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

Originally Posted by Miles

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I was sitting on a pile of bricks by the time I saw the ship date changed from 7/24 to 7/31, and that last one feels like a placeholder date to me. Either way, can't get too upset considering what we're getting along with the title.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Damn, definitely liked what I saw, even though the wait's going to be excruciating now.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Ah, just went back to check it out again and the same video is available in a higher res. Some things were a little hard to make out in the other one, so it's nice to have this one.

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

Originally Posted by Tritoch

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.

Definitely, my EBGames order went from the preorder text I've seen this whole time to: Processing

Hopefully we find out what's going on here.

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

Originally Posted by Tritoch

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.

Originally Posted by russ

No worries, errybody gettin dat madden today son.

I laughed at this for a good while, mainly because I immediately imagined this one guy I know saying it. Ah well, there's probably someone out there making fun of us and our an hero game.

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by Rollins

Oh most definitely my friend. Being a fan of both Madden and your standard RPG, I've had my share of enjoyable moments hanging out with diehard fans of each who look down on the other.

Damn, that must be fun, eh? You probably get quite a few hairy eyes on you from both sides when you mention you enjoy both.

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In any case, all I know, is that my copy of Madden arrived safely, while apparently if you want to buy a copy of Persona 3 online, you're out of luck, unless you want to give Gamestop a try (as they claim to have copies...although a search of store inventories show zero copies across the board, at least for the regions I searched for). Amazon still is delaying shipment till the 19th (Sunday?), Bestbuy till the 20th.

This is pretty much not *how* to do a release Atlus.

Of course, from Atlus' POV, all is well.

http://atlus.com/newsdetail.php?newsID=154

Well, EBGames was processing my order for most of yesterday and I checked and it's been shipped already. Hell, the package is somewhere in the city at the moment. But yeah, there's some fumbling going on somewhere, hopefully they clear this up somehow.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Tokubetsu

UPS usually doesn't drop things off till 4-7ish.

Which makes me burn with generic rage, or at least it would if I Suikoden V hadn't arrived yesterday. All is well with the cosmos at this point, and it'll only get better when the package arrives.

FELIPE NO

Well, the game's pretty damn enjoyable so far. I had some serious trouble with the mini-boss on floor #110, mainly because it did that Tetrakarn thing along with it's serious Garudyne walloping (this on a team where I'm resistant against wind and no one else is weak).

So I jumped up to around 40ish and just laid into it with bufu spells. Everything else is either reflected or does pathetic damage. The next place is crazy though, and I'm being rather careful with Samael lest I eat a Hama or two. Seems like it doesn't take very many levels beyond what the shadows are at to get them distressed.

The two main personas I'm using right now are augmented Power and Samael. I'll spoiler tag them if anyone wants. I'm thinking of Succubus (Samael + Leanan Sidhe) since last time I look at the result it managed to get Samael's Mabufu and Zio along with Leanan's Charmdi and Posumudi. I've got quite a ways to go before I can even fuse it though, since I'm at 45 right now.

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

Originally Posted by Guest

Please don't spoil it by telling us what the last Floor # is when you reach it. I'm just glad to hear theres over 100. Anyone else getting Parasite Eve nostalgia from Tartarus? The Chrysler building was the first mega dungeon I remember going through, it had around 70-80 floors. Not many people made it to the top.

No problem, I'll be sure to spoiler tag it or simply omit the floor number when that time comes around. Also, seconding that PE feeling along with memories of the tower in the first Dark Cloud game.

Edit: Forgot to mention the shrine. The offertory box there really helps out in bumping your academics. That on top of studying every so often will max it out in no time. Just make sure you give it 1k each day. A question though: Anyone know what the fizzy drink is that Maiko asks for? She's the little girl by the park.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by LS

Does Orpheus learn skills even after level 10 or what?

Because my Aspara doesnt have any more skills to learn.

Because i might fuse her into a persona with Bufu and maybe something that would buff the party.

To answer your question, nope. You can see how many skills a Persona will learn by looking at the next level thing and how many question marks are there. Once you've gone through all of those, it won't learn anymore and it'll just level up.

That's why I like fusing them, since they wind up getting skills they normally wouldn't have on top of gaining new ones in their movepool (from both fused personas).

Thanks for the Mad Bull tip, I did what Tritoch did too and it didn't get me anywhere.

Edit: Forgot about something. Personas do learn things afterwards, but they don't appear in that ? list, but rather replace a move. For example Samael's Mudoon turned into Virus Breath, Dominion's Hamaon turned into some slash attack and countless others. You see it happen pretty often after fusions with decent or strong social links. The downside is that you can't see the kind of move you're getting, which is why I restarted after getting Virus Breath. Hits all enemies for 25% of their max HP + poison sounds nice, but at 40 SP, that's pretty expensive.

later characters:

So far I've only used Aigis and Koromaru out of the later ones, but it is annoying how much damage they incur just attacking. It's one reason why I avoid using a persona's physical skills and simply use a regular physical attack. That's why giving Power (now Dominion) and Samael strength cards turned out for the better.

Plus, where I am now, Mitsuru using Tentarafoo is a good thing.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Gechmir

It depends on the angle, not number of people. To get a gold, you have to approach from almost DIRECTLY BEHIND the enemy. Other mobs don't react fast and you can get them from the front and surprise them still. I've done that once with a gold, but I wouldn't recommend the method.

Number of people won't matter. Besides, it'd hedge your odds for killing the thing since they enjoy running.

Gechmir's on the money. Once in a while in the fourth block I'll get a floor with "more enemies than normal". The difference between this one and the others is that the floor is populated with a ton of gold Opulent Hands and briefcases all over the place. Your safest bet is to stay quite a ways off from them if they're facing you and when they turn around be sure to stay behind them or they'll bolt for sure.

I managed to kill 9 or 10 of them like this, so it definitely works.

Edit: Oh, forgot to mention that I use the 1h sword since it's got some damn nice range and it's fast.

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

Well, saying that shit has happened since the last time I posted would be an understatement. I've got to warn you all about the bastard on floor #135. I'm several bosses (Tartarus bosses) past him right now, but the battle is still fresh in my mind.

The Table's having you for dinner.:

This cat likes to spam Maragidyne like crazy, with the occasional Hama here or there. One of two things to look out for though: His Evil Smile and Wailing Cry (or whatever it's called) is brutal. The former inflicts fear status and the latter is a guaranteed KO on anything with fear. Cure it quickly if it sticks and you'll be fine here.

The second thing is Megidola. It's a pretty strong multi-target non-elemental spell, so everyone's going to take a beating equally. I'm guessing you rely soley on your Persona's endurance rating to determine how much damage you take from this. Anyway, just keep your team's HP up when he starts using this and keeping attacking him.

Oh and random ass Hama spells to scare you if you don't have something with Null Light, or a persona who nulls it naturally. Keep chipping away and you'll win. Good thing that the next few clowns are much easier compared to him, at least I thought so.

Here's something that put a smile on my face. It's a Tartarus Floor Spoiler so beware:

See above:

In my mad quest to get those old documents and generally complete the requests before the deadline I tore through the bosses from 135 on up. As expected after the fire-tattoo Hulk Hogan boss, Fuuka mentions there aren't very many enemies on the floors which means I'm close to the block and the briefcase with my precious inside. So I keep climbing and...

Nothing. The 164th floor is nothing more than a shiny helipad.

I was expecting the latest form of obstacle, maybe golden Elegant Mother statues all piled up in front of the next staircase, but there isn't even a staircase to block. There's nothing but the vomit colored Dark Hour sky around me and the stars in said sky, along with some golden columns and the access point to get back down.

Elizabeth will probably call me for a late night booty call and to inform me of a change in Tartarus.

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

Originally Posted by Chaotic

Rush on enemies you know you can defeat regardless of knowing their weakness? I have problems conserving SP, but it's never been a huge deal to me.

Yup, that's what I do. If I know the enemy is weak enough, I just rush. That and weakness exploitation is crucial since you make the most of what little SP you have.

I have to echo Tritoch's sentiments on the full moon bosses. After getting used to the bastards in Tartarus, the big shadows were just pushovers. Though the one I just finished offing (Floor #211) was kind of boring too, aside from Megidola and Megidolaon. The ones just before him were pretty lackluster too.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Chaotic

Anyway, should I bother keeping my team even? When I get Konomaru, he's at level 34, I'm only level 29 and my lowest level, Junpei, is at level 21. I'm just wondering if I should go out of the way to keep my whole team even.

Is it worth it?

I'd say yes, especially considering how easy it is to drag characters up to where you need them to be. You'll wind up with them leveling up after almost every battle if you take them to the highest floors you've reached so far.

That way if a boss or area leans towards one type of attack or weakness, you can have them ready to use. Plus, the enemies aren't shy about ripping you several new asses via a team member's weakness.

Koromaru is awesome.

About Akihiko, if you set him to Knock Down, he'll either use Zio/nga/dyne on each enemy weak against it or Mazio/ng/dyne. As far as I've seen, he does the former more often, though I wonder if it's because he goes for the strongest spell (He's a level or two away from getting Maziodyne).

The game's been piling on the crazy, but I've got a question:

Anyone know in what block are the Nata Taishi cards are dropped? Those and Mithra cards.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Well, technically she does have magic, it's just nothing but support buffs. In situations where she can do nothing but wait most of the time, just set her to support and she'll toss around defense/attack/evasion boosts and whatever healing items you've got.

Koromaru is pretty awesome and he'd be even better if he had healing skills, but I've got other folks for that. Not to mention his immunity to fire and mudo skills, the latter of which makes facing insta-kill bastards that much easier.

FELIPE NO

If you want a character to prioritize healing/buffing over attack just set them to Heal/Support and they'll heal/buff until everyone's HP are full. Only then will they attack the enemy, or wait.

I finally reached the top of the tower today, definitely happy to have gotten up there. This seems to have a triggered something, since there's now huge gold and white double doors in the lobby. I'm guessing it's a secret dungeon since there was a new block in there along with level 98 monsters.

Either way, looks like a bit of celebratory grinding is in order for reaching the top.

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

Originally Posted by Rollins

I'm intrigued, how much do you play the game Metal Sphere? I've always been curious about how the game length actually shapes up to be, and just wanted to see what it took to get to the to.

Just want to see if I should devote a couple more hours in the day (or just grind less) to get the game finished in a reasonable amount of time (day-wise that is...I don't want to have to split gaming time among a number of games).

I've been hammering the game, actually. If it helps any, here's the save I made right after reaching the top:

Originally Posted by Top of Tartarus

PLV77
PLAYTIME 127 hr, 3m
NORMAL

And that wasn't without some difficulty, the enemies in that last block are in the low to mid 70s. Hell, somewhere between floor #220 and #228 there's two level 89 enemies which spooked me.

Oh, one good way of knowing how far along you are in the game is by looking at your SEES Social Link rank. What I'm not sure of is whether your choice at a major turning point affects the length of the game.

How ya doing, buddy?

Yeah, I definitely had to point out what a bastard he is.

Spoiler:

It seems like most encounters where your opponent has a Megido spell in their skill set boils down to just that: survival. Eventually you get into a safe groove so you can chip away at them, but it's definitely an unwelcome spell.

#211 and #252 will have you using that same tactic, now that I think about it.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Kaelin

Since I didn't have control of my character, I couldn't change her tactics.

This used to really irritate me, but I've gotten over it by making sure to prepare for the worst by setting tactics at the start of the boss fight in anticipation for anything the baddie tosses my way.

Quote:

As it stood, I basically got to watch myself get annihilated since the battle had been progressing well, thus I had no reason to let up on the damage everyone

This happened enough times that even with them set to Heal/Support, I make sure to heal myself come the next turn after a particularly brutal assault. While a good bit of the time they pull through, they choose the worst times to deviate from that. That way, I get healed and they can focus on someone else.

Edit: Ah, forgot to mention that after a certain event, the story's pace picks up quite a bit.

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

Quote:

Orpheus will be at Level 1 in the Compendium (actually, I believe all Persona are at their original level in the Compendium until you register their new information) regardless of whether you have access to it yet or not.

AFAIK, when you're first able to access the compendium any Personas you have on you at the time will be already registered, with Orpheus as default. From then on you have to register them to get them in there for future use. Orpheus isn't really all that important, and I haven't seen anything that you'd miss out on if you don't have him.

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The problem is there are some bosses that doesn't have any weakness, good example is the guardian on 59th floor, Having a hard time against him.

Most of the bosses don't have weaknesses. Hell, when you scan them all you get is their name most of the time, with the scan person saying nada. Basically you have to figure out what does the most damage to them (because even though the scan data shows nothing, some spells are more effective than others) and hit them with it.

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

Originally Posted by Lacerta

Whenever I fuse or find Personae they are automatically registered in the Compendium at their default levels and skills (i.e. Lv8 Lilim, Lv12 Legion, etc). However if I want the Persona I just created to be called upon in the future with how I created it then I have to re-register it.

Useful if I want to save a certain Persona with a powerful Fertilized Item or with a certain move set that took quite a while to get to appear.

(Say for example I fuse a Lilim. By default Lilim is Lv 8 with Marin Karin, Agi, Zio. However the Lilim I fuse has Marin Karin, Agi, Zio, Bufu, Garu and as a result it levels up to add Rakukaja, Mudo, and Mazio. Rather than having to try to create this particular four-element Lilim over and over again and grind it, I can simply register it into the Persona Compendium to call upon it when I need it.)

Basically, get in the habit of registering your Personas, since some are the result of your grinding and fusing others and some are a simply a chore to get from shuffles. Sure it costs a bit, but you wind up making a decent chunk of change while grinding anyway.

BTW, looks like you also made yourself an elemental Lillim just like I had way back. I tried to do the same with Loki but the bastard wouldn't pick up Agidyne. Still, fusing is awesome. I'll tryto get Null Light on as many of the higher level dark personas as possible, just to toss the Hama weakness out.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Lacerta

Yeah, getting the Persona the right way you want and then re-registering them in the Compendium is so great.

Not only do you keep updated records on them to save you the trouble of having to deal with that crap again, but you can easily get rid of and add in various Persona at your whim for those 50% bonuses when you are doing social links (although you have to be able to afford the Persona's cost).

I might make an elemental Narcissus just to be able to hit all at once.

Oh yeah, when you have a Persona of an arcana that matches a social link, it's basically easier to get to the next level. Of course, I wish it removed or reduced the number of instances where you get:

Quote:

Your friendship may become stronger soon.

Or something to that effect, though usually after one or two of those you don't get anymore. Anyone completed the Sun social link? Man, that caught me off guard.

If I didn't like the school aspects of the game, the game would lose quite a bit of it's charm and appeal to me. I let out a nice "OH LAWD" (in a good way) when I read the part about your relationships in during the day affecting your Persona's power.

Lacerta, I've yet to get my very own Narcissus as I always opted for either money or experience in the shuffles, and when I saw him as a result I always chose something else. Now I find out I need it for one of those ultimate Personas (I think it's a Cross or Pentagon fusion, it's one of those).

Edit: Forgot one VERY important thing with regards to the compendium. The stat boosts you gave your Personas are saved as well, so you'll not only have them to pass on their skills but their stats as well.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Lacerta

Your friendship may become stronger soon just means you didn't have enough points to hit the next level at that current meeting.

Ah, thanks for that clarfication. It would definitely explain why after gaining 2 or 3 levels, I'd get one of those. The Sun social link was easy as piss, with none of those popping up for me, though it's possible I was just picking the best answer (there was that one time though).

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I guess with some clever manipulations (promising to meet someone when they call you at night gives a boost to social links if you have the Persona of the Arcana they represent, going to Tartarus sometimes so that you don't get a reverse or nagged by someone) and present giving you could do it though.

Ooh, now that's pretty slick. I still remember when that buttmunch Kenji went reverse on me after I accepted and then took another meeting over his. I fixed it and then it went reverse after a I neglected him for a while.

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Narcissus is required for a particular unique Death fusion, which in turn is fused with the rest of the lot to create the "ultimate" Death Persona. Although there are those that value the "second ultimate" Death Persona more than the "ultimate". I think it's the "Die for Me!" skill in combination with "Mudo Booster" that they appreciate about it.

Although Narcissus is damn well useful in itself. The fertilized item it has makes you immune to Charm. Then again depending on when you get it, might not even need it anymore.

Gah, completely forgot about those items. I haven't tried it yet, but I think if they level up due to the social link's exp, it might be an easier way of getting those items. Oh, one of the ultimate Death persona's skills is of interest to me and he's integral the creation of somthing that carries a real nice item.

How many combination moves have you discovered so far? Unfortunately for me, all I've got is Jack Brothers and Cadenza since I constantly fuse my buddies.

Originally Posted by Rock

I don't want to resort to GameFAQs just to find out how to fuse that certain type of Persona I require to beat a certain boss. Experimenting isn't an option and trying a sheer infinite amount of combinations takes ages.

Well, about that boss thing. The blocks usually dole out cards that would be of help in the coming boss battles, even if you have to switch from one to the other during the battle. Hell, I think you can do the entire game without once fusing Personas if you just swap in the new cards you see as you ascend the tower.

I agree that an in-game list of combinations that make so-and-so would be helpful.

For the fusions that require four or more Personas, the game literally tells you which ones you need. What it doesn't tell you is what the result will be, just that that it's guaranteed to be that every time you fuse that particular group.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Cetra

My major problem is remembering what skills do what.

While I've figured out the elemental spells and the Megido ones a while ago, the kaja/kuja/jaku/whateverthehell buffs always have me guessing until I look at the description.

Basically, I whip out the manual while I'm fusing folks to avoid allowing a particular buff from being inherited.

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

Metis? The only times I've seen that mentioned are by that Kouli guy in his Fes section, which got me curious to see just what we missed out on.

Though after reading up on it, Fes definitely should've been the original version of the game.

Jam it back in, in the dark.