Persona 4 Arena ULTIMAX review: An incredible sequel to a classic anime fighter

Persona 4 Arena ULTIMAX is a return to form for me, and it brings a lot of nostalgia for me alongside welcome updates. When Persona 4 Arena launched, I spent many hours with my friends, anytime I was home to play for hours, or we’d play online.

Atlus and Arc System Works have come together to knock it out of the park with an excellent experience. While there are minor issues with the game, they pale compared to everything done right by Persona 4 Arena ULTIMAX.

As a fighting game fan and a Persona fan, it’s everything I hoped it would be.

A day later, Persona 4 Arena ULTIMAX kicks off

Unlike many other fighting games, Persona 4 Arena ULTIMAX doesn’t skimp on the story mode. It’s a separate mode from the Arcade, Online, and different modes in Persona 4 Arena ULTIMAX.

The story plays like a Visual Novel, where the player experiences stories built around Persona 3 and Persona 4 characters.

If you like Visual Novels mixed with fighting games, look no further (Image via SEGA)

The player doesn’t pick a character and play their story. They experience the whole thing all at once. This means having to play as characters the player may not use often. It can be a great way to try and learn someone new, or they can use Auto Battle instead, which is fine.

The story is broken up into three parts

Episode 1: Persona 4 Arena’s Story
Episode 2: The second P-1 Climax, a day later
Episode 3: ADACHI STORY, the DLC from the first game

Not everyone cares about the story, and while I won’t spoil it, I want to say I love it. It genuinely felt like a Persona experience. For fighting game fans who don’t care about the story, that’s fine. They don’t even have to touch story mode. Players don’t have to unlock characters to use online.

Speaking of characters, the game has 21, with three new ones added: Sho Minazuki (Persona 4 Arena ULTIMAX), Yukari Takeba (Persona 3), and Junpei Iori (Persona 3)!

How is the combat in Persona 4 Arena ULTIMAX anyway?

For fans of Persona 4 Arena, Persona 4 Arena ULTIMAX brings an improved version of the game to life. To the point, it’s the 2.50 update for the arcade edition of the game. The changes that were once exclusive to the arcades are here and ready to be utilized.

A myriad of mechanic changes have come to the game, making it easier to get in but keeping the ceiling for growth high, just as it should. One significant change is the addition of more Shadow characters. Most of the cast has an alternate, Shadow version, and each type of character has positives and negatives.

What’s the difference, though? Shadow Type characters cannot use Instant Kill, Burst Cancel, or Awakened State, which are vital mechanics to the game. Their damage has also been reduced by 20%, but it won’t even matter.

Shadow Type characters may not do everything normal characters do, but they're still deadly (Image via SEGA)

Shadow Types have access to Shadow Frenzy when their Shadow Meter fills in. Once full through combat, the player can activate Burst. Until that meter is depleted, they can use Skill-related SP abilities without restraint.

This creates incredibly overwhelming moments of pure, unfiltered damage. It also allows moves that aren’t typically combos to be chained together through skill canceling. Shadow Type characters also have slightly different auto-combos.

Auto-Combos? That’s right, mashing A (Square) will have the character execute a simple but effective combo. If the player has enough meters, it will also finish with a super attack. The game is straightforward and offers valuable training and lesson modes to teach characters.

I feel like the game is in a perfect place right now, with only a few characters standing out as busted. The characters will continue to feel very familiar to players who played the previous game or BlazBlue/Guilty Gear.

I’ve always thought that was a good thing. Being able to come from BlazBlue and figure out what characters I want to play by finding a similar character in other ArcSys games. Combat is the most essential part of the game, and it did not let me down, even when being battered online.

The most important question - How is online?

My review of Persona 4 Arena ULTIMAX was admittedly delayed. When I reviewed it during the embargo, I could not find any matches online, and that matters. If a fighting game has a bad netcode, or every game feels laggy.

The game will have a rollback netcode, which is the best netcode in Summer 2022 unless you play on the Nintendo Switch. It’s just not coming to that console, which is a letdown. I reviewed the game on the PlayStation 5, and I was glad to see that my arcade stick, the Razer Panthera EVO, worked just fine.

Even without a rollback netcode, I had no problems online. Out of the tons of matches I played, only one or two had a bit of lag on them. Everything else felt incredible. No matter how many times I got beat, I never felt like it was because the game was slow.

Players can search for ranked matches easily, as well as player lobbies. No matter what time of day I was playing, I had an easy time finding a game, even if it didn’t always go the way I wanted to. It was clear that I was out of practice, but I had a blast.

So many modes in Persona 4 Arena ULTIMAX

While this is still a fighting game, and the online mode is the major draw, there is still much to see and do in Persona 4 Arena ULTIMAX. It has a wealth of modes for any player. In my personal experience, I spent the most time in Golden Arena, Arcade, and Challenge modes, but here’s a breakdown of the other content the game offers.

Other modes offered in the game

Arcade Mode: Play the arcade version of the game
Golden Arena: Build Social Links, Gain stats and skills, and battle incredible foes
Score Attack: Fight a gauntlet of opponents while also racing the clock
Network Mode: Play online against the best of the best, and your friends
Versus Mode: Fight your local friends or the CPU
Gallery Mode: Illustrations, BGM tracks, voice clips get viewed here
Lesson Mode: New to fighting games/Persona 4 Arena? Try this
Training Mode: Practice your lessons here, and familiarize yourself with characters
Challenge Mode: This teaches players specific characters combos and moves

So there’s a ton of stuff to do. Training, Challenge, and Lesson modes are always my first stops, and they were here too. But Golden Arena was my favorite. It has players going through floor after floor, fighting new opponents. They can use the Social Link system, where they can build a rapport with other characters.

Each one has their bonus, they confer with your fighter. Players can distribute stat points when leveling up and learn new skills. It combines Persona’s RPG systems and a fighting game engine beautifully. I highly recommend it.

In Conclusion

This game is exactly what I was looking for (Image via SEGA)

At first, I thought this was just a re-release, but I was wrong. Sure, it will feel very familiar, but that’s the nature of fighting game sequels. The combat was intense, the online play felt solid, and the wealth of systems and things to do kept me coming back.

I worry that some of the Shadow Type characters might be a little overpowered, but that’s what patches are for. I’m very disappointed that the game launched without a rollback netcode, but at least it’s coming. That’s the important thing.

While tiny things frustrate me, there aren’t enough of them to stop this from being an incredible experience.