Hey everyone! As I’m sure you may have heard by now, but The Walking Dead pretty much cleaned house at this years VGAs (Video Game Awards). And while you’re certainly welcome to question just how relevant the VGAs really are or how accurately they truly reflect today’s gaming communities… It would certainly seem that a shift has certainly come in this years winners. No longer are the “years biggest games” simply going to original IPs or AAA titles. Now a point and click adventure game, based on a comic book, can be good enough to nab Game of the Year. A hefty mantle, to be sure. Indeed I’ve seen the argument made that this year marks a shift towards more story and character driven games; a move then many gamers (such as my self) are totally OK with.

Yet while many people point to The Walking Dead as a shining example of a game that puts its story and characters above its action, I’d like to put forth another shining example of a game that puts its story above all else; Persona 4 Arena. “Now hold on a second,” you might say. “You mean to tell me that the winner of Best Fighting Game is an a shining example of story and character elements done right?” Yep. And not only do I mean to tell you about it, I mean to show you too.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Persona series, it features adventurous young high schoolers who happen upon the power to summon “Personas” and use those powers to solve mysteries and battle creatures called “Shadows”. As one might deduce from a game series that uses such words as “persona” and “shadow“, which are terms from Jungian Psychology, the games often delve into the personalities and personal struggles of its characters. Which can be anything from struggling to accept ones life in a sleepy, boring rural town to the inner turmoil of a young woman who poses as a boy just to avoid being ignored or disrespected in her profession. Although these inner struggles are focused on much in Persona 4 then in Persona 3, both games feature “Social Links”; bonds that are formed between characters as they get to know each other and help one another overcome their weaknesses or come to accept what they real want out of life.

Persona 4 Arena takes place after both Persona 3 & Persona 4, and feature characters from both games. Being that P4A is a fighting game and not an RPG, the game play itself is vastly different from its predecessors. Indeed, P4A plays exactly like you’d expect a fighting game to play like. Two character face off against one another in a battle of reflexes and skill, with each playable character having their own move-set and abilities to unleash upon their opponent. If you’ve ever played Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter you’ll be pretty familiar with the mechanics of P4A. That being said, the mechanics of the game is about all P4A has in come other fighting games. As it features one of the largest and most expansive Story Modes I’ve ever seen.

Playing more like a visual novel then a fighter, P4A’s Story Mode contains HOURS of text and dialog for the players to read/listen too as they play through the events of the game. There have literally been times where I sat down to play P4A, booted up the Story Mode, and had maybe one fight before I got off for the night. Don’t take my emphasis on this issue the wrong way though, I LOVE that the story mode is so in-depth. As it feels, at every point in time, like just another bunch of dialog straight out of Persona 3 & 4. From the characters and their voice actors, to the visuals and background music; the Story Mode for P4A is an extension of the first two games in more than just name only.

All that text might sound a little intimidating for some of you out there, and I can totally understand that. Not everyone wants to sit down and read through their video game; they want to play their video game. For people like that P4A still has an Arcade mode, featuring a heavily condensed version of the story told through bits of dialog spoken before each match. Even then though, the characters and the story manages to shine through. Whether it’s Rise’s banter over the intercom  mocking you for getting trounced in a match or Chie singing “Everyday’s great at your Junes!” while beating up Yosuke (whose father owns the Junes Department Store). Each character in the game has just as much personality and life as they did in their respective games, sometimes even more.

Like I had mentioned in my previous blog, in Persona 4 Chie still wasn’t sure what exactly to go on and do with her life, only that she wanted to protect her hometown and the people in it. It’s only once you boot up P4A that you finally find out that she’s decided to become a Police Officer; a profession that she hopes will let her accomplish her dream. That said, keep in mind that just the tip of the iceberg as far as character development goes in P4A. Especially for the characters from Persona 3, who have had 3 years to move on with their lives since the conclusion of their game. And this is just a fighting game spin-off!

Now for those of you wondering about some of the other aspects of the game, don’t worry, P4A delivers. And although it hasn’t caught on quite as well as Street Fighter in the professional circuits, it’s still one of the major titles played as of late. It has a solid fighting system that is both easy to learn, and wicked hard to master. Mix that with some slick HD graphics and a stellar soundtrack, and you have yourself a fighting game every bit as worth it as you’d expect “Best Fighting Game of the Year” to be.

Speaking of music in a Persona game; I’d be doing the game (and your ears) a disservice if I didn’t post some links to some of me and Chris’s favorites from the P4A soundtrack.

Chie’s Theme

Yukiko’s Theme

Yosuke’s Theme

Teddie’s Theme

Aigis’s Theme

All that being said, the level of detail that Persona 4 Arena brings to the table not just makes it worthy of being 2012’s Best Fighting Game, be sits right alongside The Walking Dead as a shining example of the fact that video games aren’t just electronic version of board games to be played. They are a living, breathing medium capable of giving just as much life and energy to their characters and worlds as any movie or book. Indeed we’ve even reached an age where one of the most “barbaric” forms of video games, fighters; known in the past for being nothing but bloody gore-fests, filled with half-naked woman. Is now a genre being represented by a game with more text and story in it than most tween novels, and featuring a cast of layered, “realistic” characters that would put half the cast of the Twilight Series to shame.

Persona 4 Arena is not just a great addition to an already great series, it’s an all around example of what any game should aspire to be. Who knows? Maybe we’re entering a renascence of gaming, where story and characters will finally take a front row seat and help drive the medium into the fore-front of popular culture to solidify gaming forever as an art form!

But then again, Dead or Alive 5 was also in the running for Best Fighter of 2012. So clearly we still have some room go grow…