Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: When was the game Persona 4 created?
Persona 4[lower-alpha 1] is a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus for Sony's PlayStation 2, and chronologically the fifth installment in the Persona series, itself a part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. The game was released in Japan in July 2008, North America in December 2008, and Europe in March 2009.[5] Persona 4 takes place in a fictional Japanese countryside and is indirectly related to earlier Persona games. The player-named protagonist is a high-school student who moved into the countryside from the city for a year. During his year-long stay, he becomes involved in investigating mysterious murders while harnessing the power of summoning Persona. The game features a weather forecast system with events happening on foggy days to replace the moon phase system implemented in the previous games.
Personas are used for types of physical attack and magical attacks, along with actions such as healing and curing or inflicting status effects. For all "Persona" games, all playable characters start out with an initial Persona, which can evolve into other Personas through story-based events and use during battle. In multiple "Persona" games, two or more Personas can be summoned at once to perform a powerful Fusion Spell. In "Persona 3", "4" and "5", only the main character can wield and change between multiple Personas; the other characters use a single Persona. During the course of the game, the player acquires more Personas through a system of Skill Cards, represented by Major Arcana Tarot cards. Each skill card represents a different Persona family, which in turn hold their own abilities inherent to that family. Multiple Personas can be fused together to create a new Persona with improved and inherited abilities: these range from fusing two Personas in the "Persona 2" duology, to fusing up to twelve in "Persona 4". Starting with "Persona 3", the main protagonist of each game has an ability known as "Wild Card", an ability to summon multiple Personas represented by the Fool Arcana.
The game was positively received by critics and developed into a full franchise. An enhanced version of the game for the PlayStation Vita, Persona 4 Golden, was released in 2012. Various other manga and light novel adaptations and spin-offs have been produced. An anime television adaptation by AIC ASTA, titled Persona 4: The Animation, began airing in Japan in October 2011, with an anime adaptation of Persona 4 Golden airing in July 2014. The game has also spawned two fighting game sequels, Persona 4 Arena and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, and a rhythm game, Persona 4: Dancing All Night.
Persona 4: Dancing All Night is a rhythm game developed by Atlus for the PlayStation Vita, featuring music from the Persona series. The game takes place half a year following the events of Persona 4, as the Investigation Team look into a mysterious "Midnight Stage", which is abducting girls from Rise's idol group. The game was released in Japan on June 25, 2015.[77]
The release of Persona 4: The Golden resulted in the surge of sales of PlayStation Vitas. During its debut week, the game sold 137,076 units in Japan.[61] Media Create stated that the game's outstanding sales that surpassed the debuts of other titles from Persona series may be due to the exposure the Persona 4 game has had in other forms of media.[62] As of mid-July 2012, the game had sold 193,412 units in Japan.[63] The game was the eighth most purchased digital Vita game on the Japanese PlayStation Network in 2013.[64] As of April 2014, the game shipped 350,000 copies in Japan, and over 700,000 copies were shipped worldwide as of December 2013.[65]
Aigis was created to remind people of the robots being used in manga, though character designer Shigenori Soejima said that he did not want to create her since a robot like her does not exist currently in the modern world. However, Aigis' existence served to give "Persona 3" its manga feel that differentiated it from its sequel, "Persona 4". Despite Aigis looking out of place, Soejima took extra time when designing her as he believes she was one of the game's most important characters.
Persona 4: Dancing All Night is a rhythm video game developed and published by Atlus for the PlayStation Vita. The game is a spin-off of the 2008 role-playing game, "Persona 4", which is part of the "Persona" series of "Megami Tensei" games. The game was released in Japan in June 2015, in North America in September 2015, and in Europe in November 2015. A port for the PlayStation 4 was included with a limited edition bundle of "" and "".
The "Persona 3" version of the game's normal battle theme, "Light the Fire Up in the Night", was one of the first tracks to be completed and influenced the general direction of the soundtrack. Two versions of the battle theme were created, one for the "Persona 3" characters and one for the "Persona 4" characters, each with instrumentation and vocals related to the respective casts. After the style was solidified, composing tracks went smoothly. A point of contrast with the main series was the dungeon themes: while the main "Persona" games had upbeat and frenetic tunes, "Persona Q" used gentler themes due to the more relaxed pace of exploration. A track which received a lot of effort from the sound staff was the ending theme "Changing Me", the lyrics of which were written by Kido based on the game's story and themes. Lyrics and vocals for multiple tracks were provided by Lotus Juice, a musician with a long history of collaborating with Meguro on the "Persona" series: one of his prominent contributions was to "Laser Beam", the main boss battle theme. Multiple Meguro-composed tracks from "Persona 3" and "Persona 4" were remixed for use in "Persona Q". Yuzo Koshiro, who had worked on the "Etrian Odyssey" series, was brought in as a guest composer to create the track for the boss battle against Zeus.
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is a fighting video game developed by Arc System Works and Atlus. It is the direct sequel to the 2012 game, "Persona 4 Arena", which is itself a follow-up to the role-playing game, "Persona 4". The game was originally released in Japanese arcades in November 2013, and was released worldwide for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2014. Unlike the previous game, it features no region locking.
The game takes place two months after the events of "Persona 4" as well as two years after the "Persona 3 FES"s "The Answer" storyline. Like "Persona 4", "Persona 4 Arena" takes place in the fictional, rural Japanese town of Inaba. However, most of the events occur in the TV world, a dimension that reflects people's feelings. In this game, the world takes the form of Inaba's Yasogami High School, which is divided in multiple areas that serve as arenas.
The game features characters from both "Persona 4" and its predecessor "Persona 3". From "Persona 4" comes its protagonist Yu Narukami, and his companions Yosuke Hanamura, Chie Satonaka, Yukiko Amagi, Kanji Tatsumi, Naoto Shirogane, and Teddie, who served as playable characters in the arcade version from the original game and take part in the competition. Rise Kujikawa, who served as combat support in "Persona 4", serves as an MC in "Persona 4 Arena" and appears in the tutorial mode. The group was previously known as the Investigation Team solving a series of murders in Inaba and are reunited during the game's events. Other "Persona 4" characters appearing in the game across the story include Yu's uncle and cousin, Ryotaro Dojima and Nanako Dojima respectively, and his guides Igor and Margaret who have been aiding him ever since "Persona 4".
The aim with "Catherine" was to create a game that was not within the role-playing genre as with the majority of Atlus' titles, in addition to making something that was aimed at adults. The main aim was to create something new as a change prior to developing a new role-playing game. The three key staff members were all veterans of the "Persona" series: director and producer Katsura Hashino had helmed both "Persona 3" and "Persona 4"; art director and character designer Shigenori Soejima had designed characters for both "Persona 3" and "Persona 4"; and composer Shoji Meguro had created music for multiple "Megami Tensei" titles, including the "Persona" series. The chief designer was Kazuhisa Wada, while the chief programmer was Yujiro Kosaka. The initial story was written by Hashino, who originally worked alone on the scenario before other writers were brought on to help. Hashino felt that "Catherine" was an ambitious title due to its themes and subject matter, saying that no-one but Atlus would have supported the project. The main theme is love between men and women, although in its infancy the project was themed around conflict. In order to make the love triangle between Vincent, Catherine and Katherine sound realistic, he asked other members of Atlus staff for their experiences. One story, where a woman detailed killing people in her dreams, was almost directly referenced within the game.
Besides printed and animated adaptations of the "Persona 4" game, Chie has also appeared in the fighting games "Persona 4 Arena" and "Persona 4 Arena Ultimax", the dungeon crawler "", and the rhythm game "". Critical reception to the character has been positive due to both of her fighting and feminine traits. However, critics were differing when commenting the English voice acting from Chie featured in the games.
The game's revised battle system draws on elements added in "Persona 3"'s successor, "Persona 4". In combat, the player is able to directly control every character, as an alternative to utilizing the game's artificial intelligence. The ability to guard has been added, and allies will take fatal attacks for the Protagonist, preventing his or her death. Outside of Tartarus, instead of navigating the game world by directly controlling the Protagonist, the player guides an on-screen cursor around an area, allowing interaction with characters and objects. The game includes the voice acting of the original game, although characters are not shown in the world, instead being represented by on-screen portraits. In addition, the anime cutscenes seen in the original "Persona 3" were replaced to feature in-game graphics. Shoji Meguro composed 10 new musical tracks for "Persona 3 Portable"; with the majority of them being written for the female protagonist's playthrough. Several cameos of characters from "Persona 4" have been added to "Persona 3 Portable", including Yukiko Amagi, a playable character from "Persona 4". It also features a cameo from Vincent Brooks, the protagonist of "Catherine".
A defining aspect of the series is the Personas, manifestations of a person's psyche. Many Personas used up to "Persona 3" are inspired by Graeco-Roman mythology. In "Persona 4" they are based on Japanese deities; "Persona 5" uses characters inspired by popular fictional and historical outlaws. The summoning ritual for Personas in battle varies throughout the series: in early games, the party gains the ability to summon through a short ritual after playing a parlor game; in "Persona 3", they fire a gun-like device called an Evoker at their head; in "Persona 4", they summon their Personas using Tarot cards; in "Persona 5", they are summoned through the characters' masks.
The "Persona 3" protagonist was the first character Shigenori Soejima designed for the game. Early designs of the character made him look mature and collected since the artist viewed him as a "cliche[d] cool guy." Soejima took longer to design the protagonist than any other character as the game's other characters would be made to complement his design. In "Art of Persona 3", Soejima remarked that "Initially, he looked more honest, like an ordinary, handsome young man. But, I worked to achieve greater ambiguity in his expression." He further noted that the character managed to have a "hidden coolness." In retrospect, he found that the character was not ambiguous enough and thus when creating the "Persona 4" protagonist, Soejima made Yu Narukami with the idea that his entire personality be decided and portrayed by the player's in-game actions and decisions.
Persona 4 Golden, released in Japan as Persona 4: The Golden, was announced in August 2011 as a port of Persona 4 for the portable PlayStation Vita. It was originally planned by Atlus to be a PlayStation Portable title, similar to Persona 3 Portable, which would have required removing some of the features of the PlayStation 2 game. However, the Vita provided sufficient resources that allowed Atlus to expand the game.[56] It is an expanded version of the PlayStation 2 title, adding new features and story elements to the game. A new character named Marie was added to the story. Additional Personas, character outfits, and expanded spoken lines and anime cutscenes are included as well as two new Social Links for Marie and Tohru Adachi. The game supports the wireless networking features of the Vita, allowing a player to call in help from other players to help in dungeon battles.[57] Another new feature is a garden that produces items the player can use in the various dungeons.[58] The game was released in Japan on June 14, 2012.[59] Persona 4: The Golden is also the first Persona game to be released in traditional Chinese.[60]
Pre-order bonuses and its initial North American release date was announced a week prior to E3 2016. As with the Japanese release, the North American version was delayed so it would keep with other "Persona" games. In Europe and Australia, the game was published by Deep Silver. Initially planned for a Western release on February 14, 2017, the game was pushed back two months to April 4; the stated reason was that Atlus wanted the game to be at its highest possible quality. As with previous "Persona" games, the English localization was handled by Atlus USA and led by Yu Namba. According to Namba, the team began with a "blank slate" when choosing the English voice cast, as it was a new setting to earlier "Persona" titles. Localizing "Persona 5" was described by Namba as a massive project with the largest staff yet dedicated to the series. Namba, as project lead, made the final call on issues brought up by the team during the localization process. The localized script was estimated as being 50% bigger than that of "Persona 4 Golden". The game's title also dropped the use of the ""Shin Megami Tensei"" moniker in English regions, which was used for "Persona 3" and "Persona 4". While the English voice track was included on the game disc, the Japanese voices were made available as free DLC.
According to the game director Katsura Hashino, while "ideas [had been] thrown around earlier", development on Persona 4 in Japan did not begin until after the release of Persona 3.[3] The development team consisted of the team from Persona 3 and new hires which included fans of Persona 3.[37] Atlus intended to improve both the gameplay and story elements of Persona 3 for the new game, to ensure it was not seen as a "retread" of its predecessor. Hashino said that "to accomplish that, we tried to give the players of Persona 4 a definite goal and a sense of purpose that would keep motivating them as they played through the game. The murder mystery plot was our way of doing that."[3] The plot of Persona 4 was "greatly inspired", according to Hashino, by mystery novelists such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and Seishi Yokomizo.[4] Persona 4 was officially unveiled in the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu in March 2008. An article in the issue detailed the game's murder mystery premise, rural setting, and new weather forecast system. The game's North American release date was announced at the 2008 Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California.[38] Atlus would not make an add-on disc or epilogue for Persona 4, as had been done with the Persona 3 FES.[39] Persona 4 allowed players full control of characters in battle. This was due to negative comments from players about most of the player team in Persona 3 being controlled by the game's AI.[40] The amount of data the team ended up incorporating around school life, character relationships and spoke character dialogue was so large that there were fears it would not fit onto a single disc.[41] The anime cutscenes were produced by Studio Hibari.[42]
A fighting game sequel, Persona 4 Arena, known in Japan as Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena, was developed by Arc System Works, the company known for creating the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series, and released in 2012 for arcades, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[73] As with the anime, the protagonist is named Yu Narukami. Aigis, Mitsuru, Elizabeth, and Akihiko from Persona 3 are also featured in the game. Set two months following the True Ending of the original game, the members of the Investigation Team are pulled back into the television and forced into a fighting tournament called the "P-1 Grand Prix" hosted by Teddie.[74]
Composer Atsushi Kitajoh, composer for "Persona Q" and other "Persona" games, returned to create new tracks for "Persona Q2". His key words for the music were "Retro", "Pop", and "Kitsch". The vocals were provided by Yumi Kawamura ("Persona 3"), Mayumi Fujita ("Persona 3 Portable"), Shihoko Hirata ("Persona 4") and Lyn Inaizumi ("Persona 5"). Rapper Lotus Juice, who contributed to the series frequently since "Persona 3", also featured in several tracks. The opening theme "Road Less Taken" was a quartet performance by Kawamura, Hirata, Lyn and Lotus Juice.
As well as gaining critical acclaim, the series has been the subject of controversy over its content. This controversy began with the localized banner title of the original "Persona", which raised concerns due to its religious implications. Kurt Katala, writing for 1UP.com in 2006 about the controversial content of the "Megami Tensei" franchise as a whole, mentioned "Innocent Sin"s references to homosexuality, schoolyard violence, and Nazism, considering them possible reasons why the game was not originally released outside of Japan. In 1UP.com's 2007 game awards, which ran in the March 2008 issue of "Electronic Gaming Monthly", "Persona 3" was given the "Most controversial game that created no controversy" award: the writers said "Rockstar's Hot Coffee sex scandal and "Bully"s boy-on-boy kissing's got nothing on this PS2 role-player's suicide-initiated battles or subplot involving student-teacher dating". "Persona 4" has in turn been examined by multiple sites over its portrayal of character sexuality and gender identity.
The first anime adaptation of the "Persona" series, a television series titled "", aired in 2008. It was animated by A-1 Pictures, directed by Jun Matsumoto, written by a team that included Yasuyuki Muto, Shogo Yasukawa, and Shinsuke Onishi, and composed for by Taku Iwasaki. Its characters were designed by Soejima and Yuriko Ishii, while Persona designs were done by Nobuhiko Genma. It was distributed internationally by NIS America. "Trinity Soul" takes place in an alternate setting ten years after "Persona 3", making it a non-canon entry in the franchise. An anime adaptation of the original "Persona 4", "", was aired in 2011. The 25-episode series was produced by AIC ASTA and directed by Seiji Kishi. In 2014, a series based on "Persona 4 Golden", titled "Persona 4: The Golden Animation", was produced by A-1 Pictures. This series, which retains the cast of the original adaptation, dramatizes the new material included in "Persona 4 Golden", focusing on the protagonist's encounters with new character Marie. A standalone prequel anime created by A-1 Pictures, "Persona 5 The Animation: The Day Breakers", was released in September 2016 prior to the Japanese release of the game. A full anime series based on "Persona 5", "", was broadcast in 2018.
"Persona 4" has been adapted to a manga and an anime series that gave different portrayals to the game's cast, most notably the protagonist who is given his own name and a personality. The game was also ported for the PlayStation Vita as "Persona 4 Golden" which expanded various of the characters' stories and included a new one called Marie, a teenage girl linked with the Investigation Team. A fighting game sequel, "Persona 4 Arena", features the Investigation Team in a tournament competing against each other as well as characters from the prequel "Persona 3".
Persona 4 Arena is a fighting video game co-developed by Atlus and Arc System Works for arcades, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Based on Atlus' "Persona" role-playing video game series, "Arena" serves as a direct sequel to the 2008 game, "Persona 4", additionally featuring characters from its predecessor, "Persona 3".
Shigenori Soejima, who had worked on the last two main-series "Persona" titles, returned as character designer. The game's art director was Masayoshi Suto, whose most notable work on earlier titles included the user interface (UI) displays. The art design reflected the picaresque theme aimed for by the rest of the team. As the team considered previous "Persona" games to "fun" but not be well marketed, they designed the UI in such a way as to attract a larger, more mainstream audience. According to Soejima, he was working on prospective designs for the game while "Persona 4" was still in development, with his designs evolving as the story for "Persona 5" came together. Aesthetically, the team felt that they were picking up where "Persona 4" left off. Its styling presentation was an unintentional reflection on the hurdles the team needed to overcome during development. Following the respective thematic coloring of "Persona 3" and "4" blue and yellow, "Persona 5" used red, which was chosen to a harsh feeling. Because of this, Suto tested multiple font colors until settling on black and white, as it stood out best against it. There was also a wish, especially in the teaser image used for the game's announcement, which represented the main characters' being chained down by the rules of the modern world. Soejima designed the logo to convey the high-speed existences of the young cast, while elements such as Joker's Persona Arsène were designed to appear old-fashioned by comparison. This presented challenges as Soejima needed to balance this with a strong sense of style. The main aim for the game's environments was to create a sense of realism, with Tokyo being modeled after real locations. When creating the UI, Hashino wanted to demonstrate how a shift in perspective could alter a dull life into an exciting one in the context of the story. Early UI designs were so "aggressively animated" that it obscured what was happening in the game. Because of this, the animations were toned down and text orientation was altered, toning down the UI's graphical elements to present a balance between user-friendliness and style. Rather than the use of sub-colors for earlier entries, the UI used only the primary red, black and white colors aside from health and magic point meters, with the menus using a special moving 3D model of Joker which would change position depending on the selected menu.