Click Here for Update 34
: I had the site eat my update.. what is this, five times now?
: We have a seat on the train, so we get a free reading period. Today, we’ll be reading The Craft of Cinema. I’m not entirely sure why the guide starts The Gallant Rogue and then never finishes it. I actually looked, and there’s nothing that boosts the point you get from reading books, so it’s not like we’re waiting for that.
: In the span of one train ride, Morgana has gone from “Donnie Darko makes no sense” to “Donnie Darko is the peak of human achievement in cinema” and then back to “Donnie Darko makes no sense”.
: I was also wrong when I said that Craft of Cinema doubles stat gains from movies and DVDs. What it actually does is add a flat two extra points, so DVDs are now worth five points per session and movies at the theater are worth seven.
: "Speaking of rain, did you know the teru teru bozu was originally female? According to one theory, it came from a Chinese paper doll of a girl - the ‘Sao Ching Niang.’ "
: Teru Teru Bozu are little ghost-like dolls that kids hang up outside to wish for good weather. It seems like the association of the male gender is something that weakened over time, because when I image searched for them I found plenty that looked like girls, or cats, or in some cases catgirls.
: On a side note, you can apparently hang them upside-down to wish for rain, and now I’m just picturing Morgana making a catgirl one and hanging it upside-down in an attempt to call down an apocalyptic rain of catgirls.
: “When it came to Japan, it looked like a monk praying for sunny weather, and became male. In the history of the world, it’s not uncommon to twist people’s genders for politics or religion. Now then, Kurusu-kun, please look at this picture.”
: Here, we get an early look at Makoto’s tarot card. We can’t start her confidant until after Kaneshiro’s palace.
: Of course we know, she’s a motorcycle.
: “That’s correct. Pope Joan was a significant figure from the medieval ages. You’re quite the history buff. Joan - or Johanna as some historians argue - was the pope of Rome, even though women couldn’t be priests.”
: “As such, she was a legendary figure, sometimes thought of as an anti-church symbol. According to the legends, Joan was a cross-dressing girl brought from Athens to Rome.”
: “Praised throughout the city for her wisdom, she was chosen by the people as pope. However, when it was discovered that she was a woman, she was stoned to death.”
: “This incident was regarded a taboo by the church. As a result, Joan was stricken from the history books.”
: It’s time to see Yusuke’s new painting.
: In public, he calls it “Shadow the Hedgehog Performing a Spindash”. In private though, I think we all know he calls it “My Boyfriend’s Colors”.
: “I would like your honest opinion.. if you would.”
: “…Hmph, as it should be. I do not paint for the sake of others’ comprehension. Regardless, this is how I choose to interpret the idea of ‘desire’. It is a foul charm held deep within the abyss of the heart.”
: Joker looks at him with an eyebrow raised and goes “Really? That’s what you think of when you think of desire? That, and nothing else?” and Yusuke starts sweating profusely.
: “To be honest, I believe my ability to capture desire so elegantly is all due to our Mementos foray. I have grown to understand the intricacies of the heart in a way I had once thought impossible…”
: “Akira, I intend on submitting this piece to an upcoming public art exhibition. Nobody has seen the abyss of the heart in such a raw manner before… the discourse will be fascinating.”
: “More importantly, it shall be the spark that revitalizes my slumbering career!”
: “Indeed. I expect you to accompany me for the moment it is finally revealed to the general public. Hm, I’m sure this will be a most sensational experience for those who choose to undergo it.”
: “A raw, unbridled look into the depths of the human psyche… and I was the one who was able to bring it to life, all thanks to your assistance. You have my sincerest gratitude.”
: “Hm… I deeply anticipate the public reaction at the exhibition. But for now, I should be going. My apologies for disturbing you.”
: “I was even able to come up with a new interpretation, thanks to your help. I’m on a roll right now. I shall keep up this momentum and apply it to the Phantom Thieves as well!”
: “No, I can guide us to even further greatness! Hah.. your very presence amplifies my ambition. What a strange fellow you are.”
: There was a Persona 5 thread on /v/ (4chan’s videogame board) a few days ago that I saw where someone went “Yusuke was maybe a nudge from being a full-on gay romance route” and I’m like “Wow, even they can see it.”
: “I can hardly wait to hear back about the public exhibition, so I can share the joy with you. I will contact you again later. Expect good news!”
: Joker, professional IM troll.
: “That article.. do you think the reporter we met at Crossroads could have written it?”
: “Just as I thought. The author is listed as Ichiko Ohya. …I see. This article might end up being useful for us.”
: “If the Palace ruler sees it and his cognition of the Phantom Thieves changes.. hey, Akira. We’d be missing out if we didn’t use this to our advantage.”
: “If we have her paint us in a positive light, public opinion of us will change for the better! You should go try and get her to write some more articles about the Phantom Thieves!”
: Before we do that, there’s a TV quiz we have to do for knowledge points.
: How would you even.. you can’t even talk! You don’t even have hands!
: I think Morgana assumes he’s still in Innocent Sin, where he can get Ohya to spread a rumor that he can just kinda Strong Bad his way around objects.
: On the way there, we run into everyone’s least favorite offensive stereotype.
: Don’t worry, it’s perfectly okay for them to be horny for Akechi. He just turned 18 on June 2nd.
: “Hey, where’s my glass…? Didn’t I order a refill? How much did I drink today? What time is it? Ah, who cares. …Wait, I care.”
: “She’s so drunk that she hasn’t even noticed you’re here. If we have her write articles, it’ll have an effect on the Metaverse. We might be able to use her if we do it right. Should we try forming a deal with Ohya?”
: “Keep in mind that she’s drunk. Now, do a good job negotiating, okay?”
: “So… what’s up? Got anything new on the Phantom Thieves? Or maybe.. you’re just falling in love with me, hm?”
: “For real? You came all this way just to tell me? Thank god.. my publisher just assigned me to be the beat reporter for the Phantom Thieves. Man…this will reaaally help me out.”
: “Oh, don’t be such a killjoy. These kids nowadays know about things we adults don’t have access to. Besides, what’s most important is that I now have a reliable third-party source for my stories.”
: “So, what do you want from me this time? Information about someone? Cold hard cash?”
: What he needs is for her to spread a rumor that the grocery store in Yongen-Jaya has a Legendary Katana for sale.
: “Now I can take it easy… maybe I’ll take a little vacation, with all my free time.”
: “What do you want? Just tell me. Last time it was info on Kaneshiro, right? The office has been abuzz lately.. I think it’s Kaneshiro related. Something’s fishy…”
: And then Lala pulls out a plate of spaghetti topped with kusaya.
: “…Support the Phantom Thieves? But I see what’s going on here. A hardcore Phantom Thieves fanboy, huh…?”
: “A vacation? Oh, I was just kidding. I’m conducting a private investigation during my off hours. No one at work knows about it.”
: “Hey, how 'bout we do this… you supply me with info on the Phantom Thieves… and I’ll write articles based on what you tell me about them. You know, the Phantom Thieves who you love oh-so-much.”
: Joker then spends the entire night trying to explain the John Persona / John Persona duality.
: “…All right then. It’s a deal. I can create a lot of positive PR for the Phantom Thieves, so be sure to give me some good scoops.”
: “Oh, don’t tell anyone about this, okay? I don’t want people to know my source is a high schooler. Okay, Lala-chaaan! Time to celebrate our agreement! Bring out my bottle! And two glasses, please…!”
: “C’mon! Please…? …Whoa, her silence is golden. Fine, fine FINE! I won’t make the high schooler drink! Ugh, I gotta use the bathroom…”
: I like to think that Joker hears alcohol and opens his jacket to reveal a “Be Gay, Do Crimes” shirt underneath, and then Lala opens her kimono to reveal a “Be Gay, No Crimes” shirt in response.
: One thing I’m not going to show to conserve space is that you get points to Charm when visiting Ohya in the same way you get Guts while visiting Dr. Femdom.
: “Lala-chaaaan!? Where’d you gooo? Hey! Lala-chaaaan! C’mon, where are you!?”
: I don’t know how it is that the game treats Lala so well but has offensive stereotypes at the same time.
: We get another cutscene with Ryuji where he tells us to go to the palace. We won’t be doing that just yet, because we need to break the game in half first.
: Instead, we’ll do a confidant event with Ann.
: “And you know what she did? Laughed! She couldn’t stop talking about how tough she thought Mika sounded. Honestly though… it was kinda refreshing. I’m not even mad anymore.”
: “I guess you really just need someone to laugh at you if you want to feel better.”
: “I mean, they always say laughter’s the best medicine, right? I’ve seen the truth of that saying firsthand… but anyway, even though I’m trying to strengthen my heart, Shiho’s the real strong one here.”
: “So I agreed without thinking much of it, but it ended up being.. pretty overwhelming.”
: “Yeah… she was dripping with sweat, teeth clenched… she was clearly in a lot of pain. Apparently, she can’t even move her feet. She said it feels like her legs are filled with sand… but she dragged them along, legs swollen with blood…”
: You know what would’ve been interesting? If we’d actually gotten to see this instead of just having Ann tell us about it.
: “I wanted to just make her stop.. by the time it was all over, she was in tears. It was really tough on her.. she said she just wanted to give up.”
: The overuse of ellipses we saw in Persona 1 and 2 is really starting to make a comeback here, and not even to connect thoughts between dialog boxes.
: “And that’s why she asked me to come… to keep her motivated. The whole time she was complaining about things in ways she normally never would… but even with that.. she finished her session…”
: “I…I don’t know why I’m crying… I didn’t have to go through that… is it because I’m weak?”
: “Then why.. can’t I stop crying…? You know, even through all that pain, I thought Shiho was so cool… beautiful, even. Despite all her complaining… she still tried really hard.”
: “Strength is more than just not getting fazed… it’s the power to fight through adversity. So I was thinking, and um.. what can I do to help Shiho?”
: “My strength..? ..Yeah, I’ll do just that. I’m gonna give it my all! You know Akira, being with you really helps me see things clearly. What I should do, the true meaning of strength… well.. thank you for that.”
: And now we have two people with Harisen Recovery.
: “Ugh, my nose is all runny… wh-what are you looking at me like that for? Pretty girls get runny noses too, you know!”
: “I feel better now that I got to talk to you about everything. I’m going to try my best to help Shiho out.. in my own way. Maybe our relationship won’t ever be exactly the way it was before..”
: “But now that I saw her crying, I know I’ll find something I can do for her!”
: “Thanks! I can’t let her leave me behind. Watch me. One day, I’ll be cool and strong - just like Shiho!”
: We have another Kawakami event tonight, and this is the last one we’ll be doing before we go to the dungeon.
: “You listened to… my secret. I’ve been feeling more at ease since then.”
: I’ve never been able to tell anyone about it, so.. I figured I should actually do some housekeeping today, to say thanks…"
: yawn “Sorry.. I need to take a break…”
: “I’m so touched to hear that you care for my well-being, Master… ugh.. I’m at my limit. Sooo exhausted…”
: Cough Cough “I’m beat.. I can’t stop coughing…”
: “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks…”
: “I mean, there’s nothing left for me to hide from you, so the truth comes out, you know? Now that I think about it.. I’m glad you’re the one who found out about me being a maid.”
: “Are YOU going to be all right in this dusty room? And have you been eating well? You need to eat fresh vegetables, and none of that instant stuff.”
: Joker looks at her and goes “So wait, what do you mean by that? Horny? There’s no way eating ramen makes you-”
: And then the camera cuts to Morgana sitting atop a throne of noodles heating water on the portable stove.
: “I guess I should get more sleep. I feel all achy… Takase-kun’s guardians said they need more money, so… I had my boss give me more shifts. I had to beg him for them, but…”
: “Oh, it’s fine! Nothing you should worry about. I feel more at ease, now that I have someone who knows about what I’m going through. …I’m talking about you.”
: This ability is kinda meh, and if you were a trophy hunter in the original game could lock you out of getting the trophy for crafting every item.
: “Uh-oh, time’s up… cough cough I have to get to my next job, so I’m going to head out. Thank you for using our service…”
: “So I guess it’s a good thing I splurged at the doctor’s. I finally got some cough medicine that works.”
: “Hey, you gotta do some cleaning and ventilating on your own even when I’m gone, okay? If you neglect stuff like that, it makes you more likely to get sick.”
: “Who, me? I mean, I’m tired, but that’s nothing new.. wait a minute, we’re supposed to be talking about you! Don’t change the subject.”
: “Oh, but if you do get sick, I’ll look after you aaanytime! So please don’t forget to request me! 
”
: “Urgh. I finally get rid of the cough, and now I get these headaches and shivers… times like these are why we invented energy drinks.. I just gotta chug one and push through!”
: Today’s the day we begin the process of breaking the game in half.
: “That voice.. hey! Wasn’t that Kawakami on the PA? There’s no way that announcement was real… it must have been the signal!”
: I’m not entirely sure how Ushimaru wouldn’t recognize Kawakami’s voice, but whatever.
: The guide has us read ABCs of Crafting, and I’m not entirely sure why. It might be a holdover from the base game’s 100% route.
: In the base game, you wanted this book because it doubles the bonus from Proficiency when determining how many items you can craft.
: What you could do is use this to mass-craft an item called Reserve Ammo, which is not in Royal. Reserve Ammo fully refilled the party’s ammo count, which could be used with this one confidant ability that allowed you to spend a certain percentage of the party’s ammo (something like 15% at max rank) to instantly knock every enemy in a fight down.
: That ability was HEAVILY nerfed in Royal - it now only works three times per day at max rank.
: “Tell everyone to meet at the hideout. Let’s discuss our next move.”
: “Nyahaha.. curious, eh? Well, I’ve come up with a super cool idea. Lady Ann will surely swoon for me if I-”
: “Sorry for the wait. So, what’s up, Morgana?”
: “You were talking about.. me?”
: “Now that we’ve all gained some experience in battle, I think it’d be good for us to work on our finishers.”
: Joker wants an acrobatic knife dance with Yusuke where they hug at the end.
: “Our finishers? Yeah, I guess if we’re going to keep fighting, we ought to do it with style.”
: “Right? Right!? So, I came up with just the idea.. it’s maybe my best one yet! And we can definitely pull it off if you play a part in it, Lady Ann!”
: “Me? Well, okay - what do you need me to do?”
: What he had in mind is called a Showtime Attack. They’re special finishing moves that use a combination of two party members (only one has to actually be in the active party) to do what’s basically a cinematic takedown.
: Showtimes have a number of things that can trigger them, which include:
- A party member is baton passed to
- A party member falls below 50% HP
- A party member dies
- A party member recovers from a status effect, knockdown, or is revived
- Joker is knocked down
- Joker is at critically low (something like 10% or less) HP
- An enemy is downed or becomes critically injured
- An enemy is afflicted with a status debuff (rare)
- A party member is given a status buff (rare)
: There are eight Showtime attacks, and each one is time-gated. The wiki claims we should have the second one (between Ryuji and Makoto) but we don’t. Unfortunately, Joker does not get one with Yusuke - the only two he gets are with Kasumi and a second party member and both only unlock past where the base game ends.
: If you decide to look them up on your own, know that the Joker/Kasumi and Joker/??? ones are massive spoilers for the new content in Royal and will reveal what Kasumi’s entire deal is.
: Each Showtime attack has a name which is different between the US and Japanese versions, but I don’t think the name ever actually shows up in-game.
: This one is called “Gun With the Wind” in the US version, and “Phantom Suit and Machine Gun” in the Japanese version. The latter is a reference to an 80s Japanese action movie called “Sailor Suit and Machine Gun”.
: Personally, I call it “What if Ann was horny for Morgana?”
: KILL IT WITH FIRE
: Showtime attacks do a metric shitload of Almighty damage, based entirely on the level of the two characters participating.
: “Really?”
: “So, is that a no?”
: “Well, it’s not that I don’t want to… it’s more like, isn’t your idea sorta impossible? Even in the Metaverse?”
: I love that Joker has just been carrying that star in his pocket for what, a month?
: “Huh? What was that?”
: And here’s our third showtime attack, which is between Ryuji and Yusuke. Yusuke also has one with Ann.
: “Things would get interesting if my sister ever found out..”
: “There’s no time to be getting sentimental here.”
: “Yes, I understand. I do have one request about all of this though. Can you teach me how to be a phantom thief? Like… about the Metaverse, for example.”
: “Simply put, that world is formed of a person’s cognition. There, you can change people’s hearts.”
: “Yeah, I’ve gathered that much just from going there once. But the method of transportation still eludes me… I mean, it’s a smartphone navigation app…”
: “You only need a name, a location, and a distortion. After the first entry, the Palace is bookmarked.”
: “You really just make it sound like an ordinary app.. aren’t there any dangers associated with it?”
: “Don’t worry 'bout that! We’ve already been a bunch of times and -”
: “That’s not what I mean. It’s a navigation app, right? Couldn’t someone easily access our history on the server?”
: I like that she’s worried about this, but not about the whole Phan-site thing.
: “I…”
: “Now she’s catchin’ me off guard too..”
: “And we don’t know where it came from, right? It showed up on my phone without any input from me.. do you know anything about it, Akira-kun?”
: “What…?”
: “… I don’t fully understand, but I don’t think we have to worrya bout people accessing our data. From what I can tell, this app is incredibly special. It wasn’t made by any ordinary means.”
: “True.. an app that allows you to enter another world isn’t exactly commonplace. Well, Sis doesn’t know who the Phantom Thieves are, so I suppose our information is safe for now.”
: “We’re still learning things ourselves. I hope your sharp wit can help us with that.”
: “Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
: This is what’s on Joker’s “Be Gay, Do Crimes” shirt. I mean, he’s even posing for it.
: Oh man, this picture. So this picture leaked in Japan I think before the base game even came out, and people were in a fucking UPROAR about it because they thought you had to save Makoto from an abusive relationship, but also that Joker wouldn’t be her first and only boyfriend.
: Our last pre-dungeon visit is to Dr. Femdom, so that we can start breaking the game.
: “Oh, are you going home already? If you have some time, why don’t you stay and enjoy an apple? It’s a gift from one of my elderly patients. She gave me a lot…”
: “…Chief Oyamada.”
: “He’s a part-time staffer. I’m having him handle some miscellaneous tasks for me. So, do you have some business with me?”
: “…Bronchitis, you say? Well, I had no intention of taking her from you. I certainly didn’t encourage her to visit my clinic.”
: “…You’re right.”
: “Heh… don’t worry about it.”
: “Don’t lie to me…! She should still have some time! She was slowly recovering.. her condition couldn’t have deteriorated that quickly!”
: “No, no no… but she’s all I’ve been working toward, all this time.. curing her was my only… there’s no way…”
: And now we know what her actual deal is. Can you guess what her Mementos request is?
: “…What have I been doing all this time? What was even the point…?”
: “…Yeah, you’re right. I feel better now… thanks for your help, my little guinea pig…”
: And there we have it. We have almost no reason to progress further with Dr. Femdom. This is all we need. Discount reduces the prices of everything in Tae’s shop by half.
: “Ugh. I wish I hadn’t shown you that side of me..”
: Joker just goes “I can never take your femdom seriously again.”
: “Hehe. You are? …Well, I suppose it’s fine. As long as it’s you. Go on home for today. We will continue this another time.”
: And now we’ve officially begun the process of breaking the game. SP Adhesive 3 restores 7 SP per turn, meaning that all of the single-target first tier spells are basically free to cast. From now on, everyone in the main party will be using one of these.
: I then head to Iwai’s and spend the rest of our money on guns and armor. I also got new melee weapons for everyone in order to boost damage on technicals.
: I didn’t get a shot of it during the first day (it’s kind of hard to get a shot of it without it being obscured by the menus) but Makoto uses revolvers as her gun of choice. They do a bit more damage than Joker’s pistols but have a lower ammo count and are less accurate.
: Finally, to round out the night, we have another generic non-rank-up event with Kawakami.
: Next time, we’ll go into Kaneshiro’s palace, cheese the game for loads of money, and try to level to 26 (not 29) to match the red shadows.