FL Plays the Persona Series

[Fynn]

Well, just one more dungeon

And you'd get who the Three Wise Men and Louisa are if you'd played any of the main series before. This is why Wolf told you this isn't the ideal game to start - it's an homage to old MegaTen and relies on some familiarity with its tropes. (HINT: try saying "Louisa Ferre out loud a couple times )

And I'm baffled at how different your interpretation of Mastema was to mine XD Of course, I went Neutral, so maybe some dialog was different, but everything he said and did was always suspicious af. And I'm Roman Catholic!

[Wolf Kanno]

So Wolf, you said you wouldn't start with SJ. Do you not like the game? Which is your favorite SMT title?

SMTIII:Nocturne is my favorite overall, though SMTIV and some of the spin-off titles are close second.

I actually really enjoyed Strange Journey and it would be one of those "spin-offs titles that are a close second" category. I simply find the daunting almost masochistic gameplay to be something most modern gamers would find as a turn off so I usually don't suggest it as a starting point for that fact. Unless Etrian Odyssey is like one of your fave games, I usually would suggest easing into one of the easier entries.

SMTIV would have been my suggestion for a starting point in the mainline series, mainly because it was largely designed for that very reason.

Hey, I am agreeing with Jimenez over Zelenin for once. This isn't right. We should have headed over there instantly and painted the walls red. Where's my Renegade option game.

Well, you have felt more Renegade if you sided with Jiminez more often but the outcome would have been the same.

So...this game is not very subtle. I mean, it never was but holy trout. Jimenez is now actually a demon and Zelenin is actually an angel. You might as well have tattooed CHAOS on his forehead and LAW on hers.

It's never really been about twists, it's simply about exploring the idealogies. Most of the series is never subtle about this, regardless of what some SMT fans think.

Angel Zelenin: How do I look?

Me: Meh.

Seriously, one of the options is "No problems here. " What the hell. I picked "awe-inspiring." "Beautiful" was another but I neglected that because while beautiful doesn't have to be in a vulgar sensel, I didn't want to take any chances.

Maybe it's the music.




Obviously out-of-universe reasoning but it always does leave me feeling reverential. In-universe, I imagine my PC is just struck by the majesty of the angels.

I'll give the angels props, they usually know how to make an entrance in any of the games. Course once they really start showing up, that's when trout hits the fan....

It is good to see Mastema again.

You are probably the first person I've ever met who has said that.

Course I don't think you'll see the true extent of his character unless you go on the Chaos path.

Apparently he's been busy building an army. You'd think God could just whip one up in a thought b ut guess not. While we're on that topic though, ever notice how in these series that mix all sorts of mythologies, Christianity seems to come out on top? Yahweh and Lucifer are top dogs here and I remember in Supernatural Lucifer basically killed several pantheons in one episode. People tried to justify with some BS D&D reasoning of "well, their power level is determined by their followers and many of these gods were from dead religions." Except Lucifer killed some Hindu god or goddess IIRC so what the smurf. Why does the Patrick Stewart head and Lucy get to be above all the other mythologies beings in this setting?

Well I would probably point out that Hindu gods are not worshiped or revered in the same manner as the Abrahamic Religions, until the 1950's it was largely an unorganized collection of regional religions that had some common traits, much like Shinto is in Japan. There are millions of gods in the faith and their importance is based on where you are.

On the brightside, SMTIV: Apocalypse actually addresses the issue of the "other religions" by having it center on some of the major non-Judeo-Christian faiths. Also, Lucifer is a major player on Chaos but he tends to be hands off, YHHW is no different actually. About the only games where either bother to get their hands dirty are surprisingly few. SJ is in fact one of them as Mastema and Mem-Aleph are the major antagonists for this title.

Getting back on topic, is there any reason at all to side with the horrible monsters that have repeatedly tried to kill you for several hours over the nice guy here who has saved your life and been nothing but cool?

This is reminding me so much of NieR. No, there is no argument. The monsters are monsters and need to die. Father Nier did nothing wrong.

Well if you knew the history of said "good guys" you would know they are hardly good, and they only helped you to serve their own purposes. Also, as a misanthrope myself, I can't argue that the demons make a pretty good argument for mankind's extinction or at least being thrown into a more subservient position. Though I would agree that SJ is one of the few entries where Chaos is finally not being relegated as the "lesser evil" for once, which is refreshing.

So...Grus. Jesus Christ, never again. You guys have any idea how long I was lost in there? Someone told me back when I started this game that I should just look up the maps for all the later dungeons. I said "nope, Imma do it myself and be awesome." Well, after a few hours of doing it myself, I caved. Turns out, B3F's maze has several staircases leading up. I mean, I found 4, I figured that was all of them. But nope, there was another one that led me to a rare forma that let me progress to Maya. So I AM SORRY, I am a trout gamer but what sin covers"thinks teleporter puzles are a good idea"? Whoever thought of this crap is terrible. Everyone talked about Sector E, I never heard trout about this dungeon and its love of making you go through the whole dungeon several smurfing times. I'm suddenly nostalgic for Final Fantasy II's monster closets. That was still a better idea than this.

Sector E is just when the dungeons got mean, Grus is the nightmare dungeon for sure. Luckily the last area is not as nasty.

Anyway, I beat Maya on one try. Bit of a joke, really. Pretty much only did single target damage attacks. I think I might just hold onto the Revolver because Stone is awesome and Cripple seems to work well on bosses.

Stone is your best friend.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled cutscene to bring you...

Three Wise Man: We are the Three Wise Man and the Earth will soon be destroyed just like it was before.

Me: Yeah I knew that second part. But who exactly are you guys?

We interrupt this interruption to bring you....

Louisa: NO, let the world be destroyed for freedom!

Wait, I still don't know who you are either...

And then the cutscene was over.

Well it is nice that they "explained everything" and by explained everything they didn't explain trout.

As Fynn said, it's pretty easy to figure out if you know the history of the series. Louisa Ferre is pretty easy to figure out (once again showing off their paper thin disguise) but the Three Wise Men are most likely a reference to the Valhalla Council from SMT2, which is why most fans strongly believe they are the Seraph Uriel, Raphael, and Michael; otherwise three of the four main angels that serve to make YHHW's Thousand Year Kingdom come true.

This game is starting to wear on me though. Even good games can outstay their welcome. I can tell because I just have no interest in grinding for forma to make new equipment or items. I really should be doing that though. I'm Level 60 and I'm worried about how I might be way too weak.

I thought about going through the next dungeon and stuff before posting this but...ehhhh. As I said, starting to get burnt out. How much more game is there?

That to me is pretty normal for this game. I was pretty burnt out myself when I got to the last section of the game. Lv. 60 sounds a bit weak, but I kind of remembering being able to level up quickly in the last area and technically the right party build can still curb-stomp most bosses, so don't fret.

[Forsaken Lover]

I swear I didn't t even think of Lucifer until now... I forgot Louisa even had a last name.

I am the dumb.

And when it comes to rep'ing other religions, I hear in the DDS games one of the Hindu deities actually replaces YHWH as top dog so that's cool I guess. I have DDS1, I just never really played it.

And since you mentioned Nocturne, I bought it and P3FES off PSN. I'll get into those after I wrap up SJ.

And I don't mind stuf not being subtle. I am a fan of Hideo Kojima after all. I think the people online who get their panties in a twist over how "true genius" doesn't have to preach at you or lay everything out in blatant fashion are being ridiculous.

[Forsaken Lover]

I'm really agitated so I need to say this.

I've never liked Jimenez but now I think on all this, I kinda hate him.

Nothing he says makes any sense. He fused with Bugaboo, he knows Boo better than anyone else. Boo who has been, since we first saw him, victimized and abused by others. Boo who was never overly aggressive or cruel and suffered because of it.

Jimenez KNOWS that the kind of world his buddy was born into has caused him nothing but pain. Yet he insists on spreading it EVEN FURTHER. Now there will be hundreds, thousands, MILLIONS of Bugaboos.

Chaos needed a good representative in this game, someone with charisma who could articulate how this awful philosophy maybe wasn't so bad. Instead, it got Jimenez, a guy whose every word and action screams blatant hypocrisy. Chaos is full of trout is all I have gotten from this game.

Do you realize WHY the humans are beating the demons? Because they are obviously stronger. Which means according to Chaos, the humans are right.. Those demons who were experimented on by Jack's Squad? Deserved what they got for being weak, according to THEM.

Reminds me of Rurouni Kenshin. Yahiko asks Kenshin, once they beat Shishio, doesn't that prove Kenshin right and Shishio wrong? Kenshin mildly rebukes him and tells him no. Just because you win a fight doesn't make your morals or ideology more correct.

Well, that was noble of him to say but just as Shishio was a survival of the fittest type, I feel justified in turning their own BS philosophy on them. By losing, Chaos is not worthy of being acknowledged or respected. I win, my way is right, the end.

I dunno, something really touched a nerve when I started to think about all this. Their stupid Just World hypothesis and trying to "return to nature/good old days." It wasn't so good for the people born with handicaps, was it? It's not about ability or will, it's about luck. That's no way to govern anything or to improve lives for anyone.

[Squall Leonhart Loire]

A bit off-topic since you've diverged into Strange Journey, but I have to say Persona 2 and Final Fantasy VIII have very strange similarities..... that go more than just the "characters knew each other but forgot" plot twist.

[Wolf Kanno]

I swear I didn't t even think of Lucifer until now... I forgot Louisa even had a last name.

I am the dumb.

And when it comes to rep'ing other religions, I hear in the DDS games one of the Hindu deities actually replaces YHWH as top dog so that's cool I guess. I have DDS1, I just never really played it.

Yeah I just finished DDS1 earlier this year. I need to start DDS2 this year pretty soon.

I'm really agitated so I need to say this.

I've never liked Jimenez but now I think on all this, I kinda hate him.

Nothing he says makes any sense. He fused with Bugaboo, he knows Boo better than anyone else. Boo who has been, since we first saw him, victimized and abused by others. Boo who was never overly aggressive or cruel and suffered because of it.

Jimenez KNOWS that the kind of world his buddy was born into has caused him nothing but pain. Yet he insists on spreading it EVEN FURTHER. Now there will be hundreds, thousands, MILLIONS of Bugaboos.

Chaos needed a good representative in this game, someone with charisma who could articulate how this awful philosophy maybe wasn't so bad. Instead, it got Jimenez, a guy whose every word and action screams blatant hypocrisy. Chaos is full of trout is all I have gotten from this game.

Do you realize WHY the humans are beating the demons? Because they are obviously stronger. Which means according to Chaos, the humans are right.. Those demons who were experimented on by Jack's Squad? Deserved what they got for being weak, according to THEM.

Reminds me of Rurouni Kenshin. Yahiko asks Kenshin, once they beat Shishio, doesn't that prove Kenshin right and Shishio wrong? Kenshin mildly rebukes him and tells him no. Just because you win a fight doesn't make your morals or ideology more correct.

Well, that was noble of him to say but just as Shishio was a survival of the fittest type, I feel justified in turning their own BS philosophy on them. By losing, Chaos is not worthy of being acknowledged or respected. I win, my way is right, the end.

I dunno, something really touched a nerve when I started to think about all this. Their stupid Just World hypothesis and trying to "return to nature/good old days." It wasn't so good for the people born with handicaps, was it? It's not about ability or will, it's about luck. That's no way to govern anything or to improve lives for anyone.

And that's the point. The Chaos and Law heroes are always hypocrites and so is their philosophy. In both cases, their ideologies only benefit a few and spread suffering to others, and it's thinking about this that is suppose to help direct you towards the neutral end of things that tries to balance the best and worst aspects of both.

Granted the heroes themselves are pretty chill if you choose their side and I feel they accentuate the negative of the other heroes when you are opposed to their philosophy. I honestly liked Jiminez more than Zelenin. I could sympathize with her, but I could never agree with her. I actually had to use the Dwarf EX-Mission in the Fairy Village to knock me back to Neutral in my own playthrough.

They are both certainly more likable than the heroes friends in Nocturne though. There is a reason why fans affectionately give it this subtitle:

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Speaking of, I haven't bombarded this thread with all the misc. pictures I have of the games.

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[Forsaken Lover]

You know it's a good game when you fight a zombie in a tux. Seriously, Gore out of nowhere and then he's a dickhead and attacks me out of nowhere. Is this a Law/Chaos-specific boss? He beat me a few times but he's my kind of boss. No annoying status effects, just figure out weakness, apply buffs and debuffs, attack and heal. There is still a decent element of chance because he attacks exclusively in multi-hit physical attack so sometimes he wants to be, I dunno, smart and land all his best hits on one character instead of spreading them out. If he does this you pretty much die. It doesn't happe ntoo often. My point is just that there is a still a mark of unpredictability here.

But now he is dead and so is Arthur because....uh....

Oh hey Zelenin is back. That's cool. Collect Cosmic Eggs? Really game? Talk about padding. I think I'm gonna go try and fight Aleph now and see how badly I get wrecked. At least I'll have an idea what I'm in for.


Or not... Well at least the Cosmic Egg trout is pretty easy.

Well, I feel both embarrassed and elated. I ran into my old buddy Jimenez not looking so well and he kinda kept kicking my ass. He was weak to Ice so I kept looking for demons with Heavy Ice attacks. With four Defense downs on him, a couple co-op attacks could do about 500 damage. It was a grueling struggle and I was willing to give up one Great Chakra even. But his gun attack is crazy strong and kept wrecking my trout. Also eventually he starts ABSORBING Ice. I had built my whole team for that and now they were useless. So I went back to the drawing board...after many, many losses. I said smurf it and tried something new. I figured maybe attack up on us as well as defense down on him would be good and also I shouldn't put all my eggs in one basket. Rather than focus on co-op magic attacks, I decided to just beat the crap out of him with Jihad. 4 Attacks up on us, 4 defense down on him and now sudenly Jihad can do 400 damage and the rest of us can do another 400. 1000 damage per round of attack and sudenly Jimenez is a smurfing joke. As I said, I'm embarrassed I wasted so much time on that.

Especially now I have seen Ma Aleph. Well I saw her for about 30 seconds because her first attack killed me. I'm Level 69. I'm not quite sure what I'm in for but the Sacrifices and Amrite Showers they gave me right before the battle give me a hint. As much as I am ready for this game to be over...I'm not ready for this game to be over. I foresee grinding in my future. I foresee me giving up any pretense of being a good gamer and just looking up where the hell the final forma are so I can unlock the last level of Unlock and Gate Search. I managed to find Enemy Search on my own so that's something right?

Ehhhhhh. I need that best level of armor I suppose that be a good start but I also need to be able to survive some of her attacks so I know how to build my team. This is the final battle, I can finally go nuts with all those Sources I've been stockpiling. I have so many of them in my "Too Good to Use" club. like Elixirs in FF, you never use Elixirs because you never know when you might need them. Same for the Sources. Well, if I'll ever need them, it's now.

For right now though, I guess it's game over Hudson. You were....a character.

[Fynn]

yup, the Neutral route is the only one where not only do you not fight Gore, but also Arthur lives. You're just kinda... not sided with humanity anymore

[Forsaken Lover]

Level 72, just beat Mara and got Seraph. Stuff is happening, slowly but surely. It's looking like Salvation will be my....salvation for the final battle. Full heal for the whole party AND removes status effects.

I also have elected to play Nocturne next because I am in such an SMT mood. Also because of what I was told about it being mechanically inferior to Persona 3 so I could better appreciate P3 by playing it later.

I also have Digital Devil Saga 1 which I never really played. That game doesn't have any alignments, right?

Am currently looking into maybe getting a 3DS with a soft hack to allow Streaming.... This way I can play SMTIV and stuff on a bigger screen so I can, ya know, actually play them. This method is a lot cheaper than getting it physically modified. Probably won't be this month though.

[Fynn]

The 3DS XL has a really big screen, though. DDS has no alignments, yes, and is in general probably the most FF-like game in the series in how narrative and characters are emphasized. Still ultra challenging dungeons though.

I wouldn't classify Nocture or SMTIV's battle system as inferior to P3's, just different takes on a similar idea. I know at least one person who did not enjoy the P3 battle system at all, so don't expect it to be the Second Coming of Christ or anything. I actually think the full press-turn system in Nocturne, DDS and IV is more interesting than the Once More mechanic. Persona is just flashier.

And a warning: the final boss' second form has an insta-kill attack that cannot be resisted in any way. If it hits your character, it's game over. And since you have a four-member party, that's a 25% chance of failure, potentially every turn. Don't even try to use those gems that protect you from death because that just makes her use it on her first turn. Just a heads up that the real final battle is a luck-based mission.

[NeoCracker]

Me an Nocturne don't see eye to eye. Not entirely the games fault, just the most freakish of Megaten moments I have experienced ever.

Random Encounter begins.

Round 1) Enemy goes first, hit's critical. Goes again, hits second critical. I die.

Reload. First Random enounter is the same enemy.

Round 1) Enemy goes first, hit's critical. Goes again, hit's second critical. I die.

Okay, this is smurfing annoying, but fine. I was expecting Nocturne to be unfair at times, but I can do this. Same enemy encounter.

Round 1) Enemy goes first, hit's critical. Goes again, hit's second critical. I die.


And I have never looked back.

[Fynn]

Went pretty much the same for me, tbh Also, had tons of similar moments in Strange Journey.

Thankfully, IV dials this down a notch. That is, as long as you survive the early game. Because the early game is hell and the rest is cakewalk. This is probably because there is no defense stat.

[Forsaken Lover]

The 3DS XL has a really big screen, though. DDS has no alignments, yes, and is in general probably the most FF-like game in the series in how narrative and characters are emphasized. Still ultra challenging dungeons though.

I wouldn't classify Nocture or SMTIV's battle system as inferior to P3's, just different takes on a similar idea. I know at least one person who did not enjoy the P3 battle system at all, so don't expect it to be the Second Coming of Christ or anything. I actually think the full press-turn system in Nocturne, DDS and IV is more interesting than the Once More mechanic. Persona is just flashier.

And a warning: the final boss' second form has an insta-kill attack that cannot be resisted in any way. If it hits your character, it's game over. And since you have a four-member party, that's a 25% chance of failure, potentially every turn. Don't even try to use those gems that protect you from death because that just makes her use it on her first turn. Just a heads up that the real final battle is a luck-based mission.

I have really bad eyesight. A portable screen is just not going to cut it in a game where I need to constantly read.


I DID IT I DID IT I DID IT.

Or not...my celebration was a bit premature. Damn second form. I had wasted all my items in the first one.

Went and leveled up a bit more to get new demons. And with them, my Level 80 hero claims victory.

Team was Seraph, Amaterasu and Hachiman. I gave Amaterasu Enduring Soul (auto-revive once per battle with full HP) and boy did it come in handy. I was worried the lack of Luster Candy would cost me but nope. Debilitate does the trick. Well that and spamming Big Bang with Seraph adn Hachiman while Amaterasu heals and I throw Chakra restoratives at everyone.

Fight wasn't that hard. Maybe Seraph is just too much of a crutch for me to appreciate how challenging it is? There was one close call in the second form where the terrible power of the random physical attack was on full display. She brought me to about 45 HP with a relentless string of attacks...and then veered off and wasted the last couple hits in someone else. Clearly this was divine intervention.





Law is pretty awesome. Seems like a perfect ending to me.

Well I had fun. I'll probably write more on my thoughts on teh game once I've gotten some sleep.

I'll be starting Nocturne later today. I have no idea how its battle system might differ from P3's or what the various names you're using mean. lol I was just told that P3 came out later and was therefore made with the knowledge of what didn't work in SMT3.

[Fynn]

P3 does things a bit differently, while SMT IV for example uses a refined version of Nocturne's system. Have fun with that. Alignments are still in there, but it's no longer a choice between Law and Chaos.

Yeah, the problem with the final battle isn't that it's too hard, just that there's this huge randomness element to it that can screw you over no matter how prepared you are, like the MA attack and those random physical attacks. i think it took me like six tries and during my final attempt Mem Aleph didn't even use MA once, so that was really lucky.

Also, I don't think I've ever seen anyone get behind Law before

[Forsaken Lover]

So Normal seems like the safest bet. This does not seem like it will be one of those games where you have to pick Hard to get any sort of challenge.

So far Nocturne is nothing like I expected. It has the Persona 2 town map stuff for starters. I'm apparently a schoolkid with classmate buddies is another thing. I wonder if Yuko is the final boss. I hear it's the same final boss in every "route" in this game. Bit disappointing but oh well.

I tried to run away from the crazy monologuing man who can summon monsters. "Face death honorably"? smurf you. There's no honor in getting annihilated for no reason. Also while I've played myself as fairly "cool" towards these friends I actually don't know, the one friend's random line that went "and if you get in trouble, run like hell!" seemed like good advice both in and out of universe so I heeded it.

...or not. There goes the neighborhood, all of them.

Maybe the "little master" will be the final boss, though.

But man, I spent all last game hating the demons and now I -am- a demon. Sorta. Kinda. Maybe? Hard to roleplay here given lack of dialogue so far. Lots of talk about me deciding things but, well, I've just beaten up some little kids so far.

This game is just piling on the MYSTERIOUS FIGURES though. I can dig it.

I should have been asleep hours ago...but man this is a lot of smurfing fun. I am going to like this game.

Do these dialogue choices matter? I am emphasizing my PC being kind of clueless. Cihiaki asked me if I knew what happened and I didn't say "the Conception happened" because what the smurf does that even mean.

What's up with these...nearest I can think of them for comparison is from Star Ocean": Th eLast Hope. They were called Ambushed when you were forced into a second battle with a new group of enemies immediately after killing the first group. But as it pertains to this game, is there any rhyme or reason to a second group of enemies appearing like that? Seems like it could get dangerous in later dungeons with harder enemies.


At Ginza now, I told "Spectre" I was going to kill him...er, it because it was clearly out to get me. The Network place was wonderful for gaining Macca and EXP, though. So far I've been working on the ice and support Magatama. Since you gain abilities at level up, I'm kinda worried about sticking with just one and missing out on useful skills.... On the other hand, constantly switching will also leave me screwed in terms of missed skills. Decisions, decisions.

Although I nearly got my first Game Over when I had a double dose of "new enemies appeared." It was my own fault for forgetting I have support moves and being reluctant to use MP but in the end I made it out alive. I do have quite the supply of Chakra Drops, maybe I should be less stingy with skills.

So I've been so engrossed in Nocturne I haven't written anything in ages.

I've had several more game overs since my last comment. Most notable and least shameful was against Matador. I did not see a boss fight coming! Luckily he made me realize my party desperately needed reconfiguring and that was why I was getting my ass kicked so often. I went and did some fusion, turning Angel and someone else into Uzuma and some other random monsters into the catgirl thing. I would like to take credit for realizing Matador uses Force attacks and that's why I chose these monsters but I guess it's kinda obvious given, in my first attempt (of only two attempts, mind) I was the only one not being wrecked by his assault.

Let's go over that for a second. I was advised to pick melee or magic at the start. Mage 4 Life so I was very happy when I arrived at the little underground hideout and could buy more magic Magatama. Up until that point I had learned Ice Earth with the ice magic Magatama but I spent far more time on the support magic one. That was what really saved me against Matador. True, my party now being largely immune to his attacks was a good thing but it was the Defense Down spell I learned that really sealed his face. Inuagami and his Medium-level Bite attack has been my best source of damage in the last couple boss fights. He just evolved into Makami too. Although now I have Tornado + Force Boost so here's hoping I can now kick ass.

In terms of plot...well, Matador was pretty cool for the five seconds he was around . Otherwise it's just mystery upon mystery up until this point. I'm at the Mantra base and I guess my other friend is here so that's cool. I suppose ostensibly my ultimate goal is to try and find Ms (Mrs?) Takao and the other jerk. I had to look up his name. Hikawa is not a very memorable or interesting villain so far. I'm far more interested in the little kid and the mysterious woman. MegaTen wiki says Hikawa is a "Reason Bearer" whatever that means. Maybe he'll be better later on.

Overall, I am pretty much addicted to this game right now. Strange Journey was a lot of fun but...I dunno, it all felt so impersonal. It doesn't sound like much but actually being able to see myself and my demons in battle matters.

So Thor was quite intimidating at first. I mean, the bastard gets like three or four attacks in a row! I was stumped for a bit, thinking I just had to somehow tank it with the help of lowering his attack power.
However Makami has Fog Breath now and I guess what Thor does is considered some kind of combo attack because when he misses the first move, he doesn't get any mor attacks in. Made the fight a lot simpler.

So is my old buddy who clearly was hot for teacher dead? They explained Magatsuhi as, I think, energy born of emotions and stuff. Is it like a soul? Can you not live without it? I thik my friend deserves some props merely for surviving one hit from Thor.

Also I remember we are supposed to be looking for "the others" like Chiaki recommended. Well, there's one other down and we're about to go find Takao maybe. But Chiaki hasn't said trout and neither did I. I guess nobody liked that kid Thor killed.

So....I hate Dante. Always have. I hate him in his games and I hate him here. Constantly de-debuffing himself and then using Provoke twice when I have no defense up skills. I managed to scrape out a win by fusing myself an Oni with Focus. He can do about 600 damage a turn which is awesome.

But now we are off to finally get into the Assembly thingy. I told the big guy that i wasn't sure about his offer yet. I need to se what Nihilo is all about before I pick a side.

But man, there are SO MANY Magatama still to come and I'm already way out of skill slots.... I suppose some of the skills will be replaced by upgraded versions, like how I dumped the lesser atack down skill for War Cry. But even still, this is gonna get annoying, trying to juggle all these abilities.

So I met Hikawa again. I told him I was there to see him because what the smurf else am I doing in this game? I said no I don't know what's up with the Magatsuhi. Apparently you need it to usher in a god. Not GOD god though. Also when he asked if I had come to see Yuko, I said no. That lady is ancient history to me now. You realize how many hours and levels it's been since I've seen her? Speaking of which, Dante is the worst demon slayer ever. "An old man told me to kill you." Even I am pretty sure I know who that old man is. Way to go demon slayer master bishie moron.

Speaking of all that netherworld business though, I just got my second Candelobra from that asshole who loved draining your MP. I'm not really sure what you're supposed to do in that Labyrinth? Just keep going lower and lower? I made it to the second Kalpa a while ago but stopped there.

But yeah, I annihilated that chump and Ose too. I figured a big boss was coming so I went and started messing with Fusion. Guess who found, at level 30, they can help recreate the awesome Matador? I was thinking I'd try to do sacrifice to amp him up but the game is on to me or something because it only let me fuse him when the Kagutsuchi cycle was low.

Oh and hey, I had begun to wonder if the plot had forgotten about Chiaki. Talk about off-screen character development. I like the serene music while she's talking about the strong trampling the weak though. She certainly cuts a different picture of this "Yosuga" than the Mantra top guys. Oh yeah, way back when the big guy asked if I wanted to join, I said I had to think about it. Anyway she asked if I agreed with her new enlightened worldview and I told her no. More accurately, I said I didn't "see the point." She took it all in good stride though. See you later for a boss battle probably.

And holy crap, Isamu IS still alive. Crazy. Now I gotta go rescue some Mankin.

Only, that will wait. At present, I am Level 32 and my new awesome team that just wrecked te hbosses consists of Matador, Zouchou and Sarasvati. Nearly Level 33 and I've played the game 20 hours.

I might still play more tonight but this post is gonna be so friggin' long... I can't help it. I literally couldn't stop playing except when I had to sleep, eat or walk my dog. This game is so good. I'm not only having a blast in terms of gameplay, I'm really interested in seeing where the story takes me. I already feel closer to this Nik than I did SJ's Nik. There's a huge cast of intriguing characters and mystries piled upon mysteries. I have to see how it's all unfolded and resolved.

Bit premature maybe but if this game continues to get better, it might end up one of my favorite JRPG's of all time. Bit more focus on the story and maybe some more dialogue choices or whatever and it be perfect.



Running into Matador was really a high point for me in the game and this song is a big reason for that. "trout gets real" to use a crass but apt cliche.

Also while it is a bit hard to RP in these games, I do have to consider my "Reason." That's the whole point of all this. All I know right now is I feel like my hero is rather detached. World ended, woke up as a demon, is now pretty much doing nothing but consorting with demons and dealing in their affairs. World of Stillness or Might Makes Right, neither one really appeals to "him." He just wants to continue experiencing it all, ya know? Find out who, what and why. Although Ms. Takao and my classmates have long since ceased having much meaning to me.