Persona 4: Basketball vs Soccer & Music vs Drama - which school clubs to choose

Persona 4 Golden is full of choices, but one of the most difficult decisions is which sports club to join at school. Basketball or Soccer - which carries more benefits? Then you'll face a similar choice for your cultural club - Music/Band or Drama Club? Well, this page is here to help.

Unlike other choices in Persona 4, there is no real right or wrong answer to these questions. The Persona 4 Golden school quiz questions all have single correct answers you must give, for instance, while something like the Empress social link has a range of correct Persona Fusion solutions you have to reach. 

Not so here; the choice of Basketball vs Soccer and Music vs Drama doesn't have a right answer - but there are subtle differences between the two which could have a big impact on your experience in P4. On this page we explain the differences between the two, and offer some advice on our preference.

Basketball or Soccer - which sports club to pick in Persona 4 Golden

The Sports Club at Yasogami High will lead to the important Strength s-link in Persona 4 - but which club you pick will result in slightly different storylines. 

Unlike the culture club, the choice between Basketball and Soccer doesn't manifest a huge difference in your friendships: regardless of which you pick, you will get to know Daisuke and Kou together as part of the s-link - in both instances the pair come as a package, so you won't miss out on an interesting character.

Both the basketball and soccer sports clubs have the same timing, too - the s-link will always be available to advance on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, but not on rainy days. So that's the same too.

However, here's the major difference: one branch is quicker to rank up, while the other makes it easier for completionists.

• The Basketball Club will rank up to rank 10 more quickly, as it requires less points to rank up. However, there are three missable Books in Persona 4 that are easily missed thanks to the ins-and-outs of this branch.
• Meanwhile, The Soccer Club is slower, but has less obstacles in general throughout, meaning it doesn't have random ranks that rule out your ability to get certain books at certain times. 

For our money, we'd also argue that the Basketball plot line that's more focused on Kou is the more interesting of the two.

Band or Drama - picking a Cultural Club in Persona 4 Golden

The next choice you'll have, a little after the sports club, is if you want to join a Cultural Club - which manifests itself as Band or Drama clubs at school.

The club you pick has a larger impact on the story you see - Drama Club introduces you to Yumi Ozawa, while going to Band starts a friendship with Ayane Matsunaga. The two are quite separate, with their own Sun arcana s-link storylines.

There isn't a pronounced gameplay difference like the Book note for the sports clubs here - but there's just a personal choice here between the two girls involved - both of whom are some of the Persona 4 romance social links if you want them to be. 

There is a small difference in that Drama Club features chances to increase your Expression while Music club features a few chances to increase Understanding, if you're tracking your social stats.

For what it's worth, we would say Drama is the better of these two clubs for the storyline, as Yumi - perhaps appropriately - has a dramatic life. But that storyline is also a bit of a downer, and Yumi's personality isn't for everyone. 

Music club is more straightforward, however, with a less taxing storyline and a modestly quicker level up rate. Which of these is perferable to you is your choice, of course.