WARNING: This article may contain spoilers for those of you who haven’t finished Persona 4 yet.

Sometimes, I just get the urge to put my social life on hold for a while and play marathon gaming sessions to my heart’s content. That’s exactly what I did with Persona 4 during my last vacation. It’s kind of ironic, considering that one of the distinguishing features of the game is its social link system.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the social link system,  this is how it works in a nutshell:  spending time with other characters in Persona 3 or 4 raises the main protagonist’s bond with that character. Level up events usually consist of ten sets of conversations lasting around a minute each.

Once a social link is at maximum level, it cannot reverse under any circumstances. Characters will often give gifts to your main character at this point in the relationship. What’s more, the main character  draws strength from those social links during the rough road ahead.

Nifty, isn’t it?  If only it were that simple. Unfortunately, the real world out there plays by a different set of rules.

(continue reading…)