It's hard to fault Atlus for going back to the well with Persona 4 Golden on another platform. From a historical standpoint, Persona 4 was a dramatic shift for the series, which had usually kept its brooding tones worn on its sleeve like a badge of honor. The release of Persona 4 changed all that, instead presenting a more slow-burning, insidious evil while keeping things flashy, colorful, and dynamic on a day-to-day basis. That was clearly effective, as it inspired Persona 4 Golden, an extended version of the game with a new ending and social links, and ultimately ended up being much closer to the tone of Persona 5 as well.
With Persona 5 Royal fresh off a western release that saw it praised as one of the best JRPGs of the modern era, the release of Persona 4 Golden on PC via Steam makes a lot of sense. As a game that's been ported once already to the criminally underrated PS Vita but has not been able to make an impact on more modern platforms, the PC is a natural fit. With that said, however, Persona 4 Golden on PC doesn't just rest on its laurels, as it offers a few key features that firmly cement it as the best way to play the game provided fans aren't looking for a more mobile experience.
First, a quick summary: Persona 4 Golden's story still holds up, though it contains the same few problematic beats that fans had to grit their teeth through in the original title and its subsequent versions. By and large, however, Persona 4 Golden's narrative has aged well, with a lot of social links providing some of the series' high points in terms of characterization and emotional response. The game's villains are also among the series' best, though it's amusing to come back to the title over a decade after its first release and see how it influenced the genre in the years that have come since. Things that were a bit more unique then - the villain's place in the story, the hidden ending, even the way the characters use bizarre weapons - have all become staples now.
It's also important to note that Persona 4 Golden on PC leaves the game's compelling combat and dungeon exploration as-is, and it pays off. Fans coming off Persona 5 Royal might be surprised to find how much more fun it is when every dungeon has elements of Mementos when it comes to randomization and enemy layout. The engagement for combat is a bit more finicky, but that's also more fun - there are little ways to duck and dodge using frames to still get a surprise attack on an alert enemy. Finally, the battles themselves are interesting because they're not limited by having to adhere to a Persona's stats, elemental considerations, and behavior - the way the game sets things up, it's not as easy to simply know what an enemy's weakness is. Just be warned - Persona 4 Golden has a very Shin Megami Tensei-like approach to some enemy designs, which can be frustrating with some instant kills on higher difficulties, but rewarding when completing a dungeon.
With everything consumers would expect to be present in another Persona 4 Golden port accounted for, P4G on PC makes one large change that really makes it the best way to play the game: it unlocks the game's frame rates and gives players support for higher resolutions, making an already beautiful game look a bit more modern. This isn't something that makes the game suddenly appear like a full remake or remaster, but the differences between the PS Vita and a modern PC makes the former look a lot like a digital toaster, so the leap is still noticeable. The environments pop more, the battles look smoother, and the characters really shine thanks to a combination of the better graphics resolution and their already stellar design.
The other major change that comes with the Persona 4 Golden PC port is the ability to completely remap the game's controls for either a traditional controller setup or for keyboard and mouse. The luxury of choosing between the two is surprisingly nice, and remapping for keyboard and mouse is especially important because fans coming from the console versions of the series will find the transition a bit difficult to start. The amount of control keyboard and mouse offers is well worth the learning curve, though, and another change that makes Persona 4 Golden's PC iteration the best around.
Smaller additions, like Steam cards and achievements, aren't really enough to factor into the game's overall quality but are also nice bonuses for those inclined to chase either. Beyond the way Persona 4 Golden on PC shakes up its display and controls, though, it's very much the same iteration of a game that consumers have traditionally adored. If fans enjoyed the series' other versions prior to this one, they'll be ecstatic to know this is essentially just a better presentation of the same gameplay.
That being said, however, unlike Persona 5 Royal's release earlier this year, Persona 4 Golden doesn't really offer anything new in terms of actual content. For a game this old, that can sometimes make it a tricky sell for those who have picked it up before. While it's undoubtedly one of the best RPG experiences over the past decade, it's also one that is better designed to find a new audience rather than those who have played through, say, both Persona 4 and Persona 4 Golden when those were newer.
That doesn't change the fact that Persona 4 Golden on PC is immediately one of the best RPGs its genre on the platform, however. While the game demands a lot of its players' time, journeying through the fog in Inaba is well-worth a third or fourth playthrough for those on the fence about diving back in. For fans of the genre lucky enough to be able to experience it for the first time, though, Persona 4 Golden is a slam dunk addition to their games library that will captivate for hours and leave players desperate for a similar experience when the credits finally roll.
Persona 4 Golden is available on Steam now. Screen Rant was provided with a PC game code for the purpose of this review.