Tips for Harder difficulties

[Niras]

I'm somewhere in the middle of the game and I found the game a little easy so I'm thinking on starting over no hard. Additionaly I would like to use that chance to do social links and level up social stats in more efficient way this time.

I played some og P3 versions: P3 FES and P3P (didn't finish any of them), P4G and P5R on normal so I know more or less what I'm doing.
Ngl harder diffs in RPGs always were little scary for me so I would like some advice focused on what should I do differently or what should I definitely do.

[Taint Snorkeler]

hard is still too easy and picking merciless is not a good idea as that mode is scaled around NG+ players.

[kgfzrt]

Don't bother. I'm playing on hard and recently unlocked Theurgy and I think nothing is gonna help the game feel hard after this

I thought showtimes and baton pass bonuses were bad, but Theurgy is on another level. It comes way too often, every party member has it and it deals massive damage

The only tip I can give is forcing yourself to go on a challenge run (like Orpheus only or some stuff like that) and not using mechanics like theurgy, but that certainly isn't the intended by the game

I hope p6 steps up the difficulty

[Niras]

Originally posted by kgfzrt:

Don't bother. I'm playing on hard and recently unlocked Theurgy and I think nothing is gonna help the game feel hard after this

Wait till you unlock Characteristics. Yukari's makes her even more permament party member.

[Niras]

Originally posted by Taint Snorkeler:

hard is still too easy and picking merciless is not a good idea as that mode is scaled around NG+ players.

Originally posted by kgfzrt:

Don't bother. I'm playing on hard and recently unlocked Theurgy and I think nothing is gonna help the game feel hard after this

I thought showtimes and baton pass bonuses were bad, but Theurgy is on another level. It comes way too often, every party member has it and it deals massive damage

The only tip I can give is forcing yourself to go on a challenge run (like Orpheus only or some stuff like that) and not using mechanics like theurgy, but that certainly isn't the intended by the game

I hope p6 steps up the difficulty

I was gonna do another playthrough either way. I was curious how hard diff is in comparison to normal and how much do I have to step up my gameplay.

[caffinate]

ive been playing on hard and clearing all blocks in one hit so far, it does feel a lot easier than id expect from the atlus usual. im sure therell be a point where things will finally catch up to me and i'll be too underlevelled to survive something silly, but until then idk. just chillin

[FlyingTorcensoredWhale]

Originally posted by caffinate:

ive been playing on hard and clearing all blocks in one hit so far, it does feel a lot easier than id expect from the atlus usual. im sure therell be a point where things will finally catch up to me and i'll be too underlevelled to survive something silly, but until then idk. just chillin

What is Atlas Usual in terms of Persona? Last one we've had was P5R and... Well, it definitely wasn't hard. Unless you're thinking SMT, but Persona series were always on the easier side in comparison.

[caffinate]

Yeah ‘atlus usual’ probably wasn’t the right phrase, mainline games have been trending easier for a while I suppose. I guess I was just thinking back to the SMT games I played on the PS2, P3FES too. Here it feels like there’s a lot of new systems like Theurgy/Shift that have been added in the player’s favour, but no extra challenges from enemies to balance that out.

In P3R I’ve walked into a bunch of floor bosses on low SP purely with the goal of scouting out weaknesses and abilities, fully expecting to wipe… and then coming away with a win anyway. I don’t remember happening in the past for me, especially not on hard mode.

[Necrofitz]

It's just the change in Atlus's game design philosophy. It isn't 2005 anymore. They've changed the way they make games because they know hard as balls doesn't really sell in the JRPG space. They would ultimately rather have the game be slightly criticized for being too easy rather than lambasted for being way too hard. Similarly, it's far easier to get someone to pick up an easy game promising good characters, story, and music, while hard games more and more are attracting gamers that have almost zero attachment to story, lore, or anything that does not directly feed into what makes the game challenging.

The gaming landscape has simply changed, and the old break the player until they either give in or break through design philosophy of old Atlus is unlikely to ever return.

[MrBendiix]

I am playing my first run on merciless and so far it seems really fine and I even convinced one of my more casual friends to give it a try.
I see no reason to start on anything other than the hardest difficulty right off the bat as you can easily turn it down if it gets too hard, and the game even asks you if you game over if you want to lower it.
So not starting on merciless is pointless at least IMO.

[Necrofitz]

I just started on normal because eh. If the game ultimately rolls over for me, it's not the end of the world. Can always play through the game again in the future on merciless if I want a more challenging experience.

[Frostea]

Originally posted by Necrofitz:

It's just the change in Atlus's game design philosophy. It isn't 2005 anymore. They've changed the way they make games because they know hard as balls doesn't really sell in the JRPG space. They would ultimately rather have the game be slightly criticized for being too easy rather than lambasted for being way too hard. Similarly, it's far easier to get someone to pick up an easy game promising good characters, story, and music, while hard games more and more are attracting gamers that have almost zero attachment to story, lore, or anything that does not directly feed into what makes the game challenging.

The gaming landscape has simply changed, and the old break the player until they either give in or break through design philosophy of old Atlus is unlikely to ever return.

Nah, SMT5 was still pretty damn hard. It’s just persona that they’re doing this with. Mainline is pretty much still the same.

[Hymnos]

meanwhile I played on normal difficulty and already died more than 10x because of bosses rush in monad door lmao
maybe I suck playing this game

[viktorhallo]

yea merciless is drastically easier than nocturne on hard or soul hackers 2 on very hard personally i am finding it easier than the hardest difficulty on shin megami tensei V on switch aswell. especially soul hackers 2 on very hard which is probably the hardest difficulty in the franchise is drastically harder since you cant use items. its almost never more than 10 min between saves in this game and you can skip most enemies instead of random encounters that can wipe you out in 1 turn if they get a ambush.

their previous game nocturne on normal mode which was the lowest difficulty in that game is pretty close to merciless in terms of overall difficulty imo.