#i have been reading the wiki + watching arena cutscenes to try get as much lore as i can

[princekirijo]

Writing Shadow Ops lore is pretty fun actually

[dlamp-dictator]

Allen’s Rambles About Persona 4 Arena

So... back in my RWBY Rambling I said that I really wasn’t going to like May since I’d be doing my breakdown and retrospective on the Blazblue series for the release of Blazblue Cross Tag Battle. Well it turns out I suck at keeping a schedule when it comes to these Ramblings, because I still need to talk about Persona 4 Arena and Under Night In-Birth. Sorry for the wait folks, I just haven’t had anything to say about these two series until now. It was hard to figure out a good way to articulate how I feel about these two games. After a bit of thinking I now know how I want to tackle these series, so I’ll get started with Persona 4 Arena first then move onto Under Night at a later date. 

With all that said, hello Persona 4 and Blazblue fanbase, I’m Allen X. I write fanfics, fan lyrics to video game songs I like, and occasionally write out an opinion piece or two when I’m in the mood. 

I’ve been a big fan of the Persona series for a few years now, with Persona 4 Arena  being the main thing that drew me into the series. Since then I’ve played Persona 3 FES, Persona 4, and Persona 5, even dipping in SMT: Devil Survivor 2 just for the sake of trying what the SMT universe had to offer, and reading through the manga adaptation of SMT: Devil Survivor 1. For those of you not familiar with the Persona 4 game and are curious about it... well, I’m sadly not going to explain the plot or story, but I do recommend watching the anime, Persona 4 the Animation if you want a crash course in what that game is about and not spend 60+ hours on a JRPG.

In any case, let’s get that Synopsis out of the way. I’m gonna’ be a little cheap this time around and copy the wiki page if that’s alright with you all. If I were to give a true synopsis of Persona 4 Arena I’d be spoiling Persona 4 and Persona 3. So then:

The game takes place two months after the events of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 as well as two years after the Persona 3 FES's "The Answer" storyline. Like Persona 4, Persona 4 Arena takes place in the fictional, rural Japanese town of Inaba. However, most of the events occur in the TV world, a dimension that reflects people's feelings. In this game, the world takes the form of Inaba's Yasogami High School, which is divided in multiple areas that serve as arenas.

As Yu returns to visit Inaba for Golden Week, he and the others witness a commercial on the Midnight Channel for a fighting tournament, the "P-1 Grand Prix", hosted by what appears to be their friend Teddie. The tournament not only involves them, but also their companions Kanji Tatsumi and Naoto Shirogane. With their friends Rise Kujikawa, Kanji and Teddie missing, and Naoto absent, Yu, Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko decide to investigate. The following day, they enter the TV and find themselves stuck in a world resembling Yasogami High School.

So yeah, it’s literally a Persona 4 fighting game with some Persona 3 characters thrown in. I’d talk a little bit about Ultimax, but again I don’t want to fill this Rambling with spoilers

That done, I’ll move onto...

My History

Like I said, Persona 4 Arena was my first true dive into the series in terms of a financial purchase, but I’ve been familiar with Persona 4 since it first came out on the PS2 (God, I’m getting old). Yes, it looks like we’re two for two in terms of drama and fandom outcry not being what initially drew me to Persona 4 Arena and Persona 4 as a whole. 

I actually got into Persona 4 when let’s plays of the original game was coming out. I mostly saw the clips and cutscenes of the game and was able to piece together enough about the plot to understand and enjoy it, but I was fully hooked when the anime came up, Persona 4 the Animation. I had a PS2 and PS3 at the time, but I really didn’t want to buy the game since the PS3 was starting to gain more prevalence and I was saving for other games. I found the anime it to be a great adaptation for the game, to the point where I can safely say if you don’t know about the story Persona 4 the anime is a great way to get caught up if you don’t want to spend 60+ hours playing the original game.

I bought Persona 4 Arena a little after it released in the West, and I found it to be one of the more accessible fighting games at the time, especially for anime air-dashers and for Arc System Works games in general. I had Blazblue at the time, but I sucked at it and just spammed revolver combos or Noel’s drive to get by, but Persona 4 Arena helped me get a better handle on how fighting games work.

Which brings me to...

The Appeal

I’ll be honest, this game doesn’t really have much appeal unless you’re a Persona fan. This game heavily references both Persona 4 and Persona 3 with how characters fight, a lot of flavor text that happened between characters, how a lot of the UI is displayed, and (most important of all) its story. I feel the same way about Dragonball FightererZ,  this game is a love letter to Persona 4 and Persona 3 fans, but unless you like those two games there isn’t much to care about. I think outside of a love for the series the only other real appeal is the accessibility. Before DBFZ came out, Persona 4 Arena was probably the most accessible Arc System Works fighting game out there. There was an auto combo system for new player to use, but there were also some more complex systems to it too, liking properly using EX moves and EX supers, managing Awakening Mode, properly using strong and Persona attacks in your combos do a large amount of damage, and so on.

Though, it I were to give a personal appeal of the Persona 4 Arena, namely for Ultimax, it’d be Golden Arena Mode, an RPG-esque mode that lets you gain experience, level up your character, and gave you wicked-powerful buffs as you get stronger. It was a great call back to Blazblue arena, and something pray get’s put into Cross Tag Battle somehow.

So all in all, not much I can say to sell Persona 4 Arena to people that have never played a Persona game. In any case, I’ll be moving onto...

My Mains

What kind of Fighting Game Retrospective would this be if I didn’t talk about who I mainly play? Just a quick explanation before I go on. When I play a fighting game, I usually have two to three mains, and about 4 subs. The main reason being in case someone gets extremely nerfed and become unplayable in a competitive sense. Now I rarely play top tier characters for this reason, but... well, they nerfed Answer in Guilty Gear for some God-forsaken reason, so I think I was right to have Ram and Chipp on the side. The reason I have so many subs is because I play these games on a more casual level, and I like experiment with just about everyone... except the grappler characters... sorry Kanji.

But anyway, here are my Persona 4 Arena Mains

Yosuke is basically the ninja of the game, and as you will see in future Ramblings, I usually main toward the ninja, the only games I haven’t would be Under Night In-Birth where I sub Seth, Virtua Fighter were I just haven’t touched Kagemaru yet, and... that’s really it. Yosuke is “Mixups the Character”. He has a move for just about every situation and can easily confuse his opponents. A warping sweep, kunai throws, his moonsault, God’s gift to all Yosuke mains, Tentrafoo, and Sukaja. And honestly, this is probably the most fun I’ve heard Yuri Lowenthal have voicing the guy. He sounds so energetic. 

Along with the ninja, I always main who I believe is “Best Girl” of that series. Now that’s a very subjective matter, I know, but I’ll just say that Chie is a rushdown-heavy character that I could get down with. I think this was my first time hearing Erin Fitzgerald’s voice too, and what a way to do it. I think she sounds great as Chie, at least for the fighting games. I’ll save my critique of Persona 4 for a later date, but her Power Charge ability and God Hand can one-shot just about any opponent. She’s a bit of a glass cannon as a result, but God what a cannon.

So... SHO Minazuki. I really like his playstyle, mostly because I don’t have to worry about his Persona breaking since he doesn’t have one. He’s rushdown-heavy like Chie, but he’s a little more risk-reward. His all-out attack has a weird hitbox, but other than getting around that I have a lot of fun playing him. I like him, I like him a lot.

I also subbed Yukari, Marie, Teddie, and Sho MINAZUKI, but these are my three mains.

So, with my main’s out of the way, I’m going go straight into...

The Conclusion

I sorry this Rambling isn’t like the monster the RWBY Rambling was, but I’m honestly very apathetic to Persona 4 Arena as a fighting game. As a Persona game I’ve got some issues with how it writes some of it’s characters and how contrived the story feels, but over I find it to be a solid game in general and worth getting if you’re a fan of Persona.