Ok, I know there have been tons of threads over the years (which i have just searched through and read most of) about the Answer and whether or not it is worth playing, but I just finished Persona 3 for the first time and I'd like a fresh perspective, mostly regarding P4 Arena, as to whether I should play the Answer or skip it. So, here are my questions:

• Is the Answer addressed or acknowledged in the stories for Mitsuru, Akihiko, Aigis, and Elizabeth in Persona 4 Arena?
• It's been made clear that the Answer isn't very compelling from a gameplay perspective, but is the story that is there interesting or meaningful?
• Setting aside amount of combat and lack of gameplay variety, is the supposed enhanced combat much better than the main game? (For the record I found Persona 3 way too easy, my only death the entire game was against the Reaper in Block 1.)

Thanks in advance.

EDIT:

Well, since this thread got bumped for some reason, I guess I'll update the first post. I did decide to go ahead and play the answer, only a few days after I made this thread. I enjoyed a lot of the character stuff and I really felt like it was a logical and believable direction for most of the characters to go after the events to end the main game. As for the titular answer, it didn't seem as revelatory as I was expecting. Sure, the finer details were filled in, but I had already inferred most of the broader picture of what happened at the end of the main game. Even so, I still enjoyed what little story there was.

I liked the grind far less, as one would expect, but I was able to power through mostly thanks to old bomcasts, which I played one after the other during the 20 hours straight of grinding that makes up the majority of this content. After playing Persona 4 Arena shortly after, I was definitely glad I decided not to skip the Answer. It wasn't referenced a whole lot, but Elizabeth's story in particular was better for having played the Answer. So, while not nearly as good as the main game, I still enjoyed the answer, and I would like to the thank everyone in this thread that helped me make what I now feel was the right the decision.

It doesn't add anything meaningful or important, really. If anything, it is inconsistent on how it handles the characters. The Answer is a long dungeon crawl with a shit story that almost takes away from the game. Unless you simply must have more of the P3 cast then I say it is worth skipping. That time could be better well spent playing a NG+.

@ll_Exile_ll: I just played P3 FES for the first time this year, and yes, I played through The Answer. I personally really loved it, but I understand that the story-to-combat ratio isn't high enough for some people.

• As for Persona 4 Arena, Elizabeth's story revolves around the ending of The Answer. I wouldn't want to have played her story without the context context I had. The rest of them acknowledge what happened in the answer, but it doesn't really play a key role.
• The story is meaningful if you think flashbacks to key events in the lives of the P3 characters sound interesting, and you're curious what really happened to the Protagonist after... well, you know what happened. Aigis is my favorite character from the Persona series, so the fact that what little story there is revolves around her was a bonus for me. Some people don't like the way they handle the characters, like the fact that Yukari's feeling pissed and antisocial after losing her friend, but I felt it all came together quite nicely in the end.
• Combat is harder, and they'll warn you as much. I actually don't remember what changed from The Journey, if anything (I've actually only played FES so I guess I can't answer this question).

I personally liked the Answer, despite a bit too much must combat and the lack of a compendium. Hell, I even liked Metis (though that has more to do with the aesthetics of her character and persona designs than the character itself). Also the music is pretty Grade A.

I actually liked The Answer. It's grind heavy, but there's some good stuff in there. I also liked Yukari, especially in The Answer, putting me further in the minority. The final boss theme is sick though.

@TooWalrus:

Thanks for the response. Even though I keep trying to convince myself not to play it because of a lot of the negative reactions around it (particularly people saying it ruins the story), the fact that there exists more story content that is 100% canon means I can't really stop myself from playing it, even if it isn't as good as the core game. I'll never understand people that try to pretend episodes/sequels/spin offs don't exist simply because they don't like them. Good or bad, I always want to experience the full story.

I will probably take a bit a break before I dive in, considering I just finished The Journey and wound up playing for 90+ hours over the course of 2 weeks and the notion of tacking another 30 hours of combat on right away is not very appealing.

Questions have been answered, but I also enjoyed The Answer. I didn't find it as hard as some people say and the story was enough for me to grind through it. Also love how much Junpei had grown as a person in The Answer compared to his immature self in The Journey.

@Turambar said:

I personally liked the Answer, despite a bit too much must combat and the lack of a compendium. Hell, I even liked Metis (though that has more to do with the aesthetics of her character and persona designs than the character itself). Also the music is pretty Grade A.

Ha, isn't your avatar Metis?

@ll_Exile_ll: I didn't hate it, it just has some weird design problems. Really the only story stuff worth knowing is the Answer itself, the clarification on the ending, and some of Aegis's development.

To be honest i forget what the answer in the Answer even is.

@Nottle said:

To be honest i forget what the answer in the Answer even is.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal adorable content.

@Nottle said:

@Turambar said:

I personally liked the Answer, despite a bit too much must combat and the lack of a compendium. Hell, I even liked Metis (though that has more to do with the aesthetics of her character and persona designs than the character itself). Also the music is pretty Grade A.

Ha, isn't your avatar Metis?

@ll_Exile_ll: I didn't hate it, it just has some weird design problems. Really the only story stuff worth knowing is the Answer itself, the clarification on the ending, and some of Aegis's development.

To be honest i forget what the answer in the Answer even is.

Like I said, I really like the way she looks.

@Turambar: Before I played P3 FES, in my mind, your avatar was just an anime girl with a pizza on her head. ...I still kind of see it sometimes :-(

What difficulty did you play The Journey on where you thought it was too easy? Because hard mode is no joke. And even on normal mode, it seems crazy to me that you wouldn't ever have taken an unlucky hit.

The Answer has some good character moments in it. The main problem is that the original ends on such a perfect note, that anything following it kind of spoils it. What I would actually suggest is to maybe wait a few weeks before diving into it.@YI_Orange said:

I actually liked The Answer. It's grind heavy, but there's some good stuff in there. I also liked Yukari, especially in The Answer, putting me further in the minority. The final boss theme is sick though.

Loved Yukari in The Answer. She definitely seemed the most human.

Personally, I skipped The Answers part for two reasons:

1) I sadly didn't enjoy Persona 3 as much as Persona 4, like, by a lot. I am not saying Persona 3 is bad but I just didn't get attached like I did to Persona 4. So when Answer popped up, I was pretty much like screw it at that point since I all but forced my self through 3.

2) I heard when I was still playing Persona 3, which probably had A LOT to do with why I didn't play the Answers, was the fact I heard that the characters where extremely inconsistent between P3 and Answers. As in, some of them did a complete 180 on personality. This bothered me a lot for some reason and so I made the executive decision to skip it.

Pretty much I just read a fully spoiler synopsis on the plot. After reading it didn't care that I skipped Answers as it didn't seem to effect the main story at all and I just saved my self some hours that in turn I spent back in P4.

@TooWalrus said:

@Turambar: Before I played P3 FES, in my mind, your avatar was just an anime girl with a pizza on her head. ...I still kind of see it sometimes :-(

Fuck. What has been seen....

@Turambar said:

@TooWalrus said:

@Turambar: Before I played P3 FES, in my mind, your avatar was just an anime girl with a pizza on her head. ...I still kind of see it sometimes :-(

Fuck. What has been seen....

My god.

i was recently going to give The Answer a try , but i decided to replay Nocturne instead .. great choice :) fuck that amala network tho aargh

@TooWalrus said:

@Nottle said:

To be honest i forget what the answer in the Answer even is.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal adorable content.

That is probably the best spoiler I have ever seen.

@TooWalrus said:

@Nottle said:

To be honest i forget what the answer in the Answer even is.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal adorable content.

@Turambar: I was just wondering because it looked like her but I don't think that artwork is the standard Persona art. I like the butterfly visor. Her design is much more interesting than Aeigis (especially when Aegis puts on all that battle gear.)

The answer is kind of worth it for this cutscene:

Where the hell did that come from?

@Nottle: Oh god what the fuck. I don't even remember that cutscene.

I think his "soul" is still alive, but the characters have buried the P3MC's physical body since he "died" in Aigis' lap.

I'm also kind of on the fence with FES. I just need to motivate myself to finally start it. I'm mostly worried about how long it will take. I would normally just go to howlongtobeat.com, but they just group all of P3:FES together as one game. So roughly how long is The Answer going to take me?

@SpunkyHePanda: I played the Journey on normal. Early on I did get lucky with those Hama/Mudo assholes either missing or going for my party members. Once the antique shop opened up, I always had plenty of homunculus on hand to avoid those deaths. As for avoiding unlucky hits, I always took the time to get player advantage and made sure the persona I had in to start the fight was as weakness free as possible. I was also usually pretty on top of having at least one persona in my deck with each resistance at all times.

@MikeHawk: About 20-25 hours, I think.

@Nottle said:

@TooWalrus said:

@Nottle said:

To be honest i forget what the answer in the Answer even is.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal adorable content.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

MC's seal meant he was sort of still alive? Was that the answer?

@Turambar: I was just wondering because it looked like her but I don't think that artwork is the standard Persona art. I like the butterfly visor. Her design is much more interesting than Aeigis (especially when Aegis puts on all that battle gear.)

The answer is kind of worth it for this cutscene:

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Where the hell did that come from?

Her battle armor flack jacked, yuck. Also, its from this wallpaper.

@FluxWaveZ: Ok, thanks. With Christmas break, I should be able to knock that out fairly quick.

@FluxWaveZ: Yeah, that cutscene doesn't really fit in Persona 3 at all. I know Persona 3 is dark but damn. I think it happens when you fight that dopplegengar.

@MikeHawk: The answer takes about 25-30 hours.

Most of that is battles.

I liked the answer. Worth it imo if you enjoyed the battle system and stuff.

I dont get the 180 turn about characters people are talking about? it all followed for me. In fact i liked the ending stuff. as exciting and so depressing and sad at the same time.