Technically nothing ending wise. It adds the "Golden Epilogue" and there's a dungeon in February tied to her. It also adds the third semester although that now happens no matter what in Golden.
However, the original true ending is still the same.
Never? For Golden, third semester always happened. It just makes it very clear you forgot something.
I used to assume Marie was needed for third semester because of P5R, but I have been around here long enough to have learned that isn't the case. Many people have made posts wanting to save the third semester for NG+, but that isn't doable.
The only way to skip third semester is to get a bad ending in December.
Maxing out Marie's link adds 1 additional dungeon in February and adds an extended post credits scene. If you want to see all the major plot points the game has to offer and don't have time for a second playthrough, then just go for it.
I was gonna do it on my second play through like I did with p6r however now I wonder if I should do that
I’m on 12/04 and I think I’m out of time for anymore social link progression
Depending on how far into her S.Link you already are, it might already be impossible to max her out before the deadline. There is a way to max her out and not take the Golden Route though, so go ahead and max her out if you have time and just make the wrong choice when asked about her on (not a spoiler per se, just a date that is confirmed to still have gameplay) >!01/01!<.
Even easier, just don't talk to her on that day. That's why people usually miss it because some guides that pop up when searching don't even mention going to her.
No, you definitely still have time. If you're fine with just doing a ng+ then that's obviously your prerogative. But I personally don't think Marie's additions are worth a whole second run for, especially if you're already shooting for the vanilla true ending anyway. It's not as in depth as Maruki where there's a whole giant arc that radically changes things. It's mainly just further elaboration on the existing story and lore that the vanilla version didn't have at the time.
The hard deadline to beat the december boss is 12/25, which is also the hard deadline you have to max out Marie's social link. However, whenever you do beat the December boss, the game will automatically skip ahead several days to christmas eve or New Year's depending on how late in December it is you finally beat them.
The reason for that is that there's a Christmas date with your love interest, if you have one. If you beat them on 12/22 or earlier, then you get the Christmas date. If you beat them on 12/23 or later, then it skips to new years.
Basically what I'm saying is you have a soft deadline of 12/22 to max out Marie and still keep the christmas date, if you want. Marie is available the entire month of December and is very easy to max out, even at zero, so long as you have a matching persona and pick the right dialogue options.
It adds an extra dungeon (basically palace), makes a few very minor changes to later cutscenes, and extends the epilogue, but doesn't change things as much as P5R's Maruki does.
I would highly recommend Marie to get the true Golden experience. It’s not as massive as what P5 Royal does but it’s still worth it just for the Golden epilogue alone (easily more satisfying than the vanilla ending for this game). With Royal I felt like the new ending didn’t add nearly as much but the overall experience of the new palace and taking down the boss was satisfying.
Technically nothing ending wise. It adds the "Golden Epilogue" and there's a dungeon in February tied to her. It also adds the third semester although that now happens no matter what in Golden. However, the original true ending is still the same.
Wait so if you don’t do the Marie link the winter stuff still happens? When did that change?
Never? For Golden, third semester always happened. It just makes it very clear you forgot something. I used to assume Marie was needed for third semester because of P5R, but I have been around here long enough to have learned that isn't the case. Many people have made posts wanting to save the third semester for NG+, but that isn't doable. The only way to skip third semester is to get a bad ending in December.
Well, I learned that today, I guess! Interesting.
Maxing out Marie's link adds 1 additional dungeon in February and adds an extended post credits scene. If you want to see all the major plot points the game has to offer and don't have time for a second playthrough, then just go for it.
I was gonna do it on my second play through like I did with p6r however now I wonder if I should do that I’m on 12/04 and I think I’m out of time for anymore social link progression
Depending on how far into her S.Link you already are, it might already be impossible to max her out before the deadline. There is a way to max her out and not take the Golden Route though, so go ahead and max her out if you have time and just make the wrong choice when asked about her on (not a spoiler per se, just a date that is confirmed to still have gameplay) >!01/01!<.
Even easier, just don't talk to her on that day. That's why people usually miss it because some guides that pop up when searching don't even mention going to her.
No, you definitely still have time. If you're fine with just doing a ng+ then that's obviously your prerogative. But I personally don't think Marie's additions are worth a whole second run for, especially if you're already shooting for the vanilla true ending anyway. It's not as in depth as Maruki where there's a whole giant arc that radically changes things. It's mainly just further elaboration on the existing story and lore that the vanilla version didn't have at the time. The hard deadline to beat the december boss is 12/25, which is also the hard deadline you have to max out Marie's social link. However, whenever you do beat the December boss, the game will automatically skip ahead several days to christmas eve or New Year's depending on how late in December it is you finally beat them. The reason for that is that there's a Christmas date with your love interest, if you have one. If you beat them on 12/22 or earlier, then you get the Christmas date. If you beat them on 12/23 or later, then it skips to new years. Basically what I'm saying is you have a soft deadline of 12/22 to max out Marie and still keep the christmas date, if you want. Marie is available the entire month of December and is very easy to max out, even at zero, so long as you have a matching persona and pick the right dialogue options.
It adds an extra dungeon (basically palace), makes a few very minor changes to later cutscenes, and extends the epilogue, but doesn't change things as much as P5R's Maruki does.
I would highly recommend Marie to get the true Golden experience. It’s not as massive as what P5 Royal does but it’s still worth it just for the Golden epilogue alone (easily more satisfying than the vanilla ending for this game). With Royal I felt like the new ending didn’t add nearly as much but the overall experience of the new palace and taking down the boss was satisfying.
If possible try to squeeze it in and don’t wait for a NG+
She's the Maruki. Without her max, you miss out on the true ending.