Persona 4 Arena, a 2D fighting game spawned by ATLUS (creators of the Persona series) and Arc System Works (creators of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue) has now launched in North America on PS3 for $59.
The game, as you might expect, plops the Persona characters you know and love into a 2D fighting world featuring Arc System Works' signature flavour. The roster contains 13 "intricately balanced fighters," says a PlayStation.Blog post, mainly from the Persona 4 world (as well as a handful from Persona 3). The game offers a Story mode about 30-40 hours in length on top of an online play feature and a Japanese dub that can be toggled in the main menu.
However, Persona 4 Arena isn't just for hardcore fighting game fans, as the post explains,
"Are you a fan of the Persona RPGs but not too keen on fighting games? P4 Arena has been designed with accessibility in mind. It’ll still take a bit of practice and commitment to master the game’s intricacies, but just about anyone can pick it up, play, and feel like a contender. Are you an Arc System Works fan who doesn’t know anything about Persona? You’re in luck, because Persona 3 and 4 offer some of gaming’s most memorable characters."
The post also explains that there's plent of day-one cosmetic DLC that awaits for those who want more customization options.