Persona 4 Golden

[soop]

without spoilers or anything, can anyone tell me if I'd like this game?

I'm not a big fan of random encounters, and the false economy of levelling up to battle enemies which level up with you anyway.

RPGs I've enjoyed are:
Valkyrie profile: Lennith
Zeldaaaaa
Tales of Eternia Legend of heroes (though ToE looks good)
Golden Sun

RPGs I've disliked are:
Final Fantasy Crisis Core (though I did enjoy the story)
Final Fantasy 1
Phantasy Star 3

come to think of it, I tend to stay away from RPGs, especially JRPGs, but this game seems to be vritically very well recieved.

[storino03]

it's much better than Persona 3, imo. Both games still retain that dungeon-crawler feel to a certain degree with the random generated dungeons, but the story in 4 is more developed and doesn't feel like an afterthought (as in 3)

[xelement5x]

I haven't played Golden, but I have played the original on PS2 so here is my take on it:

The game is a dungeon crawler + dating sim with really solid story elements. 

Encounters are not random, you can see all the enemies onscreen and choose to attack or avoid them if you want.  You do get a bonus for sneaking up on them and engaging them first in the form of a preemptive strike on them (normally an extra round of turns for your chars). 

The battles are pretty much straight up turn based stuff where you can control all the characters (or let the AI go to town) if you want.  Also, the enemies remain at their level as you get stronger, so if you decide to visit old dungeons they are quick and easy to go through.  I will say, spells are not named Ice/Fire/etc, they all have different names that take a bit to get used to if it's the first time you've played.

Overall, the game really surpasses P3 in my opinion and is very fun to play.  It's not that short though, so be prepared to invest some time into it.

[KingDrool]

This game marks the first time I've actually wanted a Vita. I loved it on the PS2, but never found time to finish it. I think much of that was because I was tied to a console and had to sneak in play sessions after the kids went to bed. Playing this on a portable sounds like a dream come true.

Also, if you're interested in tasting the story, the anime is free to watch on Hulu. I've watched the first half-dozen episodes and it sticks closely to the game.

[Burnt Lasagna]

Last year I marathoned through Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 on the PS2.
There fantastic games and I would highly recommend them to anyone who enjoys RPGs! Though I doubt I'll be playing the vita enhanced port anytime soon...
I don't exactly feel the need to rush out and buy a vita, just to play a 100 hour RPG again, that I just beat early this year

[soop]

wow.  Thanks guys!  I need to make a tough choice between this and the 999 sequel...

I'll try and watch the anime though, good look.

[xelement5x]

Last year I marathoned through Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 on the PS2.
There fantastic games and I would highly recommend them to anyone who enjoys RPGs! Though I doubt I'll be playing the vita enhanced port anytime soon...
I don't exactly feel the need to rush out and buy a vita, just to play a 100 hour RPG again, that I just beat early this year

Yeah, I don't even own a Vita but I bought the Solid Gold version just because I had a feeling it would be hard to locate in the future.  I'm sure I'll get a Vita eventually, but there's no drive for me to get one yet.

[storino03]

Also, only 10,000 copies produced (Solid Gold Edition).

[bartre]

I really liked P3, haven't quite finished it yet.
p4 is more of the same from what I understand, what's new in the Vita version?