Persona 4 Golden: Detailed Calendar for Trophy Hunters

Persona 4 Golden is fondly remembered by many JRPG fans for the freedom it provided players in exploring the rural, sleepy town of Inaba and uncovering its many mysteries. From a different perspective, this very freedom that so many enjoyed invariably led to frustrations for trophy hunters.

Those familiar with the journey to Persona 4 Golden’s platinum trophy may remember struggling to get unique navigation lines in the TV World or getting overwhelmed with the sheer number of so-called “quests.” As completionists, we all feel compelled to complete every list to its fullest, and these are no different. There are nearly 70 quests in Persona 4 Golden that you are welcome to accomplish—but practically none of them are required for trophies.

If you’re new to the game or simply interested in its trophies, where do you even start?

A casual playthrough of Persona 4 Golden can easily take 70-80 hours. Since two playthroughs are required for the platinum trophy, trophy hunters will need to invest around 120+ hours to obtain it for themselves. If you’re unlucky or make too many mistakes in managing your time efficiently, you may even need to add an additional playthrough.

I created these calendars to help players establish a better sense of control and direction while trophy hunting in Persona 4 Golden. They cover every in-game day to ensure that you spend your time optimally. After all, with so many things to keep track of, it can be chaotic having a half-dozen guides open at once. If you follow along with these calendars, you will have a much easier time getting the platinum trophy.

Persona 4 Golden

Trophies to Keep in Mind

The provided calendar is intended to be all-encompassing of a successful initial playthrough of Persona 4 Golden. If you follow the calendar to the letter, you will acquire the vast majority of trophies. However, there are a few trophies you may be missing due to combat situations and the requirement of New Game Plus (NG+):

1. Hardcore Risette Fan: Listen to 250 of Rise’s navigation lines
   • This trophy is notorious for the dichotomy it creates in trophy hunters. Some players get this trophy naturally, while others have to go to great lengths to get it to unlock. To increase your chances of getting it, make sure to rotate out different characters in your party and try to get inflicted with various status ailments as you go.
   • I recommend playing the game normally for your first playthrough while following the above advice, and if needed, to be more thorough on your second to ensure its completion. Flair created a very thorough guide on Steam with an accompanying spreadsheet that you can use to keep track of navigation lines you’ve heard if you need it.
2. Card Collector: Register 100 Skill Cards
   • Registering cards are done by talking with Marie in the Velvet Room. You can obtain them by drinking Chagall’s Coffee in Okina City or from Shuffle Time in the TV World.
   • Your first playthrough is likely to be pressed for time, so it is recommended to focus on this trophy in New Game Plus when you will have much more freedom in your day-to-day activities.
3. Big Bro Is Worried: Visit Nanako in the Hospital 3 Times
   • This trophy is really simple to obtain. After a certain point in the story (November 22nd), you will be able to visit Nanako in the hospital. These visits take time, so you can either save and reset to do this on your first playthrough, or save it for your second.
4. One Who Has Proven Their Power: Defeat Margaret (NG+)
   • This battle is only available in New Game Plus, therefore my calendar does not include it. The fight is available on the last playable day, March 20th, and requires both playthroughs to be on the true ending path.
5. The Power of Truth: Create Izanagi-no-Okami (NG+)
   • This persona is exclusive to New Game Plus. In your second playthrough, you need to be at least level 91 in order to create it.
6. Thorough Bookkeeper: Complete the Persona Compendium (NG+)
   • It is recommended to keep up-to-date with your Compendium as you venture through dungeons in the TV World, however, I do not list any fusions in the calendar. You should make sure to complete the Compendium as much as possible in your first playthrough.
   • I personally enjoy this fusion calculator. Simply find the persona you would like to fuse with CTRL+F or with the search box, click its name, and you will see the required fusion materials.

In addition to the above, I will list the remainder of trophies that you may need to keep in mind while in the TV World. Since they most likely will be obtained naturally, I will let their descriptions speak for themselves.

1. The Nose Doesn’t Always Know: Experience a fusion accident
2. Persona Shopper: Buy a Persona from the Compendium
3. Displaying Adaptability: Switch Personas 5 times in 1 battle
4. Going Nova: Deal over 999 damage in 1 attack
5. Skilled Commander: Perform 50 All-Out Attacks
6. Tactical Fighter: Exploit enemy weaknesses 100 times
7. Fill Your Hand: Get 50 Sweep Bonuses
8. Grasping At Greed: Defeat a Golden Hand
9. Advantage Mine: Enter a battle with Player Advantage

Notes for Use

Below, you can click on the individual months to open them in a new tab at a larger size. You can also use the keyboard shortcuts CTRL + and CTRL – to adjust the zoom level as needed for your screen size.

Only quests that are necessary or overtly helpful for trophies have been accounted for, but feel free to do as many as you like. In particular, quests 7-15, 18, 20, 23, 34, 40, 45, and 49 are included as they either are necessary for the Hermit social link, to acquire books, or for social stat boosts. If you’d like a more detailed run-down of all these optional quests, you can read more about them here.

Similarly, activities like the crane prizes in Okina City, feeding Akihiko in the Shiroku Pub to increase his size, and purchasing costumes are not included in the calendars. Feel free to interact with these mechanics as you see fit as they do not take up time. They are fun diversions, but are ultimately unnecessary for our purposes.

In general, you should make sure to do the following:

1. Succeed dialogue checks with characters. I recommend using this Steam guide. It outlines every dialogue on one page, so you can easily search for what you need.
2. Bring matching personas for social links in your inventory. The only social links that you do not need personas for are: Investigation Team (Fool), Teddie (Star), Fox (Hermit), Hisano (Death), Margaret (Empress), and the Seekers of Truth (Judgment). You also no longer need a Jester persona after reaching Rank 6 with Adachi.
3. Get max rolls for studying checks. The Knowledge +2/+3 boosts can be a big help as you min/max your time efficiently. In general, I recommend reloading if you don’t get the max roll indicated on the calendar.
4. Similarly, you need to get the specific stat boosts listed for each day you partake in the Mega Beef Bowl Challenge. If you do not, you should reload and try again. This is important because some skills are more challenging to level up than others. When you do the challenge, 3 stats are randomly selected out of your social skills to be boosted; Expression is always excluded from this roll.
5. Save often. Don’t panic if you fall slightly behind, but try to adhere as closely as you can to the calendar. There is some wiggle room near the end in January.

Calendar

Conclusion

With these calendars, trophy hunting in Persona 4 Golden should be much simpler! Were we able to help? Let us know in the comments. We also created calendars to help with Persona 3 (Portable + Reload) and Persona 5 (Original + Royal) if you’d like to continue with the series.