makoto first playthrough the"painkiller metal album cover" aesthetic just sealed it.....and she reminded me of a certain soMeone from P4 which,like an olde rpost above,im hoping spins into tradition fomr 6 onwards,and i love seeing her geek out when given oppurtunities.

.............though if my knowledge stat was high enough before i went into the later parts,i would have gone to hifume,plus i was so dead set on last parts i zoomed past haru,so who knows,she could change my mind entirely

I couldn't see myself romancing Futaba. I mean, she was living in her own filth before you met her. That a major turnoff for me.

Who did I romance? Kawakami, of course. I felt so sorry for her. I had her WASHING MY CLOTHS for crying out loud.

The homeroom teacher, Sadayo Kawakami.

All on the first playthough.

Got beat up, 10/10, no regret, will recommend.

I’m only three dungeons deep but so far it’s either going to be Makoto or Ann.

I just started this game recently so haven't romance anyone yet. Currently fighting Kamoshida but does anyone know when is right time to initiate romance? I want to wait until all female characters that I can romance appear first so I can decide who I like to romance. Persona 5 is my first Persona game.

The last girl you can date appears right after summer vacation. Most of the characters have some sort of social stat skill check - you need enough charm, kindness, guts etc to progress to the next event, after a while. The game will tell you. If you want to wait until you figure out who to romance, stop at the level 8 event. At 9, you can either initiate a romance or not, but once you've done it you can't go back without reloading.

@redhotchilimist: Any time limit or deadline when I should start romance?

Just realise that the gentleman's pick is Futaba and roll with that

I just maxed out my link with Ann yesterday right after finishing up the 4th dungeon. I think it was the right choice, seeing how Ann is also kind of an outsider but she has a big heart and loves to eat.

Some of those other links are honestly just a little weird, like Kawakami and Futaba are kinda iffy in their own ways.

As far as I know, you can start the dating whenever you want to. It comes up for maybe one-two events in the main story and that's it besides sort of hanging out-minor dates you can go on, so don't worry about missing out just because you're waiting. Romancing a girl early is in some ways kind of a bad idea. I romanced Ann, at at one point in the story she literally asks me what kinda girl I like as though we're not together, just because they didn't take into account me starting that relationship by summer. I'm not gonna spoil exactly which date you're locked into the endgame, or which date the game ends, but I'd say you should decide who you wanna focus on around the palace with all the robots in it. You'll have plenty of time to get it done.

There is at least one option for a certain mid game event you don't get a chance to see if you do not romance certain people. An option could also get lock out if you decide to straight up friendzone certain people, not romance nor friendzone yet will still let you have the option to see it.

It sounds confusing since I don't want to spoil it. But there is merit to romance somewhat early depending on who.

Later on there are multiple events where you have to romance someone to see their version, these should be fairly obvious.

Mid game spoiler details: I don't think you can hang out with Ann or Kawakami for the school trip if you aren't in romantic relationship with them, Kawakami might require rank 10 also. Flat out friendzoning Makoto will also lock her out during the school trip, she also has a rank 5 requirement. I think Hifumi only has a rank 5 requirement.

Somewhat late game event: I think culture festival has romance requirement in order to hang out with the exception of Haru, since her Confidant wouldn't have even start by then.

Minor late game scene: During the study session in December Ryuji will ask if MC plans to get marry, romance interests will chime in depending on your reply.

Makoto was my pick before picking up the game (she's so dang cool and I love her motorcycle Persona), but Haru (Noir) is my runaway champion of romance options in this game because:

• Has a very approachable and gentle personality
• Her S-Link is all about gardening and coffee. Two of my interests!
• She's the only one that made me feel absolutely terrible for turning her down my first playthrough. Seriously she gets DEVASTATED.
• It's very easy to overlook her due to how late in the game you get her.
• She's just a nice girl stuck in a terrible situation. Being married off to a rich suitor and made fun of for being a rich girl despite never holding it over anyone's heads.
• Mother. Helper. She wields cool ass giant axes. I love juxtaposing her gentle demeanor with a giant, spiky, black, hell axe.
• Her Persona is psychedelic, weird, and surprisingly a good all-around build. She can output nuts-o damage by stacking bullet passives, use that crazy hard hitting bullet technique One-Shot Kill, help you heat riser the team, and even stack tetrakarn if you know you're in for a walloping.
• On the design department her Persona is neat-o, too. A cool, eloquent lady of the ball that holds a mechanical mouth and Gatling gun under her dress, only to transform into some moon goddess atop a few Day of the Dead stylized skulls.

Some side notes on a few of the other romance options:

• Kawakami would have been my top tier romance if Iwas in the game, but it felt weird as the student. The odd thing is you have to decide if you the player find it ok to date her versus you playing as the student.
• Futaba is one of my bottom tier picks merely for her dialogue. There were too many times I physically winced at her spouting gamer talk in place of words for a normal conversation. It's a shame, too, because her arc about redemption and loss is touching. She's a good character I just didn't want to get close to her.
• Ohya just hits dead last for me. Not only do I find her the most boring to be around or talk to, but it doesn't help that her confidant skills are nigh useless.

Only halfway through the game, but I like Makoto Niijima so far.

At the beginning of my first play through, I was set on Makoto. I chose the name "Queen" without being aware that was her code name, I just liked her that much.

As soon as Futaba was introduced, I entirely changed my mind; Makoto started boring me so much, way too predictable, however Futaba seemed far more interesting, with a much deeper story, influencing the game story line altogether and she is super cute.

I romanced Futaba during my first play through (checked out all other romances, though) in NG+ I romanced Hifumi. In my next NG+, I went back to Futaba, since in my opinion, she looks like she cares the most about MC and she feels "natural" with him (like her resting on his shoulder, other girls seem like they're about to break their necks) and also has the most development (like the way she sits in Valentine's).

I get why some people see her as a little sister, but I just don't. I see a lot of myself in her, to be honest.

I'm working my way to the Platinum, and I just don't see myself romancing anyone else.

Can you max the teachers social link without going into a romance? I’ve already romanced a girl and don’t want to “cheat” on her as ridiculous as that sounds, but I’d like that perk for maxing the teacher link so I can do stuff after dungeoning.

First Tae, and ultimately Makoto. They're both my favorite characters in the game. My head cannon was that Tae was a fun fling for my MC, but Makoto was the one that was a perfect fit. I love her intelligence and poise while planning in the group meetings. I don't know how the other party member romances go, but the one mine wrapped up with Makoto was awesome. She felt like my character's Topanga from Boy Meets World, if that makes any sense. Also, I immediately fell in love with all her combat stuff. Not so much the spells, but her animations are just sublime. There's a weight to her punches when you're attacking that is just so satisfying to watch. Her persona is also rad as fuck. Tae was really cool too. I enjoyed her story and especially her personality. I think she's a pretty good example of a character being sexy without being pervy.

Makoto on my first playthrough. It's my opinion that Makoto is the canonical girlfriend.

1. She takes on something of a "leadership/analyst" role when she joins the team. Even so much as taking on the codename Queen. This almost puts her on equal footing with the Main Character, whereas the other girls in the game are either poor fit age-wise, or don't really have much in common with the Main Character.
2. When investigating Futaba's house for the first time, she gets scared and grabs the Main Character's arm. And then his leg.
3. When fighting Futaba's Palace boss, she nearly gets hurt in a cutscene but the Main Character catches her.

@humanity: yes, with the female social links you can either be friends with or romance them depending on the dialogue option you pick.

I just done the casino palace which I believe is the 6th palace. Should I start romance now but I still haven't date enough of other characters. I'm thinking about getting all the female confidant at level 8 first, date all of them on equal level before deciding who to romance.

You're kinda running out of time, mate. I dunno how many levels you have left on everyone of those ten or so possible girls, but I'd suggest you just go for it at this point. Wishing not to spoil, I'm pretty sure you've got less than 50 days left to do your socializing. That's more than enough time to finish up a confidante even from scratch, but you gotta pick your battles and go for the ones you care most about. If you're torn between two or three, then focus on those and leave the rest by the wayside until you've done theirs.

All of em. Got my ass kicked too but that scene was pretty funny. If I had to do it again I'd probably go with Makoto. This is my first Persona game so I was under the impression that I needed to romance them all to get to rank 10. Is that not true?

Futabu.....but I regretted it. She was more like a little sister.

@seauton: it is not there is a friend rank 10 for all romance options. Persona 3 is the only game where you can romance all with no consequences.

@redhotchilimist: I see. I'm torn between Makoto and Sakura. Makoto is at lvl 8 while Sakura is at lvl 6. I feel I should give other girls some chance dating first especially for Kawakam, Tae and Haru which I haven't date enough. Guess I will just pick either Sakura and Makoto.

@crayzor: If they're that high there's no harm in doing a couple of levels with Tae, Haru and Kawakami first as long as you don't try to bring everyone up to 8 before making a decision. I checked, and apparently the actual last day is 22nd December. Obviously some days in there are used on story stuff, but if you plan in advance, you can keep bringing people up in social levels until a few weeks before the end or whatever. It's all good as long as you don't end up with 10 half-finished links instead of 5 finished ones.

Futaba. Whose character flaws speak to me on a very personal level. I made the right choice and have no regrets. I also don't get the whole "little sister" thing that everyone else seems to have picked up on but that's fine.

If there's a plan for a New Game+ run, from a gameplay perspective Tae or Kawakami are more efficient choice. Makoto might actually have the least to offer in terms of that. High confidant rank on party member is always superior for combat however.

Futaba has a lot of the little sister trope from animu, I find it quite endearing, but for romance...some people are ok with that, some aren't.

@grayfox666: Persona 4 pre-Golden had you romancing all the ladies without consequence.

I romance Makoto. Futaba is also my favorite but as other has said, she feel more like little sister. Makoto seems to have better chemistry with the MC and it's hard to ignore her when Eiko shipping the MC and Makoto together. I like it how Makoto feel like being challenged when Eiko said she will flunk in her love test. Cool,smart, calm and collected but she totally clueless when it comes to love. Thanks for everyone who give me advice.

Tae. Takemi. is. a. dream. girl.

For me anyways...

Aesthetically, I like her punk/goth design. It's tasteful without being overbearing, which in real life is something I find attractive. That edgy confidence, but heart of gold personality makes me swoon. When the confidant explores her lack of confidence in herself as a doctor is enough to make her more down to earth and it's great during that you get to help her realize her drive again. Since she's technically a "shop keeper", it's convenient talking to her and even though the whole situation of a doctor giving these high school students experimental drugs is so ridiculous, I love it.

Makoto is a close second. She lacks the mystery and charisma of Tae though, so that's why I decided not to go with her. Also, sometimes she is just painfully normal. Futaba is kind of cringe in my opinion and the whole teacher thing was funny, but eh? She's okay at best.

No one. I role played as Akira secretly being gay, which made harshly rejecting all the girls and their reactions hilarious. Shame you couldn't date any of the guys <__<

The closer I get to the end and deepen my social links the more I’m convinced that cmon, people that romanced Futaba.. you knew exactly what you were doing.