With a game as dense and plot-heavy as Persona 4 Golden, 2012’s expanded re-release of 2008’s vanilla version of the game, it doesn’t hurt to prepare a little ahead of time. Yu Narukami is a teenager staying with his uncle in Inaba, but he learns his year in the countryside will be anything but boring once he tasks himself with figuring out the series of murders taking place around town, using the power of friendship and television.

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There’s going to be a lot on your plate as you take control of the silent gray-haired boy, so planning out a few things before you dive in can only help you in the long run. Games like Persona beg for replays, since you’ll struggle to achieve everything your first time through. However, if you’d like to get as close to perfection as possible, keep these pro tips in mind as you arrive at the Yasoinaba Station to help you make the most of your time.

10 Tweak The Expanded Settings On Steam

Persona 4 Golden Difficulty Selection

When the game released on Steam in June of 2020, it came with a whole bevy of new ways to optimize your play. And even seasoned Shin Megami Tensei fans can find joy in making some adjustments.

The options you’re able to change are the damage your team both dishes out and takes, EXP and money won in battles, and permits or denies retries for specific battles or dungeons as a whole. This means you’re no longer locked to a binary difficulty, and can customize the game to exactly the level of challenging that you like.

9 Don't Make Special Trips For Side Quests

Persona 4 Golden Side Quests

For a lot of Western players, Persona 5 was their first entry into the Shin Megami Tensei series overall, and in that game, side quests actually had some merit. And while we’re glad Atlus made the change in later releases, in Persona 4 Golden, there’s not much point to them.

Side quests in Golden will typically see you diving back into old dungeons a second time, and they don’t often yield rewards worth the work: it’s typically items you can find in other ways, mid-level weaponry, or just a way to farm cash. With so much else to see and do, we wouldn’t recommend going out of your way completing these quests.

8 Yu Really Ought To Garden

Persona 4 Golden Nanako Garden

Another new addition to Golden is next to the Dojima residence: the gardening plot, which allows Yu to grow his own harvest of items for use in battles. Seeds are inexpensive, it doesn’t consume free time, and it pleases both Nanako and Dojima.

There are eight seeds to plant: tomatoes, daikon, wheat, cabbage, paprika, corn, eggplant, and melon. They range in price from ¥500 to ¥5000, with each seed yielding a different item you can bring as you fight through dungeons. For instance, each fully-grown wheat yield acts as a chest key, daikon allow you to leave a dungeon, and eggplant makes a member of the Investigation Team survive what would otherwise be a fatal blow.

7 Bring Teddie Instead Of Chie

Persona 4 Golden Teddie

Chie might be the internet’s best girl for this game, but with more physical prowess than magic, she’s not your strongest Ice-magic user. While Teddie might be a bit more grating, he’s the better choice for Ice-magic when dungeon-crawling.

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We feel this way for a few reasons. First and foremost, Teddie’s Ice-magic attacks do more damage than Chie’s, and he’ll also be able to learn powerful healing moves later, too. On top of that, his social link is the easiest of the Investigation Team to max out, since his ranks up with your story progression and maxes automatically toward the end of the game without any input from you.

6 Don't Get Attached To Personas

Persona 4 Golden Izanagi

When you start this game and meet Izanagi for the very first time, it’s easy to feel blown away. After all, one of the Japanese gods of creationism has come to your aid in a time of need, lending his weapon to help you kick some ass.

But don’t get attached, because you won’t have him (or most other Personas) for very long. The ability to fuse Personas into new and more powerful ones unlocks relatively early in the game, and it won’t be long until you’re doctoring a whole team of high-level creatures. Some compendium entries are cool, of course, but getting attached makes it harder to say your goodbyes.

5 Plan Your Shopping Trips

Persona 4 Golden Gem Lady Shiromiku

It’s tempting to just buy and sell exactly what you need, right when you need it. But trust us: it pays to hold off until the right time, literally.

There are a few ways to get more bang for your buck when you’re buying or selling stuff. For instance, Master Daidara will help you any time his shop is open, but he’ll occasionally give you discounts or more money for materials when you talk to him at night. Additionally, the Shiroku Store is a great place to stock up on healing items, and the woman there will give a discount on rainy days. At night, a sultrier version of the shopkeeper will buy your gems.

4 Redo Dungeons To Power Up Your Friends

Persona 4 Golden Dungeon Regular

This is optional, but once you’ve beaten a friend’s dungeon, you’re still able to access it. If you opt to head back inside a second time and make it to the end, you’ll not only be able to seek out more items and materials (which is the only time we really recommend doing side quests), but you’ll also find a weapon specialized to the friend in charge of the dungeon as well.

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The weapon can be found after defeating the new mini-boss that’s taken up residence after the primary fight. Should you obtain and equip it on your friend, it’ll end up being that character’s strongest weapon for a significant chunk of the game.

Persona 4 Golden Tohru Adachi

When you meet Tohru Adachi, Dojima's partner at work, he seems downright delightful. A lazy, cheerful detective with a sense of humor so bad, it’s funny, he’s the comic relief character in moments of tenseness. It’s almost harder NOT to want to get to know him.

But you’ll have to do so before November 1, because he'll be inaccessible past then as the investigation picks up. However, if you’ve gotten him to Rank 6 before this point, his social link progresses automatically with the rest of the story. Befriending him before the last section of the main game unlocks several options for which ending you’ll see, dependent upon a few of your other choices.

2 Mix And Match Arcana

Persona 4 Golden Arcana Card Yosuke

When you’re going through a dungeon, keep whichever Personas you feel are the most helpful to you and your team. But when you’re hanging out around Inaba, making friends between story segments, it’s definitely advisable to keep Personas on you that match the arcana of the people you’re befriending.

Each dialogue option during your hangouts is an option to earn points toward the next rank in the social link, but having a Persona with a matching arcana on you gives one additional point each time you choose a response the person likes. Maxing out each social link unlocks the ability for you to fuse the most powerful Persona in that arcana, so it’s not a bad idea to take shortcuts to get there.

1 Make Marie A Priority

Persona 4 Golden Marie

Though not present in the vanilla version of the game, Marie, one of Igor’s Velvet Room assistants, represents the Aeon arcana in Golden. And while her personality is a little too gritty and cold for some players at first, you've got to get to know her if you want access to Golden's bonus content.

You’ll only have until December 23 to complete her social link. As you befriend her, you learn that her tough exterior is just protection against her debilitating shyness and fear, since she reveals she has no memories. If you’re at max rank with her by the time the pressure she's under becomes too much, you’re able to help her by way of completing Golden's bonus dungeon.

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