Okay, I know this isn’t a walk though of a specific game, but I still think this will be helpful. Let’s say, hypothetically, you have just completed two 80 hour long JRPG’s – we’ll called them Psychosis 3 and Psychosis 2, both in that order – and now you want to play the original Psychosis, just to see where it all started. There’s just one problem, school is starting up, and you can’t be spending your entire time playing a video game of that length with classes to attend and assignments to turn in.
This is what it’s been like with me playing through Persona 3 – yeah, I know it’s obviously not the first in the trilogy, however, it might as well be the first in one, but I’m getting off topic. If you’re going to play through an ultra-long JRPG, here are a few pointers to keep in mind.
Pick a day (or two) to play the game and only play it on those days. This might come as a shock to most people, but wanting to reach the end of a game isn’t as important as keeping up with your studies. Yes, there are going to be nights where you just need to spend all that time doing your work. It’ll just happen. That being said, picking one day – usually a Friday or a Saturday – just to making progress in your game will do much better for you in the long run. I mean, come on, you have a whole semester to complete it.
If you can, play on the easiest difficulty. For whatever reason, some – not all – gamers tend to have a superiority complex about them, bragging about how they beat the hardest game on the hardest difficulty and that they’re the best that no one ever was, etc. And you know what, good for them. If it makes them happy, let them do that. You, on the other hand, can’t do that. Remember, this isn’t supposed to be what you’re life revolves around at this time, that’s school. Your game should be viewed as a treat rather than work. So don’t bump up the difficulty for some gamer points.
Keep your playtime down to a reasonable level. This last one is more of a guideline than a hard set rule, since it entirely depends on how much you have on your plate.Heck, even on some days, you could play for up to eight hours for that week.But, assuming it’s during finals week – which you really shouldn’t spend playing a video game, unless you actually have next to nothing to do – you really should only spend up to three hours maximum, and be in bed by midnight.
So, to wrap this up, you can only play the game on either Friday and/or Saturday, don’t try to be tough and pick a challenging difficulty, play for a reasonable amount of time each week, and you should be able to play through the game without sacrificing your study time.