Stop what you're doing! Listen closely and put down you sandwich or significant other and I don't mean kill them, it's time for Persona 4 Arena's review.
What we have here is an insane fighter from Japan, made with the insane quirky-ness we've come to enjoy from their way of looking at the world. That way is trapping children inside of a television world and forcing them to fight each other while they summon monsters to fight with them during battle. Just another average day in Japan.
For your fighter fan there's plenty to learn and plenty to dish out. Multiple characters with their own very different move sets. The buttons mapped out for the regular moves are simple at first, but each character executes their own techniques and many of them are over the top. Your moves are combined with your Persona or monster/avatar/true self/ whatever. So really when you implement a move your Persona will back you up with other worldly power. That power can be poisons, lasers, fire, the whole spectrum of video game energies.
Slick wouldn't just be a con man's name in a book I'm writing about slick con-men, but hot nice the game looks. Sprites and moves looks like animation out of a good anime series. A series not done by Gonzo animation, I hate those guys. Watching attacks that can be completely random is like watching a chaos chorus of action.
With character design you both have beloved Persona characters in the game for fans and for others an eccentric cast that differs in almost all attacks and animations. My favorite has to be Teddie which seems to be some guy in an odd Bear suit, that just pops out sometimes. Then there's the robot Elizabeth, who even after being beaten remains upbeat on the ground. Kanji will throw a chair at the screen if he wins.
Audio matters and voice-acting works which makes the game kick-ass music even better. Somewhat strangely music will stop during a battle and just restart. It's just odd that it sometimes happens and just isn't on repeat.
Story mode is long in length and if your into the series and the characters you'll get your money's worth. I only played story mode for about 20 minutes with one fighter, but had enough dialog to drown a cat. Don't do that, don't try and drown cat's in dialog, words simply can't kill them, but you really shouldn't be killing cats on less your required by the state as one of the pound people.
Well that's a sad thought, but the game has no pet related death in it as I saw, however you Persona can be killed for some time in a match so you can't pull off your best attacks.
If you coming into this fighter, not knowing whats happening that might be the best place to be as its antics go off the wall. It's like being thrown into a war zone of the anime variety. Definitely try it if you want a new fighter to master or just something to ponder, like why is that guy in a bear suit.
The video game was provided by the publisher for review.
