FAQ

General

Q: Is Persona 4 out yet?
A: Yes, the Japanese version was released on July 10, 2008, and can be found at all major Japanese video game retailers. The English version was published by Atlus U.S.A. on December 9, 2008.

Q: What console is the game available on?
A: Sony PlayStation 2.

Q: My disc doesn't play, why?
A: There have been reports that the disc does not load on some PS2. Cleaning of the head seems to have solved some of these problems. If in doubt, contact the party from whom you got the game.

Q: How long is the play time?
A: Estimates are around 90-120 hours.

Q: Do I need to play the previous Persona games to understand this game?
A: No, you don't. There are minimal side conversation that may involve Persona 3, but they can be totally ignored.

Q: Any bonus if I have a P3 save file?
A: No, absolutely nothing.

Q: Multiple endings?
A: Yes, for spoiler, check here.

Q: Do I need to maximize all social links in one run?
A: Not in any crucial way. Maxing them up to 50% and 100% will get you two special equipments. That's it.

Q: What do I carry over to the 2nd cycle?
A: See here.

Differences compared to Persona 3

Q: Is it still a huge dungeon?
A: No, now there are multiple dungeons, but all connected through a plaza.

Q: Are the social links difficult to max?
A: In P4, they are much easier. First, now you can wait as long as you like between meetings without worrying the link will go angry on you. Second, lover relationships are easier to max; dating on Sunday is no longer a crucial part, and the gift system is also canceled.

Q: Anything changed in the velvet room?
A: It is now inside a limo. Igor is still there, but the assistant is changed. A new function call Fusion Forecast is also added: on a certain day, bonus such as stat boosts or extra skills will be granted if your fusion fulfills the requirement.

Q: Do members come and go without any sign like P3?
A: No, now in P4, once they have joined, they will always be in and ready.

Q: Can I grind like I did in P3?
A: A bit harder at the beginning. A major change in the dungeon system is that now your SP no longer recover upon returning to the main hall. In the beginning it's a bit prohibitory if you want to grind. Later in the game, however, such limitation will not be as bad.

Q: Do you have direct controls of other characters?
A: Yes, you can now give direct commands to all characters in your party during combat.

Social links

Q: Can you date guys?
A: No, you cannot "date" male characters in Persona 4.

Q: Can you have multiple girl friends?
A: Yes, you may. The only consequence is that during some Sunday dates, the other girl friend may show up and rip your social link points. This negative effect is negligible because Sunday dates are no longer an essential part in P4. On top of that, the scenes are fun to watch.

Q: Can you have no girl friend?
A: Of course. All the potential lover links now give you one to many chances to declare your feeling towards them. If you choose not to develop, you two will become friends. Some dialogues may change, but you can still max the social links and get the ultimate personae regardless you have picked the friend or lover route.

Q: I cannot find my school-related social links!!
A: Rainy days close most of them. On top of that, remember the week before tests and exams, all the school-related social links are also unavailable.

Q: Which social links level up by themselves?
A: Highlight to show spoilers: [ Fool, Judgment, and Star].

Q: Which social link does not need a matching persona?
A: Highlight to show spoilers: [ Death (it levels up no matter what you say), Empress (it levels up as long as your fused persona is right), and Hermit (it levels up as long as you have completed the given quest)].

Q: What's up with the afternoon invitation?
A: There are two types of invitations. The one that comes from the right of the screen is a reminder telling you that there will be a chance of meeting with that persona today, and such meeting will be a ranking up event. You don't need to say anything. If you don't go today, the ranking will still happen if you see them the other day. The other one that comes from the left of the screen is a real invitation. You'd have to say yes/no immediately. If you say "no", you can still meet with that person after school. However, if you say "yes", you will instantly enter the meeting after school (note: Without any chance to sort out your persona) and have a conversation with them. The benefit of that is you will have bonus to all your answer, additionally, this bonus stacks with your matching persona.

Q: What's up with making lunch?
A: Along the story, there are multiple occasions in which Nanako will tell you she has done some shopping; this means you'd find some cooking ingredient in the fridge. You can choose to make lunch, which will take up your evening time slot. During the cooking, there will be some options, if you pick the right one, you'll always end up with the lunch and three baits. On the next school day, you can invite any social link person to join you. This lunch invitation also contributes points, and bonus will also be given if you have a matching persona.

Q: Which social links should I focus on?
A: Primarily your team members' social links; ranking up the links with them helps your battle. See here. Secondary, the Hermit; this link, once maxed, let you access the shrine in where you can pray for any social link. Such pray counts as one meeting and is a very efficient way to max all the links. Then, concentrate on Justice and Hierophant, since these two links end about two months earlier than the others.

Q: Where and when is a certain social link available?
A: See here

Q: I would like to see the whole year schedule, where can I find it?
A: Here.

Event in a day

Q: In game calendar, how long does it run?
A: From 4/11 to 12/31. Plus one day in March if you pick the right option.

Q: Where can I get the part-time jobs?
A: Check the billboard next to Aiya. It's on the north side of the shopping district.

Q: Where can I buy the soda that recovers 10 SP?
A: In front of the store 64. Check the vending machine. You can get at most 5 cans a week. Come check next Monday if they are sold out.

Dungeon

Q: What's up with that weather system?
A: Highlight to show spoilers: [ Unlike P3, which relies on the moon cycle, P4 uses weather to denote the next boss fight. When it is foggy in the human world, it'd be clear in the TV world. The clear environment, for some reason, enrages the shadows and they will be very aggressive. If you don't rescue the victim by then, the victim will very likely be killed].

Q: Do the dungeons differ according to the weather?
A: No. The dungeons actually look the same. However, if you visit the dungeon on a rainy day, there will be secret enemies in random encounters. They come with very good ingredients for equipment forging.

Q: Where do I get new equipment?
A: The common way is to sell the ingredients you obtained from the defeated monster to the guy at Daidara. He will forge them into different weapons/armors/accessories and put them on sale. There is no quota of buying; once unlocked, the equipment will not be sold out. Golden treasure chests also mostly contain equipment. In most of the dungeons, there is also a hidden weapon in the room where you fight the boss. You just have to revisit it and search around.

Q: How can I refill SP?
A: At the beginning you'd have to rely on the soda you got from store 64 and the SP recovery items you got from the chests. Later, it'd be much better: [ (i) the Hermit link would join force and helps you recover SP at the main entrance. The higher you rank up with Hermit, the cheaper this service would become; (ii) once a second dungeon is introduce, you can enter another dungeon, and come back to the second one in order to re-render the treasure chests. For instance, you can empty all the chests in the Castle, then go enter the second dungeon, leave and re-enter the Castle. This will cause all the chests in the Castle to be filled up and distributed again. The drawback is that you'd lose all the map data, but that doesn't matter; (iii) Obtain persona or item that allow you to steal/recover SP ].

Battle- and persona-related

  • 1 More, All-Out Attack, and A.I. are all in Persona 4
  • 'Downed' recovery no longer takes a turn, but getting hit by a weakness while Downed will cause Dizzy, which makes the target skip a turn(50% of happening with a physical attack)
  • All party members can now be completely controlled by the player via 'Tactics' menu
  • New "Guard" command added; halves damage for one attack, covers inherent weakness, and nulls incoming status effects
  • Party members in Downed status can be recovered by a party member with a Commu Rank of 5 or higher
  • No more Pierce, Strike, or Slash damage - they are all unified as "physical"
  • If there are 2 or more shadows within an immediate area, you'll fight them one wave after another
  • Money is now automatically given after each battle
  • Shuffle Time now has varying mini-games: Card Catch, Slot Machine, and Memory Game.
  • In Shuffle Time there are no more Sword, Coin, Cup, and Wand cards. There are only Persona Cards, Blank cards, and Penalty Cards. Blank Cards are nothing, while Penalty cards remove all Exp, Yen, and Items earned from the battle.
  • Three difficulty level: Beginner, Normal, and Expert. Beginner has 10 'revival' items from the start
  • More than 180 personas
  • New fusion system, Fusion Forecast is added. If the player can fulfill the conditions and perform a certain fusion, the resulting persona may get a bonus skill or parameter boosts
  • New system which involves collecting materials and selling them for unlocking new equipments in shop is introduced
  • Margaret's wishes takes the place of Elizabeth's tasks from Persona 3, but they're only related to fusing a persona with a certain skill
  • Townspeople and students may give out Quests after a certain date (Sometimes after finishing their previous Quests as well)
  • There are now five status parameters: Courage, Dilligence, Understanding, Expression, and Knowledge. Each parameter has 5 levels instead of 6 in P3
  • Some responses during in-game and social link conversations may require the main character to be at a certain level in a parameter, such as Courage.
faq
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License