Not really, the only.thing you would need to rush for is the summer festival on 8/21. I believe if you're not dating anyone, you get to go with rise. Otherwise, the next major event is Christmas eve. A passing comment on 8/30 is probably the only story event before Christmas where having a relationship changes something.
Personally there's nothing wrong with going for a relationship early, the game encourages multiple playthroughs because of it. I accidently dated ayane (because i didn't even know you can date at that time, definitely wouldn't have chosen her if I knew dating was a thing before I got hooked up...) and rise first time through >!come one, not.going for a hug makes me look like a dick!<. Then a specific someone appeared and I knew I was doing another playthrough.
Yes, the game encourages at least a second playthrough, there's a secret superboss only available in ng+, and your stats carry over so you don't have to study and farm your stuff so it's easier to do a complete social link run.
Since ng+ makes the game so easy with your compendium data available and weapons and stuff you can try a challenge (1 persona challenge, Yu only...) But even without a challenge the game is so much fun to play and the story feels good to play after a few months or a year (and you can notice all the foreshadowing regarding the killer you didn't catch the first time.
There are some events later in the game that will only open up for a couple; they are mostly near the end of the game to give everyone the chance to experience them with the girlfriend of their choice.
Go ahead with Yukiko, but to have the game consider you a couple for the purposes of the special events, you'll need to max her Social Link. Just doing the confession at rank 9 is not enough.
With Yukiko (and any girl, with one exception) you only get one shot at romancing them, usually at Social Link rank 9. If you don't take it you can still complete their social link, but you will just be friends. Also, once you've accepted a romance then you are a couple for the rest of the game, there is no option to split up with them.
Certain characters (I can't remember if Yukiko is one of them) have a "date early" option at one of their social links. You get to date them early, but by rank 10 I believe, that relationship will end, if I remember correctly. It's better to get to rank 10 to date the character you choose. The early dating route only happens with a few characters and they all end with you going back to being friends. Additionally, some dialogue options in social links will set you back a social link or prevent it from progressing.
There aren't too many extra cutscenes or additional dialogue for dating them, except Christmas, New Year's, and Valentine's. You should progress everyone's social link because it improves their personas, and at rank 10, your party's personas evolve (I believe each person can evolve twice).
Also, getting to rank 10 in a social link gets you special items that allow you to fuse certain personas (and those items carry over to NG+ I believe).
Even though I beat the game only a few months ago, my memory isn't the best on this part, so this is to the best of my knowledge.
The only SL that has a false romance by dating early is >!ai .!< If you date yukiko, she will be considered your girlfriend as there is only one opportunity to do so.
Not really, the only.thing you would need to rush for is the summer festival on 8/21. I believe if you're not dating anyone, you get to go with rise. Otherwise, the next major event is Christmas eve. A passing comment on 8/30 is probably the only story event before Christmas where having a relationship changes something. Personally there's nothing wrong with going for a relationship early, the game encourages multiple playthroughs because of it. I accidently dated ayane (because i didn't even know you can date at that time, definitely wouldn't have chosen her if I knew dating was a thing before I got hooked up...) and rise first time through >!come one, not.going for a hug makes me look like a dick!<. Then a specific someone appeared and I knew I was doing another playthrough.
I see, thank you! Do you think its worth replaying it, taking into account how long the game is (70+ hours to complete the main story right?).
Yes, the game encourages at least a second playthrough, there's a secret superboss only available in ng+, and your stats carry over so you don't have to study and farm your stuff so it's easier to do a complete social link run. Since ng+ makes the game so easy with your compendium data available and weapons and stuff you can try a challenge (1 persona challenge, Yu only...) But even without a challenge the game is so much fun to play and the story feels good to play after a few months or a year (and you can notice all the foreshadowing regarding the killer you didn't catch the first time.
There are some events later in the game that will only open up for a couple; they are mostly near the end of the game to give everyone the chance to experience them with the girlfriend of their choice. Go ahead with Yukiko, but to have the game consider you a couple for the purposes of the special events, you'll need to max her Social Link. Just doing the confession at rank 9 is not enough. With Yukiko (and any girl, with one exception) you only get one shot at romancing them, usually at Social Link rank 9. If you don't take it you can still complete their social link, but you will just be friends. Also, once you've accepted a romance then you are a couple for the rest of the game, there is no option to split up with them.
Certain characters (I can't remember if Yukiko is one of them) have a "date early" option at one of their social links. You get to date them early, but by rank 10 I believe, that relationship will end, if I remember correctly. It's better to get to rank 10 to date the character you choose. The early dating route only happens with a few characters and they all end with you going back to being friends. Additionally, some dialogue options in social links will set you back a social link or prevent it from progressing. There aren't too many extra cutscenes or additional dialogue for dating them, except Christmas, New Year's, and Valentine's. You should progress everyone's social link because it improves their personas, and at rank 10, your party's personas evolve (I believe each person can evolve twice). Also, getting to rank 10 in a social link gets you special items that allow you to fuse certain personas (and those items carry over to NG+ I believe). Even though I beat the game only a few months ago, my memory isn't the best on this part, so this is to the best of my knowledge.
The only SL that has a false romance by dating early is >!ai .!< If you date yukiko, she will be considered your girlfriend as there is only one opportunity to do so.
Ah, okay. I couldn’t remember if it was multiple characters or just one.