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Persona 4 Golden Endings guide: True Ending Requirements & how to get the Canon End

by Alex Donaldson on 19 January, 2023

Multiple endings are something of a Persona series tradition, and Persona 4 Golden has a different potential endings - but only one true ending, the good ending. The ending requirements to get the best canon outcome is complicated - but on this page, we explain all of the P4G endings in-depth, to make sure you don't accidentally trip into a bad ending.

In this handy little guide we explain how to see all of the story content right through to the True Ending and Epilogue of Persona 4 Golden, plus detail on the secret extra dungeons and boss battles - which do differ a little in Golden when compared to the original PS2 version of Persona 4. We’ve tried to present the path to the True Ending in as spoiler-free a way as possible, but given the nature of this guide, it will contain minor spoilers.

Which ending you see in Persona 4 and Persona 4 Golden will largely depend on your investigative and deductive skills - and making the right choices.

How to get the Normal, Good Ending in Persona 4 Golden

In order to get the best possible ending in Persona 4 Golden, you’ll have to control your temper. The ending you get will depend upon some choices you make during the story - a single moment which can determine if the game ends early or goes on for many more hours…

As the story of P4G progresses, you will eventually find yourself facing a big choice on December 3 (12/3). When this choice rolls around, you’ll have to answer in a specific way to determine your ending.

To avoid the bad ending, answer as follows when prompted - there are seven dialogue choices in a row, so we’re numbering them to leave them as vague as possible:

  1. Any Choice
  2. Wait a second here…
  3. We’re missing something.
  4. Their true feelings.
  5. Something’s been bothering me.
  6. We’re missing something…
  7. Calm the hell down!

If you answer differently, the game till time-skip forward to March 20 and you’ll experience the Bad Ending of Persona 4 Golden. If you answer correctly, you’ll roll on to December 5 with a new objective - and be on your way to the True Ending. 

On December 5, you’ll have to name who the True Killer is - and this leads towards the full ending. This involves two dialogue choices:

  • "The person who seems to be the most likely culprit is..."
  • "Should you tell your friends about your suspicions about ______ being the culprit?"

You can detour to a bad ending again here by naming the wrong person or failing to tell your friends your suspicions. Based on the research you’ve been doing in-game. But, for the avoidance of doubt: On December 5th, you should conclude that the most likely person is Adachi, and tell your friends about your suspicions. 

At this point, the story takes over. Eventually, time fast-forwards to March 20th. At this time, you will be given a choice:

"You should return to your house to prepare for tomorrow.."

If you answer this question with "Yes", agreeing, you return home and your time in Inaba comes to an end. This is a happy, good ending, as the killer is caught and defeated and everybody is safe - but you've failed to unravel the true mystery. In order to see Persona 4 Golden's true ending, you need to answer "No" - this ultimately leads to one final dungeon and sets you on the final road for the True Ending, as described below.

How to get the True Ending Epilogue in Persona 4 Golden

To unlock Persona 4's true ending, you'll need to be a careful detective and think before you speak - or use this guide!

Once you’ve seen off the events of Persona 4 in full, time will fast forward to March. This is where your final decision about an ending lies. You’re guaranteed the normal, good ending because you solved the mystery, but if you want the true ending, you need to act in a specific way during this final day of the game.

Specifically, you’ll be tasked with talking to everybody who you’ve got a maximum rank social link with before you leave town. This should be most s-link characters if you followed our P4G social link guide - but it doesn't have to be everybody to get the True Ending. Each maxed S-Link simply unlocks a new scene at this point.  Here’s everybody’s locations, for the record:

  • Shopping District South: Chie (Chariot), Rise (Lovers), Shu (Tower), Marie (Aeon)
  • Priestess / Yukiko: The Amagi Inn, reached via the Bus Stop.
  • The Hospital: Sayoko (Devil) - reached via the Bus Stop
  • The Day Care: Eri (Temperanc) - reached via the Bus Stop
  • The Shrine, Shopping District North: Fox (Hermit)
  • Shopping District North: Kanji (Emperor), Daisuke or Kou (Strength), Naoki (Hanged Man)
  • Dojima Residence: Nanako (Justice), Dojima (Hierophant) - Outside Dojima’s house; speak to papa Dojima and pick the second option.
  • Junes Food Court: Yosuke (Magician), Teddie (Star)
  • Riverbank: Hisano (Death)
  • Moon / Ai: School 1F
  • Fortune / Naoto: School Learning Building 1F
  • The Club Venue, School: Yumo or Ayane (Sun)

Once you’ve talked to everyone, at that point the game will tell you to ‘return to your house and get ready for tomorrow’ - do not do this!

Instead, select ‘No’, then return to the Junes Food Court. Examine the elevator. Refuse to go home again, selecting ‘No’, and then select ‘I’m not finished yet’ and ‘Yes’. Finally, pick ‘There’s something missing’. 

Next, head to the Riverbank to speak to Dojima and Nanako for another scene. Then head to the Velvet Room to get the Orb of Clarity from Igor. On a second play-through on New Game+, this scene also unlocks a secret boss. 

Head to the Shopping District South and to the gas station. Speak to the attendant. Keep talking until you get the choices right to learn something about the attendant; you can now access the unique dungeon Yomotsu Hirasaka.

You can now head to the Midnight Channel and beat the Yomotsu Hirasaka dungeon to learn the ultimate truth. Once you enter the midnight channel, it’s a point of no return - so you might want to ensure your equipment and such is as you want it first.

Defeat the final, final boss to get the true, ultimate ending to Persona 4 Golden. 

How to get the Golden Ending

There's an extra ending available in P4G if you max out Marie's S-Link.

You can get the true ending as described above in both vanilla Persona 4 and P4G, but The Golden release of the game includes one more extra wrinkle - the Golden Ending. This is built around P4G's new character Marie.

In order to get the Golden Ending in P4G, you need to max Marie's Aeon Social Link within a time limit. That limit is before you complete the Magatsu Inaba dungeon in December. It is recommended to complete the dungeon by December 22 (for Christmas Date reasons), so make sure Aeon is maxed before you finish the Magatsu Inaba dungeon.

So long as you have Marie's social link maxed out, just follow the steps for the True Ending as above - you'll get the same ending, but with a nice little Golden Addendum.

Unlocking the other Ultimate Challenges: Hollow Forest Dungeon and Margaret’s Secret Boss

As a side note, there are two more ultimate challenges you can unlock if you so wish. They have no bearing on the ending you receive, but they’re worth making a note of:

  • Hollow Forest is a unique secret dungeon associated with Marie. This was added to the ‘Golden’ version of Persona 4, and is unlocked by maxing out Marie’s Social Link relationship. It has extra story and is the most challenging dungeon in the game.
  • Margaret’s Super Boss Battle is only available in New Game Plus. You’ll need to go through towards the True Ending in your second play-through just the same, but then visit the Velvet Room twice towards the end - once to get the Orb of Clarity from Igor, and once again to visit Margaret. She’ll give you an item that will explain how to challenge Persona 4 Golden’s ultimate battle. 

How to get the Bad Endings

Persona 4 has several bad endings - each of them brutal to watch. Here's how to get all of them.

As well as the good endings above where the Investigation Team has varied levels of success in solving the mystery, there's a range of bad endings where things don't go so well. Here's how each of the bad ends is reached in Persona 4 and Persona 4 Golden:

Bad Ending 1: The Price of Revenge

On December 3rd, choose to push Namatame into the TV world by saying "Push the bastard in" and then "Do it already". He will die, with dire consequences for the team as a result of your thirst for revenge. 

Bad Ending 2: Investigation Dead End

On December 3rd, decline to push Namatame into the TV world, but also fail to identify who the most likely culprit is, avoiding the answers outlined in the Normal Ending instructions above. Things aren't quite as dire as in the first ending, but ultimately the murders remain unsolved. Minor variations of this ending can be achieved on either December 3rd or December 5th, on the two occasions when you're discussing what to do after sparing Namatame.

Bad Ending 3: The Accomplice

For this bad ending, you'll want to follow the instructions for the P4G normal ending as described above - but then when you're given a crucial choice on December 5th, choose not to share your suspicions with your friends and protect Adachi, who you'll have identified as the true killer. Time will fast-forward to March 20th, as in the other endings, and you'll have one final sinister meeting with your new best friend...