Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 - Gameplay

Gameplay

See also: Gameplay of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3

Like its predecessor, Persona 3, Persona 4 gameplay mixes a traditional role-playing video game with 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 activities. The player may also enter the "TV World", 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 activities are limited to certain times of day. In addition, the ability to engage in certain activities is based on the day of the week, or the weather.

By spending time with people, the protagonist forms "Social Links", friendships made with other characters as the game progresses, each represented by one of the Major Arcana. Social Links start at Rank 1, increasing over time as the protagonist spends time with that person, until it reaches MAX Rank (rank 10). Social Links grant the player bonuses when creating new Personas in the Velvet Room. Social Links are also influenced by the protagonist's five attributes: Understanding, Diligence, Courage, Knowledge and Expression, which can be improved through various activities, such as part-time jobs, school clubs, and sports teams. These attributes in turn may also affect the protagonist's interaction in daily activities outside of Social Links.

Persona 4's timeline is story-driven—the protagonist and his friends must rescue characters who disappear from the real world into the TV World, indicated through the "Midnight Channel". The one-week weather forecast indicates the amount of time players have to rescue people who have disappeared, in which the last foggy day of the week marks the mission deadline. The game ends when the player fails to retrieve the missing person in time, and is given the choice to return to one week before the fog appeared.