Persona 4 Golden
Persona 4 Golden, like the rest of the updated editions, is one of the strongest games in the series, and manages to fix many of the significant problems with the game’s original release by introducing balance tweaks, quality-of-life improvements, and story revamps. It, additionally, manages to produce a much more satisfying ending than the original game, while rounding out the preceding story arcs with extra content.
However, Persona 4 Golden, despite its cast, feels like the weakest of the big three of the Persona series—mostly on account of its weaker thematic core. Where Persona 3 manages to spin a terrific tale about mental illness, depression, and the pressures of modern teenage life, and Persona 5 attempts to tell a story about institutions, power, and how our desires shape those systems, Persona 4 crafts a narrative about finding your “true self,” which it significantly undercuts with its famously odd handling of its queer characters.
