u/Express-Employee8462

Hey,

So I started getting into the Persona series like 2 months ago with P3R (loved it), then moved on to P5R (I did play some other games in between tho, I’m not THAT addicted lmao).

I’m about 15 hours in right now and playing on Hard, since I pretty much always play games on this difficulty, but I gotta ask:

Is it normal to get absolutely fucking destroyed this early on?

I feel like some bosses can straight up one-shot me or get me down to like 10% HP with one hit, even tho I’m still pretty early in the game. I’m talking stuff like the end of the first Palace or some Mementos bosses. Even some regular enemies hit like a truck on their first attack sometimes.

So yeah, is Hard just kinda brutal in P5R or am I doing something completely wrong?

Also, second question: I had no idea Royal was basically the “complete” version of the game, so I was kinda surprised by the amount of extra stuff it gives you. Like, I got A LOT of costumes and random bonuses, but the thing that really surprised me was being able to summon Personas from the previous protagonists.

I haven’t played P4 yet (although I obviously know who the protagonist is), and these Personas are like level 80 or some shit.
Isn’t that kinda weird? 💀

Like, you can apparently just summon
a fucking lvl 80 Persona basically at the beginning of the game. Doesn’t that completely fuck up the progression/difficulty?

Just finished Episode Aigis (so I guess I’ve officially finished the whole game now) and I have a few thoughts/questions.

First, and I kinda have to get this out of the way: I find it pretty annoying (to put it mildly lmao) that you have to PAY for this DLC to get this extra part of the story.

I do think it adds a lot to the original ending and completes it in a way, but unlike some comments I’ve seen, I wouldn’t really call the DLC ending the “true ending”. The base game’s ending was already enough for me and honestly felt complete on its own. But I can definitely understand why people are frustrated about it, because yeah, I am too, especially considering the price.

As for the base game, I already made a post talking about how much I loved the story, characters and writing, so I won’t repeat everything here. But I really liked what this episode was trying to say.
The base game was more about facing your own mortality, while Episode Aigis is much more about grief and learning to accept the death of someone you care about.
And honestly, I loved that.

The part I liked the least, though… Tartarus 2.0 was fucking rough lmao.
By the end I was genuinely scared that the final door was gonna have like 50 floors before I finally got to the boss 💀💀

Anyway, I loved the game enough that I definitely want to keep going with Persona, so I have a few questions:

Is there any kind of chronological order between 4 and 5? Someone recommended that I play 3 and then 5, but I remember seeing a screenshot of a Persona game where Mitsuru is older, so now I’m wondering if the games are actually connected somehow.

Also, do Persona 4 and 5 have something like Tartarus? Because if I’m about to spend another 80+ hours climbing a randomly generated dungeon, I might need to take a fucking break before starting the next one lmao.

And finally, more of a personal question: I absolutely loved this game, especially the base game’s ending, which genuinely made me cry.
For those who’ve played 4 and 5, do you think they’re just as good? Or should I expect them to be a step down after P3?
I’m obviously gonna play them anyway, but I’m curious what you guys think. No spoilers please 🙏

PS: I absolutely loved the opening song when you launch the game. It’s genuinely beautiful and emotional, especially when you’ve just finished the base game.
PS 2: I kinda feel like Yukari is the canon romance, but in my heart, Mitsuru is the real one. ❤️

I finished Persona 3 Reload like 30 minutes ago and holy shit.

I honestly don’t even know where to start.

For context, this was my first ever Persona game. I had heard people praise the series for years, which is what eventually made me buy Reload a few months ago.

For the first 50–60 hours or so, I was basically playing it like a normal RPG. Reading everything, doing Social Links, exploring Tartarus, etc. I liked it, but I didn’t really understand what all the hype was about. I was enjoying myself, but I wasn’t exactly blown away.

And yeah, one thing I have to say: Tartarus is fucking awful lmao. Exploring that place felt like a chore sometimes.

But as the months went by, I slowly started getting what the game was going for. The friendships, the characters, the idea of facing the future, and especially the whole theme of death and accepting that everything eventually comes to an end.
I still wasn’t completely sold though.

Then Ryoji shows up.

And drops THAT bomb.

That’s when I literally sat up in my chair like “wait, what the fuck?”

From that point on, everything just feels different. The music changes, the atmosphere gets darker, everything feels kind of gray and depressing, and you’re basically just waiting for December 31st and then January 31st.

I started thinking about all the possible endings, but I genuinely didn’t expect what happened.
Then the final fight happens.

Strega, Nyx, the whole thing.

And when Makoto starts seeing everyone he’s met throughout the game helping him during the final battle, I was honestly confused at first. I thought this was it.
I thought this was the big happy ending.
I thought Makoto had somehow beaten Death, would get his memories back, we’d get to graduation, everyone would be happy, credits roll, etc.

Then you go around town.

Everyone starts commenting on how tired you look.
Everyone notices something is wrong.
And then you get to the final scene.
Makoto rests his head on Aigis.
And Aigis just… understands.
After everything she’s been through and how much she’s changed, she knows what’s happening.
And then it finally clicked for me too.
He wasn’t taking a nap… (Yes I thought that for a sec lmao)

And holy shit, I fucking cried.
The ending song absolutely destroyed me.
What’s crazy is that I don’t think I fully appreciated the characters while I was playing. Everything felt pretty simple at first, but once I reached the end and looked back at the whole journey, everything hit way harder.
The friendships, the characters, the whole message about accepting death instead of running away from it… it all finally clicked.
I genuinely think this game is fucking incredible.
So yeah, I know I’m like 20 years late to the Persona 3 party lmao, but I wanted to post this anyway because I really want to hear what other people thought about the ending.

Did it hit you guys this hard the first time?
And for those who played the original P3/FES/Portable, how did you feel about Reload’s version of the ending?
I’m curious what you guys think.