Atlus

A good pout will get you anywhere

HIGH Clever writing and meta commentary on RPGs.

LOW Shallow, repetitive game design that grows stale almost immediately.

WTF Most of the game has been cannibalized from Master of the Monster Lair.

A friendship built on a rotten foundation

HIGH The steady unfolding of plot and character development that makes me feel like I'm watching a movie.

LOW The lukewarm battle system that makes me feel like I'm watching a movie.

WTF One of the witches our hero can be "engaged" to—complete with wedding gown—is 12 years old.

Game Description: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 is a console role-playing game (RPG) for Sony's PlayStation 2. Persona 4 takes place in a rural town named Inaba where mysterious murders occur whenever there is fog after heavy rain. The town has a television channel that airs only at midnight called Mayonaka TV, during which it is said that one can see their "other half" while staring at the screen. After hearing about a recent unsolved murder, some characters realize that they had witnessed the murder victim while watching Mayonaka TV. Chronologically the sixth installment in the Persona series, Persona 4 is a suspenseful countryside murder mystery with multiple twists and turns in the plot that will have you guessing all the way to the end.

Bears live inside your TV

HIGH The hilarious mid-summer camping trip.

LOW Unskippable cutscenes and long stretches between save.

WTF One character's totally unexpected mid-game reveal... Literally.

You Dug Your Hole, Now Be Bored in It

HIGH Some of the writing elicits genuine chuckles.

LOW The vast amount of surprise-free grinding.

WTF Since when did cooking replace leveling up?