Game Name: Persona 4 Golden
System: Playstation Vita (Playstation TV)
Category: Hard Golden Ending
Gameplay Estimate: 10:20
Ending/Bonus Estimate: 0:15 ending (Normally included in timing, may not be necessary for the marathon), incentives see below
Pros:
+ Persona 4 is among the most beloved PS2-era JRPGs, and the only marathon viable modern Persona game. Persona 5 was one of the biggest releases of the last year and the series has hit relative mainstream popularity; Persona 4 can be credited for setting much of the foundation and was the launching pad that began to bring the series into the mainstream (receiving two spinoff fighting games, an Etrian Odyssey crossover, a music game, a manga adaptation, two separate anime adaptations and and an OVA, 4 stage plays, and an annual concert series dedicated to its music, among a sea of merchanidise)
+ In the last year, the game has had 5 different reroutes, discovered RNG manipulation for grinding and WR has dropped by 20 minutes. My own time has dropped by over an hour and a half. Almost 20 fusions have been cut from the run compared to last year as well (almost 1/3 of the fusions). The run also has gone from 3 runners on the leaderboard to 7 over the same time frame, with an 8th unlisted runner.
+ The only point of significant marathon RNG is now at the beginning in getting the 3 core Personas from random pick ups (I can create a backup save but the highest variance should be about 5-10 minutes). The discovery of RNG manipulation for grinding significantly lowers the variance in grinding as it removes what used to be the biggest factor in quickly leveling to take on the bosses, especially early.
+ The route itself has a great sense of progression. Boss strats are varied and change over the course of the run depending on what reliable different sources of damage are available. Despite the increased difficulty and decreased damage of Hard mode, bosses never feel like damage sponges; rather they are more like calculated fights where smart play makes the difference between a fast fight and a near certain death. Knowledge of boss patterns and abilities is readily apparent between top level runners and even those who played the game multiple times casuall.
+ Donation incentives and money-raising potential for this game is incredibly high, if not unmatched. It's also had a marathon showing during the SMT Speedrunning marathon, where the run held viewers from the HRDQ host and has had solid legs on Youtube. Neither SMT (the parent series) nor Persona have ever had a representative in the main RPGLB event.
+ If accepted, I intend to reach out to several people at Atlus and involved with the game to try to set up a fun interview. Additionally, there should be no shortage of amazing people to help with couch commentary during the run.
- The game is long. Due to the game's structure, there's a very clear separation between the dungeons themselves and the story/social elements of the game that, while endearing casually, can lead to the slower segments of this run. As I noted last year, the ratio is about 60/40 dungeon crawling to social events. If schedule time is an issue, the run can be split easily into two segments, each with significant incentives, and the reroute makes the split locations much more manageable than last year. Much like last year, the best locations for the split would be either after Shadow Mitsuo (About a 5:15 estimate for the first half) and Shadow Naoto (About a 6:30 estimate for the first half), with somewhere in between being a similarly solid option.
- The game's late mid suffers slightly due to reflect being significantly overpowered at the time we acquire it. That said, this only lasts for two dungeons before bosses outscale reflect's direct usefulness, and the final gauntlet of dungeons and bosses is an absolute treat with the different strategies employed.
[hidden]Naming the Main Character (8 characters for each first and last name) – Self explanatory. Costs no time, other than inputting it.
MC’s Girlfriend/Best Friend (Can choose from any party member) – While it hasn’t been fully tested, the worst case should add about 15 minutes. As a bonus, I can take them into the final fight without much affecting the strats used. Naoto, one of the girls is off limits unless I were to use a specially prepared "NG NG+" file so she may not be an option.
Duo the Final Boss: As an addition, I can fight the final boss using only two party members; the main character and the girlfriend/best friend specified above. This would likely add 10 minutes to the estimate and would significantly increase the difficulty of the final fight. If Rise wins the above bidding war, then I will have to take Chie into the fight.
Date or don’t date Marie – Marie is a very polarizing character as the major addition to the Vita port, due to her "tsundere" personality and "forced" storyline. Costs no time and doesn’t interfere with the Girlfriend incentive in any way.
Costume – Rolling  incentive. See the GameFAQs thread here: https://www.gamefaqs.com/vita/641695-persona-4-golden/faqs/65828 - most of the costumes that are not purchased can be obtained with minimal time/money investment. Much like Chrono Cross's text borders, they will have to be accrued over the course of the run unless we use a "NG+" file with them previously unlocked (may be used for another incentive as well)
Ending – We could start as a Bad End run and push up through Golden ending as certain milestones get reached (Bad > Normal > True > Golden). This incentive likely works best if the run were to close the marathon (i.e. X donation dollars for the total marathon to extend the run). Each ending is essentially an hour longer than the previous for estimate purposes.
Difficulty – similar to ending, but must be locked in at the start of the run. Very Easy > Easy > Normal > Hard. I can’t quantify the difference in time, other than that in theory, Very Easy would be a much shorter but less interesting run.
Dub (English vs JP) – with the undub now being created, it’s possible to have a bidding war between English and Japanese dub. This would cost no time but would not be a rolling incentive.
Dancing All Night – This would take 10 minutes max – would involve booting up a copy of Persona 4 Dancing All Night and either playing a high difficulty song or having the whole couch do a dance along. Or both. Could also be used to fill time if the first half ends ahead of schedule. https://www.twitch.tv/ghoul02/v/40006132
MC Cosplay – Self explanatory.
Gone Skiing – Can choose the party member that we go skiing with. Adds negligible time.
Sing the Junes theme– Every time the Junes theme plays, the runner and the couch has to sing along.
Attempt the Rainy Day Beef Bowl – A classic trip to the meat dimension. Normally not done in a speedrun, would maybe add a minute?
Play some animated cutscenes – Quite a variety to choose from. Normally skipped in a run, but some of them like the Concert would have an audience for sure. Add approximately 2-3 min per, depending on which. One of them is a song that the couch could sing along to. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R0vUAkEeZQ)
Yosuke’s weapon – Yosuke is supposed to use a pair of daggers, however, due to a few necessary quests for the run, we can have him choose between a pair of daggers, a pair of wrenches, a pair of fish, and two ears of corn. None of these would cost time to get or use, and he’s used for quite a few of the end game bosses.[/hidden]
Extra Notes: Although my PB and the current route fuses Mara as a final "utility persona", he is decidedly... inappropriate for the marathon. There are multiple alternatives that do not involve his fusion and cost minimal amounts of time.
Sample Run Videos:
SMT Marathon: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/172859499 (Outdated route but showcases marathon style commentary)
PB: