In our earlier report, we got a peek at Persona 4 Arena’s upcoming new version, which will be adding Yukari Takeba and Junpei Iori from Persona 3 to the roster of playable characters. An event for the game is currently taking place at arcade centers in Akihabara and Osaka, Japan, and Famitsu have followed up with a summary on the latest of what they report as the new Persona 4 Arena game.
Famitsu starts out their play impressions by pointing out that both characters sport impressive movement and systems that are unlike anything we’ve seen before in Persona 4 Arena. Yukari uses her bow and excels at wind-type “Garu” skills, and has top-notch speed. Her bow attacks are very fast, and not something you can easily dodge using your reflexes once the arrow takes off, which is said to be one of her notable strengths.
Additionally, her arrow can have a “Maha Garu” effect, which lasts momentarily on the screen and acts as a guided missile, giving Yukari a tricky element to her play style. While she excels at long-ranged attacks, she can also use jump and Persona for rush attacks at close-range.
Meanwhile, Junpei is a power-type character who uses various attacks with his bat. His strength lies in his long reach that allows him to hit his opponents from a slight distance. Since he uses a bat, his abilities revolve around a baseball system, that involves runners advancing and scoring, which adds to its strength.
In the new Persona 4 Arena, you’ll get to pick between different “Types” while selecting you character. The two types will be between Normal-type and Shadow-type. Normal-type characters can use “Bursts” to get out of enemy rushes and “One More Bursts” that power up combos. Shadow-type characters won’t be able to use Bursts; however, they’ll have their own unique system called “Shadow Rampage”. Elizabeth and Shadow Labrys won’t have Shadow-Type options, though. Players who opt to go with Normal-type, will find something similar to the previous Persona 4 Arena.
Meanwhile, the Shadow Rampage that is available for Shadow-type players, is executed by pressing the A, C, and D buttons simultaneously when your SP gauge is at its max. Once it’s activated, you’ll have an unlimited use of SP skills and Skill Boosts for a certain amount of time. While using Shadow Rampage, you’ll be able to connect various moves and combos that aren’t normally possible without the unlimited supply of SP gauge. Shadow-type sacrifices the use of Boosts in exchange for great offensive potential.
Furthermore, another thing Famitsu noticed during their play-through was the difference in auto-combo moves between the two types. Normal-type characters have new moves in the mix that can be used as a base in combos. Meanwhile, Shadow-types can fill up the SP gauge more upon landing the fourth hit of the auto-combo. Additionally, Shadow-type characters retain their SP gauge from the previous round. According to Famitsu, there aren’t any noticeable differences between special move capacities, offense, or defense between the two types, so it’ll boil down to the player’s preference in play-style.
Some skills will be compatible with the “S-Hold System” which charges the special attack by holding down the A button. Each character’s S-Hold System will vary. While the special attacks might look the same, their charged versions will have additional attributes, such as momentary invincibility. The charging might take a little while, but if used properly, it can be a great addition to your offensive and defensive repertoire.
Another big change from the previous version is that you can now cancel regular moves into short-jumps. Considering that you can do regular attacks while doing a short-jump, this adds a new offensive and defensive dimension to your strategy. Attacks that come from short-jumps can still be crouch-guarded, but you’ll now be easier to pull off moves from short-jumps more easily, making it an effective countermeasure against throws.
The “Fatal Counter” system has also been touched up. For example, Chie’s Furious Reaction “Hyper Counter” will always be a Fatal Counter regardless of the attack used against it. They also say that there will be some powerful attacks will be part of the new Fatal Counters.
Additionally, there will be some skills that you can use while back-dashing, and the All-Out-Attacks’ D-versions will now be possible to cancel.
As far as characters from the previous game go, they will have a vast amount of new elements and new skills. The new skills will be expanding the movement and play-style of the characters, that left Famitsu with a good impression of many possibilities. Existing moves have also been touched-up in different ways, so players will be required to change things up for combos and mix-ups with the new system.
The event is still going on and the new Persona 4 Arena game’s full title has yet to be revealed. Arc System Works will be revealing more as the event progresses over the weekend.
Published: Aug 16, 2013 02:25 am