i'm still at the first castle >< i finished it before but then i switched hardrive which fucked things up. though i've seen this devil confidant. is that worth getting into? not sure if you've done so.

Devil Confidant skills aren't really that important, but I liked her as a character :) They basically lower the security percentage increase in Palaces.
If you want to max all Confidants on the first playthrough, it's much easier in P5 than in the previous games. I can give you a couple hints if you want.
But if you don't care about maxing everything that's fine too. There are no significant changes in the story connected to that, really. ^^

well i am going for all trophies so yeah >< i know i need the teacher's confidant seeing it helps with raising skills. and the doctor as far as i can remember ><

Yeah, Maxed Temperance lets you use your time slot in the evening after coming back from Metaverse. You can get a massage while Morgana watches creepily :P
Death at 7 or 8 discounts the items in the shop by 50% so you can get Invigorate3 (7SP recovery per turn) accessories for 50k each and they are pretty much the best thing to equip on normal first playthrough.
Fortune at 7 lets you increase Confidant affinity for 5k once per day without wasting a time slot. That makes making Confidants MUCH easier.

It's a cool game so most of all, have fun. :) There isn't much to lose even if you don't max everything

hehe, i know i'm going to have to replay it at least 2 more times to get all the trophies >< but so far enjoying it big time so no complaints here :)

Art and music direction are top notch. Never seen a RPG with such an omnipresent and inclusive style.
So is the gameplay. I love the new battle interface ans the other upgrades, and the fact that negociation makes a comeback. Also, big plus on making most social links relevant outside of bonus exp.

Story-wise, though, it lacks a little "something", especially concerning the characters. I did not grow to like most of them, and compared to Junpei from 3 and Yosuke from 4, Ryuji really pissed me off with his loud mouth ("Did I shout out loud that we are phantom thieves already?!!1!) and constant belittling of Morgana.

Also, despite having deeper consequences, the plot does not feel as implicating as the previous entries.
Also, so many unjustified instances of "You should rest early", that it felt really frustrating.

To sum it up: 4 golden remains the best entry on my opinion, but 5 is a close second, and would have been first if the story was better.

I have pretty much the same thoughts on it as you do. There are many improvements compared to the previous games, but it kinda lacked that certain charm. I had hard time growing attached to some of the characters and some bits in the story didn't feel as emotional as we're used to from P4. Also, while the soundtrack in P5 is FULL of gems, I wouldn't call it my favourite of the series either.

You know, I wish Persona 5 were my first played title in the series. I'd surely enjoy it much more if I didn't go "Hmm... Persona X did it better..." on everything. It's a great, holistic project and it's insane they actually managed to live up to the massive hype surrounding it, after 4. Unlike some other loud titles hyped for years and disappointing in the end, Persona 5 actually rekindled my passion and hope for videogames :) Beautiful game, albeit in different aspects than the predecessors.

Btw Ryuji belittles Morgana, but I felt bad for Ryuji too. Outside of his Social Link subplot, not much good happened to him. Mona called him useless all the time in battle, everyone basically told him to shut up constantly in story dialogues, and his Valentine scene was basically self-pitying "tfw no gf <._.>". That's why I was happy when he had his two minutes of glory and appreciation after Shido's castle, but then got beaten right away for surviving. He should stay presumed dead longer, so we could really miss him...
...wow, I just fully understood why Morgana said it would be awkward if he came back home right away after disappearing with Mementos. I didn't actually pick up on that on the fly :D

So... Persona 5 is easily one of the better RPG's in years. Granted there are moments that I wanna strangle some of the characters who hold on to the idiot ball longer than normal (I know it's a trope name but it's the only one that's *APT*), it's overall a lot of fun. I enjoy the characters, and the story ties itself together a bit better. It does feel rushed near the end which is legitimately upsetting, and I wish the bad endings were a bit more varied. The only real variances I noticed were around Palace 3 and 4, and Palace 5 I didn't bother to look for it since the scene was always the same.

I know they're going to eventually release an extended cut, and when they do, I hope they shine a bit more light on one party member you get -- you know the one. It's a shame he felt dropped from the plot when it was convenient considering he was supposed to be important to it, even behind the scenes, for a while.

All and all a great game... and just Season Pass your DLC ATLUS. Us hardcore assholes who'll buy it just to support you will do it, but it'll make it easier than dropping 10 to 20 bucks a week (which is a bit maddening; another case of the DLC is more than the game but I got the TYH edition so... in for a penny I suppose).

A great game. People should try it. And not ragequit if the game decides to kick their ass for it.

I probably won't put another 128h into the game when the extended version releases, but when it's out I'm definitely gonna check out all the bits with that character included on youtube or something. Like you said, he was so important it's a bit of a shame he was removed just for plot convenience. More so, done in an ambiguous way that didn't give any payoff later. Having his part extended is kinda a sure inclusion for the future rerelease so I'm looking forward to see that as much as you do.

Have you actually heard of people quiting of high difficulty? It has "impossible to lose" difficulty level to chose any time in the options, doesn't it? :P

It does, but I think safety mode is considered, for all intents and purposes it's considered the 'pansy' mode and some people won't take it as a point of pride... or so I've heard. I know I don't play it like that :P

Me neither, I went through Merciless from start to finish, adding probably something like ten hours for grinding and retracting from 1-turn-loses because of that, but I found it satisfying! :D
Still, to anyone who finds the game too challenging, I'd wholeheartily encourage lowering difficulty because the battle element isn't really as important as to let it spoil the enjoyment of everything else, imho. It's just different numbers, but still the same flashy, cheesy, amazing stuff happening on the screen :3 I think my brother's playing on Easy since it's his first jRPG since PSX generation, and he's having a blast :)

Indeed. I wanna try Merciless, but I'm just trying to finish everything up this time. I got just about everything... save Empress link up to 10... ending at *9*. So upset.

At least you don't actually miss any bonus scene at the end since Empress is your party member, so don't worry about that! You're gonna see the 100% complete version of the ending if you have the others maxed :)

I do... but for P5 I wanna be a bit of an achievement whore so... yeah. XD

Haha I see XD
Be prepared for at least another 200h or so, then :P
Come to think of it I have't even checked the achievement list but I imagine it may have some crazy time consuming stuff o.o'

that's the plan!

...did you chump the Reaper yet? :p

Naah, I won't be even attempting that any time soon. For now, I'm just satisfied with finishing the game.
Let me know how the Reaper goes for you :)

Just take him on during flu season, and make sure that the Mementos side effect kicks in. ;)

I hope you do some P5 styled art.

Does this count?
http://imgur.com/a/fzEeN

Oh lord XD