Ten months is the time it took to wait for Persona 4 Arena finally arrives home. As if, without warning, we were back in the 90s, with its staggered outputs and publishers also pay attention to our situation grannies are punks with dog Monoprix the corner.
For those who do not know the origins of this title, Persona is basically a series of Atlus mixing RPG and everyday life. Driven by a volley of high artistic direction and a neat background featuring teenagers experiencing their contradictions, the series was a huge success with the third and fourth installment. Atlus is then made up his mind to conquer the arcades and had a deal with Arc System Works, BlazBlue talented developers to deal with the transition from one genre to another. Thus was born Persona 4 Arena.
AEGIS REFLECT!
Those who wonder if the fact of using a license in two radically different genres into the road can be reassured immediately. Persona is based primarily on the hyper characterization of his characters and a concrete scenario, and fighting games Arc System Works makes even though they do not use the same tools. For if Atlus made the textual RPG and combat systems that go with Arc scripted its games via the visual novel and offers scenarios as thick as the game system that accompanies them. This strategy allowed them to conquer a new public not very fan of the fight, but the Japanese applicant scripted original production design. It is probably this dichotomy convinced Atlus to tell anything less than a direct continuation of the story of Persona 4. The scenario goes back to Inaba, two months after the end of the RPG, to discover that the Midnight Channel is active again and our hero will have to put on the face in order to get by. Each character has its story mode with some branches giving rise to for optional, and it is obviously necessary to unlock certain paths for the real end of the game
Unfortunately, no metronomic management Persona 4 here. The slow pace and very own introspective style visual novel genre are that the story is actually quite short but spread over thirty hours, it is also closer to a bonus OVA as a true result. If the implementation is the road, the scenery and artworks are of good quality and very successful dubbing, you can not say that the plot is exciting enough to excuse the lack of pace and interest, or the repetition of certain scenes through different perspectives. Everything works fine, there is pleasure his favorite characters, and the choice to integrate third characters can vary profiles and environments ... But we would have preferred a more dense fashion history where players take turns instead of all experience the same thing. Last caveat: the French translation is totally absent from the title, it will be necessary to read English to enjoy. After ten months of waiting, it's really not serious from Atlus.
MITSURU KIRIJAUNE
Visually, however, it's heavy. The artistic direction while vibrant colors has been transported from one genre to another, resulting in menus and presentation beautiful. Meanwhile, the voice acting is excellent, the music from the RPG decanted through rock remix more dynamic and brings a sincere and not making head way. Nice detail: the game is less noisy than BlazBlue characters whose propensity to bellow (with echo worthy of the Grand Canyon) fatigue during long gaming sessions's own Arc System Works visual tab is also present with detailed sprites and in a very fine style pixel art that always fun to see.
We even noted a change in the design of the characters: while those of BlazBlue were based 3D models often made too rigid or made them lose in aesthetics and readability of those Persona reconnect with a style closer to Guilty Gear. They are drawn, sometimes less consistent physically, but the best on the eye. Damage, however, that the roster has only 13 boxers, although differences between each compensates for this small number. All this is still accompanied once internship mixing 2D and 3D successful and strong stuffed details that flatter the eye, all of which are obviously enhanced by the clean under artistic direction. In short, this is a no-fault for the eyes and ears, as often with Atlus and Arc.
MITSURU GUY
Speaking of habits, there are known methods of games: arcade, score attack, training, versus, challenge (series of combos), lesson (to learn the basics of the game), and of course online gaming (which is functional but desert, thank you for the delay) and a gallery mode to unlock images, videos and music. The difference here lies on the side of the combat system. In Persona 4 Arena, each character is actually two entities: the human and persona, a kind of incarnation of his personality. Two buttons are assigned to both the human and the persona. In general human has the quick shots and practices (anti air, brush, etc.) and the persona has more big shots or capabilities that complement its host.
Both acting as separate from each other entities, we end up to handle two characters each having two attack buttons which are generally complementary. Uses vary, but we distinguish three main areas: cover the attack, compensate for the lack of coverage or protection. And Yu and Chie make a takedown and cover their attack while Mitsuru or Kanji enjoy shots with more range when Elizabeth and Aegis protect to keep the distance. This is somewhat reminiscent of Carl and Relius in BlazBlue, or Eddie Zappa Guilty Gear, except that here the entire cast has this capability and its use is facilitated by a reduction in the number of buttons and shots. Once the idea understood, it begins to make his mark and the game becomes more clear.
LABRYSBANE
Gameplay side, there are the usual sauce Arc System Works, at least for the system overall Thurs Characters can run on the ground and in the air, the special moves are easy to get, combos require more memory than timing. The shorter combos and hit stop - pause during the impact of the coup - less pronounced than in BlazBlue make the game more fluid and suggest a closer feeling of Guilty Gear. Projections lead to combos, also breaks guard, found an instant kill and equivalent cancellation shots in exchange for great bar and a burst to emerge a combo.
These facilities provide a title, it is based on Street Fighter II, in order to remove certain aspects develop other deeper. Thus, if the game is remote indeed, the mid-distance so Street Fighter is generally absent subscribers, encouraging the body to attack a much more powerful body than usual. This attack is characterized by a tendency to use up and down strokes that open fast combos on doing a lot of damage, where a Street Fighter prefer a duo of dirty tricks and projections. The combos are often much longer than in the series from Capcom.
Overall, if the playing surface is not difficult to understand (like a dirty attack on the other side of the screen or melee, the moves and combos are easy to do), the salt of the game and the real difficulty comes from the technical approach and openings guard. Unfortunately, these are things that are always very difficult for a beginner, and they are not tutorials or challenges based combo 20 hits that teach such techniques.
YUKIKO AMAGUISE
But Persona 4 Arena appears for the first time aware of this problem and makes a secure, simplified, and a breakdown of its mechanical, so that everyone can both easily recognize, but also easy to use. Self-combo, automatic combo used in hammering a single button, is the most striking example. No-skill course, but abused? Not really, because it does not open custody and does not cause much damage. It exists only to give a player a punishment / confirm button if it does not have the reflexes needed to do better.
The dragon punch which is done with two buttons follows the same logic: the important thing is not to make the dragon, but the place for that key. And if it is kept, the damage through punishment are multiplied compared to usual. Thus, it is the understanding of the game and the reaction are rewarded more than the pure technicality. In making this simplification, Arc tries to open and show the tactical part to an audience that probably would have dropped face difficulty handling, and would then have been impressed by flashy but ultimately not that interesting combos.
Securing and mechanical breakdown are best embodied in the Universal Guard breaks from Guilty Gear, ideal to break the defense of an opponent under pressure. Here, everything is done to be able to bind when the attack manages to touch, whether you're a beginner or seasoned player. If the shot button, the character starts running towards his opponent to hit him, leaving a brief moment to realize what just happened. Then the opponent is sent into the air or against the wall and the game returns to normal. Clearly, players sometimes have difficulty predicting their actions have in Persona 4 Arena of extra time to take advantage of their tactical advantage.
IT IS IN THE AIR
In the same kind of idea, the player has an invincible roll which allows to approach, limiting the frustration of the game away. You can also make a small leap to the ground to place the air blows easily. Even normal shots work so decomposed or essential: small strokes are linked up to three times without timing, air base hits touch twice to allow the player not to miss, anti-air are effective. .. And globally, every time the game speak very clearly to the player through their design, leaving no doubt as to their use.
This does not mean that the game is less cruel than other productions of Arc System Works. Unfavorable matchups really are, some characters are abused and others too low, up / down variations of some fighters are crazy to even veterans of the genre. But for once, the game seems to have the means to talk to all players, not just through a theoretical tutorial mistranslated as is too often the case. Here, learning is the result of a true reflection on the representation and use of mechanical games, with the desire to make the game too technical yet accessible, without much altering the depth of the game We can only rejoice and pester the delay in the location, which only leaves us alone or with friends to enjoy.
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