[PS2] SMT: Persona 3 (The RPG to keep talking about, since :awesome:) Now with more PEZ.

I pre-ordered this several months ago as soon as I heard about the soundtrack and 52-page artbook. At first I was slightly impressed that the Gamestop manager knew it was listed under Shin Megami Tensei when Persona 3 didn't come up in the computer, but was quickly unimpressed by his claim that the creator was getting greedy by sticking his name in the title after the first two were just called Persona.

I've yet to actually play a Persona game, but this looks fantastic. Nocturne and especially DDS were both great games, and I can't wait to play Persona 3.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, at least they aren't willing to ship out artbooks with faulty bindings just to meet the ship date. Still, I really hope this doesn't cause more than a week or so of delay. I was looking forward to having a full month with the game before school starts back.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Ideally they could just ship the extras at a later time and show your receipt to get them. Since part of the issue is keeping the box reinforced enough for shipping that would probably just turn into more trouble than it's worth, though. Not to mention how much trouble there would be with EB managers/employees swiping the goods and telling people they never received them.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I wouldn't discredit the review just because it's a site dedicated to RPGs, but a lot of their scores are way off. Children of Mana gets a 7 while Puzzle Quest gets a 4? Definitely not placing much trust in them.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I'm a little confused about whether or not it's delayed. Best Buy's site says the 21st, but their site is terrible about game release dates. EB's site said it was shipping on the 14th bonus offer section said the 18th this morning (and has ever since the initial delay), but now it says it's out and the 18th date has been removed from the Bonus Offer section.

I'll go by the mall tomorrow and hope for the best, I suppose. At the very least I'm hoping to pick up Rune Factory anyway.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Now I just have to hope my Gamestop won't be packed full of people trying to GET DAT MADDEN tomorrow. They're too hardcore for me; I only want to buy my game about schoolkids shooting themselves in the face and leave.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Man, UPS sucks. I showed up at my Gamestop around 1pm hoping to catch the truck right after it arrived. However, they decided to take their time today and not show up with the shipment until 4pm. Glad I had a lot of other errands to run around the mall today.

FELIPE NO

The drinks are my favorite part of the translation so far. Some of the descriptions remind me of Working Designs' style.

Quote:

BauerBar: Keeps you going for 24 hours straight.
Cylon Tea: Comes in 12 different varieties.

Aside from how quickly characters become tired in Tartarus, I'm loving this game so far. It's managed to be even more addictive than I thought it would be.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I've only had a problem with that once, when Junpei stayed sick for 3 days. Otherwise they've recovered pretty quickly for me, so it must be mostly in your luck.

You get the fourth character as soon as exam week is over. The study week before exams was really dull and you typically couldn't go into Tartarus because people are busy.

Most amazing jew boots

I went with Kendo. So far I haven't made any Chariot (Kendo) or Strength (Yuko, Kendo team's manager) personas so it hasn't been terribly useful, but I like the people. I didn't observe any others the day they were recruiting, so I don't know what the other people are like.

Does anyone know when academic clubs become available? Like someone mentioned earlier, the Home Economics room has a sign that says something to the effect of "I waited, but you never came. Now I'm gone." Surely that doesn't mean it's out permanently already, right?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Ah, okay.

Spoiler:

My link with the old couple must not be high enough yet then. It's up to 2 or 3, but I haven't been to see them in awhile.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Heh, so it's true? I wondered if it was impossible to become fatigued after I played for a looong time trying to find a Grave Beetle before the first full moon. I'm not much for grinding, but it's nice to know that when trying to beat the Old Document request deadlines.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I'll have to work on the bow one next time I go into Tartarus then. I've tried as I see them, but the Wealth Hands I've killed didn't drop the requested item. Coins are nice and all, but I already have around 80,000 yen at the moment.

Out of curiousity, does anyone know how/what level you need to be to fuse Pale Rider? It seemed odd to get the item to unlock him so earlier since I figured he'd be a higher level persona.

I was speaking idiomatically.

No success in hitting them to start the battle? Just be sure they're facing in a direction where you can approach completely from behind. It's annoying how they run away before you get a single attack in sometimes, though.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Guest

Ugh, I think I'm going to end up failing one of Elizabeth's request because my team can't seem to get it together. The due date (6/8) is approaching and someone's always randomly sick, tired, busy or Mitsuru is MIA. When does the 5th character come in? -_-

Spoiler:

You get the 5th character during that full moon, so you're out of luck for help with whatever request you're on. Don't forget though, you've got unlimited energy the night before the full moon so you could just camp Tartarus until you finish it.

FELIPE NO

You're in the 3rd Block at lvl. 15? Man, how'd you beat the skeletal knight boss at that level? I tried him at 17 and had to level up to 20-21 to take him down.

As for the VAs, I agree with Gech. Fuuka is the only one so far to irritate me a bit, but I got used to her.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Gechmir

How do you recommend taking down the Emperor boss on 2nd Block, past midway? He uses wind stuff and hits two-timers pretty often D= I'm around lev 21 and don't wanna try again quite yet. He's the second boss in the 2nd half. Big horseback dude.

What Tokubetsu said, but also be sure your persona isn't weak to Hama stuff. Twice the boss just used Hama on my main character and ended the battle. If you want to grind all the way to lvl. 25 then you could fuse a Power (strong to Garu, nulls Hama) but I ended up beating him at 23 with someone who was just strong to Garu. Oh, and obviously don't use Jubei. I got lucky in the fight where I won, and the boss kept targetting Yukari with Garula and wasted turns casting Rakukaja on himself.

I haven't had any trouble with the full moon bosses. I've done the first three full moons, and they've all seemed fairly weak.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

You have to buy them back from the Compendium, which you get soon after the first exam week I think. Orpheus comes already registered in it, along with whatever Persona you have at the time.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I've been keeping my social links about the same so far, though somewhat unintentionally. Most are around level 4-5, though I've focused a little more on the Strength and Magician arcanas. Strength because I like the Yuko sequences and Magician because I usually find those personas most useful despite hating Kenji.

6th Character and 3rd Block boss:

<3 Aigis so much. It's a shame that she's weak to Zio skills, so she can't really be used against the next boss after you get her.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Look back at posts #158-160 for advice on that boss. He's a tough one, especially with that stupid Hama.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Haha, I did the same as Chaotic. I hung out right beside the teleporter for a few minutes after Fuuka said she sensed the death on my floor, but he didn't show up and I wasn't going looking for him.

I was a little pissed about the request for a Vetala with Maragi, mostly because Vetala seems to suck so it was a shame wasting personas to create it.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Yeah, once you get your social rank high enough with a girl you can give them a gift at the end of a Sunday date with them. It's really annoying though, because it gives you 4 general categories (Flowers, Antiques, something else, and Other) and once you pick one it won't let you go back. I wasted a Jack Frost Doll on accident that way by picking Other, because it wouldn't let me give her nothing either.

Surely there's a mini-game somewhere... This game is just crying out for at least one. I remember the Dyaos shooter in DDS2 was kind of hidden, having to talk to a normal NPC kid and it was only available for a short time.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Juanzen beat me to answering, haha. I bought every damn drink in town before finding the right one, and just got lucky having the bread already.

FELIPE NO

Complaint about later characters:

Wow, Aigis, Ken, and Shinji all have serious issues with nearly killing themselves using physical attacks. Shinji especially seems to insist on using that move Final something even when it's completely unnecessary. They're strong, but it would be nice if they didn't constantly require so much healing.

On a lesser note, it would be nice if I could have an option to turn off certain party members' skills without having to go through tactics every battle. Mitsuru seems to have a Tentarafoo fetish and Akihiko would rather Tarunda an enemy than finish it off sometimes.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I've actually been disappointed by the full moon events so far. I've beaten up to Hermit so far, and they've all been really easy compared to the Tartarus guardians. It's nice not having to worry about sitting through all of that dialogue again, but I'd still prefer a bit of a challenge.

Jam it back in, in the dark.