The release of Persona 4 in Japan was accompanied by merchandise such as character costumes and accessories. During localization, numerous alterations to Japanese cultural references were made to preserve the effect as much as possible. The developers added many in-game events to prevent the game from becoming stale. The rural setting was based on a town on the outskirts of Mount Fuji and intended as a ''nowhere' place' and is the central setting to have players sympathize with the daily life of the characters.

The plot of Persona 4 was inspired by the work of mystery novelists owing to its murder mystery premise. During his year-long stay, he becomes involved in investigating mysterious murders with a group of friends while harnessing the power to summon physical manifestations of their psyches known as a Persona. The player-named protagonist is a high-school student who moved into the countryside from the city for a year. Persona 4 takes place in a fictional Japanese countryside and is indirectly related to earlier Persona games. It was re-released as a PlayStation 2 Classic for the PlayStation 3 in April 2014.

It is chronologically the fifth installment in the Persona series, itself a part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise, and was released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan in July 2008, North America in December 2008, and Europe in March 2009 as one of the final major exclusives for the system.

Persona 4, released outside Japan as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, is a 2008 role-playing video game by Atlus.

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