Persona 4: Dancing All Night was such a shock for me.
While I enjoy the occasional rhythm game, I’ve never been a diehard fan of the genre.
In fact, I could barely handle any games of this type beyond the Normal Mode at the best
of times.
But Dancing All Night had this allure that drove me to play the game well into the night
in order to get even better scores and challenge it at its hardest difficulties.
I ended up obsessed with the game in a way I hadn’t for any game in a long time at
that point.
So I was ecstatic when Atlus announced two more Persona rhythm games were coming to the
Playstation 4 and Vita.
Would dancing in Persona 3 and 5 be just as addictive?
Well, yeah, but the package surrounding the dancing is decidedly different.
Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight follow essentially
the same story, just with different perspectives.
Rather than a full-fledged story mode like in Persona 4, these games instead focus on
small vignettes wrapped around the idea that after witnessing the protagonist of Persona
4 and his friends save the world through dance, Elizabeth of Persona 3 and Justine and Caroline
of Persona 5 place a wager that their protagonist is even better.
This sparks a competition between the sisters as they pull all of the characters into a
dream version of the Velvet Room where they can dance the night away to see which is best
before the night is over with each game dedicated to that group’s efforts.
And as both versions say multiple times, because this is a dream no one will remember these
events after they wake up.
It is a completely silly premise that digs deep into Persona’s recent lore and I ended
up enjoying it even more than Persona 4’s story.
Where that felt bloated with cutscenes at times as I waited through long pieces of dialog
just to dance, here the story and characterizations are handled through Social Links.
These are unlocked by dancing through the setlist and completing certain tasks whether
it’s wearing different clothes and accessories, obtaining a certain number of Perfects, or
reaching huge combos.
It all feels organic and the little moments between characters are short, fun, and help
give a sense of their personalities even if you haven’t played their original games.
Not only that but viewing them unlocks even more costumes and accessories giving players
all the more reason to dive back into the dancing.
The only issue, and this only applies if you play both versions, is that the requirements
to unlock these are the exact same in both games.
It makes playing them back to back a tad repetitious, but it’s not a huge issue.
In fact, many of these extras are unlocked in chunks making the process of obtaining
everything far less tedious than it was in Persona 4.
There’s even a mode later in the game where you can explore each character’s room, something
that wasn’t possible in the main series making for a fun extra for longtime fans.
Now there’s a reason I’m reviewing both of these games together as the actual gameplay
is identical.
If you played Dancing All Night, you know exactly what to expect.
Players use the d-pad and face buttons to hit notes as they reach six different positions,
each one corresponding to a button.
Different notes change things up as some have to be hit in unison or in rapid succession
or held for a short time.
The harder the difficulty, the more notes there are to manage.
There are also scratch lines that are activated by flicking one of the analog sticks although
these can be ignored if you so choose with no penalty.
They’re meant more for bonus points although there are Fever lines that players will want
to hit as obtaining at least three of them in a certain timeframe will activate Fever
Mode where another character joins the dance, more points are earned, and a Good rating
no longer breaks combos.
At its basic core, the Persona dancing games don’t do that much different from other
rhythm titles.
But it’s that simplicity that I enjoy so much.
I don’t have to keep track of a lot of different elements and the syncing with the songs’
beats feels perfect.
Plus the supports and challenges return to change up the way you play.
Supports help players by reducing penalties, auto-scratching, or generally making the experience
easier at the cost of lowering your score.
Challenges change up the note positioning or making them faster and make the gameplay
tougher in exchange for more points if successful.
It still works so well at allowing players to dictate the level of challenge they want
even beyond difficulty modes.
With all of this intact, it didn’t take long at all for me to become entranced with
these games in the same way I did with Persona 4.
Really, the only differences between Persona 3 and 5 are the aesthetics, the characters,
and the songs.
Each game is styled after that entry including the costumes, the menus, the dialog boxes,
and even the font.
They perfectly capture the feeling of playing either game, so much so that I felt an initial
shock transitioning from Persona 5’s stylish designs to the simpler ideas that were in
Persona 3.
The characters are true to their personalities and are given enough characterization that
even if you don’t know them, you understand their main traits quickly enough, which is
good considering that I have never played Persona 3 while I’ve completed Persona 5.
Reuniting with these characters felt like slipping back into a comfortable pair of shoes.
You know what to expect, but you enjoy them nonetheless.
And while I didn’t have that recognition with the Persona 3 cast, I did enjoy their
characters though not to the same level as Persona 5’s.
But that is pure personal preference as again, this was my first introduction to them.
Newcomers can enjoy either game, but they obviously won’t get as much out of the interactions
and references as longtime fans.
But when it comes to the music, they’re both fantastic.
The original songs mesh well with the available remixes and while there aren’t a ton of
tracks, the quality is wonderful across the board.
There are multiple remixes of a few songs in both, but I enjoyed seeing how they played
with the music, giving each one a different feel.
However, I did get the feeling that the songs weren’t as tailored to a dancing game as
Persona 4’s.
I love Persona 5’s soundtrack, but some of the songs, at least in terms of a rhythm
game, feel like they fall a little flat.
The music is great, but the adaptation wasn’t quite there.
Persona 3’s felt like it fit better, but the challenge of those songs ranged wildly.
Some I could perfect in one try while others had moments where I felt I was barely hanging
on.
They’re both quite good, but uneven compared to Persona 4’s offering.
And visually, the games look fantastic.
Persona 5 captures the style perfectly with characters looking just as they did in their
game, but Persona 3 obviously has the bigger upgrade and they take advantage of this.
Both games use 3D models during dialog scenes and every character’s animation is varied
and gives off their personality although I did notice that Junpei and Ken in Persona
3 love scratching their chest during these moments, like, a lot.
The voice acting is top-notch across the board with some deliveries really selling certain
jokes.
It’s cheesy but in a good way.
Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight are both wonderful
games with a lot of smart changes that make them feel leaner and more rewarding than Persona
4.
The focus is much more on the dancing with each Social Link pushing players to try new
things and get even better to experience more story and obtain unlockables.
Gameplay loops like this that give me a reason to get even better is what had me playing
these games well into the morning.
They’re simply fun.
I like both games a lot though I’d have to give Persona 5 the edge because of my familiarity
with it.
And I believe that’ll play into many people’s perception of the games.
They’ll gravitate toward their preferred cast.
But no matter which you choose, you’re in for a good time.
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