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Playing Persona 4 Golden on Xbox Game Pass is a rite of passage for me, and a strange one at that. If you're new here, I should tell you off the bat that I'm very new to the world of JRPGs – Persona 3 Reload was my first foray into them, and after the taste of Persona 3 Portable I'd sampled a few months prior, I was blown away by how slick and stylish it was in comparison. Atlus clearly has a penchant for being its own biggest competitor, and with Persona 4 Revival on the horizon, I decided to lay the groundwork and sample the enhanced original.
I'm still early in my adventure, but what I've seen so far has left me impressed, cringing, and giggling to myself, almost all at once. Is it weird to feel nostalgia over something you've never played before? Perhaps, but the stark contrast between Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Reload just proves how much this game deserves a remake to bring it in line with the series' contemporary image.
Small fish, smaller pond
The first thing about Persona 4 that needs to be revamped from its Golden era is the art style. Round, bobble-headed character models with flat hair textures is about as Nintendo Wii-coded as you can get, immediately dating the game as very much of a different era.
Much like the other Persona games I've played, I can tell that Golden will be a bit of a slow-burn. Which would be fine if the more languid pace of its first few days didn't leave so much room for me to think too hard about how the game looks and feels. Just a couple of hours into it, I still find the visuals jarring. But it's a reminder of Persona 4 Golden's roots in the 2008 original, and that's not a bad thing as much as it is a simple fact of this being an enhanced port rather than a fully-fledged remaster or remake.
I was surprised to learn that Persona 4 launched on PS2 and PS3 initially – so much for my Nintendo Wii suspicions – and that much is plain from the touched up yet still incredibly old-school art style. The contrast between the 3D world and the more recognizably modern character portraits above each speech box is striking; I can see some flashes of Persona 5 visual flair in the latter, but I wouldn't be surprised if the former is pretty much identical to the original game.
By the time my third day rolls around, I decide that comparing Golden to Reload is a bit of an unfair fight. Instead, I'm starting to recognize more elements of Persona 3 Portable instead. It's long gone from the Game Pass roster now, but having played a little of the PSP port ahead of my Persona 3 Reload preview at Gamescom 2023, I'm getting some crazy whiplash.
Stepping into Golden brings memories of its predecessor back with a vengeance. Text bubbles look the same, the world map is the same, even Igor the unnerving Velvet Room host is back for round two. These familiar elements are elevated slightly in Golden, and I'm enjoying seeing how Atlus has been upping its own ante slowly over the years.
Self improvement
I can tell that Golden will be a bit of a slow-burn.
The fully-voiced dialogue is the most notable improvement off the bat, though the writing itself could use a little rework throughout.
Hopefully that's not too big an ask for the Persona 4 remake. After all, Atlus saw fit to scrap some of Persona 3's most poorly-aged jokes when it workshopped things for Reload (though the eternally icky "Battle Panties" somehow made the cut) and I think similar treatment could be given to the Persona 4 protagonist's creepy uncle.
That said, I know that these quirks and oddities are either a product of Persona 4's time, or have something to do with it being an English version of the original Japanese Shin Megami Tensei series.
As I play Golden, I'm trying to embrace that. From car engines being given scripted lines ("Car sounds br-br-broom broom") to the occasional bit of stilted dialogue and a bizarre obsession with perverts, it all feels part of the Persona 4 experience as it stands today.
It's distracting at times, yes, but none of it detracts from the social sim and turn-based combat elements that have edified Persona as some of the most beloved games in genre history. Comparing the Persona remasters and remakes has gotten me even more hyped to see what the new P4 can deliver in terms of meaningful modern updates, and I might end up leaving Golden unfinished just so I can experience it with fresh eyes when that day comes.
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