Persona 4: Dancing All Night Reviews

As a minor point, I really like that the story is presented in the same way that Persona 4 presented its narrative. Animated illustrations of each character appear when they talk, making different expressions while blinking and striking poses. It goes a long way in solidifying Dancing All Night as a real Persona installment, as this cohesive presentation makes it feel like an expansion of the series.

It’s hard to find anything to dislike about Persona 4: Dancing All Night. Its captivating storyline will likely have you hooked, and the unique gameplay makes it stand out from the crowd. If you’re a fan of the Persona series, it’s a no brainer that you need this in your collection. If you’ve never played a Persona game before but fancy a game with excellent graphics, great story and downright fun gameplay, then this is a great introduction to the franchise that is sure to equally intrigue and entertain.

I won’t lie, I’ve always somewhat ironically been hyped for Persona 4: Dancing All Night, the rhythm-action spin off to one of the greatest JRPGs. On the one hand, I very seriously enjoy the music of Persona 4, on the other hand, images of waifus dancing on the screen to poppy or even dubstep inspired tracks meant that I was prepared for this game to be entirely awful, and yet I’d play it, with a smile on my face, forcing my friends to endure the game with me. It was supposed to be me torturing them with something they’d hate, essentially. Well, Persona 4: Dancing All Night absolutely ruined that for me by being one of the best games I’ve played all year. I wanted to sit there, rub it in my friends' faces, force them to play it and laugh at their misery. Instead, I don’t actually care whether they’re enjoying it or not, I love it.

A mediocre rhythm action game that is not made any better by tacking on a silly and insubstantial Persona story mode.

What a versatile bunch the Persona 4 gang are! Having already appeared in an RPG, a dungeon crawler, and a couple of fighting games, it's clear that they're willing to give anything a go. In their latest outing – Persona 4 Dancing All Night – they're probably furthest from their shadow bashing wheelhouse, but as luck would have it, busting a groove in this PlayStation Vita rhythm game is just as deadly to shadows as being smacked with a sword.

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This fusion of visual novel of rhythm game isn’t exactly perfect, but speaking as someone who loves Persona (and Shoji Meguro’s work in particular), I really enjoyed my time with this one. It might be pure fan service, but sometimes maybe that’s enough.

Dancing All Night is a joy to play and a powerful nostalgia trip for Persona 4 fans, but it’s slim on content in a way that could limit universal appeal.

There's a lot to like about Persona 4: Dancing All Night; unfortunately a lack of cohesive game design hinders the product as a whole. For an MSRP of $50, justifying a purchase is difficult. It's good, but compared to the competition, it flounders.

Atlus doesn’t throw around the prestigious Persona brand lightly, and takes care of its characters in this visual novel/rhythm game mashup. The lengthy story mode fumbles with its first act, but picks up and develops into the kind of great Persona mystery that we’ve come to expect. The story is meaningful, the characters are full of personality, and the music is fantastic. The rhythm portion is a little too kid-gloves with its scoring, to the point where it might even hold you back in learning the rhythms, but the fun patterns and interesting items keep me coming back to my favorite songs.

There are touches of flawed execution in Persona 4: Dancing All Night, but they do little to upset what is otherwise a spectacular rhythm game. Genuine strokes of genius can be found in its modifiable gameplay and superb soundtrack, and they're compelling enough to keep the game from solely relying on its buckets of patented Persona charm.

Atlus has taken the cast of Persona 4, put them into a dancing game, and has managed to create a fun and enjoyable title in Persona 4: Dancing All Night.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night has some big negatives against it, including a short song list and rough difficulty. But it's a ton of fun, the music is great, and the visuals are top notch. It's great for Persona fans. But, for everyone else, it's a tough sell.

Feel the rhythm of your Persona through the art of dance.

What we have here is a game that gets its mechanics wonderfully right, but almost everything else around it wrong.

If you’re a Persona fan, and especially a Persona 4 fan, there are aspects of this game that you will enjoy. Mostly, as I said, the fanservice aspects. After all, you get to spend more time with your favorite characters, who are still fairly well-written here. If you’re more interested in the rhythm game aspect, though, there’s not much to be found in this game.

Electric Boondoggle

Persona 4: Dancing All Night maintains the high pedigree the Persona series is known for while still being its own thing. Fans of both rhythm games and all things Persona will find a lot to love here - and who knows, maybe you'll learn a move or two too.