Persona 4 receives ESRB rating for PlayStation 3

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 has been rated "Mature" for the PlayStation 3 by the ESRB, meaning that the PlayStation 2 classic will see a re-release on the following console.



The game received the M rating with the descriptors, "Alcohol Reference, Animated Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, [and] Violence." ESRB cites the reasons for the rating:

Pixilated blood spray is briefly depicted during battles, and colored bloodstains stain some walls and floors. Some female monsters (female Persona) are depicted with their breasts exposed, while other monsters have phallic-shaped heads and torsos. Other female Personas (e.g., 'Succubus') have sexual characteristics that are described in text: 'They visit sleeping men and have sexual intercourse with them.'

Essentially, it's going to be a standard re-release with no upgrades from the PS2 classic, which is an interesting decision. The game has already received a graphical upgrade with additional content added in Persona 4 Golden on the PS Vita.

Why did Sony choose to port Persona 4 as a PS2 classic when they could have just re-released P4G on the PS3 and sold it for $20? Even better, potentially add more stuff and put it on the PlayStation 4 for $10 more.

Either way, expect the PS2 classic to be out in the near future.

Source: ESRB

PlayStation Vita's Persona 4 Golden now available for $20

Japanese RPG fans that have been waiting for Persona 4 Golden to be on sale will be happy to hear that it's now available for just $20.


Amazon is currently selling P4G for $20, the lowest sale price that it's been available at since Sony's digital JRPG sale event. Free shipping is available on all orders over $35 or for those that have a Prime account.

P4G is a re-release of Persona 4 that was released on the PlayStation 2 back in 2008. Improved visuals, additional dialogue, and online elements have been added to the game, but in large part it's a game that has now been released for over five years.

Despite being a remake, P4G is widely considered the best RPG on PlayStation Vita. 326 of 355 total reviews on Amazon have given it five stars. Metacritic has an average rating of 93, and IGN's Greg Miller gave it exactly that in his review.

The PlayStation Vita is lucky to have Persona 4 Golden. While the game doesn’t do much of note besides bringing the 2008 title to the HD era, it doesn’t need to. The story hooks you, dungeon crawling makes for a great time, and exploring your relationships while building a better army is the kind of tinkering you can get lose hours to. Persona 4 Golden is perfectly at home on the handheld and should dominate your free time.

P4G is developed and published by Atlus.

Image credit: Flickr