"Remember, we all have to die someday..."

So I picked up Persona 3 today and all I can say so far is "GODDAMN!". Let me start off by saying that most game companies have nothing on Atlus' sheer packaging skills. That artbook and sound track sample are of exceptional quality and the game...oh lord is the opening a wonderful mood setter. It's incredibly creepy and not from a traditional "creepy setting" that most occult horror goes by. No monster, no demons, no creepy serial killers...(SPOILER) just a girl holding a gun to her head and a child asking you to sign a "contract"...

Damn it's looking to be a good game so far!

Tell me if the difficulty is as random as the DDS games :shifty:.

I spend a lot of time reading up on and playing computer games, and I've never, EVER heard of the Persona series. Is it some obscure product of some kind or is this a strangely elabourate trick topic to showcase people's ignorance?

If you've been a fan of Atlus for a while, you might have heard of Persona. It's part of the 'Megami Tensei' series of games/spinoffs. The first 2 games were on the PS1. I never played them myself, since I don't have a PS1. But I've heard lots about Persona 3 for a long time, and I've been anxiously waiting for it.

As for difficulty, I've heard that while the random monsters might not be too challenging, the bosses are hard. The battles are supposed to be pretty fast.

You actually only control your character, despite having a party for most of the game. You can influence your party members actions, but you never directly control them. In the dungeons, there are times when you can 'split up' your party, and they will spread out and find stuff (treasures, exits, etc).

Aside from the standard dungeon hack, which is during the night, you have to go to school during the day. There you form relationships with people to either build your party up or strengthen your own 'Persona'. A little bit of a dating sim. Weird as that sounds, I heard it's pretty good.


This game probably won't reach my shores for another several days. If I don't have it by this time next week I'm just gonna order it online.

--Edit: You can see some of the pics from the artbook here

My friend and I picked this game up today, and I can say it's very awesome. It immediately grabbed my interest, and I've never touched any of the Megami Tensei titles before. I just have a thing for the types of games where your decisions determine a certain outcome of whatever, and the game's atmosphere really appeals to me as well, with the surrealism of Tartarus and the tarot and religious references, etc. Might have to look into this series a bit more.

The art book and soundtrack that came with the game was pretty awesome as well.

I hope (SPOILER)Mitsuru joins the party sometime. :(

Outside of the school stuff (standard sim affair but wonderful to boot. I'm trying to get the main character hooked up with the track team's equipment manager:love: ) The gameplay is more like SMT3 than previous Persona. Basically taking advantage of enemy weakness' allow characters to have extra turns.

You no longer get to chat with demons which is sadly missed (though the Link system satisfies that urge) and only the main character gets to do fusion spells but overall I must say the combat is much better. Streamlined in a very good and intelligent way. Hell now I don't have to worry about choosing whether to kill the demons for experience or talking to them to get Free Tarot cards:p

Also the Velvet Room works like the SMT Cathedral of Shadows so you must fuse Personas to get better ones. Also it looks like you will get the ability to fuse more than just three...

To those playing the game... Am I the only one who's jaw dropped in the scene where the main character used his Persona for the first time?! Damn that scene was just amazing!:love:

Yeah, that was pretty freakin' intense.

I've only been playing for 2 hours, but I was a little confused about the 'Evoker'--the gun they use to 'evoke' their personas. At first I was curious if it actually hurt them when they used it, because in that same scene Yukari shoots herself several times and seems a little freaked out every time she does it. But I guess it doesn't.

Can't wait till I have time to play it some more, this is great stuff.

Just got it today.

Persona 2 was one of my favourite games growing up. I'm amazed it was even sold where I lived since the gaming community isn't really that big.

But now with Persona 3, I am very impressed. It's making me so nostalgic, even though - so far it's not giving me the 'dark' feel that Persona 2 did. I won't have the chance to play much more today, but I can't wait to get back and do that!

Their choice of bgm is always very interesting. I got Persona 2's soundtrack and I still listen to it today. :) I haven't gotten around to listening to the soundtrack that came with the game yet. And if the tracks differ from the other Persona 3 soundtracks that are released by themselves - they're mine!

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Originally Posted by Ashi

But now with Persona 3, I am very impressed. It's making me so nostalgic, even though - so far it's not giving me the 'dark' feel that Persona 2 did. I won't have the chance to play much more today, but I can't wait to get back and do that!

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I know what you mean, I do miss that aspect of the world. Then again, as you get farther along the game gives you those MegaTen moments and you realise that the normal drudge of everyday life is there to lull you into a false frame of mind. I have reached a point where the story has really begun to move about with several sub plots going on everywhere and it's starting to have more of the Persona feel. The "normal" world is starting to feel more like the illusion than the Dark Hour.

Wolf Kanno: Did you play Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner? I played it some months ago and it also made me very nostalgic towards Persona 2, even though the similarities between the two games are very scarce.

Did anyone notice how they say, "No one believes rumours anyway"? Persona 2 (Eternal Punishment anyway) had a rumour system where once the rumour is spread it becomes real. And then that MMORPG called Innocent Sin Online (There was a Persona 2: Innocent Sin that occured -as I understand it- before Eternal Punishment).

I didn't mark these things as spoilers because they are trivial matters and so far I don't believe they really affect anything in gameplay.

Junpei reminds me of someone I know irl. :)

Related to the 'Innocent Sin' MMO, the girl calls herself Maya and calls you Tatsuya. The main characters of both Persona 2 games.

Yeah. It made me grin. And I recall them commenting on how, "I didn't know many people played that!" if you say you found it clever.

I rented the game and played it for three hours. The story, characters, and voice acting were the strengths I think. The other aspects of the game I think are just ok.

Currently I am renting Bioshock and it's kinda good but I don't like first person shooters. :D

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Originally Posted by Ashi

Wolf Kanno: Did you play Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner? I played it some months ago and it also made me very nostalgic towards Persona 2, even though the similarities between the two games are very scarce.

Did anyone notice how they say, "No one believes rumours anyway"? Persona 2 (Eternal Punishment anyway) had a rumour system where once the rumour is spread it becomes real. And then that MMORPG called Innocent Sin Online (There was a Persona 2: Innocent Sin that occured -as I understand it- before Eternal Punishment).

I didn't mark these things as spoilers because they are trivial matters and so far I don't believe they really affect anything in gameplay.

Junpei reminds me of someone I know irl. :)

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I have yet to play Avatar Turners (Digital Devil Saga) or the new Devil Summoner games. Chances are, I'll give them a lookup when I finish Persona 3...

Ashi: you absolutely need to find a translated script for Innocent Sin and read through it. It makes Eternal Punishment far more creepy...
So far the only hint of a connection to the previous games is in the MMO and I believe their was a reference to Nate's company from Persona 1 and Eternal Punishment.


Today I finally met a boss that completely owned me and my only option is to power level cause the guy likes to spam high level Almighty spells. Throw in the fact I accidentally screwed up my personas by fusing a whole bunch in order to get a persona I was unaware of being too high in levels for my party. I'm at the end of September and on the 135th floor of Tarturus for those who are wondering.

I really like this game so far, though I'm only in July. I haven't been able to play it much for a few days but tomorrow I plan to spend quite a lot of time on it.

The bosses will sometimes kill me right when I get them on their last leg, but that only really happens the first time I fight them. Judging from what others have said though, I don't doubt that in the game's next few months I'll find a lot more that can completely destroy me. But I think I'm a tad under leveled anyway, and I need to start fusing my Personas more.

This game makes me feel really bad that I didn't get Persona 2 when I saw it a few years ago. But, I'm going to hunt down other Megami Tensei games after finishing this one. It seems like a really interesting series.

Devil Summoner was brilliant, I gave the first Digital Devil Saga game a shot but it had a very big turn off that is not even related to gameplay. Creeped me out in ways Persona 2 never came near. I may give it another go sometime in the near future.

This is silly thing is what made me stop playing DDS pt1:
(SPOILER)In DDS, when you are done with a battle you eat your enemies and that is how you get exp. Even though they show us nothing graphic, the idea itself had me in a dazed state for a few days.

I actually had a link to the translation of Innocent Sin but I think it either moved or I lost it. Do you happen to know who translated it?

I'm still about 8 hours into Persona 3, but I'm just wondering what were everyone else's levels like when they started going at floors 17+ in Tartarus (is that how it's spelled?)? I managed to get there in a 4 person party earlier and the one battle (and fled from since I hadn't saved in a while) I was in was enough to tell me I wasn't ready.

We have an extra copy of Persona 2 that belonged to my aunt. But given my location selling it isn't really a good idea since the shipping would cost more than the game itself...

I think a Shin Megamei Tensei game came out last October a week before Final Fantasy XII, I think it was overlooked by most people. Who played it and bought it? After the success of the 2004 games Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2, not sure why this other game wasn't as popular. Wasn't it called Devil Summoner?

Anyways, what Us Shin M. T. will we get next? :D

Yep Devil Summoner. I played that, it's pretty good. :)

A little over 11 hours into Persona 3 but I think I'll have to restart my game file...

Today I bared witness to such an emotionally touching scene that I began to actualy well up some tears...

This is a big deal cause I'm pretty much a cold hearted bastard and little ever fazes me (no wonder I like the protaganist). I will be damn if that was not the best... well I won't ruin it for anyone cause it's a plot twist as well but damn it was done way better than most stories I've read or seen.

For Dragonsoul's question... I would love if they got cracking on re-releasing the older games. I want to play Shin Megami Tensie 1 and 2, as well Shin Megami Tensei If... and while we're on the subject. I want a re-released Persona 1 with no alterations and the Snow Queen quest on it.

For Ashi, Oracle Of Maiya :: The Persona 2: Innocent Sin Translation Project

Also, why do you need to start over?

That's definately the website I saw before. Thank you. :)

I tried to start level in the second block but the first encounter there was pretty difficult for my party... so I just wasted time killing stuff in the lower floors. After a while (and barely any increase in levels) I realized that it was just that one monster there that was difficult, all the other monsters were only slightly more difficult than the lower floors.

(SPOILER)I am saved a few talk sequences behind a boss that is too tough for my party. So I'm going to be trying to make some more trips higher in tartarus this time around.

Wow:eek:

I just finished the game last night and just... wow... This is probably the best game I've played since MGS3 in terms of story and characters and overall quality. The ending actually had me tearing up as well (something only MGS3 has done to me).

Well, this is surely going to be difficult to top for me. I finished with only a third of the Social Links Maxed out and with 99 hours and 23 minutes left on the clock. I actually rushed through the game and didn't even bother with the optional dungeon (mostly cause I couldn't complete the Star Arcana Social Link fast enough to get Lucifer unlocked). But damn... It's always odd dealing with the aftermath of feelings you get from witnessing something truely maginficent.

All I can say now is... :eek: PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY AND EVIL ATLUS! PLEASE RELEASE PERSONA 3: FES OUTSIDE OF JAPAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek:

I'm hearing tons of great critical and user reviews on this game. It's great! Yea the story, characters, and voice acting were my favorite parts for the three hours I rented it. I wonder if Fes comes out in Usa.

How long is the game?

Fes won't come out if YOU don't buy Persona 3. Go buy it!

That's right :bigsmile:

I had reservations about this game but I'm at the end now and it's wonderful. I enjoyed all of it. One of the top RPGs to hit this system ever :O

And it will take you about 60 hours or so depending on you to beat it. It's very long.

Gah, after renting Blue Dragon, I long for the days when I was playing Persona 3, but that was only a few weeks ago, gah! :D

Persona 3, huh, is it vital that you play the previous two before latching onto this one?

If W.K and Lunar.W have got good remarks to say, then I'm buying!

I haven't played the previous two. There are supposed to be some names and things pulled from the first two, but story and characters are completely independent.

Are you saying I'm too hard on games, Hazzard. :sad: Lie to me and tell me I'm not just like dad tells me I'm pretty, please.

I think everybody who likes traditional Japanese rpg's should rent Persona 3, you may find out that it's extremely ultimate. People who like all rpg's, just rent this anyway. This a game that I think is pretty great and although it doesn't meet 100% of my requirements, it does meet enough of them for me to recommend this game.

Persona 3!! Is there anybody that DOESN'T like this game? I think Blue Dragon got tons of hype but Persona 3 is slipping by unnoticed, which angers me. Blue Dragon has some flaws which annoy people.

JKTrix, are you also upset/concerned that even though Persona 3 is frequently considered much much better than Blue Dragon by critics and users, Blue Dragon got much more hype and much more sales?

If you like one game over the other, it's fine, but I'm hoping that everybody gives Persona 3 a chance, everybody go rent it!

JKTrix, what is your thought? :D

Atlus games typically are sold by word-of-mouth. Atlus is a niche company that has a very specific, fairly hardcore demographic. People who like the kinds of games they bring out know other people who like those kinds of games, so those people will tell who they know. They don't print out millions of copies of their games, because they don't really expect to sell that much and it'd be throwing money away. This is why some of the best Atlus games become scarce a year or so after they are released.

Blue Dragon is a Microsoft property. Microsoft has money to blow on advertising and junk. And really, the game needs it, as the word-of-mouth of the typical hardcore fans of the genre would probably have a more negative impact. In Japan, Microsoft was selling this game on its name power. After all the 'Big 3' guys behind the game are legends over there. As far as the US, by marketing it widely they'll catch some of the DBZ fans. Blue Dragon is definitely not a bad game, and for the 360 there isn't any RPG competition for it. In fact, it *is* the best JRPG on the system.

Doesn't bother me that Blue Dragon got more hype, that's to be expected. Doesn't bother me if it got more sales either. Atlus is safe.

I'm excited! Did you know that I saved money for Xbox 360 and bought it so that I could get Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey?

Shortly before I bought it($399 version) I decided not to get Blue Dragon but I was still planning on Lost Odyssey, and later added Mass Effect. I am using it to rent and play some Xbox and Xbox 360 rpg's right now.

JKTrix, I'm gonna post in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1 thread, about my quick review of that game, which I got my rental of last night! Please check it out! :)

It's definately not vital to play the previous two games to enjoy Persona 3.

Here's a question, I tend to level myself silly in those games and lose out on other aspects. How often do you guys go to Tartarus?

I would always go to the next checkpoint, killing as much as I could on the way, and then when I got to the blocked point I would just wait until the next full moon. Then it was a game of me wasting days until then. I feared I'd overlevel o_o My time balance was totally awful in this thing D:

I have to say the finale of this game is awesome. The final battle took me over 40 minutes to complete. And the design of the final boss was sexy incarnate.

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Originally Posted by LunarWeaver

I would always go to the next checkpoint, killing as much as I could on the way, and then when I got to the blocked point I would just wait until the next full moon. Then it was a game of me wasting days until then. I feared I'd overlevel o_o

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I did that but then I was always afraid I would not be strong enough for the next full moon.

Just don't do what I did... when Monad (the optional dungeon of the game) became available, I leveled in their so I could get Messiah(Lv.90) and it made the last trek of the story rediculously easy.

The fight with the final boss was still long and it would have been shorter if Yukari hadn't been Charmed and fully restored the boss' health with Medirahan :mad:. Even then the fight with the final boss was pretty tough when it started to spam it's Almighty attack or use Moonless Gown. The ending was incredibly touching...

I have DDS, but none of the other games.
what ones are actually tied to the series, not just because it's made by Atlus.

Once I get to the highest point possible in Tartarus I still feel bad if I don't go and level, that bores my sister who watches me play and only does it for the 'socialization' aspects of the game. But I guess bosses being somewhat easy because you're at a decent level can't be that bad.

Having your party members heal the boss... ayee. I suffered that a lot when I was playing Devil Summoner. At some point in the game bosses got really tricky (not difficult, just required strategy) and there was this one battle that lasted a really long time and when I thought it was nearly over, oops my demon got charmed and I'm all out of the item that cures that, and of course it has to be the demon with a developed dia skill, and of course the boss was healed right up. :cry:

Proxy: They would be the games that have 'Shin Megami Tensei' in the title as far as I know. Persona 2 did not have that in the title but I think all the games that came out for the PS2 did. There is one other game that I got to try out, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. Well, mine was called Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call; which I believe to be the European release.

Hey it still wasn't as bad as my battle against Samael in Nocturne...(damn you charm and paralyze!) I think it was the only time I was grateful my main character got paralyzed...

The only games released outside of Japan that are from the Megami Tensie series are:
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne/ Lucifer's Call (which also happens to be based on the Japanese special edition of the game)
Demi Kids Light and Dark version,
Revelations Persona (Persona: Know Your True Self),
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment,
Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 (Called Avatar Turner in Japan),
Devel Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army
and now Persona 3 :cool:

If you were wondering which are connected by story then all of them and none of them. If you play Nocturne/ Lucifer's Call, this statement makes sense. Technically, most of the Devil Summoner games are connected (Though I doubt the recent one is) and the three Persona games are connected (Though Persona 3 is debatable) and Persona 1 has connections to Shin Megami Tensei: If... though it can be thought of as a more clever cameo than a direct connection. Hope that helped.

I've never heard of Demi Kids before. I'm curious as to why there are two versions. Does one occur before the other or is there just a connection through alternative universe themes?

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Originally Posted by Ashi

I've never heard of Demi Kids before. I'm curious as to why there are two versions. Does one occur before the other or is there just a connection through alternative universe themes?

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It came out during the Pokemon phenomenon, the games are basically set in the same world but from oppsoing sides of a conflict with a few different monsters that are exclusive to each version. Basically, you need to hook your GBAs and trade to acquire every monster. I've been told it was a good series (it's really popular in Japan with sequels and I believe an anime adaption) but the games are rediculously hard to find and I doubt it ever got a PAL release.

I got Persona 3 yesterday. Between the praise it was getting here and what my friend (who is/was trying to get me into DDS series) was saying, I could not resist the temptation.

It is surprisingly addictive. At first I was scared that you were not going to have as much control during the daytime since the first hour of gameplay is pretty automatic and slightly repetitive (kinda like playing Roxas for the first hour or two of KHII, it gets incredibly annoying after a while). Once I got into full control of my character during the day, my opinion changed. One thing still annoys me though. Once I was suppose to hang out with Kenji and he bails at the school gate after a minute or two of talking then it goes straight to evening. I was like WTF? I barely spent anytime with him. I suppose nothing can be perfect. :/

At first I did not care for the voice actors either. Being the sub fan I am and all, I have my bias. The voice acting did grow on me and I quite like it. BTW Yukari's voice sounds overly familiar.

Right now I am toward the end of May, done my exams and just finish levelling up in Tartarus. I have about 7 or 8 social links with the Magician being the highest at 7 (or was it 6). I trying to focus more on levelling up my other social links now as well as my Academics, Charm and Courage as to explore more social links. I also want to give Elizabeth's other requests a shot before they expire.

Definetly work on raising your Courage, Academics, and Charm. Certain social links require you to have specific ranks.

Glad to hear you are enjoying the game though;)

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Originally Posted by The Summoner of Leviathan

BTW Yukari's voice sounds overly familiar.

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The actress's name is Michelle Ruff. She's done a lot of anime/game work. In fact, a good chunk of the characters in this game are quite accomplished voice actors in various anime and games.

The guardian on the 135th floor is wiping my party out, over and over again. :cry:

You need a party with Koromaru, Junpei, and and a healer that isn't Yukari or Mitsuru. That should lower the damage of the fire spells. Don't use Magic Mirrors cause the boss tends to spam Allmighty spells if you have it cast on your party. If you have a party member with High Critical hit rate attcks (Shinji or Aegis) then bring them in cause a All Out Attack will do serious damage.

This boss is more about luck than anything I'm afraid...

I actually defeated it a little while after posting that.

My party was Yukari, Shinji and Aegis. Yukari had Mediarama and I used revolution hoping Shinji and Aegis would crit more... God knows they did not crit once while revolution was on that I did not bother recasting it :cry:

This game is extremely popular! Could it be the best traditional console rpg this fall? I think it may beat out Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, and Folkore(traditional?).

It's easily the best RPG to be released this year. Persona 3 is amazing.

Eternal Sonata came out, my rental of it comes in the mail later today. Has anybody played it? What do you think of it?

It's overall great, although rpgamer says the battle system/interaction needs improvements and the game is extremely easy and extremely short. It'll be very popular, although it doesn't look like it will be legendary. It may be about the same goodness as Persona 3 but better than Blue Dragon? These 3 are the most popular and best traditional Japanese rpg's for consoles this fall I believe.

You people and your not titling threads around what they're based on, if I knew this was a Persona 3 thread, I would have posted in it long ago.

Right now, I'm around the beginning of June in the game, I think. As for how often I go to the tartarus, I only go when everyone, or 3 people are in Good condition, otherwise I go raise my charm or courage in the mall.

But it's soooo boring to do it the "easy" way ;)

Are you in summer break or on the actual vacation part of break yet?

It takes awhile but eventually you find a nice groove when it comes to dealing with Tartarus. By end game it almost seemed impossible to get fatigued except when level grinding or trying to fulfill the trickier requests from Elizabeth.

It also seems like it takes a lot longer for my characters to get fatigued as well. .I don't mind it, I keep trying to max my persona skills and then make or get new ones and it's fun for me. It's also fun to get all your characters past a certain level. Someone used to like hanging around to watch me play, they don't enjoy the battles, but they like "school life" and increasing social links and now they hardly hang around anymore because most of the game is spent in tartarus now.

I have a question because I cannot seem to remember what happened. This is past the October full moon.
(SPOILER)What happened to Ikutsuki?He killed Mitsuru's father and wanted the SEES sacrificed, and Aigis saved the day but what happened to him? Did Aigis shoot him too? I cannot seem to remember that at all!

Didn't someone say at the begging of the game, the more time you spend in the Tartarus the less you'll get fatigued? Because I can already see the difference, in the start I couldn't go more than 2 or so floors without everyone getting fatigued, now I can go through 8 or 9 floors without getting fatigued.

If they did I must have missed it. :p

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Originally Posted by Ashi

It also seems like it takes a lot longer for my characters to get fatigued as well. .I don't mind it, I keep trying to max my persona skills and then make or get new ones and it's fun for me. It's also fun to get all your characters past a certain level. Someone used to like hanging around to watch me play, they don't enjoy the battles, but they like "school life" and increasing social links and now they hardly hang around anymore because most of the game is spent in tartarus now.

I have a question because I cannot seem to remember what happened. This is past the October full moon.
(SPOILER)What happened to Ikutsuki?He killed Mitsuru's father and wanted the SEES sacrificed, and Aigis saved the day but what happened to him? Did Aigis shoot him too? I cannot seem to remember that at all!

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(SPOILER)Ikutsuki said something along the lines of the "The Fall is near!" and he jumped off the roof of the Observatory and died. So Basically suicide... Have you met Ryoji yet Ashi?

To Chaos is the Key: I don't remember anyone saying something like that in the beginning but I might have missed it, so who knows?

Actually, I wish I had spent more time on my social links. Some of the most powerful Persona are attributed to Links I neglected (Moon and Star come to mind) By the end of the game I was actually starting to have issues cause I had neglected a few of the links (Temperance and Priestess) and I also started to have issues with the love interest ones.

Basically, if you get far enough with one of the girls that she falls for you, she gets easily pissed off if you start spending time with others... there's also the fact that a few of them have scenario's where if you say or do the wrong thing they instantly break the relationship. (Happened with Yukari for me). It's a bitch trying to mend relationships so stay on top of it! When a girl starts to like you, finish her Social Link before moving on or you'll have to keep mending it.

(SPOILER)Yeah I met him, but I went levelling on the same day and haven't come out yet and been a bit too preoccupied to play since then.

One of my social links have already gone into reverse at some point and I thought it was impossible to mend.

I am currently trying to max the treasurer since she is Main Character's "girlfriend" for now. (strange to say "for now").

I am about the same place as Chaos, though I already have my Magician social link maxed out and almost done my Chariot (level 9) and at level 6 or 7 for the Heirophant. I had Chariot reverse on me once but it only took two days to mend it. Thankfully they preserve your level. This is also the reason why I want to finish maxing out the rest of my links before I try to tackle more because if I don't then I will end up having conflicts again.

I am sad to hear that the protagonist can't be hooked up with a guy. Akihiko-senpai <3.

As for Tartarus I try to go once or twice a week. Sometimes more if my level is low and the deadline for Elizabeth's requests are closing in.

BTW where do you get the Priestess Arcana social link?

I think my Hanged Man social link is the highest, followed by Magician, Hermit and Chariot.

Hierophant is raping me. x-x; I think I need to level up, I am only around level 20. Does this mean I should level up more?

The Priestess Arcana is with Fuuka and I don't believe it becomes available until August or September. You need to have a maxed out Courage stat though... All the girls in your party require a maxed out social stat to initiate so stay on it.

As far as I know, only the social links at the school can be reversed or broken so don't worry about the old couple or the little school girl.

I'm also sad about the inability to hook up with guy characters as well... though the social link with both the Devil and the Temperance characters are questionable... I also wonder about the Fortune guy, cause damn if he won't leave me alone. It seemed like every night I was getting either a phone call from the Treasurer, the Team Manager, or him...

I'm curious to see what Persona 4 will be like since this game came off amazing. I hope they do it similiar to this one cause though I'm amazed at how far the game goes with things, you can easily see cool possibilities as well. Like I would love your social links to affect your stats as well as your Arcana.:cool:

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Originally Posted by The Summoner of Leviathan

Hierophant is raping me. x-x; I think I need to level up, I am only around level 20. Does this mean I should level up more?

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I'm only like level 12.

Is it true that you need to have a persona of a corresponding arcana equipped to be able to go to the higher ranks of some social links? My Magician/Justice social links are taking quite a while, they just go hang out somewhere and they don't ask me stuff anymore. Maybe I need to just keep at it?

I like the disco block... :eek:

I think it is just that they level up faster with a corresponding Persona. I hung out with Yuko once without a corresponding Persona, then had to redo the same thing and this time I had a corresponding Persona and both times it was the same "your friendship will get stronger in the future" stuff without questions and all. Perhaps in later levels you do need to, but I do not think it is all that important. Worst case scenario go visit Elizabeth and get some low level Persona from the Compendium.

I think the higher the level the longer it takes to level it again, like when a social link first starts it basically levels each time you talk with the person, but around level 4 or 5 it starts taking more times, like my Hanged Man is 6 or 7, and I've got Inugami, and it still takes 2 or 3 times to get a social link to level up.

On that note, I'm now level 14, and fused 3 new persona, the best being Pyro Jack, which gained 3 levels from the SL bonus.

Your right CitK, it takes longer the higher it is. Though having a corresponding Persona does help to level them up faster. Also, going out with them on Sunday or holidays raises it faster as well as giving the proper gifts to the girls. (Yuko loves cute things, Treasurer likes books and smart things, ect, ect...).

Just keep at them. Also, take care of the Hermit and the Sun cause they have the greatest restrictions. Tower is the easiest to level cause he's the only Social Link available in the evening.

I can't wait to get the Star and Judgement social links. I want Lucifer and Messiah.

I'm guessing tower is the one in the mall? I haven't been able to answer his questions correctly, if that's really who it is. :confused:

I need to raise my academics more to get the one in the park on Sundays, I have to be Smart xD

My current Persona 'party' is Inugami, Jack Frost, Pyro Jack, Orpheus, Ara Mitama, and 2 that I made yesterday, Zouchoton or something like that, and a dude riding a horse.

This game is really popular here! I think more than Jeanne D'Arc, Blue Dragon, and Eternal Sonata. I like it!

Huh? Which one is in the park?

From the guide I read on GameFaqs, Tower is available after reaching level 5 with Yuko (Team Manager/Strength S.L.).

The Gourmet dude at the mall is Emperor.

I believe after talking to Maiko (Hanged Man/Girl in the Park) for a while, you unlock a social link with a monk. I cannot remember his arcana though.

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Originally Posted by Ashi

Huh? Which one is in the park?

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I said park but meant Shrine, and like TSoL said, after the hanged man one gets to a certain point, Maiko introduces you to her friend, you need to be Smart to talk to him.

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Originally Posted by The Summoner of Leviathan

From the guide I read on GameFaqs, Tower is available after reaching level 5 with Yuko (Team Manager/Strength S.L.).

The Gourmet dude at the mall is Emperor.

I believe after talking to Maiko (Hanged Man/Girl in the Park) for a while, you unlock a social link with a monk. I cannot remember his arcana though.

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I don't think the gourmet dude is Emperor, I think I've already started that one before meeting him, I coule be wrong though,a nd confusing another one with Emperor.

Oh right. Already have a social link with girl at shrine.

Also already talked to her friend but I can't remember his social link arcana thing.

This game is frustrating me so much. My main character is between 58 and 60. I say between because every time I play (saved in tartarus last) I get up to 60 before even finding access points or w/e and then I get KO'd and game overed. Things are not supposed to KO me when my hp is full! And omg every time an enemy casts something hama or mudo related I actually close my eyes or look away. I think this game is getting a little too much on the nerves. :cry:

I'm not gonna go back and play tonight. Not up for re-levelling at the moment. Maybe in the morning before class... :cry:

Does anyone have any tips regarding this?

Mudo pisses me of so much >_< thos phantom mage guys always did it to me, first they'd take out Yukari, then Junpei, then Main Character.

As of right now, I'm level 14 and on floor 36 of the Tartarus. Something tells me I'm a little under leveled >.>''

It probably isn't related to being under levelled. I don't remember what levels I was at on those floors, but if the non mudo or hama casting stuff are easy to handle then you are prolly ok...

Sometimes I get lucky and finish off the same monsters pretty fast. Other times they finish me off before I get to finish them off, even when I get the first hit. It's all luck IMO. Because what tends to kill main character isn't mudo or hama very often (when it doesn't miss apparently the homunculus items sacrifices themselves for us), it's usually some high damaging skill, and USUALLY it doesn't hurt my main character that much. What adds salt to the wound is that main character would always be at full hp when he (and usually, 2 other party members) get killed at the same time.

And because of my must-get-certain-level-before-leaving-tartarus rituals, I will refuse to go on with the game until I get that level. Or until my characters get fatigued.

This is one of the reasons the time between gaming sessions has been increasing lately. So frustrating. :mad:

The guy at the shrine that requires you to be "Smart" is the Sun Arcana. He is only available on Sundays.

The Gourmet at the mall who asks the annoying questions is the Moon Arcana (Level him up, Moon is pretty good)

The Monk at the Night Club is the Tower Arcana

The Head of the Disciplinary Committee is Emperor

Hama and Mudo are really annoying but to be honest, it's been considerably powered down from one of the main MegaTen games. If you've finished the Death Arcana then I advise creating Thanatos to counter Mudo. To make him, you have to do a Petagram Fusion with all the Death Arcana Persona. He's really good and can easily carry you until you acquire one of the end game Persona.

I can answer any other questions if you have any. Chaos, I think you are a little underleveled (what month are you on?) the easiest way to level up is to find the Shadows that are a flashing pinkish red color. They tend to be uber high level monsters but they'll level you quickly. I also advice you to find the Growth abilities for your Persona and keep them as you fuse them. Growth lets in-active Persona gain experience. 1/4 for Growth 1, 1/2 for growth 2, and full experience for Growth 3.

I also cannot stress how important it is to finish all of Elizabeth's requests. Especially the ones without time limits. She gives you some really useful accessories and the Fusion challenges net you special items you need to create special fusions like Alice and Black Frost...

I'm at the end of May, like 29th or 30th.

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Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno

Hama and Mudo are really annoying but to be honest, it's been considerably powered down from one of the main MegaTen games. If you've finished the Death Arcana then I advise creating Thanatos to counter Mudo. To make him, you have to do a Petagram Fusion with all the Death Arcana Persona. He's really good and can easily carry you until you acquire one of the end game Persona.

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Huh? I don't get it. I am pretty stupid when it's so early in the morning. But how do I make Thanatos? I didn't really use any of the new fusion methods yet.

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Originally Posted by Ashi

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Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno

Hama and Mudo are really annoying but to be honest, it's been considerably powered down from one of the main MegaTen games. If you've finished the Death Arcana then I advise creating Thanatos to counter Mudo. To make him, you have to do a Petagram Fusion with all the Death Arcana Persona. He's really good and can easily carry you until you acquire one of the end game Persona.

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Huh? I don't get it. I am pretty stupid when it's so early in the morning. But how do I make Thanatos? I didn't really use any of the new fusion methods yet.

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If you have completed the Death Arcana link (got it to level 10 with Pharos) he gives you the item to make him. After September 18th, you get the ability to do fusions greater than three. Thanatos is one of the bigger fusions requiring five of the Death Arcana Persona's (Loa, Pale Rider, Samael, Mot, and Alice) to fuse together to make this level 64 god of death. Note: Alice happens to be one of the fusion requests Elizabeth asks you to do.

Chaos, actually, your levels sound about right. Tartarus is over 200 levels high so I wouldn't sweat it.;)

I do have the Death Arcana maxed but I have very little recollection of those events. So he gave us an item? And I have to be at least 64? And have those persona?

I guess I still have a long way to go! xD

Persona anime coming in January, set 10 years after Persona 3.

Anime News Network article
Scan from Famitsu

I have some slight anticipation towards this. Games-to-anime generally aren't anything special, but this is at least going to be retaining the same art style from Persona 3. The music composer is someone I have flagged as a 'check out' as well, as he also did R.O.D. and Gurren-Lagann's music. Which was great. No Mitsuru though, which is bad.

I guess that means I need to beat Persona 3 before January.

Heard of the anime. I'm ashamed to say my sister, who doesn't even play the game, is more excited about it than me. Lately she's the one who's been pushing me to play... I'm not done with it (around 90 hours in so far), and too busy and/or burned out to play. Heh.

GH3/ToL/other assorted games are keeping me from playing right now, but I'm going to try and force myself to spend the next few days playing. xD

Did you do a lot of Elizabeth's open-deadline requests? I didn't really bother early on but now I'm going back and completing them little by little and I'm having trouble with 22 (create a Vetala with Maragi). I get Vetala but no Maragi (even though the base that I've used has it).

I do the open ended quests as soon as I can, I did the Vetala one, relatively easy too, I tend to try and keep a persona with all the basic ma- magic, and I had to use a triangle spread, but 2 of 3 I fused had Maragi, so Vetala kept it, and if you keep re-choosing the persona to be used in the fuse, the passed down skills change too. The one after Vetala is a bit harder, an Orthus with Dodge Slash, I have the three I need to get it with that, I just need to hit level 28.

I had to keep rechoosing the personas [insert sweatdrop here]. I did the dodge slash one, too. Required a bit more fusions on my part.

Decided to just ignore other quests and finish the game. Btw, how far in are you? There is something I would like to ask about if anyone has finished December...

I'm only at the start of July, though, if I can be arsed I'll power through the next bit and hopefully beat the game before January.

I'll just put it behind a spoiler tag and you can get back to it whenever you finish the game.

(SPOILER)Is it possible to have an alternate ending if you choose to kill Ryoji? Does the game end in December?

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Originally Posted by Ashi

I'll just put it behind a spoiler tag and you can get back to it whenever you finish the game.

(SPOILER)Is it possible to have an alternate ending if you choose to kill Ryoji? Does the game end in December?

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Yes it does! ;)

Oh wow. I wanna know how that goes but I don't think I'll have the heart to (SPOILER)kill Ryoji! I always thought he was kinda cool!

I want to do the new game cycle thing. I heard some things get carried over. Sounds interesting to me since I didn't max all social links last time. :)

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Originally Posted by Ashi

Oh wow. I wanna know how that goes but I don't think I'll have the heart to (SPOILER)kill Ryoji! I always thought he was kinda cool!

I want to do the new game cycle thing. I heard some things get carried over. Sounds interesting to me since I didn't max all social links last time. :)

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To be honest, making that choice leads you to a more boring conclusion. Though it's amusing to watch cause it makes the ending that much better.;)

I have been too busy and backlogged with other games that I have not had a chance to play through a new game+.

Maybe I'll just make an extra save file just to see what happens. I did start the new game thing but I'm not that far yet. I am also playing three other games at the same time, haha.