Persona 4 G: Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena (PS3/360/Arc) Announced (2012,ASW/Atlus)

[Kevadu]

This game has reminded me how much I suck at fighting games.  Sure the story mode fights are easy enough, but I usually win them by just spamming the same few moves over and over.  I'm sure in actual competitive play I would be brutally destroyed.

I've been playing around with some of the challenges and stuff to try to get better at the game and I've found that there are certain combos that I just cannot pull of fast enough to satisfy the challenge, no matter how many times I try.  I can do the moves individually, sure, just not quickly enough to satisfy the game.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  When you're doing a combo when do you start inputting the movements (particularly all those damn quarter circles...) for the next move?

I hate quarter circles...

[Bleaker]

I'm enjoying it, but the story mode is more Visual Novel than I expected. I mean I knew what the story segments would be like, but I didn't think it would be mostly story. Another thing, which will probably be cured when I do the other stories, is that the story is VERY predictable. Then again I only did the first four, and they are mostly variations on the same path.

The fighting is very fun, but not as easy to pick-up as BlazBlue. However the satisfaction of beating the shit out of Teddy is too great...for that, this game is perfect. Also Chie's VA has grown on me, I like it. Teddy's new VA is still grating, however Teddy's original wasn't beary great either.

I'm planning on getting a fightstick, and then I will attempt to do the damn combos. I agree with the quarter circles being a pain. To you swish it up to far and you jump, not enough and you do a regular attack. Really unrealistic without the fighting stick.

Edit: Also, the reviewers have been showering this game with love.
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/persona-4-arena

There are no mixed or negative critical reviews of this game.

[Akanbe-]

I'm enjoying it, but the story mode is more Visual Novel than I expected. I mean I knew what the story segments would be like, but I didn't think it would be mostly story. Another thing, which will probably be cured when I do the other stories, is that the story is VERY predictable. Then again I only did the first four, and they are mostly variations on the same path.

I'm planning on getting a fightstick, and then I will attempt to do the damn combos. I agree with the quarter circles being a pain. To you swish it up to far and you jump, not enough and you do a regular attack. Really unrealistic without the fighting stick.

Arcade stick.  And yeah I agree quarter circles are a pain in the ass on a controller.  I was playing Capcom vs SNK2 the other day for fun and doing double quarter circle motions for a super are a pain in the ass on a controller.  Definitely easier with an arcade stick.

I've been playing around with some of the challenges and stuff to try to get better at the game and I've found that there are certain combos that I just cannot pull of fast enough to satisfy the challenge, no matter how many times I try.  I can do the moves individually, sure, just not quickly enough to satisfy the game.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  When you're doing a combo when do you start inputting the movements (particularly all those damn quarter circles...) for the next move?

I hate quarter circles...

May help or may not, but for the first issue try breaking the challenge down to smaller pieces.  If there are 6 moves to a challenge/combo, try practicing just the first 3 moves and just focus on remembering and practicing those.  Once you have those down, pick up the next 3 moves and just practice them until you learn them.  After that, piecing together the first 3 and the last 3 should be much easier and the issue of not pulling the moves off fast enough will slowly become moot for you.  It's a great strategy for games like these where combos can get fairly long.

For the second part, usually need to have the press the button sometime during the hitstop or while the move is active, but it varies depending on character and moves trying to combo together.  For quarter circles, you're going to need to buffer them early.  For instance, if you needed to do B -> QCB/63214 C, then you would need to start the QCB during the active frames (while it's moving and about to hit) of the prior move.

[Lard]

Have to admit, I'm disappointed about the size of the soundtrack. Not up to snuff with the stuff they gave us for all their recent release/re-releases...

They have to skimp on something to pay for all that region locking.

[Fadedsun]

May help or may not, but for the first issue try breaking the challenge down to smaller pieces.  If there are 6 moves to a challenge/combo, try practicing just the first 3 moves and just focus on remembering and practicing those.  Once you have those down, pick up the next 3 moves and just practice them until you learn them.  After that, piecing together the first 3 and the last 3 should be much easier and the issue of not pulling the moves off fast enough will slowly become moot for you.  It's a great strategy for games like these where combos can get fairly long.

Yeah, this will definitely help. Our mind works best in remembering things when we break them down into smaller chunks.

[Farron]

Quarter circles are pretty much the most basic motion of fighting games and while I do think they are as effortless as anything else I do remeber the days of Street Fighter II I had trouble with it until a friend of mine came along showed me step by step how to do it. Later he regreted it because after that he could never beat me again but enough with bragging, I'll try to at least help.

If you guys have any trouble with quarter circle motion, I suggest , for starters:
- staying in the Player 1 side of the screen
- the inputs go exactly one after the other. Don't mash them together because it only makes it harder and will probably hurt your fingers.
- when I used a regular joystick I used the middle part of my thumb. It is harder than the point so it gives you more precision and hurts less in the long run.
- when doing the motions, start really slow, than start increasing it slowly, there's no rush.

Now, just to pick on you guys, how did you guys manage to use Sabin in Final Fantasy VI ? If memory serves me right, he had a ton of moves that required these kind of motions.

[TiamatNM]

Game is awesome.  So glad to be playing a new arc systems fighter that isn't blazblue. playing yosuke

[Bleaker]

Game is awesome.  So glad to be playing a new arc systems fighter that isn't blazblue. playing yosuke

There's always 50 bazillion Guilty Gears you can play! Nice to see someone maining Yosuke. Head over to the Gaf and you will find the biggest bunch of Chie lovers out there! Love Yosuke's more speed focused fighting style. Reminicent of Noel from BlazBlue.

[Kevadu]

I've been playing around with some of the challenges and stuff to try to get better at the game and I've found that there are certain combos that I just cannot pull of fast enough to satisfy the challenge, no matter how many times I try.  I can do the moves individually, sure, just not quickly enough to satisfy the game.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  When you're doing a combo when do you start inputting the movements (particularly all those damn quarter circles...) for the next move?

I hate quarter circles...

May help or may not, but for the first issue try breaking the challenge down to smaller pieces.  If there are 6 moves to a challenge/combo, try practicing just the first 3 moves and just focus on remembering and practicing those.  Once you have those down, pick up the next 3 moves and just practice them until you learn them.  After that, piecing together the first 3 and the last 3 should be much easier and the issue of not pulling the moves off fast enough will slowly become moot for you.  It's a great strategy for games like these where combos can get fairly long.

It's not really a length of the combo issue.  There are 2 move combos that I can't get right.  Some of these things are super-finicky.  I find that if I try to input the next move too soon it doesn't register at all and nothing happens, but if I wait then it gets blocked and doesn't count as a combo.  An example would be something like Kanji's #13 challenge.

For the second part, usually need to have the press the button sometime during the hitstop or while the move is active, but it varies depending on character and moves trying to combo together.  For quarter circles, you're going to need to buffer them early.  For instance, if you needed to do B -> QCB/63214 C, then you would need to start the QCB during the active frames (while it's moving and about to hit) of the prior move.

I don't really understand any of what you just said there...hitstop?  QCB/63214?  Active frames?  It's greek to me.

Now, just to pick on you guys, how did you guys manage to use Sabin in Final Fantasy VI ? If memory serves me right, he had a ton of moves that required these kind of motions.

Dude, I can do Bum Rushes until the cows come home.  It's not the motion itself that's the issue, it's the timing and mixing it with all this other crap.



OK, all that said I'm loving the heck out of the story mode.  I have to admit that at first I was skeptical about a fighting game having a canon story, but Atlus didn't let us down.  Once you start getting into stuff like Mitsuru's and Labrys's stories it gets really good.

Also, you have to play Kanji's "bad" route.  It's friggin hilarious.  Should have been the official one ;)

[Fadedsun]

Well, it sounds like you just need more practice, to be honest. There's no magic fix for this stuff. You just have to spend time in training learning the timing. My roommate, who doesn't play fighting games, was just in challenge mode learning this stuff to. He was trying to figure out why stuff wasn't comboing together and why the character kept teching out. I'm trying to explain to him that he's timing his button presses wrong. He's trying to mash things out, when it should be more fluid. Also, having trouble connecting normals into specials so they combo. He was doing it too slow so it would never connect. A lot of times spacing plays a factor into whether or not your combo will work, too, so pay attention to that.

QCB=quarter circle back. 63214+C, so if you think of all the points on a d-pad or stick, there's 9 points. Number notation is just an easier way to show a motion on the joystick. 5 is neutral. So 236 is actually just quarter circle forward, or QCF.

789
456
123

Active frames is how many frames your normal, special or whatever is out for. Don't worry about that stuff if you don't plan on getting heavily into the game. Even then, it's still not that important. I don't pay attention to all the technical stuff most of the time.

[Akanbe-]

Yeah, I agree with Fadedsun.  Just practice a bit and it'll payoff.  Just try not to mash it because it's a bad habit.

For quarter circle backs, you have to start the motion earlier than usual during combos.  So if the combo is A --> B ---> QCB+C, then you often have to start the quarter circle back during the "B" part of the combo.

Also, if you check the right side during combos, a bar goes fast underneath the counter number.  If you try to make sure the directions are inputted and the button is pressed before the bar ends, the move should combo.  

[TiamatNM]

Game is awesome.  So glad to be playing a new arc systems fighter that isn't blazblue. playing yosuke

There's always 50 bazillion Guilty Gears you can play! Nice to see someone maining Yosuke. Head over to the Gaf and you will find the biggest bunch of Chie lovers out there! Love Yosuke's more speed focused fighting style. Reminicent of Noel from BlazBlue.

I used to be a big GG fan but I didn't like Blazblue much.   Yosuke is a lot of fun

[Bleaker]

So I finally completed everyone's stories, and unlocked Labrys's. Let me tell you, its quite predictable, yet something about it just kind of stirs inside you. Also for that story prepare for 3 hours without fights, the only fight is right at the end. I can't wait to have a story discussion once the game is done, its gotten rather good. More in the vain of Persona 3 than 4.

[Kevadu]

I haven't done Elizabeth's story yet so it's possible it might wrap things up, but after finishing a few of the character's stories completely, post cliffhanger (you have to play through Labrys's story before you can actually finish the others), it really seems like they're leaving things wide open for a sequel...

[Bleaker]

Yeah I just completed Yosuke's and Yu's stories. Out of all of the Persona 4 Characters stories, Yosuke's is my favorite. I love the hint of romance between him and Labrys. Its a shame that I know have to play through 10 other endings that amount to the same thing. Also I love that ending theme. Has Persona ever had a bad one?

My one main problem with Labrys's story thinking back...the writers didn't follow the rule of SHOW not TELL! More anime cutscenes could of done well, or actually letting us fight! It worked well enough either way.