Why you need Persona 4 Arena

Spoilers about Labrys and Persona 4 Arena for this article will be between the red lines of text. You have been warned.

If you think a video game can't tell a touching story you are dead wrong, and you need to play this game. If you love it when a video game tells a touching story, you need to play this game. If you belong to neither of the above camps, you still need to play this game.

Two posts ago I wrote about Persona 4 Arena's Rashomon Style story. I mentioned there that this game is not for everyone. Completing most of these storylines, I found later that I was dead wrong. Everyone needs to play this game. The large amount of heavy story is a part of this. Many people have to confront dark parts of themselves, and everything starts to make sense towards the end. It was truly masterfully done. The nine main players stories on their own are enough reason to play this game.

Then their is Labrys' story. It's different. For one, it's ninety-nine percent text, with a single battle. It provides all the backstory for the game in a large, touching story. I'll tell you here, I cried through 3/4 of it. Part of it was because it became even sadder, knowing how it would end (I was exposed to spoilers. A terrible fate, spoilers), other parts were so touching they were tears of amazement. Mostly sadness, though. In fact, the one battle that happened I had serious troubles with, because I could barely see the enemy through my tears. I may sound sappy, but stories like this touch me. It is as if it was a movie. It truly makes you think, and it too, on its own, justifies the purpose.

Spoilers begin here. Look for next red marking to avoid. I strongly advise you do not read this until you have played Labrys' story on Persona 4 : Arena


When you play through the ten originally shown stories, you get the sense that Labrys has a dark and troubled past, and her story shows it to you. It is depressing, and beautiful at the same time. Every time I think of it I will think of one of my saddest gaming experiences, and the most masterfully made and carefully crafted. Everything serves a purpose, and the promises made by Labrys to #24 stayed with me through the rest of the game. Snowy too, though a minor character, had the added effect of making me cry far more. I truly hope that Snowy is also Koromaru, as the idea of him being left alone breaks my heart.

Spoilers end. Continue reading at you're leisure.

This game causes you to ask difficult questions of yourself. Would you accept a non-human, but with the heart and mind of a human, as a person? Many people try to assume the best of themselves, but the only way to know for sure is for it to happen. This disturbs me, for I ask myself "Could I do it? Could I see a robot as a person?"

Thank you for reading, and I compel you to try this game. Think not of it as a game even, as more of a book combined with a movie as you must, but there are still some fights that distract from the story, unfortunately.