So I'm about to finally play this and I've always heard it's significantly harder than other SMT games...

There is always this ''drain all his MP so he can't use his strong attacks later'' stupid tactics that works.

Yeah I do know it's very loved in the fanbase and I'm excited to finally get around to it as I got really into the series around 2011

Honestly, if you played all of these you should probably be fine. But some general tips:
- Focus on a str build.

- Keep the first pixie you get

- If a magatama isn't vibrating in their equip menu, you won't receive a new skill if you level up with such magatama equiped

- Use buffs and debuffs (kinda obvious i know)

It is a cool game with a unique setting, but don't expect the best characters

I've heard people talking about specifically pixie before. Why is she so significant in this one? If I keep her, will I know what I kept her for when whatever the reason is happens?

Just use this lad.

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I unironically 100% think Nocturne on Normal is a much easier game than Persona 3, 4 and SMT IV.

There's multiple reasons, but outside of outliers like Matador most encounters in Nocturne are non-issues. Maybe it was hard when it was everyone's first SMT game, but knowing the mechanics of the series makes it ridiculously easy to break right from the start.

For example, you can get powerful debuff and buff moves like Fog Breath (from a level 6 Zhen) right form the start of the game. 5 hours in and my team was decked out with -kajas, -ndas, War Cry etc. Also, most regular encounters can be won by just sticking to physical attacks.
Compare Persona, where a skilled player doesn't have as much capacity to build a great team because you can only change the demon of the MC. Also, buffs/debuffs in Persona are single-target until the mid-endgame, and don't stack unlike Nocturne. A skilled player can open a can of whoop-ass without grinding by building a good team (which honestly isn't hard to do, no guide or anything) in SMT, but in Persona 3/4/5 when you encounter a bullshit earlygame boss like Sleeping Table there's little you can do but grit your teeth and bear it. Also, regular encounters are significantly harder in Persona 3/4 than Nocturne.
I didn't include Persona 5 in my example above because I thought that game was pretty easy after the second dungeon.

>tl;dr
if you're good at demon fusion you can Smokin' Sick Style all over mainline SMT compared to Persona games where your options are limited

the fifth level of the amala labyrinth has a door that you need to have her to open, which you need if you want to complete it and fight the secret final boss, which you have to do before you enter the final dungeon or it'll lock you out anyway

If you do the bonus dungeon then on the last floor you can trade whatever demon she gets fused into for a level 80 Uber-Pixie. You don't even have to keep the Pixie, just whatever they're fused into, which will always be at the top of your demon list as long as you don't dismiss it.

>Compare Persona, where a skilled player doesn't have as much capacity to build a great team

The counter point is that you don't need to. You barely even need buffs and debuffs exactly because they don't stack and are single target until late game, and your teammates pull way more of the weight in fights than you do, pretty much by design.

Adding to this:

When you choose new skills, make sure you don't replace skills that you really need because you can never get them back. So skills like Focus, Fog Breath/War Cry are essential to hold on to. For the attack all skills, look on the wiki on the progression you want because there are multiple. I only remember the endgame ones.

On that point, make sure to scout out and get every magatama you possibly can. They are directly related to how strong the MC can get because they offer stats, elemental/physical nulls and moves on level up.

The difficulty comes in the late game because there are some dungeons that you go through that have sparsely placed save points. From one save point to the next, you can go through a gauntlet of bosses or traverse a long time before getting to a boss that absolutely wrecks your shit if you don't know his gimmick and don't have the right magatama equipped.

The one I am thinking of is Aciel later on - has an almighty move that brings you to 1HP and then he can take a second turn to just kill you. If you don't have a good magatama on, it's game over.

Not him but does it needs to be the normal Pixie ? mine evolved to High(i think its called that) Pixie

as said you can evolve/fuse her however you want as long as you keep track of what it is. As long as you don't delete it from your stock (something you really never do anyway) you don't need to worry about anything

Oh thanks

No, like other said, you just need whatever you fused the pixie into. So you have to keep track of the fusion chain all down the line if you decide to do that.

If you just keep the high pixie, it'll work too. The important thing is to not get rid of the pixie or the thing you fused the pixie into.

Oh thank you too, i will take care of her

To add, I'm 99% sure pixie will always end up being your top slot demon even after fusing for the whole game.

You don't even have to keep track of the fusion chain. Whatever your Pixie becomes will always be at the top of your list since Pixie is the first demon you get.

No. Magic is only good in the early game. This is because magic has a cap and is specifically weaker than even midgame physical skills. It also doesn't get a focus move.

It was my first real SMT game, and I found it pretty easy coming from Persona 3.

Original P3 was the best. Still nothing better than being a god through persona swapping while you carry a bunch of retards with you and hope they don't fuck you over. I really enjoyed that extra tactical element of it.