P3:FES Help

[DrJonAngus]

Edit: This thread is basically closed. I've gotten fairly far into Persona 3 and got into the swing of things, so just ignore this topic.



Okay, since it is summer time, I decided to jump head long into Persona 3: FES, which has been collecting dust on my shelf. After all, I am an SMT noob of sorts. My question is, should I mainly focus on Social Links on my first play through? I'm trying to easily manage my way through this game in order to finish it as painlessly as possible. I'm considering not doing Elizabeth's requests at this point.

Well what I do is, I go to the Tartarus every Saturday night, manage my Social Links fairly well so far (Obtain Personas for each Arcana and spend time with everybody equally), study each night, and go do karaoke and play the Virtual Horror game in the arcade. Once I'm done with Courage, I'm going to do charm, and academics. My general issue is, I always feel like I'm not managing my game well enough for future events (i.e. Exams, Elizabeth's requests, etc.) You guys on here seem to really know your stuff, so I figured I'd ask for a bit of guidance.

I'm currently on April 29th and I actually have a little over 100,000 yen, which I'm going to use for boosting my characters stats, buying weapons, and accessing the compendium. In case you are wondering, I got my MC to level 5 on my second exploration of Tartarus and the enemies would run away from me, so I decided to get all the treasure on floors 2, 3, and 4 over and over again after Junpei and Yukari left. Also, can you still raise academics by spending money at the shrine in this version?

[ProudClod]

Yes, you can still improve your academic by going to the shrine.

I'm going to assume you're posting here because you don't want to use a guide. A guide is really the only way you can be completely efficient with your time. I'll give you some tips anyways. But I'd strongly suggest against using one. This game is a million times more fun when it's all a surprise.

You shouldn't be taking turns maxing your social stats out. You should be leveling up your stats in accordance to your needs. Unfortunately, it's very hard to figure out what stats will be useful when (especially your first time through), but there are a lot of indicators. You mentioned a very important indicator already... Exams! Scoring first in your class will net you cool bonuses like rare items -- but the real reason you should be acing your exams is a social one. The Mitsuru social link will ONLY open up if you've got first place on most of your exams (and you HAVE to get first place on your finals).

While Academics is a pretty important social stat in this game, you will probably take longer to max it out than all the other stats, simply because of the way exams are scheduled throughout the year. This is what I meant about leveling up your stats in accordance to your needs. You don't need to max out your academics until the second midterms, yet you still need to achieve certain levels of academics for certain exams. If you don't want to use a guide (which is the only way you could ensure you're being efficient with your time use), just make sure to study AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE as soon as exams are even mentioned in the game. Study in your room, make an offering, play the quiz game in the mall.

Similar thing goes for other stats. Problem with courage and charm however, you won't know that you don't have enough of it until you encounter a social link that needs them. For example, you need to max out your charm to date Yukari -- but there really isn't a way to know that until you talk to her, and the game tells you "You don't have enough charm. You need to be more popular". Thankfully though, neither Yukari, or the Tower (what you need max courage for) social links are time sensitive. That means that you don't need to like, max out your courage by May 20th to date Yukari or something. YOu have until the end of the game. Just keep in mind, that there IS an end.

As far as social links go -- don't go crazy trying to figure out some master schedule for seeing everybody. It'll make this game much less fun. Go with the flow, and approach social links however and whenever you feel like, for whatever reason it is. Still, with that in mind, I can give you a few hints. No matter what social link it is, ALWAYS have a persona of the same Arcana as the social link. It will maximize the chance of you ranking up. Also, you can NEVER rank up on a Sunday. Sundays serve as dates for your girlfriend, and as random events with other social links that will add to the chance of them ranking up on the next weekday social event. Same thing goes for going out on holidays, to the movies in the summer, the festival, and christmas. So, for example, if you've already done two weekday meet ups with Yukari, but haven't leveled up, there's a very good chance that you will level up on the next one, and thus, there's no use on taking her to a date on Sunday.

[DrJonAngus]

Actually, I'm using the guide on Game Faqs for maxing out social links. Those aren't a huge problem, but I might just go with things and enjoy the game. Your information was very useful though. I really appreciate you taking the time for posting. And quick question, should I be fine without a walkthrough? I heard the game is really enjoyable without it.

[ProudClod]

Actually, I'm using the guide on Game Faqs for maxing out social links. Those aren't a huge problem, but I might just go with things and enjoy the game. Your information was very useful though. I really appreciate you taking the time for posting. And quick question, should I be fine without a walkthrough? I heard the game is really enjoyable without it.

I've been using guides for RPGs ever since I played FF7 back in 98. I was incredibly dependent on them, and I would read up on every area/boss before I encountered it. I spoiled a lot of things for myself that way, and no game really challenged me. Eventually, I realized that this was a boring way to play through RPGs. Ever since I stopped using guides, I've found myself having SO much more fun with games. I don't even use them when I'm stuck, or facing a difficult boss.

This applies to Persona 3 more than any other game, I find. Every facet of Persona 3 is like an intricate puzzle. The weakness/affinity system is like a mini-puzzle game. Demon fusion is a whole game in of itself. Social Links are kind of like a puzzle too -- trying to figure out how certain characters think, and finding the most appropriate response based on that knowledge. Everything in Persona 3 is a metapuzzle. What fun is a puzzle that you don't solve yourself?

If you're playing strictly for the story (which is my favorite jRPG story of all time), it may seem like a good way to play the game. But I'm telling you, don't cheat yourself out of the wonderful gameplay. This game is INCREDIBLY rewarding when you don't use a guide. It's just so much fun!

[DrJonAngus]

Well, I'm playing for the story and the game play actually. I'm using a guide that reveals no plot elements whatsoever, so that is the upside. Trust me, I love the game play so much because it is so strategy oriented. On my first day of being able to freely roam around Tartarus, I fought the 5th floor boss with just my MC and he was tired and I won. I love exploited weaknesses because you can just trounce enemies. The game seems like it would get much hard later though. Dungeon crawling is not a problem. I think I feel much more confident playing this game now, thank you. I really do appreciate your advice. Now, if only I could play and beat all the other PS2 SMT games I have by Summer's end :devil:

[ProudClod]

No problem :)

What other SMT games do you own?

I'd definitely Recommend P4, Nocturne, and Devil Summoner 2. All amazing games :)

[DrJonAngus]

I have Devil Summoner 1 and 2, Nocturne, Persona 3: FES, Persona 4, and Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2. I also bought SMT: Devil Survivor the day it came out. Those games are pretty fun. I tried them for a bit when I first got them and they all kick ass. Atlus sure knows how to make unique and engaging RPGs. They must have a team of geniuses working on these games or something.