High School Life in Persona 4 is Better

I wish Persona 4 had been my actual high school life. Oh well, I'll just write about it instead.

First, a little backstory. I bought my Vita on launch day last spring, and played it pretty much every day, including during my trip to Tokyo that summer when it was a lifesaver on the 14 hour plane ride. That stopped in the fall when most of my gaming time was wrapped up by the newly released FIFA 12 on PS3.

When 2013 rolled around I had a huge backlog of PS3 games and I decided there was no point in spending money when I had a drawer full of games lying about unbeaten. Fast forward to the beginning of this month, and I had burned through my backlog. I admit I did cheat, I really had no desire to put 70 hours into Final Fantasy XIII, so I gave it away. That game had been a launch day purchase in 2009, but after putting 4 hours into it I felt bored and playing turned into a chore.

I found myself newly free of any gaming commitments and felt as if a new world had opened to me. I could buy any game I wanted and spend as much time as I wanted with it, without feeling guilty. I decided to start playing games on my Vita again, and picked up Persona 4: The Golden. The game had gotten glowing accolades, but I was a bit skeptical. The Shin Megami Tensei series was completely new to me and I didn't know if I would enjoy a very long, very involved RPG on a handheld, especially after my experience with FFXIII. Thank God I didn't listen to myself.

Realization of my addiction to Persona 4 came about 20 hours into the game (on my fourth day of ownership). Sitting inside my house on a rainy day, I felt this desire to live in Inaba, the small town wherein Persona 4 takes place. 

I wanted to live in a small Japanese town, where all the neighbors know each other and compliment you on your new vegetable garden. I wished I had gone to a high school full of interesting personalities. A school where around every corner there was some friendly person who I could get to know and form a relationship with.

Why couldn't I live with a cool uncle like Dojima, and his adorable daughter, who called me "big bro" and loved singing TV Jingles, but was actually the most mature person in the house. I wanted to have friends as loyal as Yosuke, as funny as Chie, and as smart and beautiful as Yukiko.

Persona 4 succeeds because it takes a time in life we always remember and cherish (you might not now, but you will when you're older, and in the workforce), and basically whittles it down to the best parts.

There's no monotony, no math homework, no bullies or feeling left out. It presents to us an idealised high school life. A life in which you join the soccer team and immediate befriend the best and coolest players. A life in which the most talented and best looking girl in drama club picks you to be her leading man. A life in which friendships don't drift apart, a couple of kids can go on an crazy adventure, solve a mystery, and then go out for dinner at the mall.

That's what hooked me to Persona 4. Notice, I didn't mention the interesting story, the amazing art and music, or the fun and refreshingly simple turn based combat. If you haven't played this game, go get it. If you don't have a Vita, go get one for this game.