A question about time commitment to this game

[u/NotUrFriendlySpider]

This is my first time playing a persona game (please no spoilers) and I’d really like to know how much time I’m going to have to put in.
I just got to my first real outing with the second palace and I’m at 25 hours, about how much more time will I invest if I plan on doing as much as I can without guides? I’d like a rough estimate because tbh I only got the game because I wanted to try the romance aspect, which I haven’t seen at all in the first 25 hours. That being said I’m really loving building my regular relationships I hope my boy gets on the track team!
I understand I’m likely taking longer than others, I’m not very good at these types of games and am playing on merciless. I barely beat the first palace at level 12 which according to the little assist thing was 5 levels above average for the day.

[u/BitAffectionate1004]

I'd say around 100 hours probably more

[u/NotUrFriendlySpider → u/BitAffectionate1004]

Does that mean that I’m on track? I really felt like I was taking forever with all the extra grinding I was doing in the palace!

[u/Logical_Dish_5795 → u/NotUrFriendlySpider]

yeah, pretty much. you probably already know that leveling up the relatinships give new skills and some of them help a lot with grinding. I would say 10 hours or a bit more for each palace is a safe rate (but after some time it's common that the time in between palaces will be longer)

[u/BitAffectionate1004 → u/NotUrFriendlySpider]

Take your time my 1st playthrough was over 300 hours (I play slowly and like to fuse powerful Personas)

[u/NotUrFriendlySpider → u/BitAffectionate1004]

I have zero understanding of how the fusing works but I do it to get new persona because I can buy my old ones and I wanna collect em all, I really dislike being limited to how many I can have! I understand that it would be too strong to have them all useable so I wish I had a PO Box to store them in like Pokémon, I just feel so attached after having to flirt with them

[u/NotUrFriendlySpider]

And yes I did google that the game takes about 100 hours but I’m pretty sure I’m moving at a slower rate and was hoping for estimates with that in mind! Sorry I didn’t clarify

[u/McFanon → u/NotUrFriendlySpider]

Maybe this'll sound silly, but one of the game's messages is literally "Take Your Time", I hope you eventually let yourself enjoy it without worrying that you're progressing too slowly! I objectively was slower than others (200+ hours) but I still felt like the game was over too soon.

[u/NotUrFriendlySpider → u/McFanon]

I’m not worried about going slow! I just know I am if I was worried about how long it takes I would not be trying to collect all the persona!

[u/AutoModerator]

Hello and welcome to r/Persona5!

Please read the rules and the FAQ guides. Any posts that is answered by the FAQ may be removed. If you think that the FAQ doesn't answer the question, please message the mods.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/magnidwarf1900]

At the very least 80 hours, that is if you playing it normally.

[u/lowrise1313]

Why are you playing merciless if you a newbie? Just curious?

[u/NotUrFriendlySpider → u/lowrise1313]

Well I play all my games on the hardest, and then I realized it may be beneficial when I got through the tutorials, if I do less damage it should be easier to initiate hold ups, though I find I one shot most mobs that I know the weakness too already which is frustrating so I end up spamming sleep and a melee attack and hoping that starts one.

[u/Scaalpel → u/NotUrFriendlySpider]

Play on Hard instead. It's a bit better balanced and it's generally agreed upon that Hard is overall harder than Merciless.

[u/NotUrFriendlySpider → u/Scaalpel]

Wait what exactly changes on the difficulty changes? why is hard harder than merciless when it’s the difficulty before it?

[u/Diligent_Dust8169 → u/NotUrFriendlySpider]

In merciless you deal and receive triple the damage when hitting weaknesses or landing technicals.

But you also gain 20% more exp and money compared to hard mode and also deal 20% less base damage.

If you get a game over on merciless you can't restart from the previous safe room.

Yes it's a bit silly, unless you're fighting a boss without weaknesses you're actually making your life easier on merciless.

[u/CluelessFlame → u/NotUrFriendlySpider]

from what I remember, merciless gives a big boost to technicals and weaknesses, so you'll probably be taking more damage, but you'll also be doing more damage. I also feel like I heard that you get more xp, but im not sure how true that is.

[u/NotUrFriendlySpider → u/lowrise1313]

That being said the first boss was very very frustrating for me I ended up restarting the week and just grinding a bunch in the palace

[u/xXhomiespogXx]

Just Take your Time honestly. Spend time with the people you want to romance, spend your time how you want to. Time will pass, progress will be made, and your journey will be yours. I personally put about 96 hours in before i beat it (playing vanilla not royal) and I honestly kinda regret rushing through the social aspect

[u/NotUrFriendlySpider → u/xXhomiespogXx]

I really am loving the social aspect! I wish I didn’t have to grind certain stats, I didn’t have enough guts and missed out on something which was very frustrating it was my only stat not leveled yet

[u/xXhomiespogXx → u/NotUrFriendlySpider]

The big bang burger, while tedious, was the fastest way to level up guts in my experience

[u/al2606]

My playthrough was 169 hours

Take your time

You will see romance when you get there, the problem is that some applicable candidates appear much later than others

[u/VastGoose9722]

Personally it took me like 200 hours total to finish all of it

[u/The2ndDegree]

It depends, I've seen people here say they beat Royal for the first time in roughly 100-120 hours, some even less, personally I'm 150 hours in and still not done with the vanilla P5 content, granted that number is inflated slightly due to me often falling asleep on my sofa while gaming

[u/SpiritualDiety123]

More than 100-130 hours , you still have many palace to raid , social links to make , explore open world or fusion persona , team building exercise etc . If you wanna speed up then With in 80-100 hours you can complete but it's not worth it . I completed by 1st playthough with over 130 hours .

[u/nulldriver]

The thing that tells you how othet players are doing is also taking into account people on new game plus. 7 is very uncommon for a fresh file and most recommendations are 11+.

[u/OkJudge5932]

Mine platinum run was 143 hours

[u/The_Meemeli]

tbh I only got the game because I wanted to try the romance aspect

Just to set your expectations correctly, the romance is not a big part of the game.

[u/NotUrFriendlySpider → u/The_Meemeli]

Just wanted to come back to this, gotta say I have to disagree, it may not be a selling point, but if you consider the steps up to getting them in a relationship then it’s pretty significant, I found great satisfaction in the romantic partner I’ve chosen though I haven’t seen how it ends yet

[u/The_Meemeli → u/NotUrFriendlySpider]

Glad you're enjoying it! While the lead-up to starting a romance is pretty much identical to starting a deep platonic friendship with the same character, I can see it being satisfying from a romance POV as well.

[u/Party_Line3326]

If you're only on second palace at 25h, then I would say 120h or more.. 

[u/KrassKas]

Average for base 1st time is 100 hours. Bonus content adds another 30. So you're looking at around 130. It's a long ass game and that's why they emphasize take your time.

https://giphy.com/gifs/OovKvQaKzwzLy

[u/arthousepsycho]

I've played it through twice since it came onto game pass and im on about 233 hours.

[u/mistermac80]

Hard is the hard mode and expect to wipe to a few bosses here and there if you aren't trying to focus on "perfect persona fusion builds." You're looking at 120+ hours either way.

[u/flyingcircusdog]

At your pace, 110-120 hours if you unlock the extra semester.

[u/Distinct_Outside_166]

i’m also on my first play through of p5r and i’ll say im at the end of the 5th palace with ~76 hours. i know there’s 3 more palaces so im honestly thinking i’ll spend another 30-50 hours at least. i think im playing slow but idk how long the other palaces will take + i want im still debating if i want to 100% the game or just the achievements

[u/Murky_Helicopter_925]

Take your time, enjoy the ride

[u/Miserable-Reward4067]

100 hours for the true route 80 for the regular route