Tips for Surviving Persona 4 The Golden

[OuendanCyrus]

First playthrough: Spend a lot of time focusing on maxing all five of your social stats and get as many Personae registered in the Compendium as possible.

Second playthrough: Focus on maxing social links, you should raise one link per day (if available), if it's raining, do an activity that will help you with links (seeing the fox, riding the motorcycle, etc.) Remember some links have deadlines (Jester, Aeon, Empress).

 

[mysecondlife]

Carrying a persona with an arcana that matches with the social link you're trying to raise is also helpful to get the most affection points.

This is an extremely good tip.

Say you're trying to raise your Social Link rank with Yosuke. Since his arcana is the Magician, your active Persona should also be a Magician. Do this, and your rank will increase faster.

Remember, you can generally only raise one rank a day, so increasing the rate of rank ups, even if it only speeds it up one day, is a massive boost.

When you say 'active' do you mean persona that you're currently equipped?

 

[Quiotu]

First playthrough: Spend a lot of time focusing on maxing all five of your social stats and get as many Personae registered in the Compendium as possible.

Second playthrough: Focus on maxing social links, you should raise one link per day (if available), if it's raining, do an activity that will help you with links (seeing the fox, riding the motorcycle, etc.) Remember some links have deadlines (Jester, Aeon, Empress).

Yep, was gonna say those two things exactly. A few other tips for the uninitiated.

1. Look up how to unlock the fishing activity, because it doesn't do a good job pushing you in the right direction at all. You'll completely miss it unless you know what you're doing.

2. Save. Save Often. Have multiple saves scattered throughout the game, because you can easily miss something. This game doesn't hold your hand, and doesn't auto-save anywhere. It'll ask, but that's about it.

3. Read. The. Exposition. This game has a lot of story and a lot of information it throws at you... and it's all important. Listen to it all at least the first time around, or by the end you'll have no clue what's going on.

4. You will cry. That's normal. Embrace it.

 

[Quiotu]

Carrying a persona with an arcana that matches with the social link you're trying to raise is also helpful to get the most affection points.

This is an extremely good tip.

Say you're trying to raise your Social Link rank with Yosuke. Since his arcana is the Magician, your active Persona should also be a Magician. Do this, and your rank will increase faster.

Remember, you can generally only raise one rank a day, so increasing the rate of rank ups, even if it only speeds it up one day, is a massive boost.

When you say 'active' do you mean persona that you're currently equipped?

Actually, no. It's not that specific... it just has to be one of the persona you're carrying around with you. It doesn't have to be assigned for it to work.

 

[Susan Arendt]

First playthrough: Spend a lot of time focusing on maxing all five of your social stats and get as many Personae registered in the Compendium as possible.

Second playthrough: Focus on maxing social links, you should raise one link per day (if available), if it's raining, do an activity that will help you with links (seeing the fox, riding the motorcycle, etc.) Remember some links have deadlines (Jester, Aeon, Empress).

Yep, was gonna say those two things exactly. A few other tips for the uninitiated.

1. Look up how to unlock the fishing activity, because it doesn't do a good job pushing you in the right direction at all. You'll completely miss it unless you know what you're doing.

2. Save. Save Often. Have multiple saves scattered throughout the game, because you can easily miss something. This game doesn't hold your hand, and doesn't auto-save anywhere. It'll ask, but that's about it.

3. Read. The. Exposition. This game has a lot of story and a lot of information it throws at you... and it's all important. Listen to it all at least the first time around, or by the end you'll have no clue what's going on.

4. You will cry. That's normal. Embrace it.

Great tip on the fishing. I actually had "have multiple saves" on the first draft of this, but figured that was just good gaming advice anyway.

 

[Quiotu]

First playthrough: Spend a lot of time focusing on maxing all five of your social stats and get as many Personae registered in the Compendium as possible.

Second playthrough: Focus on maxing social links, you should raise one link per day (if available), if it's raining, do an activity that will help you with links (seeing the fox, riding the motorcycle, etc.) Remember some links have deadlines (Jester, Aeon, Empress).

Yep, was gonna say those two things exactly. A few other tips for the uninitiated.

1. Look up how to unlock the fishing activity, because it doesn't do a good job pushing you in the right direction at all. You'll completely miss it unless you know what you're doing.

2. Save. Save Often. Have multiple saves scattered throughout the game, because you can easily miss something. This game doesn't hold your hand, and doesn't auto-save anywhere. It'll ask, but that's about it.

3. Read. The. Exposition. This game has a lot of story and a lot of information it throws at you... and it's all important. Listen to it all at least the first time around, or by the end you'll have no clue what's going on.

4. You will cry. That's normal. Embrace it.

Great tip on the fishing. I actually had "have multiple saves" on the first draft of this, but figured that was just good gaming advice anyway.

Granted us seasoned gamers who've played enough RPGs know how the old school system works, but some of the new blood might not be aware of just how unfair these traditional RPGs can be. Much like the Contrarian King in Persona 4, it's a rite of passage for these types of game. Getting your ass kicked after several hours of grinding and not saving, yelling obscenities at the screen... you are now officially a man/woman.

BTW, Slinky says hi. I'm the guy that showed you the corgi picture during the live podcat of the Escapist Expo, if you remember that. One of the rare times I wasn't lurking.

 

[vxicepickxv]

What do you get with 'New Game+' in this version? All items, stats, and social links as they were at the end?

If it's like P4 you get your Persona Database, and you traits(Courage, Understanding etc), and money kept. Everything else resets to basics which is your level, social links, and inventory.

If they changed to back to the way P3 did it, then the only thing that would reset would be your Social Links.


If you get the first group of quests, make sure you finish them before finals, or you're stuck getting the item over and over through summer break.

 

[Knight Templar]

Reading this makes me really, really want to play the game, any version.

I think my sister has a PS2 around somehwere, and I've friends who own a vita and never use it. Now I just need to get a copy of the game.

 

[mysecondlife]

Carrying a persona with an arcana that matches with the social link you're trying to raise is also helpful to get the most affection points.

This is an extremely good tip.

Say you're trying to raise your Social Link rank with Yosuke. Since his arcana is the Magician, your active Persona should also be a Magician. Do this, and your rank will increase faster.

Remember, you can generally only raise one rank a day, so increasing the rate of rank ups, even if it only speeds it up one day, is a massive boost.

When you say 'active' do you mean persona that you're currently equipped?

Actually, no. It's not that specific... it just has to be one of the persona you're carrying around with you. It doesn't have to be assigned for it to work.

Ah thanks. How about the quantity of persona?. For example, would having 2 Magician persona have greater affect with Yosuke?

 

[DrunkenMonkey]

Does anybody here know if Persona 4 golden has a new difficulty mode, like p3p had maniacs or something like that?

 

[SD-Fiend]

Does anybody here know if Persona 4 golden has a new difficulty mode, like p3p had maniacs or something like that?

It has the very hard difficuly

 

[SuperSuperSuperGuy]

My tips are mainly about preparing your party. This is a game that you NEED to prepare for.

First off, weaknesses and resistances are really important. Not everything has a weakness, though, and many enemies will specifically target your weaknesses. Watch your weaknesses, as they can cripple you. In addition, keep as many different elements on you as possible at all times.

Secondly, learn which party members to use. Learn who works well together and who can be a liability. However, train all of your party members and know when to swap them out for others. Your party may work for a given dungeon's enemies, but it might not work for the boss. Don't be afraid to back off and acknowledge when you're unprepared.

Thirdly, buffs and debuffs, including buff/debuff cancelling skills and Mind/Power Charge, are awesome. They can make or break your boss fights because they actually have a significant effect on your stats.

Fourth, pay attention to your party's skills. Don't bother wasting a skill slot on a skill that you MIGHT use. However, some skills are just... better than others. Learn what works and what doesn't, and don't be afraid to do some research online. Learn what to do to make your party as efficient and as powerful as possible. It's not exactly rocket science; once you have a new party member, look at a skill list online and determine from there what would be best in terms of skills for them.

Fifth, complete dungeons in a single day if possible. Time is a valuable resource, and the only time you should really need to exit the dungeon hub is early on when you don't have an way to restore SP. However, when you can restore SP, don't ever exit the dungeon hub until you have completed what you're there for, which is usually beating a new dungeon.


Captcha: Do you shop at Canadian Tire?
No, I don't. I don't appreciate the ad, Captcha. Also, when I answered "no" it denied me. What the heck.

 

[DrunkenMonkey]

Does anybody here know if Persona 4 golden has a new difficulty mode, like p3p had maniacs or something like that?

It has the very hard difficuly

Thank you good sir, that just made my day. Here comes some virtual flagellation

 

[shrekfan246]

Every time I hear about this game I curse the fact that it is only out for the Vita. I simply can't justify buying a Vita for one game however. Guess I am stuck with the OG PS2 version

At least Chie doesn't sound awful in my version

Honestly chies new VO is waaaaay better IMO, maybe because I heard the new one first but the old one just sounds wrong. Like they don't fit chie at all, didn't get the sense of energetic personality from the old one that the new one gives off.

I agree with that assessment, to be honest. To me, the new VA sounded more lively, younger, and bubblier, which I felt suited the personality Chie was displaying a lot better than the original VA.

OT: Sound advice, apart from doing the quests (I doubt I actually completed even half of them) I did follow that through my first play-through, despite not really knowing anything about the game beforehand.

 

[Quiotu]

Carrying a persona with an arcana that matches with the social link you're trying to raise is also helpful to get the most affection points.

This is an extremely good tip.

Say you're trying to raise your Social Link rank with Yosuke. Since his arcana is the Magician, your active Persona should also be a Magician. Do this, and your rank will increase faster.

Remember, you can generally only raise one rank a day, so increasing the rate of rank ups, even if it only speeds it up one day, is a massive boost.

When you say 'active' do you mean persona that you're currently equipped?

Actually, no. It's not that specific... it just has to be one of the persona you're carrying around with you. It doesn't have to be assigned for it to work.

Ah thanks. How about the quantity of persona?. For example, would having 2 Magician persona have greater affect with Yosuke?

That'd be nice, but no. Only one is needed, and more doesn't enhance anything further. Personas tend to be pretty expensive to create, especially later on the game, so having one of every arcana until really late in the game tends to be how people make it work. You have to pick and choose early in the game, because you're limited to some 8 personas until you reach certain level caps. Also some s.links will level automatically or don't require a similar persona to help. Hermit, Fool, Judgement, Empress, Death, and Star arcanas don't need any personas to level each time.

 

[badmunky64]

I don't have a vita unfortunately. If it ever comes out on ios...

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

What do you get with 'New Game+' in this version? All items, stats, and social links as they were at the end?

If you get the good ending the game is extended by around 4 or 5 in game months.

EDIT: Oh and around lvl 50 fuse Black Frost, level him up so he gets Agidyne and get a fire damage booster.
Nets you around 2k fire damage early, pretty good way of beating especially hard bosses.

 

[Mister K]

First playthrough: Spend a lot of time focusing on maxing all five of your social stats and get as many Personae registered in the Compendium as possible.

Second playthrough: Focus on maxing social links, you should raise one link per day (if available), if it's raining, do an activity that will help you with links (seeing the fox, riding the motorcycle, etc.) Remember some links have deadlines (Jester, Aeon, Empress).

Wait... Jester? I know that Aeon is this new girl (forgot her name), but what is Jester social link?