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[FluxWaveZ]

The second collaboration between Atlus and Arc System Works, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (known as Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold in Japan) is a 2D fighting game and direct sequel to Persona 4 Arena, released in 2012.

*Disclaimer:
If you do not want Persona 3 or Persona 4 spoiled, AVOID THIS THREAD. This is the sequel to the sequel to Persona 4, and the character roster itself contains spoilers for both games.

• Developers: Atlus (P Studio) and Arc System Works
• Publisher: Atlus
• Release Date (Japan): August 28, 2014
• Release Date (North America): September 30, 2014
• Platform: PlayStation 3 (and Xbox 360 in North America)
• Ratings: CERO: B, ESRB: T

A few days after the events of Persona 4 Arena, The Midnight Channel has begun broadcasting once again. Featuring a tournament called the "P-1 Climax", all of the participants from the previous "P-1 Grand Prix" tournament in Persona 4 Arena are shown fighting each other. Soon after it airs, a red fog begins to cover Inaba, causing the disappearance of the townsfolk and melding the real world and the TV world. At the same time, the Dark Hour from Persona 3 seems to have returned and, with it, the ominous tower known as Tartarus.

Mitsuru, Akihiko, Aigis and Fuuka have been captured and crucified. A mysterious person known as Sho Minazuki appears, claiming to be the culprit behind all of the incidents. Adachi has returned with hidden motivations of his own. Shadows of the protagonists have appeared, getting in their way. The Investigation Team and remaining Shadow Operatives—gathered from former SEES members as the "Shadow Operative Auxiliary Staff"—vow to save the captives and solve the mystery behind the events.

The story is divided into four episodes: Episode P4A (DLC), Episode P3, Episode P4 and Episode Adachi (DLC). With the exception of Episode P4A—which is a summary of the events in Persona 4 Arena—the story episodes convey Persona 4 Arena Ultimax's narrative through the perspective of their titular characters, without following an individual character chapter format like P4A did. The requirement to start Episode P3 and Episode Adachi is the completion of Episode P4.

In addition to the 9 new playable characters, every character also has a playable Shadow version of themselves (except for Elizabeth, Shadow Labrys, Sho, Minazuki, Adachi, Marie and Margaret):

• Golden Arena Mode
  
  New mode introduced in Ultimax, GAM resembles the BlazBlue series' Abyss Mode. Players pick one of four difficulty settings and battle AI opponents in order to advance floors in a dungeon, gaining EXP in the process. When a character gains a certain amount of EXP, they level up and players are able to distribute attribute points to any of 5 status parameters: Strength, Magic, Endurance, Technique and Luck.
  
  Leveling up will also grant players with new skills to equip. Characters can be equipped with a max. of 4 skills and there are over 100 in total. Special skills can also be obtained by defeating boss enemies at certain floors.
  
  When starting this mode, players can choose a navigator character to be their partner. As players battle accompanied by their partner, their Social Link level with the partner will increase, granting the navigator with special skills that will help the player in fights.​
• Story Mode
  
  The 20+ hour long story Mode is divided into two branches: one for the Persona 3 perspective called "Episode P3" and one for that conveys the Persona 4 characters' perspective of the story called "Episode P4." There are two DLC story chapters as well: one featuring a recap of the story from the first Persona 4 Arena and the other featuring Adachi.​
• Arcade Mode
  
  Standard arcade mode where players pick a character and fight through a series of opponents, with minimal amounts of story inserted in-between fights.​
• Score Attack Mode
  
  Returning from P4A, SA mode consists of choosing one of four difficulty settings, facing a series of opponents and trying to achieve the highest score possible.​
• Lesson Mode
  
  A tutorial mode which teaches players the intricacies of the game systems and mechanics.​
• Versus Mode
  
  Standard VS. mode where two players playing locally can fight against each other.​
• Training Mode
  
  Standard Training mode where players can practice combos and techniques in specific situations against a programmable AI opponent.​
• Challenge Mode
  
  A mode in which players are required to complete character specific combos which progressively increase in difficulty.​
• Replay Theater
  
  Where players can view matches they saved against online opponents.​
• Gallery Mode
  
  Where players can rewatch cutscenes, look at different story scene images and listen to the Sound Test.​

• Player Matches
  
  Players can face each other in non-ranked matches in lobbies of up to 8 players.​
• Ranked Matches
  
  Players fight in ranked matches, gaining character specific rank points (PSR) as well as a general grade ranking based on their skill level, which can increase or decrease depending on overall performance.​
• Lobby
  
  Much like BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, players can roam around in virtual lobbies with a custom avatar of their choice, communicating with other players and fighting against them.​

HP Gauge

Gauge that indicates a character's remaining health. When the bar is completely depleted, the character will lose the round.

A blue gauge represents temporary health loss, which will recover over time but will disappear if the character is hit. Blue health occurs when a character receives chip damage, when a character uses a Furious Action (see: Controls) and when a character cancels a special into a super.

Different characters have different amounts of HP.

SP Gauge

Gauge that indicates a character's remaining special gauge, which is used for moves that require SP such as supers or One More! cancels.
The maximum amount this gauge can reach is 100 SP, however that increases to 150 SP upon Awakening (see: Game Systems).

Burst Gauge

Gauge that represents a character's ability to Burst. When the gauge is full, a character is able to Burst. When the gauge is only a B, Burst is unavailable while the gauge is slowly refilling. When the Burst gauge is covered by a red X, a Burst cannot be used in that specific moment (i.e. during an opponent's super).

Persona Gauge

Gauge that indicates a Persona's remaining cards, which represents their health. When a Persona is hit, they will break, removing one card from the Persona Gauge. When all cards are gone, the Persona is broken and any move requiring a Persona will be temporarily unavailable until the gauge refills.

Different characters have different amounts of Persona cards.

Round Timer

Represents the time remaining in a round. When the timer hits 0, the opponent with the most HP will win the round.

Round Indicator

Represents the amount of rounds won or rounds left to win in order to take the match.

Additionally, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax introduces a new gameplay mechanic similar to the Guard Cancel: the Quick Escape Cancel. They're performed in a similar way as Guard Cancels: 6+A+C during block stun, which will perform a Quick Escape while the opponent is attacking, costing 50 SP.

• Auto-combo
  
  Pressing A repeatedly while hitting an opponent will lead to a unique, automatic combo that will also automatically perform special moves and end with a super move if the character has the 50 SP to activate it.​
• Awakening
  
  Once a character's HP is reduced to around 35%, the character will enter Awakening mode, shown by the change in color for their HP and SP Gauge, as well as a close-up image of the character's eyes. Once having entered Awakening, the maximum value of the SP gauge will become 150 SP instead of 100 SP, the damage a character receives will be reduced by around 60% and a special set of supers known as "Awakening supers" will become available to activate.​
• Shadow characters
  
  New mechanic introduced in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Shadow characters differ in the following ways from their normal counterparts (with the exception of the Shadow Labrys that uses Asterius):
  
  - Shadows cannot Burst.
  - Shadows cannot enter Awakening mode.
  - Shadows maintain their SP between rounds.
  - Shadows of returning Persona 4 Arena characters use different auto-combos compared to their normal counter-parts.
  - Shadows deal 20% less damage than normal ones.
  - Shadows can activate Shadow Frenzy by pressing A+C+D (the typical Burst button combination) with 100 SP. During Shadow Frenzy, SP use is rendered unlimited for a period of time, with a timer that gradually lowers and depletes faster when SP required abilities are used. During this period, special moves can also be cancelled into each other.
  - Shadows have 2,000 more HP than their normal counterparts.
  - Shadows can activate Awakening Supers whenever they want to, given the necessary amount of SP.​
• S Hold System
  
  New system introduced in P4AU, holding A for a period of time will increase the S Hold gauge, activating special moves and supers—depending on how long the button is held—that can have special properties.​
• Skills
  
  Unique attacks that are usually performed with 236 and 214 motions.​
• SP Skills
  
  More powerful, EX variations of normal skills which cost 25 SP to perform.​
• Supers
  
  Powerful attacks that cost 50 SP to activate.​
• Skill Boost Supers
  
  New to Ultimax, SB Supers cost 75 SP and are more powerful versions of normal supers (e.g. Chie summoning two fists from the sky for her God Hand instead of one).​
• Instant Kill
  
  True to the name, IK moves are moves that can only be performed when a player has one round remaining to take a match and also has 100 SP. These are special moves that will immediately end a match if they successfully hit an opponent.​

Certain attacks and abilities inflict negative status effects on opponents. These status effects can only be removed in one of two ways: by landing a successful hit on the opponent or by waiting a certain amount of time before the status effect disappears. Characters can be affected by multiple status effects at the same time.

• Poison
  
  The character's HP gradually decreases, accompanied by a heartbeat sound.​
• Confusion
  
  The player's left and right directional controls are reversed.​
• Fear
  
  Any hit the character receives will be a fatal counter and the character will be unable to escape throws while afflicted by this effect.​
• Rage
  
  Characters afflicted by this are unable to block, however their attack power increases by 20%. This status effect is not removed once a hit is landed on the opponent.​
• Mute
  
  Characters are unable to use their Personas while this effect is active, disabling abilities such as supers and Burst.​
• Shock
  
  Characters are unable to move in any way except for using: Quick Escapes and Short Hops.​
• Charm
  
  Characters will have their SP slowly drained and added to the opponent's SP gauge, even if the charmed character's SP gauge is at 0.​
• Freeze
  
  The character is unable to move while frozen. The effect is removed once the character is hit, or by rapidly alternating left and right on the directional inputs.​
• Negative Penalty
  
  This effect is inflicted when a player runs away from their opponent for too long. A warning will be given to a player in danger of being afflicted by this and, unless the character proceeds to then approach the opponent, they will receive a Negative Penalty. Their defense will dramatically reduce and the penalty will only go away when the character becomes more aggressive (such as advancing towards the opponent).​

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OFFICIAL WEBSITES

P4U2 Website (JP) | P4AU Website (NA)

INFORMATION

Dustloop Wiki | Megami Tensei Wiki

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List of Players | Sign-up Form

 

[Pics_nao]

Praise Makoto

 

[Hasemo]

Nice ot.
Can't wait for that JP PS+ trial next week to know if it'll run on my EU ps3 that I brought here with me.

 

[ranmafan]

Nice timing, I just preordered the premium edition last night. Looking forward to playing this next week.

 

[LumpOfCole]

Will this come to Playstation Now, you guys think? I never owned a PS3 and I no longer own a 360.

 

[Style]

Great job with the thread, Flux! Don't think I'm going to import, but I subscribed nevertheless.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I'm still undecided, i really want to play P4U2 but the US version will be there one month later v_v

Anyway, if it's region free, i'll probably buy the JP digital version, i'm weak.

 

[LelouchViBritannia]

Sweet

 

[Astarte]

I can't wait! That's a pretty damn good op btw

 

[catmario]

Oh... It's time to get this title!

 

[Smooth Operator]

I'll use that one, thanks op !

 

[SolarKnight]

This, AAvsLayton, and Azure Strike Gunvolt next week

It's as if god hates my wallet X__X

 

[bobawesome]

I didn't realize it was coming out so soon. I've still hardly touched Arena since buying it 2 years ago.

 

[PK Gaming]

It's up!

Beautiful OT, just beautiful, your hard work totally paid off.

The SHO begins.

 

[Dugna]

This wait is going to kill me, don't have the money to import this but I have the NA version already completely paid off.

 

[Nachos]

Killer OT, Flux.

 

[Mdesilva]

IT'S SO CLOSE

Can't wait!!!

 

[Slixshot]

Woah. That OP is crazy good. Love it. This should be the OP for the regular release too :O

 

[Askherserenity]

This OT is killing me. Fuck. Really want the Japanese limited edition...I just don't have the money for it. So expensive once shipping is included. Blah.

 

[Busaiku]

MARY

 

[RoeBear]

MARY

Those huge spoilers for Golden lol. Don't play against Marie if you don't want P4G spoiled.

Really nice job on the OT Flux. Looks really good.

 

[PreyingShark]

I hadn't seen Adachi's English title yet.

Hahahahaha, it's so perfect.

 

[MiguelMexMIstery]

Awesome OT, Flux!

Praise Makoto

First post nailes it.

 

[Mdesilva]

Oh, hey. I was the first person to register for the Player List.

Spoiler

I accidentally did something weird so the available playtimes look fucked up though.

Will this come to Playstation Now, you guys think? I never owned a PS3 and I no longer own a 360.

Probably not And even if it did, unfortunately streaming a framerate-dependent game like an FG just isn't really going to hold up.

 

[Slaythe]

If anybody interested in sharing the honk kong version digitally with me , pm me.

I have unib on that account, but if that doesn't interest i'll just get half the price in card from play asia.

Do we know the price for it yet ?

But I guess we have to wait next week to see if it's region free, then HURRY before play asia closes (friday => week end xD)

 

[Ragingnight]

they just showed adachi and marie eng trailer on WNF

 

[FluxWaveZ]

Oh, hey. I was the first person to register for the Player List.

Spoiler

I accidentally did something weird so the available playtimes look fucked up though.

I think it should be good, now. I'm not used to handling Google docs., so I'll be overseeing it to make sure it doesn't get crazy.

And I'm glad people like the OT! Was kinda worried that I would end up messing up my first.

Here is the archive for the Adachi and Marie trailers that Atlus USA just revealed on stream.

 

[Love Deterrence]

Wow! Brilliant OT, Flux. Unfortunately, I won't be importing, but I do plan on keeping up with the thread and impressions within! ^_^

 

[irfaanator]

I'd rather wait and buy it, but I'd be up for a gameshare. I can't start one since I've used up all my slots (don't know if that matters if I gameshare with someone else).

 

[ZeroX03]

Fuck yes, game looks awesome. Day one digital on my US account.

Trophy list is much easier than last time around too.

 

[RedGraveXIII]

Great job Flux! THE HYPE IS PALPABLE.

 

[Jotamide]

Amazing OT subtitle.

 

[OmegaSmash]

Finished the story just in time for this! Kinda sad that it's 60$ this time, but it seems to have a lot more content added so I don't mind it.

Is there a good place see all the character changes between P4A and P4AU console? Really want to know how my main (Chie) is doing in the new game.

 

[Lemstar]

Do we know the price for it yet ?

Asian PSN store update blog post comes out on Tuesday over there (Monday out west), so you'll have plenty of time in advance to figure out how much PSN credit to buy. Based on the 7000JPY cost, I'm expecting something like $410 HKD.

For the few of you who were interested in getting the game through me, I'll be in touch on Monday.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

Is there a good place see all the character changes between P4A and P4AU console? Really want to know how my main (Chie) is doing in the new game.

Dustloop dedicated character forums can be a decent place to find P4A > P4AU changes, though I'm not sure of a centralized place to find that info for all characters after patch 1.10. Here's a CL for Chie, though some of it might be inaccurate after 1.1.

 

[Skilletor]

Preordered and ready to download.

Been playing some p4a in preparation. Can't wait for this!

 

[IrrelevantAlex]

Asian PSN store update blog post comes out on Tuesday over there (Monday out west), so you'll have plenty of time in advance to figure out how much PSN credit to buy. Based on the 7000JPY cost, I'm expecting something like $410 HKD.

For the few of you who were interested in getting the game through me, I'll be in touch on Monday.

Excellent, I'm definitely interested.

 

[Auron_Kale]

The urge to import the JP version is rising, but I'm trying to stay strong... The Famitsu DLC colors are so tempting though.

I still need to buy a proper stick for this game which also will put a dent in my budget.

 

[ScraftyDevil]

Shh. Do you guys hear that?

That's the sound of a new era.

THE ERA OF DA MAN

ALL SHALL CRUMBLE BEFORE HIS MAGNIFICENCE UNTIL THIS WORLD IS BUT DUST FLOATING AMIDST THE COSMIC WINDS

 

[hao chi]

Very nicely done with the thread, Flux. Can't believe this game is finally less than a week away. I'm stupidly hyped for this game.

Quick question though: did they change the input for guard cancels? Or did you just accidentally put 6A+C instead of 6A+B?

I'm really hoping you didn't make a mistake. No more accidental SB attacks and AoA's when trying to guard cancel would be great.

 

[FSLink]

Still not a fan of the neon blue color for the interface everywhere. Yellow+black was much more appealing to the eyes.

Hm I'd import but it's not that long of a wait. Maybe I'll get it on PSN and gameshare it.

 

[hao chi]

Still not a fan of the neon blue color for the interface everywhere. Yellow+black was much more appealing to the eyes.

Hm I'd import but it's not that long of a wait. Maybe I'll get it on PSN and gameshare it.

I'm happy that they got rid of all the yellow for blue. Not really a fan of yellow myself.

 

[FSLink]

I'm happy that they got rid of all the yellow for blue. Not really a fan of yellow myself.

I'd prefer blue but the blue they picked is just bright as hell, and really clashes with all the new red stages to me.

 

[RockderBanja]

Great OT Flux. Registered for the player list can't wait to play you guys.

Shh. Do you guys hear that?

That's the sound of a new era.

THE ERA OF DA MAN

ALL SHALL CRUMBLE BEFORE HIS MAGNIFICENCE UNTIL THIS WORLD IS BUT DUST FLOATING AMIDST THE COSMIC WINDS

I acknowledge the power of Da Man, but can he beat Yosuke? There's only room for one second banana.

 

[GotchaForce]

What's the latest tier list? What characters are they introducing (if any) that aren't in the arcade version?

 

[RockderBanja]

What's the latest tier list? What characters are they introducing (if any) that aren't in the arcade version?

Not sure about the tier list as of now, but the console exclusive characters are Rise Kujikawa, Ken Amada, Marie (dlc), Adachi Tohru (dlc), and Margaret (dlc).

 

[hao chi]

What's the latest tier list? What characters are they introducing (if any) that aren't in the arcade version?

Yosuke and Yu are at the top, and Da Man and Liz are at the bottom.

I don't really remember enough of the other characters to give more than an incomplete tier list though.

 

[PK Gaming]

What's the latest tier list? What characters are they introducing (if any) that aren't in the arcade version?

Last I checked, the arcadia tier list was something like this:

S: Yosuke, Yu
A+: Minazuki, Aigis, Akihiko
A: Teddy, Sho, Yukari, Shadow Labrys, Mitsuru, Shadow Chie
B: Naoto, Junpei, Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Shadow Mitsuru, Shadow Yu
C: Elizabeth, Labrys, Rest of the Shadow Versions

Keep in mind, it barely takes the 1.1 changes into account, but I think that's a rough estimate of what the P4AU metagame looks like. The game is rather top-heavy, though pretty much everyone has access to stupid bullshit

 

[ShogunDarius]

I'm gonna have to import this but I have one question, does this game use save data from the previous game at all?

 

[Ken]

It comes out only a month later in NA so I really should save my money and not import but oof.

Dear Ken,

Thank you for placing an order with AmiAmi!

[AmiAmi Exclusive Bonus][Bonus] PS3 Persona 4 The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold Limited Edition (w/First Comers Bonus)(w/Smartphone Stand)(Preorder)

i hate myself