[PS2] Persona 4 (The best game to be released on 13/03/09?)

[Mr M0by]

I know very little about this game & even less about the first 3 but there was a review of it in EDGE this month & it left me intrigued. I've seen the Persona series mentioned here before (and indeed they tend to make nsb's Top 10 of the Year) but never looked to see what they're about. I don't generally have the time for RPGs any more, games with an average length of between 8-15 hours is usually preferable for me but if the story and characterisation are every bit as good as the 92% Metacritic average & associated reviews suggest, then maybe just maybe I can make an exception.
We're off to Centre Parcs in March with our toddler so I kind of figure we'll be able to get a good 8-12 hours across the 4 evenings we're there & that will hopefully engage us enough to see out the rest. I say we because I envisage it will be the kind of game & have the story to interest my other half, who will watch/participate. She loved just watching me play through games like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Uncharted, Broken Sword, Fable, Gregory Horror Show!!, LoZ: Wind Waker but yet neither of us really got in to Okami (sorry. i feel bad. :( ) or LoZ: Twilight Princess.
Just how big is the game? Is it worth the time investment? Is there are lot of grinding and repetitive trawling? If I do happen to get preoccupied with another new release half way through, is it really easy to pick up and play again?

Thanks.:thumbs:

[nsb]

It’s a big game, can easily go on for 100 hours. The dungeons in the game are towers with randomly generated floors of which you need to make it to the top by a set calendar date. There is quite a bit of grinding involved as the game can jump in difficulty fairly quick. It’s also a very punishing game sometimes, if your main character dies it is game over, and there are skills in the game that can instant kill your main character. So you could play for hours at a time, only for it all to be a waste.

Save points are sporadic, one at the bottom of the tower, another at the top, so it’s not really a game you can pick up and play, you will need to devote hours per session.

The story is fairly quirky and strange, so not sure how much fun it would be for another person watching it.