Persona 4 Golden
What is Persona 4 Golden?
While Persona 5 might be the most well-known game in the series, Persona 4 Golden is arguably the game that put Persona really on the map.
Released for the PS Vita in 2012, Persona 4 Golden took what critics loved about Persona 3 — the Social Links, school setting, and Persona-summoning — and wrapped it up in a cosy murder mystery package with the best uncle and his adorable daughter.
You move to Inaba in the Japanese countryside to stay with your uncle while your parents work abroad for the year. After quickly making friends, a student at the local high school discovered the dead body of a murdered TV reporter. Rumours of the ‘Midnight Channel’ cause the protagonist and his friends to investigate the murder and enter a world that can only be accessed through a television set.
Known as the Investigation Team, this group of Persona-wielding teenagers all use Personas based on Japanese mythological beings or people of legend, such as the Japanese creation deity Izanagi, the daughter Ouyamatsumi the mountain god Konohana Sakuya, and the adult version of folk hero Kintaro, Kintoki-Douji.
Persona 4 Golden and Persona 4 – What are the differences?
Similarly to Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden is an improved version of the ‘vanilla’ version of Persona 4, the 2009 PS2 RPG.
Golden adds two new Social Links, rebalances gameplay aspects from the original PS2 version, adds a new month with some extra story, new animated cutscenes and events, new weather, and a new epilogue. Like Royal, it’s often regarded as the preferred version, and you’re not missing out on anything by playing Golden on Switch over the original PS2 game.
Will I like Persona 4 Golden if I like Royal?
Probably, yes! While it’s not as visually flashy or stylish as Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden is the most similar game in the series to Persona 5.
It might feel like a little bit of a step back if you’ve only played the most recent game in the franchise, admittedly — Persona 4 Golden has unique dungeons like the Palaces in 5, but these dungeons are randomised now, closer to Mementos. So every time you leave the dungeon, the layout will change. Also, combat is missing a lot of the quality-of-life features that Persona 5 (and Royal) introduced.
Really, just go in thinking of this as a PS2 (and PSV) RPG, and you’ll likely have an amazing time. Along with 5, it’s considered the best game in the series by many.
What about Persona 4 Arena Ultimax?
While Persona 5’s spin-off/sequel stays in a pretty similar genre wheelhouse, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is a completely different beast — it’s a beat ’em up with lots of visual novel-style cutscenes.
The fighting game, developed by Guilty Gear and Dragon Ball FighterZ maestros Arc System Works, is a direct sequel to both Persona 4 and Persona 3. Ultimax also contains the story from the first fighting game spin-off, Persona 4 Arena, so you don’t need to grab a PS3 or Xbox 360 to get the whole story if you want it.
It’s a pretty fun time with sharp fighting game mechanics but doesn’t go in expecting mainline Persona levels of polish for its story — it’s a fighting game, after all. It’s not required reading, but if you like Persona 4 and you like fighting games, it’s worth picking up. At least, that’s the NL verdict.
Persona 3 Portable
What is Persona 3 Portable?
Persona 3 is where things get a little complicated. Persona 3 Portable is actually the third version of the original Persona 3 that launched on PS2 in 2006/07. A second version Persona 3 FES, launched on PS2 just a year later. More on that in a second.
The version Switch owners are getting next week is the first time that P3P has been rereleased since its original PSP launch in 2009/10 (and on PSN). Set in the Japanese city of Iwatodai, and you’re (guess what) a transfer student who is asked to join SEES, a group of high schoolers who can summon Personas and are investigating something known as the ‘Dark Hour’, an additional 25th hour of the day where the protagonist’s high school transforms into Tartarus, a labyrinthine tower full of evil creatures known as Shadows.
For the first (and only) time in the series, you can play as either a male or a female protagonist — and depending on who you pick, it changes your Social Links and opens up brand new story routes. The game came out after Persona 4, so lots of quality-of-life changes have been added.
SEES’ Personas this time are all based on Greek gods, deities and figures such as Orpheus, the Thracian bard, Hermes the messenger, Cerberus the guardian of the underworld, and Nemesis the goddess of divine retribution.
Persona 3 Portable and Persona 3 FES – What are the differences?
Persona 3 FES, being the second version of Persona 3, already brought several changes to Persona 3, but rather than P3P being a straight-up upgrade to FES, it’s a counterpart and the pair have a few big differences. FES is also only available on the PS2 (or PS3 if you snapped it up on the PSN).
FES’ big claim is that it added a brand new chapter to Persona 3 after beating the main story, called ‘The Answer’. This additional story chapter was a lot harder than the main game and removed the Social Link aspect of the main game — it’s essentially just a straight dungeon crawler. Plus it’s around 30 hours long, on top of the main game’s 60-70 hour playtime.
The Answer was missing from the PSP version of P3P, so we assume it’ll also be missing from the Switch version. That being said, as mentioned above, you can now play as a female protagonist. You’ll be able to choose who your silent student of SEES is right at the start of the game, and you’ll get new cutscenes, events, and relationships depending on who you pick. Essentially, if you pick the male protagonist, it’s like FES, but if you choose the female protagonist, you’ll be getting a fair bit of new content — nothing that changes the ending though.
The biggest difference between the two, however, is a game changer. In FES, in combat, you could only control the protagonist’s actions. That means that your other three party members are left to the devices of the AI, which could end in disaster (Marin Karin, anyone?). Luckily, in Persona 3 Portable, you can control all four party members — what a relief! As a result of this, many prefer Persona 3 Portable to its PS2 counterparts.
Will I like Persona 3 Portable if I like Royal?
This will depend on your expectations, as Persona 3 Portable is pretty different from Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal.
Where Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal let you freely explore Inaba and Shibuya, letting you walk around environments and talk to everyone, Persona 3 Portable is much closer to a visual novel when you’re not inside Tartarus.
There are no animated cutscenes and no 3D models outside of the main dungeon — instead, any conversation between characters is often just portraits on the screen. You also can’t walk around the various parts of the city freely. You select locations on the Iwatodai map, and then you get another static map of the area you’re in with things you can interact with marked. You then have to drag a cursor point-and-click style to these to interact with them — whether they’re people or objects.
Tartarus is also very different to the Midnight Channel or the Palaces. Tartarus is one big, long dungeon where floor layouts are randomised every time you enter. It’s closer to Mementos than the Midnight Channel in that sense, and progression through Tartarus is mandatory, with more floors opening up as you progress the story.
Where are Persona 1 and Persona 2?
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Atlus has forgotten all about Persona 1 and Persona 2 Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment. Outside of the odd bit of promotional anniversary material and merchandise for the games, we barely see a peep about these entries — though we do appreciate the birthday nods the official Twitter account often sends out.
Persona 1 and both games in the Persona 2 duology aren’t available on any Nintendo console at all. In fact, there are very few places you can play these games. And, unlike ‘modern’ Persona games, Persona 1 and 2 have multiple reoccurring characters and plot elements. Persona 1 is on the original PlayStation as Revelations: Persona, though it’s also been remade for the PSP as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona. Persona 2 is much more complicated. Innocent Sin’s PSOne version never saw an English release, and the only version officially available in English is the PSP remake. Its direct sequel, Eternal Punishment, did get an English release on PSOne (but not in Europe) and was rereleased on the PlayStation Network, but the PSP remake never got an English release. Of course.
Persona 1 and 2 are also very different from the later games in the series — Persona 3 basically revamped the entire premise while keeping nods and references to the first three games. The PSOne games lack Social Links and the gameplay is much closer to a traditional RPG or early Shin Megami Tensei games. They’re also pretty slow with high random encounter rates and plenty of annoying little quirks.
Time hasn’t been kind to them, and we’d love to see them get ported, but we think they’d require a lot of reworks to appeal to the modern-day Persona fan. However, the stories in them — particularly in 2 — are well regarded.
Which game should I play first on Switch?
The short answer — it doesn’t matter! Start where you want. The long answer? It entirely depends. We probably wouldn’t recommend starting with Persona 4 Arena Ultimax or Persona 5 Strikers now, but if you have played either of those games before P5R, P4G, or P3P’s release, then it doesn’t matter.
Persona 5 Royal is easily the most accessible and attractive of the three mainline titles coming to Switch. It arguably set the standard for turn-based RPGs going forward with its unique UI, stylish visuals and unique dungeon. But playing 5 Royal first might make it harder to go back to the other entries.
Persona 4 Golden is the most similar to Royal and is probably our recommended starting point if you want to try out all three games on Switch. It’s the most lighthearted entry and strikes a balance between the randomised dungeons of P3P to the stylised Palaces of P5R.
Persona 3 Portable, being so different from the other two, also isn’t a bad place to start. But if you go back to it after 5R or 4G, then this is the game you might struggle with the most. Think of it as a visual novel with dungeon-crawling rather than a big RPG like its sequels.
So, Persona 4 Golden is our light recommendation, but as long as you know what you’re in for — and don’t mind a big change going back or forwards — then you can start wherever!
That’s all for our Persona guide for Switch owners. We’re excited to see the mainline games finally make their way to Switch, and hopefully, we’ll see even more Persona on the console in the future. Persona 4 Dancing All Night next, Atlus?
