Akihiko Sanada is one of the senior members of SEES in Persona 3 Portable and his social link is one of the best in the game. Unfortunately, the requirements to start Akihiko’s social link are quite steep and a large chunk of Persona 3 players won’t be able to hang out with Akihiko in the first place. Persona 3 has a handful of frustrating quirks with the social link system since it was the first game in the series to focus on them so heavily, and those quirks unfortunately carry over to Persona 3 Portable and affect characters like Akihiko. Here’s how to hang out with Akihiko and start his social link in Persona 3 Portable.
How to Start Akihiko’s Social Link in Persona 3
Firstly, you can only start Akihiko’s social link if you’re playing as the female protagonist. The male protagonist of Persona 3 cannot form social links with any male party members. Instead of Akihiko, the male protagonist can hang out with classmate Mamoru Hayase, who was the original social link for the Star Arcana in the initial release of Persona 3. Both genders can still hang out with female party members like Yukari and Mitsuru, however.
If you’re playing as the female protagonist, then you can find Akihiko in the 1F Laboratory Hallway near the school courtyard after school. He only shows up after you defeat the boss on the second full moon, which takes place on May 9. Before you can hang out with Akihiko, you must have level four Charm (Queen Bee) in order to ignore the threatening stares of girls that are swooning over him.
Akihiko’s social link is just one of many social link differences based on your gender in Persona 3 Portable. The female protagonist gets social links with characters like Akihiko, Junpei, Ken, and more, but they replace existing social links from the base game of Persona 3 that the male protagonist would have had. It’s a big tradeoff and it’s sad that all social links are not available for both genders.
Persona 3 Portable is available now on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
