Persona 3 FES

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:31 am

Grabbed this recently. I think I haven't invested this much time in a RPG since my teenage years. In my opinion the gameplay's very balanced, both the school sim and the dungeon crawling being quite exciting.

I'm about 30 hours in and loving it. I'll grab Persona 4 when it comes out for sure. Any of you guys played the game? Did you play "The Answer", too? Worth playing?

bay · Post by **bay** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:28 am

Hey do you want to go get some Udon noodles with me?

GrimoreLibrarian · Post by **GrimoreLibrarian** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:48 am

I bought Persona 3 for $50, then FES came out for $30. I never played Persona 3 again.

bay · Post by **bay** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:54 am

GrimoreLibrarian wrote:I bought Persona 3 for $50, then FES came out for $30. I never played Persona 3 again.

yah, i wasn't done with P3 but i started over cause of the new possibilities in P3Fes.

i'm working at it slowly, RPGs take too much time, especially since there's alot of grinding involved in P3.

spineshark · Post by **spineshark** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:56 am

I played Persona 3 way too much when it first came out, then I bought Fes when it came out, but The Answer sucks really bad and the main game bored me after all. Maybe in a couple years I can enjoy the game again.

I'm definitely excited about Persona 4 though. New music! New bosses! New things to look at! New S. Links (maybe!) Anything but walking down another purple hallway and watching my idiot friend try to hit on his teacher AGAIN.

MOSQUITO FIGHTER · Post by **MOSQUITO FIGHTER** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:08 am

I think this one will be next on my lengthy RPG to-do-list, if I ever manage to finish Final Fantasy XII and Dragon Quest VIII.

Is Persona 3 a better game than the Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga games?

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:57 am

Liek, Persona 4 has been out in the US for a while now, right? Has anyone played it? Is it any good?

I got about 30 hours into vanilla P3 and just burned. Didn't hate it, but just had no desire to play it. Now every month or so, I pick it up again, play it avidly for two days, then put it down again. I wish this game came out 10 years ago, when I had the attention span and raw free time to play RPG's

LaserGun · Post by **LaserGun** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 11:05 am

MX7 wrote:Liek, Persona 4 has been out in the US for a while now, right? Has anyone played it? Is it any good?

I got about 30 hours into vanilla P3 and just burned. Didn't hate it, but just had no desire to play it. Now every month or so, I pick it up again, play it avidly for two days, then put it down again. I wish this game came out 10 years ago, when I had the attention span and raw free time to play RPG's

P4 isn't out in the US yet.

I've had vanilla P3 for a while now but I've only played it for 20 hours, I'm getting P3FES though since it's coming out over here in a couple days, then I'll play the hell out of that one.

MOSQUITO FIGHTER wrote:Is Persona 3 a better game than the Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga games?

Some people find it better since it's a pretty easy game and has nothing much in common with other Megaten titles and the other Persona games, there's almost no micromanagement or difficulty whatsoever, it's the FF7 of Megaten if you get what I mean.
I didn't like the DDS games, they just felt like stupid cliche JRPGs instead of hardcore dungeon crawlers.

If I was to recommend some Megaten games to anyone, I'd say play SMT II first, then Soul Hackers, the two Persona 2 games and then Nocturne, Nocturne is easily the best of the bunch for me so you could just start with that anyway.

Oh and that Raidou Kuzonoha vs The Demon Army or whatever sucks so avoid that at all costs.

SMT used to be the 3rd most popular JRPG series in Japan, but after Nocturne the sales of newer titles have dropped significantly.

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:20 pm

I think that P3 is easier than DDS and Nocturne, too. By easier I mean it's not as cheap, which is a great thing. Lots less uncalled for/random deaths which ultimately leads to less frustration.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:39 pm

I need to start up Nocturne again--definitely my favorite of what is available in the US; though the 'hard' statement is no joke. The game has a great look and feel, but some of the bosses are just outrageously hard. There are a few I never could have tackled without the FAQ. The problem lies in that you really need a lot of prior knowledge from the start--such that you are both building up your character and your team to beat certain bosses well before you'd ever encounter them.

For a casual RPG player, this could serve to be really frustrating. This is definitely an rpg where you'll be keeping a notebook of monster weaknesses, and probably using a program (I think there's one called 'heretic mansion') that tells you how to evolve various demons. It's definitely a lot to wrap your head around.

As far as FES; another game I lost in the move I'm not going to bother replacing. I agree it has that pleasant casual RPG thing going on, but instead of replacing it, I'll just pick up 4 when it comes out (although I'm suspicious this will be a complete rehash.)

Edit: P4 I've heard you can control all the characters in battle. That alone may be enough to give it a huge edge over FES for me.

bay · Post by **bay** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:47 pm

As for Nocturne, Atlus did a re-release so you can find new (reprints) without the original packed in soundtrack, on sites like play-asia for the normal price, like 45$ instead of what it was fetching used prior (up towards 75-100$)

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-43- ... 0-bug.html

P4 and P3 apparently aren't linked in story at all, but i'll aim to finish P3Fes before P4 comes out.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:19 pm

CMoon wrote:P4 I've heard you can control all the characters in battle.

I heard that too...they may be on to something, this could prove to be the wave of the future for RPGs or something.

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:05 pm

MOSQUITO FIGHTER wrote:Is Persona 3 a better game than the Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga games?

I would say that Nocturne is a much better game, but Persona 3 appeals to a wider audience. I disagree with the notion that it's incredibly hard or unfair, or that boss fights require prior knowledge.

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:32 pm

Just about to fight the final boss in FES and my playtime clocks in at a little over 105 hours.

The megaten games have always been my favorite RPG series. I would say say that P3 is better than the DDS games, but doesn't quite match up to the greatness of Nocturne. A minor gripe about P3 is that its a bit too easy to get a player advantage when fighting battles. I also miss Kazuma Kaneko's character designs.

Cannot wait for Persona 4 which is supposed to play very similar (with the exception of having complete contol over your party members) to P3.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:19 pm

So was I an idiot to buy the original Persona 3 rather than FES? It came with this extra art book in perfect condition for a good price. I figured that if I really like it, I can always get FES later.

Taylor · Post by **Taylor** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:11 pm

I'm about halfway through Persona 3 but I lost steam when I got faced with a big grind for the next tower boss. When FES is comes out over here in December I might pick it back up, it's a biiig time-investment though.

It’s a really interesting game because the different parts don’t work on paper, but combined it works really well. Though a lot of the fight mechanics are a bit harsh and make for very long, frustrating catalogue of errors sequences. You can see why P4 lets you control your allies... but on the other hand it does seem something of a copout.

bay · Post by **bay** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 12:07 am

professor ganson wrote:So was I an idiot to buy the original Persona 3 rather than FES? It came with this extra art book in perfect condition for a good price. I figured that if I really like it, I can always get FES later.

there are apparently some new social links and personas for the main story, but you can take your save from P3 and load it into P3Fes to continue into The Answer.

Momijitsuki · Post by **Momijitsuki** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 12:16 am

Heh, I got this game a few months ago and lost interest. RPGs just don't hold the same magic for me as they used to. Besides, I ended up treating it more like a dating sim than anything, focusing on social links more than leveling up and progressing the storyline. xD

Don't get me wrong though, it's still a good game.

Tempest · Post by **Tempest** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:18 pm

professor ganson wrote:So was I an idiot to buy the original Persona 3 rather than FES? It came with this extra art book in perfect condition for a good price. I figured that if I really like it, I can always get FES later.

The main differences between the two are:

Pros:

1.) The Answer (The extra 30+ hour chapter which takes place after P3)
2.) Weapon Fusion (Make powerful weapons with different personas fused with "blank" weapons)
3.) A few new personas ( MARA! lulz)
4.) A new Arcana (Aeon : Aegis)
5.) A few changes in S. Link times/conversations (For example, in order to alleviate your daytime schedule, the Devil Link was moved to an evening meeting)
6.) More requests from Elizabeth, including a few "dates."

Cons:

1.) No more exploiting the shrine for intelligence .In original P3, you can pray at the shrine once (and possibly more, I think) a day and it won't take up any time, meaning if you have the cash (like 1000 yen iirc) you can get a 75% chance to get 2 intelligence points in addition to studying after school and during the evening. In FES it takes up a time slot to pray at the shrine.

2.) To get to the Uber block of Tartarus, the Monad, in P3, you only need to get to the top of the tower. In FES, you have to get to the top floor AND kill The Reaper.

RackGaki · Post by **RackGaki** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 1:22 am

Tempest wrote: 1.) No more exploiting the shrine for intelligence .In original P3, you can pray at the shrine once (and possibly more, I think) a day and it won't take up any time, meaning if you have the cash (like 1000 yen iirc) you can get a 75% chance to get 2 intelligence points in addition to studying after school and during the evening. In FES it takes up a time slot to pray at the shrine.

2.) To get to the Uber block of Tartarus, the Monad, in P3, you only need to get to the top of the tower. In FES, you have to get to the top floor AND kill The Reaper.

I've definitely got to replay P3 then. I put about 90 hours into it, but I haven't replayed it with FES. I only got about 10 hours in on The Answer, so I should probably finish that first. I liked seeing how they changed so much for FES AND made it cheaper. This MegaTen series was becoming more of a collector's series than something for people to play and enjoy before Atlus reprinted damn near everything.

KindGrind wrote:I think that P3 is easier than ... Nocturne, too.

Everything is easier than Nocturne.

LaserGun · Post by **LaserGun** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:54 am

Tempest wrote:1.) No more exploiting the shrine for intelligence .In original P3, you can pray at the shrine once (and possibly more, I think) a day and it won't take up any time, meaning if you have the cash (like 1000 yen iirc) you can get a 75% chance to get 2 intelligence points in addition to studying after school and during the evening. In FES it takes up a time slot to pray at the shrine.

NO! How the hell am I gonna get enough intelligence to date Mitsuru-senpai? ;~;

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:18 am

Even with intense farming, it seems very tough on a firsrt playthrough.

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 5:48 pm

Intelligence seems to take alot longer to increase than courage or charm. By the time Mitsuru would even consider my advances there was only about a month left. I think I managed to get her to level 5 by games end. I did manage to max out Aigis though (go Metatron!)

The only other people I didn't max out was Bebe, Fuka, Yukari and the second social club link.

spineshark · Post by **spineshark** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 6:16 pm

You have to study a hell of a lot in Fes, and hope you don't get tired. At least I think so. I haven't beaten the game in this version so a lot of the changes I've heard about and seen really surprised me (not the really obvious stuff like Elizabeth dates and new Personas though, since I knew about them long before).

I'd probably rate P3 above DDS2 and below DDS1 and Nocturne, having played all four and given them some time to stew. Nocturne pissed me off so bad since I played on Hard the first time, but the game has so many fantastic moments there's absolutely no way I can begrudge it. Just watching the opening loop, I can't help but smile all through it. DDS has better pacing, music and dungeons, plus I love the characters and story. The battle system I don't like quite as much but it's still fine.

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 6:33 pm

spineshark wrote: Nocturne pissed me off so bad since I played on Hard the first time,

Your FIRST time though you chose the hard difficulty? Dear god man why?
And on a related topic while Nocturne was by no means a cake walk I don't think people would consider it quite as hard if it wasn't for one particularly nasty boss you face early on (Matador.)

Tempest · Post by **Tempest** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:37 pm

Jon wrote:Intelligence seems to take alot longer to increase than courage or charm. By the time Mitsuru would even consider my advances there was only about a month left. I think I managed to get her to level 5 by games end. I did manage to max out Aigis though (go Metatron!)

It doesn't just seem longer, it is longer. The point spread works like this:
Courage & Charm

Rank 1: 0-14 pts
2: 15-29
3: 30-44
4: 45-64
5: 65-79
6: 80+

Intelligence
Rank 1: 0-19 pts
2: 20-79
3: 80-139
4: 140-199
5: 200- 259
6: 260+

Generally, you get 2 pts every time it says "Your ______ increased!" Except for things like studying all day Sunday (4pts) or going to a movie.

A good farm for Intelligence is the Wakatsu Restaurant in Iwatodai (Or however it's spelled) Station. It's +3 Intel for 680 yen, during every afternoon excpet for Tuesday I think.

BTW, Mitsuru can't be picked up,even with Rank 6 intelligence until near the end of November. She is a tough one to get, but not impossible if you use your time and the relationship shrine wisely.

ALSO, I forgot to mention in my last post, the female social links were toned down in their requirements for gaining S.Link levels in FES, it makes macking on the ladies quite a bit easier. On my first playthrough I got Yuka, Chihiro, Yukari, and Mitsuru all maxed out without too much trouble or sacrificing any S. Links I thought were worth getting.

Diabollokus · Post by **Diabollokus** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 8:20 pm

Props to the guy who beat nocturne in hard mode, that game is brilliant, matador was nothing compared to some of the others, Remember the black ogre who had 3 copies and you had to use his shadow to hit the right one?

Persona 3 FES comes out today in the EU/UK can't wait to pick this one up.

spineshark · Post by **spineshark** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:11 pm

Jon wrote:Your FIRST time though you chose the hard difficulty? Dear god man why?

I was an arrogant bitch and assumed everyone complaining about how hard the game was were pussy-rpg-player-whiners. Not quite!

There were a lot of crazy fights, but most of the "trick" ones are ultimately not that bad. The one that ended up annoying me the most was Noah, because Dominate hits for about 600 on Hard and never fails.

Eventually I had to level up because I couldn't prevent him from one-shotting me with it. Of course, the last couple bosses were also extremely difficult, but at least the -kundas work better on them.

The worst part of the game overall though was the Diet Building. UGH. Every time I failed one of the door sequences I basically got slaughtered because all of the battles were so dangerous. Then at the end I had to wuss out of the boss fight since the damn thing countered every part of my strategy.

The best boss is Albion though. LINE-UP-THE-FLEET! TIME-FOR-SOME-HEAT!

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:19 pm

^^^The Ninja boss was a badass, I liked how you had to take out his three somewhat similar looking buddies before taking him on. I kept him in my party till the end game.

I hope everyone went for the true demon ending, one hell of a final boss.

EDIT: Noah was annoying for me only because I went in with a poor demon line up and the fight took forever as a result. I DO think that the next time I play though the game I will go for his neutral ending.

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:22 pm

I bought Nocturne recently (before P3, as a matter of fact) and will play it when I'm done with Persona. Good to hear good things about it