Persona 4 Arena
=== Setting and characters ===
The game takes place two months after the events of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 as well as two years after the Persona 3 FES's "The Answer" storyline. Like Persona 4, Persona 4 Arena takes place in the fictional, rural Japanese town of Inaba. However, most of the events occur in the TV world, a dimension that reflects people's feelings. In this game, the world takes the form of Inaba's Yasogami High School, which is divided in multiple areas that serve as arenas.
The game features characters from both Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 and its predecessor Persona 3. From Persona 4 comes its protagonist Yu Narukami, and his companions Yosuke Hanamura, Chie Satonaka, Yukiko Amagi, Kanji Tatsumi, Naoto Shirogane, and Teddie, who served as playable characters in the arcade version from the original game and take part in the competition. Rise Kujikawa, who served as combat support in Persona 4, serves as an MC in Persona 4 Arena and appears in the tutorial mode. The group was previously known as the Investigation Team solving a series of murders in Inaba and are reunited during the game's events. Other Persona 4 characters appearing in the game across the story include Yu's uncle and cousin, Ryotaro Dojima and Nanako Dojima respectively, and his guides Igor and Margaret who have been aiding him ever since Persona 4.
The playable characters from Persona 3 include: Aigis, Mitsuru Kirijo and Akihiko Sanada, who have aged in accordance with their appearances in Persona 3 and Persona 3 FES, set two years before Persona 4 Arena. The three of them are from the Kirijo Group that investigates cases related with creatures known as Shadows. Other characters from Persona 3 appearing in the game (as non-combatants) include Fuuka Yamagishi who serves as another navigator and Detective Kurosawa who was previously an officer in Persona 3.
The arcade edition's boss is a new character named Labrys, a robotic girl with similarities to Aigis. She was initially stated to be a playable character only in the console versions of the games, but she was added to the arcade editions on March 22, 2012, with the brand new Persona Ariadne. She was joined by Persona 3's Elizabeth, Margaret's younger sister, who is partnered with Thanatos as her Persona. On April 5, 2012. Shadow Labrys, the personification of Labrys' hidden feelings, also appeared in the arcade version on April 19, 2012, accompanied by the Shadow Asterios.
=== Story ===
The first four story modes focus on Yu Narukami, Chie Satonaka, Yosuke Hanamura and Yukiko Amagi. As Yu returns to visit Inaba for Golden Week, he and the others witness a commercial on the Midnight Channel for a fighting tournament, the "P-1 Grand Prix", hosted by what appears to be their friend Teddie. The tournament not only involves them, but also their companions Kanji Tatsumi and Naoto Shirogane. With their friends Rise Kujikawa, Kanji and Teddie missing, and Naoto absent, Yu, Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko decide to investigate. The following day, they enter the TV and find themselves stuck in a world resembling Yasogami High School. During the tournament, the group is forced to fight each other as they see illusions of their friends acting aggressive, while an impersonator of Teddie named General Teddie serves as the host. An impersonator of Rise provides commentary for the fights, with the real one trapped inside the TV world. They also meet Labrys, a girl without a Persona who entered the TV world, and suspect her Shadow is responsible for the tournament. Additionally, an unknown entity starts tricking fighters into believing he is their Shadows. After defeating all the opponents, the player learns that General Teddie is Labrys' Shadow in disguise, who attempts to kill the real Labrys.
Other connected storylines involve Yu's friends who are met in the tournament. The real Teddie finds himself trapped in the TV world before Yu and the others learn of the competition and discovers he has been impersonated by the host; Kanji accidentally falls into the TV world but believes the tournament is a dream; Naoto is hired by public safety to spy on the secret special forces group the Shadow Operatives and follows them into the TV world, where she finds herself in the P-1 Grand Prix.
The Shadow Operatives are explored in Mitsuru, Akihiko, Aigis and Naoto's story modes. Mitsuru is the leader of the Shadow Operatives, a group formed two years after the events of Persona 3 FES that battles Shadows. One of their anti-Shadow weapons, Labrys, disappears when Mitsuru's plane is hijacked. Mitsuru and Aigis track her to Yasoinaba and enter the TV world, joined by Akihiko and with Naoto in close pursuit. As a result, they become involved in the P-1 Grand Prix. Before encountering Labrys' Shadow, Yu and Aigis also meet a woman named Elizabeth who wishes to test their skills with their ability known as the Wild Card in order to obtain a new power. After leaving the TV world, Elizabeth gains insight on the nature of the Wild Card from Yu and Aigis, and she gains her own Fool Arcana, signifying the start of a journey.
Labrys' storyline features her creation and development at the Kirijo Ergonomics lab, where she was forced to fight other models of her series. She grew close to one of her sisters, #024, but was forced to destroy her too. She eventually escaped the lab, dealing a lot of damage to it in the process, and was recaptured and sealed away. After being abducted from Mitsuru's plane, she was tossed into the TV world, adopting a false personality based on that of an unknown girl in her memories while her Shadow created the tournament to make others feel what she felt.
The final part of the game, titled "Cliffhanger", starts after the appearance of Shadow Labrys in the tournament. Upon Shadow Labrys's defeat, Labrys accepts her Shadow, which turns into the Persona Ariadne. As they prepare to leave, the true mastermind behind everything takes control of Labrys to attack everyone. The mastermind reveals he has been working with the entity imitating the Persona users' shadows, his objective being to weaken the Persona users mentally so that their Personas will revert to shadows. He is defeated, and Labrys is freed as the culprit escapes. Before going back to investigate the culprit, Mitsuru tells the Investigation Team group to forget about everything. Labrys decides to join Mitsuru's group, while Aigis offers to help Labrys search for the girl in her memories. After the Shadow Operatives depart, Yu also reveals his intentions that the Investigation Team should continue working towards the same goal as Mitsuru.
flashback