GamePlay Of Persona

Gameplay

Like its predecessor, Persona 3, the gameplay of Persona 4 alternates between that of a traditional console role-playing game and of a simulation game. The protagonist of Persona 4 is a teenage boy, named and controlled by the player. The game takes place over the course of a traditional Japanese School Year. Outside of key events, the Protagonist attends school, and can interact with other students and characters, spend time at part-time jobs to earn money, or engage in other activites. The player may also enter the Midnight Channel, an alternate reality where the game's dungeon-crawling gameplay occurs. Each day in Persona 4 is broken up into different periods of time, such as After School or Evening. Certain activites are limited to certain times of day. In addition, the ability to engage in certain activites is based on the day of the week, or the weather.

By spending time with people, the Protagonist forms Social Links. Social Links are friendships the Protagonist makes as the game progresses, each represented by one of the Major Arcana. When a Social Link is first formed, it starts at Rank 1, increasing over time as the Protagonist spends time with that person, until it reaches Rank 10. Social Links grant the player bonuses when creating new Personas in the Velvet Room

Persona 4's timeline is driven by the disappearance of characters from the real world into the Midnight Channel. The player has a limited amount of time to rescue people who have disappeared, before they are killed and the games ends

Combat

A standard battle in Persona 4.

While in the Midnight Channel, the player explores randomly generated dungeons, each dungeon is of a certain theme, based on the victim that has been kidnapped. Dungeons are divided into floors, each containing Shadows, enemies the Protagonists and his friends fight, and treasure chests, which contain items or equipment. The battle system is turn-based, bearing similarities to the Press Turn system used in other Shin Megami Tensei games. Each character can perform a basic attack, use a special skill, or use an item.

Offensive abilities cause certain types of damage, such as physical or wind. Enemies the player encounters may have a weakness to a certain type of attack. By exploiting an enemy's weakness, it will be knocked down, and the attacker is given the opportunity to act again. If every enemy in a battle is knocked down, the player may initiate an All-out Attack, a powerful attack in which the player's party rushes the downed enemies, creating a large, cartoon-like cloud of smoke.

Personas

Each party member has a Persona to use during battle, with its own unique skills, and a specific set of strengths and weaknesses to certain attacks. Personas will gain experience from battle and learn new skills as they gain levels. The Personas of the other party members will also transform to a more powerful form after completing certain events in the game's story relating to that character. The Protagonist is unique in that he can carry multiple Personas and switch between them during battle, giving the player access to a new set of skills. Outside of battle, the player can access the Velvet Room, where new Personas can be obtained. Two or more Personas can be fused to create a new one; the new Persona will inherit a certain number of combat skills from the Personas used to fuse it. Each Persona is of one of the Major Arcana. Fusing Personas of an arcanum that matches an established Social Link will grant the Persona a bonus when it is created. The bonus is greater based on the current rank of the Social Link.