LogFAQs > #976706701

I think the execution of his character plot in P3(FES) is pretty bad. He shows up and the game outright tells you that he's now kind of best friends with Junpei off-screen, and by extension he's now very close to you too. But there isn't actually any sort of gradual character development. When the drama kicks in and it's time to decide the end of December things, I'm like "I barely even know you". P3P FeMC route fixes that a lot by giving him a social link.

A lot of P3 game's plot is a slow burn. The main plot meanders in a single direction until 3/4 into the game as the team's just killing off big shadows month by month. Like if you were to describe P3's plot, it feels like 90% of it happens in the last couple months. And so the narrative for the first 3/4 of the game is more character-focused with all the little side-threads like Strega, Aigis and the Mitsuru family's Ergo research, Shinji + Ken + Akihiko dynamics, etc.. Ryoji shows up at a time when the main plot starts really kicking into gear and accelerates toward an ending and so I think that's part of why his character development suffers. And yes, I know obviously he is kind of Pharos and Pharos was kind of there all along in the plot but I don't think any of the short little scene with Pharos really add much in terms of the player connecting with Ryoji.