Click Here for Update 57
: “As for me… I’m done for.”
: “Talk about a cliched way to end your summer vacation.”
: “I can’t believe you hadn’t even touched your homework until last night.”
: “Well, everyone’s free to spend their time as they choose. I guess SOME PEOPLE just can’t help themselves.”
: “I’m sorry…”
: “Come on, I think he’s learned his lesson. More importantly, why don’t you folks take a break?”
: “Boss! You’re a lifesaver!”
: “I’m gonna go pick up some groceries. Mind the shop for a bit.”
: “…Oh, that reminds me: isn’t there a female athlete from our own school who’s made the news?”
: “An athlete.. do you mean the one in gymnastics?”
: “Yeah, her! The one everyone’s saying is super-cute!”
: The one everyone would forget about otherwise since we’ve already maxed her confidant.
: “Oh yeah - Yoshizawa, right? Wasn’t she gonna be in the summer meet? Or izzat already over?”
: “Ah, about that…”
: “Makoto?”
: “Well… I just happened to overhear a couple teachers discussing it when I was heading to school the other day. Yoshizawa-san’s results in the meet.. they weren’t exactly stellar.”
: “I see…?”
: Here’s what I don’t get about this scene. As far as we know, Ann and Makoto have never met Kasumi. Why do they even care?
: “There seemed to have been a great many people expecting her success there. It’s got to be tough for her…”
: “Yeah… ain’t there one more meet left this year in gymnastics, though? Shit must be rough right now, but if she can nail that one, who cares what anybody at school says?”
: “Oh. That also reminds me… so, I just happened to bump into Mishima-kun before summer vacation started.”
: “And?”
: “He seemed really mad. I asked him what was wrong and he showed me some posts on an underground site about our school. It pretty much said the school’s planning to abandon any honors student who isn’t actively making Shujin look better.”
: “Whoa, wait a sec…”
: You want to know what this scene sounds like to me? It sounds like they’re having a lot of trouble keeping Kasumi relevant to the plot. It also feels like the writers learned nothing from P4 Golden.
: P4 Golden had the same problem, where Marie was largely irrelevant until after the point where the base game ended. You basically did her S-Link and then forgot about her for the rest of the game.
: What I don’t get is why instead of adding all these cutscenes that just feel shoehorned in, they wouldn’t stick to their strong points and do gameplay segments with Kasumi instead. Have it be an Assignment: Ada kind of thing where she plays differently from Joker and her game is figuring out how to abuse those differences.
: “Who knows? Still, ever since the case with Kamoshida… the school’s been frantically trying to improve its public image, right? At the very least, this abandonment of honor students would fall in line with the school’s real mission.”
: “I can’t deny the possibility that they would do this to Yoshizawa-san…”
: “They dump all their hopes onto their athletes, and if they don’t cut the mustard, they’re out like the rest of the trash, huh?”
: “Regardless of whether it’s true or not, such behavior is extremely self-serving.”
: “Tch.. just like we’ve thought this whole time… there’s still tons of shit wrong with society.”
: “Yeah… we don’t know what’ll happen to Yoshizawa’s spot on the team… but at the very least, we can keep up our efforts to prevent the worst-case scenario.”
: “Enough already, damn… all anyone talks about anymore is the Phantom Thieves - who they are, whether they’re good or bad… startin’ to give me a headache…”
: “I don’t know… I don’t even remember how I first learned about Mementos…”
: Another pointless crossword tonight. I probably should put a vote up as to whether these are even worth showing anymore, since there’s multiple guides out there on how to do them.
: It’s another Chihaya night tonight. We already have pretty much all her worthwhile abilities, but we have to max her anyway.
: “But I’ve decided: I’m going to tell you everything about Fukurai-san. As well as the reason I decided to leave my village…”
: “I already told you about how it was a small, traditional town tucked away in the mountains, right? Well when I was young, I predicted a major earthquake. The villagers revered me as a messenger of God…”
: “But when I kept predicting disasters, they started blaming me for everything. They said I was cursed, a monster… so I locked myself away. People would still come by to throw stones through the windows though…”
: “Things went on like that for some time… until one day, an angry mob came and burned down the house.”
: Joker’s like “What town was this?” to which Chihaya responds “Oh, this little town called Silent Hill. Lovely little resort town in Not-Maine.”
: “That’s why I decided to come to Tokyo after graduating high school. I wanted to change my fate… I didn’t know anyone, but I needed money… so I took the first job I could find at a small night club…”
: Chihaya: “Have I mentioned I was born from a wish to torment this guy over killing his terminally ill wife? It’s true.”
: “I found myself surrounded by dangerous people.. but that’s when Fukurai-san approached me. He’s a psychic too, you know.”
: “He knew from a mere glance that I was a runaway who had just come to Tokyo. Then once I told him why I decided to leave my village, he immediately invited me to join the ADP.”
: “That was when he gave me the moniker of the Maiden of Relief. He told me that I possessed a divine power to save others from misfortune.. that I could become more than the monster people saw me as.”
: “I… broke down the moment he said that.. hahaha… deep down, I knew all along that the Holy Stones didn’t have any powers…”
: “But I thought I might be able to save people, even though I was a monster. Or perhaps because I was a monster…”
: “What…? My fortune said you’re supposed to hate me… I never thought you would overturn even that fate, Kurusu-san…”
: “I’m going to expose the chairman’s fraudulent activities and wake the other members up to the truth! Thank you so much for listening to me today… if there’s ever anything you need to talk about, I’d be glad to return the favor, Kurusu-san.”
: We now get an ability that’s completely fucking useless, but still somehow better than it was in the base game. In the base game, you got a version of this ability that let you preview ONE confidant ability.
: You then got a second one at Rank 10 that let you preview all of them. Royal adds two new ones instead - one at Rank 8 and one at Rank 10.
: “Now that I think about it though, just saying the Holy Stones are powerless won’t convince people. The ADP holds what they call ‘seminars’ for believers… but it’s really just brainwashing.”
: “That’s why everyone thinks they’ll be unhappy without a Holy Stone. Honestly, I don’t hold any sway there, even though I’m the Maiden of Relief… just who is the chairman…?”
: “Let me think it over some more. We can talk further next time. Well, thank you again for today!”
: “Now that I think about it, I barely knew anything about the Chairman, nor the ADP in general. So I’m thinking of doing some research on the ADP first. I’m done turning a blind eye!”
: The ADP was so bad it didn’t make it into Dark Souls 3 and that’s all you really need to know about it.
: “Are you… worried about me? Hee hee.. that kind of makes me happy. But yes, I’ll be all right. As long as I have the trust of my clients and believers. I am the Maiden of Relief, after all.”
: What she’s saying is that she’ll be fine as long as we’re singlehandedly keeping her business afloat.
: “…From now on, I will see with my own two eyes, rather than through cryptic fortunes. I’ll let you know if I find anything, so please, promise me that you’ll come by again. Now, I should be going…”
: “Well, this is truly our time to shine! Though this scoundrel has the same power as us, they’re triggering people’s mental shutdowns… if they truly exist, who can stop them? …Only us.”
: “We’ve got a new addition to the team, so it’s time I flex my veteran skills!”
: Morgana clearly has no idea how Neo Turf Masters works. The Veteran is probably the worst character in that game, a mere human playing alongside the gods that are the Shot Maker and Putt Master.
: “Come downstaaaairs!”
: “What is it?”
: “You don’t have any plans, right? Just come on. It’ll be my treat. Not only can Futaba go out now, but your summer break’s almost over. We gotta do something.”
: “I asked especially for sushi. You better be thankful. This place is supposed to be super delicious too.”
: It’s going to be the exact same sushi place Joker has been to like four times now.
: “Sushi!? Take me with you! I didn’t get to eat the take-out sushi last time, remember!?”
: “Man, that thing never stops meowing, does it?”
: “Tell him to bring me along!”
: “Wait, does it want to come with us or something? I do feel sorry for it though.. well, I guess I don’t mind bringing some sushi home.”
: “He knows me so well! Let’s see, I want some medium-fat tuna, fatty tuna, salmon roe, anago, and, and… oh, are you gonna be able to remember all this? You might want to take notes.”
: It’s hard to capture, but in this shot Futaba is rapidly shovelling food into her face at a pace that can best be described as “alarming”.
: “Delihious!”
: “Don’t wolf it down like that. No one’s gonna take your food.”
: “What did I tell you? Drink some tea.”
: “Hresfroomf!”
: “Huh? …Restrooms? They’re that way.”
: “Back in the day, she, her mother, and I used to go eat out often… this brings back memories.. I had completely forgotten about it too..”
: “Welp, time to resume.”
: “Hm? You’re still going to eat?”
: “I’m all full. I’m throwing in the towel!”
: “Which is it? I’m gonna use the restroom and then pay the bill. Check please.”
: Totally unrelated, but I saw a Persona 5 thread just now in which someone called Hashino “Rehashino” and I wish I had come up with that.
: “When I got into middle school, my mom and Sojiro took me out to eat sushi to celebrate. That sushi was so good… today’s was pretty good too. I hope the three of us can come again sometime.”
: “When should we do this again? I wish she could’ve had today’s sushi too… I want to find out what happened to Mom… I won’t forgive the guy who triggered her mental shutdown. So, you better help me out.”
: We know! Fuck!
: Wait, what. That’s $1100.. how the fuck do you spend that much on sushi?
: “Looks like we won’t be getting sushi to go.”
: Akihabara is where we’re going to unlock one of the two remaining confidants in the game. It’s also got a number of things we’re going to want.
: “Wait, we’re meeting in Akihabara? Is Futaba really going to be okay? We’d better get over there.”
: Ah, Akiba. Site of not one, but two incredibly mediocre JRPGs (plus re-releases) based entirely around anime panties. They’re making a third one and I have no idea why.
: “Is she not here? Try checking around.”
: “Hey, over there…”
: “Uhhh… ah…”
: “That looks bad! What are you gonna do!?”
: I’m disappointed there’s no “It can’t be helped” option because that would really reflect Royal as a whole.
: “Yeah, hurry up!”
: “S-Sorry… I thought I conquered my fears back at the beach…”
: “What happened?”
: “There wasn’t anyone I knew with me, so I panicked. Felt like my heart was gonna pop… I got so scared all by myself… then I just sorta curled up into a ball..”
: “Then all these people started staring at me.. and the police came.. and then it was all over…”
: “Look, Futaba. If you’re ever in trouble, just call Akira.”
: “…Okay.”
: “Maybe. Urgh.. couldn’t even go buy a game by myself. I’m a failure..”
: “Futaba…”
: “But I’m okay outside as long as it’s with Akira… is he some kinda key item? Please, Akira! Be my key item! I’ll try and get better at navigation if you do!”
: As you can probably tell, Futaba quickly goes from traumatized shut-in to us gamers: the character. Have I mentioned that you can date her?
: “It’s just a figure of speech. I want you to help me get better at going outside. And in return, I’ll work even harder as your navigator. How’s that for a good deal?”
: There’s a couple of Sae scenes that just flat out don’t make any sense, and this is one of them. Doesn’t she already know Futaba is a hacker?
: Futaba is the reason I didn’t do a poll for who to date, because I know there’s people who would vote for her.
: “..Weren’t you bawling your eyes out just a second ago?”
: “Yeah, but I have my key item now! Victory conditions met! C’mon, let’s roll!”
: “Akihabara…”
: “What!? That’s incredible, Futaba.”
: “I-I guess…”
: “I just hope you can keep that up. Maybe you’ll even be able to go to high school someday.”
: “Yeah…”
: “…Well, that’s enough of that. I bet you’re exhausted after dealing with all those people, huh? Let’s get you to bed. Hey, we’re gonna head back.”
: I have to wonder if at some point, Futaba was meant to be much younger than she is (making her P5’s equivalent of Ken in P3) and they wrote the script around that and then just kinda forgot to update it.
: “No sushi, and we got dragged around by Futaba.. what a terrible day.”
: It’s funny he says that, because by the time Strikers rolls around he’s basically Futaba’s cat.
: “I can’t believe I have to leave Japan now, of all times…”
: The school trip is the reason that almost half of September is a cutscene.
: The guide tells us to finish watching the DVD we have.. and I really don’t know why. We don’t ever wind up watching another DVD on this schedule, and there’s no trophy or Thieves Den award for all DVDs.
: “…This is the owner of quite a different type of power. It will help guide you all to further heights as thieves.”
: “Worry not. You are steadily approaching the realization of your goal. This is not necessarily to prove so, but I shall increase the number of Personas you can hold at once.”
: Three weeks ago, this ability would’ve been useful. Now all it’s going to do is increase the number of times I have to press L1 or R1 to find Lilim, Anzu or Arahabaki.
: Or, you know, the bullshit overpowered Persona I’m going to fuse the second we hit the next dungeon and get Network Fusion. The one with Megidolaon, Almighty Boost, Almighty Amp, Magic Ability (25% damage to all magic), Concentrate and Victory Cry if I can get it.
: Of course, all you have to do to stop me from doing that is to go up and vote in the poll. No Holds Barred is winning, and the first thing I’m doing once I get Network Fusion is making my gamebreaker.
: “From here on, your tale will make great progress… hone your powers even further, and prepare for the time that will soon come. …I expect great things from you.”
: “…Until we meet again.”
: I’m going to end this here for now, because we’ve got about two updates worth of content left before the real filler arc begins, and I want to make sure to contain that entire thing to its own series of updates so people can skip them easily.