year

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  • MobyGames ID: 38259

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Kyle W.

PlayStation 3 added by Fred VT.

Additional contributors: formercontrib, LordAndrew, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.

Game added December 28th, 2008. Last modified March 11th, 2023.