Persona 4

Persona 4, released in Japan as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, is a 2008 role-playing game from Atlus. It's the fifth main entry in the Persona series, part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. The game launched for PlayStation 2 in Japan in July 2008, followed by North America in December 2008, and Europe and Australia in March 2009. It was one of the last major exclusives for the PS2. An enhanced version, Persona 4 Golden, hit PlayStation Vita in 2012 and later came to Windows in 2020, with ports to Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in 2023. A full remake, Persona 4 Revival, is slated for February 2027 on PS5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.

Set in the fictional Japanese countryside of Inaba in 2011, you play as a silent protagonist who moves from the city to spend a year with his uncle. Soon, a series of mysterious murders grips the town. You and a group of friends discover a supernatural world inside televisions, where you can summon Personas, physical manifestations of your psyche. The game blends traditional turn-based RPG combat with life simulation. You attend school, build social links with classmates and townsfolk, and explore randomly generated dungeons. The day-night cycle and calendar system force you to manage your time wisely.

The murder mystery plot drew inspiration from classic mystery novels, setting it apart from Persona 3. The rural setting, based on a town near Mount Fuji, was designed as a "nowhere place" to make players empathize with daily life. The developers packed in seasonal events to keep the experience fresh. During localization, Atlus adjusted Japanese cultural references to preserve the original tone. The soundtrack, composed by Shoji Meguro with vocals by Shihoko Hirata, earned widespread praise. Western releases included a CD of selected tracks. Critics lauded the game for its gameplay, story, emotional depth, characters, and music. Persona 4 Golden received even higher marks for its added content and visual upgrades. By the early 2020s, the game had sold around 2.5 million copies worldwide.

Persona 4 is frequently cited as one of the greatest games ever made. It spawned manga, light novels, and an anime adaptation by AIC ASTA. Characters have appeared in spin-offs like the fighting game Persona 4 Arena (2012) and its sequel Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (2013), the rhythm game Persona 4: Dancing All Night (2015), and the Nintendo 3DS dungeon crawlers Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (2014) and Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth (2018).[edit]

The game splits into two halves: living a high school student's life in Inaba and fighting Shadows in the TV world. During the day, you attend classes, take part-time jobs, and hang out with friends to strengthen Social Links. These bonds unlock new Persona fusions and combat bonuses. At night, you can explore the TV world's randomly generated dungeons, each themed around a character's inner turmoil.

Combat uses a turn-based system where striking an enemy's weakness knocks them down and grants an extra turn. The protagonist can equip multiple Personas, captured or fused in the Velvet Room. Fusing two or more Personas creates a new one, inheriting skills. The weather system affects enemy spawns and certain events; foggy days lock you out of the TV world.

Persona 4 Golden adds new mechanics: gardening for items, fishing, scooter tours, and a third semester with an extra dungeon. The Vox Populi feature shows other players' choices during polls, and the TV Listing displays exploration data from other players.[edit]

In April 2011, a city teen moves to the rural town of Inaba to live with his uncle, detective Dojima, and cousin Nanako. A month later, the body of a local TV announcer is found hanging from a telephone pole. Rumors swirl about the "Midnight Channel," a ghostly image said to appear on TV screens at midnight. The protagonist and his new friends, Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko, discover they can step into the TV world through Junes department store. There, they encounter Shadows, dark reflections of people's repressed selves.

Each party member must confront their own Shadow, accepting the hidden parts of their personality to awaken their Persona. The Investigation Team rescues victims thrown into the TV world before the foggy killer strikes again. The mystery deepens when they learn the killer uses the TV world to commit murders. The trail leads to a classmate, Tohru Adachi, who is arrested. But the true mastermind is Izanami, the god of the TV world, who manipulates events to test humanity's desire for truth. The protagonist and his team defeat Izanami, choosing to live with the truth rather than a comfortable lie.[edit]