Colors Flying High - Let's Play Persona 5 Royal

Is it just me or are they really trying hard and laying it on thick with Kasumi?

Yeah that’ll probably happen in Persona 6 when they realize they’ve run out of anime archetypes and have to start combining them.

Yeah, it’s not just you. I think part of it is that they really need you to be invested in Kasumi’s storyline for the parts they added for Royal, and part of it is that they really did not want to have another Marie on their hands. I think there’s also an element of “we need an age-appropriate romance option for Joker that people will actually want” because of how popular Tae and Kawakami are.

The best part is that it’s all wasted effort because she’s not in Scramble.

Anyway, I mentioned in the last update a thing about Valentine’s Day and White Day. That’s because I never actually saw how Valentine’s Day worked in the base game: it happened I think after the final boss but before the final cutscene and by that point I just turned the game off.

As it turns out, we can and will see all of the Valentine’s Day dates… though it’ll be a bit of a pain to do so. The same will happen for White Day. I’ll explain how that works when we hit 07/08 and hit Rank 9 with Kawakami.

Summary

timrodresized: It’s 7/1, and after something like two months we’re finally finishing The Gallant Rogue.

timrodresized: We get a glorified tutorial informing us that the diner now has a drink that boosts Charm. I don’t believe we’re ever going to order it, even though it brings back memories of the Persona 3 MC drinking dozens of cups of Pheromone Coffee to boost his charm.

timrodresized: By water, he means the squirt gun he’s about to blast Morgana with.

Inui: “A variety of heroes battling for dominance - truly an epic time. Charismatic rulers and warlords with the command of a thousand men may have their own appeal…”

Inui: “…But personally, I think that the strategists who support them can’t be ignored. Now then, Kurusu-kun. In the book, Zhuge Liang of Shu is famous for his exploits during the Battle of Red Cliffs…”

timrodresized: This is one of those things they put in just for Dynasty Warriors fans, isn’t it?

Inui: “He’s also the inventor of the baozi, a kind of round dumpling. But their original name was based on their appearance. What’s the meaning of the original Chinese phrase that these dumplings’ name came from?”

timrodresized: Baozi are white dumplings that originated in China but have since migrated to a number of different areas - including the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. There’s even a Uyghur-specific one.

timrodresized: They have a number of fillings, but most of them involve pork. The Uyghurs apparently have one that’s cooked in tandoor and filled with lamb… if they offered me that in chicken I’d probably eat it.

timrodresized: There’s also apparently dessert ones with custard or adzuki bean paste inside, which I’d also eat.

Inui: “That is correct. Its original name, mantou, came from a phrase meaning ‘a barbarian’s head.’”

Inui: “At the time, one region’s barbarians would use a person’s head as an offering to soothe the deity of a flooding river. But Zhuge Liang made a baozi in the shape of a head as a substitute.”

timrodresized: They called it “the sacred swirly”.

Inui: “These days, you can find baozi with cute faces on them. If you think about their origin, it’s not too far off the mark.”

timrodresized: Now, if they had one with steak in it, I’d be all over that… even though that’s basically an empanada. The taco place near my house that used to have those closed down and I hate it.

Morgana: “I never knew strategists came up with cooking, and not just strategies… Makoto’s our strategist. Wanna see what she can cook up?”

timrodresized: Right after school, we drop off The Gallant Rogue and pick up Speed Reader.

timrodresized: We then make a stop at the bookstore in Shibuya and buy everything that’s on sale.

timrodresized: Near the train station in Shibuya, there’s a lottery stand. You can actually do daily or weekly draws here (using the different windows) but the middle window sells Summer Mammoth tickets.

timrodresized: As far as I understand it, the Mammoth tickets always win, so there’s no reason not to buy one.

timrodresized: Today, we’re going to start Makoto’s confidant. You need Knowledge at Rank 3 in order to do that. Makoto is one of the five confidants that requires a max-rank social stat to finish.

timrodresized: We already know about two of the others: Sojiro (who needs maxed Kindness) and Iwai (who needs maxed Guts).

Makoto: “Up until now, I’ve been the quintessential honor student. I believe I’ve been handling my position as student council president with ease as well.”

Makoto: “A-and I don’t mean that in a boasting way, that’s simply how I’ve thought about it. …But in the end, I was unable to make any kind of impact with either Suzui-san or Kaneshiro.”

Makoto: “Turns out there’s no use for a rule-abiding honor student when things get tough. Now that I’m a member of this team, I want to do everything I can to help you all.”

timrodresized: Oh, that’s right! Speaking of students, I had someone contact me on Twitter to explain that I was actually right about the word “Shujin” meaning “Prisoner”. It’s apparently one of those things where there’s multiple ways to spell the word.

timrodresized: According to them, it’s a painfully obvious pun that gets harped on a lot in the Japanese script.

timrodresized: I’m honestly kind of glad I didn’t understand that when I played the base game. There was this period at the start of the base game, before I understood how bad the writing is, where I actually thought the writing was okay, and that kind of thing would’ve ruined it for me had I understood it.

Makoto: “I think… I-I will need to broaden my horizons somewhat.”

Makoto: “My first step will be to learn more about the other students. But… I struggle with that. There seems to be a disparity between my tastes and those of my peers…”

Makoto: “I knew it… I don’t even know where people like to go for fun… it would be nice to have a grasp of such concepts. Plus, the student council must be responsible for understanding the student body they serve, right?”

Makoto: “I-I don’t mean that in a surveillance way, I just want to know them as people. I may be a phantom thief, but that’s no excuse for me to start ignoring my presidential duties.”

Makoto: “Now, back to the topic at hand… where do people usually go for fun?”

timrodresized: For some reason, this entire scene feels like it’s the writers trying to understand Kids These Days ™.

Makoto: “I enjoy the movies myself, sometimes. I think I’d prefer somewhere I’m unfamiliar with… oh, I know! How about the arcade? I’ve never actually been to one.”

Makoto: “Do you think you could take me? I’m not sure if it will broaden my horizons per se, but simply studying won’t get me anywhere.”

timrodresized: How much do you want to bet that this is one of the writers trying to live out their dumbass teenage romance fantasies?

Makoto: “Thank goodness… I think I would have been totally lost in there had I gone by myself. Well, let’s get going.”

Makoto: “There are more girls here than I expected. Hey, over there… you play by aiming the gun at the screen, right? That actually seems somewhat realistic.”

timrodresized: We’ll learn all about that game in a different confidant that we can’t do yet. I’m not even joking when I say there is an entire confidant about that game.

Makoto: “I-if it’s okay with you… do you think you could teach me?”

timrodresized: This is incredibly painful to read. It’s incredibly reminiscent of Ready Player One and all the cringy excerpts from it that got posted when the movie got announced.

timrodresized: I mean, it’s not quite as bad because if this was the RPO author Joker would start making out with Makoto right there as every single person in the arcade lines up to high-five him because he’s so awesome, and then he’d say something like “This is just like the time I got the high score in Pac-Man”.

timrodresized: They could’ve, you know, put some actual visuals in here of Makoto playing the game, but instead they’re making masterful use of the Allanson “tell, don’t show” technique.

timrodresized: Somehow, I knew people would want me to pick this last one.

Makoto: “Of course that was just a game, but… I wonder if I could apply some of the techniques I learned here during battle.”

timrodresized: The thing is, there is a sizeable portion of the P5 fanbase who is very into Makoto. Somehow, I have a feeling they’re part of the same group that bothered to watch Ready Player One.

timrodresized: It’s also too bad there’s no way to LP a book because I would dunk on that shit if I could.

Makoto: “Perhaps going somewhere I don’t normally frequent is what helped me come up with that idea. You know, it may only be a little bit… but I think I’m starting to understand how people pass time.”

Makoto: “Interesting. I would’ve never even thought about coming here before.”

Makoto: “I… Hey, do you think you could help me out again later? I might be able to give the team more ideas if I can gain increased knowledge outside of my studies.”

Makoto: “Thank you. Perhaps it won’t be immediately… but I’m sure I can be of use.”

timrodresized: What’s really stupid is that it’s entirely possible that Joker is Makoto’s boyfriend when this cutscene happens.

timrodresized: This ability is more about seeing enemy skills than it is about item drops - there’s no steal mechanic in this game the way there is in Final Fantasy.

Makoto: “I’d like to go there as well. No! N-Not for my own purposes… to tell you the truth, I recently got a report that one of our students was spotted there… I’m skeptical, but… I’d like to confirm firsthand for myself.”

timrodresized: We haven’t been doing his confidant, but Mishima is now located in Shinjuku at night. Because of course he is.

Makoto: “Well, it’s getting late. Let’s head home.”

Makoto: “It’s always hard for me to come to places like this on my own, so you’ve been a big help. I’ve had all kinds of new experiences today… and it’s even been a little fun.”

Makoto: “Yeah, thanks. I feel a lot better with you helping me through this.”

Makoto: “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you. Careful on your way home. I’ll call you later.”

timrodresized: Tonight’s a special night in that it’s one of the few nights where there’s a follow-up with a Persona 4 character on TV.

timrodresized: This is another way that we know Persona 5 takes place in 2016. Rise actually just turned 21 - her birthday is June 1st, 1995.

timrodresized: Tonight’s another Kawakami night.

timrodresized: Joker’s like “Oh my god, I cured horny!”

Becky: “…My boss found me a part-time job that pays better than this one.”

Becky: “Takase-kun’s guardians keep increasing their demands… so this is just what I have to do.”

Becky: “What I want…? Takase-kun’s guardians say the only true way to apologize to Takase-kun is by paying them. If that’s not true, then what’s the right thing to do here…?”

Becky: “I wonder if I can escape all this if I quit being a teacher. People like me have no right being a teacher. If I quit on my own, I won’t have to pay them…”

Becky: “That’s why I’m going to quit both my teaching job and my maid job… what do you think?”

timrodresized: What he’s thinking is “I wonder if the whole maid outfit thing is part of the cure for horny. Does she get an employee discount on those? I’m gonna need a few. Do they make them small enough to fit a cat?”

Becky: “That’s what I decided… but did I really decide it on my own…? Now that I think about it, it’s too late for me to stop being a teacher. If I really felt bad for what happened, I would’ve resigned the day he died.”

Becky: “And yet, I still felt the need to teach… I wonder why I feel that way even now.”

timrodresized: Basically, Kawakami is slowly warping into Ms. Saeko.

Becky: “…Kurusu-kun. Oh, that’s right… I decided the way to apologize to him was to make sure there won’t ever be another student like him.”

Becky: “Because I might’ve been able to save him if I hadn’t been afraid of rumors or labels back then. I wanted to become a teacher who takes care of her students. That’s the mindset I had!”

Becky: “But now, I spend all my free time at part-time jobs, just so I can continue working as a teacher. I put the critical work of a teacher on the back burner, so I could make ‘apology’ money.”

Becky: “That’s where it all went wrong… I can’t make things right with Takase-kun like this…”

timrodresized: I mean, unless we’re talking anime. Anime’s one of those mistakes that I don’t think you can fix.

Becky: “I’ll be the teacher I aspire to be… that’s the right way for me to make amends to Takase-kun. From here on, I refuse to pay them any more money!”

Becky: “And that is my answer! …Well, what do you think?”

Becky: “You can’t get the right answer from someone else. It can only be found from within. …I learned that from you. In a way, you’re MY teacher. …Haha, just kidding.”

timrodresized: On our next visit (on 7/8) we’ll be hitting Rank 9 with Kawakami, which opens up the option to date her. Naturally, I’ll be showing off both versions of her Rank 9 and Rank 10 cutscene.

timrodresized: There’s something I want to explain about dating in this game. I’ll talk about that when we get to the phone call.

Becky: “Especially to you. I averted my eyes from you because you were labeled, just like Takase-kun was… but from now on, I’m going to protect you to. As your teacher, I will never betray you.”

Becky: “Leave it to me! I can be decisive when it counts! I’ll speak with the Takases. I’m not going to run anymore. Everything should be fine as long as I talk to them face to face.”

Becky: “All right, it’s time for me to go. Thank you. See you later.”

timrodresized: Okay, so about the dating thing. Earlier in the LP, I had mentioned the possibility of having a vote to determine who “Straight Joker” winds up dating. As it turns out, that’s unnecessary.

timrodresized: The reason is that there’s actually no penalty whatsoever for dating multiple people at once, just like in real life. This is how we’re going to be able to see all the Valentine’s/White Day cutscenes.

timrodresized: While the canon route is that Joker is gay and dating Yusuke, behind the scenes I’m actually going to be dating everyone at once in what I call the “Reverse Lisa Silverman” technique.

Becky: “Oh, wait… I was supposed to stop working as Becky by today.”

timrodresized: I like to think that one of the writers was reviewing the script and just goes “Uh, boss? All the phone calls with Kawakami kind of make no sense.” and the boss going “Fuck it, just go with it.”

Becky: “…To be honest, I always kind of knew in my heart I couldn’t go on like this forever. But I felt so stuck facing it alone. It’s thanks to you that I actually figured out what I need to do.”

Becky: “Come on… you realize you can’t feed me lines like that anymore. …But I haven’t given you any proper appreciation yet, so… thank you, really.”

timrodresized: We get some free time, so let’s read a book.

timrodresized: Yes. From what I remember, this reduces all but a handful of books to one reading session, meaning we can now optimize stat gains from any day where we get a seat on the train.

Kawakami: “I told them… that I’m not going to pay them any more money! I’m quitting my part-time job too! Although I’m still in talks with my boss about it.”

Kawakami: “I’m going to devote myself to being a great teacher! No matter what others say, I won’t waver. So, thank you for giving me such good advice. I just thought you should be the first to know…”

Kawakami: “It’s what I decided, for Takase-kun’s sake. I’m going to make sure there won’t be any more students like him, who…”

Kawakami: “I’m not going to run or hide! I’m going to spend my time taking care of my students.”

timrodresized: I wish the writers had come up with slightly less… I dunno, stupid situations for their characters to be in.

timrodresized: Like, hear me out here. What if the case was that Takase killed himself and the guardians blame Kawakami for it, even though she reported it?

timrodresized: The guardians spread this rumor about Kawakami being a “death teacher” who drove a kid to suicide, and the only place she could find a job is Shujin due to the principal being evil. He pays her a rock-bottom salary knowing she’ll never be able to find another teaching job.

timrodresized: Kawakami can’t sue them because she has no money and has no way of proving that the guardians are behind the rumor, and she has to take the maid job just to survive because it’s about the only place that’ll hire her outside of Shujin.

timrodresized: Oh look, I’ve just written a somewhat more believable scenario that keeps the same story elements but doesn’t make Kawakami look like a complete idiot.

Kawakami: “I’ve decided that that’s the best apology I can make to Takase-kun. Paying money to you two is not the solution, to say the least!”

timrodresized: I’m pretty sure the use of the term “sex worker” here exists only because the English language doesn’t really have a way to describe what Kawakami does. I explained this in a post a while back.

timrodresized: I think it would’ve been more responsible to just have him say “About your little stint in fuzoku” and then explain what that term means for the people not playing in Japanese.

Kawakami: “Stop… please.”

Kawakami: “Haha… I guess I can’t quit my part-time job just yet.”

Kawakami: “I know! But what am I supposed to do…? … What about the Phantom Thieves…? Would they even help someone like me? No, that’s impossible. Haha…”

Kawakami: “I can’t do this anymore…”

Kawakami: “Haha, I could never forget them. I send them money every week… wait, why? You don’t intend on doing something, do you?”

Kawakami: “Please don’t. A Shujin teacher asking the Phantom Thieves for help would be… I’m sorry. I was so excited to tell you what I had decided… and then it ended up like this… just forget everything, okay?”

Kawakami: “…I guess I’ll never be able to change. Y-yeah, haha… Class is about to start… I need to go.”

timrodresized: And now we’ve got all but one of the Mementos requests we need to go back in there. The last one is Chihaya’s.

timrodresized: We then trade in Speed Reading for Zorro, the Outlaw.

Yusuke: “I am in your debt. It would be rather difficult to go by myself. Now then, our destination is Inokashira Park. Let us go.”

timrodresized: Right after I finish this update, I’m going to post the first Gay Yusuke Route update, which takes place at the same time and in the same place as this event. It will attempt to show this event from Yusuke’s perspective.

timrodresized: Joker is, of course, doing this just to see what Yusuke’s reaction is. His boyfriend is already in the boat with him, after all.

Yusuke: “I have missed the opportunity for a truly wonderful subject… that aside, I must thank you for your help today. This is the ideal location for my next motif.”

Yusuke: “Perfect… this is it. My previous painting captured only one aspect of the heart: desire. As such, I was unable to arrive at a truly authentic representation…”

Yusuke: “That is why we have come today. I shall paint a second aspect… the burning passion between man and woman! Fittingly, our theme today will be… the wonders of love!”

Yusuke: “You too will have an important role here. While I draw, ensure the boat remains as steady as possible amid these devilish ripples.”

Yusuke: “They are akin to Adam and Eve… yet in time all lovers must come to know the pain of separation… separation is the natural end to any such relationship… but even beyond that, love endures.”

Yusuke: “Precisely… this is the truth of the human heart! It will make the most wonderful painting! It shall be adored by all who gaze upon it! It may even be given top prize in the next exhibition!”

Yusuke: “Wait, now is not the time to be thinking of such trivial matters!”

Yusuke: “I must capture your profile!”

Yusuke: “Rejoice, for I shall preserve your beautiful love so that all coming generations may bask in its glory. Once I complete this painting, you will become new legends in the art world… a modern Adam and Eve!”

Yusuke: “A man and a woman intimately swaying in a dinghy of dreams… the blush of their cheeks, the bashful looks… yes, this is the love I was so emphatically searching for!”

Yusuke: “Familial…? So that overflowing passion was just a figment of my imagination? It seems my bias has caused me to overlook the truth of the matter…”

Yusuke: “Love is a broad, multi-faceted beast… this only serves to prove how narrow my perspective can be. Hm, romantic love and familial love… the two may be nigh indiscernible depending on one’s point of view.”

Yusuke: “Perhaps… the truth of the heart lies in the eye of the beholder. Akira, I feel as though I’ve learned something today!”

timrodresized: Oh wow! We’ll have to check the Cutscene Viewer as soon as this update is over.

timrodresized: Joker just looks at them and nods. They’re SO CLOSE to getting it.

timrodresized: This cutscene is so close to being the start of a gay romance route as-is that I have to wonder if they had planned one and scrapped it.

timrodresized: Just recently, there was a group who delved through the code for Persona 4 Golden and found out there was supposed to be a gay route with Yosuke, which was cut before release but I believe had the script still in the game.

Yusuke: “What are you talking about? Ah well… come, it is about time we return home. Please row us back to shore, Akira.”

Yusuke: “It would seem I understand nothing of love after all. Though I’ve progressed by one step, there is no doubt I will face many difficulties moving forward.”

Yusuke: “When will I fully understand the heart? Even if I ever do understand it, will I truly be able to draw it…?”

Yusuke: “You’re right. I’ve no intention whatsoever of giving up. I will do everything in my power to get past this. Anyhow, today was a significant use of time. Impressive oarsmanship from your end, as well.”

timrodresized: Tonight, we have to buy the stone that we could’ve bought last time, but the game wouldn’t let us.

Chihaya: “I remember you… you had a very abnormal destiny, as I recall. Please, take a seat.”

Morgana: “For that much, it’d better not only change your fate, but also give you incredible luck. If you do end up buying one, we should go home and test it out.”

timrodresized: Translation: Buying the stone takes time because Chihaya’s confidant is not exactly the best from a design perspective.

timrodresized: The Holy Stone is an accessory, and I forget what it does. We have no reason to equip it. Also, that’s 100,000 yen down the drain.

Chihaya: “It’s the smart thing to do, considering this is the only way to avoid misfortune. It’s already charged with a happiness aura, so you’ll feel the effects right away. Don’t forget to recharge it with moonlight every three days.”

timrodresized: Gotta activate those almonds every three days now.

Chihaya: “Please stop by again and let me know how your fate changed. Goodbye…”

Sojiro: “I was just about to close up shop, but I forgot to turn the stove off. I guess you start forgetting things more the older you get…”

Morgana: “Last time we went to that fortune teller, the chief won the lottery… I wonder what kind of luck we’ll have this time around.”

timrodresized: We just wasted a hundred thousand yen on a broken magic stone. You have no idea how mad I was when I played the base game and got to this part, because money in the base game was much harder to come by.

Sojiro: “Hey, do you mind looking over the shop while I-”

Morgana: “Th-The stone shattered!”

timrodresized: Clearly, this is Morgana’s fault for overcharging the crystal with his thirst for human women.

Sojiro: “What’s gotten into you?”

Morgana: “Huh? This tastes… salty! Hey, the Holy Stone is just salt!”

Sojiro: “…Akira? What’s going on?”

Sojiro: “You’re salty? That reminds me, I was just about to head out and grab some salt for the shop. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Morgana: “Hm… I think this is technically rock salt. I’ve seen the chief grinding some up before. Wait, in that case… maybe the Holy Stone is supposed to help you get better at cooking!”

timrodresized: I had one of those salt lamps before - not because I thought it had any health benefits but just because. Turns out, those melt all over the goddamn place when it gets humid out.

timrodresized: Ruined the shelf I had it on, which was just a cheap collapsible bookshelf I didn’t pay anything for. That salt does NOT come off once it sticks to something.

timrodresized: Look Morgana, you broke it with your goddamn horny and now you’ve got to replace it.

Morgana: “B-But, um… maybe if your cooking improves, your fate will change just like she said it would… … I guess it really doesn’t make any sense, huh…”

Morgana: “So, that Holy Stone was really just a phony in the end! That fortune teller’s name was Chihaya, right? She clearly has some kind of mystical power… but this is just unacceptable.”

Morgana: “…We need to go complain to her!”

timrodresized: We get an invitation from Ryuji to go to Ichigaya, which I don’t believe we’d get if we were on the reload-heavy 100% route because we’d already be done with Ryuji’s confidant.

timrodresized: Even on the route I’m using, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to do it, because we don’t really need the confidant points.

timrodresized: I’ve seen one of these before on Game Center CX - I forget which episode it is, but there’s one where Arino goes to a fishing pond like this.

timrodresized: It’s a bit too artificial for my taste - the ponds are totally man-made and the fish are stocked.

Ryuji: “…Hey, doesn’t meetin’ in a place like this look like we’re talkin’ some shady business? I like it.”

Ryuji: “Like, ‘we’re regular high school students durin’ the day. But at night…’ you know what I mean!? Man, this is gettin’ me pumped up!”

Ryuji: “…Oh crap, she’s comin’ this way.”

Kawakami: “Why are you sitting around like old men? Why don’t you go out and do something more exciting?”

Ryuji: “Wha- Look who’s talkin’!”

Kawakami: sigh “Adults need time to themselves to unwind and clear their thoughts. You’ll understand soon enough, when you start working in the real world.”

Ryuji: “Wow… soundin’ real old there, Kawakami.”

Kawakami: “That’s MS. Kawakami to you!”

timrodresized: Seriously, you’d think that Atlus would tone down the whole honorific thing given that they knew they were going to exporting the game and that these lines wouldn’t translate well.

timrodresized: I just realized that Kawakami is wearing a jacket in the middle of July. It’s not like this scene can happen in the winter - this is the one day it’s scripted to occur.

timrodresized: I have to wonder when Smash Ultimate takes place in the Persona 5 timeline, because I’m just picturing Joker and Ryuji giving each other a thousand-yard stare and reminding each other of their shared secret - they both know Donkey Kong is real but can never tell anyone.

timrodresized: Joker once asked Donkey Kong if Lanky Kong was real, and DK’s only response was “It’s better if you don’t know,” communicated entirely through a mashup of the DK Rap.

Ryuji: “I see. So when you get jaded like Kawakami, you’ll just naturally attract fish… uhh, I don’t think that’s right.”

Kawakami: “It’s a nice, sunny Sunday. I didn’t think I’d be stuck fishing with you two on my day off. sigh Two troublemakers, and their no-good teacher… I guess we’re perfect for each other.”

Ryuji: “She keeps on gettin’ fish even as she nags… I’m impressed!”

timrodresized: None of these points matter. Kawakami will automatically reach Rank 9 once we complete the Mementos request, and from there will automatically reach Rank 10 without any input from us.

timrodresized: And I bet you thought I forgot to grip and sip. We had to wait until the night period because we had to accept Ryuji’s invitation last night.

timrodresized: Some sip to remember, some sip to forget the time they were leaving Final Destination and overheard Diddy Kong asking Donkey Kong if Lanky was actually dead, to which DK replied “We checked the grave but it was empty”, again using a mashup of the DK Rap.

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “I, Toranosuke Yoshida, will someday find a way to address your concerns in Nagata-cho… oh, Kurusu-kun. How’s your schoolwork?”

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “By the way, what’s your opinion about our current government? I feel that they’re wrong, so I plan on addressing that during my speech.”

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “I’d like you to listen to it, so you can give me your honest opinion.”

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “However, the current administration refuses to discuss their plans for the future… can we really accept such an utter lack of transparency?”

timrodresized: The game doesn’t say it outright yet, but Shido is the bald Hideki Kamiya-looking guy who showed up in Joker’s flashbacks and again on the TV in the SIU Director’s office.

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “So he’s claiming those who have made mistakes in the past shouldn’t get a second chance? What can I say to that?”

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “…Yes, I am ‘No-Good Tora’ and I have made mistakes. Yes, I am unpopular and powerless. But that has nothing to do with my arguments! These are things I learned from all my hardships.”

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “You can ridicule me all you want, but I will continue to oppose what is wrong with this world!”

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “The highlight, though, was your yelling.”

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “That’s very promising. But don’t overdo it. You should avoid making enemies whenever possible. …Okay, that is all for today.”

timrodresized: This guy turning completely around after one speech is giving me flashbacks to Ni no Kuni 2.

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “Please wait! Thank you! …That is all I wanted to say.”

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “I learned something from your dauntless spirit today. I have a bad habit of getting flustered whenever someone calls me No-Good Tora.”

timrodresized: We know. You’ve said so already.

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “But you see me as someone of value, so I refuse to cower to criticism in front of you. Today you taught me that I must have more confidence in my arguments.”

timrodresized: No new abilities this rank, but that’s fine - we already have the best abilities Yoshida can give us. The rest are all very situational or only good if you’re not grinding at all.

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “My way of thinking changes when I’m with you. Perhaps it’s the influence of your youthful spirit. Ah, my apologies. It seems we’re out of time.”

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “Thanks to you, I’ve remembered something very important. Now that I think about it, ever since the scandal… I’ve felt alone and helpless. Like the whole world was against me.”

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “Perhaps I got too used to the constant judging and critique, but… I realized I’d overlooked something crucial. I’d forgotten the people who support me… and how encouraging it feels simply to be in their presence.”

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “Perhaps it seems too obvious, or too trite, but… I hope you remember to cherish that, too.”

P5_portrait_of_Toranosuke_Yoshida: “Good. I’m glad to hear it. I will engrave it into my heart. I can’t let myself forget it again. Well, I’ll be counting on you for my next speech, too. See you soon, Kurusu-kun.”

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll see ANOTHER More Like Yusu-Gay scene, get Chihaya’s Mementos request, and then go into Mementos in as painless a way as possible. Right after this update, I’ll be working on the first More Like Yusu-Gay.

Summary

timrodresized: Welcome to the first More Like Yusu-Gay cutscene. I apologize in advance.

Yusuke: Wonderful. With his assistance, I’ll surely overcome this slump!

Joker: “It’s so… peaceful here. I should bring a girl here sometime.”

Surprised What!? That’s impossible! He hasn’t shown any interest in Takamaki or Makoto…

Surprised “Girl…? Does that mean you have a girlfriend!? You should have mentioned sooner!”

Joker: “As if. For such a big city, there’s no girls here that interest me. I mean, Makoto? Come on, she’d make me file a form just to ask her to dinner.”

Smiling: “That doesn’t seem to have stopped Morgana. Have you told him about Takamaki-san and Suzui-san yet?”

Joker: “He wouldn’t listen if I told him. He’s still convinced he’s going to sweep her right off her feet.”

Saddened: “That aside, I must thank you for your help today. This is the ideal location for my next motif.”

Yusuke: “Perfect… this is it.”

Yusuke: Perfect for someone else, maybe. They look like they’re falling asleep.

Joker: “?”

Yusuke: “My previous painting captured only one aspect of the heart: desire. As such, I was unable to arrive at a truly authentic representation…”

Smiling: “That’s why we have come today. I shall paint a second aspect… the burning passion between two lovers!”

Yusuke: If I can find any, that is…

Smiling: “Fittingly, our theme today will be… the wonders of love!”

timrodresized: You know, when we saw this cutscene from Joker’s perspective, we never saw what it was that Yusuke was drawing. I wonder if this alternate cutscene will clear that up?

timrodresized: Oh… maybe he did find love after all, just not where he thought he would.

Yusuke: This whole time, I’ve always felt… different… around him. Like I could be myself. And now, I think I understand what that is.

Yusuke: I think I’m in love.

timrodresized: Anyway, the rest of the cutscene is very similar to the base one: Joker starts turning a bit and Yusuke calls out, attracting the attention of the people in the other boat.

timrodresized: There’s an animation here I couldn’t capture properly where Joker reaches out for just a second and puts his hand on top of Yusuke’s.

timrodresized: He still denies it at the end though.

Shuujin Academy, not to be confused with Shujin Academy (Protagonist Academy).

A screenshot LP of a book is called a chapter snark and I think it was semi-popular on blogs in the past. A video LP of a book is called a vlog, but really long.

Click Here for Update 39

timrodresized: This update was a lot of fun to record, because I managed to finally snap the game in two. Any semblance of balance will be pretty much out the window after this.

timrodresized: We have a seat on the train, and now we can really start abusing speed reading. The only annoying part is that this message will now pop up any time we try to read a book.

timrodresized: It’s also kind of confusing that they didn’t change the menu to reflect the new reading speed, but we’ll be finishing Ghost Encounters on this same time slot.

timrodresized: Did they get EMF 5? Freezing temperatures? Ghost orb?

Morgana: “Whoa, why are you reading that? Whatever you do, just… don’t read it out loud, okay?”

Morgana: “So, you’ve finished reading Ghost Encounters. Ah, these stories are way too spooky for me. Don’t talk to me about any of them, okay?”

timrodresized: For this, we get five points in Guts. This is about the highest stat gain we can get in one time period without using Chihaya.

Chouno: “The humidity is what kills me about Japanese summers. I miss the dry heat of California. Not to mention, July and August both have thirty-one days. Summer is long…”

Chouno: “Now then, Mr. Kurusu! Two people are responsible for July and August having 31 days. Do you know who these people are?”

Chouno: “Great! That’s right. You may already know this, but the months of July and August are named after the Roman emperors Julius and Augustus. Augustus named a month after himself, just like Julius.”

Chouno: “However, he felt like he would be losing if his month was shorter than Julius’s, so he added a day. It’s a mystery why men are so stubborn and prideful over silly things like this.”

Chouno: “Well, as far as you’re all concerned, you’re just lucky to get a long vacation. They start on the 13th of next week. Don’t forget, okay?”

timrodresized: She’s talking about exams, which… I don’t quite understand how you’re supposed to infer that from what she just said.

Morgana: “Next Wednesday, huh? You’d better make sure you study.”

Yusuke: “After our enlightening session, I once again attempted to paint. However, nothing I put on the canvas was to my satisfaction… before the gods of art, I am naught but a lost sheep…”

Yusuke: “Ah yes, lost sheep! I have come here with you for precisely that reason. Our theme today shall be anguish! I shall paint the anguish Christ felt as he bore the sins of mankind!”

timrodresized: And then Yusuke was the Demiurge.

Yusuke: “Hm, I have seen various sculptures and paintings on the matter… but merely replicating them will not do. Would any believers be willing to model and help me capture the true essence of anguish?”

Yusuke: “It seems not. Very well. Akira, you will have to be my model today.”

timrodresized: Joker immediately grabs the air horn. No boyfriend of his is going to be horny.

Yusuke: “Only a subject naked as they day they were born can convey the true anguish of birth! Now then… strip! Take it all-”

Yusuke: “Actually, perhaps not. Being found stark-naked in a church would be even bigger news than the Phantom Thieves.”

Yusuke: “Hm, I see… so this would be… no, perhaps… it seems this is not working. I would like to capture anguish, yet you remain calm and composed.”

Yusuke: “Even the slightest wrinkle can change one’s impression of things… I shall not compromise, even for this sketch!”

Yusuke: “Now, raise your hands higher! More… give me more anguish! Bring it to its upper limits! Like this!”

timrodresized: I remember the part in the Bible where Jesus started Jojo posing.

Yusuke: “I understand now… this is the true anguish of the Passion! It feels as though something is boiling up within me!”

timrodresized: Oh great, now they’re gonna have to explain anime to a priest.

Yusuke: “Ah, well… this is an art study…”

Yusuke: “I am attempting to paint anguish, so I decided to use the crucifixion of Christ as a point of reference…”

timrodresized: If you wanted to see anguish, all you had to do was look at me when I learned about the 1.25 patch for YIIK.

timrodresized: What’s kind of funny about this is that if you have the DLC for it, you can get Jesus as a Persona. You probably wouldn’t have him for this scene given that he’s level 81.

timrodresized: The thing that sucks is that Jesus (or Messiah) is one of the only sources of a skill that boosts Almighty damage. The others are also DLC-only.

Yusuke: “Resurrection? Forgiveness? I’m not sure I understand… those ideas are contradictory to my conception of anguish.”

timrodresized: Kind of ironic, given that two of the protagonists in this series (Tatsuya and the Persona 3 MC) are both in states of eternal anguish that are not likely to ever get better.

Yusuke: “So those shocking depictions were actually meant to represent forgiveness, not pain… hm, hope from anguish… I’m not sure I understand.”

Yusuke: “I must learn more about the hearts of men… Akira… do you think I will be able to capture the truth someday?”

Yusuke: “…Indeed. If I do not have belief in my own abilities, I will never come to accomplish anything. Hm… this is exceedingly strange though. Spending time with you has helped me discover new aspects of myself…”

Yusuke: “You are perhaps… a mirror of sorts. If there is anything I can do in return, please let me know… I wish to repay your kindness.”

timrodresized: This ability here was basically useless in the base game, but in Royal we will be getting some mileage out of it… specifically once Yusuke unlocks the ability to make skill cards instantly.

Yusuke: “Let us return home for today. I bid you farewell.”

Yusuke: “The crucifixion supposedly symbolizes resurrection, forgiveness, and hope… but I could not grasp those connections.”

Yusuke: “Once again, I made the same mistake of picking up on only the superficial meaning. The more I think about it… the further I seem to be from understanding the abyss of the heart.”

Yusuke: “Ah, so my anguish is what leads me to my hope… it’s exactly what I learned earlier today. Thank you, Akira. Perhaps what I need is a change of perspective.”

Yusuke: “I still have a tough road ahead, but talking to you gave me some relief. I’m truly fortunate to have you by my side. I’ll see you later.”

timrodresized: Kaneshiro already admitted to Makoto that he deleted the photos.

Chihaya: “I suggest you break up with him. Things are only going to get worse at this rate.”

Chihaya: “Let us ask the tarot. O divine power, shed light upon her fate…”

Chihaya: “Yes, I’ve seen everything. Hm… I can sense a dark presence within your boyfriend. His heart seems to be possessed by a demon.”

timrodresized: Silly Chihaya, no one in the Persona universe has been possessed by a demon. That’s a main SMT series thing.

timrodresized: Come to think of it, demonic possession isn’t even really a thing in SMT. Most of the time it’s either a demon in disguise (Thorman, Lucifer, Demiurge) or someone fusing themself with a demon.

Chihaya: “This demon may hide itself away at times, but when it strikes, it will bring with it great misery.”

Chihaya: “You will be hospitalized for severe injuries suffered in a domestic abuse incident, and he will be arrested.”

Chihaya: “Wh-what? You want another?”

timrodresized: Clearly the only treatment for an abusive partner is more activated almonds. Makes sense.

timrodresized: Whoa, hold the fucking phone there. You’re telling me we could’ve paid in installments and then just stopped paying when we found out it was rock salt?

Chihaya: “Um, truthfully, I feel breaking up with him would be the best-”

Morgana: “She really thinks her boyfriend will stop being abusive as long as she has a Holy Stone? There’s no way that could be true… right?”

Morgana: “Right. It would make our jobs way easier if you could really change someone’s heart with a Holy Stone. It’s clear that Chihaya has some fortune telling skills, but that stone isn’t going to do anything…”

Morgana: “Hey, Akira! Why don’t we change that ‘Yuya’ guy’s heart ourselves? I mean, he’s hurting this woman here, right? This is the perfect chance for the Phantom Thieves to save her!”

Chihaya: “You see, some fates in this world are simply inescapable. The demon within your boyfriend’s heart… cannot be exorcised by normal human methodologies. Fate is… absolute.”

timrodresized: Some fates like me breaking the game the next time we go to Mementos.

Chihaya: “A-Although, I guess you might be able to control the demon’s temper if you bought another Holy Stone…”

Chihaya: “Y-Yes! What do you expect to change with that meager information?”

timrodresized: First he’s going to wait for this lady to die, and then he’s going to go back five minutes before her death and use a series of “ghost tricks” to change fate.

Chihaya: “What? You honestly believe you can do something!?”

Chihaya: “What!? You! What do you think you’re doing!? If you keep on making false accusations like that, the divine power will rain punishment down upon you!”

timrodresized: Which one? I’m pretty sure most of them have been devil busted by this point, apart from maybe YHVH if you consider him to be a different entity than the Demiurge.

Chihaya: “Hm, I’ve seen everything. A vision of you groveling on the ground… fate cannot be changed… and I will prove that fact to you!”

Chihaya: “If that woman stays with her abusive boyfriend, she will meet a horrible injury within a year’s time. Now, if you honestly believe you can change her destiny, go ahead and try!”

timrodresized: So what you’re saying is we can’t save her from her Bloody Destiny? From the night beast grabbing her right arm?

Chihaya: “But once you realize the error in your thinking, come back and let a true expert handle things. I will save her… with a Holy Stone!”

timrodresized: I never said Chihaya’s confidant was particularly well-written or that she’s a particularly interesting character, it’s just that her confidant perks are a necessity for 100%.

timrodresized: And here’s the last Mementos request we need. We’ll be going in on the 6th. This time, I’m going to truncate a lot of it except for the boss fights and any dialog related to those.

timrodresized: Unfortunately, just obtaining the Mementos request takes time, and now it’s the 5th. By the way, I looked at the other LP of this and I’m still almost two months ahead despite only starting 9 days earlier.

timrodresized: We get a reminder from Yusuke to go to Mementos.

timrodresized: I have to wonder if the “Club Ruby” sign (the one right above Joker’s head) is meant to be a reference to the Yakuza games. There’s a hostess club in Kamurocho called Jewel.

Makoto: “Apparently this place was a hotbed for criminals and illegal immigrants before they installed surveillance cameras… I heard there were quite a few brothels as well.”

timrodresized: Uh, Makoto? The proper term is “undocumented”.

timrodresized: Joker’s ignoring her and looking around to see if he can find the secret hobo casino, or the underground fighting arena.

Makoto: “Well, I heard a great deal about it from my father… this is the first time I’ve actually been here myself though. Regardless, it’s become far safer now than it used to be.”

Makoto: “Of course, the surveillance cameras played a substantial role in that… but it was mainly thanks to the police efforts to clean up the area.”

Makoto: “Even so, there’s no way to eradicate crime entirely. It seems the operations nowadays are only better hidden… anyway, seeing is believing, yes? Come on, let’s have a look around.”

Makoto: “That guy was so persistent… he must have been a scout for a hostess club. He mentioned how ‘his girls’ get paid a lot to wear cute dresses…”

Makoto: “All I wanted was to ask if any Shujin students worked there… but he nearly dragged me inside with him. If you hadn’t been there to rescue me, I…”

Makoto: “For him maybe. I thought I was going to have to knock him out… I’m glad nobody had to get hurt though. Hm, I guess that’s how they do it… I’ve learned something new today.”

Makoto: “Oh, and thanks again. It seems you have a knack for helping me out. I hope I can do the same for you someday.”

Makoto: “That aside… even though this is a shopping district, there are absolutely no students around here. And definitely no Shujin students… though I guess they wouldn’t come in uniform either way.”

Makoto: “That was… I used to be in the same class as her! But why is she here…?”

timrodresized: “Do they do horny things there, because I think I need to refill my air horn before we go in if they do.”

Makoto: “I’m not sure… but it seems suspicious. I’ll have to ask her about it. Oh, and I’d like you to be there too, as my witness. Would that be okay?”

Makoto: “Well, we’ve spent quite a bit of time here. Let’s head back to the station. Thank you for today.”

Makoto: “That was the first time I’ve ever had to deal with a barker. I didn’t know they could be that persistent… today was exhausting, but I also learned a lot. I guess nothing beats practical experience.”

Makoto: “Honestly, I’ve realized I can’t solve these problems on my own. It took what happened today to make that clear.”

timrodresized: Tonight, we’re going to do an outing with Caroline and Justine. We owe them that much after how much I’m going to be abusing the shit out of the Velvet Room.

Justine: “Listen closely: the place we wish to evaluate for your rehabilitation is… where one hones both the body and spirit.”

Caroline: “Trainees gather there to test and push their limits using various pieces of equipment.”

Justine: “I had not expected a rehabilitation facility on this side… as wardens, we must see such training for ourselves. Does such a location sound familiar to you?”

Caroline: “So, what’ll it be?”

Caroline: “So you do have an idea of where it is! Then today, you’re getting a special training regimen!”

Justine: “If you don’t keep up the pace, you will die. Now, take us there at once.”

timrodresized: I was kind of surprised they modeled the gym from multiple angles, and then I remembered you can go there at night to get extra max HP. It’s pointless.

Caroline: “This is what you use to train? It’s rather different from how I imagined it…”

Justine: “Indeed. I imagined the equipment here as having more spikes and chains…”

Caroline: “…That’s a bench? Then show us how it works!”

Justine: “By lifting the weight, you strengthen your arm and chest muscles.”

Caroline: “But that isn’t nearly enough for a real workout - you should increase the weight.”

Justine: “We’re deadly serious right now. I’m insulted you would think otherwise.”

Caroline: “Well, it appears we’ve found the limit for your pathetic arms. Now, what’s that over there? Another body training device?”

Justine: “Demonstrate its use for us.”

Justine: “What a fascinating contraption. Perhaps we should bring one to our room?”

Caroline: “We could force the imprisoned Personas to run on it. chuckle Not a bad idea…”

timrodresized: This is actually an ability they give you if you advance their confidant: you get Persona 5’s equivalent of the Pokemon Daycare. It’s mostly useful if you’re doing an Arsene-only challenge run or need to level up a Persona that’s too low-level to be usable.

timrodresized: And now Joker has been Yamcha’d.

Justine: “Out of breath already? You still have quite a ways to go.”

Caroline: “All right, on to the next one!”

Justine: “Is that yet another tool for training?”

timrodresized: I’m kind of curious as to why a gym has a training tool specifically for kung fu in it. Maybe it’s a Japanese thing.

timrodresized: I also don’t quite understand… I think the way these things are made, they’re supposed to move when you hit them to simulate the resistance of a body against your strikes, but it doesn’t look like that’s the case here.

timrodresized: Then again, I’m not even sure how real these things are. You can buy them, but I know that kung fu is one of those things where there’s a real martial art and then there’s all the weird jangly key man shit that kinda rides on top of that.

Justine: “Were we to try, it would be obliterated almost immediately.”

Caroline: “You weren’t trying to destroy it? So, the real purpose is to polish your technique… that’s a pretty roundabout method, but I do see how it works.”

Caroline: “As far as physical training goes, this place leaves much to be desired…”

Justine: “But it is admittedly sufficient for your rehabilitation. Here is your reward.”

timrodresized: Both of the skills these cards teach are useless, but there is a way to make use of them - I’ll show that off tomorrow.

timrodresized: Today, we break the game.

timrodresized: We get a glorified alert to go visit Hifumi. We’ll do that in the next update.

timrodresized: We get a free reading period before we go to Mementos, so let’s use that.

timrodresized: Speaking of which, this update bought to you by some real-life Kawakami who managed to permafuck the servers at work.

Morgana: “Make sure you pay extra-close attention to how totally awesome Zorro is.”

Morgana: “So, you’ve finished reading Zorro, The Outlaw. Zorro was not only strong in mind and body, but he also cared for the common people.”

timrodresized: After about five minutes of plot recaps (which will be repeated when we reach the boss fights) we’re let into Mementos.

timrodresized: Seven requests. This time, I’m going to just show off the fights and skip the random dungeon bits. Why, you ask?

timrodresized: Because four of these seven requests take place in an area we’ve already been in - that being the Path of Aiyatsbus (which has enemies from way back in Kamoshida’s palace).

Skull: “Really? It seems the same to- hold up. It looks like the Nav’s reactin’ to something…”

Fox: “What’s this?”

Panther: “It sounds like we can go further down now. It’s because we made Madarame’s Palace disappear, right?”

Morgana: “Most likely… I think.”

Fox: “You seem rather uncertain. How far does this… Mementos run, anyway?”

Morgana: “Uh… It’s huge! Extremely.”

Skull: “You’re always so vague when it comes to the important stuff. It’s like he’s kinda flaky as our chief of operations. Don’t you want him to try a bit harder too?”

timrodresized: I will never pass up an opportunity to dunk on the cat.

Panther: “There, there…”

Fox: “I don’t fully understand, but Mementos and the Palaces are related to each other, correct? Then all we must do is continue changing the hearts of evildoers to ascertain its full expanse.”

Fox: “I don’t believe there’s a need to quarrel over it.”

timrodresized: Rain doesn’t do much as far as I know, apart from activate certain skills that only work when there’s a specific weather condition. Most of those have a second skill that makes them work regardless of weather.

timrodresized: I go and try Makoto’s ability…

timrodresized: As well as Ryuji’s instant win ability. To get this to work, you have to dash into a shadow rather than trying to ambush it (which will give you a normal fight).

timrodresized: After the second fight, I get a fusion alarm. It’s here I found out how alarm-related accidents work.

timrodresized: First, I fuse a Lamia. I don’t keep her, and she’s in the next dungeon so I’ll log her there.

timrodresized: Panta Rhei is fucking AMAZING, but I don’t wind up keeping it. The SP cost is simply too high - Joker’s only going to get a handful of them off before running out of SP.

timrodresized: I fuse again, and get Thunderbird. Ordinarily, we’d want this, as Thunderbird is a full four levels higher than Joker is and is very useful for returning - he gives you a skill card we’ll use to break things later. I’ll log him later, when we wind up keeping him.

timrodresized: For the record, I didn’t wind up keeping him.

timrodresized: When you get an accident in a fusion alarm, there’s a chance this happens. I showed it off earlier, but basically there’s a couple of “packages” you can get this way. This is one of them.

timrodresized: The boost skills increase damage of a particular element by 25%. There’s a better version called an amp (fire amp, ice amp, etc) that increases damage by 50% and STACKS WITH THE BOOST SKILL OF THE SAME TYPE.

timrodresized: Most end-game Personas are going to have a Boost, an Amp, and two other skills we don’t have yet. One of those we’ll be getting… now.

NEW PERSONA: Koppa Tengu

Origin: Japan

First Appearance: Nocturne

Human spirits who became tengu and had ignorant or cruel hearts. Usually serve as retainers to larger and more powerful tengu.

timrodresized: One thing I found out quickly is that the RNG for fusion is very hard to advance, so I dick around a bit until I get this. This is another “accident package” that’s all skills that regenerate HP and SP.

timrodresized: The important skill here is Life Aid. Life Aid is a skill that you cannot otherwise get until after level 50 and cannot be itemized into a skill card. It restores 8% HP and SP after each battle.

timrodresized: That’s pretty game-breaking… but that’s not enough.

NEW PERSONA: Fuu-Ki

Origin: Japan

First Appearance: Nocturne

Demon whose name literally means “Wind Oni”. Can harness powerful winds.

timrodresized: So let me explain what I did here. I fused the Koppa Tengu (after registering it, of course) into Fuu-ki using… I think it was the Eligor from our earlier fusion alarm.

timrodresized: Fuu-ki itemizes into a Wind Boost skill card, so what I did was register Fuu-ki and then itemize him into a card… then resummoned Fuu-ki and slapped the card on him.

timrodresized: So now we’ve got Life Aid, Garudyne, and Wind Boost on one Persona. How can we make this more overpowered?

timrodresized: Well, a bit later I get a second alarm. During an alarm, Fuu-ki returns a Wind Amp (it really whips the llama’s ass) skill card instead of Wind Boost. Now, are you thinking what I’m thinking?

timrodresized: Why yes, that is Garudyne with a built-in 75% extra damage plus Life Aid, thank you for asking. I could’ve made this better by keeping his normal trait (which boosts single-target skills by 20%) but I didn’t.

image

timrodresized: For reference, here’s Fuu-ki’s normal skill list. I think we came out on top here.

timrodresized: Here’s another fuck-up, where you can see one of the worst accident packages: all dodges. This is easily the most useless one, because none of these are worth having. Let’s see how our Fuu-ki does.

timrodresized: This first target is from before the second fusion alarm, so I had the Fuu-ki with Wind Boost and Life Aid but not Wind Amp (it really whips the llama’s ass) yet.

timrodresized: This is the guy from Kichijoji we heard about way back when we first visited.

Skull: “That’s the first thing out of his mouth… but it seems like this is the old guy who’s making trouble in Kichijoji!”

Fox: “…He’s certainly disturbed. Let’s end this, Joker!”

timrodresized: It’s just me, Gabe Newell. That’s G-A-B-E-N at valvesoftware dot com.

timrodresized: I get why they went with Koropokkuru, but that’s not exactly how a koropokkuru would behave. Anyway, this is Garudyne without Wind Amp. It’s doing ~260 damage to an enemy that isn’t weak to wind.

timrodresized: Ann finishes it off with a fire spell and an All-Out.

Fox: “An unfortunate consequence of isolation…”

Fox: “I’m certain that’s what your family wishes as well. And from now, on, instead of taking it out on others, you should communicate your needs directly to your family. Tell them that you’re lonely before it’s too late.”

Skull: “Look at 'im… thinks he’s some kinda hotshot.”

Panther: “He’s the guy who’s really behind all that bullying, right?”

Skull: “Yeah. If we wanna stop the bullying, we gotta take him down.”

Panther: “Let’s go.”

timrodresized: One thing you’ll notice is that Makoto won’t show up in any of these scenes. This is because technically, we could’ve done most of these requests before even going into Kaneshiro’s palace.

Skull: “No jerk’s got the right to go around, blackmailin’ people!”

timrodresized: This guy is the leader of a bullying ring that Mishima warned us about like a month ago.

Skull: “You gotta be kidding! You’re not strong, you’re just a coward who won’t get his hands dirty!”

timrodresized: Sakoda’s shadow is a Black Frost. In most of the games Black Frost is in, it’s usually a mid-level demon (or Persona) that resists both fire and ice and is usually a three-way fusion between a Jack Frost, a Pyro Jack, and a King Frost.

timrodresized: In Persona 5, Black Frost is level 67 (!) and is one of the only sources of the ultimate Ice spell: Diamond Dust. The version you can fuse also reflects Fire, but this one only resists it.

timrodresized: He’s a pretty solid Persona overall so long as you have a way of getting Ice Boost (he learns Ice Amp naturally or can inherit it from King Frost, but none of his ingredients naturally learn it) and Life Aid onto him to offset the insanely high SP cost of Diamond Dust (48 SP, 24 with his trait).

timrodresized: Since he resists fire, ice and nuke (the real deal repels fire, absorbs ice, and nulls nuke) I just have Ann and Yusuke gun him down.

Panther: “Why don’t you just admit you lost? You’re acting kind of pathetic right now.”

Skull: “All right. Now it’s time for you to get eaten. The strong eat the weak or somethin’, right? When I’m done with you, there’s gonna be nothin’ left but bone. You ready?”

timrodresized: Ryuji going full-on mainline SMT negotiation mode.

timrodresized: The Evil Snow Crystal is like the totem items from Persona 1 and 2 and allows us to fuse Black Frost, but doesn’t get consumed when we do.

timrodresized: Such natural-sounding dialog for teenagers in 2016.

timrodresized: There’s only one more target in Aiyatsbus, but I didn’t remember that they’re actually on the final level where it transitions to the next area.

timrodresized: One thing I wish they had done is just have the request bosses available from the get-go without needing to actually have the request, so we wouldn’t have to backtrack.

Skull: “She really seems like a sadist…”

Morgana: “She’s calling someone her slave and ordering him around, right?”

Fox: “In a way, she’s denying his existence. I certainly wouldn’t want to be a victim of that.”

Panther: “Let’s go talk to her.”

timrodresized: This is another Mementos request that was basically a Yakuza substory - in this case, the one from Yakuza 0 with Erranda, who you later recruited for the cabaret club.

Skull: “It’s 'cause you made some guy your slave! That’s all kinds of wrong right there.”

timrodresized: Ryuji’s line here sounds like an out-take from whatever voiceactor they pulled off the street to voice Richter Belmont in the original dub of Symphony of the Night.

Panther: “Uh… I don’t know where to begin to explain how you’re wrong.”

timrodresized: Joker and Yusuke are looking at each other, with the unspoken “The straights are at it again” floating in the air.

Fox: “You are so delusional.”

timrodresized: Oh no, a Yaksini. Whatever will we do.

Panther: “Why did you start treating him like that?”

timrodresized: Basically, we just ruined BDSM Night for everyone.

Panther: “More than friends? You mean like as a boyfriend!?”

timrodresized: I’m just imagining Yusuke saying “Actually it’s a sex thing” and Joker clapping his hand over Yusuke’s mouth to keep Ann from hearing it.

timrodresized: The Whip Sword is a small upgrade for Ann, which makes me question why I even bothered updating the party’s melee weapons.

timrodresized: Path of Chemdah is the area that opens up a few weeks after Madarame is down.

Morgana: “Looks like it’ll be a new area from here on. I’m starting to understand how this place works…”

Fox: “Yes… it is quite a marvel to find the subway system down here.”

Skull: “Uh, Earth to Yusuke! It’s always been like that!”

timrodresized: A couple of instantly won battles later, and we get our second fusion alarm this trip. Joker’s going to hit level 31 soon, so I’ll just explain what I did now rather than wait.

New Persona: Kurama Tengu

Origin: Japan

First Appearance: Nocturne

Tengu sub-species supposedly native to Mt. Kurama in Kyoto. They are said to be the most powerful of the tengu, and one is said to have personally taught Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune the art of swordsmanship.

image

timrodresized: Kurama Tengu is hot garbage. We’re not using him the way you’d think we would. Instead, we’re going to fuse him into…

New Persona: Anzu

Origin: Mesopotamia

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei II

Also known as Zu, the name under which it has appeared in the Final Fantasy series. Mesopotamian demon bird known for stealing a magical tablet with the power to control the universe from Enlil, the Mesopotamian god of the wind.

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timrodresized: Now this is more like it. Anzu’s trait decreases the SP cost of Garudyne to 5, and I’ll be passing that along to whatever I fuse him into. He also has Wind Break, which will make sure nothing resists the Garudyne spam.

timrodresized: You might ask why I did the fusion the way I did, and the answer is because it’s the path with the fewest fusions between Fuu-ki and Anzu.

Fox: “What an unpleasant smile.”

Morgana: “It’s his customer service smile, right? Yet behind the scenes, he’s extorting his subordinates.”

Skull: “This guy might start doin’ it to his customers, too. Who knows?”

Panther: “That would be a disaster! Let’s go!”

Skull: “Why’d you blackmail your own employees? That’s not normal!”

timrodresized: All I know is that at the company I work for, the only signs of intelligent life are in the departments that aren’t management.

Panther: “Property!? Who do you think you are!?”

timrodresized: Setanta here goes down extremely quickly. By this point, Fuu-ki has Wind Amp (it really whips the llama’s ass) and is doing something like 400 damage per Garudyne.

timrodresized: Why do I have the feeling this guy was one SMT-style apocalypse from being that guy from Dead Rising?

Skull: “Talk about a horrible workplace.”

Fox: “You’ve done quite a bit more, haven’t you? It’d be best if you just confess everything.”

timrodresized: I missed the item name in the shot, but it’s a book titled “Chinese Sweets”.

timrodresized: I’m… not sure how Yusuke gets that from the title of the book, but okay.

Panther: “The last floor had seven areas, but the one before that only had two, right?”

Fox: “I suppose it varies, depending upon the location…”

Skull: “Guess that means it ain’t easy to tell how much of a floor we got left to cover, huh?”

Morgana: “That’s right. We won’t know how many areas are on a floor until we make it to the end. But judging by the vibe I’m getting from the Shadows… this floor isn’t any smaller than the last.”

timrodresized: By this point, Fuu-ki is doing almost as much damage as an All-Out or Showtime with each Garudyne.

timrodresized: Two floors of pointless encounters later (by which I mean we’re instant winning any battles we run into) we reach our next target. This is the one for Chihaya.

Panther: “He’s abusing his girlfriend, right?”

Skull: “Didn’t her fortune say she’s gonna get hurt bad? We can’t leave him like this.”

Panther: “We need to change his heart, and fast!”

timrodresized: That’s uh… that’s some dialog right there, even if it’s basically a repeat of the last three Mementos bosses.

timrodresized: Because this boss is a Fuu-ki and absorbs wind, I brought Morgana back specifically to show off confusion farming. Confusion farming is really only effective against Mementos bosses.

timrodresized: When an enemy is confused, it has about a 1/3rd chance of dropping a pile of money. You can theoretically do this forever.

timrodresized: The thing is, it’s not as effective as the Greatest Weapon in the John Persona Arsenal, and let me show you why.

timrodresized: Even though I had Uchimura dump over 70,000 yen, I only got 17,000 on the results screen. This means that Chihaya’s ability to double money when ending with an All-Out would only apply to that amount and not to the 70,000.

timrodresized: With the Greatest Weapon, all the money you get from negotations is added to the final total and will be doubled when you end with an All-Out.

timrodresized: The Sleep Stick is an upgrade for Ryuji, but at this point we have little reason to use him.

timrodresized: I think the reason a lot of people who play this game hate Mementos is because honestly, apart from the stamps and the request bosses, this entire area is kind of useless.

timrodresized: We’re barely getting EXP from instantly winning battles, and by the time the area with enemies from Kaneshiro’s palace opens up we’ll be high enough level to insta-kill the enemies there as well.

Skull: “He looks so… bad.”

Fox: “He’s part of a burglary ring targeting restaurants, and he’s used violence against his brother.”

timrodresized: Now, I can forgive robbing a bunch of restaurants, but using violence against your brother? Can’t have any of that.

Panther: “We have to do something about this.”

Fox: “Let’s talk to him.”

Fox: “Trying to make excuses now? You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Panther: “Bad things? What are you talking about?”

timrodresized: There’s this MST3K movie called “I Accuse My Parents” where a dipshit accepts a job that is very obviously with the mafia and gets away scot-free by blaming his parents for it. This reminds me a lot of that.

Skull: “You think violence and crime is rebellion? Don’t be stupid.”

timrodresized: Says the guy who holds up shadows at gunpoint for money.

timrodresized: Makigami turns into Mithras, a Nuke-based Persona that we will definitely want later. If we keep grinding at the rate I am, then we should have him before the end of the third dungeon.

timrodresized: The reason we want him is because Mithras is one of the only Personas to learn Nuke Amp, and is also the only way to get a Nuke Amp card.

timrodresized: Unfortunately, if this fusion calculator is right, he can’t itemize into a Nuke Boost card - in fact, NOTHING does. This is one of the problems with trying to get all the Amp and Boost skills, and why that one fusion accident that gives you all the boost skills exists.

timrodresized: In fact, trying to obtain any of the Boost or Amp skills that aren’t for a base element (Fire, Ice, Wind, Elec) kinda sucks without having the DLC.

timrodresized: Makigami immediately summons an Oni and an Onmoraki. We don’t need to kill them to win the fight - only the Mithras has to die.

timrodresized: That doesn’t mean that I don’t have Ann light the Onmoraki on fire so that I can technical it. Look at that goddamn damage! Now I’m starting to understand why the guide focuses on technical rank.

timrodresized: Let me just say that even if I don’t go through the effort to get all the Boosts and Amps, just having them for the base elements is more than enough to carry you through the game.

Skull: “You just realized that now? Wait, you already know how your brother feels, then!”

Skull: “What!? Why would we do something like that for y-”

Skull: “…Psh. Anything you want to tell him?”

Skull: “What’re we gonna do about that Treasure?”

Panther: “Yeah. It’s no use to us, anyway.”

Fox: “What will we do? I can give it to him since he goes to my school.”

Morgana: “No, I’ll just sneak it into his house. I think that’s the best way…”

Panther: “I hope everything resolves itself.”

Skull: “In any case, we pretty much succeeded with our mission!”

timrodresized: Jose shows up on the next floor.

timrodresized: He turns Kaneshiro’s Will Crystal into a ring that’s still kinda trash, but more importantly…

timrodresized: He now sells Black items, some stat boosters, and most importantly blank skill cards. I buy one of each ambergris before we leave, and a load of skill cards.

timrodresized: I drive around for a while insta-killing enemies. As it turns out, weaker enemies only give you a fraction of the listed EXP values. What I want is a fusion alarm, and for Joker to hit 32.

timrodresized: First, we get Kurama Tengu back.

timrodresized: Next, we compendium summon a Kin-ki, which I had made earlier while screwing around with fusions.

New Persona: Kin-ki

Origin: Japan

First Appearance: Nocturne

Oni whose name literally means “Gold Oni”. Said to have a body so strong that no weapon can pierce it… hence the physical resistance.

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timrodresized: And now, it’s time for us to meet an old friend. For you see, Kin-ki + Kurama Tengu is the only way we can make…

RETURNING PERSONA: Lilim

Origin: Abrahamic Mythology

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei I

Demon said to be the children of Lilith. They’re essentially succubi.

timrodresized: Congrats, Atlus. You spent four games nerfing her, and I made her bullshit overpowered again. Don’t get me wrong, her normal moveset is mediocre at best. The reason we want her is because she itemizes into an Ice Boost (Ice Amp with a fusion alarm) skill card.

timrodresized: I’m also amazed that I got both Freidyne and Bufudyne on her, in addition to Garudyne and Wind Boost/Amp.

timrodresized: Unfortunately, we can’t itemize Lilim into an Ice Amp card yet. Trust me, I tried.

timrodresized: If we do, we get an itemization accident and get trash instead of Ice Amp. I had to settle for an Ice Boost instead and didn’t feel like getting another fusion alarm.

timrodresized: Yes. Once we get a fusion alarm, Bufula is going to be replaced with Ice Amp. At 12 SP, Bufudyne is hardly cheap, but Life Aid offsets that cost a bit.

timrodresized: I’m also just now now realizing that we’re one level below the red shadow of the next dungeon, and could probably do the dungeon after that one without fighting anything.

Skull: “Those two look pretty sure of themselves. Real smug lookin’.”

Fox: “So they’re blackmailing that teacher, Kawakami, by using that incident where their child died.”

Panther: “But Ms. Kawakami did nothing wrong, right? We have to help her!”

Morgana: “Are you ready? Let’s go.”

timrodresized: Noticing a pattern with these Mementos bosses yet?

timrodresized: And now we’ve got Oberon and Titania, who in this game are both relatively high-level Personas.

timrodresized: I was kind of going down the list trying to find weaknesses, because I could’ve sworn one or both of them reflects wind. Neither of them do.

timrodresized: Titania is very flammable and Oberon is weak to Psychic.

timrodresized: This is another case of “Why exactly are we letting these people live?”

timrodresized: And we get another whip for Ann, which is an upgrade to the one we just got.

timrodresized: I grab the last stamp thing before we leave, and then we’re done.

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll start Chihaya’s confidant (for real this time) and do both versions of Kawakami’s Rank 9 cutscene. I will put up a vote about Kawakami immediately after this post because I need to know how I’m going to present it.

timrodresized: Oh, and of course, more Yusu-Gay coming up.

Okay, so here’s the vote I want to put up:

Under the normal 100% schedule, what happens is that we do Kawakami’s Rank 9 event on July 8th. Unfortunately, we don’t do her Rank 10 event until the 27th - this is because we don’t really need her ability until right before we’re about to go into the dungeon.

This presents me with a problem. There’s two different versions of the Rank 10 cutscene: one for if you’re dating Kawakami and one if you’re not. If I do the Rank 10 event as scheduled, that means I have to play through roughly three weeks of game twice.

The other problem is that I feel like the Rank 10 cutscenes lose a little bit of their impact if you don’t see them relatively soon after the Rank 9 cutscenes… and if I do it in order, there would be probably several real-time months of updates between the two.

So here’s your options:

Option 1: Non-Canon July 9th: Under this option, I’ll use footage I’ve already recorded where I do Kawakami’s Rank 10 cutscenes on the night of July 9th. Both versions of the Rank 10 cutscene would be added to the next update, leaving a hole on July 27th where I’m actually doing the Rank 10 event in the canon run.

Option 2: July 9th on July 27th: Under this option, I’ll still use the July 9th footage but save it until July 27th, so the updates will still take place purely in chronological order with no skips - the only difference will be that the date in the corner will read the 9th instead of the 27th.

Option 3: Romantic Now, Platonic Later: Under this option, we’ll do the Rank 9 Romance and Rank 10 Romance scenes (which are obviously non-canon because Joker is gay) now, and then the Rank 9 and Rank 10 Platonic scenes on the 27th.

  • Non-Canon July 9th
  • Chronological Order
  • Romantic Now, Platonic Later

0 voters

I hope in Persona 6 the Phantom Thieves have Captain America in Spider-Man: Homecoming style TV spots where they’re all spins chair around “I may be a thief, but even I know that stealing is wrong”.

(As for the poll, all the options seem equally fine to me.)

Joker’s is just him going “I may not be a cat, but even I know animals being horny for human women is wrong. Spay or neuter your pets.”

In other news, I tried P5 Scramble and kind of hated it. The only good part is that it has a remix of Last Surprise that’s not bad and I grabbed a FLAC of. I’ll probably post it during the next dungeon.

The police never found any leads on who deafened the entire red-light district by setting up hidden airhorns with a remote-controlled trigger throughout the area.

Click Here for Update 40

timrodresized: We start the 7th off with a reminder we really don’t need. I don’t know why they didn’t code it so that if you’ve already beaten the palace, the game just skips these.

Kawakami: “Not like that means I’ll put up bamboo decorations and write my wish on a piece of paper though. I’m not feeling it this year.”

Kawakami: “Oh, but there’s a traditional food associated with Tanabata, just like chocolate for Valentine’s Day. All right, Takamaki-san. Tell me what is traditional Tanabata food. I’ll give you a hint - it’s based on a certain motif in Tanabata’s myth…”

timrodresized: Apart from that line sounding awkward as hell (“Tell me what is Tanabata food?”) it also kind of doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for her to be asking that.

timrodresized: I mean, it’d be kind of like asking a room full of American students what Groundhog Day is. Everyone knows what Groundhog Day is, but no one wants to admit it.

timrodresized: For the record, Groundhog Day is the day where a bunch of designated Groundhog Wizards attempt to summon their dark gods to take over the world and bring in the end times.

Ann: “Huh!? Oh, uh, yeah! I mean-”

Morgana: “Hey, Lady Ann is obviously panicking! Be a good guy and help her out!”

Ann: “Traditional food? Sorry, Akira. Help me out…! So Tanabata’s about gods crossing a starry sky to reunite once every year. It might have something to do with…”

timrodresized: This is the part that REALLY doesn’t make sense. There’s almost no way Joker wouldn’t know what it is outright.

Ann: “Oh yeah! They gotta cross the Milky Way to get to each other! So if the traditional food is something inspired by the Milky Way…”

timrodresized: What’s strange is that neither Orihime nor Hikoboshi have ever been demons in an SMT game. You’d think they would’ve done something with that.

timrodresized: What they’re talking about is flowing soumen. I wish there was some way you could do that with burgers. I mean, theoretically you could do that with hot dogs and boiling water but boiling hot dogs is a crime against humanity.

Ann: “Yeah, I could see that! The Milky Way’s like a long white bundle of them, right? The traditional food of Tanabata’s gotta be soumen noodles!”

Kawakami: “That’s right. The traditional food for Tanabata is soumen noodles. Originally, in China they ate a baked good that we call sakubei in Japanese to appease demons.”

timrodresized: As far as I can tell, sakubei is some kind of cake. It doesn’t help when trying to look it up that Sakubei is also a last name.

Kawakami: “Over time, that pronunciation went from sakubei, to sakumen, to soumen - a wholly different food. Going with the theme of calming demons, soumen on Tanabata is sometimes called ‘demon guts’.”

timrodresized: According to Wikipedia at least, the same thing is kind of true of the word for Tanabata, which (according to them) was originally used to describe a cloth craft made by Shinto shrine maidens.

Kawakami: “Go restore your strength with some seasonal food and get ready for your exams.”

timrodresized: Two points to Ann’s confidant and some knowledge.

timrodresized: We then go back to the library to grab a new book. I don’t know why the guide has us do this, because we don’t wind up reading it.

Kasumi: “Um, I want you to come shopping with me. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle this on my own, you know? Please help me out! I’ve got to hold up my end of our deal!”

timrodresized: Another thing I didn’t really think about was how half the confidants have this weird transactional quality to them.

timrodresized: You have Kawakami with the whole “maid service for secrecy” deal, Maruki with his “mental training for research help” thing, Ohya with her “headlines to help John Persona for stories” bit… and it’s kind of a wonder Joker has any meaningful relationship with any of them.

Kasumi: “Now, we’d better get going. The item in question is in Kichijoji. Shall we?”

timrodresized: I had to get a new pair of glasses recently. My old ones looked just like Joker’s (and no, I didn’t get them because of that) but the frame broke. I wanted to just get the same frame but not broken, but they don’t make them anymore.

Kasumi: “I’ve been wanting to come here for a while, but I never had the chance to drop by.”

Kasumi: “Yeah! I want to get my dad a present. You seem like a real glasses buff, so I wanted to get your advice. Could you try on a couple pairs for me? I’d like to get some visual reference.”

Kasumi: “Thank you so much! Let’s see… how about this pair?”

timrodresized: This entire scene is full of references to Persona 4. The glasses Joker has on are the same ones the Persona 4 protagonist wears while in the TV world.

timrodresized: I’m also reasonably certain that the green glasses on the rack behind Joker are Chie’s.

Kasumi: “What do you think?”

Kasumi: “I know, it’s so fashionable! And it’s good that it’d help your vision, too. This could be a good one… hmm…”

Kasumi: “Hmm, right - maybe a little too hip for my dad. But your input’s been really helpful so far! Would you mind poking around with me for a bit longer?”

Kasumi: “Thank you! This is actually kind of fun! Let’s pick up the pace!”

timrodresized: I feel like these ones are also probably a reference, but I don’t know to what. They look kind of like Baofu’s glasses when we met him in Innocent Sin.

timrodresized: And now we know what Joker’s shadow would look like if this was Innocent Sin.

timrodresized: And here we have a slightly less anime-looking version of the Groucho glasses that Teddie gave to Chie in 4.

Kasumi: “Sorry… I can’t decide. A lot of them are good, but none of them have really clinched it for me yet…”

Kasumi: “You know, you’re right! I’m the one who has to make this call!”

Kasumi: “I don’t know how to describe it. It just seems perfect for my dad somehow.”

timrodresized: And she picks a pair that are very similar to Yukiko’s. They don’t have the little rainbow stripe on the side, but they’re the same otherwise.

timrodresized: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man wear red glasses before.

Kasumi: “Yes, I think I can be confident in this one. In fact, I know he’ll like it!”

Kasumi: “I ended up with a great present. All thanks to you, Kurusu-senpai!”

Kasumi: “Hee hee… well, I’ve still got to make it up to you. Let’s go practice at Inokashira Park after this!”

Kasumi: “…If I’m being honest, trying to pick out glasses was really setting off my anxiety. All I could think of was what’d happen if I couldn’t choose, or if I chose wrong…”

Kasumi: “I mean, I already failed in gymnastics. And my cooking turned out bad, too. After cracking under pressure so many times, I kind of figured I’d just ruin everything again.”

Kasumi: “The more I thought about it, the more… empty I felt. Like I wasn’t even me anymore.”

Kasumi: “So even you know how that feels, Kurusu-senpai? It’s not just me… I think I’m starting to understand what my coach was telling me. It’s easy to say you’re in a slump, and write yourself off.”

Kasumi: “But maybe ‘finding out who I really am’ is also about finding new depths to myself. It does make me feel a little down, but at the same time, I feel like I’m closer to getting my confidence back.”

Kasumi: “And having your support makes me even more determined to make that happen.”

Kasumi: “This is strange… I don’t know if I should be feeling like this. I want to give my best performance, but it’s like I’d be doing it for you as much as for myself… o-or something like that!”

Kasumi: “I’m still working on it myself, but I hope we can keep helping each other, too!”

timrodresized: If we didn’t already break the game enough, now there’s this. I don’t know what a Chaines Hook is and looking it up only gives me walkthroughs for Royal.

timrodresized: Anyway, Chaines Hook allows us to not only ambush enemies from a distance, but also adds on a status effect - either Dizzy, Confuse, or Fear.

timrodresized: I have kind of mixed opinions on this. Persona 5 is already a pretty easy game, and I feel like making the game even easier wasn’t necessarily a great idea.

timrodresized: Even in the base game, by this point we would’ve already seen the hardest bits the game has to offer. It’s all kinda downhill from here in terms of difficulty, which I think is one reason that a lot of people hated all the dungeons after the one we’re about to go into in the base game.

timrodresized: +5 max HP.

Kasumi: “So I already gave my dad the glasses we picked out today. And it suits him even better than I imagined! He was so happy with them!”

Kasumi: “Thank you! I think this helped me feel a little more confident! And thanks to you, I even feel like my gymnastics are going to go better now.”

Kasumi: “I’m sick of wasting my time worrying. Whatever I’m up against, I’m just gonna give it my best shot. But actions always speak louder than words, right? I’ll prove I’m not all talk!”

Kasumi: “Okay, I’d better go. I hope we can talk again later!”

timrodresized: When we get back to Leblanc, Morgana gave me a reminder about “all the sooty clothes you have”, so I went to Kichijoji and discovered I had a bit of a collection from running over Shiki-Ouji in Mementos.

timrodresized: I also discovered here that the clothing grab bag seems to restock once a day - but what I’m going to do is save the points for just before the final dungeon when the final tier of armor unlocks.

timrodresized: We have a crossword puzzle tonight, and the answer should absolutely be “marijuana” but Atlus are cowards.

timrodresized: This is probably in because of the Purdue Pharma lawsuit (yet another example of Connecticut ruining everything, as Purdue Pharma was based in Stamford) which had sprung up in 2007 but didn’t get a resolution until 2019.

timrodresized: I like that we’re getting all these Thieves Den points which are absolutely useless because there’s nothing to really spend them on.

timrodresized: And now it’s time to actually start Chihaya’s confidant.

Chihaya: “Fine, let’s hear it. Please sit down.”

Chihaya: “Her boyfriend stopped abusing her? I don’t believe it! But even if he did stop, her fate should still be heading down the path to misery, without changing!”

Chihaya: “What!? The sequence of arcana has completely changed! ‘Death’ has moved far off into the future…”

Chihaya: “Nrgh… no, no, no! This must be some sort of trick! What are you, a scam artist? You made a deal with her boyfriend or something, didn’t you?”

timrodresized: I read this and I was like “Wow, this could be a Yakuza substory” and then I remembered that it kinda is. There’s one in Yakuza 3 with a fortune teller except you beat her sons up.

Chihaya: “Then what did you do!? Did you plunge him into Tokyo Bay, or cram him into a metal drum and dump insects on him? You must’ve taken some sort of extreme measures!”

timrodresized: He called Nishino Kanako. As it turns out, there actually is a fan translation group for that now, though it’s not quite as good as the ones released by the artist for the earlier volumes.

Chihaya: “Well… you certainly do seem like just an ordinary high school kid. But there’s no way that could’ve happened… without you breaking the law. I mean, how could an ordinary high school student change the course of fate?”

timrodresized: It’s like she hasn’t seen fully two-thirds of anime.

Chihaya: “…Fine. I’m just going to have to verify your power. The very power that reversed my tarot card prediction! This is quite a serious situation for a fortune teller like me. I need to get to the bottom of this.”

Chihaya: “You won’t have to do anything. Just sit next to me while I tell fortunes. And if another unopposable fate happens to appear… then I’ll test your power.”

timrodresized: Translation, she has a second Mementos request that happens later. I’m not sure why she wasn’t the confidant that advances purely off Mementos requests instead of Mishima.

Chihaya: “Th-this is a very serious issue on my end! Oh, I know… I’ll read your fortune! Please? I’ll even prioritize your readings over my regular customers.”

Chihaya: “Besides, I’ll be able to provide much more accurate predictions once I get to know you better! How does that sound? Is it a deal? sigh Otherwise, I won’t be able to go on…”

Chihaya: “You will? Really!? Okay, then, I look forward to verifying your ‘skills’! Please don’t blow me off, okay? We made a deal, after all.”

timrodresized: Is she… questioning John Persona’s street cred?

timrodresized: I think I said earlier that Luck Reading doubles stat gains. That’s actually incorrect - it gives you a 50% bonus. A luck reading costs 5000 yen and lasts a single day.

timrodresized: Naturally, you can combine this with things like Craft of Cinema to get massive point gains from DVDs - which is why we haven’t been doing a lot of DVDs recently.

timrodresized: If we were going for the reset-heavy 100% route, we’d have done this a while ago. I might still try to see if I can fit in extra readings outside of what the guide has just to get those few extra points.

Chihaya: “If it’s really possible, then…”

Chihaya: “Oh, it’s getting late! Let’s close up shop for today. It’s past your curfew.”

timrodresized: I just got back from P5 Strikers and I’m so happy to be back.

timrodresized: The PC port is borderline unplayable due to a number of known crashes and a memory leak, so I’ll be avoiding it until I can get it for around the same price as I did P5D.

Chihaya: “Phew… hah… I forgot to get your contact info! Phew… there we go!”

Chihaya: “I’ll be contacting you soon, so please come for the verification test, okay? I suggest you don’t try to get out of it. Or else, who knows what kind of black magic I’ll have to resort to…?”

Chihaya: “Great! Now our deal is official! Sorry for taking up so much of your time. Please be careful on your way home. I’ll see you soon.”

timrodresized: Instead of reading the book we just got from the library, we’re instead going to read a blatant reference to Marie Kondo. This book was in the base game, but I didn’t recognize the reference at the time because no one outside of Japan knew who she was.

Morgana: “Is this book really about cleaning? Or is it training you to become a monk?”

timrodresized: Joker immediately realizes that Morgana does not bring him joy and throws him in the trash.

Morgana: “Cleaning as a way to speak to your heart… I’ve never thought of it that way…”

timrodresized: Five points in Proficiency.

timrodresized: The convenience store sells Soothing Soba now, which I buy only because you can trade it to the guy in Kichijoji.

timrodresized: We’re spending our afternoon with Ann. Strikers establishes that Joker hates crepes, but of course that doesn’t matter because Strikers isn’t canon.

timrodresized: There’s people who think it is and Royal isn’t, and they’re so very, very wrong.

Ann: “I have the worst luck…”

Ann: “Oh, an email. Looks like it’s from the agency. I wonder what they could want… huh…? Mika!? At Skytree…? Where’s that!?”

Ann: “They want me to head over for a shoot now… feels pretty familiar, doesn’t it? Basically, this men’s magazine is running a Mika special to try and capitalize on her recent popularity.”

Ann: “But apparently, she asked for me specifically to star alongside her for the shoot. I wonder why…”

Ann: “Hold on though… why would you trick someone you admire? Well, I guess I won’t know what she wants unless I head over! Have you been to Skytree before? How do you get there…?”

Ann: “Oh, and… c-can you come with me? Actually, I’ve already decided for you. You’re going. Come on!”

Ann: “You asked for me, right? Wow… I barely recognize you. Did you lose weight? Or maybe change your makeup?”

Mika: “The theme for today’s shoot is ‘the elegance of woman’. So, I conditioned my body to be more elegant.”

Ann: “Wh-what do you mean?”

Mika: “Controlling what you eat, how you move… that’s all. It may sound easy, but it’s pretty tough. You have to write down everything you eat, making sure to check the nutritional and caloric content.”

Mika: “I even hired a personal trainer to take special note of my diet and oversee my exercise regimen.”

timrodresized: She attempted to make the leap from Basic Bitch to Advanced Bitch. It didn’t end well.

Ann: “Whoa… that’s amazing! Does that mean you don’t get to eat double chocolate crepes?”

timrodresized: Nah, Metal Slug 3 established that it takes like six bites to get that powerup.

Mika: “Not to mention the other stuff I do! I take herbal medication, wear warming socks, do pilates and yoga…day after day… how many squats do you think I do in a week!?”

timrodresized: When I was recording this, I read the line as “herbal socks” and I was like “Shit, they make those now?”

Mika: “Ugh, a natural beauty like you could never understand how much work I put into my modeling!”

Ann: “You know, it’s kinda embarrassing getting complimented like that…”

Mika: “Sorry, did I say natural beauty? What I mean was natural airhead.”

timrodresized: Ah yes, the famous “my head itches” pose.

Ann: “I see now… this is a test… well, I’m not gonna lose!”

timrodresized: And of course, Ann counters with the “Mime in an invisible box” pose. Someday I hope to win a fight by just going completely silent and pretending I’m in a box.

timrodresized: What the fuck are these poses?

Ann: “M-Mika!? Why are you doing this? I thought you looked up to me!”

Mika: “You should have known that was a lie… but I guess you’re just as naive as you look. Anyway, stupid amateurs like you really piss me off. You better not drag me down, okay?”

timrodresized: And now the “I dropped my contacts and can’t find them, could you please not move?” pose.

timrodresized: What I hate is that if this was Persona 1 or Persona 2, Mika would absolutely be a boss fight. I mean, she kinda is given Chisato and Kama Palace in 1.

timrodresized: There’s also a boss fight in Strikers that is basically Mika only she’s Ann’s age and has this whole stupid pastel Alice in Wonderland thing going on.

timrodresized: It offends me because at no point does the Alice boss ask anyone to die for her, at least not out of what I saw before I stopped playing.

Ann: “Grrr…!”

Mika: “Introduce me, pleeeeease? :heart: Mm-hm, mm-hm! The owner even invited me to dinner! Y’know, working with all of you just makes me so… happy! :heart:

Ann: “Um… I’m heading home…”

Ann: “Is that why she was mad at me? Wait, so the real reason she requested me was just so she could be mean… If that’s the case, I probably deserved everything she did…”

Ann: “… I’m… I’m so pissed off! Mika had to work super hard every day to get to where she is now. She worked out, watched her diet, made friends with everyone…!”

Ann: “She couldn’t rely on connections like I did… she didn’t become a model just for the heck of it. Her resolve, her knowledge, her fashion sense… they’re all on a totally different level from me!”

Ann: “Mika is amazing. Mika is… Mika is strong! But me? I’m nothing! Just thinking about that makes me so angry… I feel like I could explode!”

Ann: “This whole time, I’ve just been pretending to model. It was like the clothes were wearing me… I mean, that’s what I always thought being a model meant! …But I was totally wrong.”

timrodresized: So one, this cutscene is like twice as long as it had any right to be. Two, I think Ann has modeling confused with the plot of Kill la Kill.

Ann: “A real model draws out the beauty of the clothes they wear… casts a stunning magic on them… a real model is flexible, beautiful… and strong. Well, I’ve had enough pretending!”

Ann: “Right! I’ll give it my all! I’m gonna take the world by storm… just you watch, Akira!”

Ann: “This is the perfect time for sweets! But no, I won’t eat them! I mean, I will… but not today! You eat some for me, Akira! Later!”

timrodresized: This is starting to feel like an Allanson Monologue. She’s talking a lot, but saying very little.

Ann: “Well, I’ll say it again! I’m taking the modeling world by storm, and I don’t care what I have to do to get there! Obviously that means dieting, cutting back on food, and no matter how tough it is, I’ll do any workout!”

Ann: “Yup! I’m so sick of feeling how I did today! …This is a first for me, actually. Feeling this pissed off, I mean. Usually, even if I have a crappy day, I just get over it by having snacks, watching TV and sleeping it off.”

Ann: “But this time, it’s different… I want to change. Tomorrow, I want to be better than I am today. Okay, gotta start my stretching session! I’ll talk to you later. Bye-bye!”

timrodresized: Before we do Kawakami’s upcoming Rank 10 cutscene, we first want to do a couple of things to avoid a permafuck.

timrodresized: First, we need to go to Chihaya. She gives us an early look at who our next opponent is. Medjed is the Persona 5 universe’s equivalent of Anonymous.

timrodresized: One thing I neglected to mention about the Luck Reading is that it only boosts one stat at a time. You’d basically need a guide to make full use of it, because there are days where you’ll get stat boosts and not know ahead of time that you’re going to get them.

timrodresized: Next, we need to use the Luck Reading (picking Kindness) and feed the plant.

timrodresized: In this case, we get seven points to Kindness from feeding the plant as opposed to the five we usually would.

timrodresized: And now it’s time for our first Rank 9 confidant event. This will give you a pretty good idea of how the rest of them go… at least for the dateable ones.

Becky: “Takase-kun’s guardians came to my house today and apologized to me! They told me I won’t have to send any more money! And that they’ll return everything I paid them.”

timrodresized: She knows. She absolutely knows.

Becky: “Anyway, it’s such a relief. They apologized about Takase-kun… and admitted that what they did was terrible. They even told me that I am a good teacher. And so, I decided to reall quit my part-time maid job today.”

Becky: “I’ve been talking to my boss about it ever since I was hospitalized. It took a while to work out who would cover my shifts. I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone.”

Becky: “Now I can finally make a fresh start as a teacher. I can take care of my students and earn their trust. That’s the ideal teacher I aspire to become. I bet I’ll be an old woman by the time I achieve my dreams.”

timrodresized: Kawakami is now midway through her metamorphosis into Ms. Saeko.

Becky: “Yeah, you’re right. I’m still within the demographic age range of what’s considered ‘young’.”

Becky: “I was always able to rely on you, Master. You helped me come to a lot of realizations, because you were such a good listener. Thanks again.”

timrodresized: Where’s the “Never do that again” option?

Becky: “I could always become your personal maid, riiight? …Just kidding.”

timrodresized: On Rank 9 events, at least with the female confidants, you will always rank up midway through the event. Once you’ve reached this point, it’s safe to discard your same-arcana Persona.

timrodresized: I believe that once you hit Rank 9, you automatically hit Rank 10 the next time you meet the confidant. We are now unable to permafuck on Kawakami’s confidant.

Becky: “Can you handle the cleaning on your own? I’m pretty worried about the state this place is in. I feel like you don’t put much thought into your diet either… besides, won’t you be lonely? Hm?”

Becky: “giggle …I take it you get lonely easily? …But you shouldn’t say stuff like that so casually, okay? Some women may misunderstand your intentions.”

timrodresized: This thought will always pop up immediately before the split between the “friendship” route and the “romance” route. We are doing the “friendship” route first.

timrodresized: The top option sets us on the “friendship” route. Let’s pick that.

Becky: “That was pretty honest of you. You’re quite the problem child, but you’re still a good person. I’ll protect you, as your homeroom teacher.”

Becky: “Oh, and of course I’ll keep my initial promise too. The one about slacking off in class.”

Becky: “On my way home, I remembered everything. All the old memories from when I decided to become a teacher. Like when I was going through the courses for it, or my first year as a teacher…”

Becky: “Back then, I would’ve done anything for my students. I felt like I was capable of anything. But somewhere along the way, I forgot about all that. Reigniting your original resolve is easier said than done.”

Becky: “Thanks. Somehow, when I hear it from you, it makes me feel like I can do anything… weird, huh? From now on, I’ll support you as your teacher, so you can rely on me as much as you want, okay?”

timrodresized: You might ask where Kawakami’s other Rank 9 scene is. What I’m going to do is make a separate update for that, because I understand there are people who do not want to see it.

timrodresized: I will also put her Rank 10 romance route cutscene in there, so that if you don’t want to see that, you don’t have to.

timrodresized: I’ll do the same for any romance cutscenes between Joker and an adult, because again, I understand that can be unsavory to people. Any updates with content like that will have a red “CW” on the header so that you can avoid them.

Sae: “And yet he simply turned himself in - even confessed all his crimes. The Phantom Thieves…”

Sae: “I hope she hasn’t fallen under their influence…”

Usami: “It seems like some of our students had been victimized by them, so we can breathe easy for now. I’m thankful to the police for arresting the perp, even though they’re just doing their job.”

Usami: “By the way, ‘perp’ is police slang. You might have heard the stars in police procedurals say it. It’s short for ‘perpetrator’.”

Usami: “Speaking of stars… can you answer this question, Kurusu-san?”

timrodresized: What the fuck is this, Professor Layton? Are you going to make me rearrange matchsticks next?

Usami: “That’s correct.”

Usami: “By the way, there are rumors that the Phantom Thieves took down the perp this time - Kaneshiro. I remember their name with that bit on Madarame, as well as the incident in May. Is this a new urban legend?”

Usami: “Anyway, please prepare for your tests starting Wednesday, and don’t be distracted by rumors like that.”

Morgana: “Looks like we succeeded in changing Kaneshiro’s heart! A lot of people are talking about the Phantom Thieves too!”

timrodresized: This scene will always happen the day after you do Kawakami’s rank 9 event. It is the same regardless of which route you chose.

Kawakami: “I saw a lot of errors on the previous test, so please be more careful in the future.”

Kawakami: “Excuse me! No sleeping in class! Today’s examples will be on your entrance exam, so make sure you know them.”

Ryuji: “People’ve been makin’ a huge deal of it since the police announcement!”

Yusuke: “This is quite the turnaround. All of a sudden, people are expressing their long-standing belief in us.”

Ann: “So this is why Makoto told us to post the calling card anywhere that might stand out.”

Ryuji: “Pretty smart move on her part. Oh… where is our amazing Miss President?”

Makoto: “I’ve been called into a meeting with the principal. There’s no need to worry though. More importantly, there is a special on TV about the Phantom Thieves!”

Ann: “Huh? What did it say!?”

timrodresized: It was an hour of people being very confused as to who John Persona is.

Makoto: “They were talking all about our calling cards.”

Ann: “For real!?”

Makoto: “Anyway, my apologies about today. I’ll have to see you all another time.”

Yusuke: “Who was that?”

timrodresized: Joker tells him it was John Persona calling to order a pizza.

Yusuke: “I hope all this excitement doesn’t place us on the police’s radar.”

Ryuji: “It’ll be fine! No way they’d find out about that weird other world!”

Yusuke: “True, but… do you remember what the fake Kaneshiro said towards the end?”

Ann: “Yeah, he said we’re not the only ones doing it…”

Ryuji: “Eh, not gonna let it bother me. Far as we know, he was just pullin’ that shit out of his ass.”

Yusuke: “I hope that’s the case…”

Ryuji: “Anyways, in your face, Akechi! Now whaddya wanna do about our next target!?”

Ann: “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Still, people might expect a lot from our next move considering how excited they’re getting.”

Ryuji: “We can’t just pick any old schmo now.”

timrodresized: And then they basically picked any old schmo. No, seriously.

Yusuke: “There is no need to hurry though. Counting Kamoshida, we’ve claimed three consecutive victories, right? We should just lay low and wait for all this excitement to blow over.”

Ryuji: “Good idea! We can make it a welcomin’ party for Miss President too. By the way, that briefcase? It’s pretty damn expensive! Let’s sell it and drop the cash on our party!”

Morgana: “Wow… seems like the ‘lay low and wait’ idea has gone completely out the window.”

Ann: “So we can count you out then, Morgana?”

Morgana: “Uh… what are you talking about? I was just saying we should try and keep our party on the down low.”

Ann: “Hahaha, that’s the spirit. Well, I’m gonna let Makoto know!”

Ann: “…Hi, Makoto? There’s something we forgot to tell you! So- Oh…”

Yusuke: “What’s wrong?”

timrodresized: Joker tries to figure out the best way to signal Ann to turn off speakerphone so he can tell them not to let her know he brings Morgana to his exams.

Makoto: “If you wish not to stand out, you had best not get bad grades, okay? That is something I simply would not be able to overlook as student council president!”

Makoto: “For now, behave and concentrate on your studies. We can have fun once finals are over… understood?”

Makoto: "I believe in what I wrote. ‘The Phantom Thieves are just.’ "

timrodresized: What she doesn’t talk about is that the original sentence was “The Phantom Thieves are just four high schoolers and a cat.”

Kobayakawa: “Have you figured out who they are?”

Makoto: “No, I’m nowhere close. However, after considering all the facts, I concluded there are no errors in their acts or principles.”

Makoto: “Thus, upon deeming them to be on the side of justice, I have decided to end my investigation.”

Kobayakawa: “But that’s impossible!”

Makoto: “Impossible? May I see the evidence you have that leads you to believe so?”

Makoto: “There will be no need for that. I intend on getting into a good college by my own merit. Please excuse me.”

Kobayakawa: “About that… yes, I am making progress. However, I have stumbled upon some difficulties. Still, why would someone as important as you be interested in a petty case like this?”

Kobayakawa: “N-no! That’s not what I meant! I will investigate with all the resources available to me. Of course… um, I should be able to let you know relatively soon. Yes, I will bring good news…”

Makoto: “Hi, Sis. You look tired… is everything okay?”

Sae: “Don’t worry about me. How about you, Makoto? Have you been keeping up with your studies?”

Makoto: “Yes, of course. Though… what is the point of studying?”

Sae: “… What do you mean?”

timrodresized: “I mean, you studied and you’re not even a romance route, and then you spent an entire night asking a high school kid stupid questions.”

Makoto: “I was just wondering what will be waiting for me at the end… even if I manage to push through tough entrance exams, I’m still thrust into a competitive society…”

timrodresized: Hmm… could this be foreshadowing? I feel like we saw a place where the word “Success” was plastered all over the walls… but where was that again?

Makoto: “Isn’t this the man the Phantom Thieves sent a calling card for? I heard he confessed all his crimes.”

Sae: “Even the police couldn’t figure out why. It really… was out of nowhere. This would only make sense if his personality changed… but that would be impossible.”

Makoto: “Why does it matter? The police still caught him in the end, right?”

Sae: “I had plans set for a promotion, but no one can take credit for his arrest now with that confession. …Not that a child would understand.”

timrodresized: Who are you talking to? Is it me, because I already know what the plot is. Seriously, by this point I had kind of figured out most of the remaining plot.

Makoto: “Promotion… You’ve changed, sis. But I’ll be okay. …I finally found a place where I belong.”

Morgana: “This new teammate of ours is pretty promising! We’ll be able to do even more now!”

timrodresized: Before we do the canon version of events, we’re going to do the non-canon version. Ordinarily, we’d be doing this on the 27th, but I’m going to do it early. This is so that I can record both versions of the cutscene without having to play through three in-game weeks multiple times.

timrodresized: I also want to do this to explain the third item on my list of things I hate about this game. The first is the thing that caused me to not finish the plot, the second is that the writing is very repetitive and dull in spots.

Kawakami: “That’s actually been happening a lot lately… I wonder if they see me in a new light now…? I need to work hard so I can make up for all the times I let my students down in the past.”

timrodresized: For the record, none of the answers in the Rank 10 scenes matter - this includes the party member Rank 10 scenes, which is surprising given that the max rank for party member confidants is now 11.

Kawakami: “Oh, do I sense some jealousy? Haha… that’s really cute. So, um… now, this is coming from me as your teacher…” an awful thought occurred to me the more I spent time with you."

timrodresized: Oh shit. She knows.

timrodresized: Joker grabs his stash of cup noodles and jumps out the window.

Kawakami: “And the state of your room! You need to stop slacking. I mean, look at how dusty this place is. I put up with the mess because you were my client, but you need to thoroughly clean in here!”

Kawakami: “I’m currently in the process of eating better myself. I only have cup noodles every other day now! There are just some things you have to prioritize over your studies, you know?”

timrodresized: All of the adult confidants will eventually figure out that Joker is part of John Persona. Even in the canon we’re setting, Kawakami is actually not the first to do so.

timrodresized: See if you can guess who it is. We’ll find out when we hit their Rank 10 in a few months.

Kawakami: “That whole thing with Takase-kun’s guardians worked out way too good for me. And you’re the only one who knew about my situation.”

Kawakami: “Hm, well… don’t worry. I have no intention of telling anyone. There are a lot of stories about the Phantom Thieves but in the end they help people like me, right?”

Kawakami: “I just thought you were a problem child with a criminal record… but now I know better. I’ll support you 100 percent!”

Kawakami: “You’re not just a student to me. You’re someone special who helped me realize my path as a teacher. A new path where I’ll never abandon any of my students…”

Kawakami: “Right!? For my students… and for you!”

timrodresized: Please make sure to click the next music link before reading on. I don’t normally suggest that, just please do it. I’ll tell you when to close it.

Music The Path Is Open

timrodresized: Shoji Meguro made this song for Persona 3, and it was so good that it stuck around in both Persona 4 and Persona 5. Even Hashino couldn’t fuck that up. I’ll even post the final text thing real slow so that you can get the full effect.

timrodresized: “The ultimate secret of Temperance, aka straight edge.”

timrodresized: Okay, you can turn it off now. Like all confidants, reaching Rank 10 with Kawakami unlocks one of the Ultimate Personas. Ardha is level 84 and is a very solid physical/nuke Persona… though at that point you’re not far off from just fusing Lucifer.

timrodresized: Now, I’ll need to apologize, because I’ve lied just a little bit. The Path is Open isn’t in Persona 5.

timrodresized: You have NO IDEA how pissed I was when I found out that it wasn’t in P5 - not even a jazz version of it or something. They kept it for both Persona 4 and Golden.

timrodresized: The worst part is that they didn’t replace it with anything. There’s just fucking nothing there. They turned the Rank 10 events from a special thing into… just another fucking confidant event.

timrodresized: What fucking killed me about it was that they had all this really good music and then just completely dropped the fucking ball on this even though THEY HAD A SONG THEY COULD’VE USED.

timrodresized: What kills me even more is that they didn’t fucking fix it for Royal, because this game’s a goddamn cash grab!

Kawakami: “I don’t want you to flunk your exams. I’m going to go the distance with you!”

Sae: “This new ally you gained was Makoto!? Just tell me the truth!”

timrodresized: This scene makes less sense when you realize that there’s a good chunk of the player base that wound up dating Makoto and Sae somehow doesn’t know by this point.

Sae: “Makoto… that’s preposterous. If what you say is true… was Makoto also running from the police when you were arrested!?”

Sae: “Now that I think about it… she did start talking a lot about the investigation from summer onward…”

Sae: “Makoto aside, you mentioned one other important detail. Did Kaneshiro really say there was someone using the Metaverse besides the Phantom Thieves?”

Sae: “Those words could just be taken as you shifting blame to this other person, you know.”

Sae: “There are two possibilites: either you’ve simply been trying to confuse me with your lies… or everything you’ve stated is true. Have you been telling me the truth from the very start?”

Sae: “Does that mean you’re placing your trust in me? …Then again, I am investigating a ‘thief who steals hearts’. Very well. No matter how absurd it may seem, I’ll reevaluate my stance on believing you for now.”

Sae: “In return, speak the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It’s a fair deal… is that acceptable?”

timrodresized: And now we’ve got one of the only two confidants we actually need to fuse Lucifer. Judgement gets us all the ingredients we need, and then we need to unlock Lucifer himself through a different confidant.

Sae: “We’re running out of time. Let’s move on to your next target… actually, I should rephrase that; they targeted your group first, didn’t they?”

Sae: “We have no pictures. Even their names and identities are unknown. If what you told me is true, then this ‘Nav’ thing you’ve mentioned wouldn’t have worked in this case. How did you target them?”

Sae: “Tell me everything.”

timrodresized: Believe it or not, we’re still not quite done with this update. We have the canon version of the events that transpired on 07/09 to go through still. Let’s meet the other confidant we need to fuse Lucifer.

timrodresized: The guide I’m using doesn’t tell you to do this, but I get a Luck Reading on Knowledge. The reason for this is that most visits we’re going to make to this new confidant get us two points to Knowledge.

timrodresized: At 5,000 yen per, it’s kind of a high price for one extra point… but that’ll add up and we have the money.

timrodresized: Meet Hifumi Togo. I used to think she was the best girl in the game, and I have no idea why.

Hifumi: “Strange, hm? I did receive approval to do so though. Experimenting with new tactics is best to do alone in a place like this. …Well, I suppose that doesn’t sound terribly plausible to someone who doesn’t play…”

timrodresized: Joker replies with “Whoa, are you saying I don’t have game? I totally have game. I’ve got like five different women trying to date me and none of them realize I’m gay.”

Hifumi: “Don’t mind me; please go ahead and pray.”

timrodresized: Joker pulls open his jacket, revealing his “Lucifer Is My Homeboy” T-shirt.

timrodresized: Hifumi Togo is a chuuni who is like, borderline Haruhi Suzumiya territory. She’s about two seconds from becoming a Yu-Gi-Oh character at any given moment.

timrodresized: So anyway, let’s talk about Hifumi. There’s an art book for Persona 5 that outright states she was initially intended to be a party member.

timrodresized: The idea was that she was supposed to be a sort of foil to Makoto and that Makoto wasn’t supposed to be THE SMART GIRL, but then they walked that back for some stupid reason.

timrodresized: I know for a fact that there was a significant portion of the fanbase that was quite upset that Hifumi didn’t make it in as a party member in Royal, but that would require downgrading Makoto from SMART GIRL status and we can’t possibly nerf Hashino’s dumbass girlfriend character.

timrodresized: Oh, right. The Megami Tensei wiki claims that Hifumi is in the church because she’s named after an actual shogi player by the name of Hifumo Kato, who is a Catholic.

Hifumi: “…Huh? Um, you don’t necessarily have to learn from me, you know… there are other options… such as playing online.”

Hifumi: “Well then… um… so… you like shogi?”

timrodresized: By this, he means he wants a motorcycle so he can play 5Ds IRL. He’s gonna roll right over Kaiba.

Hifumi: “Like me…? You’re a bit strange… but thank you. Um… okay, just a quick game then. Twenty seconds per move… if that’s all right with you.”

Hifumi: “…I’ll start. …So this is your skill level, huh? The dragon which governs the blue sky has fallen into my hands. How do you intend to survive this?”

timrodresized: “I play whatever the most recent ‘buy me, I’m overpowered’ card is that hasn’t yet been banlisted.”

Hifumi: “To concede is an act of admitting that you have lost, with grace. If you aspire to become a shogi player, I recommend that you take your study of the game to heart.”

Hifumi: “Thank you for playing… well then, that will be all for today. If it’s all right with you, may I request another match sometime?”

timrodresized: This part I don’t quite understand. She wants to play shogi against a guy who has no idea what he’s doing?

Hifumi: “I feel… a gambler’s spirit emanating from you. Which is strange, since your style of play is that of a complete novice…”

Hifumi: “Huh…!? Oh, I-I’m sorry… however, I will instruct you under one condition. You become my playing partner so that I can research new moves. Is that agreeable?”

timrodresized: I’m not sure how you’d “research” moves in a game like shogi. As far as I understand it, shogi is one of those “solved” games like chess where every possible move has been analyzed by a computer.

Hifumi: “Thank you very much… well then, it’s a deal. I’ll teach you how to play, and you’ll assist me with my new moves.”

timrodresized: Wait, what? The palaces are basically the definition of “going loud” except that combat is magically silent because it takes place in a separate screen.

timrodresized: All of Hifumi’s abilities are named after concepts in shogi. As far as I understand it, Koma Sabaki is this idea that every piece has a role and your strategy builds around that.

timrodresized: We get three points to knowledge - two base plus a third from the luck reading. I’m honestly not sure why the guide doesn’t have you do a luck reading, since we do it for aojiru a few times for the same cost-point gain ratio.

Hifumi: “Before you head home, would you like to exchange IDs with me? There’s no obligation, of course…”

Hifumi: “Thank you. All right then… let’s see… ah, yes, it went through. I’ll let you know if I come up with any new strategies.”

timrodresized: And that’s it. Next time, we’ll spent two days going through a bunch of big long cutscenes that I would probably just skip if I could because they exist solely to justify the plot of the new content in Royal and kill the pacing.

Summary

timrodresized: Now that we’ve seen the platonic version of Kawakami’s Rank 9 and 10 cutscenes, let’s see what happens if we make a horrible mistake.

timrodresized: Note that even if you pick the bottom option, that’s not the point of no return.

Becky: “…Do you understand what you’re saying? This situation isn’t normal. I’m a teacher, and you’re my student, you know?”

timrodresized: Picking the top option will put you back on the platonic route.

Becky: “N-No way! Wait, um, that’s not what I meant by ‘no way’ but… whaaat!?”

Becky: “Wait, um. Okay… okay… okay… okay… okay… time! I need more time! I mean, you’re both a student and a master, while I’m a teacher and a maid. This doesn’t make sense!”

timrodresized: I mean, it did if you were one of those medieval nobles with like a dozen children not counting the ones from your spouse.

Becky: “Right? Let’s save this discussion for next time, okay!?”

timrodresized: Unlike the platonic route, there is no phone call for the romance route.

Kawakami: “Well, I’m completely done with that part-time job! Oh, and my students! I’ve been giving them all a lot of advice…”

Kawakami: “So… um… about that talk we had… you know, about whether or not we should date.”

Kawakami: “Can’t you seem a little more sad about it!? I was so happy… when you shared your feelings the other day… I finally realized how I felt. But… I’m a teacher… and you’re my student…”

timrodresized: Straight Joker has never not been horny. Even Morgana fears him.

Kawakami: “You’re in a tricky situation as it is. If we get caught, suspension would be just the beginning. I’m restraining myself because you’re so special to me…”

Kawakami: “No, I’m not. Considering the feelings I have for you… Arghhh! Why are you so okay with this? Now I feel dumb for trying to back away!”

Kawakami: “I had every intention of saying goodbye to you… oh, fiiine.”

timrodresized: The rest of the scene is word-for-word identical to the platonic version up until a point, but before I get there I’d like to talk about why you can even do this in the first place. It has to do with Persona 3.

timrodresized: In Persona 3, there’s a social link where the protagonist plays an MMORPG styled after Innocent Sin. He plays as “Tatsuya” and meets “Maya”, who clearly likes him.

timrodresized: At the very end of the social link, the MMO shuts down and by pure accident, the protagonist finds out that the person crushing on him in the MMO was one of his teachers.

timrodresized: That event is played more as a joke than anything, and at one point the teacher almost asks the protagonist to dinner but then IMMEDIATELY rejects it as a bad idea.

timrodresized: Hashino was not listed on the writing credits for Persona 3, but all he did was steal the idea and then went “What if Persona 3… but horny?”

timrodresized: And I mean, in a game without Kamoshida as a villain, I could almost understand doing that, except that’s not the worst part of it.

Kawakami: “I went from being a teacher to being a maid to dating a high school student. So… as someone who went from being my master to my boyfriend, do you have any requests for me?”

Kawakami: “I’ll obey them, you know… even though I’m no longer a maid.”

timrodresized: In the base game, Kawakami was significantly hornier than she is in Royal. There was also a scene that implied a sexual relationship between Kawakami and Joker.

timrodresized: In Royal, they had to change a scene later on specifically to address that where Kawakami outright says that sex is going too far. That’s how bad it was.

Kawakami: “Don’t be so conceited. You’re younger, so you should rely on me. Here… by all means.”

timrodresized: I would’ve had Salty Vanilla also do a version of this scene with Yusuke in the maid outfit, but they’re busy enough as-is.

timrodresized: My reaction exactly.

There’s a Mementos request in August that’s just called “Who’s Been Assaulting People?” and I’d like to think that at some point in late July there’s a request called “Who’s Been Setting Up Elaborate Water Traps in Shinjuku Targeting Horny People?” and Joker won’t take that one because he already knows who.

radiant historia voice i have to think about this one carefully

Clearly they removed The Path is Open so the Radiant Historia bad end music can play if you pick the romance route.

You forget, P3 also had the Social Link where your classmate wants to date his teacher and you have to say “yo thats rad af dawg” or you’d get less points toward ranking it up

Woah woah woah woah Sae. Are you telling me, that drugging a teenager up with enough chemicals for a rhino to find enlightenment and then asking him a bunch of leading questions about the things he must have done and the help he must have had could result in a story that is strange or inconsistent?

Also is not telling Ann the other girl hates her and is setting her up a requirement to 100%? It’s not impossible that she just doesn’t realize the obvious but not telling her feels cruel.

Unfortunately, yeah it is. That’s the “correct” answer in that it gets you the most points. It’s one of the reasons I feel like they should’ve had more of a branching story style where there are no right or wrong answers - sort of like what they initially tried to do in SMT 1.

Oh, right. I forgot about that.

timrodresized: For this one, I’m not going to actually write anything. The idea I gave Eligap was something like “the priest talks about rebirth and hope, and maybe Yusuke realizes that he’s the one who needs to change his world and finally admit who he is before he can get over his slump.”

Click Here for Update 41

timrodresized: It’s July 10th, and now the opinion bar is significantly higher than before.

timrodresized: You might be wondering why we haven’t touched Sojiro’s confidant in a long time. The reason is that a lot of it is locked off until after we start the next dungeon.

Sojiro: “Huh? It’s not right? …Not cute? That was the one the staff recommended to me though… won’t that printer do?”

Sojiro: “Huh? It’ll do, but it’s not it? …Okay, I’ll be right over.”

Sojiro: “This might take a while. I’m leaving the store to you. Lock up for me if I don’t come back.”

Sojiro: “Something like that… sheesh, what a handful.”

obs64 2021-02-21 22-16-35-85

timrodresized: “I mean, apart from our- I mean their- writing quality being kind of all over the place, sure.”

SIU Director: “But to think the Phantom Thieves would honestly attempt an absurd idea like social reform… you’re absolutely right. I’m not pleased about the general public’s support of them either.”

SIU Director: “There’s also the danger of the Metaverse being exposed with their continued actions… actually, there is one countermeasure he brought in that seems usable.”

timrodresized: I’m surprised it took Superintendent Chalmers here this long to think this plan up.

SIU Director: “…Ah, I thought as much. I had a feeling that it was too brutal for it to be his own idea. Still, to think you’d go through such elaborate detail to crush them…”

SIU Director: “Their actions must be that much of an eyesore for you. I sympathize with what you’re going through. Well then, we’ll clean this up quickly and put it behind us.”

SIU Director: “Yes. A grand undertaking like social reform is beyond a group such as the Phantom Thieves. Only a select few are worthy of changing the world. And who better than the future Prime Minister… sir?”

Ryuji: “Gotcha! We’re gonna come over right now about the you-know-what. Seeya!”

Ann: “That’s not why we’re here! We need to study for finals!”

Makoto: sigh “Why am I here too?”

Ryuji: “You’re one of us now, so of course you gotta help us. We’re in trouble if you don’t teach us, you know?”

timrodresized: Clearly, Ryuji never met my Persona 4 protagonist who got the top slot in every exam that wasn’t the first set and never studied.

Ryuji: “Ohoho, oh, I’ll hold you to that! Wanna see who gets the higher test scores?”

timrodresized: I’m pretty sure in the next round of exams that we get the “good but not top score” result, so it’s going to be us. I haven’t recorded it yet.

Ann: “Let’s leave those guys be…”

Makoto: sigh “I couldn’t ask the last time I was here… but what is this place? The storekeeper doesn’t seem to be around…”

Ryuji: “It’s where this guy lives. He’s got complicated circumstances… we can tell her about it, right? Actually, tell her yourself.”

Ryuji: “Ann, Yusuke and me are pretty much the same too. I mean, it’s not as bad as this guy’s though. There’s just something we can’t ever put up with. That’s why we all become Phantom Thieves.”

Morgana: “Hey, don’t forget me.”

Ryuji: “I know, I know. We’re all part of the team. By the way, Makoto, ain’t there someone you can’t forgive either? Like, a heart you wanna change?”

Makoto: “…That’s a secret.”

Ryuji: “Ooh, there’s someone like that? You could just tell us, you know. You don’t gotta be so cold.”

Makoto: “That aside, do you have any intention of studying for the exams?”

Ryuji: “Not really…”

Makoto: “It’s fine if I leave then?”

Ryuji: “N-No, I’m just joking! Please teach us…”

Ann: “Leave vocabulary and long sentences to me. I suck at proper grammar, though…”

Ryuji: “Even if we study English, it’s not like I’m gonna use it in the future.”

timrodresized: Yeah, I mean, who even uses English? Everybody knows Esperanto is where it’s at (Esperanto is not, has never been, and likely never will be ‘where it’s at’.)

Morgana: “When it comes to you, your Japanese is questionable too.”

Ryuji: “Aw shuddup!”

timrodresized: It’s so you can dunk on stuff. “The Medium was a game designed by people who had some very strange and dated feelings regarding mental illness and felt that Allanson Monologues could stand in as a replacement for storytelling.”

Ryuji: “It’s impossible! I can’t memorize all these formulas… ain’t there a good way of cheatin’?”

Makoto: “…Why don’t we take a break?”

Akechi: “The question is what the Phantom Thieves actually did. If they tampered with a suspect’s heart, it casts doubt on the authenticity of any confession.”

Akechi: “We can’t deny the possibility. There’s no doubt that the Phantom Thieves are exposing hidden injustices in society. However, if this is done by sidestepping the law, their way of thinking is very dangerous.”

Akechi: “Yes. They’re no different than the criminals they target. This cannot be overlooked.”

Ryuji: “I see,” my ass. Why the hell’re we bein’ treated as the bad guys?"

Ann: “Just let them say whatever they want. More people are starting to understand that what we’re doing is right, after all.”

Ryuji: “When I’m walkin’ around in town, I hear a lot more people talkin’ about us too. And the forum’s been full of hype! Do you think we made it big time?”

Morgana: “Don’t get pompous over dealing with some street thug. Save it for after we deal with a bigger target.”

Ryuji: “We just gotta take down a bigger one, yeah? That was the plan from the start, anyways!”

Makoto: “True, it may be best if we start thinking about it.”

Ryuji: “I bet we’ll find one in no time. The wind’s blowin’ in our direction and everything! I feel like we won’t lose to anything right now.”

Makoto: “Well, we’ll decide on that eventually. We need to overcome our exams first. Now then, break time’s over! Let’s get back to-”

timrodresized: You might’ve noticed that this is a lengthy cutscene where not a whole lot is happening. Trust me, it gets worse.

Ryuji: “Where should we go? I feel like I’ll study better if I got something to look forward to.”

Morgana: “The last one was a buffet at a hotel. We haven’t gone anywhere since.”

Yusuke: “…Hm!? A buffet!?”

Ann: “Where would be good? Hey, what about fireworks!? A fireworks festival!”

Ryuji: “Oh yeah, it’s that season, huh!”

Makoto: “That sounds good to me.”

Yusuke: “It’s hard to ignore a buffet, but I’ll take the beauties of summer. Still, I demand that we feast during the festival as well.”

Morgana: “Do you guys own a yukata? Will you wear a yukata!?”

Ryuji: “Doesn’t a fireworks festival sound good? You think so too, right?”

timrodresized: I get this is a thing that happens in real life, but like… why is this dialog here? What purpose does it serve?

timrodresized: I mean, the cutscene has a purpose that we’ll see in a second, but there’s no reason it needed to be this long.

Ryuji: “C’mon, you gotta be more active! All right, fireworks festival it is! Let’s look for a good one!”

Makoto: “Study comes first, though. I won’t let you off if you fail any of them. Are we clear?”

Ryuji: “Y-Yes, ma’am…”

timrodresized: I also don’t get why, like… they put this entire thing into the game specifically for phone calls and didn’t just use those portraits.

timrodresized: Meet our next target. At least she understands the Featherman hierarchy - Red always goes next to Black.

timrodresized: We actually saw her in an earlier update when I was dicking around the school.

timrodresized: If you thought the last Mementos update was long, the next one’s going to have a whopping 9 requests to do.

timrodresized: We spend the night finishing ICU, and this is the only actual gameplay we are going to have for at least the next half hour.

Akechi: “…I didn’t expect the Phantom Thieves would suppress a man that even the police had trouble with. The fact they have so much support online is worrisome. I’m in a bind since I previously denounced them.”

timrodresized: Get used to this, because this is going to be a recurring thing.

Akechi: “All the interviews these days ask me about that. …Still, can we really say the Phantom Thieves are on the side of justice with just this example?”

Akechi: “Haha, thank you. But… I notice you’re not saying the Phantom Thieves are right. I suppose that was an unfair way to phrase it.”

Akechi: “I was originally investigating the mental shutdown incidents. …Don’t you think it’s similar to the change of heart that the Phantom Thieves are doing?”

Akechi: “Now that I think about it, their actions mirror the mental shutdown cases, with the rate of victims. It’s impossible not to see a connection there…”

Akechi: “…Ah, sorry. I don’t want to make you late. I’ll see you again.”

timrodresized: Don’t you love how Akechi is the only one who gets confidant events outside of his actual confidant? Because I don’t.

Morgana: “Thanks to Kaneshiro spilling the beans, that organization is falling like a house of cards. Hehehe… we’re getting more and more famous!”

Maruki: “I know some of you rely on all-nighters, but I can’t recommend it. That really messes up your information retention.”

Maruki: “Oh, speaking of! Do you guys know the difference between short-term and long-term memory? The simple answer is that short-term memory’s more temporary. Contextual. But long-term memories stick with you.”

Maruki: “In the short-term, you’re working with a hard limit. You retain only… six, maybe seven pieces of information.”

timrodresized: This is a hypothesis put forward by George Miller in his 1956 book “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two”. I know this because I had a teacher in high school who was a less annoying version of Maruki.

timrodresized: Miller’s theory has been challenged several times since he originally published, mostly by people claiming the number is much lower than that.

Maruki: “But your brain’s capacity for long-term memory is huge. It might even be infinite, according to some theories. Okay, so… Kurusu-kun! What do you think about all this?”

Maruki: “Short-term memories only stick with you for seconds at a time. That said… how long do you think you can retain long-term memories?”

Morgana: “So he wants to know how long you keep long-term memories, huh…? This is a tricky one. What is long-term memory, anyway?”

Morgana: “Yeah. It was something like that! So anyway, you keep them for a long time. The question is, how long. Maruki mentioned something about the amount of memories you could store, right? Something like…”

Morgana: “Yeah! If you have theoretically infinite space for them… then theoretically, you’d be able to retain them for…”

Morgana: “Yeah. I think so too. …So that’s it. Long-term memories will never really fade away!”

Maruki: “That’s right! I’m impressed! Basically, stuff encoded into your long-term memory never really goes away. Short-term memories become long-term memories through reiteration.”

Maruki: “It’d be great if you could encode all the test answers to long-term memory, huh? Ah well. Can’t always get what you want.”

timrodresized: And now we’re about to see why I didn’t do the reset-heavy route.

timrodresized: If you’re doing the reset-heavy route, you need this chalk dodge. We just happened to get it, but keep in mind the last save point was last night and you need to answer Maruki’s question right to not permafuck.

timrodresized: Anyway, that’s our gameplay for this update.

Makoto: “Heading home? Its rare running into you at this hour. Oh, that reminds me - do you remember the counseling Dr. Maruki’s offering?”

Makoto: “It seems to be growing quite popular. I saw someone heading into the nurse’s office just as I was leaving the school… the teachers say he’s well worth his time here, but I have a feeling there’s more to his popularity than just talent…”

Makoto: “Hm? Oh, you’re talking about the exams coming up. No need to worry there. My study routine’s rigorous enough that I’m not panicking over it.”

Makoto: “…I appreciate the concern, but how about yourself? Depending on the exam scores, there may not be a fireworks festival for anyone to attend - were you aware?”

timrodresized: I hate that they have to justify every single thing in Royal because otherwise it makes no sense. Keep in mind that what most of these extra cutscenes are doing is trying to justify Royal’s plot.

Makoto: “I’m joking. But make sure you study well, all right? I need to buy some more test prep booklets on my way home. See you later.”

Kasumi: “What a pleasant surprise. Are you headed home too? Same here - I don’t have club practice today. That reminds me, there’s something I want to report to you. Would now be a good time?”

Kasumi: “Thank you. Why don’t we find a seat somewhere?”

timrodresized: And now it’s time for this cutscene to get real pointless, real fast.

Akechi: “And you are…”

Kasumi: “It’s been quite a while, Akechi-san.”

Akechi: “And the same for you… Yoshizawa-san, right?”

Kasumi: “My father works at a TV station. Have you seen ‘Good Morning Japan’? My father’s the director.”

Akechi: “I’ve been brought onto the show as a guest a number of times now. That’s how I ended up becoming acquainted with Yoshizawa-san. I didn’t know you knew her as well, Kurusu-kun.”

Kasumi: “He helped me out of a jam before, and now he’s been offering me guidance.”

timrodresized: I think this entire scene is kind of emblematic of the issues Royal’s writing has, and why Kasumi as a character was just kind of a bad idea.

timrodresized: The writers for Royal knew that the base game had issues with certain party members barely getting screen time, and knew that adding in a new character would screw with the balance, and they tried to make it work by just… adding more writing.

timrodresized: In the process, they killed the gameplay to cutscene ratio in a lot of places. This is one of them.

Akechi: “Helped you out of a jam, eh? I see… so, what were you two up to?”

Kasumi: “Oh, right! I was just about to share some exciting news. It’s nothing to keep secret, so I may as well spill it now. About that summer competition I mentioned to you before?”

Kasumi: “This only feels like the beginning to me, though.”

Akechi: “Isn’t your club’s team considered to be quite prestigious? And you’re their representative? I must say, that’s extremely impressive.”

Kasumi: “Thank you! I’ll do my best to make everyone proud.”

Akechi: “I’ll be cheering you on as well. Ah, I have an idea - since all three of us are here, why don’t we go somewhere as a group? We can call it our little celebration for Yoshizawa-san’s success.”

Kasumi: “That would be wonderful! does that work for you, Kurusu-senpai?”

Akechi: “That settles it. Would you mind if I chose the place? There’s a wonderful little cafe I know about…”

Kasumi: “Of course! Lead the way!”

timrodresized: It’s actually iced coffee, Colette. It’s great how that’s the only scene anyone remembers from Tales of Symphonia.

Kasumi: “Good point. Well, some people say coffee can cool you off, even when hot, so I try to avoid that too. I had this image that you enjoy sweet things, Akechi-san - is that untrue?”

Kasumi: “I swear I saw you eating fried sweet bread on TV just the other day…”

Akechi: “It’s all part of a marketing strategy. That sort of stunt is an easy crowd-pleaser.”

timrodresized: If only we were in December right now. There’s something that Atlus does in the expansion content that could very easily be described this way.

Kasumi: “You seem to have your own bases covered as well.”

timrodresized: I’m gonna be real here, I stopped reading the dialog like ten minutes ago. When I recorded this I had to go back a few times because I’m like “What’s the question again?”

Akechi: “Haha, you’re more innocent than I had expected.”

Kasumi: “I’ve been wondering: how do you two know each other?”

Akechi: “His social studies class visited the set of a TV show I appeared on.”

timrodresized: This is getting dangerously close to Allanson writing and I don’t like it.

Kasumi: “Ah, that’s right. Second-years got to go to a TV station.”

Akechi: “He and I exchanged our opinions during the shoot and his way of thinking intrigued me.”

timrodresized: I faulted the Allansons for this, and I’m going to fault Atlus for it: describing things I’ve already seen and fully understand is bad writing. Stop fucking doing it!

Kasumi: “I can definitely see that! Kurusu-senpai’s take on things often helps me as well.”

Akechi: “That reminds me, Yoshizawa-san. You had mentioned that he’s been providing you with some guidance.”

timrodresized: She just fucking said that!

Kasumi: “Yes - just like you said, his way of thinking is intriguing. I figured I could benefit from his input.”

Akechi: “In that case, let’s play a little game. Would you mind if I posed the same question to you that I first asked him?”

Kasumi: “No, go right ahead.”

Kasumi: “The Phantom Thieves? You mean in the case that they do in fact exist, yes? I admit that the assistance of others in need is a truly great act… but I simply can’t agree with their methods.”

Akechi: “I see. Care to explain why?”

Kasumi: “I suspect the Phantom Thieves’ existence isn’t going to be beneficial in the long run.”

Akechi: “How so?”

Kasumi: “Well, for example, when someone’s faced with a problem to overcome, I believe they need to do it themselves. Getting help from others is totally fine, but in the end, it takes a person’s initiative to truly create lasting change.”

timrodresized: Let me explain to you exactly what is going on here. What they’re trying to do is justify the plot of the new final dungeon, several months before we actually go there.

timrodresized: Now, this is a game that expects that I’ve forgotten things people said not even minutes ago. How do they expect me to remember this in 40 hours at the end of the game?

timrodresized: Why does this sound like the writers for Royal really didn’t understand what it is the Phantom Thieves do?

timrodresized: I can’t tell if Kasumi is supposed to sound slightly robotic here, or if that’s just a bad localization. It’s probably the latter, given this game’s localization history.

Akechi: “I see… So, in the sense of a person’s growth, their actions actually hinder it. Quite an interesting take on the matter.”

Akechi: “Haha, quite. I’d say it’s equally as unique as your own opinions.”

Kasumi: “Wait… could you actually be a fan of the Phantom Thieves, Kurusu-senpai!?”

Akechi: “I didn’t mean to start an argument. I just can’t help myself sometimes. Let’s change the subject to something a bit lighter.”

Kasumi: “I’m sorry, I should probably get going… if I’m away from home too late, my parents will begin to worry.”

Akechi: “Right, then let’s call it a day. Good luck on your competition.”

Kasumi: “Yes! Thank you! Well then, see you later!”

timrodresized: Before we do anything, Sakai has a decent sword for Yusuke that he’ll trade for the Soothing Soba we picked up a few days ago.

timrodresized: After a quick trip to Chihaya to get the extra point in Knowledge, it’s time for Hifumi again.

Hifumi: “You think to protect yourself with that paltry defense? Hahaha… useless! Awaken, dragon! Let your shadowy hellfire consume them all! Dark Inferno Rook!”

timrodresized: Joker activates his trap card, which he uses to special summon Blue Eyes White Dragon in defensive position.

Hifumi: “Can you hear them? The wailing of dying soldiers, echoing throughout the battlefield. With an incompetent king, a soldier cannot show his true bravery. Time for you to suffer!”

Hifumi: “At last, everything is in place… my right hand trembles as I release my full power!”

timrodresized: I feel like Hashino had no more of an idea of how shogi is played than I do, so he just watched the Yu-Gi-Oh anime and went “Meh, close enough.”

Hifumi: “…Check.”

Hifumi: “Ah, I did it again… it’s an embarrassing habit I have. During a match, I, um… I tend to get very aggressive. It’s as if I assume the role of a queen of a kingdom…”

Hifumi: “I-It is…? …You’re a strange one, indeed. My father had me do image training exercises when I was younger, to help me learn the rules. I gradually began to view the shogi board as if it were my own kingdom…”

Hifumi: “I had fun coming up with stories and strategies for my, um, subjects. However… I’ve heard that people make fun of me on the internet.”

Hifumi: “People think that I’m weird, or that I’m an otaku, or that I’m just crazy… I mean, I can’t blame them… certainly, I think I’m weird too.”

timrodresized: Joker looks at her, goes “It’s okay,” and then opens his jacket to reveal one of those arm deck holder things you see in the YGO anime. “I too believe in the heart of the cards.”

timrodresized: Then they both laugh when he describes Ryuji’s collection of heavily-modded Beyblades.

Hifumi: “Your positivity is… a welcome relief. I may be able to learn more from our matches than I thought.”

Hifumi: “That will do for today.”

timrodresized: I have no idea why Joker’s arms are like that in this one shot. I looked back at the video I took and it just kinda happens.

Hifumi: “Do you read weekly magazines…? Um, well, I’m doing a photoshoot for one…”

timrodresized: By Persona 6, all the female social links will be idols who are also magical girls.

Hifumi: “You’re quite perceptive. I thought you’d be surprised if you saw it on the newsstand, so I wanted to let you know beforehand. In all honesty, I’m very reluctant to do it…”

Hifumi: “But… if I can draw more attention to shogi, maybe the sport will become more popular… at least, that’s how I’m justifying it to myself… I have an interview scheduled for tonight as well, so let’s end here for today.”

Morgana: “A summer festival, huh… you think they’ll have any A5 beef there?”

timrodresized: I’ve never had wagyu beef before, but it seems really overpriced for what it is.

Morgana: “Well, you should worry about finals first. Once those are over, it’ll be summer vacation, so stay focused!”

timrodresized: The funny thing is that there’s an adult party member in Strikers. The party member is a cop, because of course, can’t have any anti-police messaging in an Atlus game.

timrodresized: I doubt I’ll ever get that far because Strikers is just… bad. The balance sucks and every boss fight is like fighting Kaneshiro ten times over.

Inui: “Behind Kaneshiro’s arrest are the ‘Phantom Thieves’, the mysterious group that changes people’s hearts. If I recall, there were similar rumors back during that business with Kamoshida-kun.”

Inui: “Help the weak and crush the strong… truly a modern legend of the gentleman thief. In the long history of humans, the gentleman thief has been seen briefly during times of turmoil.”

Inui: “Now then, please look at this picture, Kurusu-kun.”

Inui: “He did something during the Sengoku period that had him and his family boiled to death. Do you know what he did?”

timrodresized: There’s a scene in the earliest Lupin III anime where Lupin meets Goemon and throws a firebomb at him because “I mean, it worked on his ancestor!”

Inui: “That’s correct. Ishikawa Goemon is Japan’s most famous thief… he’s very popular, and some called him a gentleman thief. By the way, the Goemon bath comes from his name.”

timrodresized: I couldn’t really find a good picture of one, but a Goemon bath (the Japanese term is “Goemon-buro”) is a one-person bath which is shaped like a cauldron and is usually recessed into the ground.

timrodresized: You sometimes see this in anime where people use steel barrels instead - I know Suikoden 2 does this when you first get the bath house.

Inui: “Only stealing from the rich and powerful, and sharing with the poor… Goemon’s exploits have been documented in many forms of media, like kabuki and novels.”

timrodresized: And well, the entire Ganbare Goemon/Mystical Ninja series.

Inui: “Rebellion against Hideyoshi, whose campaign had failed; propaganda by the government to sully his name… the gentleman thief Goemon may be no more than an illusion made by varying motivations.”

Inui: “In actuality, most heroes and gentleman thieves throughout history are something like that.”

Morgana: “Let’s make sure people don’t think we’re just an illusion. But before that, you need to study for the exams that are starting tomorrow.”

Maruki: “Oh no, everyone’s permitted to stop by whenever they like! I know the phrase ‘counseling session’ can make some people nervous, but don’t be.”

Maruki: “Considering you’re the student council president, I’d rather they didn’t force you to come here at all, actually.”

Makoto: “Well, I was advised to come, but I still chose to do it on my own.”

Maruki: “Oh, good! Glad to hear it.”

Makoto: “But please, there’s no need to be concerned about my being here. Feel free to discuss anything with me.”

Maruki: “Ah, right. So I shall. Heh, you’re sounding more like the counselor here than I am.”

timrodresized: It’s like they purposely got the two most annoying characters in the game and put them in the same room just to make me hate the writing more.

Makoto: “Oh, not at all - in fact, quite the opposite. I’m actually a bit of a mess, and I always have to turn to others for help.”

Maruki: “Well you sure had me fooled. Even still, getting help isn’t a bad thing at all. In fact, it’s wonderful that you have a support system.”

Makoto: “Indeed… especially lately. I feel like I can’t do anything right by myself nowadays.”

Maruki: “Did something go wrong for you?”

Makoto: “Yes, but it’s nothing major. I’ve come to understand all too well that it’s a bad idea taking on more of a burden than one should.”

timrodresized: So if you’re like me, you’ve probably noticed that we’ve gone through a substantial amount of cutscene without really learning anything new.

timrodresized: Believe me when I say there is a point to all of these dumbass therapy cutscenes, and the point is unbelievably stupid.

Maruki: “You really do seem like someone with a mature sense of responsibility. However, that may be why people around you - especially the adults who should be protecting you - rely on you so much.”

timrodresized: I think the writers kind of forgot how old Makoto is. Her listed birthday is April 23rd, 1998 - meaning she’s 18 for the vast majority of the game. Giving her this kind of talk at that age (when she’s meant to be starting to gain independence) is just… weird.

timrodresized: In fact, the writers kind of forgot a lot when it comes to ages. Canonically, Makoto is a senior in high school. She’s in college when Strikers starts in Summer 2017. Ann and Ryuji, who were born in 1999, are sophomores. I don’t quite get how that works.

Makoto: “Adults… who should be protecting me? Had I been clever enough to understand that earlier, things may have gone a bit differently for me.”

Maruki: “You think so? Ah… you live alone with your older sister. I see. Pardon my saying so, but it seems you’ve been through quite a lot.”

Makoto: “Honestly, it only felt like the norm to me. But our lack of adult guardians has to have been hard on my sister - even now as well… and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hard for me, too.”

timrodresized: Surprisingly, nothing has ever been said about Makoto’s mother, even in side material.

Makoto: “…In fact, now that I think about it, I may well have grown up to be a bit uptight because of that.”

Maruki: “Is that so… and are you doing okay now? Is your support system adequate?”

Makoto: “It’s not as if I have a team of employees or anything, but I do have people that I’m able to rely upon well.”

Makoto: “Of course, I’d never think of them as replacements for my father or my sister. No one could replace either of them.”

Makoto: “What I’ve lost won’t ever come back. I just need to keep my chin up and push towards my future.”

Maruki: “Mm, I like the way you put that. No one can ever be replaced… yet we need to keep pushing towards our future.”

Maruki: “Should anything come up that you want help with, I’ll be there to support you… though my skills are pretty limited.”

timrodresized: After a quick trip to Chihaya for a luck reading, we’re going to spend the afternoon with Ryuji.

Ryuji: “Hehehe… you prolly didn’t realize it, but I recorded Yamauchi’s whole convo back at the monja shop! I’m a genius, I know.”

Ryuji: “Anyways, uh… I might need some backup here. Can you stick around?”

Ryuji: “Dude, chill. I just wanna talk. Listen. This here is what’s really goin’ on with the track team.”

Ryuji: “It’s Yamauchi’s voice, ain’t it? And on top of that, shit’s gone down just like he said.”

Ryuji: “Proud?”

Ryuji: “…So you trusted what he was sayin’ about Nakaoka 'cause of stupid crap like that?”

Ryuji: “Like hell I don’t know! How long were we runnin’ together, huh!? I went through all sorts of shit with you!”

Ryuji: “Who’re you livin’ your life for? Your parents? Teachers? Society? Maybe you should stop tryin’ to live for them, and just try livin’ for yourself.”

Ryuji: “You think you gotta betray people to be proud?”

Ryuji: “If that’s seriously what you think, you’re wrong! Nakaoka. You knew something was up with Yamauchi too, didn’t you? I mean, the bastard’s never been interested in track before…”

Ryuji: “But you kept quiet. You knew he was walkin’ all over you, and you just let him do it.”

Ryuji: “…You missed runnin’ that bad? Y’know, it ain’t so scary not havin’ a place you belong. You can kinda be free that way. If anything, I’m more scared of bein’ a crappy person.”

Ryuji: “I mean, I used to be like you guys… afraid, lyin’ to myself… that is, before I met this dude. I don’t wanna insult you guys or nothin’, but I know you’re prolly real pissed about all this…”

timrodresized: I like that the way this captured, it looks like Ryuji is being tiger dropped.

Ryuji: “You saw that, right? That was some serious violence!”

Ryuji: “Naw, man. I’ve been takin’ good care of this face, and look what ended up happenin’ to it. Either way, they’re prolly feelin’ way better now. I think they’re gonna be just fine together.”

timrodresized: Persona 4 also had this weird thing about male relationships being centered around fights and it’s like… no, that’s not really how it works.

Ryuji: “…Thanks.”

Ryuji: “You’re tellin’ me. You just sat around while I got my ass beat… for real though, you were a big help. You were pushin’ me to be cool that whole time.”

Ryuji: “It’s kinda like I was doin’ a sprint… and you were runnin’ next to me.”

timrodresized: “Look, Ryuji, is this gonna be one of those Jesus things, because I told you we can’t fuse Messiah without the DLC.”

timrodresized: And now it’s time to send Ryuji to the own zone. Yes, this is the “correct” answer points-wise.

Ryuji: “Brutal! Just forget about the beatin’ I took, okay!?”

timrodresized: Endure is an ability like Harisen Recovery that every party member gets. Atlus kind of got their shit together for P5 and toned down enemies with instakill spells, but this is still nice to have.

Ryuji: “Anyways, let’s head home. I think my mouth’s bleedin’, so we’ll hafta eat some other time. Later!”

Ryuji: “Gah… man, my jaw’s still kinda messed up. But it’s a good kinda pain, you know? Like just after a workout.”

Ryuji: “They’re gonna have to handle the rest, but… I think they’ll make the right call. Seein’ them havin’ a real heart-to-heart talk… they got a good team.”

Ryuji: “…I hope so. Still a long way from how things used to be, but… I did all I could. Man. If those guys are really gonna go for this, I gotta step up my own game.”

Ryuji: “I’m gonna up my pace, so you better be ready for it! 'Kay, later!”

timrodresized: And this is why I visited Chihaya earlier. This will bring us up to a total of three extra points in Knowledge beyond where we’d otherwise be.

timrodresized: Oh, I know this one!

timrodresized: The first word I saw in the letters was “Israel” for some reason.

timrodresized: Looking at it, you could also make “Rompers”, which yeah I suppose so.

Akechi: “You went to that cafe with Yoshizawa-san the other day, right? It’s been getting quite a bit of buzz lately, you know.”

Akechi: “I was hoping we could discuss things over some tea, but…”

timrodresized: These lines weren’t in the original game because Akechi was an auto-confidant, and I’m almost positive this is a dig at the players.

timrodresized: The thing is that in popularity polls in Japan, Akechi consistently ranked higher than most of the actual playable characters… largely with people who treat him as sort of the unofficial LGBT romance route.

timrodresized: I say “LGBT” rather than “Gay” because a lot of the Akechi shipping material involves genderflips where either Akechi or Joker (or sometimes both) are genderflipped or trans.

timrodresized: There’s also a lot of weird shit with like, love octagons where Joker and Akechi are dating but are also dating the female version of each other and several other characters at the same time.

timrodresized: None of this stuff exists with any of the other characters to any significant degree, outside of Yusuke getting a lot of gay/bi fanart.

Akechi: “But you? I expect you’ll pass muster easily.”

Akechi: “No, I only learned about it recently. Fads tend to be fairly similar, so I’m more curious about its popularity than its taste. Well, why don’t we give it a try?”

Akechi: “I actually enjoyed that more than I thought I would.”

Akechi: “Uh-oh. Looks like I’ve been spotted.”

Akechi: “She’s just here for the cake, I’m guessing. I’m sure she doesn’t mean any harm, but I don’t want to cause any trouble for the store…”

Akechi: “Looks like I’m out of time. I wish I could’ve relaxed a little longer, though. We should go.”

timrodresized: Oh, he’s done PLENTY wrong.

Akechi: “Sorry, but I think it’d be best to leave. I’m only going to cause problems if I stay. A shame I don’t have glasses like you. Maybe I would have been able to get out of this situation.”

timrodresized: Is Akechi’s hair prehensile or something? How the hell did he go from it being messy to being styled again?

Akechi: “I suppose I’d better learn to watch what I say around you.”

Akechi: “Well, you saved me. I daresay such crude means would never have occurred to me. Still… there’s no knowing how things may go unless you give it a try, hm?”

Akechi: “I think I’ve learned a valuable lesson. Thank you.”

Akechi: “Looks like our coffee’s gone cold. Why don’t we order new ones?”

Akechi: “But you certainly surprised me today. I can’t believe we got out of that with such a basic trick. It was an interesting experience, but… I definitely don’t want to go through that ordeal ever again.”

Akechi: “I saw firsthand what happens when I’m too careless with my words around you.”

Akechi: “…You have a twisted concept of ‘fun’. Though if you dressed as me next time, I think I might agree. I could use a stunt double.”

Akechi: “You and I aren’t terribly different in height. I’m sure my clothes would fit you. If we do this, it’ll have to be carefully planned, of course. I’ll be dictating everything, from hair to accessories.”

timrodresized: Oh, right. I realized just now that I’ve never explained why I hate Akechi so much. The answer is that like many characters in this game, he is a direct ripoff of a character from an earlier game.

timrodresized: The problem is I can’t say which.

timrodresized: And that’ll do it. Next time, we’ll do exams, witness yet another pointless Maruki cutscene that exists solely to justify Royal’s plot, and go to the fireworks festival.

Maybe this game would be better if it actually had an antagonistic yet not evil authority figure in charge of the public opinion campaign on the other side, possibly voiced by J. K. Simmons, pounding their fist on their desk and yelling, “THOSE PHANTOM THIEVES ARE A MENACE!

Also I’m gonna… I’m gonna assume the writers were making a joke about short-term memory retainment by asking you questions about the stuff Maruki literally said two text boxes ago. Or maybe they knew it’d be a challenge because players would zone out whenever he was speaking.

I just realized the Phantom Thieves have more than 30% popularity. They have enough public support to take over the country. Let’s! Do! Some! Totalitarianism!

Yeah it’s called Soul Resurrection.

Sir. SIR. it’s called a Duel Disk. デュエルディスク.

yea it is weird its pretty terrible who would come up with this and then say ‘yes this is what i want to do’.

oh. right. that guy.

A support system? Oh no, does that mean Makoto’s G R O W T H I S B E I N G H I N D E R E D

High school in Japan is three years iirc. So when the game says ‘senior’ it means a third-year student.