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Video Game Review: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
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Published: February 2, 2009
System: Sony PlayStation 2
Publisher: Atlus
Reviewer's rating: *
ESRB rating: Mature
Game type: Role-Playing
Kind of like: "Final Fantasy"
Best feature: Playing the game is almost like watching an anime at times.
Worst feature: With adult language and a juvenile-based story, it's hard to figure out who is supposed to be playing this.
The bottom line: "Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4" really shows off the cultural difference between Japan and the United States. Or something.
Who is supposed to play this game? It's rated M for mature. The game has profanity and the requisite video game violence. Is it for adults? It's not for children.
But the story of "Persona 4" is about a schoolboy with special powers who is drawn into a web of intrigue involving entering dungeons in the television set.
It's quite juvenile.
In Japan, this probably works very well. Cultural sensibilities about profanity are completely different.
But in the United States, as a mature-rated game, it's a mess. A teenager would be most apt to enjoy the story, but at times it's not appropriate for teens.
As the game begins, you play a student sent to live with his uncle in the countryside. The beginning of this game consists of a lot of watching animated sequences. These are very well done, and you feel as though you're participating in a movie.
But the game has many of the annoying conventions of bad role-playing games. Many times, you watch a lot of conversation and then it seems that it's time for you to do what you want. But it isn't. All you can effectively do is move to a certain location to trigger the next part of the game. There's too much watching quite a bit.
Games are rated on a scale of zero to four stars.
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