Debuting in 1996, Atlus’ Persona franchise was originally a spin-off of the Shin Megami Tensei series, but has since become a titan of the RPG world in its own right. 2008's Persona 4 – originally released on PlayStation 2 – is the entry most responsible for that breakthrough, presenting players with layered characters, morally complex situations, and a few twists of psychology and philosophy, all served up with a hefty dose of teen drama.
Persona 4 went on to enjoy an enhanced remake – Persona 4 Golden, adding extra characters and an expanded story – and several dedicated spin-offs, including fighting games Persona 4 Arena and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. Developed with studio Arc System Works, the anime-style brawlers first appeared in Japanese arcades and on PS3 in 2012, but are now back and better than ever with an updated Ultimax release for PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch that crams in improved play modes and tonnes of DLC, including dozens of colour variations for fighters and a host of music tracks.
Given the game has been unavailable for the better part of a decade though, here’s everything you’ll need to know to jump into Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and master some of hero Yu Narukami’s signature moves!
It's important to understand that Persona 4 Arena Ultimax isn't just a fighting game – it's a canonical, narrative follow-up to the events of Persona 4 itself. There, Yu and his friends mastered the power of their personal demons – the eponymous Personas – and solved a series of strange murders impacting the rural town of Inaba. However, as a sequel, Ultimax actually packs in multiple story campaigns to play through.
First, there's the events of the original Arena, taking place two months after Persona 4, with Yu returning to Inaba and reuniting with his friends, just in time for them to be drawn into a bizarre shadow world where they're forced to battle it out in the "P-1 Grand Prix" tournament. Then, players can explore the main Ultimax story, which follows on directly and sees the fighting tournament bleed into the real world. There are also unlockable bonus "chapters", and crossover appearances from characters returning from the earlier Persona 3, making Ultimax a real delight for Persona fans.
Don't worry if you're coming to the game fresh though, as the in-depth story reintroduces the cast and their relationships along the way! The narrative is delivered "visual novel" style, with key battles inserted throughout, and fans of the Japanese setting will be pleased to find that dialogue is provided in both the original Japanese with subtitles, or an English dubbed version.
Cut to the Chase
If you just want to get straight into the action though, or make sure your skills are prepared for those key story battles, you can skip the story and jump right into any of Ultimax's core fighting modes.
Ultimax offers four main battle modes – Arcade, Versus, Score Attack, and Golden Arena. The first offers a stripped down story as you defeat challengers; Versus allows offline matches against human or AI opponents; while Score Attack is as it sounds, with a series of battles to earn the greatest number of points. Golden Arena offers a nod to Persona's RPG roots though, with experience points earned after battles, allowing you to increase characters' stats and improve their chances in future fights. There's also a suite of online multiplayer options for competitive players to master. For the new Ultimax release, both Golden Arena and the wider challenge modes have been updated to the latest 2.50 version, for the most authentic Persona 4 Arena experience.
Whichever mode you opt for, you can forget the turn-based battles of the core Persona games – Arena is all about powerful, speedy attacks, and flashy delivery. Fighters use both their own physical moves and attacks delivered by their Personas to deliver damage, and victory can be determined by making the most of the space in each arena, juggling foes aerially as much as battering them left and right.
Although Yu could use multiple Personas in the core game, here he's partnered with his main Persona Izanagi, enabling him to use a variety of electrifying lightning attacks. There are basic weak and strong attacks for both the human fighter and their Persona, which can be linked into powerful combos. Other moves require you to spend Skill Points, or SP, which is gained by taking or receiving damage. Cleverly, you can attack your opponent's Persona too – deal enough damage and you'll break them, briefly restricting their move pool.
Wake Up and Fight
Some of Ultimax's most impressive moves also help balance the game, making it possible for players to mount a comeback if they've been taking a beating. If your health bar drops below 35 percent, you'll enter "Awakened" mode, which boosts your SP bar and unlocks powerful SP Skills. When playing as an Awakened Yu, tapping out two quarter-circles backwards on the D-Pad and hitting the Weak Persona attack button unleashes this game-changing move. It might take some practice to get the timing right, but it's a worthy move to master!
Many moves in Ultimax can be "Enhanced" too, delivering more damage with a slight modifier to the combo. Don't worry, it sounds more complex than it is! For a boosted Awakened SP Skill, use the same two quarter-circle backwards motions, but then hit both Persona attack buttons – Triangle and Circle on a PlayStation controller, for instance.
The timing is even tighter on this though – and given hitting both Persona attacks is also the command for a throw, you can break the combo if you're not precise. Practice makes perfect!
It's All Over For You
Beyond the Awakened SP moves and Awakened SP Skill Boosts, fighters in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax have access to moves so powerful that they deliver an instant KO to opponents. Yu’s is called “Myriad Truths” and it’s thankfully a lot easier to pull off – simply tap D-Pad down three times, then both Persona attacks at once.
There’s a high SP cost to it though - you’ll need to have at least 100 SP to trigger the move, and it'll only work at all if it's in a match deciding round – for instance, second round onwards for best out of three, third onwards for best out of five, and so on. It can be tricky to build up this much SP, especially in a tight match, but it’s worth it if you can. Once you have enough, approach your enemy, tap out the combo, then sit back and enjoy an incredibly flashy attack and an instant win!
That's all just scratching the surface of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax's brilliant combat system though. With more than 20 characters to play as, Shadow versions with divergent move sets, and even more complex combos to unleash, there's significant depth for fighting game fans to delve into. For players looking to master fighting as Yu though, this should have you fighting fit for the P-1 Grand Prix!