IGN review: http://ps2.ign.com/articles/937/937080p1.html

Closing Comments
A significant improvement over the previous Persona games in many ways, Persona 4 provides a deeper dungeon crawling/social link experience that makes it engaging to play. Everything from the battle system and the dungeons that you fight through to the social links you develop and friend interaction that you do on your "off hours" has been radically improved in this game. While the pacing can be somewhat off, and some things feel repurposed or unaffected from previous games, Persona 4 really is an evolution of the RPG series, and an instant classic. Tie this in with a large number of bonus items included with the game, like the soundtrack CD which you may find yourself listening to in-between game or New Game + sessions, and you'll find this to be a great game that is rounding out the year on the venerable PS2.

Rating	Description
out of 10	click here for ratings guide
8.5	Presentation The murder mystery elements are truly an interesting twist on the dungeon crawler/social interaction formula, but the plot can sometimes slow down and suffer because of it.
8.0	Graphics The visuals are exactly the same as that of Persona 3 and FES. The repurposing of the engine is a nice, albeit comfortably easy decision for the designers.
8.0	Sound The music, while a bit better than the previous Persona games, can still be a bit repetitive. Voice acting will spark debates between fans of which characters are better.
9.0	Gameplay From the improvements to the battle system to the augmentation of the social links and stats, Persona 4 is a deeper gameplay experience in almost every way.
9.0	Lasting Appeal Tons of replayability extends from the social links and jobs, Persona creation and three difficulty levels, including a New Game + feature that will keep fans coming back for more.
9.0 Outstanding	OVERALL (out of 10 / not an average)

Great score from IGN too

I couldn't resist and besides I've been studying for the whole day yesterday. That one hour break turned into a three hour break. Good luck on your presentation.

That's a great score from IGN. I was expecting a mid to high 8. I disagree about the graphics. The character models look a little better since they have more detail and all. Also the art style and the way the battles look are pretty awesome. Still waiting for Gamespot. Now where are all those people who said western reviewers are biased against JRPGs?

I have only played an hour and a half of the game, haven't fought a single battle...but I can tell it already: Atlus, you've done it again, I don't know how you do it, but you've done it again. It has me hooked since the first minute. I'm already loving it

Not only do I have exams to worry about, but now Amazon.ca delayed shipment until the 12th...

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!!

Yeah it takes like 2-3 hours until you can finally fight. The dungeons and all have been improved. I no longer have to worry about my characters getting tired or something like that. Controlling your party members is pretty helpful and needed for boss battles. I let the AI control my characters in normal battles.

Well, now I'm 5-6 hours, went into Yukiko's castle, got a good number of Personas, was doing good....and then the dice shadow exploded on me and killed every party member. Lost 1 hour of game. Oh, well, happened to me a lot of times in P3. Back to getting those personas again

Gamespot: 9.0

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/persona4/review.html

This stylish role-playing social-simulation game packs a great story, realistic characters, and dozens of hours of enjoyment.
The Good

* Multiple themed dungeons to explore
* Fun and engaging combat
* Great cast of realistic characters
* Social links directly influence combat performance
* Character stats have a strong effect on actions.

The Bad

* Poor camera when dungeon-crawling
* Lots of reused shadow and personae artwork.

Even higher than P3 and P3FES. Awesome

So it got a 9 from both IGN and Gamespot. That is pretty impressive. I do agree with the camera; it's a little terrible. It is pretty funny most of the times especially with that homeroom teacher.

The Valkyria will rise again!

Good thing the game is on my Christmas List