What really impacted me, though, was not only seeing characters my age struggle with such heavy topics but how each one found the determination to acknowledge the worst of themselves and try to improve themselves for the better. Without giving spoilers, I related most to a certain double-battle/internal conflict that mulled over the idea of personal identity, best summed up with the phrase “there is no real me.” There were some whose stories I could understand, while others I very much related to, to the point of it being eerie. Each character had their own spin on it, though, dealing with issues of social isolation, pressures imposed by family and adults, struggling to understand one’s own sexuality, and more. The members of the main cast of Persona 4 shared a common sense of feeling trapped and isolated. Each character struggles through an identity crisis, eventually leading to great moments of self-acceptance, which the characters keep exploring through their Social Links. However, while this superficial aspect definitely helped pull me in quicker to the main characters’ struggles, what was powerful to me at the time was watching these fictional high schoolers have their own nuanced and profound internal conflicts.
There was a depth and pull to it all to a degree that I had never encountered in books, tv, anime, manga-and I certainly didn’t expect it from a video game.Īt the time, I was definitely part of the target demographic, being myself in high school in my mid-teens. By the end of my first playthrough, I was amazed at how the story worked over its 70+ hour game time on its character development and relatability. One of the highlights of Persona 4 for me was its character development. Relating to Individual Character Struggles You can also check out our Games That Changed Our Lives on Persona 3. This article will focus on Persona 4 for the PS2. These were 1) the main characters’ struggles toward self-acceptance, 2) the broader concept of “facing yourself,” and 3) the overarching theme of seeking “the truth.” Three things from Persona 4 impacted me the most. However, it was the ideas presented by Persona 4 that had a profound impact on me, particularly as a teenager struggling to understand the world. I thoroughly enjoyed the dungeon crawling, turn-based fighting and strategizing.
Persona 4 is, without a doubt, a story-driven game.
Since then, I have played through it fully 3 times, and to this day have held onto my old PS2 console, even with a faulty disc drive that necessitates piling heavy books on top of it to get the game to run. I picked up the game following its North American release in 2008. While I’m familiar with the additional content from Persona 4: Golden, I’m still a bigger fan of the original, “vanilla” Persona 4. As I’ve recently poured over streams re-playing the game, I’ve naturally reflected on my own experience with Persona 4. Atlus recently ported Persona 4: Golden to Steam, making this 2012 title more accessible than ever.