Persona 4 Golden: How to Get Shuffle Time

Persona 4 Golden is a stellar JRPG with that unique Persona flair to keep every battle satisfying and rewarding in its own special way. To prevent the game from feeling too grindy, there are several mechanics that reward careful execution of battle and efficient victories. This is of course the case with Shuffle Time, a mechanic in Persona 4 Golden that bestows bonuses based on randomly drawn cards you can pick. But it can be a tad unclear as to how to get Shuffle Time.

How to Unlock Shuffle Time After Battle in Persona 4 Golden

The most effective way to get Shuffle Time in Persona 4 Golden is to use an All-Out Attack to win the battle. This effectively guarantees a Shuffle Time after battle, but other factors can play in as well:

• Winning a battle by unleashing a critical hit has a chance to get you a Shuffle Time
• During Shuffle Time, if you are able to collect all drawn cards you can get a Sweep Bonus, which guarantees a Shuffle Time for the next battle, and a starting 3 ‘Tries’.

What is Shuffle Time and the Sweep Bonus?

Shuffle Time grants you several bonus rewards on a handful of drawn cards that can grant restored HP/SP and EXP at varying quantities, as well as Chest Keys, Persona stat growth, or even new Personas. You can also often draw Arcana cards that have additional text and effects allowing you to draw more cards, using “Tries” of which you typically start with 1. These Arcana cards often have penalties, but not always, and while some grant you as many as 3 Tries, they can have more severe penalties like half to no EXP after battle.

But if you’re okay with fewer EXP after one battle, the Sweep Bonus you can get from collecting all cards from a Shuffle Time can be worth it.

The Sweep Bonus allows you another guaranteed Shuffle Time where you can either try to gain more Sweep Bonuses, or cherry-pick a handful of cards with the best rewards. This can be a huge boon for players in tricky dungeons, who might be low on SP, or want skill/stat upgrades for their main character’s equipped Persona. The single best card you can draw, while also being especially rare, is the Aeon Arcana card, bestowing 4 additional Tries with no penalty, almost guaranteeing a Sweep Bonus.

How Do You Get Personas from Shuffle Time?

Personas are common draws in Shuffle Time in Persona 4 Golden, and you can often find one or more even in your initial draw after battle. This is the primary way to get Personas aside from Fusions in the game, and if you drew no Persona cards, there’s a chance one of your Arcana cards can change one of the other drawn cards into a Persona. Either way, you’ll have ample opportunity to leave the battle with something you wanted.

Persona 4 Golden releases worldwide for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on January 19, 2023, as well as already being released on PlayStation Vita and PC.