So this summer a friend and I sort of fell into playing the game. I have been watching all of the endurance run videos, so with E3 this past week I have been in need of some persona, and so we continued my friend's save from about 8 1/2 hours in or so. We just finished our third day of playing in five days and now have a save file at around 29 1/2 hours. We actually are very close to where Jeff and Vinny are now in their save as we are ready to start the dungeon they are on.

I should also mention that my friend has the guide for the game, so it has made us a lot more efficient in terms of what we do per day, quest availability, social linking and the like. It has really come in handy when in dungeons and how to approach enemies and bosses.

In terms of the actual playing of the game we are having an absolute blast doing it, obviously or else we wouldn't have 7 hours/day so far. A lot of the stuff that Jeff and Vinny say about the game I resonate with. I think that it has a great dialogue between characters, the menus are really nice aesthetically and the setting is a nice place to be. The characters in terms of their stories during social link progression isn't that great. There are a few who we like, but we think Yukiko is fairly boring and Dojima and Yosuke and even Nanako are depressing.

Just as a side note for the social links we actually maxed out Chie already, and now that we know that our party member's personas evolve at social link 10 we have been really focused at getting it done for the rest. We are now at social rank 8 for both Yukiko and Yosuke. and since we just unlocked Rise I believe she is at 2.

Another thing I am a bit bummed out about is what happens after you max a social rank. We were big fans of Chie, but as soon as we maxed her out, it was as though we flipped a switch and she completely disappeared from our minds. It would have been nice if there were little battle dialogue changes or just something that made us actually want to care after it was done.

A big thing that could also use tweaking, as said by Jeff a few times is the fusing. There seems to be way too much unknown about what certain persona arcanas fused together will make. You have to go in and look at every single combination of the personas you have pulled to have an idea. Then on top of that you have to keep rolling to make sure you get the spells you want to carry over. It is way too tedious and hopefully gets streamlined in the next game.

That was in terms of the double and triple fusions, I like how they approach the bigger fusions much better with just telling you what you can make and what you need to make them.

But overall with those complaints, we are having great fun going through the game so far and will continue for the time being. I honestly don't know how far we will make it as we have limited time as summer moves on.

Edit: The biggest thing for me is that this game is much more fun going through it with a friend. To add in your own commentary and have a laugh with a friend has made this experience so far leagues better.

and to beat those few to the punch since there must be a ton of these now,

So this summer a friend and I sort of fell into playing the game. I have been watching all of the endurance run videos, so with E3 this past week I have been in need of some persona, and so we continued my friend's save from about 8 1/2 hours in or so. We just finished our third day of playing in five days and now have a save file at around 29 1/2 hours. We actually are very close to where Jeff and Vinny are now in their save as we are ready to start the dungeon they are on.

I should also mention that my friend has the guide for the game, so it has made us a lot more efficient in terms of what we do per day, quest availability, social linking and the like. It has really come in handy when in dungeons and how to approach enemies and bosses.

In terms of the actual playing of the game we are having an absolute blast doing it, obviously or else we wouldn't have 7 hours/day so far. A lot of the stuff that Jeff and Vinny say about the game I resonate with. I think that it has a great dialogue between characters, the menus are really nice aesthetically and the setting is a nice place to be. The characters in terms of their stories during social link progression isn't that great. There are a few who we like, but we think Yukiko is fairly boring and Dojima and Yosuke and even Nanako are depressing.

Just as a side note for the social links we actually maxed out Chie already, and now that we know that our party member's personas evolve at social link 10 we have been really focused at getting it done for the rest. We are now at social rank 8 for both Yukiko and Yosuke. and since we just unlocked Rise I believe she is at 2.

Another thing I am a bit bummed out about is what happens after you max a social rank. We were big fans of Chie, but as soon as we maxed her out, it was as though we flipped a switch and she completely disappeared from our minds. It would have been nice if there were little battle dialogue changes or just something that made us actually want to care after it was done.

A big thing that could also use tweaking, as said by Jeff a few times is the fusing. There seems to be way too much unknown about what certain persona arcanas fused together will make. You have to go in and look at every single combination of the personas you have pulled to have an idea. Then on top of that you have to keep rolling to make sure you get the spells you want to carry over. It is way too tedious and hopefully gets streamlined in the next game.

That was in terms of the double and triple fusions, I like how they approach the bigger fusions much better with just telling you what you can make and what you need to make them.

But overall with those complaints, we are having great fun going through the game so far and will continue for the time being. I honestly don't know how far we will make it as we have limited time as summer moves on.

Edit: The biggest thing for me is that this game is much more fun going through it with a friend. To add in your own commentary and have a laugh with a friend has made this experience so far leagues better.

and to beat those few to the punch since there must be a ton of these now,

In the games manual, theres a fusion table that shows what the arcana of a fused persona will be.

Like Strenght + Empress = Hierophant etc. I don't have a PS2 yet, so I have not played P4 .. But it seems like it could be useful.

Its page 32-33 btw.

Fuck, I still dont understand how Jeff and Vinny were 29hours in when they saved Rise, I'm 17hours in and I am going to save her. Any tips for making the game longer?

Theres a number of speccial events that your girlfriends influence ;)

Yeah I'm pimping Yukiko right now, I'm rank 9 with her. But now I'm 17hours in and I'm about to save Rise, if I keep up with this pace, how long will the game last?

You said you were using a guide, which is probably why you're going so fast. I did 45 hours at bad ending, 60 hours at good ending and 65 at "True".

Don't rush, and enjoy the dialogue.

You sure you found all the social links?

Yeah following a guide is going to shorten the game alot as you'll always get the S.Links correct. Without a guide you can get the wrong answers meaning you'll spend the next time "getting closer". Not to mention knowing the monsters weakness's makes combat very quick.

My advice would be to play the first playthrough without a guide and just have fun, the wrong answers are usually the funny ones. Then pickup a guide for a second playthrough to see those scenes you missed, game goes much faster the second time through.

Yoskuke (spelling?) is an awesome character. I lol everytime he speaks.

Ok, if we are going to call it an endurance run everytime someone plays an RPG from start to finish, then I've probably done about 30 "Endurance Runs" in my life.

What level are you guys?

I dunno, but I would personally never use a guide to go through the whole game.  I've used GameFAQS for the occasional test answer, but that's about it. I don't think I'd find it as fun if I knew exactly what I needed to say to each of my social links, or didn't have to figure out a strategy for a boss fight.