As I've had an extensive history with Persona 4 Arena's older sisters BlazBlue and Guilty Gear XX #Reload, I felt I knew basically what kind of experience I had in store with Arc System Works' latest 2D anime fighter. I was wrong, as it turns out, in a surprising and endearing way.

Now, while my knowledge of Arc System Works' back catalogue is virtually all-encompassing, my know-how of the Persona series is substantially less-than, which is to say "nonexistent." What a shock it was, then, to be thrown head-first into a developed, storied world with characters I've never known and places I've never seen, only to come out the other side deeply invested and hungry for more. Without a doubt, no fighting game has ever made me care about its characters like this.

Persona 4 Arena gave me feelings.