So I already played P3 FES two years ago, the PSN release. But looking back on it, there were so many things I didn't understand that made it a lot tougher than it had to be:

My social links improved slowly because I didn't know having a corresponding persona wil accellerate the social link.

I understood too late that in order to get certain personas, you have to fulfill certain quests for Liz.

I understood too late that in order to get certain personas, you have to max out certain social links.

I never touched AI tactics, in particular I never used "Knock Down", instead bitching every time an AI partner didn't do what I wanted, which it _would_ have done if I had only set the correct tactic.

I don't know if they really help, but I never messed around with weapon fusing.

It all came together to make for a sometimes frustrating experience, especially the last fight with NYX.

Also, the PSN release was pretty glitchy. I had the flickering wall textures in the last block of Tartarus that drove me up the effin' wall and almost gave me migraine. Also lost some progress to the save bug.

So recently I bought a used PS2 Phat and a whole slew of games, super awesome classic games, some of which have never been remastered or had a PSN release (like Yakuza 1/2 or DQ8, or Xenosaga, or Shadow Hearts, or ...) (Here I could detail how disappointed I've been with the industry's direction over the last 5-7 years, and how that's made me slide backwards into gaming's past rather than coming along into the future, but that's another post), including an original disc of P3 FES, and just started playing it again. This time I'm doing it right. Taking my time, fulfilling all Liz's quests as I go along (hunting for the lead medal/toy bow right now), paying attention, making sure to max out the links I want, learning the party members behaviour under different tactics sets. And having a great time with it!

Man, this game is awesome!

Just put it to bed, exactly one month after I started :-) I had to do the final fight with NYX twice, but that was down to my own stupid decisions right at the end. (I thought I could put her down with one final attack, so I didn't heal. The attack wasn't enough, and she wiped out my whole party with a Night Queen/Almighty combo, probably with less than 100 HP remaining - there wasn't even a visible sliver left on her HP gauge :-p) Apart from messing up there, NYX isn't actually that bad. I was at level 76, same as NYX. Careful management of buffs and debuffs helps immensely (NYX will more often than not spend one of her two actions removing buffs/debuffs, which gives you some breathing space), and having everybody equipped with "resist charm" weapons (nihil weapons fused with a Lovers persona will grant resist charm) is required for the final strech of NYX's Night Queen-spamming.

Man, I'm stoked! This was such a pleasurable experience compared to the first time I played through - I managed to max every social link except for two of the potential girlfriends. Grinding was a pleasure too, after I learned how to manage my team members' AI tactics. I just breezed through Tartarus, having a blast.

Edit: I think my biggest problem is with the poor design of the final boss fight. It takes about 30 minutes to plow through the first 12 arcana, and none of them put up any kind of challenge. It is just filler before the real fight starts, the one with the Death arcana. That one takes about as long as all the 12 arcana before it, put together. It is a poor design choice, forcing the players to plod through that much cannon fodder before the real fight starts.

Edit again: Even the first 3/4 of the final arcana is really also filler. It isn't until the last strech, where NYX starts spamming Night Queen, that things get interesting and tense. Everything before that is just chipping away at her interminable life bar, and THEN, when Night Queen begins, you get a few turns of adrenaline every time NYX goes to bat - knowing that a whole frickin' hour of drudge work could be insta-wiped by a bad roll of the dice. The more I think about it, the more I find NYX is a really bad final boss! I mean, really poorly designed.

Happily that doesn't take away from the rest of the game, which is beyond stellar :)

I started playing FES not too long ago and having played Persona 4 Golden, I was not used to some of the design choices at first (namely the AI party and the Tired/Sick status) but having unlocked more AI tactics it's certainly become more manageable. I've gone to the point where I just set tactics to Stand By so that MC does all the work (defeating enemies with one hit using the Spiked Bat is a great feeling, at least this early on in the game).