[algo448]

I finished Persona 4 today, not 100% completion (I'm not that crazy) but I did get the True Ending.

Half social simulator, half RPG, Persona doesn't combine genres as much as it is genuinely two different games at once, two different aspects that manage to create a far more enjoyable experience than either of those could do alone.

The social aspect consists of the Social Link system, as the days pass your protagonist meets new characters that he forms bonds with, it's up to you, to decide what he'll say and act, to watch those realtionships evolve or fade into nothing, NPCs get happy, mad and confused, friendships may escalate quickly or have many bumps along the way, but it's up to you to decide who to spend time with, and which friendship will you nurture, because time isn't infinite, and it's up to you to manage it.

The RPG aspect takes place in the midnight channel, a world inside TVs that is somehow related to the murders happening in the town of Inaba, as time passes certain dungeons will appear, each floor is randomly generated, which sadly means exploration or puzzles are almost non-existant, it's essentially a race to find the stairs to the next floor, however the battle system makes up for it by being incredibly fast-paced and dynamic, like amny RPGs it uses an elemental weakness system, but this one changes it by grating you extra actions for attacking enemy weaknesses, this gives it an incredible speed despite being turn-based and gives it ton of depth, which would be incredible to see in a multiplayer environment.
Be prepared to spend hours grinding.

The one that connects those two sides are the titular Personas, think of them as summons or pokemon, they determine your characters magic skills and weaknesses and are the core of combat, each Persona and Social Link is tied to an Arcana or category, the strongest your Links are the stronger your Persona will be, it's simple concept that meshes both sides perfectly.
Additionally you can fuse your Personas to gain access to stronger ones and this fusion system is so fun and complex it deserves an article of it's own.

Persona 4 has it's reputation for a reason, it's a great game, incredibly engaging, challenging and addicting.
Definitely recommended to anybody who enjoys a good RPG.