play station official magazine

093

REVIEW

hit by using the analog sticks,
but you can also assign them to
o/uto be more precise.

SCHOOL DANCE
As far as re-assigning goes,
Persona Dancing is ripe with
customisation options to help
you play how you want to play.
You can adjust or resync note
speed, and add special Support
or Challenge rules to change
up gameplay. There’s plenty of
room to tweak settings and play
it your way – something we
appreciate in a rhythm game,
which should be about pushing
yourself to meet your own
challenges and having fun.
There are customisation
options for your characters,
all hailing from the games
on which they’re based. The
combinations of quirky outfits
and goofy accessories never
gets old. In the new games, you
can interact with the characters
via social links that you form
with them from hitting certain
milestones, wrapped up in an

incredibly loose story. It’s great

to have the opportunity to chat

with your returning favourites,

especially those from Persona

3 just because it’s been a while

since that particular entry.

Persona 4 Dancing features a

much bigger story, but in some

ways thevisual novel style

gets in the way of the dancing

game itself, and it’s almost

preferable to have the smaller

‘chunks’ style of social links in

the newer games. P4 Dancing is

as enjoyable to play as ever and

looks great in high definition,

though you do miss some of

the tweaks in the newer titles

that highlights how much the

rhythm gameplay in P3 and P5

Dancing has been polished.

VERDICT

THE OPM BREAKDOWN

Right Dancing
in Shibuya
Crossing? No
problem for
the Phantom
Thieves.

Below All three
games match
the original
JRPGs’ styles
pretty well.

Above Silly outfits are plentiful, but try not to distract yourself too much.

A superb bundle with enough

nods to the series for fans to

love, and jamming tunes for

newcomers to enjoy. It’s just

some great music with some

great (virtual) friends – what’s

not to love? Oscar Taylor-Kent

2%Playing

on All Night

difficulty and

feeling like you

did well. It’s just

so hard!

4%Switching

on Choreography

mode, then

trying (and

failing) to learn

the moves.

10%Chatting to

your favourite

characters in the

social links.

6%Exploring

your friends’

rooms in search

of hidden

accessories.

WHAT YOU DO IN... PERSONA DANCING

70%

Hitting notes and

jamming out with

your Persona

buddies to some

rockin’ tunes.

8% Dressing up

your besties in

goofy, stylish, and

cute outfits.

I still haven’t recovered from the ending of

Persona 3, so seeing all my fellow SEES

members in a current-gen release warms the

cockles of the cold, black Shadow I call a heart. And the

in-depth, customisable difficulty options are truly

Oracle-sent for someone with such a low accuracy

base stat such as I. Jess Kinghorn

SECOND OPINION SOCIAL CONFIDANT

SCHOOL REUNION

Getting to hang out with all your

favourite characters from Personas

3 to 5 is truly a special and nostalgic

experience that’ll mean a lot to fans.

THE P3 TEASE

But seeing all the P3 characters,

locations, and conversations in HD

makes us desperately yearn for a

remaster. Don’t make us beg, Atlus!

LOVING/HATING

ALSO ONPLAYSTATION VITA

IS IT BETTER THAN?

YES

This sabre-wielding PS

VR rhythm game is a

fab experience, but

Persona has more to

keep you coming back.

A blood-pumping thrill

ride Thumper may be,

but there’s less to

tweak than this more

focused package.

YES

Vocaloid die-hards may

disagree, but we

prefer Persona’s note

clarity and the range

of remixes on offer.

YES

Rhythm games are perfect for

playing on the go... as long as

you have headphones! Playing

through a song only takes a few

minutes, and the stop-start action is

perfect for when you might not have ages

to spend on a game. That said, it’s easy to

become so engrossed in the action that you end up

missing your stop, which has happened to us!