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[Ploid 3.0]

Read a few pages after the release of the game point, have anyone mentioned that the location on the HUD don't show up on ps3? Did my save file get corrupted somehow? I shouldn't worry about it but it's bugging me in it's blank state. It makes me wonder if other overlays are missing too.

http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/928/928161/shin-megami-tensei-persona-4-20081107041014208_640w.jpg

Also I get a lot of corrupt save file, and failed to save successfully messages. Mostly because I'm rushing to confirm save/load I figure. Otherwise the game is smooth, and I also notice the weird motion blur mentioned. Is that PS3 only?

 

[lolez2matt]

that also happened to me about the corrupt save file but it was on my ps2 slim :S
but I just keep saving and everything went good

 

[jvalioli]

I played P4 on my PS3 and I had the saving problem but not the first one.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Man when it said the save file was corrupt I was so scared. Tried it again after sitting there in a "Oh crap" state and it worked. I guess it was still loading stuff in the background (menu stuff, gui).

 

[firehawk12]

Odd request here.

I was just wondering if anyone had any saves before the "love triangle" dates that seem to happen if you are in a relationship with one girl but decide to go on a date with another.

I just heard about these, but I really don't want to play the game all over again just to see the wackiness. :lol

The only one I know of for sure happens on

Spoiler

November 23, where Yumi and Rise bump into each other if you go out with Yosuke

.

Heck, I wouldn't even mind video... but Youtube has let me down!

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Read a few pages after the release of the game point, have anyone mentioned that the location on the HUD don't show up on ps3? Did my save file get corrupted somehow? I shouldn't worry about it but it's bugging me in it's blank state. It makes me wonder if other overlays are missing too.

Also I get a lot of corrupt save file, and failed to save successfully messages. Mostly because I'm rushing to confirm save/load I figure. Otherwise the game is smooth, and I also notice the weird motion blur mentioned. Is that PS3 only?

The location bit only occurs on partial BC PS3s IIRC (the older 80 GB ones). It was discussed a few times. I've seen the save issues a few times, but if you back out and try again you should be okay. Just back up your saves to another memory card to be safe, just in case.

Odd request here.

I was just wondering if anyone had any saves before the "love triangle" dates that seem to happen if you are in a relationship with one girl but decide to go on a date with another.

I just heard about these, but I really don't want to play the game all over again just to see the wackiness. :lol

The only one I know of for sure happens on

Spoiler

November 23, where Yumi and Rise bump into each other if you go out with Yosuke

.

Heck, I wouldn't even mind video... but Youtube has let me down!

Your Youtube skills are weak!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVTY1m5LO4k&fmt=18

 

[Red Scarlet]

I know youtube has some, but I think it's mainly the ones between the two Sun characters and others.

 

[firehawk12]

Ah, yes, that person has four of them it seems. I bow to your youtube-fu!

I wonder though - I guess the main characters never bother to talk to each other and find out that you're a cheating jackass? :lol

I noticed that in the dungeon Chie and Yukiko sort of freak out if they're not in your party and you talk to them, but that seems to be it from what I've seen so far.

Edit: I suppose I should ask as well - is there video of the Yumi event at the second day of the Summer Festival? Seems like the conditions for it are pretty difficult and I can only find Ayane and Ai videos on youtube.

 

[Teknoman]

Man...last night...

Spoiler

Ameno Sagiri

...it's voice, background, and just the way it looks is just so much more intimidating than

Spoiler

Izanami no Okami

. Better battle theme as well.

Maybe its just me being freaked out by demonic sounding unconventional looking final bosses. Same happened with me and

Spoiler

Nyx Avatar

.

Heh whats up with Japan being so messed up that it keeps attracting ancient deities that believe its destruction is what it's people desire?

 

[Tamanon]

Ah, yes, that person has four of them it seems. I bow to your youtube-fu!

I wonder though - I guess the main characters never bother to talk to each other and find out that you're a cheating jackass? :lol

I noticed that in the dungeon Chie and Yukiko sort of freak out if they're not in your party and you talk to them, but that seems to be it from what I've seen so far.

Edit: I suppose I should ask as well - is there video of the Yumi event at the second day of the Summer Festival? Seems like the conditions for it are pretty difficult and I can only find Ayane and Ai videos on youtube.

Spoiler

Chie: I've started cleaning my room, MC-kun. Seeing how clean your room was made me think about it.
Yukiko: Yes, MC-kun's room is very clean.
Chie: You've seen MC-kun's room, yukiko?
Yukiko: ...You too?
Yukiko: .....
>It suddenly became very awkward...

^May not be the exact dialogue.

One of the dungeon dialogues.:lol

 

[Narcosis]

Heh whats up with Japan being so messed up that it keeps attracting ancient deities that believe its destruction is what it's people desire?

Well, the giant lizards and moths of the 1960's just didn't get the job done and someone has to step up and finish the job, right?

 

[Kagari]

Rise's shadow boss is obnoxious D:

 

[Red Scarlet]

I WANT TO SHOW YOU EVERYTHING

 

[MichaelEM3]

Rise's shadow boss is obnoxious D:

What happens right after that fight is totally worth it.

 

[Teknoman]

Well, the giant lizards and moths of the 1960's just didn't get the job done and someone has to step up and finish the job, right?

Got a point there :lol Makes me want to see what the next crisis will be.

Also Shadow

Spoiler

Teddie

is just as awesome/intimidating. Btw is there some japanese demon/spirit/monster that

Spoiler

Ameno Sagiri

is supposed to draw inspiration from? Because it looks similar to Koffing (pokemon).

 

[Tamanon]

Well, watching the Giant Bombcast endurance run has made me plug the ol' PS2 back in and get to work playing it. Such a fun game, trying to think of what I can do differently to spice it up, most likely just new parties.

The endurance run just hit episode 100 too, dude's are hilarious especially since they really don't know all the nuances.:lol

 

[Ploid 3.0]

I have been wondering why nothing new was ever in the weapon shop. I'm past the

Spoiler

Video game

dungeon now and thought it was strange. Reading the description of the little items you get from monsters always had me thinking I'd get an ability to use them somehow. Finally looking at a walk through it seem like I'm just supposed to dump everything into the weapon shop via selling them. Bleh.

 

[Blueblur1]

I'm trying to avoid P4 spoilers as I haven't finished P3 yet but I decided to pop in and see what you guys were talking about. I was happy to see I wasn't the only one trying to get specific skills to carry over when fusing Personas. I spent like 40 minutes once all the while thinking, "Damn, I bet I'm not the only person that does this."

Anyway, I'm almost done with P3 (I think... the current date is 11/01) and I don't know anything about P4 but I can't wait to jump into it.

 

[Red Scarlet]

I'm trying to avoid P4 spoilers as I haven't finished P3 yet but I decided to pop in and see what you guys were talking about. I was happy to see I wasn't the only one trying to get specific skills to carry over when fusing Personas. I spent like 40 minutes once all the while thinking, "Damn, I bet I'm not the only person that does this."

Anyway, I'm almost done with P3 (I think... the current date is 11/01) and I don't know anything about P4 but I can't wait to jump into it.

I've spent 3 hours on one before.
In both games.

 

[Mamesj]

I've spent 3 hours on one before.
In both games.

whoa. what were you trying to get?

In persona 4, I had a hell of a time getting Anzu (I think it was him...a wind weak demon) to have wind resistance. and of course, I rarely use him and will probably end up fusing it before I get any benefit. but just. in. case!

I know I sat there with fusion charts and everything when I played Nocturne years ago and tried to make every fusion perfect...but I decided to trash the charts (and guides) from now on in SMT games.


made it to kanji's shadow tonight...wow. :lol Though I didn't fight the boss yet, I watched the opening conversation...kinda odd that he (psychology of Kanji spoilers)

Spoiler

hates on women because they don't find him manly enough and thinks that only men will understand him. He grew up with his mother (and not his dad afaik), who probably taught him to sew and paint, so you'd think he'd have more female friends...I guess like the gay guys I know irl. also, men would be more likely to call him out for not being masculine. maybe it's different in Japan...I dunno. and maybe I'm reading too much into it lol

anyone else notice this and find it odd?

 

[ixix]

I just came back to this game having last played it around February -- figuring that the best way to celebrate American independence from Britain is to pretend to be a Japanese high schooler -- and cannot remember a damn thing. Maybe I should just start over.

I've spent 3 hours on one before.
In both games.

And to think you were criticizing my grinding in the FFV thread. The gall.

 

[Red Scarlet]

It could have taken 5 minutes. It's the equivalent of playing a slot machine. That's a bit different from fighting Goblins that give 1ABP every time.

 

[ixix]

The primary difference being that the Goblins are guaranteed to give you a result, and you can stop anytime with all the ABP you've earned thus far. Igor, on the other hand, is perfectly happy to screw with you for hours, laughing at you through his gargantuan schnoz, and if you give up you end up with bupkis.

Advantage: Goblins.

Speaking of getting screwed with, I have like 6 Personas with Victory Cry and they all suck. I have no idea what the hell I was thinking when I last played this.

 

[Red Scarlet]

The primary difference being that the Goblins are guaranteed to give you a result, and you can stop anytime with all the ABP you've earned thus far. Igor, on the other hand, is perfectly happy to screw with you for hours, laughing at you through his gargantuan schnoz, and if you give up you end up with bupkis.

Advantage: Goblins.

Speaking of getting screwed with, I have like 6 Personas with Victory Cry and they all suck. I have no idea what the hell I was thinking when I last played this.

That's why it can take me so long, I don't give up basically. :lol
What do you have with VC? I had some ok stuff.

 

[ixix]

That's why it can take me so long, I don't give up basically. :lol
What do you have with VC? I had some ok stuff.

Super blah.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Ah. I had it on some low stuff but also my main attackers..was cool.

 

[ixix]

Those are my main attackers.

 

[∀ Narayan]

:|

 

[Red Scarlet]

? Why? Or did you skill change it and you're like 3 months into the game?

 

[ixix]

Well, you know, a little compliment can go a long way. I walked into the Velvet Room one day and was all "Hey Igor, nice nose you got there."

And he was all "Thanks, I've been working out."

So then a while later I was all "Look, Igor, I'm kind of in a pinch here. Mind doing me a solid?"

And Igor was all "For you? Anything."

Then bam. Victory Cry out the ass.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Huh?

 

[ixix]

I'm kind of vague on the details. I think Setanta started it. I fused him, he wanted to change a skill, I figured "Hey, why not?" and he ended up with Victory Cry. Since then I have done absolutely nothing worthwhile with Victory Cry.

 

[Tamanon]

whoa. what were you trying to get?

In persona 4, I had a hell of a time getting Anzu (I think it was him...a wind weak demon) to have wind resistance. and of course, I rarely use him and will probably end up fusing it before I get any benefit. but just. in. case!

I know I sat there with fusion charts and everything when I played Nocturne years ago and tried to make every fusion perfect...but I decided to trash the charts (and guides) from now on in SMT games.


made it to kanji's shadow tonight...wow. :lol Though I didn't fight the boss yet, I watched the opening conversation...kinda odd that he (psychology of Kanji spoilers)

Spoiler

hates on women because they don't find him manly enough and thinks that only men will understand him. He grew up with his mother (and not his dad afaik), who probably taught him to sew and paint, so you'd think he'd have more female friends...I guess like the gay guys I know irl. also, men would be more likely to call him out for not being masculine. maybe it's different in Japan...I dunno. and maybe I'm reading too much into it lol

anyone else notice this and find it odd?

In Kanji's case it's simpler.

Spoiler

Men he can deal with, men he can punch and "make" them understand. Women he was clueless on how to handle.

 

[Mamesj]

In Kanji's case it's simpler.

Spoiler

Men he can deal with, men he can punch and "make" them understand. Women he was clueless on how to handle.

I just finished the fight and it's all much clearer now.



jeez, just played for 4 hours and I could do 4 more if I didn't have responsibilities :lol


what are gaffer's longest sessions with this game?

 

[I'm an expert]

I was an endurance run convertee so the by the time I had started the game I knew everything up to about Kanji's part in the game. My first few play sessions were easily 7-8 hours because I wanted to get ahead of the run. What's scary to think is had I not known what to do/what was coming I might have spent way more time on those first few months learning everything. I'm at about 57 hours now and in November so if I finish the game under 80 total hours I'll feel pretty happy.

I've definitely spent 10-15 minutes on trying to get the right fusion but the truth is the game is never much of a challenge on Normal so I don't go out of my way to fuse those perfect personas like Scarlet does. About the only thing I made sure to have on my main stuff was Cool Breeze which really made the second half of the game trivial.

 

[Tamanon]

I just finished the fight and it's all much clearer now.



jeez, just played for 4 hours and I could do 4 more if I didn't have responsibilities :lol


what are gaffer's longest sessions with this game?

On Saturday I put in ten straight hours. I think I did longer when the game first came out and I was jobless. Once you get on a groove.....

Of course that meant that one time I went three hours without saving:/

 

[firehawk12]

Finally finished the game at about 105 hours (I lost a lot of time since I screwed up the November S-link schedule, ugh). It's the first JRPG that I've started and finished in one playthrough since probably the SNES days and I'm glad I did it.

I'm just not sure where all the time went. I feel like I've spent more time in cutscenes than I did in the TV, but I can't imagine that would be possible. Maybe the grinding felt like it took less time.

Anyway, it just makes me wish there was some way to compromise between the strict story design of a JRPG and the brevity of a WRPG. I've put about 60 hours into Mass Effect and Fallout 3 respectively, but I couldn't name a party member if my life depended on it whereas with P4, I can name people like Sayako and Shu, people you don't even need to meet in the game at all. There should be a way to create a compelling story with meaningful characters without spending so much off time. I'm not sure how you'd do that, because of course some of the school events are memorable because they're so indulgent, but it feels almost painful to sit through and press X over and over again.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to grind through a long RPG like this ever again. I want to start P3 FES, but the prospect of dumping another 100 hours frightens me to no end. Maybe when Persona 5 comes out... :lol

 

[Red Scarlet]

Take a break between P4 and P3. Trust me. Play some action games for about a good solid month or so, then when you get that craving to put Null Fire on something after that, give it a try.

 

[Tamanon]

Yeah, don't jump into P3 immediately. Not just for the life-sucking bits, but also because otherwise you're immediately going to try and map characters between the two as the same, and that's really going to confuse you on the Kanji-Akihiko front.

 

[firehawk12]

made it to kanji's shadow tonight...wow. :lol Though I didn't fight the boss yet, I watched the opening conversation...kinda odd that he (psychology of Kanji spoilers)

Spoiler

hates on women because they don't find him manly enough and thinks that only men will understand him. He grew up with his mother (and not his dad afaik), who probably taught him to sew and paint, so you'd think he'd have more female friends...I guess like the gay guys I know irl. also, men would be more likely to call him out for not being masculine. maybe it's different in Japan...I dunno. and maybe I'm reading too much into it lol

anyone else notice this and find it odd?

You know, I'm still not sure if Kanji is meant to be a queer character. From some of the posts I saw on Gamasutra or wherever, it made it sound like he was the video game equivalent of Harvey Milk... but he's just an insecure guy.

I mean, case in point was the whole

Spoiler

nosebleed thing during the camp out

.

One thing is that in an interview in the guide, the designer said that both Naoto and Kanji were meant to be parodies of anime archetypes. They wanted to destabilize the idea of the "kid detective" and the "tough goon" more than anything else.

I imagine it sort of pushes the line, but finishing out the S-link with Kanji, it just seemed more to be about dealing with conceptions of masculinity rather than any sense of subconscious queer identity/subjectivity.

 

[Tamanon]

If anything....

Spoiler

Yosuke's was the one that leaned more towards a homosexual relationship

:lol

But both Naoto and Kanji explored the concept of gender roles and the consequences or reasons for breaking them.

 

[Mamesj]

Yeah, when I made the post, I had only gotten to the kanji shadow intro and not everything after, so I saw how the game was playing with my perception later...and my questions were answered in light of all that. Very cool story moment (and this coming from a guy who usually isn't into story in games )

 

[firehawk12]

Take a break between P4 and P3. Trust me. Play some action games for about a good solid month or so, then when you get that craving to put Null Fire on something after that, give it a try.

Yeah, don't jump into P3 immediately. Not just for the life-sucking bits, but also because otherwise you're immediately going to try and map characters between the two as the same, and that's really going to confuse you on the Kanji-Akihiko front.

Hah, yeah that's probably a good idea.
This past year I've just been sucking up a lot of slice of life anime stuff, so P4 hit me at a good time - especially since it basically hit on all the classic beats of school based anime series (summer shrine visit FTW!).

I did start P3 ages ago, but stopped when FES was announced and didn't bother going back since. But I think that 5 hours or so is worth worrying about considering the game + The Answer is probably going to be another 100+ hour experience. :lol

 

[Red Scarlet]

I don't know if you had to BEAT P3 or not, but you can carry over some stuff onto FES from a regular P3 save, like the academics/charm/knowledge stats, which since if you only played 5 hours you'd get a little boost in them, which could be helpful.

There are a number of design aspects that were adjusted in 4 from 3, some of which I didn't notice until I replayed 3 again, and although they might seem wtfannoyingwhywasthisnotinP3, I got used to them not being there in 3 after a little bit.

 

[firehawk12]

If anything....

Spoiler

Yosuke's was the one that leaned more towards a homosexual relationship

:lol

God, it's so true, especially in the last few S-link events. :lol

Yeah, when I made the post, I had only gotten to the kanji shadow intro and not everything after, so I saw how the game was playing with my perception later...and my questions were answered in light of all that. Very cool story moment (and this coming from a guy who usually isn't into story in games )

In hindsight, I think people who went out of their way to say Kanji was the first gay character in games ever probably only got to that point as well. I mean, it can certainly be read that way, I just think it's a bit of a stretch.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Wasn't someone in P1 or P2 gay? Thought I read that awhile ago.

 

[firehawk12]

I don't know if you had to BEAT P3 or not, but you can carry over some stuff onto FES from a regular P3 save, like the academics/charm/knowledge stats, which since if you only played 5 hours you'd get a little boost in them, which could be helpful.

There are a number of design aspects that were adjusted in 4 from 3, some of which I didn't notice until I replayed 3 again, and although they might seem wtfannoyingwhywasthisnotinP3, I got used to them not being there in 3 after a little bit.

Yeah, I did that when I started playing P3 FES just to see if the disk worked. I take it that they tried to make P4 a little friendlier? In the P4 guide, the designer talks about how they gave back direct control of the party members to the player because they got too many complaints.

 

[Tamanon]

Wasn't someone in P1 or P2 gay? Thought I read that awhile ago.

Persona 2 Innocent Sin had a gay guy in it as one of the party members.

And according to Internet fanfiction, every character in every game is gay.

 

[Red Scarlet]

There's a couple of adjustments they made in 4, there's the controllable party members for one. Also you can just press the square button to 'warp' to a different area in school and all that; P3 doesn't have that (you can talk to a student in your classroom to get to the map screen though). There are no save points that you can reach during the daytime most days; the only save points in the game I believe are the one at the dorm (usually changes to night if you enter) and at Tartarus, vs the two you can access in P4 during the day.

For fusing, one thing I didn't really notice until after I started playing 3 again is the fact that you cannot arrange your Personas like in 4 (equip one to bring it to the top, making it easy to set the ones you want to fuse at the top). The only way to arrange your Personas in 3 is to remove them and buy them back in the order you want them to be in. And the fuse menu itself is different too; after you choose your first Persona, the position of the bar thing to choose your next one goes to the top. So if you want to fuse Persona 6 and 7, once you choose #7, the bar goes to the top and you have to move it back down or up to #6.

Personas cost a LOT more to rebuy (700,000+ for a maxed one on normal) in 3, but you can get exponentially more money in 3 compared to 4 (I've hit 9,999,999 in 3 a few times in one play; the most I ever got in 4 was just over 1,000,000 at the start of a new game+).

Then there's the whole tired thing in the dungeons, but that's not really much of an obstruction at all for the main character since it is pretty easily neutralized.

 

[Tamanon]

Yeah, I did that when I started playing P3 FES just to see if the disk worked. I take it that they tried to make P4 a little friendlier? In the P4 guide, the designer talks about how they gave back direct control of the party members to the player because they got too many complaints.

I actually don't mind the AI in Persona 3:FES, it's GREATLY improved from P3 original.:lol

Also, Personas needed a shitload more XP to level up in P3 than 4. Especially since it had that completely different Shuffle Time mechanic, which I actually prefer personally.