Gameplay-wise, I'd say there's not much difference between P4 and SMTIV. You'll still need to exploit the enemy's weakness and continue upgrading your party through demon fusion. However, players familiar with the Persona games might be intimidated by the dificulty in SMT games. In P4, new demons are gained by the card shuffle at the end of battle. In SMTIV, you have to get the new demons THROUGH demon conversation, where you have to convince the demon to join your party with completely random answers. Failing in demon conversation will grant your enemies an extra turn, which then could cause the death of your whole party, one of the headaches I had with the game

I'd say the major difference between P4 and SMTIV is in the story. SMTIV's story is much more grim compared to P4. It touches on some mature themes involving morality and religion. The story is always the high-point in SMT games, and SMTIV does not disappoint. There is no clear line between good and evil, and it is very hard to tell which is the right choice between the two warring factions in the game. However as pointed out by many reviewers, the three major characters in the game is extremely boring, a far cry from the cast of likeable characters in P4.

Personally, I liked Persona 4 better than SMT IV. The interesting characters and social links just gave it an edge over SMTIV. I almost cried by the time Never More played during the credits, lol. But I'd say if you want to experience a game with darker storyline and higher dificulty than P4, go ahead and pick it up. It'll be worth your while.

This post has been edited by ballistix89: Oct 16 2013, 06:04 PM