There is quite a lot that has changed in Persona 4 Golden since it was just Persona 4 on the Playstation 2. So much so, in fact, that I thought the changes deserved their own article. For those who have played some or all of the original game, this list may help you decide whether the revised game is worth getting at all. I’m going to try to be exhaustive here but may miss a few.
I’ve divided the list into three sections: the small changes, the medium-sized changes and the big changes.
MINOR
Default movement speed is now slightly faster
Additional background details in most scenes
New gag weapons, which bestow 50% EXP bonuses
New graphic that shows exactly how much of what books you have read
New books that make you more effective at raising attributes or completing minigames
No more save points at the entrance to boss rooms
Load times are considerably faster
Can now use a search function to see what Personas you are able to fuse out of what you currently have
Can now go on scooter rides with party members to remember lost skills or learn random new ones
Battle music is now different depending on whether or not you get a preemptive strike
MODERATE
All party members now have a number of different costumes to unlock and wear in battle
A handful of entirely new scenes, mostly played for laughs (although one of them makes you feel like an awful person for choosing more than one girlfriend)
Several new anime cutscenes
All cutscenes are now skippable
All dialogue exchanges can now be fast-forwarded
Two new difficulties: Very Easy and Very Hard
Normal difficulty now allows you to restart boss battles immediately if you fail
Whenever an all-out attack doesn’t finish enemies, compatible pairs of team members will do a special attack
Social Links for party members now bestow additional skills when leveling up
Now able to choose the skills a fused Persona inherits, rather than hoping for luck
Entirely redesigned fishing mechanics, with more skill and timing involved in catching
Now able to catch bugs in a new minigame – these are necessary for the new fishing mechanics
Can now plant and harvest vegetables in the backyard – these have uses in dungeons
Each party member’s Persona can now transform a second time – each learns a powerful new skill when doing so
New Shoji Meguro music tracks throughout the game
MAJOR
The game is now portable!
Visuals are now presented in pseudo-HD widescreen
Two new available Social Links
One new dungeon (tied to one of the new SLs)
An entire extra month to play through (January)
Now able to go out at night – every conversation and event occurring at night is all-new, including:
- Ability to talk to available party members to receive items and strengthen SLs
- New access to night-time jobs
- New “nightclub” which allows you to trade gems for powerful new equipment
Vastly improved Shuffle Time mechanics that change the things you can achieve in dungeons
Skill card system from Persona 3 Portable now exists in the game
Two new areas to visit – the city and the beach (tied to the new ability to obtain a scooter), where you can:
- Buy new battle costumes
- Obtain skill cards straight from your Personas
- Watch movies with characters to strengthen their Links and Personas
- Catch additional fish
New online functionality allowing for Demon’s Souls-style asynchronous multiplayer
All-new “TV Listings” feature, which unlocks bit by bit and eventually contains:
- Trailers for other Persona games
- A ten-part lecture on Jungian psychology (no, really)
- Most of the game’s music tracks, which you can listen to at will
- All of the game’s anime cutscenes, which you can watch at will
- Footage from live Persona music concerts in Japan
- A virtual gallery of concept art from the game
- A new “Midnight Quiz”, testing your knowledge of the game’s events
Posted by Xining Huang on Feb 28, 2013 at 12:48 am
I see you liked the Shuffle Time and Skill Card mechanics so much, you talk about them twice =P
Posted by vagrantesque on Feb 28, 2013 at 12:56 am
Fix’d.
Smartass.
Posted by At the Buzzer on Mar 1, 2013 at 8:04 am
It would have been so easy for Atlus to mail this in as a basic port to help out the struggling Vita. Instead, this is one of the most comprehensive remakes ever done — all for a game that was pretty damn great in the first place. I continue to be impressed.
Posted by vagrantesque on Mar 6, 2013 at 10:32 pm
Amen to that!