Yeah, pacing is really slow at first. The first few (well, more than a few) days are pretty lineal and don't allow you much freedom. And I would say that not even I have scratched the surface of the game, and I'm 20 hours in and advanced enough in the second Palace. For real, but, even I have done a lot, I still know that I have sooo much left (especially in terms of new party members, for example).
My main advice here would be this: try to save SP for attacks (especially against those enemies who you can't quickly beat by other means) and finish the Palace as soon as you can (or, at least, try to go as far as you can go everytime time you need to enter). If you do it all in one go, you have quite a bit of free time.
I made that mistake during the first Palace. The difficulty being in Hard was the last straw, but I also got sloppy and didn't care as much as I should about my SP (me being used to other RPGs where it's easily replenished). I actually bumped the difficulty back to Normal (right before the first Palace boss, so plenty of hours in), because I had read that you get less EXP and money, and that's a big nono for a game like this. Also, even if perfectly manageable, I was getting fucked hard at times by random enemies, so I was tired of reloading and losing progress.
Another thing: look up some of the attributes you get with Confidants. You're in the very early stages, so don't worry about them for now, but you should try and be prepared for their prerequisites (not all of them have). Take a look at which ones you like best and prioritize them (I know my goal is making SP more abundant and having more free time).
PS: one final thing! Look up what special things there are each day (like TV quizs, bonuses for reading/bath house..., special products...) and switch books regularly (in case you get a seat in the train: buy as much as you can in Shibuya and try to finish those from the library). And take care of your plant week by week!
My main advice here would be this: try to save SP for attacks (especially against those enemies who you can't quickly beat by other means) and finish the Palace as soon as you can (or, at least, try to go as far as you can go everytime time you need to enter). If you do it all in one go, you have quite a bit of free time.
I made that mistake during the first Palace. The difficulty being in Hard was the last straw, but I also got sloppy and didn't care as much as I should about my SP (me being used to other RPGs where it's easily replenished). I actually bumped the difficulty back to Normal (right before the first Palace boss, so plenty of hours in), because I had read that you get less EXP and money, and that's a big nono for a game like this. Also, even if perfectly manageable, I was getting fucked hard at times by random enemies, so I was tired of reloading and losing progress.
Another thing: look up some of the attributes you get with Confidants. You're in the very early stages, so don't worry about them for now, but you should try and be prepared for their prerequisites (not all of them have). Take a look at which ones you like best and prioritize them (I know my goal is making SP more abundant and having more free time).
PS: one final thing! Look up what special things there are each day (like TV quizs, bonuses for reading/bath house..., special products...) and switch books regularly (in case you get a seat in the train: buy as much as you can in Shibuya and try to finish those from the library). And take care of your plant week by week!
Yeah I noticed how quickly the SP can deplete so I'm only using normal attacks and the gun if an enemy is weak against it.
Gotta say the enemies pack quite a punch in this game. Holy crap do they do a lot of damage. It's not "easy" like I thought it would be. Lots of stuff to learn in regards to the battle system. It's definitely more complex than Pokémon, which is what I thought this game would be like.
So many Confidants and Persona's, it's doing my head in trying to keep track of everything so only gonna focus on the ones that I really like.
Haven't found any books or even had the opportunity to do stuff other than story related segments atm. I suppose this comes after the first Palace? Thinking I'm near the end to finishing the first arc.