Finish the palaces ASAP. That way you can have free time to hang out with friends, play games, watch movies, ETC without worrying about the deadline.

Have fun, most of the confidants are good and you aren't punished for sticking to one party comp too much. Feel free to lower the difficulty as well. Otherwise there isn't much you can do too wrong that you have to restart.

Throw your PS3 and game out the window

you should probably start by naming your character, you'll have to either choose a side between Akira Kurusu, or Ren Amamiya, or you can go rogue and name him something different, like Fred

Also, don't pick Merciless for your first run. Don't. You will regret it.

do it no balls

Pick Merciless and never change Personas

Persona 5 Merciless Arsene Only Joker Only Speedrun

No items, Joker ONly, Final Destinat.... Wait, you meant Smash right?

you should probably start by naming your character, you'll have to either choose a side between Akira Kurusu, or Ren Amamiya, or you can go rogue and name him something different, like Fred Man Weed

Name him Ryuji Sakomoto

Name him Masayoshi Shido so you can make AkeShu ships even more awkward

play it

get it for PSP instead

Look up a guide if you intend to beat the Palaces in three days or less (day 1 exploration + level grinding, day 2 calling card, day 3 Palace boss). After beating the boss, I recommend over-leveling in Mementos every other day once you unlock it, then using the time in between however you want until the next arc.

try it out yourself before you use a guide (as that takes some of the fun away) but if you are having trouble, it is possible to look up help and you can change the difficulty as well if it's that difficult.