MarkElders Persona 4 Golden Review

Persona 4 is way too long, and made even longer by the "golden" DLC that you can't disable. The characters are bland, and the dialogue is the kind that over-explains absolutely everything. The game aggressively caters to a straight male perspective, and is very regressive in the process. Multiple characters struggle with their non-straight, non-cis identities, but end up coming around to being straight and cis after reflection, adhering to the game's seemingly heteronormative stance. There is a strong "boys will be boys" mentality in the writing: multiple instances of sexual misconduct and assault are laughed off. It's a double-standard, because the one (30/40-something) woman who behaves the way all the boys do is portrayed the same as the really fat girl: completely undesirable. (You're given the option to flirt with the older woman who flirts with you 1-on-1, so I have to think the reason the teacher is demonized is because she seems to sleep around more, not because she's older.) The combat systems are bland, especially for a 100-hour game. Whole systems can be completely ignored, as can be seen by the achievement percentages that show, for instance, that some players barely engaged with the fusion mechanics at all. As with many RPGs, there's no incentive to do anything but grind your way to victory. The characters are surprisingly shallow for a game about forging bonds with people and finding the true self beneath the social mask. It doesn't come close to the character development you'd see in any decent live-action TV series, but it takes up as much time as 10+ seasons. I'm dumbfounded this game is rated as highly as it is by the broader gaming community.