My sparring partner also wants to main Elizabeth...
Looks like my main will be Labrys from now on. I was originally planning on using Chie or Narukami as my main before the game released. Maybe that will change in the unlikely case that they introduce Tatsuya Suou as a DLC character.
If you spread a rumour about it maybe it'll come true.
Well, I warned you. These are more direct spoilers.
So as I said before, the story mode of Persona 4 Arena is great, one of the first 360/PS3 titles where I actually genuinely like resulting narrative. I don't even know if I've ever felt this way for other titles in this generation where I wanted to like the storylines, and that includes titles like Metal Gear Solid 4. On top of that, I am one who honestly didn't expect much of the story at all and was errenously predicting that it would be utter garbage. This manifested along the lines of "I think I'm gonna main Labrys because I liked her character design from the game's cover, but it's a fighting game so her story is probably generic Guilty Gear-esque rubbish."
In the 360/PS3 era my attitude towards game storylines have generally been apathetic and honestly it wasn't any different with Persona 4 Arena. My close-minded attitude isn't exactly unfounded--other than Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP game, doesn't count) I can't really think off the top of my head of any other game where the story at least interested me. Most other titles either disappointing or were really irritating for me to even consider decent storytelling. I'm sure there are games out there that really prove otherwise, but that's for another topic. Also, because it was a fighting game, my judgement was to base it on the standard set by Guilty Gear and BlazBlue--and not as an actual piece of relevant Persona fiction.
A lot of effort has been put into the writing, more than you would expect for a fighting game. The story mode is presented like a visual novel from the perspective of every single playable character in the game except for Shadow Labrys, who serves as the main antagonist of the game. The visual novel presentation is probably off-putting to most other people, I'd bet, but I've read a few visual novels before so I didn't really have a problem getting into it. While it's presented as a visual novel and the actual gameplay parts of it are little to no challenge at all; and while a lot of the scenes, particularly the intros and epilogues of the story, are similar or even identical; it is well over 30-40 hours worth of storyline. To get through all of it is nearly as long as actually playing the entirety of the original Persona 4.
Each character tells the story in a different way, reflective of their actual personalities. In Narukami's case, the story presents itself similarly to Persona 3 and 4, providing the player with numerous dialogue choices with little/no significance to the outcome of the storyline; as well as a lot of interaction with the Velvet Room, a staple of the Persona series. Other characters reflect on their past flaws in previous games, which are mentioned in a bit of detail for those who have never played the previous games before, and are forced to overcome their personal problems once more. In the case of the Persona 3 original characters, it's a chance to get a glimpse at what some of the cast of Persona 3 has been doing while completely outside of the audience's view. The two unique story modes belong to Labrys and Elizabeth; completing the former is required in order to access Elizabeth's story as well as the true ending of the game, which is blocked off by cliffhanger ends. In all story modes, the theme of friendship and truth is prevalent, just as it was in Persona 4. The overall quality of the writing is actually surprising--it's not just better than most other fighting game story modes, it's on par with previous Persona games. I wouldn't be surprised at all if most of the sales from this game are actually from serious Persona/JRPG/etc. fans who are only playing the game for its storyline and not because the want a Persona-themed Guilty Gear clone to screw around with.
Which brings me to Labrys' story mode, which serves as the backstory for the P-1 Grand Prix; completing this is not only required to see the game's true ending, it's also the best chapter in the entire game, despite having only one fight. The overall narrative starts off as simplistic, monotonous computer statements; gradually the dialogue starts to form more detailed sentences, eventually becoming natural, humanlike introspection. And as this narrative develops, so too did my empathy for Labrys--despite becoming completely self-aware, she and her kind are continuously treated insensitively; as nothing more than science projects and curiosities by the Kirijo Group researchers. It's no wonder that their treatment of her eventually drives her to near insanity, despite being a mere AI from the perspective of scientists who couldn't properly fathom the idea of robopsychology. The idea behind the story is not anything new, but the way it is executed is extremely well-written and poignant. Even when I go back to playing the story modes of other characters from the very beginning, i.e. Mitsuru and Narukami--Labrys' despair completely seeps into the hints laid out which foreshadow the reasoning behind the Grand Prix, Labrys' dungeon in the TV world. For this reason, Labrys is probably the first and only fighting game unique character whose story and background I actually genuinely like and care about. I've never felt this way about other characters I main in other fighters. (Labrys counts as unique because she was designed specifically for this game, unlike other licensed characters) Not that the other characters are that bad, but they don't really count because they come from a JRPG, so they already have a huge wealth of story from another genre to depend on.
Off-topic note, but I couldn't help but contemplate how Teddie, one of the (one of my favorite) characters from Persona 4, would have been an unlikable and annoying joke character had he been created for any other fighting game and not a unique character from a JRPG. I probably would not have cared for most of the other secondary characters either (i.e. Yosuke, Mitsuru, Elizabeth, etc.) had been created for any other fighter.
Kind of telling when an ordinary looking kid with giant expensive-looking headphones and an obsession with trashcans is somehow way more interesting of a character than Sol Badguy...
And yes, I am aware that Labrys was mentioned in a Persona 3 Drama CD before. I've never listened to it, though. Maybe that doesn't exactly make her 100% unique to fighters.
I never really cared about the malevolent entity that reveals itself just before the epilogue of the game as the culprit. I'm hearing theories that it might be a certain major antagonist from Persona 2, and as irrelevant conjecture I would concur. However, the narrative could do without it and still be an interesting story--it just reeks of foreshadowing an actual main Persona series sequel, which is really of no surprise to anyone who knows just how successful the Persona series is.
Elizabeth's story mode isn't exactly required reading unless you are a huge fanboy/fangirl of the Persona 3 protagonist, though it is pretty funny to read. In short, she blows up a television and waltzes into battles between other characters with a fabulous introduction.
