Persona 4 Arena Ultimax[a] is a fighting video game co-developed by Arc System Works and P-Studio, and published by Atlus.

Gameplay follows standard fighting game conventions, with matches between two characters with individual movesets, and special expendable abilities.

Along with balance adjustments and new moves added to the returning characters, a new S-Hold system allows players to charge up their attacks.

These Shadow versions differ by being largely skill-based variants of their counterparts, employing a high-risk high-reward play style thanks to reduced normal attack damage and an altered move set with lacking defensive options.

The previous game's otherworldly fighting tournament returns as the "P-1 Climax", seeping into the real world and warping Inaba with replicas of locations from Persona 3.

[22] The story is split into two parallel narratives following the Investigation Team of Persona 4 (Yu Narukami, Yosuke Hanamura, Chie Satonaka, Yukiko Amagi, Kanji Tatsumi, Rise Kujikawa, Naoto Shirogane, and the friendly Shadow-like entity Teddie), a group of friends who investigated a serial murder case involving the TV World; and the Shadow Operatives (Aigis, Mitsuru Kirijo, Akihiko Sanada, Yukari Takeba, Junpei Iori, Fuuka Yamagishi, Ken Amada and the dog Koromaru), a covert group formed by former SEES members from Persona 3 to fight Shadows.

[22][26][23] The main antagonists are Sho Minazuki, an unstable Persona user with a split personality; and Hi-no-Kagutsuchi, a being generated by the human Collective Unconscious and its latent despair.

[22][27][28] At midnight the day after the P-1 Grand Prix concludes, the TV in Yu's room suddenly starts airing the Midnight Channel, showing a promotion for the P-1 Climax and an image of Mitsuru, Aigis, Akihiko, and Fuuka crucified, with General Teddie announcing the world's end within one hour.

Yu, Yosuke, and Chie reach Yasogami and are approached by Sho, who announces himself as the culprit behind the P-1 Grand Prix and P-1 Climax.

As Tartarus collapses, Elizabeth transports everyone to the TV World where Yu reunites with his friends who all set up to find a new path in their futures.

After separately meeting the members of Investigation Team and rescuing their captured friends, they encounter Sho, the culprit behind Labrys' hijacking, who goads them into fighting Shadows in order to gather their Persona fragments.

During one of the experiments to make him a Persona user like Strega by using a Plume of Dusk, similar to Aigis and Labrys, another personality was born within Sho, which he refers to as Minazuki.

Feeling lost due to only knowing how to fight, Sho eventually settled in Inaba, where he observed the Investigation Team solving the serial kidnapping/murder case in secret, believing that they might be able to understand him, only to give up.

Adachi continues to undergo police questioning regarding his methods for the two murders in Inaba, but his interrogators still do not believe his account of his crimes.

[31] The anime cutscenes were created by Capsule, a company previously known for their CGI support work on series including Space Dandy.

For Yukari's outfit, Soejima drew from the costume designs of Phoenix Sentai Featherman, a fictional tokusatsu show that had a long history within the series.

Junpei's baseball attire was one of many suggested concepts for his character, ranging from a guitarist to a formal suit related to his Shadow Operatives work.

Ken's appearance as a high schooler was simple design, while his fighting style balanced with Koromaru was hard to finalize.

[28] Discussing the gameplay, Fukumoto noted that much of their work went into rebalancing existing fighters based on feedback from Arena, flattening power levels to be fair rather than doing simple strength reductions.

Due to her support role and idol status in the series canon, her moveset was based around range and song-based magic.

Minazuki was a notable character due to his lack of a Persona, with the team building his fighting style around his two personalities similar to the twin incarnations of Labrys in the original.

The opening theme "Break out of..." was performed by singer Shihoko Hirata and rapper Lotus Juice, both returning from Persona 4.

[37] It released for Taito Type X2 arcade models on November 28, 2013, with Atlus publishing the title's opening movie online the following day.

The play was written by Mio Inoue and directed by Shotaro Oku, featuring music by Meguro and Atsushi Kitajoh.

Various other characters movesets also borrow minor elements from their appearances in this game, though they are primarily based on their respective versions from the original Persona 4 Arena.

[59][60][61][62][63] IGN complimented the changes to the fighting system, graphics, rebalanced characters, and declared that there was "even more nuance for intermediate and advanced players" and that Ultimax was "100% the sequel that Persona 4 Arena deserved.

"[73] Hardcore Gamer gave the game a 4/5, saying, "In terms of fighting mechanics, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax doesn't go leaps and bounds past its predecessor, but allows for growth that helps strengthen the experience.

"[71] Ben Moore at GameTrailers stated that "practically everything new in Ultimax is outstanding and the core it's built on is just as robust and exhilarating as it was two years ago.