Secondhand Serenade Biography

Secondhand Serenade

Secondhand Serenade
Origin	Menlo Park, California, USA
Genres	Acoustic rock, alternative rock,emo pop
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Warner/Glassnote
Website	Official Myspace
Members
John Vesely
Notable instruments
Guitar Piano Keyboards Vocals

Secondhand Serenade is an American acoustic rock band, led by vocalist and guitarist John Vesely. Vesely has released three studio albums to date under the name Secondhand Serenade: Awake in 2007, A Twist in My Story in 2008 and Hear Me Now in 2010. The debut album used multitrack recording to create the sound of a band using technology, while the second album took a different path, using a proper band and synthesizers to establish a more accomplished sound.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early history, first release (2004-2006) 1.2 Awake re-release (2007-2008) 1.3 A Twist in My Story (2008-2009) 1.4 Hear Me Now (2010-Present) 2 Discography 2.1 Studio albums 2.2 Singles 3 References 4 External links

[edit]History

[edit]Early history, first release (2004-2006)

John Vesely formed Secondhand Serenade in his home town of Menlo Park in California, USA, in 2004. Vesely was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area in a musical family and as the son of a professional jazz musician father, commenting that "getting into music was a natural thing" for him. He spent 8 years playing bass in local bands, featuring in a number of acts ranging in style from ska and hardcore to rock and pop. One of the bands he played in, Sounds Like Life, included fellow Bay Area artist Ronnie Day. After years of playing bass, he opted for an acoustic guitar. Vesely follows in the tradition of John Ondrasik's Five for Fighting. Vesely was also the son of a Czech immigrant.

Vesely began writing his own songs when he met his wife Candice Vesely. She had wanted him to play a song and "serenading her with a bass guitar was out of the question." He has admitted he found his "true calling" when he picked up the guitar. The pseudonym Secondhand Serenade is a reference to the way in which his songs were 'serenades' sung to his wife Candice, with whom he has two young sons. People around the world are merely getting to hear the songs 'second-hand.' While Vesely continues to market the affectionate biography, the couple broke up in 2008. Vesely was heart broken as can be seen in many of his songs. He released "A Twist In My Story" as a reference to the divorce.

In 2005, Vesely released his debut album titled Awake. It was recorded as a demo, after booking a few days at an Ontario studio earlier in 2005, "using just an acoustic guitar and his multi-tracked vocals." The album was promoted through the Secondhand Serenade Myspacepage and by playing local shows. The CDs were originally sold through mail order with a PayPal account by Vesely, eventually he signed up with distributor TuneCore, making Secondhand Serenade's songs available on music portals including iTunes. The album experienced tremendous online support, and by the end of 2006 Secondhand Serenade had received millions of plays on Myspace and had been the social-networking site's No. 1 Independent Artist for months. Financially, he was said to be bringing in up to $20,000 a month from downloads and merchandise sales out of his home. He sold over 15,000 copies of the album on his own, and on the strength of these sales and the support, naturally, the labels came knocking. Secondhand Serenade was signed by longtime label executive Daniel Glass, on his new labelGlassnote Records, which is distributed through Warner's Independent Label Group. In 2006, Rolling Stone announced Secondhand Serenade as #3 in the magazine's reader's poll for Best Myspace Artist.

[edit]Awake re-release (2007-2008)

In early 2007, Awake was reissued by Glassnote Records with an additional two songs. It was released on January 31 and gave Vesely his first chartings, debuting at #16 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart. Added success lead to it peaking at #164 on the Billboard 200, #3 on the Top Heatseekers and #19 on the Independent Albums chart.

In support of his first label release, Vesely was featured on MTV's You Hear It First, AOL Music's Breakers Yahoo! Music's Who's Next?and appeared on talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He also played numerous shows, including tours with the likes of Hawthorne Heights and The All-American Rejects and at music festivals South By Southwest and along side My Chemical Romance and Linkin Park at Bamboozle.

Secondhand Serenade released only one song as a single from the debut album, "Vulnerable". The song spawned a music video, which was created by Frank Borin who was responsible for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' video for hit single "Dani California". "Vulnerable" peaked at #83 on the Billboard Hot 100, #64 on the Pop 100 and #56 on the Hot Digital Songs charts.

[edit]A Twist in My Story (2008-2009)

A Twist in My Story was released on February 19, 2008 and features songs from Awake such as "Maybe" and "Your Call," but reproduced with a full band. The bulk of the album however is a list of new songs written by John Vesely and recorded with a full band. Two tracks on A Twist In My Story were produced by famed producer Butch Walker, while the others were produced by former Nine Inch Nails member Danny Lohner. The first single, "Fall for You," was released January 21, 2008. The album was leaked, and was made available for download one month before its official release. On January 28, 2008 the music video for the first single from the album "Fall for You" premiered on the MTV show TRL. In support of the release, Secondhand Serenade spent most of March and April touring with American bands Making April,Automatic Loveletter, and The White Tie Affair. Members of his touring band include Steve Shebby on bass guitar, Lukas Vesely (Vesely's brother) on keys/vox, Ryan Cook(former bassist of the White Tie Affair) on lead guitar/vox, and Tom Breyfogle on drums.

The title A Twist in My Story is a reference to Vesely's 2008 divorce with his former wife Candice, with whom he has two young sons.Vesely had separated with Candice in August 2007, the time when the tracks for A Twist In My Story were being created.

In November 2008 the album's first single "Fall for You", was certified Platinum by the RIAA. As of December 5, 2008 "Fall For You" was still #13 on the American Top 40 songs in the country.

The "Your Call" video premiered on FNMTV on December 5. It can be viewed on the FNMTV website.

He released a video for the song "Maybe" on his Myspace page on May 4, 2009. Its a video about his concerts and trips around the world and was shot and directed by his tour manager Preston Jones and his drummer Tom Breyfogle.

A Twist in My Story (Deluxe Edition) was released on February 3, 2009. It contains 5 bonus tracks including "Your Call" (Radio Version), "Fall for You" (Acoustic Version), "Like A Knife" (Acoustic Version), his single "Last Time", and the Coldplay cover "Fix You".

[edit]Hear Me Now (2010-Present)

Secondhand Serenade's third studio album is entitled Hear Me Now, and was released on August 3, 2010. The album's track listing has also been announced. In a recent interview, Vesely stated that the new record will be more upbeat than his last album, which focused on relationships.

“

Secondhand Serenade - singer/songwriter John Vesely - returns with his third album, Hear Me Now, out August 3rd on ILG/Glassnote Records. Eight of the eleven songs on the album were produced by Aaron Johnson (The Fray) at Swing House studios in Los Angeles. The other three, including the first single, "Something More", were produced by John Vesely himself along with Secondhand drummer Tom Breyfogle at Vesely's home studio and mixed by Mark Endert (Train, Maroon 5). "Something More" will debut at 7:40AM on May 17th on Kid Kraddick's nationally syndicated radio show and will be available at iTunes on June 1st.

”

On June 1, "Something More" was released onto iTunes as a deluxe single with a bonus track "You Are A Drug", a video showing the making of "Something More", and a digital booklet to the new single.

On July 21, while on tour in Dallas, Vesely announced that a downloadable track pack for Rock Band would be made available soon, featuring multiple Secondhand Serenade hits including "Fall For You".

On July 27, Vesely added the eleven tracks off of the new album to his Myspace and made them available for streaming for fans. Many of these songs have also leaked onto sites such as Youtube.

Vesely plans to release an EP following his current tour featuring all new acoustic songs. On November 23, 2010, Vesely released a free online download for a demo of a new song off the new EP entitled "Let Me In." The next single off the new album is a new version of "You & I" featuring Cady Groves

Persona 3

Characters

The main character of Persona 3 is a silent protagonist, named by the player at the start of the game. He is a teenage boy, orphaned as a child, returning to the city he grew up in ten years prior to attend Gekkoukan High School. After learning of his ability to summon a Persona, he joins SEES, which is composed of students at his school: Yukari Takeba, a popular, cheerful girl; Akihiko Sanada, a calm and collected senior who leads the school's boxing team; and Mitsuru Kirijo, the Student Council President and daughter of the head of the Kirijo Group, who provides backup during battle. As the game progresses, SEES gains several new members: Junpei Iori, a class clown and the Protagonist's (Minato Arisato) best friend; Fuuka Yamagishi, a shy girl who replaces Mitsuru as a support character; Aigis, a femaleandroid designed by the Kirijo Group to fight Shadows; Ken Amada, a middle schooler whose mother was killed by a Persona-user;Shinjiro Aragaki, a former member of SEES who quit due to past events; and Koromaru, a dog capable of summoning a Persona.

[edit]Story

Persona 3 begins with the Protagonist transferring to Gekkoukan High School, and moving into a dorm in the city. After learning of his ability to summon a Persona, he is asked to join SEES, and is eventually elected its leader in combat. Additional members join SEES over time, all students attending Gekkoukan: Junpei, who had only recently discovered his ability to summon a Persona; Akihiko, whose arm injury prevented him from fighting; and Fuuka, who replaces Mitsuru as the team's support member. After awakening to his Persona ability, the Protagonist is transported to the Velvet Room, which its proprietor, Igor, says is a realm between "dream and reality". Igor explains to him that his Persona ability is special: he is the only member of SEES capable of wielding multiple Personas in battle. In-game, the Velvet Room is where the player may fuse two or more Personas to create a new one. Igor also encourages the Protagonist to meet people and form bonds with them, known as Social Links. According to Igor, the power of his Social Links will determine his potential in combat.

On nights when the moon is full, the city is attacked by a Shadow more powerful than the ones found in Tartarus. After several of these incidents, Mitsuru is forced to reveal to the team the origin of Tartarus and the Dark Hour. Ten years earlier, the Kirijo Group, a research company founded by Mitsuru's grandfather, began amassing and containing Shadows. They studied and performed experiments on them, in order to harness their power. However, the experiments went awry, allowing the Shadows to escape and assemble into twelve larger creatures. Each is affiliated with one of the twelve Major Arcana. SEES's leader, Shuji Ikutsuki, informs them that, if they were to defeat all twelve of the greater Shadows, Tartarus and the Dark Hour would disappear forever.

As the year continues, the group adds two more Persona-users to their team: Ken and Koromaru. While vacationing in Yakushima, Junpei, Akihiko, and the Protagonist encounter Aigis, who had recently escaped the laboratory where she was kept, despite having been deactivated for years. For reasons she cannot explain, she has a need to be near the Protagonist, even breaking into his dorm room at night to monitor him. Aigis is also enlisted in SEES. It is revealed soon after that Shinjiro accidentally killed Ken's mother by losing control over his Persona; during an altercation between the two, Takaya threatens them both at gunpoint, when Shinjiro throws himself in front of his revolver, saving Ken's life and leading to his own death. After defeating the twelfth and final Shadow, SEES learns that they had been mislead by Shuji Ikutsuki. By destroying the greater Shadows, they have freed parts of a being known as Nyx, which will bring about the end of the world if it is fully restored. Nyx, or the "maternal being", is the creator of Shadows; she is drawn to Earth by The Appriser, or "Death", a Shadow of the Death arcanum. SEES encounters The Appriser disguised as Ryoji Mochizuki, a recent transfer student to Gekkoukan High School.

The Shadow experiments performed ten years earlier created the Death Shadow, albeit in an incomplete state.Aigis, unable to defeat the Shadow, sealed it inside the Protagonist, who was a child at the time. By defeating the twelve greater Shadows, the Death Shadow was recreated. Its purpose is to usher Nyx into the world, who will bring about the extinction of the human race. Ryoji insists that Nyx cannot be defeated; however, he offers SEES an alternative. If they were to kill him, their memories of the Dark Hour and Tartarus would vanish, allowing them to continue life unaware of their impending death. Aigis, who now realizes why she wanted to protect the Protagonist, begins to believe that she is useless. She urges SEES to kill Ryoji, as they cannot defeat Nyx. Through encouragement from her friends, however, she gains the resolve to join with SEES as they attempt to fight Nyx.

On December 31, New Year's Eve, the player must decide whether to kill Ryoji. If he is spared, then the game continues, and on January 31, SEES ascends to the roof of Tartarus to face Ryoji, who has transformed into the Nyx Avatar. While they are able to defeat him, Nyx continues to descend to Earth. As this is happening, the Protagonist is summoned to the Velvet Room, where Igor reminds him that the power of his Social Links would determine his potential. The Protagonist hears the voices of his friends encouraging him. The strength of his Social Links grants him the power of the "Universe", allowing him to seal away Nyx from humanity. The world returns to normal, though the memories of the past year are lost to the members of SEES. However, Aigis and the Protagonist do remember. On Graduation Day, the two go to the roof of the school, where the members of SEES had promised to meet should they stop Nyx and live to see their graduation. It is here that Aigis thanks the Protagonist for giving her a purpose in life: protecting him. Shortly afterwards, he closes his eyes, and is implied to have passed away

Gameplay

The Protagonist gains academic skills by studying in the school library. The upper-right area of the screen indicates the current date, time period, and phase of the moon.

Combining elements of traditional console role-playing games and simulation games, the gameplay ofPersona 3 involves following the day-to-day life of the game's protagonist, as he attends school and works to build relationships with other people. Each day is broken up into several periods of time, such as "Morning", "After School", or "Evening"; certain activities are restricted to certain times of the day. Free time can be spent engaging in a number of activities, including participating in a sports team or club meeting, seeing a movie, eating at a restaurant, or spending time with someone to improve a Social Link.

Social Links are bonds of friendship the Protagonist has formed with other characters, each associated with one of the Major Arcana. Each Link has its own narrative arc, starting at Rank 1; spending time with a Social Link character progresses their story, and increases the Rank of the Link. Increasing Social links usually needs certain conditions - attributes, friendship points, or require other social links or items. Bringing the Persona with the same Arcanum to the Social links will increase friendship level better, although it is not a must to achieve the social link. It is noted that leaving a social link unattended for too long, or doing something like meeting multiple girlfriends or selecting incorrect option in some social link may get the Arcanum reversed, preventing the Protagonist to summon that arcana's Personas unless it reverses back again. The worst case, however, may "break" the Arcanum which cannot be reverted again through the game.

The Protagonist has three social attributes—Academics, Charm, and Courage—which can be improved by engaging in specific activities. For example, studying after school or at night will increase Academics, correctly answering a question during a class increases Charm, and singing karaoke at night will increase Courage.Some Social Links cannot be started unless a specific attribute is at a certain level.

At night, the player may enter Tartarus, the primary dungeon of Persona 3. Tartarus is a tower containing over 250 floors, divided into several "blocks" . The floors of Tartarus are randomly-generated, each containing chests with money or items inside, enemies to fight, and a stairway to the next level. Certain floors contain mini-bosses that must be defeated before moving on, or having road-blocks that is inaccessible without certain movements in story, along with a teleport point which allows the player to return to the entrance of Tartarus (or returning from the entrance to that point). To fight Shadows, the player may bring into Tartarus up to three members of SEES, in addition to the Protagonist and the supporting-member (which is fixed and only changed once as story's movement) who did not engage in battles; these five characters comprise the player's "party". The condition of members of the player's party will worsen as they continue to participate in battles. A "tired" or "sick" character will perform worse in battle, and must be given time outside of Tartarus to recover. Every full-moon day's midnight the story's plot will have a big movement, which they're usually accompanied with boss battles, which may, or may not happen in Tartarus.

[edit]Combat

A typical battle in Persona 3. The portraits on the right-hand side of the screen indicate the status of the player's party.

While in Tartarus, the player will encounter numerous Shadows roaming each floor. When the player's character comes into contact with a Shadow, or strikes it with his weapon, the game switches to a battle screen where combat takes place. Battles are turn-based, meaning the player's characters and enemies wait their turn to attack. In original and FES version, the player only directly controls the actions of the Protagonist, but the actions of other party members may be guided via a "Tactics" menu. Each character can perform a basic attack using an equipped weapon, summon their Persona to use a special ability, or use recovery and battle items. Offensive abilities are classified by type of damage done, such as "Slash", "Fire", "Ice", or "Darkness". Enemies, as well as members of the player's party, have a set of strengths and weaknesses to these attack types; striking a foe with an attack it is weak against will knock it down. This allows the attacker to act again, and requires that the knocked-down combatant use its next turn to stand up. If all on-screen enemies are knocked down at once, the player may commence an "All-Out Attack", in which the party rushes the knocked-down enemies, creating a large cloud of cartoon-like smoke and inflicting a high amount of damage.

[edit]Personas

Each member of SEES has a Persona they can summon during battle. Each character's Persona has its own set of strengths and weaknesses, as well as its own unique set of abilities. It also identifies with one of the Major Arcana. When a battle is won, each Persona gains experience points, eventually causing it to level up, increasing its strength in battle and granting it new abilities. The Protagonist is unique among the members of SEES, as he is able to carry multiple Personas. By switching between them during battle, he has access to a wider variety of skills than any other character. In addition, he is the only character who has access to the Velvet Room, in which the player is able to fuse multiple Personas together to create a new, more powerful one. A new Persona inherits several abilities from the Personas used to create it; in addition, it can gain an experience point bonus, based on the rank of the Social Link that matches the Arcanum of the Persona being fused. The player is limited by the level of his character when fusing a Persona; the level of the Protagonist must be at least equal to the level of the Persona to be fused. There is also a Persona Compendium which contains all previously-owned Personas; this allows the player to retrieve, for a price, an older Persona to be used.

Persona 4

Story

Persona 4 opens with the protagonist arriving in Inaba to live with the Dojimas for one year, as his parents are working overseas.Within days of his arrival, a journalist is found dead, her body hanging among a television antenna; Saki Konishi, who made the discovery, is later found dead under similar circumstances. After the protagonist and his friends travel to the TV world, they encounter Teddie, who helps them travel freely between the TV world and real world. They awaken to their Persona abilities, and, realizing that the murders stem from Shadow attacks in the TV world, are able to rescue several would-be victims. Yosuke Hanamura, Chie Satonaka, Yukiko Amagi, Kanji Tatsumi, Rise Kujikawa and Teddie accept their Other Selves and join the group as Persona-users. Mitsuo Kubo, another high school student who disappears following the death of a Yasogami teacher, claims credit for the murders when he is rescued; it is eventually learned that he only killed the teacher and played no part in the other murders. Naoto Shirogane, a nationally-renowned teenage detective investigating the case, is also rescued and joins the party, who learn that "he" is actually a female who assumed a male identity to avoid the police's sexism.

Events come to a head when the protagonist is mistakenly accused by Ryotaro Dojima of having a role in the murders. Nanako Dojima is kidnapped while the protagonist is being interrogated, leading Ryotaro to engage in a vehicular pursuit with the culprit. The chase ends as they both crash; the kidnapper escapes with Nanako through a television set in his truck, and Ryotaro entrusts her rescue to the party. The group tracks them down within the TV world; the culprit, Taro Namatame, attacks them, but is defeated and both he and Nanako are taken to the Inaba hospital. When Nanako appears to die, the group confronts Namatame; the player as the protagonist must help the others realise that Namatame is not the killer by pointing out the lack of a proper motive, and subsequently work to determine that Ryotaro's assistant, Tohru Adachi, is the true killer. Failure to do so ends the game with the party being unable to solve the case and the recurring fog permanently setting in, the latter of which will eventually result in humanity's demise.

Having identified the culprit as Adachi, the party locates him within the TV world. Adachi explains his motives and ideals to the group; his claims are dismissed by the party. After fighting Adachi, he is possessed by Ameno-sagiri, the God of Fog, who reveals that the fog is lethal to people and will eventually wipe out humanity. Upon his defeat, he agrees to lift the fog, congratulating the party on their resolve. Defeated, Adachi agrees to assume responsibility for his actions and turns himself in. The game moves forward to the day before the protagonist must travel home; if the player returns to the Dojima residence, the game ends with the party sending the protagonist off as he departs Inaba. Alternatively, should the player be able to identify the unexplained origins of the Midnight Channel and attempt to resolve this plot element, the protagonist meets with the party and together they decide to put an end to the case.

The protagonist confronts the gas station attendant, who reveals herself to be the goddess Izanami and the mastermind behind the game's events. The cause of the recurring fog is established as an attempt to eliminate humans by merging the TV world with the human world. The party tracks Izanami down within the TV world and battle her, but is at first unable to win; the defeated protagonist is given strength by the bonds he has forged with those around him, and with this power awakens a new Persona, which he uses to defeat Izanami. In doing so the fog in each world is lifted, and the TV world is restored to its original form. The game ends with the party sending the protagonist off the following day, and a post-credits scene depicts the group resolving to remain friends forever as the protagonist examines a photo of the party.

Characters

The protagonist is a high school student who has recently moved from a large city to the town of Inaba, where he is to live and attend school for a year. While in Inaba, he stays with his relatives: his uncle Ryotaro Dojima, a police detective who is often on duty throughout the day, and Dojima's six-year old daughter Nanako who has managed to take care of the household chores for her father. At school, he quickly becomes friends with Yosuke Hanamura, the somewhat-clumsy son of the manager of the local megastore Junes, Chie Satonaka, an energetic girl with a strong interest in martial arts, and Yukiko Amagi, a calm and refined girl who helps out at her family's inn. The four of them discover a world inside televisions, where they meet a creature that lives there: a small bear with a costume-like appearance named Teddie. As they perform their investigation, the group gains more members, including Kanji Tatsumi, a male delinquent who is confused about his sexual and social identity, Rise Kujikawa, a former teen idol that moved to Inaba and is a new transfer student, and Naoto Shirogane, a young female detective investigating the case with the local police but who is forced to take on a male identity to associate with them.

Gameplay

Like its predecessor, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, the gameplay of Persona 4 alternates between that of a traditional role-playing video game and of a simulation game. The protagonist of Persona 4 is a teenage boy, named and controlled by the player. The game takes place over the course of a traditional Japanese school year. Outside of key events, the protagonist attends school, and can interact with other students and characters, spend time at part-time jobs to earn money, or engage in other activities. The player may also enter the "TV World", an alternate reality where the game's dungeon-crawling gameplay occurs.Each day in Persona 4 is broken up into different periods of time, such as After School or Evening. Certain activities are limited to certain times of day. In addition, the ability to engage in certain activities is based on the day of the week, or the weather.

By spending time with people, the protagonist forms "Social Links", which are friendships the protagonist makes as the game progresses, each represented by one of the Major Arcana. When a Social Link is first formed, it starts at Rank 1, increasing over time as the protagonist spends time with that person, until it reaches Rank 10. Social Links grant the player bonuses when creating new Personas in the Velvet Room. Social Links are also influenced by the protagonist's five attributes: Understanding, Diligence, Courage, Knowledge and Expression, which can be improved through various activities, such as part-time jobs. These attributes in turn may also affect the protagonist's interaction in daily activities outside of Social Links.

Persona 4's timeline is driven by the disappearance of characters from the real world into the TV World, indicated through the "Midnight Channel". The one-week weather forecast indicates the amount of time players have to rescue people who have disappeared, in which foggy days mark the deadline of the rescue mission. The game ends when the player fails to retrieve the missing person in time, and is given the choice to return to one week before the fog appeared. While in the TV World, the player explores randomly generated dungeons in the field map; each dungeon is of a certain theme, based on the victim that has been kidnapped. Dungeons are divided into floors, each containing Shadows, enemies the protagonist and his friends fight, and treasure chests, which contain items or equipment.

[edit]Combat

A standard battle in Persona 4

Within the TV World, players fight against Shadows as they continue towards the final floor where the missing person is located. The game switches to a battle screen whenever the player comes in contact with a Shadow in the field map, and the player may be given the initiative if the player strikes the Shadow unnoticed. The battle system is turn-based, bearing similarities to the Press Turnsystem used in other Shin Megami Tensei games. Each character can perform a basic attack, use a special skill, or use an item. The player can choose to directly control the actions of all party members, or use the "Tactics" option to guide how they perform in battle.

Offensive abilities cause certain types of damage, such as "physical", "wind" or "almighty". Enemies the player encounters may have a weakness to a certain type of attack. By exploiting an enemy's weakness, it will be knocked down, and the attacker is given the opportunity to act again If every enemy in a battle is knocked down, the player may initiate an All-out Attack, a powerful attack in which the player's party rushes the downed enemies, removing weaker enemies and inflicting heavy damage on stronger ones. At the end of the battle, players are awarded with experience and items, and may be given the chance to choose a new Persona to summon in battle.

Personas

Each party member has a Persona to use during battle, with its own unique skills, and a specific set of strengths and weaknesses to certain attacks. Personas will gain experience from battle and learn new skills as they gain levels. The Personas of the other party members will also transform to a more powerful form after completing certain events in the game's story relating to that character. The protagonist is unique in that he can carry multiple Personas and switch between them during battle, giving the player access to a new set of skills. Outside of battle, the player can access the Velvet Room, where new Personas can be obtained. Two or more Personas can be fused to create a new one; the new Persona will inherit a certain number of combat skills from the Personas used to fuse it. Each Persona is of one of the Major Arcana. Fusing Personas of an arcanum that matches an established Social Link will grant the Persona a bonus when it is created.The bonus is greater based on the current rank of the Social Link.

[edit]Plot

[edit]Setting

Persona 4 takes place in the near-future, fictional, rural Japanese town of Inaba, which lies among floodplains and has its own high school and shopping districts. Unexplained murders have taken place in the small town, where bodies are found dangling among television antennas and their cause of death unknown. At the same time, rumor has begun to spread that watching a switched-off television set on rainy midnights will reveal a person's soulmate. Following the rumor, a group of high-school students discovered a fog-shrouded world accessed through television sets infested with monsters called Shadows. They also discovered each of their Shadow Selves, symbolizing their suppressed personalities. Confronting their Shadow Selves awakened their ability to summon beings known as Personas. Using Personas, the students formed the Investigation Team to investigate the connection between the TV world and the murders, and possibly capture the culprit.