Would I recommend Persona 4 Golden? Well, the answer's pretty complicated. Persona 4 golden is one of the more divisive games in the Megami Tensei franchise. It will either be your favorite game in the Persona series (or favorite in the whole franchise) or your least favorite. I first played this game years ago and it ended up being one of my favorite games at the time. However, now that I've replayed it years later and now that I'm much older, I'm not 100% sure where I would align in either of the two. There's quite a bit in this game that does better than the other Persona games but at the same time there's quite a bit that does a lot worse.

I'll start with the combat and dungeon crawling aspect of the game. The dungeon crawling is not too dissimilar from Persona 3's dungeon crawling. However, the dungeon crawling in Persona 4 Golden is a little bit better. All of the dungeons look like their own thing now instead of all of them looking very similar to one another like in Persona 3. I still think Persona 5's dungeon crawling is a lot better than Persona 4 since Persona 5's dungeon crawling isn't randomly generated, but Persona 4 Golden's isn't bad. For the combat, again, it's not too dissimilar to Persona 3's combat. The combat still utilizes the "One More!" mechanic. The "One More!" mechanic is kind of like the Press Turn system from the mainline SMT games, but some changes were made. If you manage to knock an enemy down by landing a critical of hitting their weakness, "One More!" will activate and the character who activated it gets an extra turn. However, you can't abuse the weakness of the enemy you just knocked down. You have to wait until their next turn before you can active "One More!" again. Other than that, the rules of the battle system are not too dissimilar to other SMT games. Use buffs/debuffs and wail at the enemy with their weakness or abuse critical hits until they're killed. My main gripe with the battle system, and I think most people can agree with me, is the difficulty. Even if you're playing on Hard or Very Hard, you won't really be experiencing a lot of challenge unless it's your first Megami Tensei game. Another problem with this game I have are the OP physical skills. In the endgame, there are very overpowered physical skills that outmatch every magic skill in every way. This makes magic irrelevant in most of the endgame. These skills also return in Persona 5, but they were a little nerfed in Persona 5 since more enemies resisted physical than they do in Persona 4 Golden.

I will now start talking about the story of the game. I'm kind of mixed about this story. Don't get me wrong, there's definitely worse stories out there. But I still feel like the story is very hit or miss. The first half of the game is definitely my least favorite. There's not that much going on in the first half and the gang barely makes any progress (if not any at all) into solving the murder mystery. The final half of the game is hands down my favorite. I personally didn't like how the game has been a lot more cheerful than the other Persona games (I'm including Persona 1, 2 Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment) thus far, but the atmosphere feels entirely different once you're in the 5th dungeon. (I won't say who's dungeon it is, as that would be very spoiler-y.) It's also the part of the game where the gang actually starts getting somewhere with the case. It really makes you want to know what happens next. As for the Social Links, I was never a big fan of the Social Links. I understand that Social Links are one of the things that make Neo-Persona, Neo-Persona. But that might also be one of the reasons why I don't like Neo-Persona that much these days. This game was obviously meant for people who are more into Visual Novels. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it starts to get bad if the first half of the story is filled with filler segments and it makes me feel like I'm about to fall asleep. However, I will say Persona 4 Golden is definitely the funniest Persona game. Sure, there are times where this game is just cringe-y anime fan service, but there are other times that have made me crack up until my rib cage started hurting.

In my opinion, Persona 4 Golden isn't really a bad game. It definitely can be enjoyable. I'm just sadly not part of the audience this game was made for anymore and it makes me a little sad that I didn't enjoy this game as much as I did many years back. Is this a good game? In my opinion, yes. However, it's not a masterpiece. I still think this game has many issues. However, if you don't like a lot of dialog, I would skip this one out. Especially if you get bored of very easy turn-based combat very quickly.

Would I recommend Persona 4 Golden? Well, the answer's pretty complicated. Persona 4 golden is one of the more divisive games in the Megami Tensei franchise. It will either be your favorite game in the Persona series (or favorite in the whole franchise) or your least favorite. I first played this game years ago and it ended up being one of my favorite games at the time. However, now that I've replayed it years later and now that I'm much older, I'm not 100% sure where I would align in either of the two. There's quite a bit in this game that does better than the other Persona games but at the same time there's quite a bit that does a lot worse. I'll start with the combat and dungeon crawling aspect of the game. The dungeon crawling is not too dissimilar from Persona 3's dungeon crawling. However, the dungeon crawling in Persona 4 Golden is a little bit better. All of the dungeons look like their own thing now instead of all of them looking very similar to one another like in Persona 3. I still think Persona 5's dungeon crawling is a lot better than Persona 4 since Persona 5's dungeon crawling isn't randomly generated, but Persona 4 Golden's isn't bad. For the combat, again, it's not too dissimilar to Persona 3's combat. The combat still utilizes the "One More!" mechanic. The "One More!" mechanic is kind of like the Press Turn system from the mainline SMT games, but some changes were made. If you manage to knock an enemy down by landing a critical of hitting their weakness, "One More!" will activate and the character who activated it gets an extra turn. However, you can't abuse the weakness of the enemy you just knocked down. You have to wait until their next turn before you can active "One More!" again. Other than that, the rules of the battle system are not too dissimilar to other SMT games. Use buffs/debuffs and wail at the enemy with their weakness or abuse critical hits until they're killed. My main gripe with the battle system, and I think most people can agree with me, is the difficulty. Even if you're playing on Hard or Very Hard, you won't really be experiencing a lot of challenge unless it's your first Megami Tensei game. Another problem with this game I have are the OP physical skills. In the endgame, there are very overpowered physical skills that outmatch every magic skill in every way. This makes magic irrelevant in most of the endgame. These skills also return in Persona 5, but they were a little nerfed in Persona 5 since more enemies resisted physical than they do in Persona 4 Golden. I will now start talking about the story of the game. I'm kind of mixed about this story. Don't get me wrong, there's definitely worse stories out there. But I still feel like the story is very hit or miss. The first half of the game is definitely my least favorite. There's not that much going on in the first half and the gang barely makes any progress (if not any at all) into solving the murder mystery. The final half of the game is hands down my favorite. I personally didn't like how the game has been a lot more cheerful than the other Persona games (I'm including Persona 1, 2 Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment) thus far, but the atmosphere feels entirely different once you're in the 5th dungeon. (I won't say who's dungeon it is, as that would be very spoiler-y.) It's also the part of the game where the gang actually starts getting somewhere with the case. It really makes you want to know what happens next. As for the Social Links, I was never a big fan of the Social Links. I understand that Social Links are one of the things that make Neo-Persona, Neo-Persona. But that might also be one of the reasons why I don't like Neo-Persona that much these days. This game was obviously meant for people who are more into Visual Novels. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it starts to get bad if the first half of the story is filled with filler segments and it makes me feel like I'm about to fall asleep. However, I will say Persona 4 Golden is definitely the funniest Persona game. Sure, there are times where this game is just cringe-y anime fan service, but there are other times that have made me crack up until my rib cage started hurting. In my opinion, Persona 4 Golden isn't really a bad game. It definitely can be enjoyable. I'm just sadly not part of the audience this game was made for anymore and it makes me a little sad that I didn't enjoy this game as much as I did many years back. Is this a good game? In my opinion, yes. However, it's not a masterpiece. I still think this game has many issues. However, if you don't like a lot of dialog, I would skip this one out. Especially if you get bored of very easy turn-based combat very quickly.