Is the fast-paced rat race grinding you down? Searching for a change of scenery? Then look no further than the quaint—yet convenient—town of Inaba, Japan! The central setting for Persona 4 is full of friendly faces, delectable local cuisine and safe streets. Yeah, good luck finding that ad in any tourist agency.
While playing and reviewing the excellent Persona 4 Golden, the fictitious town of Inaba wouldn’t leave me alone. There were times when I would imagine myself as a resident and daydream of the backwoods situations I would find myself in if I didn’t have to spend so much time fighting. But is that such a crazy notion? Atlas has crafted an homage to countryside life that is both attractive, and ripe for deeper exploration. After dedicating 60+ hours within its city limits mingling with its citizens and summoning Personas, I’d love to go back, but under different circumstances.
The first two hours of the game have often been said to be the weakest parts, but I heartily disagree. After being invited into the Dojima residence, you already feel the warmth and sense of freedom. Hungry? Check out the kitchen. Eventually, you’ll have the option to prepare your lunch for the next day with ingredients from the fridge. Naturally, I failed on the first attempt, but was still thrilled about having even the slightest agency regarding what food I consume.
On that note, imagine then that in our alternate Persona 4, you could just learn recipes and accurately reproduce them. Atlas could open up a local meat shop with the freshest cuts of pork and beef for some real savory cooking. Moreover, maybe you could even enter a local competition. I mean, with that garden you built in the Dojimas' backyard, you’ve got the freshest veggies in town. Inaba Pumpkin Patch Party, anyone?
Meanwhile, at Inaba High, the mechanics of the game automatically urge you to connect with various students in order to concoct stronger Personas, but let’s take a step back and pretend this wasn’t the case. In this alternate Inaba, you would simply join basketball and music club just for the hell of it; no pressure to boost the rankings of relationships before a certain time or date, just good clean academic fun. Besides, sports and music in general make for well-rounded individuals and look great on college applications, you know...
After your studies, you’re free to wander around the town's distinct areas to your heart's content, like the Samegawa Flood Plain and Junes Department Store. Each locale has tons to discover, but perhaps the easiest—and juiciest—to unpack is the central shopping district. Oh man, just imagine if you didn’t have to rush around like a Persona-wileding madman, but could leisurely enjoy all the main strip had to offer without ever checking the time. Want to build model ships at Marutake Hobby Shop, or enjoy melodious enka tunes at Shiroku Bar? Do it. And, whenever your wallet gets thin, there’s always some work available.
Oh, you thought money grew on trees in Inaba? Think again. Life can be hard in the country, but, without the obligation of racking up relationships like trading cards, earning wages is another hearty down-home experience. Atlas provides several job options, but that's not nearly enough, in my opinion.
In our hypothetical Persona 4.1 version, how’d you like to grow and harvest rice, raise and take care of livestock, intern at the local news station, or maybe even become part-time manager of Junes? Like my grandpa used to say, a hard day’s work builds character. Well, that and fat stacks to spend on something worthwhile, like food and books. A word about the former.
I was pleasantly surprised by the abundance of literature in Persona 4, but frankly I shouldn’t have been. I mean, if you weren’t busting bosses and Shadows in TV world, how else would you spend the day in a small town? The game offers rewards for blazing through books at breakneck speed, but I’d like to slow things down a bit. Perhaps in an ideal Inaba, you could attend Sunday afternoon book clubs at Yomenaido Bookstore with like-minded literature buffs, or simply lounge under the shade of tree while discovering the truth in classic tomes like Beginner Fishing and Expert Fishing. And oh, what truths there are!
Fishing in itself seems to be the quintessential pastime of life in a small town. Nothing to be ashamed of; it’s a necessary skill if you want to achieve self-sufficiency and capture the elusive River Guardian. Minus the chore of dungeon crawling, I can just see myself spending many a hot summer day collecting bait from buddies, casting about in the Samegawa river in knee-high galoshes and tossing sprat to my canine friend on the banks.
More and more frequently, I find myself leaning towards open-world games where you can easily shrug off the main objectives and dig into everything the land has to offer. I believe that if Atlas released DLC-type entries or modes to the Persona series with absolutely no objective other than to exist, it’d be scarfed down quicker than a Rainy Day Beef Bowl at AiYa.
Until then, I guess I’ll have to just keep playing Persona 4 and ignore those pesky objectives like “stop the serial killer” and “save the world.” Seriously! The weather's actually nice for a change and there’s a beef steak sale at Souzai Daigaku. Ahhh, this is the good life, huh?