Persona 5 is a friendly, warm, inviting game that basically tries to cloak you with its stylish take on daily life, mixed with some real world issues, wrapped in a great, compelling, thrilling story. The problem is, it can be nightmarishly overwhelming in spite of that- everything you do takes time, there is limited time, there are a lot of things to do, and you can simply feel lost, or as though you’re never quite doing the right thing.
This is without getting into the nuances of the battle system, where you have type matchups, Arcanas, fusions, negotiations, and equipment, among other things, to keep track of. Persona is good at implicitly tutorializing all this- but it can still feel daunting at the start.
But don’t worry- we’re here to help you out with that. Here are some basic tips and tricks to keep in mind as you play Persona 5. We’ve also gone ahead and included some other tips and pointers here, including a guide to Classroom and Exam questions, Crosswords, and Books.
BEGINNER TIPS AND TRICKS
- For starters, keep in mind that time in Persona 5 is discrete- that is to say, it does not pass in real time. Afternoon on a given day can be as long or as short as you want it to be- so long as you do not do something that actively utilizes time in game (such as hanging out with a Confidant), you can spend as much time trying to figure things out as you want
- You are meant to make choices, and choose one activity over the other. You are not meant to be keeping up with everything- just like in real life, you are meant to pick and choose, prioritize. Studying means you can’t watch the latest movie in the theater. Training in the gym means you can’t play baseball in the nets. And jumping into the Metaverse to take on the game’s Palaces and dungeons means you can’t do any of that other stuff- you are meant to pick, choose, and balance. Don’t feel like you are playing the game wrong because you aren’t doing everything it says.
- Don’t focus on just social activities, or battling activities. That’s a road to disaster- the battle activities directly progress the story (meaning if you haven’t cleared a Palace by the deadline, you lose and it is literally game over), while the social activities supplement your skills and abilities in battle (meaning you’ll have access to fewer skills, attacks, powers, and Personas in battle if you’re not engaging in social stuff).
- Work on Confidants! While you will naturally want to, given how well done and compelling these characters are, a lot of them also give you immense benefits in battle if you work on ranking them up. Definitely prioritize your party members, since the boosts you get from them in battle if you’ve achieved a higher Confidant rank with them are amazing. That apart, also look at ranking up the following Arcanas:
- Star
- Temperance
- Moon
- Tower
- Death
- Wheel of Fortune
- Sun
- The game lets you date more than one character at a time- figure out yourself if that is something you want to do. There is an amusing penalty if you do do it, however.
PERSONA NEGOTIATIONS
Bringing back a beloved element from the Shin Megami Tensei series, Persona 5 lets you negotiate with dangerous Shadows at gunpoint once you have knocked them all down, letting you extort money or valuable items from them, or even recruiting them to fight for you.
Negotiations can be amusing, but also a bit tricky, so here are some tips and tricks to keep in mind as you jump headfirst into them:
- First things first, definitely level up the Sun Arcana Confidant. Doing so unlocks more Negotiation options for you which can make things easy, and maxing it lets Shadows join your party without much negotiation needed at all.
- Also level up the Tower Arcana Confidant. Doing so lets you fire warning shots to scare Shadows if a negotiation is not going your way.
- Level up your party member Confidants. Most of them unlock high ranked skills that can convince a Shadow to join you if you botch a negotiation with them.
- Keep track of a Shadow’s personality. You can see its personality at the top right of the screen when you select it- make sure to choose your responses during the negotiation based on those.
CLASSROOM AND EXAM ANSWERS
Persona 5 will often put you in a situation where you are asked a question in class, that you must answer. You also, as a student, have to take exams, where you must answer questions properly. Answering questions properly in class can lead to a boost in your Knowledge stat, while doing well in exams can lead to your Charm rising. In other words, it’s in your best interests to do well in class and on your exams.
How do you do that? Well, for classroom questions, press the touchpad on the PS4 (select button on PS3) to pull up the proper answer to the question, and select that.
As for exams- well, here’s a cheat sheet.
First Exams
- 5/11: An optical illusion; Visual information; Brain; They have different cognitions
- 5/12: Magistrate’s Patronage; The name of a sum of currency
- 5/13: Ignorance; Four
Second Exams
- 7/13: Noveau Riche; Gentleman Thief; Hideyoshi Toyotomi; He Was boiled alive
- 7/14: It’s not related to crabs; Televisions
- 7/15: B4 Sized Paper; Together; Sense
Third Exams
- 10/17: Name of the one who proposed it; A doctor; It could execute people quickly
- 10/18: It has thirty-two faces; Slave labor
- 10/19: Phantom Vibration Syndrome; The Imperial Household Agency
Final Exams
- 12/20: D; Not their real voice; They speak the same; Supplement the voice
- 12/21: Hearts; It includes a number
- 12/22: Japan; Dreadnought
BOOKS
In Persona 5, you can play a game, read a book, watch a movie, or rent a DVD to gain benefits. In this section of the guide, we help you track down the books , and also list all the benefits you get from them:
- Yoncha Wanderer: Found in the coffee house; unlocks fast travel options for Batting Cages and Bathhouse; Increases Knowledge
- The Great Thief: Found in school library; Increases Knowledge
- Pirate Legend: Found in school library; Increases Guts
- Zorro The Outlaw: Found in school library; Increases Kindness
- The Alluring Dancer: Found in school library; Increases Charm
- The Gallant Rogue: Found in school library; Increases Guts
- Tying the Heart: Purchase at Taiheido Bookstore. Increases Proficiency
- Playing the Game: Purchase at Taiheido Bookstore. Increases Charm
- Crysolf’s Wail: Borrow from school library; Increases Guts
- Joanna the Pope: Borrow from school library; Increases Kindness
- Medjed Menace: Purchase at Taiheido Bookstore. Increases Knowledge
- Cinema Treasure: Purchase at Shinjuku Bookstore; Amplifies stat gains from watching movies
- Fishpond Spotter: Unlocks a fishing spot
- Essence of Fishing: Gives you necessary skills to be able to catch the Guardian of the Fishing Pond
- Fast Reading Mystery: Purchase from Jimbocho Urakogo shop. Lets you read two bookmarked sections at a time, doubling your reading speed
This apart, there are other books and magazines that you can find in Persona 5– these can unlock abilities during activities like baseball or fishing, or unlock new destinations for you to go to. Make sure to check out every bookstore and the library to find all the books you haven’t read already, and make sure to check back often- the selection of books available changes often.
As for actually reading your book, you can either do so in the library at school, or on the train in the morning when you find a seat, or in the Cafe in the evening after customers have left (talk to them a couple of times if they haven’t, and they will) by sitting at the bar near the yellow phone.
CROSSWORD
Every now and then, you will find a crossword in the newspaper back in Cafe Leblanc- if you answer the questions asked correctly, you gain Knowledge. So, here’s your cheat sheet- these are all the answers to all the questions on the crossword in Persona 5.
- Blue Mountain
- Drip
- Espresso
- American
- Bisen
- Caffeine
- Cappuccino
- Columbia
- Wiener Coffee
- Sandwich
- Shockwinds
- Cheat
- Ryoko Shukaku
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