Back again, for the last time on this epic game. Where I last left, the Persona users of Gekkokan High School were given an ultimatum by Ryoji, the avatar of Nyx. They had until the 31st of January to fight the bringer of Death. What this translates to is "it's time to get your act together". I began by leveling up some more and trying to get the final personas and fusions. This was not as easy as I thought as the stronger personas required the highest social links and higher character level of the main character to create. I had maximized about 10 social links by then but there were a couple more that I knew I could do. I wanted to do Akinori's, which only occurred on Sundays and Mamoru's, which took more time than I thought. And some new ones opened up once you got the highest personal traits: Badass for courage, Genius for academics, and charismatic for charisma. But as the game dragged on, I realized I couldn't get them all in this first run, so I just tried to finish it after the 110th hour.
The battles after the 252nd floor of Tartarus were not too difficult, all the way until you battle Nyx. Sure, you'll fight Jin and Takaya again - and you learn about their origins. The fight's are pretty much a joke with my guy at level 82 and some of the strongest personas at my disposal. I do want to say something about Nyx. He's not a push-over.
The fight with Nyx takes endurance. You should reserve about 2 hours for him and the ending that comes after. I made the mistake of playing it and having to meet someone for lunch and had to shut off during mid-battle. It's a long drawn-out fight and it would be smart to bring a lot of items (especially precious eggs for MP). My final party was Main character, Yukari, Junpei, and AIGIS. I think any party would do, but I do recommend a healer and AIGIS because she has a lot of status increase skills. You'll have to use tactics often. Nyx can be tough if you let him get advantage of your low HP, so I recommend wearing Vitality rings that add 30% more. Nyx has about 13 forms, as you could have guessed by the big stress on Arcana in this game. While most of the forms have about 1200HP, the last one has 6000HP. I learned that the hard way.
Here's what you have to watch out for. First there is his defensive spell, "Night Gown". When he does this, a reflective barrier appears and every attack that you unleash upon him will be reflected to you with an added damage. Usually this hits about 500+ HP to a character, so I highly advise not to attack or have any of your guys attack when this is up. You'll have to set characters like Junpei to "Wait" almost. It's also a good time for you to heal yourself. Secondly, he uses "All Mighty" often. This spell is like a severe holy strike spell, but he does it after he does mind charge or power charge, so it doubles the effect. You have to have defenses up if you see him do his charges; it can wipe you out if you have low HP. Lastly, there is his most animated attack, "Night Queen". This attack is similar to Final Fantasy 4's "Big Bang" attack. It's a magical attack that damages and sets random effects to your characters. Here's the thing, be sure to dis-charm those that have been charmed! A person that has been charmed with the Diarahan (full-heal) spell will use it on Nyx. That's how I found out he has 6000 HP. From there it's pretty much unload on him as usual. I use Norn with Mind Charge and "Panta Rhei" spell on him mostly, and it gets the job done.
After the battle it goes to a super charged anime scene that throws all your guys into darkness. You're in an one-on-one fight with Death himself. He's angry and pissed-off. Your guys think it's the end and find themselves stranded in space, similar to limbo. All they can do is send you their powers. Your only hope is, well as corny as it sounds, a wild card in the arcana deck. Story ensues, and you use the "Great Seal" send subdue Nyx's fury. Everything turns white, and well, you wake up days later.
The ending is good. One of the better ones for role-playing games in recent memory. A very weird scene in the end includes the main character resting himself on AIGIS's lap. She does all the talking, and you just rest there, on the school's rooftop: half awake, half exhausted from the battle. I really loved this game. Will I play the "Answer" featuring AIGIS? Nope, not in the near future. After 100 hours of this game, it's time to move on.
Completion: Beat the game,
Collected 87% of all Personas,
Maxed out personal status (academics, charm, and courage)
Hours Spent: 111 hrs and 41 mins (+ 3 hrs of dead time)
