One of many appointments I booked for PAX West this 12 months introduced me to SEGA’s sales space, the place they have been demoing each Stranger Than Heaven and Persona 4 Revival, two video games with heavy Japanese affect. Of the pair, it’s Persona that appears extra prone to come to Swap 2 subsequent 12 months (given Persona 3 Reloaded), and so I made positive to sort out each demo situations on provide, another story-heavy and another combat-heavy. As a Persona 4 lover, I’m virtually solely thrilled with what I’ve seen (and heard) thus far.
I performed the segments out of order chronologically, so my first expertise was with Yukiko’s dungeon, with the protagonist Yu and Yosuke as my two playable characters. In fact, Teddy was alongside for the experience within the assist position, so I obtained a wholesome dose of his new voice actor along with Yosuke’s. Teddy was one in every of my favourite characters from Persona 4 Golden, which Revival relies on, and whereas I didn’t fairly really feel that very same attachment simply but, I do suppose there’s a risk of the brand new voice rising on me over time. Yosuke’s up to date voice, then again, was a fantastic match for the sport, and the transition from one period to the subsequent for his character feels prefer it’s going to be a very easy one.
Within the dungeon itself, I encountered a handful of shadows earlier than the boss encounter with Chie’s shadow. A brand new mechanic permits you to block or guard in opposition to a shadow’s assault in case you aren’t capable of sneak up on them, and I like how this offers you two possibilities for that useful preemptive strike. Breakable objects within the dungeon that supply therapeutic gadgets would additionally heal you somewhat bit as effectively, making exploration and being thorough much more rewarding, particularly when this collection has been infamous for making it expensive and tough to revive your well being and SP. Sprinting via the corridors and taking within the environment reaffirmed the notion that that is each positively Persona 4 but in addition definitely a large visible facelift for the sport.
The opposite phase of the demo took me again to when Yu first beneficial properties the facility of Persona when Yosuke encounters his personal shadow. Whereas this portion may be very a lot a tutorial for the battle system within the sport, I appreciated the chance to soak within the sights and sounds of Revival. Within the vein of Persona 3 Reloaded, there’s a serious improve to the presentation, particularly throughout fight. The belief of the TV theme is made all of the fuller by the elevated energy of the fashionable consoles, and it’s issues like stage lights swinging from above the battle space and the fast-forward textual content and layover that hammer dwelling the idea of the TV World the place the dungeon crawling takes place.
Persona 4 Golden is a timeless sport that I’ve performed via a number of instances, however I held off selecting it up when it was ported to Swap as I waited expectantly for a remake. Revival seems to be delivering precisely what I had hoped to see: a trustworthy recreation with considerate high quality of life adjustments and fashionable touches. I can’t wait to see extra of the sport, and hopefully an announcement that the sport is Swap 2 certain for both its February 18th launch date or shortly thereafter.
