Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Review 

Note: I will not talk about the core gameplay much but rather the tweaks from the previous game. For more information on the fighting system refer to the P4A review.

 

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax(which will now be referred to as p4au) is the definitive proof that sequels can be absolutely amazing. It improves on the previous title p4a in every way imaginable. A bigger roster, new moves, better controls, new stages, tons of music both new and old, a bigger story mode, new ways to play almost every character, and even more. The story takes place right after the events of p4a and is presented in a visual novel form, with just a few fights tossed in because this is a fighting game and those are neccisary. One of the coolest new additions is the new shadow mode. Basically you can play as the shadow version of almost every character. Fear not as the shadows aren't feable pallette swaps but a brand new way to play the characters you've played already in the last game. A shadow character doesn't have a defensive burst or an awakening but to counter balance this they always have access to their awakened skill, they can carry their SP over between rounds, and a "shadow frenzy" ability which actually replaces their burst. When in a shadow frenzy you gain infinite SP for a short amount of time allowing you to go on a frenzy with your skills(I made joke see?).

 

The crisp HD graphics still look great and runs at a smooth 60FPS. One of my favorite parts of this game is the soundtrack. It has almost all of the songs from Persona 3 and 4, remixes of some of those songs, and new compositions entirely. This game has paid great attention to detail with well crafted backgrounds for your fights. The backgrounds even have tons of things moving around in the background to make them even more dynamic. I would go over the negatives of this game, but I just can not think of any at all. In then end this is a fantastic game and should be used as an example on how to make sequels. I'm looking at you COD, Fifa, Madden, and EA in general. I think I'll give P4AU a 9.5/10.  If you are a fighting fan or a Persona fan you owe it to yourself to pick this game out. Review Written by MokouWist