FL Plays the Persona Series

[Forsaken Lover]

So the Prison was irritating but what can you do. But man, my old buddies are just full of surprises. Ismu mouthed off to me as he is wont to do so that isn't surprising, I'm more referring to the POWAH he can now wield somehow. My response to his rudeness was to turn away and leave the room. The old me might have taken this trout but this is a new world, a new me. Seems he kind of agrees with me, even. But yeah, I won't tolerate his crap. There was even a dialogue option to "apologize." Apologize for what? Him being dumb?

Also why did the kid have to smurf with me and turn me into a demon when my human friends and Hikawa and stuff can do all this trout on their own?

So yeah, this Labyrinth is pretty much a necessity, whatever that dumb angel tried to tell me. The Lady in Black actually made me more interested in Hikawa. To think he was part of a Chaos cult yet he became the most Lawful. Also one of the Souls in the Second Kalpa said God told "the Order of Messiah" about the impending end of the world so naturally they tried to stop it. This is YHWH we're talking about, correct? Kinda weird he's the tip top god but none of the endings are "His."

I dunno what to make of Hijiri who I have not mentioned in spite of him being the first real NPC we deal with, not counting Yuko's...whatever that was. His innocent unassuming "let me help you even though I am powerless" routine is worrisome. I mean, look where my other fellow powerless humans ended up. I mention him because I came to this new city for him and got my third Candelabrum. I had more trouble with the one Oni than I did with this Rider because the Oni absorbed Force attacks which is how I win pretty much all my fights. Tornado Spam.

peaking of Fiends though I've already found Disoujou and Hell Biker to make. I dunno if I want to, though. I know I was told Daisoujou is great and maybe I will want him when later on but for now, I really want to use demons I like. I have enough Macca and demons that I can afford to be a bit picky, can't I? It's like, Matador was the man and I also really don't want to lose Sarasvati. Her instrument-playing for every move is just so wonderful and part of why I feel more...immersed in this game than I did in SJ. I mean, these demons with you are talking, sapient creatures. Why can't they be my friends? I don't need Persona, I have all the friends I need right here. Now how to get Matador's Approval higher....

So I didn't really like the Obelisk. Felt way too...time wastey and stock. "We need a big tower!" was onsome checklist somewhere. Plus the "bosses" were a joke with less personality than the one cutscene wonders known as the Fiends. They didn't even put effort into the names.

Interesting to see Yuko again though. I guess she and Hikawa had a bit of a falling out when he turned her into a Magatsuhi magnet. Speaking of which, I ran into this one Manikin who asked me about collecting Magatsuhi and if that's what I was all about. I said yes - EVERYONE is doing it, including my old friends and teacher and my most bitter enemy. Gathering Magatsuhi is the only way to succeed it seems or at least to stop others from succeeding.

So Yosuga, Aradia and Shijima - these are my three choices, correct? A world of stillness, a world of might makes right and a world to do whatever you want which I guess means being all harmonious OR being Social Darwinist. Although, at present, I've only really (kinda) talked to Aradia. Also while Googling to make sure I was spelling any of these names right I read Aradia is a false god.... I guess that's a spoiler? What is a false god anyway? I hope this wasn't some big reveal I smurfed up.

So the little kid IS the final boss! Old woman said he'd hate if I gave him a dull ending and you don't get a final boss in the Bad End right? Don't tell me if I'm right or not. A

Although where does the little brat get off saying a Demon can't have a "Reason"? A. I'm a demo nbecause of him. B. Demons are people too. It's like I was saying earlier, although in a less joke-y way. Demons are not Pokemon, they are a race of sapient creatures every bit as intelligent and capable as us. They have culture and identities and stuff. I honestly wish I could see more of it but it's definitely there. So where does the kid get off on saying they can't have an ideology?

I'm ashamed to admit how long I was stuck on the Red Rider. First off, he was immune to my usual strategy of Tornado spam. Second, he just kept getting buffed by his mooks. All told, he was a slap in the face for me the complacent gamer. I wanted to figure out how to survive so we could do some damage with Yaksini who is my best damage dealer after myself. I made her with Zouchou and she has Might, Focus and, Tarukaja and her own ability Guillotine. She can do some great damage when al that is combined and so she was my only hope for victory without seriously revising my team. I didn't think that was necessary because Red Rider didn't seem that strong. But then it hit me - in one of my mainy battles with him I was looking at my items to see if I could find anything that could help. I saw a Plume thing that inflicts Charm. That was a no go but it made me finally realize...his goons, the Powers he summons, are just troutty normal mooks. They are vulnerable to status effects. Killing them is a waste of time. (I had hoped he'd waste turns summoning them instead of attacking me.) Unfortunately I had no Stone or Mute abilities at present but I did have one thing. One ability I doubt I'll ever, ever give up. Mana Drain. Drain those bastards dry and smack the Rider with War Cry and suddenly the fight is a joke. He went down in like, 2 or 3 hits of my earlier combo. I figured he had way more HP than that.

And then the Black Rider was a joke.

Anyway, gonna stop here and post this now. This is the second half of the game I believe. It's time to stop being a wandering, confused adventurer. wondering about Who, What, Where, Why and How. now we're gonna work on creating a whole new world. I say we because Hijiri is there. Gotta love that guy - "Oh yeah, I'm gonna help you make a new universe based on your ideals. No biggie." I would sooner trust little kid than Hijiri. This is why I: A. Told him I didn't want to talk about it when he asked about rescuing Yuko. B. Said I didn't know Isamu. Also said that just because smurf Isamu. Is his new universe the one where all the lady teachers can't resist him?

But yeah, things are gonna get real from here on out. I mentioned earlier if there was a bit more plot and choice, I'd say this game was perfect. From what I know, that all starts here.

[Forsaken Lover]

So this whole Labyrinth business wasn't even in original release Nocturne? But the Lady in Black explains so much stuff... That's a big reason I keep doing it as quickly as possible. She told me about Hikaa and now about Aradia and none of that is in the original game. That version is pretty dumb.
 
Also in the third Kalpa they have an NPC who I think reads your alignment or "soul wavelengths". I'm a turtle on its back right now which I take it means I have no path. Seems fitting, I've just kinda been going hither and thither without much thought beyond the immediate. All I really know is my old school chums have abandoned me to go be dicks, Ms. Takao is off being controlled by some god of false promises and the Lady in Black is probably the nicest person I know.
 
 Unsure of the significance of the "Shadow conversation" but I gave my name, said "..." about if I liked solitude and then said I could live on my own. I mean, me personally, there are times I like to be alone and there are times I like to be with other people. Probably more of the former than the latter but that doesn't really mean I like solitude. I simply am uneasy around strangers. And of course my Demi-Fiend is way strong so of course he can live on his own.  i think Chiaki was full of crap but the truth is the truth when it comes to needing power for self-sufficiency.
 
I said "no I don't think so" when it comes to Isamu's question about wanting to create my own world. I don't. I mean, what would it be a world of? Chiaki went crazy because...uh... Isamu was a nerd who wants to validate the isolation he experienced and Ms. Takao wants freedom after all her time in bondage. What do "I" want? I have no idea.
 
Ya know, I think Yuko is my favorite character in this game. It's like, I met with Hikawa at the Mantra HQ and he talked about his god and I really liked the fire metaphor for human greed. But his character and his motivation just do nothing for me. I was just clicking through his dialogue in a detached, uninterested way. Same for Isamu. But Yuko....I dunno, she promised me the Magatsuhi so what do I care about the Stone thingy? I agreed to let her have it. She's just...special. I actually care about her.
 
Gave the Thingamabob to Yuko. Got commended for it by another Fiend. Then she died.
 
 Sold the Spyglass I had from the Obelisk. I wanted that Magatama that cost 120,000 Macca  Broke me to do it but it was the only Magatama he sold that was fitting my playstyle.
 
Wondering if Chiaki is feeling really pathetic now, getting off-screened by a minor villain. In the world of the strong, random Japanese schoolgirls don't fare too well.
 
Hijiri: I can only assume Isamu died. Oh well.
 
I like this guy more now.
 
And now Chiaki is just straight up MWAHAHAHAHA Evil villain.  Gotta admit, I never saw this coming back at the start of the game. Also IMMEDIATELY after her transformation, the Mantra HQ gets inhabited by Dominions. I wish the game went more into the detail of demon clan lore. WHY are Divine spirits hanging out in  a place like that? Reminds me of how the Law-abiding Divines in Strange Journey were rubbing elbows with the Chaos bastards. It doesn't make sense.
 
But man, this game REALLY hates demons. Like, a lot. Whether it's the Harlot asking if I wanted to give into my demonhood which apparently entails accepting boundless despair (because when I think of infinite sadness, I think of Jack Frost or maybe one of those Fairies) and when Gozu was talking to Chiaki he said he could never have won because he didn't have a Reason. A REASON IS JUST AN IDEOLOGY. Demons can smurfing have ideologies. The silent "old man" vis-a-vis Lady in Black has an ideology. It's just his "Reason" is the negation of all other Reasons. To quote a Soul in the Third Kalpa quoting some random demon, there will be a death to death itself.
 
See, that's what I was complaining about in Strange Journey. Anything, no matter how horrific, can sound like the best thing in the world with the right spokesman or spokeswoman. Chaos had nothing going for it except Jimenez. You can see why it was unappealing. Here, it's actually alluring and interesting.  Then again, it's very different from the crap going on in SJ's Chaos side....
 
Also I think I just spoiled myself... The Lady in Black is the lady with the kid? That was all I got when Googling something and then I immediately stopped. Or rather it said "she appeared as a young woman and as an old woman with" and then I jerked my eye away. Goddammit.  I guess that's irritating but I'm more confused than anything. Now my head is full of wild new ideas. I kinda hope some of my speculation is wrong.
 
Anyway, continuing on, the game wouldn't give me much of a choice about why I went into the Amala Network after Hijiri. I said I was there to save Hijiri but only because, weighing him and Isamu, I like Hijiri more.
 
So ends Hijiri. He was...a dude. Isamu is a dickhead, who knew.
 
Although, to bring it back to what I said earlier, judging by the Power and Dominion that came to the Amala Temple, Chiaka actually does, from a story perspective, have angels serving her. What the hell.
 
And then she massacred all the Manikins. Eh. I told her servants I didn't disagree with their scoffing at the Manikins' fantasies but Chiaki's brutal slaughter is a whole other level. What a bitch.
 
And with the Trumpeter's fall, I can finally go and meet him .I won't lie, I'm super excited. My rationale for my Demi-fiend doing all this is because he finally wants something to go his way. Yuko got her Stone, Isamu makes you release all the Magatsuhi at the Amala Temple and Chiaki just now got a bunch of the stuff too. Basically everyone is using "me" and getting ahead. Well, I have my own back-up plan. I have someone in my corner too.
 
I DID IT. I BEAT BEELZEBUB. Fighting that guy was like pulling teeth because his defense is so huge that you need to buff a bunch just to do vaguely respectable damage. But between me and my ever eliable Tornado and the Mothman's super Almighty attack and a lot of luck, I pulled it off. I had ended up using all my Chakra Drops (I should have bought more but whatever) and a couple Chakra Pots even. Eventually I was like "smurf it" when he started to do his Focus trout again. I was all nice and ready for him to kill me but I was determined to go out in a blaze of pathetic fury. I had everyone just plain old Attack him. Yes, just normal attacks on the super tanky asshole. And then...then he is dead. From one hit from Clotho. My mage healer killed him with one regular attack. I couldn't believe it.
 
Although it appears that story about the Candelabras all being stolen is a deception. A falsehood from THE PRINCE OF LIES? Why I never. That has all long since ceased being important. All that matters is that I "get to the bottom of this." The Lady will anwer all my questions and I can finally speak with "him."
 
Although, can I proceed with the Fourth Kalpa now? A demon told me the key I need to unlock the golden doors is held by his buddy in Tokyo. Do I need that key to get to the fifth kalpa or is it just for treasure?
 
How much more game is there? A random NPC pretty much just said the endgame is nigh and now everyone is chatting it up about Yosuga, Musubi and Shijima.  I have to go through the latest Station and Tunnel stuff to get to some place for reasons I'm not sure of. It's a new area sso I figure I have to go there, basically. Impressive everyone knows Musubi's name since Isamu just made him up....
 
"With your demonic strength, you can no longer be human. You are more dangerous than a wild animal...."
 
And so I have completed the Labyrinth and slain Metatron. I know he said he IS God but you'd think the Big G could show up on his own if it was that important.  I mean, I kicked Metatron's ass. He was way easier than Beelzebub. I guess part of it is me being a higher level and having a better party. Kali is awesome and why I hate using her, Lachesis has buffs I need. I'm gonna use her long enough to get all her skills then find a better demon. I am very picky about my demons - no birds, no blob things, nothing like that. But I couldn't afford to be particular here.
 
I am profoundly curious about the differences between the Demon Ending and True Demon ending. Please don't tell me, it's just something I keep wondering about. I have a save file from before I completed the Labyrinth and I think I should be able to use that to get a different route? Maybe?
 
The thing is...I only like Yuko. What can I say? This game wants to play up your lost humanity that we never saw, lost friends that we never got to know. I have spent this entire game excpt for maybe 30 minutes as a demon. I think of "myself" as a demon. The only people who like you are the Lady and those demons who cheer you on through the Labyrinth.  Even still, I like Yuko and would help her but I dunno how. I gave her the Stone, that's all I've been able to do so far. As for my fellow classmates, they can all go to that prison of souls on the Fourth Kalpa. Bunch of nuts and unlikable jerks.
 
My none-too-subtle segue about the prison though is because I rescued two "powerful souls." Is one of them Futomimi who is now in my party? I have no idea who the other one is.... Trying to think of important people who have died....
 
I guess I am on the TDE route now though? I don't really know what to do... Do I just continue the story by going through the latest tunnel? The one where I had to give up a demon?
 
Think I'll stop for now.  I'm not sure how much game is left, I'm at 66 hours. I defeated Black Frost and I will check up on the digging soul to get my reward. But man, there are still a lot of missing Magatama...
 
On a different note, Metatron's boss theme was okay but it wasn't special. The Fiend boss theme remains by far the best and really the only good one. I wonder what sort of themes the various final bosses will have. Hope they're good. Strange Journey had a really good final boss theme.

[Skyblade]

Ya know, I think Yuko is my favorite character in this game. It's like, I met with Hikawa at the Mantra HQ and he talked about his god and I really liked the fire metaphor for human greed. But his character and his motivation just do nothing for me. I was just clicking through his dialogue in a detached, uninterested way. Same for Isamu. But Yuko....I dunno, she promised me the Magatsuhi so what do I care about the Stone thingy? I agreed to let her have it. She's just...special. I actually care about her.
 
Gave the Thingamabob to Yuko. Got commended for it by another Fiend. Then she died.

Wait, Yuko can die?



Nooooo, Yuko!

[Forsaken Lover]

So I'm almost done with Nocturne and I am looking ahead to whether I'll be playing P3 or 4 after it.

I'm kinda leaning towards 4 based on the first 5-10 minutes of the respective games. My P3 guy is absolutely hideous.

Also I have the strangest temptation to pick all the jerk responses.

[Forsaken Lover]

So I'll be starting Persona 3 as soon as I can beat Nocturne's real final boss.

So see you in a year. Maybe.

[Forsaken Lover]

So I never did a write-up for Strange Journey either so why not put it all in one post. I can compare and contrast te games, my first two forays into this new JRPG franchise. (Not counting Persona 2)

I played both Nocturne and Strange Journey for about 80 hours. Yet there is only one of these two games I have any intention of replaying in the foreseeable future. Strange Journey was fun but the dungeons make it almost unthinkable for me to replay. That and it didn't exactly have the most compelling plot to kep me hooked. I've been told the SMT games are more about gameplay than story anyway but I still need some story to keep me going. Otherwise, this is just Pokemon and I always get bored of Pokemon and wander off.

Now all that being said, Strange Journey still had its good parts. The stuff to do with Angels and the "Law" route interested me. I appreciate we saw how Zelenin and Jimenez changed, even if it wasn't exactly the best written or most "subtle" thing ever. I think the game's central message of humans are the real monsters doesn't work too well though.

Nocturne's story to me was saved by the Labyrinth, the Lady in Black and Lucifer. I can't believe all that stuff was added in a later version. How were you supposed to know the identity of the little boy who gave you all your power in the original game? But really, the Labyrinth mixes together the addictive gameplay of Nocturne with a compelling narrative and gives the game some focus when it feels like you are otherwise just doing random fetch quests for Hijiri or whoever. Lucifr and the Lady are everything Jimenez wasn't in showing how Chaos is good. Perhaps it's solely due to the fact everyone else is so unlikable but the Chaos reps come out smelling like roses and everything they say makes sense.

I did like Yuko though. I would be interested to hear if people here had favorite characters in this game? It really lacked compelling personalities for most people I will admit which is one of my most prominent criticisms of it. I wanted to see more of...everyone.

Although I will give credit where it's due, Hikawa and Isamu accepted their defeats very gracefully.

Although, to bring it back to comparing SJ and Nocturne, I had heard semi-frequently on various boards about how some RPGs "if the main character dies, automatic game over." At the time I was skeptical of this complaint because in my experience, only Final Fantasy XIII was like that. No other JRPG I had ever played followed that design philosophy. Yet here I am, with two games of "if the MC dies, you auto-lose." I would assume this holds true for all the games?

(Wait, was it insta-game over if Serge died in Chrono Cross? I can't remember... I don't think so)

Now that being said, neither Strange Journey nor Nocturne were as nightmarish as I had been told by the SMT fans I knew. Shin Megami Tensei has a reputation for chewing up and spitting out gamers who come to this series from Final Fantasy or whatever but I'm skeptical about how deserved that reputation is. The games are decently challenging and if you get complacent, you will probably end up dead. But to me it all has to do with perception. As gamers, we have things we take for granted. I watch a YouTuber and streamer by the name of slowbeef who sometimes has his wife play games. I think those videos show just how wide the gulf is between gamers and non-gamers. There are things we see and inherently understand that other people don't.

So sitting here and saying Nocturne is easy is a privilege I have of playing JRPGs for most of my life. Similarly, the guy who scoffs at the things I had trouble with and says "ha! I beat it with solo Demifiend on Hard mode and with only the starter Magatama and I played upside down" also is approaching things from an alien viewpoint to other people. Long story short, game difficulty is entirely subjective.

Now I want to list some of my favorite songs from the two games....

For Nocturne
Labyrinth of Amala (special props to them for making a slightly more intense version for the Fifth Kalpa.) This song just perfectly captures the feeling of both dread and wonder as you get closer and closer to "him."
Reason Boss Battle Shame all the Reason bosses were easy as trout. Except Baal and his bug thing.
Amala Network Battle This sounds like something Motoi Sakuraba would compose.

And you all already know how much I loved the Fiend Boss theme. Best song in the whole game IMO. I still say running into Matador is a highlight of the entire game. You really do feel like you're just wandered into Hell completely unprepared and you're about to get ripped apart by a real demon.

Now for SJ, it had so many good battle themes. I think it had a way better final boss theme than Nocturne, to be frank.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQuLw1WwTyo

And the regular boss music is way better than Nocturne's as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Rugr05FMM

Might be one of the best normal boss themes I've ever heard.

I'm sorely tempted to go back and try to play the earlier MegaTen games now.... Nocturne has absolutely sold me on the franchise. I have not been so addicted to a video game in ages.

But I have Persona 3 and 4 here and I need to justify the $20 I spent on them, lest they languish unplayed like the the copy of Digital Devil Saga 1 I bought.

[Forsaken Lover]

So Persona 3 is almost as addictive as Nocturne, just in a very different way. I'm glad to see juggling time isn't quite as hard as I was afraid it would be. I'm glad it isn't a Lightning Returns-style time thing.

That being said, I've died so many times in Tartarus now because I just can't stop. Never stop going. Going back feels like such a waste of time and effort. I want more items, more EXP, more everything. My most recent game over was just as Akihiko returned. I felt really confident and promptly stumbled into an ambush that annihilated me.... Those smurfing mages.

In that run I had put some token effort into Academics because Mitsuru-senpai asked me to. She's a favorite character of mine at present (she really reminds me of Erza Scarlet for some reason. I'd prefer a Lucy but Erza will do) so I put in about a week's worth of studying. It didn't seem to help much... So I said smurf it after my game over and spent my time on more productive pursuits. Thanks to the Cafe I got my Charm up to Unpolished (been spending a lot of my free time there) and I also went to the Shrine to get my fortune told about me and Chihiro. Things are looking good for us and I got 10,000 yen. See? Studying is for newbs.

Speaking of which, I also really like "Maya." Glad I played some of Persona 2 before this or I wouldn'tt get any of her opening references.

I joined the Kendo team but blew off Kaz when Chihiro accepted my offer to walk her home... I dunno what happens when you ignore their invite. I did the same for Kenji way back at the start of teh game and he just doesn't really talk to me anymore But he's like, a womanizing jerk.

Hey...I somehow did okay on the mid terms.

Also Kenji wanted to talk to me again but Chihiro approached me at lunch and yeah, I'm not passing up a chance to help her so I can talk wit that dingus. I just hope I'm not losing out on anything.

So basically the Student Council are the best characters in the game. Right now my S Links are highest with Hidetoshi and Chihiro. And if the game would friggin' let me really talk to Mitsuru-senpai, I'd raise that higher too. You know, given the way the game says "check Social Link status" or something whenever you are given the option of hanging out with someone, it's clear they kind of view all of this as some sort of...well, game. Your S Link with Chihiro is high level so you don't need to hang out with her but your level with Kenji is really low so be sure to meet with him. smurf that. Do they think I'm some sort of sociopath? These aren't numbers, they're my buddies. And in Chihiro's case, absolutely adorable and I love her to pieces.


Should I be concerned if my teammates get KO'ed? I mean, in relation to this game's unique mechanics? I just had Akihiko and Junpei get KO'ed during the miniboss at the 35 or 36th floor because I was dumb and missed the little terminal down. As such, we went into the fight unprepared and without saving and I was NOT doing that trout all over again. But now they're Sick and that keeps you from exploring with a full party....

How long is this game though? It's the start of June now, investigating "ghost attacks" that are obviously the actions of Fuuka but I'm more worried about how low all my "social skills are." Charm is still only Rank 2 and Courage and Academics are Rank 1.... I've ignored Academics all game. Is it too late to salvage it? The NPC said Mitsuru-senpai would never notice me unless I leveled up in Academics.... I man, I love Chihiro but still....


Why do I even smurfing bother using buffs in this smurfing dumb game? I just lost to the stupid bosses you get after meeting Fuuka. Good job weakening their offense and upping our defense. And by good job I mean it didn't smurfing do jack or trout. I have to do all that crap all over again.

This game is no Noctruen. Buffs and debuffs are smurfing worthless.

Okay...the bosses weren't that bad, I think Junpei is just under-leveled because he was sick while I explored a lot of the second tier of Tartarus. Then when I got to the limit I could get to, I went and spent all my time doing other things.

My Academics are now Average. Mitsuru-senpai notice me now? (also where did the "notice me senpai" meme come from?)

And I was totally off-base about Fuuka going all Carrie on her bullies and using her Persona to smurf with them... I don't get it though. The Shadows wanted to torment her toromenters?

But yes, it's bout time Mitsuru actually became part of the team. Get to put her in that armor Elizabeth gave me. It's, uh, for the mission. It has the best defense stat of all the armors Ihave....


"Your notion of right and wrong is irrelevant. My client's wishes are all that matter."

I like this guy. He sounds like one of my WRPG Heroes. This whole plotline comes out of nowhere though... From Shadows to weird Internet-inspired assassins.

I think I must have been doing something wrong with the boss on the 59th floor, a wind horse dude or something. None of my attacks did any real damage. All I could find to do was Charm him. That kept him immobilized while we chipped away his health.


There HAS to be a better way to improve Academics. I've been doing nothing but studying for like, two weeks (not counting getting Tired so I can't study), neglecting valuable Social Link and Tartarus grinding time, and I still can't get it to Rank 3. AND THERE'S THREE MORE RANKS TO GO. Everyone is warning me to be prepared for the next full moon in July but I just Academics to get as high as I can for Mitsuru-senpai.... My Charm went up to Rank 3 somehow but Courage is still Level 1. It told me I had to be a badass to help Fuuka with Cooking so yeah, that ain't ever happening. But when I talk to Mitsuru about joining me on a walk home, it doesn't give me any helpful hints.... I just keep studying.

And I know there's something funny going on with Mitsuru because: a) Yukari won't shut up about it and B) The Old Documents mention her family founding a research lab on an island with nothing else but a school on it... So maybe her dad or something was a mad scientist and this is all his fault.

But ya know, the plot of this game is...whatever. I just want Mitsuru to open up to me.

So my game crashing after the hotel Shadow boss made me think maybe it's time to stop. Luckily the two bosses there were really easy so redoing them was no problem. I was all worried over nothing.

So Academics and Charm are at Rank 3. Maxed out Treasurer Social Link. Have utterly neglected every other SL because of obsessing over Academics. Am trying to remember where the hell you buy cat food for one of Elizabeth's requests. I'm sure it was at the school shop...maybe they sell different stuff depending on the day?

Anyway, smurfing love this game. Best songs so far are the school music and the boss music. Although the dorm music is charmingly terrible.

Favorite characters are Mitsuru, Mitsuru and maybe Mitsuru. Akihiko is kinda neat given he's all ~mysterious~ with that Shinjiro guy who apparently used to belong to our little Persona club and who I bet anything will be in our party later on. Chihiro is adorable but when it comes right down to it, I prefer women like Mitsuru. I feel slightly bad Kaz is probably failed his regional sand is a cripple now. Also wonder if it's too late to rekindle the Student Council S Link.

Buffs seem to be becoming slightly better... They do like an extra 30 damage or so with Tarukaja.


And the main plot with Pharos and Shadows and whatever.... Uh...it's okay I guess. I'm more interested in the three new people and whatever Mitsuru is maybe hiding.

[Vincent, Thunder God]

If you have the cash you can play arcade games at Paulownia that will raise your stats in the evenings - depending on the day (Wed and Sat) there's a quiz game that will raise your academics - this seems to be the preferred method of raising stats from what I've read online (because you're not using up afternoons). Also a tip that applies more to the PS2 versions - if you're getting tired a lot you can go to the nurse's office and drink a potion that will raise your courage without spending any time at all - however it won't cure your tiredness.

[Forsaken Lover]

I think my fellow male party members are functionally mentally handicapped. Can they not tell she is not human?

Warning to anyone who plays FES on PSN: The game crashes sometimes if you go to Fuse weapons. I don't know why or how but it's happened to me twice now.

I was at the Mall getting new equipment see and saw the police guy was now selling new, character unique equipment... for 300.000 a pop. I want the ones for Aigis and Mitsuru.... I mean, they're just better armor and all....

So yeah, better touch on Aigis. Betcha didn't expect a robot maid tank did you? I know I didn't. Persona 3 seems like a very silly game. The best comparison I can think of is Final Fantasy IX. There are serious moments and good characters but the overall tone is extremely light. In fact, given Aigis' introduction during a beach episode, I would almost call this game satirical in a way.

But man, I love Aigis. Mitsuru has competition at last.

YES! It was my goal to get Rank 5 in Academics before the August full moon and I did it. I can definitely get to 6 by October. Mitsuru Social Link, here I come! Yukari is okay, Fuuka is okay, but I need that Mitsuru S Link. My playthrough would be woefully incomplete without it.

...now a dog has joined the party? This game is getting downright surreal.

I wonder if Persona 4 is perhaps more..um, tonally consistent and that's why some people like it more. The way I hear it, it's a detective story or murder mystery. Maybe there are no dogs or robots who join you and thus things seem more grounded and you can take them seriously.

And the fifth Old Document puts Shadows in quotation marks. We in a Silent Hill type "they look like monsters to you" situation? Is there a Nier-like New Game+ where it's revealed that tank Shadow we fought was a mom and her child uniting to try and save each other?

YES. Academics Rank 6 and before even the start of September. Mitsuru-senpai Social Link will be mine.

Seems a lot of people don't like Strega. I like Takaya. Cool design and he's voiced by Derek Stephen Prince. I mainly know him as Uryu from Bleach but he has this really wonderful cold, analytical voice. The dub has definitely improved over the course of the game.

So I was just wondering "why the hell is Ken even in this game?" Then, given the scene I just saw where he overheard Akihiko and Shinjiro talking, I remembered people trout on FFXIII by saying Snow's and Hope's subplot is just a ripoff of one of this game's subplot. I doubt that criticism is valid but we'll see.

Devil Social Link is great. I am really glad I worked up my Charm now.

And Shinjiro has joined the party thus giving me a team of characters I really like. Mitsuru, Aigis and now Shinji. His lack of weaknesses is nice but he also lacks debuffs... I miss Akihiko's Torunda or Tarunda or whatever....

Defeated the electric Shadow and now "Chidori" has been captured. It feels like the plot is finally getting started. Some people I talked to say this is "the most backloaded game ever" and I think they're right. I mean, the party member S Links are in the end, there's barely any story up until Strega arrives and overall you probably wouldn't be playing this game for the engrossing narrative. Still, things are picking up - the main characters are evolving, I'm almost to October when I can start getting my Mitsuru S Link, we have actual villains.... It's funny, now there is a purpose to everything on the horizon, the formerly addictive humdrum of everyday life is getting tiresome. If this game is going to have a point, I want it to focus on that. All the little crap I was doing before has no meaning if there is other stuff, ya know?

[Skyblade]

That was a good post. I will want to see if and how your opinion may change.

[Forsaken Lover]

Quick, easy post because stuff actually happened.

Ya know, in spite of the name, this game doesn't seem particularly interested in Jungian psychology. Let's compare and contrast with one of my favorite JRPG series, Xenosaga. Now there is a game obsessed with worldbuilding. One example that comes to mind is how a piece of technology they use is called the EPR Radar so the Database explains about the real life EPR Paradox. P3 by contrast seems to just roll with everything and you should not question why or how. Xenosaga was also a very heavy sci-fi and fantasy setting while in Persona, unless you really like Tartarus for some unfathomable reason, it's a very mundane game. You will spend most of your time just going to the movies or hanging ou twith friends or whatever. Magic and super technology and whatever else is just this amusing distraction from otherwise perfectly normal events that take up 99% of your game time.

But ya know, while this game was pretty much nothing for several long hours, I'm really digging th eJunpei and Chidori scenes because stuff is finally happening, ya know? It's just kind of werid we've seen neither hide nor hair of the other two in forever. Similarly, the Ken and Shinjiro plotline has gone nowhere. This game's pacing is...questionable, to say the least.

So, on music, one of the most important things to me in a great video game. Track 02 in Tartarus' BGM selection is by far the best song but man, it is a TERRIBLE song for dungeoning. The bes tsong for exploring is 01. It has good energy and fits the mood perfectly, unlike the somber paino piece.

The new school music is better than the old IMO. Very different vibe but I like it a lot.

So wait, how old is Shinjiro? There's another school break coming up and everyone is talking about what they'll do but I just noticed Shinjiro there and well, is he just a dropout?

We...smurf. We just had the silliest boss fight yet - probably the most memorable as well - and then Shinji goes and dies... I am sad now.

Although I fail to see much similarity between the Shinji/Ken subplot and the Snow/Hope one, if only because of P3 having somehow managed to be even worse at pacing than FFXIII. You get maybe two cutscenes of this subplot and the second cutscene is the end of it. Ken is also a woefully uninteresting character, introduced way too late for me to give a smurf about him. I will miss Shinji and his death is very well done but it's due to the strength of his character and Takaya's villainy tha tit works .Ken is just a waste of space.

It would have been so easy to just have some scenes of Shinji and Ken at the Dorm together. Come the smurf on, game.

[Skyblade]

Still interesting. I'm going to wait until you're done for any rebuttal.

But, I will say that the pacing on Persona 3 is probably the game's greatest failing.

[Formalhaut]

Yes, I hadn't really thought much about it, but Persona 3 has a horribly back-loaded plot. It doesn't help that you get your final three characters at the end of summer (August), which doesn't leave much in way of character development. Fair enough, one's a dog, so I guess Koro-chan doesn't need​ an amazing story, but the Ken/Shinji dynamic is something the game could've explored in much greater detail than what was given.

[Forsaken Lover]

1...2...3...can we go home now?

Aigis is the best.

Strega's boss fight was pretty easy as I was forewarned. I assume they are actually dead and gone forever but this kind of "death" is very easy to reverse. Still, considering some people I've talked to have said they don't even remember Strega existing, I guess that plotline is over and done with and now the "REAL" story will begin. Only 50 hours into the game.

Oh no, it wasn't the end and Ikutsuki was a villain. I'm shocked.

So Pharos is Death? They split Death itself into the Shadows we beat? I'm sure it will be explained ab it more but at least I'm finally seeing traces of a point to all this. People have told me Persona 3 has a theme of death and acceptance and I've seen maybe faint traces of it up until now. However, in the last half hour, more has happened than in the rest of the game combined. I'm not precisely sure where all this is headed but it's definitely going somewhere now and I appreciate that.

A post from elsewhere on the relevance of each Persona game to one another:

"In terms of how they use the concept of a Persona as a psychological/mythological concept, 1-2-4 are more Jungian. 3 treats it as a superpower with vague connections to the psychological concept. I have no idea how 5 deals with it."

This is kind of what I was getting at earlier.

But yeah, things are happening. In spite of my total lack of surprise at any of these twists, it was all pretty well-done. I hope the game goes into more detail about what exactly was up with Takaya an dJin and their "forcing out" their Personas. I'm guessing it probably would kill them as surely as the stuff Shinjiro was taking would kill you and that's why Chidori is all upset now. That's my guess anyway. I'm not quite sure where her plotline is going, although I don't see it ending well.

I hope I get Mitsuru and Aigis back soon. I can't explore more of Tartarus with only half my team. Everyone else is at least 20 or so levels behind us so it's out of the question trying to use them.

[Skyblade]

The Jung aspect comes in a very meta way. How many Social Links have you done? How many times have you looked for a particular Persona to take with you to get the boost? How many times have you shaped your responses around what would get you the most points, what the person you're talking to reacts most positively, versus "oh, this is what Minato would say"?

There's your psychological aspect. That's basically the definition of a Persona, as Jung presented it. It's the way your ego changes to deal with the outside phenomena of the circumstances you're in.

Persona 3 captures this brilliantly through its game mechanics, transforming this psychological analysis into something that gamers actually experience.




As for Strega: Their Persona manifests unnaturally, and as such, is not fully controlled, and will seek to kill the Persona-user. The drugs allow it to be controlled, but are themselves deadly in the long term. Shinjiro took the drugs to suppress his Persona, to help ensure that the incident was never repeated.