savepoint

I just finished Persona 3 Portable last week... took me about 83 hours. I definitely think too much time is spent in tartarus, but I also felt like I didn't do a lot of grinding. I went floor by floor killing each enemy, but I never took extra nights just to grind. The only time I would redo floors is to find the missing persons, and even then I bypassed most enemies. And with all that I never had a single issue with any enemies or bosses (including the final boss), the only time I would die is from an instant-kill (damn mudo and hama)... but that only happened a few times. I was also getting pretty tired once January 1st came around and then noticed I still had like 50 more floors to do... but I rushed through them pretty quickly and glad I kept with it. Overall, the game is pretty great and I agree with you that a lot of the side stories feel a bit half-assed and that evenings felt lacking after midway through.

Oh, even though I played P3P and had the choice for direct control, I mainly still used Act Freely for about 99% of the game. I would sometimes change it to direct control on boss fights. Overall, they would make good tactical decisions but every once in a while would do dumb shit like casting bufu on each enemy rather than just using mabufu... but that's not the end of the world.

Great write-up!

Actually, just today I reached my 100-pounds-lost milestone (went from 305 to 205). It took me a little over 7 months. I started out by doing the Insanity workout program and went through that whole program a few times. After that I started running 3 miles a night, but then my treadmill broke down so I've been going back and forth between doing an Insanity workout and running outside when it is semi-warm. I have also been eating a lot better.

My next step is to start weight lifting, build up more muscle and toning - however I can't afford a gym membership (and I have little kids) and don't have weight lifting equipment... so I guess need to figure that out...

PS+ definitely had a great pull on me to get a Vita and I'm very glad I got one. I absolutely love the thing, it has been my primary gaming device these last few months.

Persona 3 Portable has definitely had its hooks in me these past few weeks as well... it's a perfect JRPG device. Just wish the memory card prices would come down in price, my 8GB card is a little hard to manage.

I used to love my Zune as well, very sleak and the software was great... and Apple sucks. But now I've switched over to using Google Music All Access and absolutely love it. Just need to make sure I have wifi or cell service.

But I understand the benefits some people can have with using a standalone mp3 player and a streaming option doesn't work for everyone.

It took me a little while before I realized the Bombduders shirt was the 2014 member tee as well. However, I like the Vinnco one better so I went with that instead.

I'm certainly not a fan of playing many online games. There's only been a few I have enjoyed multiplayer - probably Counter Strike being the biggest and Minecraft a few years ago.

@believer258: Thanks! I may check out the Act Freely command at first. If I see the AI doing stupid things, I'll probably switch it over... so I'll probably be switching it over.

I just bought P3P and was going to start it tonight... should I play controlling all of the characters or let the rest of the team's AI take control? Is that still an option in P3P? I wouldn't mind trying to let the AI have more control as long as it isn't frustrating.

Just beat Final Fantasy IV and its interlude (will probably come back in a while to do FFIV: The After Years) and I think I'll start Persona 3 Portable tonight. I'll be playing a lot of JRPGs this year from these last 2 PSN sales. Thinking about picking up Persona 2 IS and EP ($15 for both combined on PSN sale)... need to just pull the trigger... should I?

This seems right on par with me as well... hell, I'm browsing giant bomb at work right now. As long as my work gets done, then who cares... not my fault I'm so quick and proficient that it gives me a little extra browsing time :)