I dont think heart items were part of the original game. Also, Please don't assume that I don't do my best to equip the most beneficial personas. YOu can't *always* exploit the enemy's weakness and finish the battle with an all out attack. Sometimes your magic misses, sometimes the all out attack doesn't even finish them all off. Sometimes you simply don't have an attack of the right property. And with several different enemies in one battle, it is sometimes hard to find a persona that is strong against every attack the enemies can throw at you.

The Answer episode is a nice example. Before I even have a chance to get any good personas or items, I can get game over in two attacks, and this has happened to me even after I've done an all out attack, because none of the four enemies were dead after it. There was not really anything I could have done to prevent it, except skipping the fight all together, but doing that over and over again would leave me soft and squishy forever.