The Persona 4: The Ultimata in Mayonaka Arena Thread

[Proto Cloud]

Man, this place feels pretty dead. What happened? Anyways, I've had a bit of personal issues and a several lack of technology of late.

Eh, guess I'll put in my 2 cents into this game.

Honestly, I can't believe this game exists. It's almost surreal seeing my game case because back in 2009 I would've never thought that my favorite RPG of all time would be turned into a fighter, much less a traditional one. After knowing that P4 didn't sell to expectations, I felt that it was going to be left to rot, Atlus went bankrupt, the company that bought it was known for mobile/social games and was left dismayed. I came to the conclusion that it might be the end of an era. Surprisingly though, Index Corp. came out with Catherine and soon wanted to go into full media overload with Persona 4. They were dead serious about making this a hit. Anime? Check. Figures? Check. New games? Check. Movie? Check. Theatrical play? Check. But to my surprise, they chose to make a fighting game.Out of all the things they chose ASW. I was overjoyed, the fact that they chose them over doing some random bullshit like Dissidia for where you wage silly battles in the air throwing shit at each other with characters like Laguna? The fuck?

Here we got a fast-paced game that makes Blazblue look like it's moving in bullet time. It's almost too appropriate to compare this to Jojo's because not only was the original concept and designs were inspired by Araki's works, but the gameplay and attention to detail. The game looks beautiful and vibrant. The characters have never looked better and they put in nods to the characters and moves they had in the game. For example, Kanji's chair super is basically his critical attack from the game. Chie's OHKO is her team attack. Most spells are accounted for and even have status effects.

I love having another game like Jojo's where I can use a "stand" for setups. As for those that are complaining about the AAA combos and simple motions, grow up. This game is basically the Marvel of anime games. Just like Marvel it introduces simpler motions and easier combos, but likewise, it introduces many concepts/tricks/techniques that make it have depth and is hard to master. Which is strange coming from a company that has sandbagged their other licensed games like Segoku Basara X and Fist of the North Star (though it did end up being good for all the wrong reason in the case of this one). It's well balanced and feels substantially different from their other offerings. From the usage of personas to having more emphasis on ground combos, it's almost like it was made by someone entirely different. I love it.

As for the popularity it's been getting. I'm stunned. It's crazy to see this much hype for an anime game. It might be due to the strong character designs, which unlike BB and most others in the genre, isn't filled to the brim with anime tropes like lolis, cat girls, yaoi undertones, or panty shots in the case of Skullgirls. It may be that it's easy to get into, compared to other games with one frame links, emphasis on cheap tactics (UMvC3), or too much to learn (Tekken). It also may be the fact that it's a breath of fresh air from the constant sequel-age of late. When you think of it, just this year:

Installments:
Soul Calibur - 6
Street Fighter x Tekken (Crossover series) - 6 (I think)
Virtua Fighter -5 (Which 5 is on its 2nd revision)
DOA- 6 (If you include Ultimate)
Tekken - 8
Blazblue - 2 (4 in total if you include revisions)

That's not including the stuff that came before:

Street Fighter - 11 (I think and countless more in revisions and spinoffs)
KOF - 15+ (Lost track ages ago)
Guilty Gear - 4 (And countless revisions and spinoffs)

and so on.

I'm pretty sure that's the big one and I'm glad to see that something new is catching on. Hopefully it won't suffer a similar fate as Skullgirls which earned endless amounts of hype to come crashing down on the weight of its own praise. I think this game has potential and I hope ASW supports this going forward, unlike previous efforts. Because I'd really like to see more P3 characters like Junpei and Koromaru, maybe even a full-fledged Megaten fighter with Raidou, Jack Frost and Demi-fiend.

[LouisCipher]

Good to know. 1st paycheck goes to picking this up. Hopefully I won't be too far behind the curve.

[baccano1932]

If they were to add more characters I'd much rather see them try to incorporate someone from 1 or 2 or coming up with another new character then adding another character from 3 and especially no Korumaru.

[Proto Cloud]

^^ I don't think they can incorporate characters from 1 and 2, (Also the characters from 1 aren't all that good to begin with) because from what I've heard 1/2 are in their own timeline or set far in the past of 3/4. Honestly, I don't want newer characters because they might ruin the narrative. Labrys was surprisingly cool with her accent, but I don't think you need to jam new characters just because when there's still some left and I honestly would like to see what ever happened to the rest of the P3 cast in their later years.

Good to know. 1st paycheck goes to picking this up. Hopefully I won't be too far behind the curve.

I highly doubt it. It's only little more than a week and the characters are pretty easy to pick up and play. Much like KOF, you can pick up multiple characters and be good with them. This isn't Guilty Gear or Virtua Fighter where every character is like learning Quantum Physics.

[Tyrant292]

I highly doubt it. It's only little more than a week and the characters are pretty easy to pick up and play. Much like KOF, you can pick up multiple characters and be good with them. This isn't Guilty Gear or Virtua Fighter where every character is like learning Quantum Physics.

Most of the people who come from lets say SF find KoF a bit challenging because of the commands, different jumps and shifting from 6 buttons to 4. There is a lot more to compare and say but what I am trying to get at is, it doesnt matter if the game is hard or easy as long as you enjoy it and Louis I dont think you should worry about the learning curve I personally dont know if the game is challenging or not but even if you start late eventually you'll get there. That's what happened to me in 3rd strike. As long as you enjoy it you'll get there eventually. Many people get discouraged because of the learning curve and it pisses me off. I am not saying your one of them btw.

[baccano1932]

^^ I don't think they can incorporate characters from 1 and 2, (Also the characters from 1 aren't all that good to begin with) because from what I've heard 1/2 are in their own timeline or set far in the past of 3/4. Honestly, I don't want newer characters because they might ruin the narrative. Labrys was surprisingly cool with her accent, but I don't think you need to jam new characters just because when there's still some left and I honestly would like to see what ever happened to the rest of the P3 cast in their later years.

Well I know for sure that 1 and 2 do in fact take place in the same timeline as 3 and 4 as there is ample evidence in 3 that they're interrelated, in terms of time difference I think it was about a decade or so between 1 and 4 (though i'm not particularly clear on the exact amount of time). Granted though you are correct that 1's characters aren't all that strong especially when compared to 3.

Additionally depending on how you interpret the true ending it could make logical sense to bring back just about anybody really depending on how Atlus goes about continuing the story and whether or not the interpretation I have and others have made of it is correct.

[KarnF91]

I've been playing through the Persona series before picking this up.  From what I can tell 1 takes place in 1999 or 2000.  3 takes place in 2009 and 2010, haven't gotten to 4 yet.  I really want to pick up P4A up right now but I really want to play P4 before getting it.  I was going to wait for Golden, but I can't wait to play P4 and P4A that long.  After playing P3 I have a good idea of who I'll use in P4A at least.

[MetalThrashingMadman]

Stream for P4 teams tournament @ UCC starts in a few minutes. Twitch.tv/transientfaith

[baccano1932]

Anyone here still playing the game online? cause i've ben looking for good matches on stable connections and been having a hard time, so anyone up for some games?