It’s time for more Persona but not like how we’re used to it. The Persona series has always had a great soundtrack accompanying it, so why not make a rhythm game?
Rhythm games are still a bit of a niche here in the west, despite the popularity of Guitar Hero (and the fall of Guitar Hero). This is due mainly because the Japanese arcade scene is thriving with a variety of rhythm titles for your pleasure, whilst in the west it died in the late 80s. In the land of the rising sun rhythm games are the norm, the likes of Taiko no Tatsujin and Project Diva are regulars at arcades, and Japanese consoles with spin-offs and sequels.
The Persona series have made a name for themselves, finding a place in the hearts of many JRPG fans with deeps plots and creative gameplay that modern RPGs need to stand out nowadays. Persona 4 Golden was the last time we saw a Persona game on the Vita, Dancing All Night is set roughly a month after Persona 4, Rise Kujikawa is going back to her idol ways in a big comeback at the Love Meets Bonds Festival. The rest of the investigation squad are involved as Rise wants them to be back-up dancers to calm her nerves. A bit of a tall order from your mates who haven’t trained for years in a difficult craft, but it’s a Japanese game and friendship always prevails in the end. Conveniently things start to go wrong as Rise’s fellow idols start disappearing. The squad investigate further to discover the existence of the Midnight Stage, where fighting is not allowed and combat is done through dance. Through dance you connect with the shadow audience and defeat them after a successful dance.
The dancing you will conduct through your Vita’s controller, combinations of buttons and d-pad directions will come flying at you from the centre of the screen. This can be quite annoying as there is a lot going on, it’s all gorgeous with some amazing colours and animation, but the screen can get busy quite quickly. We found it easier to focus on the music and trust us that isn’t hard at all. If you’re a fan of the Persona series you’ll be very familiar with the songs in tow, there are also remixes to add more variety and prevent gameplay getting repetitive. Which can happy easily happen with a rhythm game, if the soundtrack isn’t on-point.
It’ll also be the reason why you’ll be coming back to Dancing All Night, once you unlock every outfit and achievement you can, there isn’t anything else to really have you come back. We found ourselves switching the Vita on just to go through the music player and nod/sing-along to our favourite tracks. Dancing All Night is one for the fans, if you’re a newcomer to the Persona/Shin Megami Tensei series, go play Persona 4 Golden first. But if you’re an avid rhythm gamer, well then Dancing All Night is a solid choice.
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