In 2008, Atlus released the fourth entry in the Persona franchise. Four years later, they released an expanded edition of the game on the PlayStation Vita titled Persona 4 Golden. The title lay on the niche handheld for eight years until SEGA (who purchased Atlus in 2013) decided to surprise everyone during COVID and release a remaster of Golden on PC. The game sold over a million copies quickly and became a shocking success during the first year of the pandemic.

To the shock of noone, SEGA and Atlus figured out quickly Persona had grown as a franchise, and speculation began on when Golden would make its way to consoles. We found out earlier this year that it would be in 2023! So what makes Persona 4 Golden different from other titles in the RPG series? Time to go over everything we know!

What is Persona 4 Golden?

As stated above, Persona 4 Golden is the fourth mainline entry in the Persona franchise. A spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei, the series is half RPG, half high school simulator. What do I mean by that? 

Well, you play each day of the year. You go to school, hang out with friends, work odd jobs, and build relationships. You also are sucked into the mystery of a strange world inside TVs that house monsters and could be linked to mysterious deaths around town. How you go about each day is up to you. But each decision has lasting consequences, potentially good or bad. 

Meet the chad of Persona, Yu Narukami

So who does Persona 4 Golden focus on protagonist-wise? Who is our hero? High school student investigative sleuth Yu Narukami. Or, as I joke with my friends, the biggest chad in the Persona franchise. Ways you can react to situations and your friends are some of the funniest in the franchise. You can make Yu a detective that gives no care or fear to anything happening around him. And he rules for it.

Other than Yu, there is the rest of the investigation team trying to figure out the mysterious murders happening in the rural town of Inaba. Bumbling Yosuke, kung fu loving Chie, shrine heiress Yukiko, bad boy Kanji, a pop star in hiding Rise, and the “detective prince” Naoto. There’s also the peculiar Teddie. A creature from the TV world that aids the investigation team. Each able to fight by awakening their Personas, they must work to stop the mysterious serial killer before he can strike again.

How Persona 4 Golden differs gameplay-wise

If you’ve played Persona 5, there are some fundamental differences in Persona 4 Golden. For starters, dungeons are much smaller and work on a floor system like Mementos. Make your way up (or down in some) to the top floor to face the final boss of the area and secure victory. Battles are executed with your team circling the enemies instead of facing them head-on. Other than that, it’s the turn-based RPG monster fighting most know the franchise delivers on.

The high school simulation aspect is also similar to Persona 5. Building relationships with your team members and others give bonuses through confidants. You can hang out at multiple locations and participate in mini-games like gardening and fishing. And yes, you can get into relationships with your favorite girl. 

Persona 4 Golden remastered launches this January!

Persona 4 Golden finally heads to modern consoles on January 19, 2023. It will release digitally on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4/5. The Xbox version will also be on Game Pass day 1. There won’t be a physical copy of Persona 4 Golden like there was for Persona 5 Royal, which is a shame! That makes the Vita version the only one with a physical release. And good luck finding that for a fair price. Trust me.

Are you ready to dive into the TV world for the first time? Or, again, if you’ve played Golden before? Let us know in the comments below!