5/5 ★ – asoola's review of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax.

I finally finished Persona 4 Arena Ultimax story mode! Since it was my first time playing the Arena games I had to play the original Arena story then Ultimax’s story, I wanted to play this game ever since I watched the Persona 4 cast (and Labrys) stories in Persona 4 Arena and the time have finally arrived when the port was released or so I thought I only played it this year after I finished playing Persona 3 Portable. I honestly really loved the stories in both games, Labrys is a character that I love very much and her story made me emotional and I was so happy to see her finally happy and have friends after the things she went through. I do also love how (in Arena especially) the P4 cast stories were handled, I loved Yosuke’s story the most but all of them were fantastic I don’t know why but facing themselves again and accepting their true selves just made the P4 cast even more special and the character developments they went through was fantastic. Same goes for the P3 cast I only played their game this year but seeing them again made me nostalgic and I was happy to see how Mitsuru, Aigis, and Akihiko were dealing with life after the P3 ending and I honestly loved Akihiko’s ending the most in Arena. P4 and P3 casts aside I LOVED how they tied both P4 story and P3 story together and made this game in my opinion it was brilliant. Now let me talk about Ultimax I loved playing the stories in this game way more than Arena because in Arena I had to do the same thing (kinda) with all characters just for a different ending and beginning (not complaining but it got a little annoying at times) like I said before I loved both stories in this game and I loved how the story concludes in the sequel, seeing a grown up Ken made me feel like a proud mom especially when he decides to enjoy life with friends and Koromaru in his epilogue, Yukari becoming a successful model and actress and in her own way she was giving hope to children who watch Featherman is just very fitting for her, Aigis is just a precious and her interactions with Labrys were amazing, Akihiko and Kurosawa is the duo I never thought I wanted, Mitsuru being an amazing leader and doing her best to keep on saving this world is also very fitting for her character, as Fuuka’s number one fan I loved seeing her choose something she wants instead of trying to please her family, I wasn’t expecting Junpei to be a good coach but he is he didn’t become a baseball player but he’s close to something he dreamed of and he deserves it (I don’t know if Chidori is alive but I’m gonna assume she is because in my playthrough of P3P she was revived), of course I have to talk about Sho Minazuki because I LOVED HIS CHARACTER SO MUCH! I wasn’t expecting to like him as much as I did but his story and how his character is tied to not only the Kirijo Group but also the Investigation Team is an amazing detail (what do you mean Sho was there when the Investigation Team was solving the case? 😯) his story and well Minazuki’s story made me sad like he deserved a better treatment from Shuji Ikutsuki I loved how protective Minazuki was of Sho and their bond even though both of them convinced themselves bonds are garbage they definitely cared for each other ☹️ In the true ending it’s hinted that Sho is starting a new journey and he will be a guest of the velvet room (since he awakened to his persona) so I wouldn’t say no to a third Arena game 😗 Labrys story here also concludes and I loved her talk with Sho because they’re more similar than they think, I especially loved how if you choose the bonds option Sho is more talkative with Labrys in the TV entrance and laughs 🥹 it’s a very small difference but if you go with the solitude option he never stops and asks about Minazuki (I assume). Also Elizabeth wish and her journey is something I wasn’t expecting to like I don’t know what she intends to do but I will assume she wants Makoto Yuki to rest peacefully instead of continuing to being a seal (at least that’s what I think! I don’t want him to be revived because it may ruin the ending of P3) Anyways I really loved the main stories and the new characters Sho Minazuki and Labrys. Before I move on to the Ultimax endings let me talk about Adachi, if you told me Adachi comes back and is actually trying to keep his promise by making rules for himself based on that promise and he’s appreciating his bonds with Dojima and Yu especially I would’ve laughed and told you you’re lying but that’s exactly what happens and I LOVED IT. Adachi will always be one of my favorite characters honestly! Okay P4 cast endings time since the epilogue of Golden exists the endings in Ultimax made me understand why the cast looked different in the Golden epilogue like I said they definitely went through a character development and grew up 🫶🏽 In conclusion to me the story is well done but also it’s a Persona fighting game which is fun and I really love playing as my favorite characters (especially Rise). Until next time, Investigation Team and Shadow Operatives. ✨