Yeah, it's almost traditional that the Persona entries start off a bit slower than other RPG series. MegaTen in general tends to build a bit slower than other entries.

Combat may have been slow due to the game being a bit bad about explaining Fusion Spells, casting certain moves in a specific order will create combination moves like Chrono Trigger's Dual/Triple tech system though in this game some moves can use up the whole team. The Fusion spells are based on basic moves all Personas have so don't worry about switching out Personas too much cause you can still potentially use the same Fusion Spells as long as the current personas you use have the correct abilities. One of the important things about this system that separates it from CT though is that turn order is important. It's not enough to have the required abilities to make the fusion happen, you also need to have the characters use the moves in the correct order. Luckily the game lets you select fusion moves directly once you've used them, but if you run into an issue where you can't get a certain fusion spell to work because it involves Eikichi (usually the slowest party member since he's the heavy) to use his move first, then you'll have to manually set him first and potentially let the enemies get their turns before you use your death bringing spell. It sounds more complicated than it really is.

For pointers, you should be able to use Towering Inferno, which requires a Water spell, Earth spell, and Fire spell in that specific order.

You should also know that there are some unique Fusion Spells that require very specific Personas like Ohm, which requires Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma all using their unique skills to do 999 damage to all enemies.

As for conversations, Excited is the best emotion since you can obtain Tarot Cards from demons, Happy will let you get an item/money/ask to leave or inflict them with happy status that makes them waste turns. Scared makes them run away, angry gives the enemy a free round to murder you. It is also possible to get all four emotions going at once. The key is to figure out the demons personality and choose the correct characters conversation skill to entice them. Depending on how you answer questions party members give you or due to plot elements, new styles of conversations which allow multiple party members to interact can be made. For instance, Eikichi will ask Tatsuya if he plays guitar and if you say yes, you'll unlock a dual conversation skill where Eikichi Sings while Tatsuya plays electric guitar.

Tarot Cards can be traded in at the Velvet Room to purchase new Personas. Every demon in the game is aligned with one of the 21 Arcana and so getting them excited will make them hand over the tarot cards of their Arcana, in addition you can also obtain Free Cards from them which the Demon Painter in the Velvet Room can change into any Tarot Arcana you want barring Fool and the Minor Arcana since Fool is special and the Minor Arcana can only be obtained through Mutation. The Free Cards are also important because some Arcana can't be obtained through conversation. Sun, Moon,. Emperor, and Empress can't be obtained normally.

You'll need to balance fighting and gaining cards to get stronger as you'll need lots of cards to get the best Personas but Personas are often unlocked by your party level so talking your way out of problems will keep you low level so find a balance that works for you.

Characters have Arcana Affinity, which means that the effectiveness (SP Cost) of a Persona is based on how good of an affinity a character has with them, it will also affect how quickly the Persona will level up. Some Persona, have poor affinity with everyone and some can only be used by specific characters.

Also a Persona levels up based on how often you use them but level even faster when you use Fusion Spells. It is also possible for Personas to experience Mutations which will either unlock a hidden move (every Persona has one) or some Personas can be transformed in the Velvet Room into a new Persona, this is the only way to Get Persona's of the Minor Arcana (Sword, Cup, Wands and Coin) which are pretty powerful and usually have Great Affinity with everyone.

Glad you're liking it so far. EP is just as kooky at times but certainly a bit darker in its themes and content.