With Persona 4: Arena, Atlus’ critically acclaimed Shin Megami Tensei sub-series finally makes its Xbox debut — in a completely different form. Instead of a modern-day JRPG that ruminates on the nature of life and relationships, Arena is a one-on-one fighting game. It’s an unusual departure for the franchise, particularly on a new platform, but this sequel has pedigree in its corner. It was co-developed by Arc System Works (Guilty Gear, BlazBlue), and their longtime expertise in designing fast-paced, technical fighting games shows in the combat.
At first, it seems rather simplistic. The motions for executing special attacks are less complicated than in many fighters, and there’s even an auto-combo function. You soon realize, however, that these simplified inputs are here to help ease in genre newbies, and the real complexity of the fighting engine lies in movement, skills, and setups rather than challenging inputs. Universal character elements such as dodges, attack-canceling “One More” skills, and combo-crushing Burst moves add an easily accessible layer of strategy, while character-specific elements like android Aigis’ ammo stockpile and her power-boosting Orgia Drive give a good chunk of the cast a unique metagame.
Yukiko can be too hot to handle.
Who needs martial-arts expertise when you have a folding chair?Solid fighting would be enough, but Arc and Atlus have also crammed in tons of fan service. Visually, Arena is fantastic, with beautiful backgrounds, detailed character art, and an incredibly stylish overarching UI. While the animation quality isn’t as good as, say, Skullgirls’, the clean, sharp 2D visuals are still very appealing. Characters’ quotes and attacks reference familiar elements from the RPG series (matchup-specific intros, Teddie’s thrown objects), and spotting all of these nods is fun in itself.
The real treat, however, is the story mode, which is a direct sequel to Persona 4. Almost all 13 playable characters have a two- to four-hour campaign, with lots of fully voiced dialogue — even some branching story choices and cliffhangers that resolve only when you play other characters’ paths. Players who just want a good brawl, however, might be turned off by the wordiness, while those new to the (currently PlayStation-exclusive) series may feel lost in a constant parade of cutscenes interrupted by occasional fights.
Even if you don’t care about the Persona mythos, there’s a very solid competitive fighter here. Both local and online multiplayer are incredibly solid (the latter thanks to an update released two days after the game), with only the minor annoyance of no quick-rematch option. As it stands, anyone seeking a fresh, stylish take on traditional 2D fighting should enter this Arena.
Yosuke can put RPG-style speed buffs on himself.PUBLISHER: Atlus • DEVELOPER: Arc System Works • ESRB: Teen • MULTIPLAYER: 2 (locally or on Xbox Live) • ACHIEVEMENTS: Bear-ified difficulty • COST: $60 • RELEASE DATE: August 7, 2012
+ Slick presentation with snazzy UI, character art, and phenomenal music, backed by a solid fighting engine.
+ Massive story augments the usual array of arcade, challenge, and versus modes.
– Story mode may be too wordy for some; no way to familiarize yourself with the series if you own only an Xbox.
? Will Persona 5 come to Xbox as well? This cliffhanger’s un-bear-able!
