‘Persona 4’ tops new RPG offerings

sj-r.com: I spent hundreds of hours this year immersed in role-playing games like "Fallout 3," "Fable II" and "Lost Odyssey." The genre is special to those of us who like our small-screen adventures to have a widescreen feel. I’ve saved the world from total annihilation too many times to count, and I’m always ready to rally another motley band of fighters and take on another megalomaniacal supervillain.

But what if you took the trappings of an RPG and applied them to a smaller-scale drama? That’s the experiment Atlus has pursued with its ambitious, bizarre "Persona" series – and the results have earned the devotion of one of the most dedicated fan bases in gaming.