I'm not sure if this is the place to ask for help, but here goes.
I started P4 the other day and have really been enjoying it so far, I just got to Yukiko's Castle and am having some difficulty.
I've (contrary to advice) been following a guide just to get me through the first parts of the game so I feel comfortable, and it feels like I've been doing pretty good so far.
It feels like I don't have enough resources to get through the dungeon. I've got like 6 SP recovering items that recover shit all (10 SP? gimme a break) and don't find many in the dungeon itself. Just getting to the 7th level with enough resources is proving way too difficult, I run out of SP at like the 5th floor.
I made a separate save and tried leaving the dungeon and going home, so I could look for more SP recovering items to buy, but there aren't enough items to buy, and I don't have a ton of money.
Any advice as to what I should do here? I'm kind of at a loss for ideas and after dying 4 or 5 times last night I was seriously considering just quitting here, but I want to get through it dammit.
Yeah, the early game is pretty difficult, for those exact reasons. Since you can no longer go back to the main hub to recover everything like in 3, SP is going to be your most valuable resource. It doesn't help that you're still pretty limited in your skillset and can't use some of the more SP-conserving techniques.
If you haven't already, try relying much more on physical attacks and skills. Even though striking weaknesses does net you extra turns and there aren't any enemies weak to phys, most of the enemies can be dealt with easily, even without going straight for the throat. I just recently got through there on hard mode, and I basically devoted Yosuke's entire SP pool to healing, while using phys skills when I didn't need any patching up. He's a jack off all trades, so he still did solid damage. Chie, since her strength is her strongest asset, barely used her magic at all.
If this is your first time playing P4 or even SMT, don't be afraid to use status effects for regular enemies and especially debuffs for the bosses. They're incredibly useful, unlike in most games, but you'll want to save SP for them, since they're still costly at that point in the game. If I remember correctly, you can find SP items in chests on the first few floors, so assuming you're willing to be a reset fiend, going through each floor multiple times, you can find some items eventually.
In the end, though, don't be afraid to duck out if things are proving too hard to get around, or worse yet, just not fun. Personally I just play the game like I would real life, so I just roll with the punches if I miss an opportunity or mess up and turn the perfectionist part of my brain off. Do you want to play the game or essentially be at the mercy of a guide you might as well treat as gospel for tens of hours, all in the name of "efficiency?" That's something you'll have to answer for yourself, but I do remember P4 being more lenient, though, so even if you do duck out, there should be a way to make up for lost time somewhere down the line.
