light and heavy attacks. While characters are able to perform attacks on their own, they are also able to call their Personas to assist them during battles. Should the Persona be attacked by the opponent, the player will lose a blue card situated below the health bar. Following four attacks, the player will be unable to use Persona for a short time. There are also status ailments which can be inflicted on opponents, such as stunning them to slow or halt movement, and poisoning them to reduce health. Through specific button combinations, characters are able to perform a series of special attacks as well as defend themselves for a prolonged time. The strongest attack is the "Instant Kill" which can immediately defeat the opponent if the attack connects. These techniques are limited as a result of using the "SP Gauge" which is at the bottom of the screen in the form of blue bars. When the character has low life left, they enter into the "Awakening State" that refills the SP Gauge and increases the character's defence. Below the life bar there is the Burst Gauge which gives access to other forms of the Persona Attacks as well as refill the SP Gauge depending on how it is used. When first starting the game, only four character campaigns are available, requiring the player to complete to unlock more. Synopsis Setting and characters Persona 4 Arena takes place in the Persona universe, revolving around groups of people who harness Personas—physical manifestations of their inner psyche—and use them to fight rogue psyches born from humanity's collective unconsciousness called Shadows. Arena is set two months after the events of Persona 4, and three years after its predecessor Persona 3. The location is the rural town of Inaba, the main setting of Persona 4. A key location in the story is the TV World, a metaphysical realm influenced by the wills of Inaba's population. 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 Teddie), a group of friends who investigated a serial murder case involving the TV World; and the Shadow Operatives (Aigis, Mitsuru Kirijo, and Akihiko Sanada), a covert group formed by former SEES members from Persona 3 to fight Shadows. The main protagonists of Persona 4 Arena are Persona 4 protagonist