I’m a good dancer—in real life and video games. I grew up in the big rave/club era, which happened to coincide with the rise of video game dance games like Bust a Groove and Space Channel 5. I have “the rhythm.” The secret to dancing is you’ve got to let the music into your heart. You’ve got to let go of inhibitions and give yourself to the beat. And you’ve got to practice! That helps the most, actually. And boy, oh boy, have I practiced dancing and playing rhythm games!

The latest, and hilariously improbable, dance game to set the video gaming world ablaze is Persona 4 Dancing All Night. Yes, Persona! The demon-centric, super-talky cult classic that has gone from the strange kid in the back of the JRPG class to the very popular one in recent years. While I never got on the Persona train, I’ve admired the stellar art designs and willingness to be weird. And that weirdness has blossomed into this unique visual novel/dance rhythm game mashup.

Most rhythm games aren’t known for their stories as the focus is on the music and the gameplay, but P4D has a massive story mode with hours of text to consume. Yes, hours. The story is centered on wannabe idols and the studios that manage them. Something strange is a foot, as weird demons that prey on peoples’ insecurities are stealing the characters, and the only way to get them back is to…dance! You’ve got to dance the insecurities away and free them so they can come to terms with their issues. In a way it’s kind of genius, because I can tell you a great night of dancing can be very therapeutic. While you can’t “dance your problems away,” in real life, you can get your mind better shape to deal with them.

The characters run the gamut of just about every anime archetype. From the mean boss lady to the super-loud rowdy guy to the ridiculously naïve cute little girl and more. The design of the characters, and the backgrounds for that fact, are superb. Even if you grow tiresome of the waves of text, you can at least admire the sharply detailed artwork of the game. And yes, there is a chance you’re going to grow tiresome of the text. It’s interesting to a point, but after thirty straight minutes of talking and sound effects, it can start to wear. The English dub is solid and the sound effects charming, but it is a lot of words.

Luckily, you can fast-forward! Which makes the text whiz by super fast and becomes its own accidental game as you try to catch pieces of it to keep up with the story. Well, it became a game for me. I am not known for my patience.

Of course, you can skip the story mode and just party down in the regular dancing mode. And speaking of the dancing, having played numerous rhythm games with all kinds of set ups, this one feels very natural. The designers took advantage of PS Vita’s structure and built the game around that. Like just about every rhythm game ever made, you have to hit the correct button when that specific graphic slides over the onscreen image of it. In this case, on the right side it’s the triangle, circle and X buttons. On the left side, it’s the up, left and down directions on the D-Pad. Basically, “top, out, and down” on both sides of the Vita, which makes it very easy to remember which button to press. The only difficulty are the rings that come between the beats, because you have to move the analog stick in any direction when the ring matches up. That’s where the real challenge lies. 

The other major factor in the worth of a rhythm game is, of course, the hot jams. And this game has a lot of great songs. And some rather unusual ones, but that sort of makes sense given it's a Persona game. The music is mainly bubblegum J-Pop hits, but there are some other jazz and rock elements thrown in there as well. Overall, it’s a solid track list to get down to. The dance moves themselves are also really fun. Although when you play, you don’t really get to watch them that closely as you’re keeping your peepers peeped on the notes so you don’t miss any.

The game also features a ton of wacky costumes and accessories you can dress you characters up with by earning currency in the game. You can get money from free dance mode as well as story mode. And there’s a ton of DLC. Thankfully, it’s all tucked away in the DLC corner, they don’t beat you over the head with it at all.

Great dance game with the story mode to end all story modes. I found it to be a little too talky, but tuned in from time to time and found it interesting. Especially because like many slightly overweight 42-year-old men, I have a mild obsession with Japanese Idol Groups and the story is centered around that. The dancing and song lists are rock solid and should provide hours and hours of dance floor fun.

Hint: You don’t actually have to hit the rings if you don’t want to, but it makes the game way more challenging and will build your fever bar faster.

by Urian Brown