Persona 4 Golden

Playstation TV

Persona 4 is among the most beloved PS2-era JRPGs and the game later recieved an enhanced port to the Vita, which is usually cited as "the first game you buy when you get a Vita/PSTV". The series has exploded in popularity between multiple anime series, fighting games, rhythm games and the 5th proper game in the series. In a speedrun setting, the PS2 was the focus for many years but in the last few years, Golden has come into its own as a full fledged speedrun. In the last two years, RNG manipulation has significantly shortened the run, and new applications that allow chest items have come to light that significantly altered the end game, as we no longer have to max any Social Links. The fusion route has become a thing of beauty, requiring only 30 fusions from the inital 2 (initially, this was well over 60 starting from 5). My goal would be to give a true experience of why the game is amazing both casually and in a speedrun while going over everything in the game's history. Lastly, I'd like to reach out to Atlus and VAs for a call or other support.

Name the MC (first and last names, 8 character limit each)
Get a girlfriend/best friend - 10 min, Naoto requires "NG+" file. Cutoff about 4-5 hours in.
Costume - Rolling incentive. NG+ file has all options from start, NG file will gather as goes. Over 20+ options, would narrow to 6-8.
Date or don't date marie - Polarizing character, SL must be maxed for category regardless. Adds no time.
Sing along to True Story - + 1 min
MC Cosplay
Yosuke's weapon - Choose between Wrench, Fish or Corn. Used against a few late game bosses.

Strategies are very different over the course of the run; the strategy to beat Shadow Yukiko does not resemble Mitsuos or Izanami's at all. There's a real feeling of progression. The game has crazy amounts of incentive potential, with or without a "prepped" save file. This is a very popular game in a popular series that has never been shown in the main marathon
The game is very long and "SMT" deaths bump the estimate a little bit. While the dungeon crawling to everything else ratio is solid (60/40 the last time I checked), there's a clear divide and not much variation in scenery for the latter. And perhaps most unfortunately, cutscene skipping is accompanied by a VCR sound effect that means the incredible soundtrack struggles to show. Lastly, some incentives might require a "NG+" file that doesn't affect the route or run although these can be not taken if it's an issue.
Hard, Golden Ending
10:30
The classic category gets the games "truest" ending on the best difficulty. Hard means that attacks do 80% damage and characters take 120% but unlike Very Hard, experience and money are not affected in any way. Previous marathon VODs are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kis6r4PVbk4 (very old route), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8nYYXSTGsU (current route but slightly rusty). This is the most commonly run category for  the game with 9 runners on the leaderboard. The credits add 11 minutes and are included in estimate. Can be removed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXW1O08SOBY