Let's chat about Persona 4 Arena now that it's out worldwide (I believe)

[hazabaza1]

So, Persona 4 Arena. Probably one of the weirdest changes of genre that I've seen but still, I'm surprised at how much I'm enjoying it.

First off, the story. It's well written and enjoyable. Of course it bloody is, it's Persona. But if there's any of you out there considering getting this game, keep in mind that when you play the story mode, the gameplay is the dressing. The real meat comes from the talking talks and the dialogues, and there's a fair amount of it. Aigis' story mode took me about 40 minutes of straight reading (maybe less, I dunno) before I got into a fight. But it's still well written, and if you enjoy anything Persona 3+4, then you'll be getting a fun feeling of nostalgia when you're in the talky bits.

Though I do have a few issues. So, it's a fighting game, and a big part of the story will be fighting the various characters that are in the game. But the way the tournament format is structured "only the winner can go on".
This results in a really weird situation where in Yu's story his third fight is against Chie inside the school stairwell, but in Chie's story her first fight is against Yu outside the school gates. So... the fuck, basically? I mean, it's TV world, so stuff is gonna get weird, but I'm only 18% done so I'm hoping the true ending or whatever clears this up because it's getting me annoyed.

Also Chie's joke ending was fucking amazing.

As for the actual game fighting parts, I'm actually enjoying it! I don't generally enjoy 2D fighters unless it's on the sofa with some mates or something, but whether it's the cast or the way it plays I'm actually doing online against randoms. Don't usually do that.

Though coming up against an even slightly decent Akihiko means I may as well just put down the fucking controller. Seriously, once he gets his auto-combo moves going on it seems like he can just cancel after the punching back and forth and then start it all again. Some annoying shit, straight up.

Also I've been trying to main Yosuke but god damn his Persona attacks are fucking worthless. They all have such a large build up and hen takes his sweet time after doing them that I may as well not bother most of the time. Tentarafoo's nice though.

Haven't seen any character particularly dominating the online scene, which is nice, and also expected this coming from the Blazblue guys.

So, final impressions, very fun. Glad I got the Limited Edition because I love Persona so much. I would've preferred an RPG, yeah, with the talking and the social links and the level ups and the fusing and the new cast with the references and the cameos of the old cast but WHATEVER. For the format the story was taking and simply for the competitive aspect, yeah I'm liking it.

 

[PanYue]

Story: The only issue i have with it is the over explanation of some of the most basic emotions the characters have. Chie explains how she feels in way too much depth. I appreciate depth, but sometimes I groaned and mashed X. I agree on the continuity thing kinda sucks, but I was expecting it. I dunno how I liked Chies joke ending, the final ending was kinda sad. D:

I didn't enjoy BlazBlue's fighting system but it's growing on me in Persona 4. Not too big a fan of the complex things like hopping and mid-air turns. It's too much for my taste. I wish it was a bit more like Street fighter, but whatever. Wasn't too big on juggling but I guess I gotta get out of my comfort zone sometime.

Also Kanji Tatsumi, hell yeah.

 

[hazabaza1]

Story: The only issue i have with it is the over explanation of some of the most basic emotions the characters have. Chie explains how she feels in way too much depth. I appreciate depth, but sometimes I groaned and mashed X.

Kinda get where you're coming from. I've only played Yu and Chie's stuff to the end and I'm working on Aigis, but so far Chie's was definitely going more into how she felt and less about how

Spoiler

Shadow Labrys was tricking everyone

But I can still be very patient if it's for Persona and god damn it has been too long so I'm reading everything. If I do end up skipping stuff it'll probably be with Yukiko though, she was always kinda boring.

 

[hazabaza1]

*Blast past OP* No spoiler tags?

I can't play it until it arrives on Monday (damn no post on weekends) got myself the smexy edition!

Spoiler: Warning, much smexy!

I hope to not spoil it for myself until then.

The OP has basically no spoiler except for some really minor stuff you can get the gist of in the trailers. Also an issue with how the story works in terms of some characters but it's basically a moot point and it's also a fighting game so the content is pretty guessable anyway.

And hey! We got the same edition!

 

[hazabaza1]

*Blast past OP* No spoiler tags?

I can't play it until it arrives on Monday (damn no post on weekends) got myself the smexy edition!

Spoiler: Warning, much smexy!

I hope to not spoil it for myself until then.

The OP has basically no spoiler except for some really minor stuff you can get the gist of in the trailers. Also an issue with how the story works in terms of some characters but it's basically a moot point and it's also a fighting game so the content is pretty guessable anyway.

And hey! We got the same edition!

*high five* Nice, too bad I live in Ireland and have to wait until Monday -_-

But how substantial is the story mode? Without spoiling, is it worth the price on story alone? I need to find more 360 players...

Well I've been playing the story for about 5 hours and I'm 18% done total. Every character except for Elizabeth and Shabrys have a story bit from what I've heard, and there's various joke endings and a true ending once you're all done.

There's also arcade mode, (the standard "fight a bunch of dudes have fun" mode but it does have some minor story spoilers if you don't skip the little intro cutscenes so be warned), a score attack which is fucking hard and a challenge mode where you just have to input some combos in correctly [sub]and for the final challenge on some characters get a 150 hit combo. Seriously.[/sub]

 

[PanYue]

I couldn't get the limited edition in Western Australia for some reason. Was upset about that, wanted it bad. I at least got the CD.

 

[Andy Shandy]

I've had one match on it with my brother - who has been playing it basically since he got it yesterday. That match alone was quite good fun, although it was a bit different from the last fighting game I played - which was Injustice.

Also the Vinyl is cool as shit. My brother only managed to get it since I have a couple of friends who work at Game.

Can't wait to eventually get stuck into it if he ever tires of it and lets me have a go. XD

 

[krazykidd]

All i want to know is . Can US play against EU ? If so i might got back into it . Assuming there's actually a player base on the xbox 360

 

[hazabaza1]

All i want to know is . Can US play against EU ? If so i might got back into it . Assuming there's actually a player base on the xbox 360

I'm pretty sure they can, yeah. I had a match or two against fellowe escapist user neonsword13-ops, and it seemed fine. Maybe a little bit of lag, but we could still connect quickly what with us being across the pond.

 

[Tyrant_Valvatorez]

I'm enjoying the game a lot actually, got 4 stories beat so far and just over half of every ones challenges- those fancy cancel ones do my head in.

Only thing that really bothers me though is how long it took the damn game to come out in the first place, it actually annoys me how Atlus is pretty much getting away with this. If it was any other company they would be getting blasted left right and center for it / jaded rant.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

From what I remember Persona 4 Arena has pretty great netcode to the point where you can play with players across the pond without a whole lot of problems.

...I haven't played the game since August of last year since that's around when I broke my wireless internet adapter for my 360. But it's good to see that the EU finally got it. It's a great game.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Hipster Shadow Labrys main here. Fuck she's awesome. All of her quotes are GOLD

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?!" *Asterius materialises in a sea of flames*

She breaks your TV in one of her match victory animations. God Tier confirmed.

I basically do the autocombo but do the axe slam movement instead of just hitting X again. Both to keep the movement down and so I don't accidentally use Challenge Authority at the end because it barely adds any more damage.

I still don't get how her full screen Awakening super works. Yeah you activate it and it goes off automatically after a few seconds. You can add extra moves in before it goes off or something?

Oh and guess what? Naoto's Astral is 100% invincible. She was on one hit, started up the massive wind up for it while I was right in her face and all my attacks just did nothing. Ehh maybe you can throw her out of it. Counter Astral because fuck Shabrys has the coolest Astral in the game.

There's a lot of Naotos online at the moment. I played the most hype match of Labrys vs Shadow Labrys today as well. The guy didn't let me hear the into and outro quotes though. Scum.

Oh and the mirror match song is the original Reach Out to the Truth. Badass.

 

[hazabaza1]

Hipster Shadow Labrys main here. Fuck she's awesome. All of her quotes are GOLD

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?!" *Asterius materialises in a sea of flames*

She breaks your TV in one of her match victory animations. God Tier confirmed.

I basically do the autocombo but do the axe slam movement instead of just hitting X again. Both to keep the movement down and so I don't accidentally use Challenge Authority at the end because it barely adds any more damage.

I still don't get how her full screen Awakening super works. Yeah you activate it and it goes off automatically after a few seconds. You can add extra moves in before it goes off or something?

Oh and guess what? Naoto's Astral is 100% invincible. She was on one hit, started up the massive wind up for it while I was right in her face and all my attacks just did nothing. Ehh maybe you can throw her out of it. Counter Astral because fuck Shabrys has the coolest Astral in the game.

There's a lot of Naotos online at the moment. I played the most hype match of Labrys vs Shadow Labrys today as well. The guy didn't let me hear the into and outro quotes though. Scum.

Oh and the mirror match song is the original Reach Out to the Truth. Badass.

Astrals? I'm guessing you mean the instant kills, right?
But yeah, everyone's invincible when they're in a frame to hit with the IK. I've missed a couple times with it as Yosuke and guys just try to wail on me while the green tornado thingy is going and they don't get no shit done.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

I didn't play it, but I've watched all story modes on youtube and enjoyed it very much. Labrys is an amazing character and I couldn't help but feel so sorry for her. The interaction between SEES members and Investigation team was quite awesome too, with Chie finding new sensei in Akihiko, Yu getting his ass handled to him by Elizabeth, and all SEES admitting how much Yu reminds them of P3 Male Protagonist. Also, am I the only who thinks that Mysterious voice is actually Ikutsuki from Persona! I mean, it makes perfect sense! Voice itself admitted that it doesn't posses Persona, knows a deal about Kirijo corporation and hates it

 

[Maximum Bert]

Finally got the game yesterday I actually pre-ordered it back in August 2012, I was so pissed off at the delay. Havent had much chance to play it so far maybe an hour so bugger all but I can see myself enjoying story mode it feels very Persona esq (as you would expect) it dosent have the cinematics of Injustice which I also got recently but I think it will be a better story overall.

Gameplay is what I was expecting its Blazblue/Guilty Gear inspired I am not a huge fan of this style I mean I dont dislike it but usually I prefer my games slower paced but theres always exceptions I mean Vampire Saviour 3 is fast as hell when played on turbo mode like its supposed to be and I love that game.

Its the characters that attracted me to this game Persona 4 has my second favourite cast of any RPG ever and including P3 characters really sweetens the deal I have only tried out Chie so far and to be fair I was having trouble seeing what was going on but I think thats only because I was playing Injustice beforehand which is a totally different fighter (which I like more than I thought I would even though some things in it annoy the hell out of me).

I really want to put some time into this game and get good with someone I have not decided who yet but Chie, Mitsuru, Labrys or Shadow Labrys are the ones that appeal to me the most so far.

Also I really like the art direction in this game but then again I think Arc usually does a great job of this much more so than Neversoft or Capcom who are much more sporadic in their efforts it seems although KOF XIII is still the best in this area this gen for me personally.

The battles flow nicely but there seems to be a lot of systems at work here but I do like the simplified special moves no more dragon punches (shoryuken whatever) or 720s or reverse dragon punch I mean I can do those motions but quarter circle forward is far easier most of the time meaning less execution errors especially in combos. Although I have only tried out Chie so maybe I am wrong on this.

I am not disappointed by the small amount I have seen and played its just a shame that its release is now especially as Injustice has just hit meaning even less people will be prone to give this massively delayed game a go.

The overall presentation is great here it feels very cohesive and the music is really good as well as the intro outro bits and quips something that is probably more noticeable to me as Injustice does so poorly in the sound department, dammit why couldnt they give them more lines Batman saying stay down after every single fight gets boring reeeal fast.

Oh one thing I dont like is not giving us all the DLC for free after waiting so goddamn long and the practice of hiding unlockables beyond challenges that are nigh impossible for the large majority of people yes beat Score attack with these 3 characters to get this or you can just buy it for this and Score Attack is a joke some fighters can kill you one hit from what I have seen it just doesnt look fun and winning seems to come down to exploiting the A.I more than actual skill although thats needed as well ofc but its not like facing a human player.

I would like to know how many people have actually beaten Score Attack with one character and with all characters it cant be very high especially the second and its an actual trophy/ Achievement as well I am so glad I dont care about attaining those things.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

I never did grab P4 Arena. Interesting as it seems, I never was big into fighting games. Even if I did get it, I'd probably just play the shit outta Mitsuru until I give up due to frustration over how bad I am at fighting games.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Finally got the game yesterday I actually pre-ordered it back in August 2012, I was so pissed off at the delay. Havent had much chance to play it so far maybe an hour so bugger all but I can see myself enjoying story mode it feels very Persona esq (as you would expect) it dosent have the cinematics of Injustice which I also got recently but I think it will be a better story overall.

Gameplay is what I was expecting its Blazblue/Guilty Gear inspired I am not a huge fan of this style I mean I dont dislike it but usually I prefer my games slower paced but theres always exceptions I mean Vampire Saviour 3 is fast as hell when played on turbo mode like its supposed to be and I love that game.

Its the characters that attracted me to this game Persona 4 has my second favourite cast of any RPG ever and including P3 characters really sweetens the deal I have only tried out Chie so far and to be fair I was having trouble seeing what was going on but I think thats only because I was playing Injustice beforehand which is a totally different fighter (which I like more than I thought I would even though some things in it annoy the hell out of me).

I really want to put some time into this game and get good with someone I have not decided who yet but Chie, Mitsuru, Labrys or Shadow Labrys are the ones that appeal to me the most so far.

People assure me that Mitsuru is the only truly overpowered person in the game. I haven't seen her online much but she's inching her way in I think. I've seen ONE Labrys online ever. It was a super badass Labrys vs Shadow Labrys game as well.

Yu is really solid in general. He has some good range and his slide move nullifies Naoto's traps. Yeah, I found THAT out the hard way. He can do some of everything because lol Wild Card. I guess Yu is equivalent to Ragna from BlazBlue but far less nightmareish. As in everyone plays Ragna to start with because he's introduced as the main character.

I like how everyone gets a "GET OFF ME SCUM!" button as well as a burst. Yu's Inferno Dividah Big Gamble, Yukiko has Dia, Naoto has a counter shot etc etc. You always have a way out potentially. I main Mu-12 in BB so I know the pain of getting corner locked forever. She has her own get off me button in Origins as well but it's not 100% reliable.


Also fuck off my Shabrys, she's mine. Nobody else is allowed to touch her

Yeah the sound is fantastic. Shabrys man... Her audio clips are so good.

"Aww are you broken already? <3"


Special mention needs to go to the create a title thing. So, so varied and creative. I saw a guy called "Salt Machine" the once. I go with Cute Autonomous Shadow. I may have a thing for Shabrys. Maybe. Still unconfirmed.