By now I've spent more than 180 hours playing through Persona 3 and Persona 4 on my PS2, and this ugly little video (shot with an extremely old digital camera with zero video adjustment capabilities, so don't complain about the quality) shows my successful first attempt at defeating one of the last bosses in Persona 4 (the very last boss fight was much too long for a YouTube clip).
Overall, Persona 4's gameplay represents a small but significant improvement over Persona 3 (much-needed changes include direct control over party members, infinitely more varied dungeons, more useful S. Link-related bonuses, slightly better pacing etc.). The game is still too easy and way too long, but I had a lot of fun this time around.
Just about the only thing which the overrated Persona 3 did better was to include an unlockable hardcore dungeon (Monad) and a very tough optional miniboss (The Reaper).
Persona 4, First Playthrough:
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Total Playtime: 85 h (True Ending)
Final Party XP Levels: 83-86
Persona Compendium: 86%
S.Links Maxed: 10/19
Side Quests Finished: 38/50
Oh, and don't forget to check out Jeff Gerstmann and Vinny Caravella's Endurance Run of Persona 4 over at http://www.giantbomb.com
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