Yeah, if I hadn't already played P3 and knew what I'd eventually get to, I would've quit P4 in the intro. Strangely, the intro didn't annoy me as much on a replay than the first time.
While it sucks that going back to the entrance doesn't refill your HP/SP anymore, I'm glad for these things though:
1) You can always go back to the last highest level you're in the game - no more trying to to get the level with exit points you can return to like in P3.
2) Arcana chance is a pretty nice element to the game, while a lot of the times you'll get the upright chances, there's always a chance where getting the reversed arcana screws you for the current dungeon session
3) You don't get tired anymore which means you're free to grind (provided you get the correct upright arcanas - judgement and death are the two best ones to get to grind)
Although I really hate these things though:
1) Since we cannot go to dungeons at night anymore, we can't increase social links and go to dungeons at the same time, which means we more or less have to grind in dungeons.
1) Fox is definitely too expensive and totally useless in the beginning since the cost per SP is just too much
As an addendum to his point 1, always have some Goho-M items in your inventory. They let you warp out of the dungeon instantly, and you can go right back to the start of the floor you got to. So if you want to play it safe, go up about 2 floors or so, then warp back out and save, so you won't lose as much progress as trying to go through it all in one go without saving.
It's most useful to do that on your initial stint through the dungeon, since you don't know what you'll bump into.
If you get stuck on a quest, just ask in here and I can paste the solution from a text file I made, that way you won't look up other quests on accident. In general, the rewards really aren't that great (but some are nice), so don't get too worried about them overall.
I'd say the most important thing I learned from the endurance run for the early game is buy 5 Tap Sodas/Dr. Neos every week. You won't really need them till maybe Kanji's dungeon and by then you'll have enough to refill your party at least once, significantly increasing your time in the TV. Also, as Scarlet said, an early Persona with Invigorate can really help. Even if you're not in the mood to guard against weak mobs indefinitely, just equip the Invigorate Persona before you get into a fight and keep it equipped as long as possible, then just equip the Persona you want EXP for before killing every mob.
It took me 2 in-game days to beat the first 3 dungeons and then I one-shot every dungeon from Rise's on. I got Hermit to 9 pretty quickly though which also helped..
Anyway I'm about the hit the fated December day with 66 hours played so far. Level 69, no amazing Personas..I have an Alice with Null Phys ready to be made but that's about it. Btw is there any reason her name glows in the fusion menu and other top-end ones don't? Is she some super rare that you're not supposed to know about? She actually doesn't seem that amazing to me. Right now a Trumpeter with Null Phys is my main and I'm just grinding it to get Debilitate.
Her icon is purple because she is one of the special fusions that are only made one specific way. The only way to make her is by fusing those two Personas. There's a couple other ones like that, as well. Think of them as being similar to the 4+ ones.
If I really wanted to I guess I could get Repel Light on her but ugh I hate the menu grinding..I spent a decent amount of time getting stuff like Repel Wind on Thor or nullifying some other random weakness on a Persona and it's just not fun. My Nebiros either got Spell Master or Null Phys but never both so I just gave up. I also went from like 500,000k to nothing after making a Trumpeter to satisfy Margaret's request and then remaking it with Null Phys. First time money's ever been an issue all game.
Nebiros learns Spell Master and Null Light naturally.
I kind of want to play P4 again...goddammit Error.
Making Trumpeter immune to all is pretty easy..I had him with Repel Phys+Absorb Fire+Null Wind the first time, then got Repel Phys+Null Fire+Null Wind the second and it bugged me, so I tried for Absorb Fire again and had Null Wind on 3? ingredients and Absorb Wind on 1, and got Repel Phys+Absorb Fire+Absorb Wind. :lol
Man I'm itching to restart P4 on expert. However I ordered P3:FES yesterday so I think I'm better off waiting for that to arrive. I've beat P3 before but I'm thinking of re-starting that on expert as well once FES arrives. The FES edition does add things to the main game correct?
I guess in the mean time I'll continue my Nocturne replay. I had kinda forgotten how vastly different it is in the gameplay department and just how awesome the atmosphere is in that game. You also really notice the progression that Atlus has made in terms of menus. The menus in Nocturne are a bit of a hazzard at first after having played P4.
You think that's bad, I've spent more on Persona swag than Persona games. Picked up the official P3 and P4 artbooks, and then the official P3, P4, P3:FES and P3:Reincarnation CDs. D=
Wow, Yukiko's Shadow is kind of a bitch at first. But then you pick up a fire immune Persona that can cast Media and she's cake. Value of proper preparation, yay!
it's worth noting that Odin Sphere is a LOT closer to an action game than it is an RPG. It's pretty to look at no doubt, but 99% of that game is combat. Exploration etc. is practically nonexistent, especially since the stages repeat themselves.
Wow, Yukiko's Shadow is kind of a bitch at first. But then you pick up a fire immune Persona that can cast Media and she's cake. Value of proper preparation, yay!
Yup, preparation and persona choice is key in P4. Later on when you get more slots, you can afford to have several different personas tailored to your needs so you can swap back and forth as you learn the fights. I've a feeling the next boss shadow might give you a little trouble, heh.
Yup, you got the shitty ending due to a rather shitty game mechanic.
If you still have a save pre December 3rd I suggest you reload that and hit up a faq.
You need to give specific answers during the
it's worth noting that Odin Sphere is a LOT closer to an action game than it is an RPG. It's pretty to look at no doubt, but 99% of that game is combat. Exploration etc. is practically nonexistent, especially since the stages repeat themselves.
Well finally beat this monster of a game. True Ending. 71 hours. All Links maxed except Moon and Hanged Man. MC was level 77, my Trumpeter never got Debilitate, Alice was decent - had Null Phys, Null Light, and Repel Elec, but oddly enough I ended up using a Hachiman with Null Phys near the end because my MC became my main healer and it didn't repel Elec at the last boss.
Some thoughts: Getting the true ending is a cryptic mess that I doubt I could have done without an FAQ. I knew it was there from reading threads like this but didn't spoil how to get it..but once the actual scene came up and I realized it wasn't a series of knowledge/deduction-based questions I had no choice but to resort to making sure I answered them right since I didn't want to go through all those cutscenes again. The big question where they ask you who the culprit is (which I figured out no problem on the first try) was how I thought it would be. AND THEN having to do that whole mess after you talk to all your maxed social links.. geezus how on earth would you know to do any of that?
How you'd know to answer No to going home twice, go to the Junes elevator, find Dojima, then Igor, then gas..ugh..I have no idea.
Not to mention thinking you're at the end of the game only to find out you have to go through another entire dungeon.. ugh. Cutscenes, running around town talking to everyone, scavenger hunt, and then ANOTHER dungeon? No thanks. I just ran past everything on every floor, got to the boss, and prayed level 77 was enough. It was.
Regardless..amazing game. So glad I found the endurance run and took the plunge. It was a bit easy past Rise's but I assume on Hard you'd have to be a Persona fusing master and like I said before I'm not into the menu grinding thing.
Got to fourth floor of Kanji's dungeon today. Then the protoganist got instakilled by a Ghostly Wail (or some similar named ability). I'm assuming the fact that he was feared at the time had something to do with the instant death?
Well that's an hour of progress gone.
The plus side is that I'll definitely go back and fight my way through it again. And I've quit other games for far less lost progress.
Also, I'm using a FAQ for the game, but I don't really feel bad about it. Mostly because I'm only really using it to see which Social Links are available on which days. So it is really just saving me time from running all over seeing who wants to hang out.
Got to fourth floor of Kanji's dungeon today. Then the protoganist got instakilled by a Ghostly Wail (or some similar named ability). I'm assuming the fact that he was feared at the time had something to do with the instant death?
Yup, you got the shitty ending due to a rather shitty game mechanic.
If you still have a save pre December 3rd I suggest you reload that and hit up a faq.
You need to give specific answers during the
There's only two times that what you do has an irreversible effect. When you get the choice between the bad and the good ending and when you get the choice between the good and the true ending. And you'll get a decent amount of warning when you've hit this spot in the game, heh.
Badly handled both of them. The game's great about in-game logic backing up its systems, then has
that 1 outta 64 relatively blind guesswork in that scene, then that it was a do or dont situation, then you had the spooky-action-at-a-distance with Nanako.
Anyone else feel the dungeon grinding is too long overdrawn? If it werent for the characters and story, I probably would stop and not finish this game. already at 80 hours and havent beaten the game.
Anyone else feel the dungeon grinding is too long overdrawn? If it werent for the characters and story, I probably would stop and not finish this game. already at 80 hours and havent beaten the game.
Not sure if they intended it or not, but seeing at how Persona usually handles characterizations of their characters fairly well... I kinda feel this might be an intention by the writers.
Yosuke's homophobicness at Kanji's "queerness" was somewhat of a sign of suppressed homosexual behavior. Not only that, there are times where I feel that Yosuke was trying too much in showing off his straightness in chasing and lavishing after girls.
Course, this might just be too deep of an interpretation, but it doesn't help that Yosuke's dialogues with the main character seem, well, very intimate and personal, being more than just friends a lot of times.
I noticed that side of Yosuke a lot more watching the Endurance Run.
ultron87 said:
Got to fourth floor of Kanji's dungeon today. Then the protoganist got instakilled by a Ghostly Wail (or some similar named ability). I'm assuming the fact that he was feared at the time had something to do with the instant death?
A few years ago, I bought shin megami tensei devil summoner but I gave up half-away because of the difficulty level.
Last week, my sister gave my persona 4 as a present and I was relieved to see the 'beginner' difficulty level.
So now I'm wondering: Does Persona 3 have a difficulty setting as well? Because I really want to 'jump in' but not if the game is as hard as devil summoner.
Yes, both Persona 3 and 4 have beginner difficulty levels, but all that gives you is a supply of ten continues that you have to ration for the 60+ hour game.
Heh, it actually happened one more time after that because I was trying to clear the 5th floor on the the first day in the dungeon and there was one of the glowy red shadow things which I managed to screw up getting the jump on. So it turned out to be 5 of the mage things in that dungeon. I should've vanish balled as soon as they knocked two of my characters down in that first round, but I thought to myself "I'm sure I'll survive at least one more turn". A zionga on the protoganist who had a lightning weak persona soon proved me wrong there. Thankfully ps2 controllers are pretty durable, because I kind of sort of hurled it to the ground with a lot of profanity at that point.
But it all turned out for the best. On my next successful try I was able to get to the top floor in two days and beat Kanji's shadow on my third day in the dungeon. Leaving me plenty of time to hang out with people afterwards.
I will tell you, I actually kinda like palying P4 on easy for the story myself, if only because I use those 10 feathers as a full SP restore to grind dungeons out in one day.:lol
A few years ago, I bought shin megami tensei devil summoner but I gave up half-away because of the difficulty level.
Last week, my sister gave my persona 4 as a present and I was relieved to see the 'beginner' difficulty level.
So now I'm wondering: Does Persona 3 have a difficulty setting as well? Because I really want to 'jump in' but not if the game is as hard as devil summoner.
Um...I consider Devil Summoner to be the easiest of the SMT series, so...I dunno. I didn't really find P4 to be all that difficult, but YMMV, considering it sounds like you haven't played many other SMT games.
I found P4 to be significantly easier than P3. But it's much better for a SMT virgin to play & finish P4 on Beginner, than to play it on Normal and give up before seeing the ending(s).
Started playing this a few days ago after LOVING 3, and well, I see the magic is still there
I was afraid the cast would be too similar, but Kesuke isn't the Junpei clone I thought he'd be. I just beat
Yukiki's shadow in the castle
and I'm really liking it so far. Playing on normal, gotta beat this before school starts.
I have a question about the multiple endings though, are they as easy to figure out which is the best as P3? I can't see myself being able to play through it multiple times due to time constraints (and a massive SMT backlog. DDS1+2, Nocturne, Persona 2:EP, Devil Summoner 2, Devil Survivor), what would you guys suggest I do to get the best ending while being as vague as possible :lol
I mean, I guess I could just look them up on youtube later, but what's the fun in that? Though yes, this game is even easier to get into than P3, which is nice.
Started playing this a few days ago after LOVING 3, and well, I see the magic is still there
I was afraid the cast would be too similar, but Kesuke isn't the Junpei clone I thought he'd be. I just beat
Yukiki's shadow in the castle
and I'm really liking it so far. Playing on normal, gotta beat this before school starts.
I have a question about the multiple endings though, are they as easy to figure out which is the best as P3? I can't see myself being able to play through it multiple times due to time constraints (and a massive SMT backlog. DDS1+2, Nocturne, Persona 2:EP, Devil Summoner 2, Devil Survivor), what would you guys suggest I do to get the best ending while being as vague as possible :lol
I mean, I guess I could just look them up on youtube later, but what's the fun in that? Though yes, this game is even easier to get into than P3, which is nice.
You can never screw yourself out of an ending, as long as you don't save over your file at the New Game+ save prompt, so one playthrough can and will net you all 3 endings. It is stupidly specific how you have to answer some questions to go from the Bad -> Normal ending, so you'll likely have to look at a FAQ once you get the bad ending before you can move on.
