What am I missing by playing Persona 4 Golden and not the OG ?

[DrHercouet]

So, I'm having a lot of fun in P4G (50 hours in, 7th of November) and according to a couple of posts in this thread (https://www.resetera.com/threads/in...-you-preferred-to-the-better-versions.165115/) Golden quite doesn't nail EVERYTHING that makes the OG P4 great. Is it true ? And if so, what am I missing ?

 

[Starlatine]

You get some QOL additions on top of unnecessary story/character additions and an easier game

Also worse voice actors

 

[nsilvias]

nothing, unless you have nostalgia for og chie

 

[Lunchbox]

Nothing, besides PS2 nostalgia.

 

[DNAbro]

I think P4G made fusing not shit so that.

 

[Psychotron]

I really loved P4G but I'm having some trouble getting into P5. I bought it on sale for $10 and I'm a few hours in and it's not gripping me.

 

[Zonnes]

Same game more content and you don't have to play it on a PS2

 

[Symphony]

Chie's original VA was better, the original opening movie was replaced with a worse one and it's a bit easier overall. In exchange you get a load of extra content, significantly better fusion mechanics, a fun new dungeon with the GOAT remix song and changes to the story that ties everything together better so the finale doesn't seem like it came out of nowhere.

I still rank P4 as being my favourite version (and I like Marie, unlike most people), but only because I played it first and it had a lot of impact on me. In reality P4G is the better version in almost every way.

 

[Deleted member 4353]

I'm playing through P4G and while I Think it's better than P4, Chie's voice is an abomination in P4G. Classic Chie is much better.

 

[Arsene no Kiseki]

You're missing a worse dub and thats it. P4G's dub is way better

 

[FallenGrace]

Chies voice is better in P4G, new characters contents and improvements.

You're missing nothing op and playing the superior version.

 

[Deleted member 10726]

A better plot that doesn't contain Marie and a better VA for Chie and Teddie. While the latter is purely subjective, I feel pretty strongly about the former since Marie's inclusion in the story introduced new plot holes the PS2 original didn't suffer from.

P4G however has a lot of QoL and more content beyond that, so I can totally understand why people see it as the definitive version. It's just that due to the reasons above I personally prefer the PS2 version.

 

[tokkun]

I think P4G made fusing not shit so that.

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They handled the replacement poorly, IMO. By letting the player control fusion inheritance your persona skills tend to get pretty homogeneous and it is too easy to create overpowered combos. This eliminated a lot of the strategic aspects of switching in battle.

 

[Deleted member 16908]

If you're enjoying it, then keep playing and ignore the naysayers.

 

[Jonathan Lanza]

You are not missing out on anything in either version but you will be getting a different experience. One which may be better than the other.

 

[dadjumper]

the voice actors are the same in japanese lol nerds

 

[arcadepc]

No need to worry about English voice actors if you play the undub version which replaces the dubs with the Japanese voices

 

[Gold Arsene]

A worse Chie voice.

 

[Deleted member 4262]

I'm in the minority here but I prefer the original Chie VA. P4G is still better though.

 

[Atolm]

I found Golden worse due to the amount of added filler. That extra month and dungeon really bring down the pace.

 

[Starlatine]

They handled the replacement poorly, IMO. By letting the player control fusion inheritance your persona skills tend to get pretty homogeneous and it is too easy to create overpowered combos. This eliminated a lot of the strategic aspects of switching in battle.

Click to shrink...

Controlled inheritance and skill cards made fusing strategy pointless and fusing forecasts even more pointless. Plus they nerfed a lot of the bosses, with shadow yukiko going from a challenge to a breeze. And i know some people like Marie but everything with her is horrible and so are the hot springs new scenario and the school festival/snow trip added scenes

 

[Chibs]

The original VA's for Teddie and Chie were better in my opinion, but other than that Golden is better in every way.

 

[Deleted member 11008]

It's the same game. If you ignore Marie and certain other character you are basically as playing almost like the original game.

 

[werezompire]

You're not missing much by skipping OG Persona 4. OG has 2 different voice actors than Golden which some people prefer. Golden is also easier, but it also added a higher difficulty that makes up for that somewhat. Marie's story isn't the best, but I feel like it helps to make the true ending seem less out-of-nowhere.

Besides all the other stuff mentioned, P4G's shuffle time system is a lot more enjoyable than the old system (which was reflex-based).

I know people are nostalgic for the original, but I can't go back. Lack of portability, longer load times, no widescreen, no fast-forward option, worse shuffle time system, having to retry fusing over and over to get what you want, fewer ally abilities, plus a lot less content.

 

[formasymphonic]

I know peeps have strong feelings about Marie. (The limits of the game's design meant that she could only really be implemented in a particular way)

- but anyone who tells you they would rather play vanilla P4 instead of P4G is crazy and looking a bit too nostalgically on the original. There are a bunch of QoL changes and some new content that makes P4G a much better experience. So don't feel like you are missing anything...

...expect the original having a better intro animation (I'll agree with that)

 

[LiK]

Nothing. Golden is superior in every way.

QoL improvements.
New content/music.
New VA > Old VA

 

[tr1b0re]

Nothing really, I actually prefer the new Chie voice...

 

[ChrisP8Three]

Played both, prefer Golden massively and wouldn't ever go back to the OG, Golden is the same game, with extra months, dungeons, bosses and some different voice actors who its entirely subjective over who is better

 

[Dragon1893]

Nothing.

 

[cowbanana]

Golden is superior, with good additional content, you're not missing out on anything at all. Chie is voiced well in Golden, it's absolutely subjective and pretty much a non-issue if you don't have nostalgia for the old version.

 

[tokkun]

One factor I haven't seen mentioned is that PS2 has much better emulator support than PS Vita. Original P4 using super sampling on PCSX2 vs P4G:

This also demonstrates an issue I have with the widescreen support in P4G, which is that they just cut off the top and bottom, rather than giving you a larger PoV. This can make the framing of a lot of the shots feel cramped, particularly when dialog boxes are on screen.

Plus you get all the other features that emulators offer like the ability to play on a variety of hardware, save states, eliminating load times, etc.

 

[JimJamJones]

Woah people actually like Chie's OG voice better?

 

[Biske]

People saying the voice actors are better in the original, straight up wrong lol.

New Chie for days!!!!


But I'm sure if you played one version and loved that, hearing anything different is jarring and weird.

 

[Luigi87]

You are not missing anything by not playing OG.

New Chie is better.

"A-ha... Is this our chance?" was always such a stilted line in the original.

 

[Yu Narukami]

Ignore what peope say.

 

[Dr Pears]

I played P4G first and when I see videoclips of P4 featuring OG Chie's voice, i think she sounds dead.

I really don't think you're missing out much.

 

[Discoalucard]

I feel like people are only recommending P4 Vanilla in theory. In theory, the VA is better. In theory, the story is better without Marie and at the added stuff. In theory, the slightly higher difficulty level is better as are the more restricted fusion mechanics.

While those points might all be true, in practice there are *so many* quality-of-life improvements (can't imagine not being able to fast forward cutscenes, especially in the beginning, and that's only one of them) that in reality you will never need to play the PS2 version.

 

[Deleted member 679]

You're not necessarily missing anything, but there are unnecessary at best additions to the story. If you don't let that influence your opinion on the game as a whole, you'll be fine.

But it's very possible that most of your least liked story elements will be P4G stuff.

The QoL changes are fantastic, though.

It's my recommended way of playing P4 if you have access to it, I just always tell people to not believe it when others try to paint it as the only way of playing P4. Vanilla P4 is absolutely brilliant already, no need to go after a Vita for Golden.

 

[JohnnyToonami]

This is some "OG DBZ dub is better than DBZ Kai dub" levels of lunacy going on in here.

P4G is better.

 

[dancingphlower]

P4G is better. You miss nothing!

 

[BigHatPaul]

P4G is far and away MUCH better than the OG. You aren't missing anything. Never look back.

 

[Cassius Bright]

Nothing.

Ignore the weirdos who preferred Chie's old voice. The old Chie sounded like a middle-aged woman, not a high school teenager.

 

[Geg]

I'm actually gearing up to start my first playthrough of Persona 4 probably later today but I decided to play the original largely because I've heard mostly negative impressions about Marie and the added story

 

[Yu Narukami]

Nothing.

Ignore the weirdos who preferred Chie's old voice. The old Chie sounded like a middle-aged woman, not a high school teenager.

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If those that preferred Chie's old voice are weirdos, what are those that prefer her new voice supposed to be?

 

[Cassius Bright]

If those that preferred Chie's old voice are weirdos, what are those that prefer her new voice supposed to be?

Click to shrink...

Normal.

 

[Deleted member 679]

I'm actually gearing up to start my first playthrough of Persona 4 probably later today but I decided to play the original largely because I've heard mostly negative impressions about Marie and the added story

Click to shrink...

I hope you enjoy it! Superb game, easily one of my favorite games of all time.

Also hope you didn't get spoiled by Atlus going nuts with all of the spinoffs.

 

[tokkun]

I feel like people are only recommending P4 Vanilla in theory. In theory, the VA is better. In theory, the story is better without Marie and at the added stuff. In theory, the slightly higher difficulty level is better as are the more restricted fusion mechanics.

While those points might all be true, in practice there are *so many* quality-of-life improvements (can't imagine not being able to fast forward cutscenes, especially in the beginning, and that's only one of them) that in reality you will never need to play the PS2 version.

Click to shrink...

You can fast-forward the vanilla version in emulators.

 

[Pororoka]

As everyone said, PS2 version is harder and I consider the 3rd boss as the filter for the latter parts of the game. I also prefer the appearance of some visual effects better on PS2, where on VITA they toned them down or just completely removed them.

I like both Chies and I like to think that the OG voice acting is how she would sound some years older. The new VA is alright but I feel it's exaggerated in some spots.

Golden has also more nods to fans and the community in general.

The PS2 version also has an extra soundtrack disk as a bonus.

 

[Unknown837]

P4G is better in every away, except maybe the new additions make the game easier so normal can be too easy.

 

[Violet]

Since I brought it up in the other thread, I feel obliged to chime in.

You aren't missing anything, a lot of fans just slightly prefer the story in the OG version.