Colors Flying High - Let's Play Persona 5 Royal

At least the theme song slaps. I haven’t found the upper limit on Isao Sasaki I can listen to.

So is it just every teenager with a portrait that’s got a Persona or does everyone with a portrait secretly have a Persona? Are we going to run into Sae wearing a goofy mask in a palace and she still doesn’t recognize Makoto (because of the mask, obviously).

I appreciate that this chapter of the game has a slightly different structure than previous ones. Though I did realize that this is partly illusory, because the Hawaii trip is secretly not an intermission but part of the long lead-up to entering the dungeon every chapter has.

timrodresized: People haven’t been voting in the poll, so I figured I’d give you all an incentive to do so by allowing you to witness the birth of my gamebreaker. This update will also cover the DLC that exists for Royal.

timrodresized: P5R has $60 worth of DLC. Most of it is useless - there’s a $15 DLC that simply adds the free costumes to Kasumi. No thanks.

timrodresized: We get a shit-ton of DLC notifications on load.

timrodresized: The costumes are handled as items, so you can mix and match if you want. Honestly, the costume packs are super fucking lazy, as we’re about to see.

timrodresized: This is the Persona 4 one. Morgana gets a lazy recolor while everyone else gets the generic NPC female uniform or the generic NPC male uniform. Ryuji’s is the laziest - they just retexure his existing outfit from the start of the game.

timrodresized: The Persona 2 ones are equally lazy, with Yusuke not getting Jun’s outfit and Ryuji not getting Eikichi’s. Also, all of the female characters are Lisa for some reason.

timrodresized: In Royal, Network Fusion (also called Public Execution) unlocks earlier than it did in the base game. It’s time to make my gamebreaker.

timrodresized: Unfortunately, you can only use this once per in-game day - but the bonus skills have a chance to be added in any network fusion you do. I uploaded our Anzu and Lilim.

timrodresized: The DLC Personas are available for free from the compendium the first time you summon them. There’s a normal version and a higher-leveled recolored “Picaro” version.

timrodresized: So, how broken is Network Fusion?

timrodresized: VERY BROKEN. That’s a Level 99 Yoshitsune right there - one of the best (if not THE best) Personas in the base game.

timrodresized: I fuse some garbage with a Level 83 Raoul. Raoul is a paid DLC Persona. LOOK AT THIS SHIT.

timrodresized: Spell Master is a skill exclusive to very high level Personas. This is going on every Persona I make from now on… provided you don’t stop me.

timrodresized: We also have Psycho Force (Tier 4 single-target Psychic spell) AND Psy Amp. We could EASILY get Psy Boost via alarm abuse and then fuse everything onto something with actual stats.

timrodresized: Meanwhile, I fused some trash and stuck a Megido card in to get Megidola. I am now one alarm away from Megidolaon, and then by the time we do Okumura’s dungeon I can and will get Almighty Amp.

timrodresized: You can still stop this. There is still time. Vote!

Since SMT If has never been localized, downloading the DLC for it should come with a link to the LP of If on the archives.

How much would YOU pay just to have one party member get the same DLC costumes as everyone else? Forty dollars? Thirty dollars?! NO my friend, it can all be YOURS for the LOW, LOW PRICE of FORTEEN UNITED STATES DOLLARS AND NINETY NINE UNITED STATES CENTS!

Click Here for Update 63

timrodresized: Two more days of cutscene before we get to do anything.

timrodresized: Oh, right. This update will contain a depiction of what’s basically spousal abuse, so if you’re not comfortable with that, feel free to skip this update.

timrodresized: I mean, calling yourself Beauty Thief would be perfectly normal if you’re in a Mad Max clone where instead of gasoline and water people fight over expensive cosmetics.

timrodresized: Gang of teenage girls with guns driving post-apocalyptic motorcycles trying to raid a convoy carrying limited-edition makeup.

timrodresized: By the way, the other LP complained about the whole “Beauty Thief” thing not making sense and I don’t think they realized it’s not supposed to make sense. She’s doing it because she wants to be a magical girl.

Ryuji: “Man, this girl’s hot! Aww, but she’s younger than me.”

Ann: “Ryuji!”

Ann: “No way! She’s the same age as me!? She looks like my dad’s friend…”

Ryuji: “Get back to work.”

Makoto: “Why don’t we take a break? It’s no surprise our concentration is waning.”

Ann: “They’re all starting to look the same to me…”

Ryuji: “Think we can really find her?”

Ryuji: “Someone sure is confident.”

timrodresized: I wonder if Haru has at any point considered selling advertising space on her massive forehead.

Ann: “Wasn’t the Beauty Thief like this too? Especially the fluffy hair.”

timrodresized: They should’ve had a scene where Haru holds Ann and Makoto up and just goes “Put your bangs in the bag and no one gets hurt.”

Ryuji: “That’s gotta be her!”

Makoto: “It would also explain how she got past the door’s biometric reader… this may be worth looking into.”

timrodresized: Now, it’s right about here that I’d like to point out an actual plot hole. The party could do something that would allow them to easily bypass that door without needing Haru.

timrodresized: We’ll see what that is after the next dungeon.

Ann: “By why was she at the Palace?”

Ryuji: “We could just make her spill the beans herself.”

Makoto: “She may have already gone home for the day, so let’s try tomorrow. I’m going to lock up. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

Haru: “Really? In that case… if you could help me unload this…”

Haru: “You’re a second-year, aren’t you? That makes me just a tad older. Um… have we met somewhere before?”

Makoto: “The only daughter of Kunikazu Okumura, CEO of Okumura Foods. Care to explain why you were inside your father’s Palace?”

Haru: “Ahh… so that’s where we met. Wow, you figured it out in just a day. You looked really good in that biker gang outfit!”

timrodresized: She’s being sincere here, but I like to think she’s mocking Makoto. “Congratulations, you found me and my gigantic forehead. You sure are THE SMART GIRL.”

Makoto: “Let’s… not talk about that… so why did you become a phantom thief?”

Haru: “Things have grown quite serious lately… that’s why I want to make amends, even though it may only be for my own satisfaction. But I wonder if this is just running from the problem…”

Makoto: “Where did you meet Morgana?”

Haru: “It was pure coincidence. I found a lonely-looking cat in front of our office building.”

Makoto: “And that was Morgana?”

timrodresized: No, it was Raidou Kuzunoha’s talking cat, which I just now found out about. Raidou’s cat is also black, though it’s less of a dipshit than Morgana is because Hashino is an unoriginal fuck.

timrodresized: And before you ask, Hashino had nothing to do with the Raidou games. He was a “planner” on Devil Summoner and Soul Hackers, but not on the Raidou games - at least according to the wiki.

Haru: “And when I followed him, I ended up in the Metaverse… there’s no way for me to change my father’s company… but if I became a phantom thief, I thought I’d at least be able to change him.”

Makoto: “…Isn’t there any way we can work together?”

Haru: “Besides, the Phantom Thieves, who should be helping the weak, are not helping their own teammate.”

Makoto: “…”

Haru: “I just want my father to atone for his crimes. And help Mona-chan, who gave me a chance to do just that.”

Makoto: “But aren’t our objectives the same? It’d be better if we work-”

Haru: “No, thank you. I will do this with Mona-chan, and him alone.”

Makoto: “It seems getting her cooperation won’t be possible. Let’s consult with the others on our next move. We shouldn’t ignore Morgana either.”

timrodresized: Dessler is upset because the Yamato just Wave Motion Gunned half his fleet around Pluto to death, and his ingenious plan to bounce lasers off satellites to bypass their point defenses didn’t work.

Okumura: “…That’s right. Make it a priority. I finally get a foothold into politics and this happens. Phantom Thieves? Hmph!”

Okumura: “Did the media ask you anything?”

Haru: “No, not at all. Um, what’s this about the Phantom Thieves?”

Okumura: “It’s jealousy of the successful. Nothing but the barks of the masses who lack the resolve to sacrifice what’s needed for their well-being.”

Okumura: “Both the young and the old are overjoyed with some foolish idols. This country has no future.”

timrodresized: His dialog sounds fucking stupid until you realize who he’s supposed to be. Trust me when I say Yamato is FULL of scenes like this. Dessler has a wine glass in his hand in about half the scenes he’s in, even when it makes no sense for him to have one. ESPECIALLY if it makes no sense for him to have one.

Haru: “What if they do exist? What if these Phantom Thieves really can steal hearts?”

Okumura: “Are you still having doubts about me?”

Haru: “No…”

Okumura: “More importantly, I hope things are going well with that young man.”

Haru: “…Yes, father.”

Okumura: “Very well then. He may not seem like it, but he’s still the son of an influential politician. Be cordial with him. He’ll eventually become a necessary connection for this company - or rather, for me.”

Haru: “…I understand. I will do the best I can.”

timrodresized: Before we’re forced into bed, all the items in Joker’s room have ANOTHER set of unique lines. Seriously what the fuck, they had someone write all this shit but couldn’t do a fucking song for it?

Chouno: “Come on, you’re young! Hawaii doesn’t even count as going to a foreign country.”

timrodresized: Try telling Customs and Border Patrol that.

Chouno: “It’s full of Japanese tourists. I bet you were able to speak Japanese wherever you went, weren’t you? The shopkeepers will use Japanese to pressure you into buying things as if their life depended on it.”

Chouno: “I’m used to it though, so I actually haggle with them in English. Mr. Kurusu! Show me how much you know your English.”

timrodresized: My cat doesn’t need to meow, he merely steps on my face at 4AM until someone feeds him.

Chouno: “Good! In ancient Egypt, it’s said that the tongues of liars and blasphemers were cut out and fed to cats. It’s also possible it came from the pirates’ ‘cat-o-nine-tails’ leaving a prison too stung to talk.”

Chouno: “There are actually a lot of other expressions involving cats. ‘A cat has nine lives,’ for instance. That relates to how cats seem capable of surviving all kinds of dangers- - even ones you’d expect to kill them.”

timrodresized: Here’s a shot of what happens when you answer a question without Morgana being there to narrate. Clearly, the social stats are a thing like Metroid Other M where Joker has to authorize himself to use them.

Skull: “I know already! And why’re you just sayin’ that to me!?”

Queen: “We need to be wary of the Beauty Thief too.”

Fox: “So we’re doing a stakeout here.”

Oracle: “We better be ready for the long haul!”

Fox: “Hold that thought.”

Noir: “Do you have business with us?”

Queen: "Aren’t you fulfilling the requests on the Phantom Aficionado Website? Even leaving comments? It’d be best if you didn’t accept them so recklessly.’

Fox: “The police will track you down in no time. If that were to happen, we’d be caught up in it as well.”

Noir: “That’s not what I intended! But… that would be my fault… I’m actually not that great with machines… I’m truly sorry.”

timrodresized: It’s non-canon, but in P5 Dancing Haru mentions that she does not know how to use a computer… because she’s Sailor Moon.

Morgana: “Why’re you apologizing!?”

Noir: “They’re telling us for our sake. We should be thanking them.”

Queen: “Won’t you please put what happened behind us?”

Morgana: “So I’m the one you’re here for? You guys need me after all? Is that it?”

timrodresized: We’re lying, obviously.

Skull: “Really?”

Morgana: “Lady Ann…”

Noir: “E-Everyone, shouldn’t you be using code names?”

timrodresized: Nah, they kinda threw that out the window three dungeons ago.

Panther: “Ryuji didn’t really mean what he said, you know? He wants to apologize…”

Skull: “Well, it’s like… it was my bad too… I mean, I don’t mind if you’re not human or if you’re useless!”

Oracle: “What a douche…”

Fox: “Ann’s setup was completely ruined.”

Morgana: “Get in, Beauty Thief! If you can’t do this, don’t count on me ever coming back!”

Skull: “Did he even think about how long he made us wait!? Fine, we’ll do this!”

Queen: “Geez! This isn’t what we came here to do!”

Queen: “We need to go after him and talk things through.”

Fox: “Hm… we are facing a car here. Does it not seem somewhat reckless to chase him on foot?”

timrodresized: I mean, if Death Stranding taught me anything (apart from “Skip every cutscene, they’re all dumb”) it’s that all you have to do is wait for the car to hit a small rock and go QWOPmode.

Oracle: “You sure give up easy. There are dead ends all over this floor. We can do this if we manage to corner him in one.”

timrodresized: This is an entirely scripted sequence, unlike the thing in Futaba’s palace where you had to at least try a little bit.

Morgana: “Hmph, how naive. You really think you’ve captured me?”

timrodresized: It’s hard to get a good shot of, but Morgana attempts to run Joker over… and this is why I hate Morgana.

timrodresized: People have pointed out that technically it’s Haru doing that, because Morgana isn’t self-driving, but still. He could easily have seen where that was going to go and stopped being a car.

Skull: “Shit, look out!”

Panther: “Sheesh, what would he have done if he ran us over!?”

Queen: “Stop complaining and let’s get after him again!”

timrodresized: I like that the writers completely forgot that Makoto’s Persona is a motorcycle.

Panther: “Mona! Will you listen!?”

Morgana: “Shut up! I’ve got nothing to talk about with you guys!”

Queen: “Ngh, not again…!”

Fox: “There will be no end at this rate…”

timrodresized: This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense until you realize that Haru is driving, and she’s got about the same level of driving skill that Maya did.

Oracle: “Yup. Mona, are you okay!?”

Skull: “You gotta hear us out, Morgana!”

Morgana: “There’s nothing I have to talk to you about.”

Queen: “Come on. There’s no need to keep being so stubborn.”

Morgana: “I can’t just give in like this! I have my pride to protect!”

Fox: “It seems we’ve fallen for the oldest trick in the book.”

Skull: “Ugh… those two…”

Oracle: “It’ll never end at this rate… what do we do now?”

Panther: “I don’t hear the sound of his engine at all… could they have left Mementos?”

timrodresized: SMART GIRL alert.

Skull: “Dammit! Freakin’ Morgana!”

Haru: “Are you sure that was what you wanted?”

Morgana: “…Of course it was!”

timrodresized: Oh look, it’s Discount Yoshikage Kira.

Haru: “I would never do such a thing!”

Haru: “Ow!”

Morgana: “Haru! You little - let go of Haru!”

timrodresized: Clearly Hashino has trouble remembering which Jojo series was which, because this is a direct reference to Iggy’s death scene in Stardust Crusaders.

Morgana: “Dammit… I AM useless…! Someone… anyone… is anybody out there!?”

timrodresized: He… does realize no one can understand him, right?

Futaba: “Was that… Mona’s voice?”

Ann: “Hey, over there! That doesn’t seem right to me!”

Ryuji: “The hell are you doing to our friend!?”

timrodresized: He’s thinking “The cat has already been made a bomb by my Killer Queen.”

Ann: “Fian- what? But she’s clearly fighting you!”

timrodresized: Joker’s like “What are you gonna do, pull some time travel bullshit out of your ass and then get run over by an ambulance?”

Haru: “I’m fine, but Mona-chan…”

Morgana: “This is nothing…”

Makoto: “Was that person really your fiance?”

Futaba: “Whoa, so you’re engaged then!?”

Ann: “That didn’t seem like an ordinary fight though… shouldn’t you talk to your parents about it?”

Haru: “…I think it’d be useless. I’ll just be told to beg for his forgiveness, even if it means groveling on the ground.”

Yusuke: “…It seems she has her reasons.”

timrodresized: I mean, Haru only just tried to kill everyone twice with Morgana as a facilitator. Clearly we can instantly forgive all of that. I mean, it worked perfectly in Ni no Kuni 2… apart from the part where Evan fucking dies before his son reaches adulthood, presumably due to being murdered.

Ryuji: “Of course. We’ll take her to your place, yeah?”

Morgana: “…Thanks.”

timrodresized: This scene would’ve worked a lot better had it not been for the whole attempted murder thing. Why they even put that in is beyond me.

Makoto: “Did you get enough rest?”

Haru: “Mona-chan?”

Morgana: “To be frank, there’s no assurance that I’ll turn back into a human either… this can’t be called a fair deal. That’s why I think we should split up.”

Yusuke: “Who said we’re acting as Phantom Thieves for your sake? I’m doing it to expand my own horizons.”

Morgana: “No need to tiptoe around the situation. We’re splitting up.”

Haru: “Do you remember what you said to me when I found you collapsed in the Metaverse? That you’re a Phantom Thief. That you’re going to get stronger and have the others acknowledge you.”

Haru: “You love being here, don’t you?”

Morgana: “O-of course not…”

Haru: “I was lying to myself too, but when I formed a contract with my Persona… I understood it all. Doing this because my father is doing something horrible… was nothing but a superficial reason.”

timrodresized: Haru is kind of a plot hole. What the game hasn’t told us (yet) is that she doesn’t actually have a Persona. She’s got the thief outfit for some reason, but no Persona.

timrodresized: The thing is, they could’ve done something with this. Have it be that when you first meet her, she’s in a different thief outfit she made herself, and then switches later into her real one.

timrodresized: But of course, Hashino is an unoriginal fuck and could not find someone to steal that off of - other than, I dunno, the myriad of western cape comics that have done just that.

Haru: “The truth is, I-”

Ann: “Don’t want to get married, right?”

Haru: “I thought that since an adult with responsibilities made the decision, it couldn’t be wrong. I was such a fool, tied down by vague notions and stayed quiet as my marriage partner was chosen…”

Haru: “Phew… that’s how I truly feel.”

Morgana: “Wh-why’re you looking at me all of a sudden?”

Haru: “Mona-chan, why is it that you always talked about becoming human again?”

Morgana: “That’s… at first, I only thought of this team as a temporary dwelling until I regained my memories. But I wasn’t making any progress on finding out what I am or why I was born…”

Ann: “Morgana…”

Morgana: “…I wanted a reason of my own - a reason to stay with the Phantom Thieves. I don’t have anyone I want to save or get revenge on. Someone like me has no reason to stay here…”

Yusuke: “That was refreshingly honest.”

Ryuji: “You shoulda just said so from the start! Geez!”

Morgana: “If you stick with me, there’s no telling what kind of trouble will come up! You better be sure about this!”

Ann: “It’s a little late for all that, don’t you think? Of course we want to stay with you too.”

Morgana: “Uhh, so… well… I’m sorry I worried you guys. This is where I belong! My mind’s all set! I’ll make sure to work hard to pay my dues. It’s too late to cancel our deal, got it?”

Ann: “Well, in the end, wouldn’t you say that your encounter with us was destiny?”

Morgana: “That’s right… ‘Encounter’…”

Futaba: “Hm?”

Ryuji: “Oh crap! The last train’s comin’ up!”

timrodresized: I believe the last train runs at midnight in Tokyo, if Game Center CX is at all correct.

Yusuke: “I must go as well.”

Makoto: “Let’s continue this another time.”

Haru: “I…”

Sojiro: “What’s going on here? You brought over another girl?”

Sojiro: “That’s not what I meant. Anyway, don’t break her heart, all right?”

Sojiro: “So, you found our cat, and even took care of it?”

Haru: “Oh, it wasn’t a bother or anything.”

Morgana: “I’m the one who took care of you though.”

Futaba: “What’s up? You seem happy.”

Haru: “It’s been a while since I’ve had a meal with so many people.”

Sojiro: “Make sure you go home today before it gets too late, okay? I’m sure your parents are worried.”

Haru: “No, I’ll go home. If my father suspects something, it’ll be more difficult to change his heart, wouldn’t it? I’ll contact you again so - oh right! Can we exchange contact info?”

Morgana: “Will you be okay on your own? If you need, I can go with you.”

Haru: “You belong here, don’t you, Mona-chan?”

timrodresized: She attempted to commit murder with him and won’t even take him home.

Morgana: “W-Well, yeah…”

Haru: “…Excuse me?”

Okumura: “You won’t be officially registered yet, but isn’t that how things are with young people these days? Go prove your sincerity to him. You can do that, can’t you?”

timrodresized: Haha, us millennials killing marriage, am I right?

Okumura: “Not only do you come home late, you’ve even stayed out overnight without my permission… I thought I had been clear about the friends you chose.”

Haru: “Father, they’re not like-”

Okumura: “I have my hands full right now with the company. Don’t cause any more trouble for me.”

Haru: “…I need to discuss something with everyone. Can we all meet?”

Morgana: “Haru… what could be wrong? I wonder why she wants to talk to us…”

Ann: “It’s that same fiance guy, right? You know what’s going to happen…”

Morgana: “Based on what Haru just told us, she’ll be taken to his house on October 11th. That means our deadline is the 10th.”

Yusuke: “But if we trigger a change of heart in your father, he’ll definitely be taken by the police. The label of a ‘criminal’s daughter’ will forever stick with you. Your current living situation may change as well.”

Haru: “And to be honest… I’ve actually left a request on the Phantom Aficionado Website before.”

Morgana: “She did so around the time we were mulling over who to target next.”

Haru: “But… the Phantom Thieves didn’t make a move. That’s when I met Mona-chan. I thought it was fate. I made my decision then. If the Phantom Thieves wouldn’t act, I’d do it myself…”

Yusuke: “The mental shutdowns, Treasure, and finally, the change of heart… our interests have come together.”

Makoto: “Would you cooperate with us now?”

Haru: “Of course. I should be the one cordially asking to be allowed on the team.”

Morgana: “From here on, we may be going up against the culprit behind those mental shutdown occurrences. This’ll be different from our training in Mementos. You better brace yourselves.”

timrodresized: I joined a Megami Tensei speedrun discord a few days ago to ask a mechanics question, and happened to read a guide for P5R speedruns while I was there.

timrodresized: It kind of made me re-think making a gamebreaker, if only because they use horribly outdated Personas (they fuse an Anzu just before the next boss, the one after Okumura) and get by mostly on items, buffs, and reflects.

timrodresized: Have I mentioned that they play on Hard?

Ryuji: “You’re suddenly lecturin’ us?”

Futaba: “Weak? Really?”

Morgana: “She can transform at the very least, but to be frank, she may slow us down. A lot.”

Haru: “I’m sorry for causing such trouble…”

Ryuji: “Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s actually convenient for us to target that CEO. Check out this news blog.”

Makoto: "There’s a lot of negative comments in regard to the Phantom Thieves. ‘The names of obvious criminals have come up, so why haven’t the Phantom Thieves acted yet!?’ "

Futaba: “The way they’re getting heated is on a different level.”

Morgana: “Don’t forget about the intel on the mental shutdown cases, all right?”

Ryuji: “Of course! We’ll get 'em both!”

timrodresized: Oh, one other detail I love about the speedrun of this game. The world record is something like 14 hours. Most people take somewhere between 15 and 20 hours on their first run.

timrodresized: This means they have to strategically plan bathroom breaks, and this is where my favorite quote about that comes in: “In long scenes like the buffet after Kamoshida or Hawaii, go to the bathroom.”

timrodresized: That’s honestly a pretty good way to play this game even if you’re not speedrunning it.

Morgana: “As Phantom Thieves, it’s our duty to punish him!”

timrodresized: We do have an open night slot even though we can’t leave, so tonight we fix the laptop.

timrodresized: The game warns you that it can take multiple nights to finish it - this is because the laptop is a stat trainer for proficiency. Because we’re already maxed in that, we can fix it in a single night.

timrodresized: All computers are essentially made up of different components that have already been scalped multiple times by crypto miners. Seriously, they just announced a new video card (to avoid dating the LP I’m not saying which) that went from an initial $~800 MSRP to over $1200 before even releasing.

timrodresized: If you’ve played Persona 3 or Persona 4, you might have wondered where Tanaka was. He was the guy who ran the TV shopping show in both of those games.

timrodresized: This also answers the question of “What happened to all of those sunglasses Nyarlathotep had in Persona 2?”

Morgana: “What the heck? It just went to that site automatically. Was it configured to do that beforehand? Shady Commodities? So… it’s an entire online shopping site?”

timrodresized: If you’re asking why they did this, it’s probably because at the time this game was being written, there was a bunch of public discourse over Silk Road.

timrodresized: Just in case you haven’t heard of it, Silk Road was an online marketplace that dealt in illegal items - mostly drugs, as they banned the sale of weapons. The person who ran it, Ross Ulbricht, was arrested in 2013.

Morgana: “Either way, it’s certainly gotten my attention. Let’s check it out when we have some time.”

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll go into Mementos. I’ve already transferred the save to the PS5, but I might decide not to do that anyway because of how boring fusing a gamebreaker is.

No it’s envy of the successful. Haven’t you seen that Simpsons bit?

Every time ANYTHING happens in Digital Devil Saga, there’s new dialogue in every location in the game. It’s infuriating.

Uh, taken like 50 damage I assume.

Do they do that because enemies do more damage, so you can repel more damage? Or do they do that because they’re MegaTen fans and like being beaten with a bat full of nails?

I went and asked, and apparently it’s the latter - there’s no mechanical reason for it. The extra damage on reflects does help, but if they were going for that they’d probably play on Merciless instead because that has the 3x damage multiplier on weakness hits… which I will be abusing extensively against the next boss.

Click Here for Update 64

timrodresized: It’s the 19th, and time to go to Mementos.

Morgana: “If Haru’s sold off, the Phantom Thieves will never live it down.”

timrodresized: Yeah, nah. We’re going to Mementos (and temporarily to the PS5) instead.

Yusuke: “Ann… perfect timing.”

Ann: “Huh? Whaddya mean?”

Yusuke: “I’ve been working on a way to incorporate beauty into our fights, instead of merely doing away with our enemies each time. And only a moment ago, I was struck with a bolt of inspiration.”

Ann: “Ah, is that right? So… what did you mean by ‘perfect timing,’ then?”

Yusuke: “Ah, yes - so my potential idea is good and all, but I’ll require your help to pull it off. Would you please lend me a hand?”

Ann: “Sure, but, uh… nothing too weird, alright?”

timrodresized: I’m going to need to borrow footage again, because even after grinding in Mementos for like two and a half hours trying to fuse a gamebreaker I did not get their Showtime to pop up even once.

timrodresized: By the way, I’m taking the footage off this channel on Youtube.

timrodresized: Oh, right. I also found out that there’s a neat little easter egg which is INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT to get. If you finish a fight with Ann and Morgana’s showtime and Morgana levels up, it shows his godawful anime face on the level-up screen.

timrodresized: Ann and Yusuke’s Showtime is named “The Kabuki Kid” in English. The Japanese name is “Genroku-jyo Kabuki” which is apparently a reference to a 1969 film titled “Orgies of Edo”.

timrodresized: I have not seen Orgies of Edo, but it’s apparently a samurai movie of some sort that is ostensibly about moral degradation in Edo-period Japan. YouTube has it and it’s classified as a horror film. Let me just copy-paste the plot summary from IMDB, because it tells you just about everything you need to know.

timrodresized: Now, let me just say that if I had multiple bulls with flaming horns, the first thing I would do is link them up to a chariot and destroy the ornamental grass in the backyard. The second thing I would do is get a pizza, because no one is going to make me wait when I have a chariot hooked up to a bunch of fire bulls.

timrodresized: I like the detail of that lamp in the corner that just says “Ann + Yusuke” because it makes them seem like a gay crimefighting duo.

timrodresized: Okay, so, fire bulls. There’s going to be some fire bulls in here, right? You wouldn’t name an attack after a movie containing fire bulls and then not have any fire bulls. That’s just common sense.

timrodresized: God dammit, Atlus! You had one fucking job! Fire bulls! You could’ve fucking had them ride fire bulls! Fuck! One job and you ruin it!

Yusuke: “Of course, if you have no interest, you’re in no way obligated to help…”

Ann: “No no, it sounds awesome! Oh, but - what if we tried doing this beforehand?”

Yusuke: “Oho… we should definitely incorporate that part into the attack. I never would’ve come up with that part on my own.”

timrodresized: Now, if I had someone who could do 3D modeling and had bothered to look up Orgies of Edo beforehand, I would ABSOLUTELY do a Joker/Yusuke showtime where they’re cowboys on fucking robot horses driving a herd of fire bulls into the enemy.

Ann: “Awesome! I can’t wait!”

Yusuke: “Actually… I want to try it right now as well! I truly hope the Star will grant us this…”

timrodresized: Notice that Haru doesn’t have a costume - she’s just kinda here. We can’t use her yet.

timrodresized: I should also note that the guide tells you to get a Money Reading from Chihaya before going in, but we’re not doing that. The reason? Most of the enemies here are going to be insta-kill fodder, and Money Reading does not double the money from insta-kills.

timrodresized: At this point, you are going to get far more money from insta-kills (I went from like, 800k to 1.2 million in an hour) than you are from the Greatest Weapon. We’ll save that for Okumura’s palace.

Oracle: “It’s coming from below!”

Morgana: “It’s gotten even bigger.”

Panther: “This happened because we stole another Treasure… right?”

Skull: “I feel like it’s gonna keep gettin’ bigger and bigger.”

Oracle: “I don’t think Mementos’s territorial expansion is caused by us stealing a Treasure. I bet it’s things like the number of searches for ‘Phantom Thieves,’ the ranking of trending words…”

Oracle: “And the access counter on Mishima’s website and stuff. Even now, it’s slowly expanding.”

timrodresized: Maybe if we keep expanding it, we’ll get to a universe where this is a well-written game.

Fox: “The more we become the topic of conversation, the more Mementos spreads?”

Queen: “Maybe it’s the other way around…”

Skull: “Whaddya mean?”

Queen: “We’re the ones expanding it… or perhaps, Mementos grants further passage as we become more prevalent in the general public’s cognition.”

Skull: “Like… gettin’ free admission for bein’ popular?”

Fox: “That’s rather well-put.”

Skull: “For real? That’s amazin’! Actually, you’re amazin’, Futaba! How’d you figure that out?”

Oracle: “Piece of cake.”

Morgana: “I didn’t know at all… what have I been doing?”

timrodresized: I forgot to show off in the DLC roundup that in the Persona 1 and 2 costume sets, Morgana becomes Trish. Joker smirks at the fact that Morgana has now cross-dressed before he has.

timrodresized: By the way, I have decided to NOT migrate the save to the PS5. The reason for this is an unforeseen issue with Network Fusion.

timrodresized: Basically, Network Fusion has no legality checks the way something like the GTS in Pokemon does… and at the same time, people can edit their saves to basically make whatever they want.

timrodresized: As far as I can tell, as long as the Persona has “valid” skills (read: no enemy-only skills or debug stuff) they’re allowed to be uploaded.

timrodresized: This leads to things like a level 60 Lilith that’s been floating around with the skill set of a Persona that’s not obtainable until New Game +.

timrodresized: Now, I’m all for breaking the game using the tools it gives me, but I feel like using hacked shit is going a bit too far… and I don’t feel like manually verifying every Persona I come across.

timrodresized: There are also decals for Morgana. I’m not quite sure how that would even work, but whatever.

timrodresized: The only unfortunate part of not having the DLC will be that I cannot get a fire bull. Titanomachia is a skill unique to Asterius that does more fire damage than Agidyne (it’s a tier-4 fire spell) and inflicts fear instead of burn.

timrodresized: By the way, the part about the costumes that sucks is that it changes the battle music. Now, you’d think this would mean giving me Bloody Destiny for the P1 set… but no. Atlus had one fucking job.

timrodresized: Unlike our other targets, Oyamada is way the fuck back in the area that covers Madarame’s palace.

Skull: “That bastard looks like he’s been eatin’ well lately.”

Fox: “Hm. He made a mistake in rushing a drug’s development, and now intends for his subordinate to take the fall.”

Panther: “People might die if we don’t change his heart! And a good doctor will have to quit…”

Skull: “Yeah. We gotta do something!”

timrodresized: Yusuke kills Oyamada’s shadow in one hit. I didn’t even have him use Charge first.

timrodresized: That… doesn’t make sense, but okay.

timrodresized: And now we’re going back to the PS4… after one more thing. Futaba has a finisher screen that will (rarely) pop up over someone else’s when you finish with an All-Out.

timrodresized: Wait… why doesn’t she have the visor on? Anyway, let’s go back to the PS4.

timrodresized: I use Anzu and Kaiwan to make Belphegor. With Life Aid, we really don’t need the half SP cost from Anzu anymore, and Intense Focus increases all single-target spell damage by 20%.

timrodresized: You might ask if me giving a toilet demon wind spells and wind break was intentional, and no it wasn’t, but it’s pretty funny in hindsight.

Returning Persona: Belphegor

Origin: Moab (Present-day Jordan)

First Appearance: Megami Tensei II

Demonized version of Baal-Peor, the god of the Moabites. In Judeo-Christian mythology, he is a former Principality who became the demon lord of Sloth. Appearance comes from a Jewish myth in which Belphegor is worshipped at a toilet by puking into it.

Skull: “She’s smirking. That’s kinda creepy.”

Panther: “Her blog is full of all her crazy thoughts. She must be lost in some sort of sick romance fantasy.”

Skull: “Shouldn’t we do something about it before she can hurt anybody?”

Morgana: “Of course. Let’s do it.”

timrodresized: Gonna go Ralph Pootawn on her ass.

Panther: “Hey. I don’t blame you for falling in love, but there’s a point where it goes too far.”

Panther: “Who are you calling a bitch!? And I’m not interested in Ikesugi!”

timrodresized: Bitches are dogs. Ann is a cat.

Skull: “What’d you just say!?”

timrodresized: Mogami’s shadow is Bugs, which is a demon we need a totem to fuse. We’re going to need one for Caroline and Justine’s confidant.

timrodresized: Belphegor: “Oh christ here comes the five-alarm chili! It’s back for revenge!”

timrodresized: Joker: “Real romance is when Yusuke puts on the maid dress.”

Panther: “Just tell him face to face, and don’t write weird stuff in your blog. It’ll take courage though.”

Skull: “Hey! Just don’t do anything weird!”

timrodresized: Defeating Mogami lets us proceed to the next area.

Queen: “I never realized how creepy the subway system could be. Inside the train, you don’t even notice.”

Fox: “I agree. Perhaps it is like the darkness in all men’s hearts. Always there, never perceived…”

Queen: “He seems a little irritated.”

Skull: “I heard he was abusin’ animals just to take his anger out on them.”

timrodresized: Wasn’t Joker the one who told him this?

Panther: “I can’t let him get away with something like that!”

Morgana: “You guys, don’t go easy on him!”

timrodresized: My cat is happiest when he knows I’m having a video meeting at work, because it means he can jump in front of the camera.

Morgana: “What a poor excuse for a human being! I could never forgive someone like you!”

Morgana: “We’ll take your twisted desires, but first I’ll show you the pain you caused those poor animals!”

Morgana: “Let’s do it, Joker! I’ll show you the wrath of cats!”

timrodresized: Morgana, the whole Zero Wing thing stopped being funny in like 2004.

timrodresized: I kind of wish I had known this earlier. Being shocked opens up enemies to gun attacks - meaning every single shot fired will be a technical.

timrodresized: After several rounds of knocking the boss down, Yusuke decides it’s time.

Fox: “That’s a good idea. Perhaps then, he’ll understand what those animals had to endure.”

Queen: “Remember the awful things you did to those cats. Doesn’t it make you feel horrible?”

timrodresized: Shortly after, I start grabbing the stamps for this area. The annoying part is that you have to farm them starting in this area.

timrodresized: What happens is that each level of the dungeon has a chance to spawn two stamp stations - there will always be a fixed one at the down stair and a second one that may or may not appear.

timrodresized: What you have to remember though is that the rest area, the final floor, and most floors with a target on them will only spawn one, meaning you have to do floors multiple times.

timrodresized: I also run into Jose, who upgrades the crystal from Futaba’s Palace.

timrodresized: Decarabia is a trash Persona, but we’re fusing him for one very specific reason. We logged him earlier.

timrodresized: The reason is that Decarabia is the first non-DLC Persona to learn Fire Boost. We also need a Councillor Persona, so might as well.

Fox: “We’re only in the third area. I suppose this leisure ride will continue on for a while longer.”

Panther: “How is this supposed to be leisurely?”

timrodresized: Given that we’re insta-killing everything we run into, it’s pretty leisurely.

Skull: “Cut him some slack. Yusuke just wanted to say somethin’ cool.”

Skull: “He looks super shady.”

Fox: “Well, he’s selling useless rocks and those brainwashing seminars to his followers, right?”

Panther: “If we let him go on like this, so many more people will end up unhappy!”

Queen: “Let’s go and strip this wolf of his sheep’s clothing.”

timrodresized: Fukurai’s shadow (Baphomet) is annoying to fight due to it having very high defense. It’s weak to Bless and Ice, but at this point we don’t really have a strong Bless Persona. That will change quickly.

timrodresized: I pull out Decarabia because I know that Baphomet is unlikely to use a physical attack and go for shocking him instead.

timrodresized: Seriously though, I had no idea shock was this good. One shock is basically four guaranteed All-Outs.

timrodresized: Baphomet has Eigaon, and it hits fucking HARD. This actually killed Ann - she had to use Endure to survive it.

timrodresized: Now that we have Futaba, she will occasionally buff the party - this can range from a full-party accuracy boost (trash) to a full-party Heat Riser.

timrodresized: Ann learns Fire Boost, putting her one step closer to being overpowered.

Queen: “He’s got a crazy look in his eyes.”

Fox: “He’s been known to attack indiscriminately. I suppose he really has lost his sanity…”

Panther: “If we don’t make him have a change of heart, I won’t feel safe walking around in public.”

Morgana: “We have to do this.”

Panther: “Oh, geez, he’s the annoying type…”

Skull: “Stop playin’ dumb, you crazy criminal.”

timrodresized: Former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, this will not raise Japan’s declining birthrate.

timrodresized: Naguri’s Shadow has a shitload of health but very low defense.

timrodresized: I kept Decarabia on the entire time, which was a mistake against a physical-oriented demon like Kin-ki, but whatever.

Skull: “Sorry won’t cut it. You attacked and hurt a lot of people, you know?”

Queen: “Tell the police everything.”

timrodresized: Charge would be useful if I ever used physical Personas, which there’s not much reason to.

Fox: “We were fortunate to have caught him before anyone died. We should be quite grateful for that fact.”

Panther: “God, he looks pigheaded…”

Skull: “This guy abused his position at work, right? Harassin’ the people under him and all that.”

Queen: “It’s people like him who create awful workplace environments…”

Fox: “Let’s talk to him.”

Fox: “Stealing credit from your subordinates is one of the worst things you can do as a superior.”

timrodresized: I saw a thing just now about how the speedrun of the base game works, and shit’s kinda crazy.

timrodresized: In the base game, every one of the dungeons has a means of clipping out of bounds, which in some cases allows you to skip pretty significant portions of the dungeon.

timrodresized: Another favorite is one in the laser room in Madarame’s dungeon that removes Ryuji from the game.

Panther: “How did someone like you ever get promoted? If I were the president, you’d be fired!”

timrodresized: Unfortunately, Royal fixed a lot of these because they were dependent on a bug in the base game that allowed you to clip into enemies. It’s still doable in Royal but is apparently much harder to pull off, and only one of the out of bounds is usually worth the time investment.

timrodresized: Kishi is a Kumbhanda, and is only weak to Bless. Unfortunately, that’s our weakest department right now - we can’t really get a good Bless Persona until level 41 or so.

timrodresized: He’s more annoying than actually dangerous, as he has Diarahan (single-target full heal) and will use it any time he gets low.

timrodresized: For a trash Persona, I sure got a lot of mileage out of Decarabia. There was kind of an ulterior motive in that Decarabia eventually learns Megidola, but as I found out the hard way, getting Megidola to mutate into Megidolaon is extremely hard.

timrodresized: Seriously, I made like 50 attempts at it on the PS5, and only once did the game pick Megidola to mutate, and it didn’t mutate into Megidolaon. I asked if anyone had ever successfully gotten it to mutate and the answer I got was “Just use the hacked Lilith”.

Fox: “How do you intend to take responsibility for all this?”

timrodresized: This book unlocks Tokyo Destiny Land, but I believe you can also unlock it via the story, so there’s not much of a reason to read it.

Skull: “An amusement park guidebook!? Even if you abused your subordinates, I guess your kids were real important to you…”

timrodresized: I ran into Jose and spent all the stamps to get even more money. We’re going to need it probably around the time we get to the Casino.

Fox: “Judging from the smirk on his face, it looks like he’s scheming something awful.”

Skull: “I heard he was threatenin’ this old couple, tryin’ to kick them out of their own movie theater.”

Queen: “If we leave him alone, he may resort to violence.”

Panther: “We can’t let that happen! Let’s go!”

Queen: “It seems like you’re trying to use force to get people to leave their property?”

Queen: “We’re quite serious. We can’t let those who cause problems for others to go unpunished.”

timrodresized: No, you didn’t have a stroke, that last line is just badly localized and wasn’t fixed in Royal.

Queen: “That includes people like you, who use bullying tactics to get what they want.”

timrodresized: Even though he’s an Ippon-Datara (a Mementos-exclusive demon in Madarame’s area) this fight is fucking annoying.

timrodresized: He uses Rampage, which hits everyone multiple times. Against four targets, Rampage is almost certain to crit at least once, and it’s not likely you’ll be able to get a physical reflect on everyone.

timrodresized: Also I was still using Decarabia (even though that’s a horrible idea) because I wanted Megidola dammit.

timrodresized: Then Futaba gives me a full-party Heat Riser.

Morgana: “Yeah, stop messing around with our neighborhood.”

Queen: “I hope you’ll consider the feelings of those who get things taken away from them from now on.”

Queen: “Not just Yongen! You better make up for the awful things you’ve done elsewhere, too!”

timrodresized: Oh man, this book. This book unlocks the Sky Tree and is made completely pointless by finishing Ann’s Rank 7 event.

timrodresized: After that fight, I got another fusion alarm (seriously, I got like 10 during this trip) and fuse a Unicorn. We’re not keeping it for long, because while it learns Kougaon, it can’t do much with it.

New Persona: Daisoujou

Origin: Buddhism

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei I

Daisoujou is a title for a high-ranking Buddhist monk, but in this case the Persona is based on a practice called sokushinbutsu in which a monk self-mummifies by doing an extremely hardcore diet for three years before being sealed in a tomb.

timrodresized: Daisoujou was an amazing demon in Nocturne, but outside of Nocturne he’s only notable because of his unique skill, Samsara. Samsara is the best light-based instakill spell. He also is probably the easiest way (outside of DLC) to get Bless Boost. We’re not keeping him either.

Returning Persona: Hariti

Origin: Buddhism

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei I

Originally an ogress in Pakistani mythology who kidnapped and ate children. When Buddhism came to Pakistan, the myth was re-worked to turn her into a protector of children who eats pomegranates instead of human flesh. Was also briefly Maki’s mother in Persona 1.

timrodresized: And here’s how we put it all together. Bless Boost, Kougaon and Tarukaja is a pretty good combination: we can buff with Hariti and then switch to something else, or simply use the Bless damage.

timrodresized: I dicked around in Kaitul for a while trying to get all of the stamps, and ran into Tatsuya Sudou… which is weird because I thought we were playing as him.

Morgana: “That’s a sign of how much more twisted this place is. I’m sure the Shadows here are stronger, too.”

Oracle: “Yeah, and looks like there are more enemies here than there were up above. Be careful, okay?”

timrodresized: Akzeriyyuth is significantly more fucked up looking than the previous areas.

timrodresized: There’s 25 stamps here, and multiple rest stops - which again means you’re going to have to reload floors to get them all. While we do come back here later, it won’t be until November.

timrodresized: Even Yusuke realizes how dumb this whole thing is.

timrodresized: There’s a rest area on the fourth floor, which seems generous until you realize why it’s here. That’s because on the next floor…

Fox: “He looks so… pathetic.”

Panther: “He’s cheating in a video game, right?”

timrodresized: This whole thing just seems ridiculous when you compare it to the guy beating on old people or the guy killing cats for fun… or the cult leader.

Skull: “Yeah, he’s a cheater. It’s not something an adult should be doin’.”

Panther: “Let’s go.”

timrodresized: I mean, yeah, I could just use the hacked Lilith and destroy the rest of the game, but why?

timrodresized: You uh, just said that.

timrodresized: Naturally, this is a fight we can’t win.

timrodresized: Every attack against him will miss. What’s funny is that there’s actually a skill you can get that does this - it gives you 50% evasion against everything.

timrodresized: It’s called Ali Dance, and I actually managed to get it on the PS5 when Megidola mutated on that Incubus.

Oracle: “Look at him, acting all smug because of his cheats… we can’t do anything to him at this rate though. Let’s retreat for now and rethink our approach.”

Fox: “Yes… unfortunately, it appears we do not have even a chance of victory.”

Skull: “Yo, Morgana. Ain’t there anything we can do?”

Morgana: “I’m not sure. As I’ve already mentioned, the Metaverse is a place where people’s cognitions materialize. Even I can’t predict what will happen in here.”

Skull: “Dammit! If only we could figure out what his ability is…”

timrodresized: Hacks.

Oracle: “That’s exactly right!”

Queen: “So we’ll need to figure out a way to break through his cheat…”

Morgana: “That’s fine, but let’s do it somewhere else. It’s not exactly what I’d call safe here. We should talk more where there aren’t Shadows.”

Fox: “We can make it our homework then. Let us think more on this topic after we return to reality.”

Queen: “I hope it doesn’t add too much more work to your plate.”

Skull: “Homework… eh, I guess that works. Anyways, let’s get goin’.”

timrodresized: Except we can’t, because there’s still one more target we haven’t taken out yet.

Panther: “Thirty-three areas? I’m starting to feel kind of overwhelmed… just how big IS this place?”

Oracle: “Who knows? This whole place, its overall structure… it’s all a mystery. Oh well.”

Fox: “She’s using her just like a pawn, from what I hear.”

timrodresized: No one here (apart from Makoto) has even met her! Joker told you that!

Queen: “That’s her own daughter… what is wrong with her?”

Panther: “I don’t know much about shogi, but I do know she’s a bad person!”

Morgana: “It’s as you say, Lady Ann! Let’s get her!”

timrodresized: You really didn’t need to say both of those things because one implies the other, but okay.

timrodresized: Wait, she doesn’t even WANT Hifumi to be a shogi player, she wants her to be an idol!

timrodresized: I think whoever wrote this either never read the script for Hifumi’s confidant events or just didn’t give a fuck.

timrodresized: Did they forget the part where she’s an out-of-work TV presenter who is working in a nightclub? Where did she get the money to do all this?

timrodresized: Hifumi’s mother is a Lilim with a skill set very similar to ours.

timrodresized: She also has insta-death curse spells, but Joker reflects those.

timrodresized: Unfortunately, she also has Mabufudyne, which… hurts. She then follows it up with Mamudoon, which forces Ann to Endure and burns an item to stop the autokill from hitting Joker.

timrodresized: Yusuke gets off a Charge and then a physical skill and stops her just before she can kill Joker.

timrodresized: Futaba also learns an important skill here, and another at level 49.

timrodresized: We’re done here now, but I wanted to go map out the area and get all the stamps… and hit level 42 if possible.

timrodresized: I make the mistake of fusing Belphegor into Red Rider after not having saved for a while.

New Persona: Red Rider

Origin: The Bible

First Appearance: Nocturne

It’s War.

timrodresized: Red Rider is one of the four Riders - the others being White (Pestilence), Black (Famine) and Pale (Death). White Rider is level 38 and is the only way to get Gun Boost.

timrodresized: Compared to Belphegor, Red Rider SUCKS. His signature skill is Negative Pile, a high-damage physical attack that also inflicts Despair… but you can get a card for it as a negotiation reward from Lamia.

timrodresized: The one upside is we now have a source of Curse damage, which we have not had in a long time.

timrodresized: While grinding stamps, I run into Jose again. This time, I wind up putting stamp points into items, which is actually a pretty good way to make money.

timrodresized: I also level Joker to 42. This is going to be very important when we do Caroline and Justine’s confidant. Theoretically, we could get them to Rank 8 before we leave, but we’re not going to do that.

timrodresized: I’m going to include just a bit of the dialog that happens when you examine the wall to the next area.

timrodresized: That being Ame-no-Uzume.

timrodresized: Makoto is horny for Ryuji, not knowing he’s for Ann and Ann alone.

timrodresized: Here’s what I didn’t realize about boosting the item rate - what it actually does is boosts the amount of items you get every time you hit an item box.

timrodresized: By the time you get this up to 5 or 6 items per box, you’re practically guaranteed to get at least a minor treasure item every time you hit one.

timrodresized: Here’s why I needed to hit 42. Ose is the only way you can get a High Counter card - specifically by itemizing him during an alarm.

timrodresized: I did a fusion that probably shouldn’t exist to get him, namely Hariti and Daisoujou. Note how both of those are Bless-element Personas… and Ose cannot learn Bless skills.

New Persona: Ose

Origin: Ars Goetia

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei I

57th demon of the Ars Goetia. Appears as a leopard who then shapeshifts into a man. Can transform people into other shapes without them noticing, and grants knowledge in science.

timrodresized: This game uses Ose’s appearance from Strange Journey, which is probably good because his appearance in Nocturne was uh… someone’s Deviantart furry OC.

timrodresized: Unfortunately, I have to release him almost immediately to make room for stuff we need for confidants… and to summon Hariti back.

timrodresized: The “King” is a lot of people’s favorite confidant and the source of a rather large P5 meme, and is how we can eventually finish that Mementos request.

timrodresized: Note that you don’t ever have to finish that request - it doesn’t count toward Mishima’s confidant and the “King” has a different request at Rank 9. The only requirement is that you try and fail it once.

timrodresized: I mean, I could, but then I’d have to be one of those dipshit Minecraft streamers people keep shitting up Twitter’s trending section with.

Morgana: “In any case, we might be able to complete the request if we can find this ‘King.’ With his help… we’ll crush that cheating jerk for sure!”

timrodresized: Of course she’s too formal, because she’s a fucking ripoff of Elly without any of the things that make Elly a good character.

timrodresized: We need to call Kawakami.

timrodresized: Look at that fucking money! Even after buying new equipment for everyone (and I mean everyone, including Morgana) I still had over a million yen left over.

timrodresized: We also get something like 500 total points at the clothes store in Kichijoji. I’ll be using those right after the final dungeon in the base game for maximum money.

timrodresized: We can also trade the Thief Mask for a Magic Up Ofuda, which doubles the damage of the next magic attack of the person it’s used on. It stacks with Concentrate.

timrodresized: And now, we can end this neverending day by doing Hifumi’s Rank 8, making her mother’s mental breakdown the fastest in the entire series.

Hifumi: “She told me that… most of my matches thus far had been fixed in my favor… she also admitted that she was the one who sold that story to the weekly magazine.”

timrodresized: Joker just looks at her like “No shit, you’ve been playing Yugioh this entire time.”

Hifumi: “I… I had no idea. I feel so ashamed… however, thinking back, I do recall some of my opponents making poor moves at odd times…”

timrodresized: Seriously though, my headcanon is she just brought in a duel disk and a tournament-grade Yugioh deck to all these shogi tournaments.

Hifumi: “I became so conceited as a result of all those fake victories… why did my mother confess all of a sudden? It’s as if she had a change of heart…”

Hifumi: “…That can’t be. Perhaps they eavesdropped on our conversation?”

Hifumi: “Yes. It was painful to hear the truth, but I’m glad that my mother had a change of heart. I’ve decided… I’m not going to lose.”

Hifumi: “Oh, sorry! I was referring to the exhibition match… I’m going through with it, as planned. However, before that, I’m going to confess everything.”

Hifumi: “I know I’ll receive a lot of criticism, but I must ensure the truth is known. This next match will showcase my true talents. I don’t know how it’s going to go… but I hope you’ll watch.”

Hifumi: “As your teacher, I promise to put up a good fight so I don’t embarrass myself…”

Hifumi: “…I would be lying if I told you that I’m not scared. My kingdom is a house of cards… I’m not sure if it can withstand a true battle.”

Hifumi: “There’s a new move I’d like to test out for the exhibition… will you stay for another game?”

Hifumi: “I was just a little curious about your thoughts. Regarding my decision to reveal my fixed matches, that is.”

Hifumi: “Thank you… I’m so glad to hear that. You’re the reason I managed to make that decision, after all. Our talks helped me realize I should play with the utmost sincerity.”

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll catch up on Iwai’s confidant, meet the “King”, get smoked, and finish billiards forever. We’ll also be forced into a Maruki event and an Akechi event. Joy.

Fun (?) fact: Titanomachia has been a different element in every SMT game it’s appeared in. It’s Earth in Digital Devil Saga, Physical in SMTIV, and Fire in P5.

What does it give you instead? A Lone Prayer is a good song too.

White is actually Conquest. I don’t know who invented the idea of a horseman of pestilence, but it’s not in the Book of Revelation, and SMT follows that.

He is also, I assume, King from One Punch Man.

It gives you A Lone Prayer for regular battles, but bosses and minibosses still use the regular P5 music instead of Bloody Destiny. I know it was hated in Japan for not having the PS1 version’s battle themes.

The only really good music pack in the entire thing is the Persona 2 one, which has a remix of the Innocent Sin battle theme and is generally pretty good. Why they put the most effort into the Persona 2 DLC, I don’t know.

So… Morgana’s thief outfit is the car? Or the bandana? I’m hoping it’s the car.

I mean I guess Shadows are dangerous yadda yadda but you’d think with a party member with a motorcycle and a party member with a UFO you could multitask more.

Also to find the King of Gun About we’re clearly going to have to find a NEET burying his feelings in escapism. Obviously.

Click Here for Update 65

Makoto: “Do you think you could maybe come with me to see her?”

Makoto: “She’s waiting over at Big Bang Burger. Let’s go.”

Makoto: “What!?”

Makoto: “Does this have to do with Tsukasa?”

timrodresized: Okay, Hashino? Can we have a single confidant plotline that wasn’t a substory in a Yakuza game? I get that Atlus got bought out by Sega, but Yakuza is already a turn-based RPG.

Makoto: “…He’s lying to you, Eiko. Don’t give him any money.”

timrodresized: Now, while this kind of thing does happen in reality, I think it’s just kind of another anime cliche at this point.

Makoto: “So he calls you his special princess… what do you think, Akira-kun?”

timrodresized: Morgana just chimes in from the bag: “The only special princess is gonna be Joker once I order all these cosplay supplies on his phone!”

Makoto: “…You’re not wrong about that. But did you ask anyone at his club about the broken bottle?”

Makoto: “…I think you should end your relationship with him. If you don’t put a stop to this, he might try to drag you into some suspicious line of work…”

Makoto: “Eiko…! You can’t just do what he says! He’s trying to deceive you…!”

timrodresized: So what you’re saying is that Makoto may find herself behind the wheel of a large automobile? With a beautiful house? And a beautiful wife? And she asks herself… how did she get here?

timrodresized: I mean, she won’t because she’s too boring.

Makoto: “I… I’m not sure yet. But be that as it may, you should still stay as far away from him as you can.”

Makoto: “Eiko, wait! I didn’t want to have to tell you this, but Tsukasa has been texting me almost constantly. Recently he’s been asking if my sister and I live alone, and that he’d be glad to help us out.”

timrodresized: Why though. I don’t think Sae knows what a date is, and even if you tried she’d probably just turn it into an interrogation because she probably also does not understand the concept of a restaurant.

Makoto: “Even today he asked me if I’m still happy with my boyfriend… listen to me, Eiko: he’s not serious about you.”

timrodresized: I love how Joker, who Eiko thinks is dating Makoto, is sitting right there and she’s not even questioning it.

Makoto: “It was mostly him texting me…”

Makoto: “Tsukasa is all she has…? You know, I think she’s exactly the kind of girl those gangs in Shinjuku are on the lookout for. Lonely, depressed girls who have nowhere to vent their frustrations…”

timrodresized: Makoto is just kinda going zero to sixty here, isn’t she? I mean, first it’s the host and now she’s mere minutes away from being human trafficked by gangs.

Makoto: “Eiko’s family is quite well off. Her multi-talented younger brother seems to be the sole focus of her parents’ attention though. I’m sure that’s why she fell for Tsukasa in the first place. He treats her like she’s special.”

timrodresized: Okay, so uh… why was this never mentioned before?

Makoto: “But… asking a high schooler for money isn’t normal boyfriend behavior. She needs to realize that. You’re going to help, right?”

timrodresized: Know that if I didn’t have to pick the first option to not permafuck, I would pick the third one.

Makoto: “Thank you. It’s reassuring to hear you say that. Eiko’s blessed to have both money and a family… yet she’s still trying to break free from them. She’s almost the exact opposite of me.”

timrodresized: No, that’d be Elly and Yukiko, and that’s why they’re the two best girls in the franchise.

Makoto: “…But I guess in a sense, watching her now is almost like looking back at my past self. I was so blinded by my own convictions that I never stopped to consider other alternative viewpoints on the world.”

timrodresized: So what you’re saying is that you were blinded by the light? Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night?

Makoto: “But… that’s not the right way to live. I want to show her that, just like you did for me.”

Makoto: “What is the right way to live…? At any rate, we’re going to catch that horrible host. I’ll let you know once I’ve thought of how to do it.”

timrodresized: We now have an optional event with Ohya, which I’ll show off but which isn’t what we actually do tonight. If you’ll recall, we spent the night of the fifth teaching Yusuke Charge.

timrodresized: Therefore, what we’re going to do is instead spend the night with Iwai.

Ohya: “Oh, not bad. It’s a bit far, but we can make it if we leave now. All right! Operation Secret Lovers, commence!”

Ohya: “Look, there’s a cute little ship over there! And a factory over THERE! Oh, isn’t this just wonderful, Kurusu-kun!? Going on a date is so much fun!”

timrodresized: Joker’s real answer is something like: “Look, you’re kinda creeping me out trying to do the Maya thing, can you tone down the ‘Let’s Positive Thinking’ and bring back the ‘Let’s Constantly Drinking’ ?”

Ohya: “I’m so glad that you’re such an attentive boyfriend, Kurusu-kun! Then again, I don’t think the chief would come all this way just to spy on me…”

Ohya: “Well, I told him you’re my boyfriend, so I guess I’ll use this date as evidence. So c’mon, act like a boyfriend! …But don’t forget to keep feeding me the info, too.”

Ohya: “…God, what’s happened to me? Taking a seaside stroll with one of my informants…”

timrodresized: Let’s now get to what we’re actually doing tonight.

Iwai: “…It’s about that secret Tsuda mentioned. There’s more to it than my havin’ been in the yakuza. I just wanna make sure you don’t go sayin’ somethin’ stupid if you run into Kaoru 'round here…”

Iwai: “Back when I was workin’ with the Hashiba Clan, some crazy lady came 'round our office. Must’ve been over ten years ago.”

Iwai: “She had this baby with her, and the whole time she was there she kept goin’ on about how she wanted to sell it. Figured she was just some cracked-up junkie lookin’ for drug money.”

timrodresized: Well no shit it must’ve been over ten years ago, Kaoru is a high schooler.

Iwai: “Thinkin’ back on it, I’m still not really sure why I took him in… not only did I have to leave the clan, but now I’m stuck runnin’ this shop I don’t even like. chuckle Every day’s an uphill battle.”

Iwai: “I still haven’t managed to tell Kaoru I was in the yakuza though…”

Iwai: “…Lemme ask you somethin’. How would you feel if you found out your parents were wrapped up in some dirty shit? That’s how my mom was. She’d spend every night out drinkin’, runnin’ around with all sortsa guys.”

Iwai: “I couldn’t stand to see her destroy herself like that. Often I wished I could’ve had someone else as my mom. So… I didn’t wanna make Kaoru go through the same thing. I wanted to make sure he had a good childhood.”

Iwai: “That’s why I left the clan. I did everythin’ according to the code, but now Tsuda’s draggin’ me back… once he remembered I run this fake gun shop, he came by askin’ me to make custom models for him.”

Iwai: “Truth is, Tsuda’s got all sortsa dirt. Not just on what happened when Kaoru was a baby, but on me and the rest of my family too. Who knows what’d happen if Kaoru learned the truth…”

timrodresized: He’d basically just be Ichiban Kasuga except without ever having been in the yakuza? Though I suppose Ichiban barely qualifies as having been in the yakuza.

Iwai: “Who knows what’d happen if Kaoru learned the truth… Tsuda isn’t gonna stop there, though. When it’s all said and done, he’s gonna try and take everythin’ I have.”

Iwai: “If word gets out about my past, people’re gonna treat Kaoru like he’s no different than me. After all, everyone knows shitty parents end up makin’ shitty kids…”

Iwai: “And once he’s got that stigma, he’s stuck with it. When shit goes wrong, he’ll always be the one who gets blamed. That’s how it was with me. That’s why I turned to the yakuza. Nobody else would accept me.”

Iwai: “That’s also why I can’t turn Tsuda down. He’s just got too much power…”

Iwai: “chuckle You got that right. I bet Kaoru’s sick of havin’ a weak-ass dad like me. Anyways, I was tryin’ to stall Tsuda with bullshit prototypes while I figured out a way to stop him…”

Iwai: “But that bastard’s real good at keepin’ his cards close to his chest. Plus, he caught wind of what I was tryin’ to do and started keepin’ tabs on me 24/7.”

Iwai: “Thankfully, that’s just about when you showed up, kid. sigh Sorry for bringin’ all that shit up out of the blue. You prolly don’t want anythin’ to do with me after that, huh?”

Iwai: "Man… you’re seriously into this enthusiast shit. Oh, right. Just remembered I never gave you a reward for that info. You’re right… how 'bout I give you a discount on the special menu?

Iwai: “That should keep you quiet for a while. Pretty good deal, huh?”

timrodresized: I kinda jumped the gun on this one, because I had already bought and customized new guns for the entire party yesterday.

Iwai: “…Damn, it’s late. Should be gettin’ home. Kaoru’s been eatin’ a ton lately after cram school. He’s prolly gonna have another growth spurt soon.”

Iwai: “But I gotta protect that secret, no matter what. For Kaoru’s sake.”

Iwai: “Yeah, I’ll do whatever it takes. I guess that’s why I brought it up at all. Right now, I still don’t know what Tsuda’s next move’s gonna be.”

Iwai: “We gotta stay on guard 24/7. Don’t wanna get killed in your sleep, right? All right, see you.”

timrodresized: That’s uh, certainly a way to end a conversation. I actually like Iwai’s confidant. He’s not a ripoff of a Persona 2 character and even though his confidant follows a lot of the same plot beats (and he’s got more than a little Kazuma Kiryu in him) it’s at least interesting enough.

timrodresized: Today, we meet the best confidant in the game, even though he’s kinda derivative of a similar S-Link in Persona 4.

Kawakami: “-Is an important work in the history of literature for being the first to use the word ‘robot’.”

timrodresized: What she’s talking about is Karel Capek’s genre-defining work “Rossum’s Universal Robots”, which was written in 1920. He didn’t come up with the term though - his brother did.

timrodresized: Capek’s robots aren’t what we’d think of as robots, though. In the play, they’re described as being biological constructs rather than machines.

Kawakami: “Hey! You’re in class right now! Quit talking about Okumura and the Phantom Thieves! Geez… Kurusu-kun! You were listening at least, right?”

Kawakami: “Robot comes from a word in Czech… but where in Europe is the Czech Republic located?”

Kawakami: “That’s right. The Czech Republic is in the center of Europe. The word ‘robot’ comes from the Czech word ‘robota’. ‘Robota’ actually means ‘slave labor’.”

Kawakami: “Existing only for slave labor… even from the origin of their name, robots are pitiful. Well, you could argue we’re not too different ourselves, having to keep working in order to live…”

Morgana: “Kawakami seems tired… but anyhow, i Okumura doesn’t see others as people, we need to change his heart!”

timrodresized: We need to do two things before we do the new confidant. The first is to get a Luck Reading for Kindness - this will be the last Luck Reading we will ever get.

timrodresized: We also need to get an Affinity Reading for Iwai, because we were supposed to do that on the 6th but never actually did due to the change in schedule.

timrodresized: We then need to head to Akihabara, which has its own arcade.

timrodresized: Meet Shinya Oda, and more importantly, meet his hat, which became a near-instant meme among people who played the base game.

timrodresized: Now, here’s the best part about that hat. That hat fits on EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER PORTRAIT IN THE GAME. And have people done that? You fucking bet they have. I have spent the past several months gathering these from various P5 threads on /v/ just for this particular moment.

C-vMGEyXUAA4XAS

image

timrodresized: The best part is it even fits on portraits that have no reasonable way to wear a hat.

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tumblr_inline_os6vzvpzEv1rxb0ks_500

timrodresized: People have even gotten it to fit on the re-done portraits for Royal.

Shinya: “…Nah. Sounds like too much work. Don’t take it personal; I turn everyone down… later.”

Shinya: “Invincible, huh…? You mean that guy who cheats, right? It really makes me mad when he does that… but I can still beat him, so I don’t really care. Just forget about him.”

timrodresized: Does Hashino know how video games work? I mean, we know he doesn’t.

Shinya: “…You sound like the Phantom Thieves. So, you’re saying you wanna beat the cheater? You seem like a nice guy, but… just let it go.”

Shinya: “The Phantom Thieves are really cool, aren’t they!? Are you a fan, too? Have you ever met them?”

Shinya: “But, um… teaching you how to play Gun About won’t be easy… and I won’t get anything out of it.”

Shinya: “Geez, you’re really persistent. I’m just a grade schooler, y’know. How about this… I wanna get to know the Phantom Thieves.”

Shinya: “It’s probably impossible, but if you can help me to do that, then I’ll teach you how to play. Well, whaddya say? Is it a deal?”

Shinya: “Well, if you really want to THAT much, then… I thought for sure you were just gonna give up… wow, I didn’t see this coming.”

Shinya: “But the Phantom Thieves hide their true identities, right? Are you sure I can get to know them?”

Shinya: “Huh? You’re gonna tell them my name? …My name’s Shinya Oda. Tell the Phantom Thieves my name, and have them post it somewhere only they’d be able to access.”

Shinya: “That’ll be good enough as an autograph, and proof that they know my name.”

Morgana: “Proof that you really know the Phantom Thieves, huh… we need something credible for this kid to believe us. Didn’t Futaba say she hacked into Gun About’s server or something?”

Morgana: “Let’s discuss this with Futaba. She might have a good idea…”

Futaba: “So, did he tell you how to take down that cheater?”

Morgana: “He’s going to, on one condition: he wants us to introduce him to the Phantom Thieves. We can’t just give ourselves away though. That’s where you come in.”

Morgana: “Maybe you could hack into the Gun About server and do something?”

timrodresized: Couldn’t she just, I dunno, hack into the server and ban that guy?

Futaba: “But we won’t be able to get in touch with him that way…”

Morgana: “A calling card…? What are we going to steal?”

Futaba: “Oh, how about the home page? I already hacked into it, so it’s as good as stolen!”

Morgana: “Hm, okay. I’ll write a calling card saying that we’re going to steal the Gun About home page. After that, you’ll need to leave evidence that the Phantom Thieves hacked into it.”

Morgana: “The King will have no choice but to believe it was really us.”

Futaba: “Oooh, this sounds like fun. I’ll put our logo smack dab at the top of the front page.”

Morgana: “Perfect. We’ll go see the King. Oh, and we’ll let you know before we talk to him, so wait for our word to start the hacking.”

Futaba: “All right, you can count on me.”

timrodresized: While we’re here, there’s a thing we can get for Joker’s room.

Shinya: "Huh? HUH? There’s something written on it… ‘Thanks for your support. Please help those in need. This is a promise to you from the Phantom Thieves. We’re going to post a secret message, just for you, on the game’s official website.’ "

Shinya: “Is… is this for real? I mean, you can probably just buy one of these cards at the store…”

Shinya: “Just like they did on Medjed’s site! Which means… you were able to contact the real Phantom Thieves! No way! How’d you do it?”

Shinya: “That’s so cool… so they want to remain anonymous… wow, I can’t believe they sent me a message… I wasn’t expecting much from you, Kurusu-san, but you’re actually pretty cool.”

Shinya: “I wish I was able to talk with them or something though… but you fulfilled your part of the deal, so I’ll teach you how to shoot.”

Shinya: “…Let’s get started.”

Shinya: “Are you taking this seriously!? You gotta focus on your second shot!”

Shinya: “I think you’ll be able to beat that cheater now. I have a bad habit of swearing when I get all worked up… sorry. But I think you have a lot of potential! More than most people!”

Shinya: “If you want… I can teach you a few other moves too! I have the ultimate trump card. So tell me more about the Phantom Thieves!”

timrodresized: And now, I hope you are ready for the dumbest fucking Sae cutscene in this entire game.

timrodresized: “But no one could figure out that you pull the trigger to make the bullets come out! I had to undergo years of training to figure that out! Special police training that’s only available to the police!”

timrodresized: The dumb thing about this is there’s no way for her to know that Joker actually knows how to handle a gun properly - remember, she caught him with what she thinks is a very expensive model gun.

timrodresized: This ability was heavily nerfed from the base game, where it instead used all of one character’s bullets to instantly down an enemy.

Shinya: “…It’s earlier than usual today. I gotta go. See ya later!”

timrodresized: And there we have it. That’s every social stat maxed. We’re a full day ahead of schedule, and we’re even ahead of where the reset-heavy route maxes everything out.

Shinya: “I’m so glad I caught you. Hey, we should exchange IDs. It’s not like I’m here every day, so…”

Shinya: “Cool! …There, got it. I’ll hit you up when I have time to train you in Gun About. See you later, Kurusu-san.”

timrodresized: Unfortunately, Akechi is at Leblanc tonight… and we need to do his confidant.

Akechi: “I expect we’ve both had a long day. I was out until now with work, but I think I can finally take a break… you’re not planning on anything too strenuous tonight, are you?”

Akechi: “Then perhaps we can talk over some of Boss’s coffee…”

Sojiro: “Not that I’m complaining, but if you two are so tired, maybe you could use a bath more than a coffee. I mean, there’s a bathhouse right there.”

Akechi: “A bathhouse? That doesn’t sound too bad. Want to come with me, Kurusu-kun? I’d appreciate it if you could show me the way.”

timrodresized: Joker: “Sounds like a great idea. I’ll call Yusuke. Bye, Akechi.”

Akechi: “Years. I used to frequent one when I was younger. Of course, these days I’m the Detective Prince, but my family situation was… well, complicated.”

Akechi: “By the time I was old enough to realize it, my father was already gone. My mother was all I had.”

timrodresized: We get it, you’re Reiji.

Akechi: “My mother worked at a nightclub. Whenever she had to bring a man home, she’d send me off to the local bathhouse.”

timrodresized: I’m wondering if this line is a localization failure, because this sure makes Akechi’s mother sound like she was doing sex work.

Akechi: “It’s in the past. I have no reason to blame her either.”

timrodresized: I mean, at least they kind of fixed the logic with Akechi where he actually wants to kill his father. Kandori was Reiji’s half-brother.

Akechi: “Sorry. I didn’t mean for our conversation to get so depressing. Actually, are you all right? I know the hot water can make people dizzy…”

timrodresized: Joker has every social stat maxed. He doesn’t give a fuck.

Akechi: “I’m still good to go too. I feel like I’m barely starting to feel warmed up.”

Akechi: “Oof… I think I feel a little lightheaded.”

Akechi: “Haha, I thought so. Your face is bright red, you know. This is the first time I’ve ever taken a bath like this. I’ve never told anyone about my family situation, either. I wonder why I told you? Curious indeed.”

Akechi: “Now that you mention it, maybe we are pretty similar deep down… we’re both victims of the adults who unfairly impacted our lives.”

Akechi: “I’m even more sure of that after having talked with you. Then again… this probably isn’t a conversation we should be having naked. Let’s get dressed, shall we?”

Akechi: “My skin still feels like it’s radiating heat… next time, let’s keep the competition out of the bath. Best to save it for the baize, right?”

timrodresized: Baize is the material that they use for the tops of pool tables. It’s like felt, but it’s not felt.

Akechi: “…Though we could always see who changes faster. First to leave wins. Are you ready?”

Akechi: “It’s nice to spend the day as Goro Akechi for once, rather than the Detective Prince. You know? I don’t know if it’s because of the whole Prince image, but everyone seems to think I’m some brilliant prodigy…”

Akechi: “It’s really nothing like that. But people always seem to misunderstand. If they saw how I was acting today, perhaps they’d say I wasn’t acting like the Detective Prince.”

timrodresized: I honestly don’t know that what Akechi’s VA does counts as acting.

Akechi: “Oh, I didn’t mean for that to sound negative… I’m sorry if I offended. If anything, I envy you. You fit right in with the retro vibe back there.”

Akechi: “Honestly, though… I just can’t figure you out, no matter how I try. You and I have common ground in some aspects, but in others, we’re total opposites. It’s intriguing.”

Akechi: “The more I get to know you, the more it makes me think. I wonder why that is. …Ah, now I’m veering into strange territory. I should let you go for now. See you.”

timrodresized: This event is one that the guide covers rather poorly. We commit immediately.

Morgana: “Yeah, the heat and noise would drive anyone crazy… shopping for new stuff is kind of exciting, isn’t it?”

Hifumi: “I’ve never liked air conditioners much. They make me too cold… but the hum of an electric fan bothers me. It makes it hard to concentrate on my strategy books…”

timrodresized: She acts like an air conditioner is going to be less noisy… though I suppose if you’re looking at a through-the-wall unit like they apparently are, most of the actual lifting is done outside.

Hifumi: “I’m sorry I’m holding us up…”

Hifumi: “Thank you. Still, I shouldn’t indulge my indecisiveness too much. That could turn into a terrible weakness in shogi. I shall try to reach an answer soon.”

Yusuke: “And she is…? Hm…? Where do I know her from…?”

Hifumi: “You’re Kitagawa-kun, from the art track, yes? I’m Hifumi Togo… I go to Kosei as well.”

timrodresized: She also goes to High School High School.

Yusuke: “Togo… ah, the professional shogi player. I’m Yusuke Kitagawa. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Did you two also come to bask in the cool air?”

Hifumi: “No, he’s helping me pick out an air conditioner. Kitagawa-kun, are you here because…?”

Yusuke: “Thus, the clear solution was to find a place of more comfort, so that my creativity might flow once more.”

timrodresized: I’m not normally into shipping, but in the alternate non-canon timeline in which Yusuke is straight I could see Yusuke and Hifumi as this pairing that absolutely must not happen under any circumstances or they’d break down and become increasingly weird anime gremlins.

timrodresized: It’s so hot that even Joker is forced to be horny.

Yusuke: “Yes, a most ingenious idea. But I fear it wouldn’t be wise to do so here… my funds are wholly devoted to acquiring more art supplies. Yet this interminable heat has dulled my creative edge…”

Yusuke: “Here, I may enjoy the cooling breeze, and find inspiration in next-generation technology. What more could I ask for?”

Hifumi: “I see… you make a compelling case, Kitagawa-kun.”

Yusuke: “Oh? So you understand as well, Togo-san?”

timrodresized: And now, the best exchange in this entire event.

timrodresized: I like to think that there’s an Oracle of Maia on “this side”, and Yusuke dating Hifumi is the last step in bringing Nyarlathotep’s reign of terror back.

Yusuke: “You think so? To have such a firm, personalized view of the world… yes, I daresay it’s a wonderful thing.”

Hifumi: “Is something wrong, you two?”

Yusuke: “No. Nothing in particular. By the way, Togo-san, have you settled on an air conditioner?”

Hifumi: “No, I’m trying to decide between an air conditioner and an electric fan… between the two, I’d prefer an electric fan, but the noise would still bother me.”

Yusuke: “I did see an electric fan that functioned with no blades. Perhaps that would suffice?”

Hifumi: “A bladeless fan?”

timrodresized: Bladeless fans are, of course, a lie. They have blades, they’re just hidden in the fan itself rather than out in the open.

Yusuke: “I saw a tower fan where the tower was hollow, yet air was still flowing out of it. Technology has truly come a long way.”

Hifumi: “That settles it. I’ll go with that one, then. With such revolutionary technology, I may be driven to create innovative new stratagems.”

timrodresized: “Bladeless” fans are by no means a new technology. A quick search tells me that Toshiba first introduced them in 1981 - they just weren’t widely available until 2009.

Yusuke: “I’m glad I was able to assist. If I might ask - what do you plan to do with your old electric fan? I would be happy to take it off your hands…”

timrodresized: The guide up until this point had nothing but wrong answers, so I figured that they were probably off when they said that Chihaya shows up in this scene. I don’t think I did this one the first time I played.

Hifumi: “Another acquaintance of yours? You’re very well-connected, Kurusu-kun.”

Yusuke: “Ah, if it isn’t Mifune-san. She’s an accomplished fortune teller.”

timrodresized: I like to think that the reason Yusuke knows who she is has to do with him getting several affinity readings with Joker.

Hifumi: “Fascinating. What kinds of fortunes does she tell?”

Chihaya: “Not everything! And without my tarot cards, I can’t divine much anyway… oh, but I can tell a little bit based on your personal aura.”

Chihaya: “Ah, I see… the two of you seem to bear a very interesting connection with Kurusu-san… it’s somewhat different from ordinary friendship… I sense quite an unusual bond indeed.”

timrodresized: Congrats, she can tell that two people talking to Joker probably know him. I remind you that she is supposed to actually be psychic.

Yusuke: “I see… well, you aren’t wrong there.”

timrodresized: Yusuke knows.

Hifumi: “Yes, that sounds about right.”

Chihaya: “You really are a mysterious person. Their stars burn with such intensity… what strange destiny could draw them together?”

Yusuke: “By the way, Mifune-san, why are you here?”

Chihaya: “Oh, right. I was looking for a replacement for my old electric fan. I know the worst of the heat is past, but I can’t make it through these Tokyo summers without one.”

timrodresized: She was trying to find Joker to give him Yusuke’s bribe money.

Hifumi: “What a coincidence - that’s what I was looking for, too. These two were just helping me decide what model to buy.”

Chihaya: “My goodness! Another strange coincidence…”

Yusuke: “Perhaps the fates conspired to bring us all here. Now we can peruse the bladeless fans together, yes?”

timrodresized: I mean, she’s right, but it’s basically due to using a much smaller set of blades on a very heavily optimized aerofoil.

timrodresized: There’s a TV quiz we could do tonight, but… why. We’re already maxed out.

Morgana: “The punishment is too soft in both those answers! That’s why people are turning to us…”

timrodresized: This is probably the last one of these I’m going to bother showing off, because the reset-heavy route needs it to max knowledge.

timrodresized: It sounds strange that the reset-heavy route would be behind us on stats, but the reason for that is that all those nights we spend doing the unique non-rankup events, they spend doing darts or jazz club.

timrodresized: They also grab Tetrakarn and Makarakarn from the jazz club for maximum reflects (the speedrun does this as well) but we don’t really need that given how overleveled we are.

timrodresized: Did I mention the part where we’re level 42 and Okumura’s shadow is level 43? Or the part where the red shadow in his dungeon is also level 43?

timrodresized: We end the night by doing Sojiro’s confidant.

Sojiro: “Thanks. Futaba’s coming to eat today too. I’ll get the curry ready. I’m leaving the coffee to you.”

Sojiro: “How was the curry, Futaba?”

Futaba: “Delicious! I’m gonna be dreaming of that stuff tonight!”

Sojiro: “Um… did it taste the same as you remember it?”

Futaba: “Yup. I feel like a dummy for not wanting to eat it back when I was depressed about my mom…”

timrodresized: This part’s a little strange, because anime doesn’t work that way. Each year has four anime seasons which last roughly three months each - the summer season usually starts in July and runs to late September, and the fall season usually starts in October and runs through December.

timrodresized: That’s not to say it’s not possible for a show to span multiple seasons. In fact, there was a pretty huge one in 2016: that being the Jojo Part 4 anime, which ran from the spring season in April to December.

timrodresized: However, it’s unlikely that any production company would launch a new show outside of the usual season start dates - even Jojo started in April with the rest of the spring season. A quick glance shows that the earliest fall anime start in 2016 was September 27th.

Sojiro: “Eyes in front when you walk, okay? No spacing out. You ran head first into a pole last time you went for a walk…”

timrodresized: That might explain why she thinks there’s a new anime premiering this week.

Futaba: “Well you stubbed your toe on the dresser the other day!”

Futaba: “Aw crap! It’s gonna start! Making like a leaf and - eh, screw it. Bye!”

Sojiro: “And what about you?”

Sojiro: “Really…? I guess you have pretty good taste if you can understand how incredible that curry is. Now then… there’s something I should probably tell you. Here, take a seat. I’ll pour you some coffee.”

Sojiro: “You might’ve realized by now, but that genius was Futaba’s mother, Wakaba. In other words, that curry is one of the last remaining connections Futaba has to her mom.”

Sojiro: “I first met Wakaba back when I was doing work for the government. She was real trouble, let me tell you. Logic prevailed over emotion for her, and she had an intricate knowledge of the human mind.”

Sojiro: “I thought my pick-up lines were the best in town, but not a single one worked on her… heh…”

timrodresized: Sojiro tried being smug, and that was… honestly about all he tried.

Sojiro: “You can probably get a good idea just from looking at Futaba. Wakaba was like the adult version of that. It was almost impossible to keep up with her.”

Sojiro: “Wakaba rejected me time and time again… but there was one instance I managed to surprise her. And that was when I gave her a plate of my homemade curry.”

Sojiro: “The very next day she came asking all about the ingredients and what goes into the cooking process… then just a few days later, she handed me a scientifically-enhanced version of my recipe.”

Sojiro: “…It was incredible. She had used my curry as the basis, but it was miles better than anything I made. Curry was Wakaba’s specialty from then on. Naturally, Futaba grew to love it in no time as well.”

Sojiro: “But then after Wakaba’s accident… Futaba stopped eating it entirely. The flavor would make her remember the pain… I’ve heard even smells can bring back memories too.”

Sojiro: “But… that curry was the only point of connection I had with Futaba. That’s why when I took her in, I vowed to keep this recipe alive until she could eat it again.”

Sojiro: “Yeah. It felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders when she said it was delicious. The whole idea of pairing the curry with a nice brew is thanks to Wakaba’s refinement too.”

Sojiro: “Despite how introverted she seemed, she was extraordinarily perceptive of the people around her… I never even told her about my love of coffee. She figured it out just from looking at me.”

timrodresized: Once she knew the curry recipe she probably figured the other stains on his shirt were from the coffee.

Sojiro: “That was when I realized she was totally out of my league. Not like I really stood a chance to begin with though. She already had Futaba by then, after all.”

Sojiro: “All right, that’s enough of this for tonight! Things are getting downright sappy in here. Futaba’s waiting for me at home too, so I should probably be heading back.”

Sojiro: “Make sure you clean up before you go to bed.”

Sojiro: “Futaba’s still watching anime. As long as she’s in a good mood, though, I don’t mind it. Seeing her so happy now makes me glad that I kept Wakaba’s curry alive.”

Sojiro: “…It’s only a problem when she asks for it three times a day.”

Sojiro: “That’s exactly my problem. Futaba’s still growing. I gotta be strict with her. She needs to eat balanced meals so she gets vitamins that curry can’t give her…”

Sojiro: “But man, the expression on Futaba’s face when she took a bite of that curry… eh, forget it. Maybe I’ll have to stick with curry as the staple, but I can sneak in some veggies here and there.”

timrodresized: I’m going to cut the update here, because we have Hifumi’s Rank 9 coming up on the 24th. Naturally, I’ll be doing her Rank 10 in the same update.

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll finish Hifumi’s confidant, go to a maid cafe, and blow off visiting Yoshida in favor of teaching Makoto Concentrate. We might also finish billiards, it depends.

Joker: I just want you to know if the next words out of your mouth are “Would you like to?” I have a combination super soaker and air horn.

It’s a shame I’m in the state of giving this game so little credit because otherwise finding out that Sojiro’s been holding onto this curry recipe for so long just to try to give Futaba a taste of comfort one day would be a sweet revelation of how much he does really care about her.

Also is Joker’s TV not on the cable/satellite? Because you’d think if she’s just watching one episode she could just crash in the John Persona pad. John Padsona.

Temporarily taking down the website for a game isn’t a big deal, but…they’re really going to hack a website to convince a kid with a cool hat to give them the advice they need to stop a guy who cheats at an arcade game? Like…couldn’t they at least have had to do this for the guy who killed cats?

lets be real tho hacking a website may be the most renegade thing the phantom thieves have done this whole game

Uh but if that happened we would get a parody description of what anime she was watching so I’m gonna call Bullet Status: Dodged on that one.

Click Here for Update 66

Morgana: “Why are they raking us over the coals?”

timrodresized: Today’s a Kawakami day, so we can read the book that will let us finish billiards. I mean, it’s not like we’ve got anything else to do given all of our social stats are maxed.

Morgana: “Check this picture out…! This is basically a show, considering how crazy this looks!”

timrodresized: I have no idea what he’s talking about. Masse shots are technically difficult but not really that visually impressive.

timrodresized: If you don’t know what a Masse shot is, it’s holding the pool cue at a high angle and hitting the top of the cue ball to put spin on it, which allows it to curve around obstacles.

Morgana: “The book even had a detailed explanation and pictures on how to do the masse shot that we were trying to figure out. But we’ll have to see if you can actually pull it off. Let’s go play sometime soon!”

timrodresized: Unfortunately, we have to deal with Maruki’s bullshit today.

Maruki: “You must have a real knack for coffee, Kurusu-kun. This is fantastic.”

Maruki: “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass for today. It’s about the research paper we’ve been discussing. I’m actually putting it all together in a paper.”

Maruki: “It’s been really progressing lately, thanks in no small part to you. But I feel like I’ve hit another wall… so I’m sorry to bother you, but I’d appreciate if you’d help me talk through this again.”

timrodresized: You know it’s a well-written confidant when there’s a recap episode halfway through.

Maruki: “Really!? Thank you! You’re really saving me here! In deepening our understanding of the heart, I wanted to find a means of helping those who have been hurt by traumas… I already told you that was the point of all my research, right?”

Maruki: “It’s thanks to you that my project has come this far. But because of all that progress… I’ve realized a problem. One that may not have any solution.”

Maruki: “Even if my research makes great strides, even if we DO find some miraculous way of healing psychological wounds… with the way things are now, I can only save the people directly within my reach.”

Maruki: “…True, I guess. It’s better than not being able to save anyone. But I can’t just be satisfied with that. I mean, there are so many people out there suffering so badly, they can’t even speak up and let that pain out.”

Maruki: “This is a painful, cruel, bitter world. And there’s only so much one individual can do to fight against that. I’ve said it before. Working as a counselor only makes that more painfully obvious.”

timrodresized: Joker: “You know what, you’re right. We need to get air raid sirens that go off anytime anyone gets horny.”

Maruki: “Deep down, I… I don’t think it’s enough that I can just help people around me. A few people, out of billions. I want to help more people overcome their suffering.”

Maruki: “Pain can strike the heart in infinitely diverse ways. In turn, we have infinite methods by which we try to treat it. And like I said earlier… there are people who need help, desperately, but can’t ask for it. They can’t even share their pain.”

timrodresized: Great, he’s already repeating himself.

Maruki: “Even if we had a full understanding of the human heart, and an effective treatment to soothe it… I don’t think that would be enough to finally beat trauma. And I guess that’s what I ultimately realized.”

Maruki: “Yeah, that’d probably be easier… unfortunately, I’ve never been great at giving up when I should… if we could peer into the hearts of every person alive…”

Maruki: “Diagonose, understand, and then remove the root cause of their pain… it sounds like something out of a dream.”

Maruki: “Then again, that’d be impossible. Maybe truly understanding all people’s hearts is beyond human capability. Hm? Kurusu-kun… did I say something wrong?”

Maruki: “Haha, where’s this coming from? Sure, they can connect, but…”

Maruki: “The collective unconscious… if people’s hearts are connected in the unconscious, their senses are shared subconsciously…!”

timrodresized: Is this Zero Escape because I feel like we’re slowly drifting into Zero Escape, and we all know how well that ended.

Maruki: “Ah, it’s so simple! Why didn’t I realize it before…? Yes, right, and… if I can combine this with the theory I’m verifying, I can tie it all back to cognitive psience, too…!”

Maruki: “S-Sorry! But I think you’ve just helped me make a major breakthrough! I think this means something big for my cognitive psience research! I need to hurry and get this down in my paper!”

Maruki: “I knew it’d be worth bringing to you! Thank you, Kurusu-kun! I swear I’ll repay you for this!”

Maruki: “Sorry for… hah… rushing out…phew…so suddenly…hah…earlier…”

Maruki: “S-Sorry… I ended up running to the station on sheer adrenaline. I’m so out of shape, though… gotta do something about that…”

Maruki: “Anyhow, you helped me come to a major realization. The answer was right in front of me, and I couldn’t see it… all I need to do now is to focus on my paper! After all your help, I’m going to finish it for your sake, too!”

timrodresized: Tonight, we need to uh… visit a maid cafe in Akihabara. The reason for this is that the next Caroline and Justine outing happens here - and it’s one you have to do to get the reward at the end - but you can’t do it unless you’ve been here once.

timrodresized: And now, what is probably Joker’s best response to anything.

timrodresized: Even the horrible, non-canon alternate timeline that is Straight Joker isn’t horny enough for this.

timrodresized: If Gay Joker was an official thing, I can just imagine this alternate scene where he’s just sitting with the waitress like it’s a hostess club and going “It’s like… I’ve already got one maid who is incredibly horny and another who’s my boyfriend and it’s all just too many maids. I’m really only here so I can take this pair of little girls here, so they can talk about hubris or whatever.”

timrodresized: The maid cafe was also in the base game, but I was basically unaware because none of the 100% routes bothered to use it. Let me explain what the special item is, because it’s part of the difference between the base game and Royal.

timrodresized: In the base game, you had a choice of four food options, with each one having a progressively higher chance of the maid fucking it up. If she fucked it up, you could choose to gain a point in Kindness or Guts. If she didn’t fuck it up, you got NOTHING. This is why none of the 100% routes used it.

timrodresized: Royal changes it so that you always get Charm points, and removes the fuckup chance as a mechanic - instead, you get points… and at 20 points, you unlock a secret menu (which boosts the Charm gain to 3 points) and a PSN trophy.

timrodresized: I would have had Salty Vanilla do a special “secret menu” for Gay Joker, but they’re really busy and already working on some extra Yusu-Gay content.

timrodresized: We’re going all in.

Morgana: “Hey… this is pretty overwhelming… all the pink hurts my eyes…”

timrodresized: Oh god. What are you doing to those eggs. I don’t even like eggs. I don’t think that’s how you hold that.

timrodresized: Those eggs have been fucking murdered.

Morgana: “Why did she pick… that?”

timrodresized: Joker immediately pulls out the air horn.

timrodresized: Joker pulls the trigger on the air horn, and then pulls it again.

Morgana: “I feel like you’re going too easy on her… but I guess you learned how to be tolerant. sigh That sure was… unique.”

timrodresized: I had to reload here because the guide is shit.

timrodresized: Basically, the guide never tells you (and even the Megaten Wiki is wrong on this) that there’s new books in the bookstore in Shibuya. All but one of them are worthless.

timrodresized: This is the one we need. The other ones unlock locations we already have, thanks to all those extra confidant events. In fact, we don’t even really ‘need’ it - it’s solely to unlock a non-rankup event with Yusuke in November.

Morgana: “I guess they keep it exciting by doing things like hiring famous actors as tour guides. …In any case, it’s not the kind of place you’d visit alone. I recommend taking someone.”

Morgana: “It’d be fun to go with someone. Just don’t fall asleep while they project the constellations, okay?”

Usami: “Stores will use whatever reasons they can to pull in customers. This season in particular. Ah yes… people also say that autumn is for sports.”

Usami: “A while back, baseball was the national sport, but these days people have been into soccer. As you know, black and white are the common colors for soccer balls.”

Usami: “Now then, Kurusu-san. Could you take a look at this picture?”

Usami: “That’s correct. This ball is composed of twelve black pentagons and twenty white hexagons. It’s made up of a total of 32 surfaces. By the way, apparently soccer balls used to be only one color.”

timrodresized: You can still buy soccer balls in a single color.

Usami: “They changed it to be black and white so it could be seen better on television… or so I hear, anyway. Television was still in black and white when they started airing soccer in Europe.”

timrodresized: This is, as far as I can tell, true.

Usami: “At any rate, the contrast of white and black next to each other… it’s a slick design, don’t you think?”

Morgana: “You think someone like her really eats hamburgers?”

Futaba: “Pretty hard stuff for the second boss… it’s gonna be even harder knowing there are people there too… welp, ain’t no time like the present! Come on, let’s go!”

Sojiro: “You’re going to school!? Oh, um… never mind. Just go have some fun.”

Futaba: “I think my heart’s gonna pop out of my chest…”

timrodresized: Here’s my problem with this scene. Hashino (or whoever actually wrote this) clearly wanted a scene with just Futaba and Makoto, but had to make an excuse for Joker to be there.

timrodresized: This scene feels like those early PS3 games where Sony decreed that every game had to make use of the Sixaxis, so a lot of devs just kinda shoehorned it in where they could.

Makoto: “Wh-what are you doing here!?”

Futaba: “Ummm, well…”

Futaba: “Ummm… can I use a Goho-M instead?”

timrodresized: This is why I think the whole “there are correct answers” thing is kind of a bad design choice.

Futaba: “I was hoping you’d say that.”

Makoto: “I’m sure you’ll be fine. Most of the students have already left, and all the teachers are in a meeting. Oh, and I’ll join you. I can use my position as student council president to avoid any probllems that may arise.”

Futaba: “You’re incredible! If I’ve got you two with me, this place is gonna be as easy as fighting a trash mob!”

Makoto: “…I’m not sure I understand. That’s a good thing, right? Anyway, come on. I’ll show you around the school.”

timrodresized: Notice how Joker is just kind of standing in the background. Here’s how I would’ve done this cutscene, and explaining it’s going to require me to spoil a few minor details about Futaba’s confidant.

timrodresized: The whole promise list thing? They basically throw that out the window after the next rank. They also never really follow up on the whole “Being okay without you around” bit.

timrodresized: So here’s how I would’ve done this scene. In between the last scene and this one, Joker disappears on purpose - so the rest of the event is purely between Makoto and Futaba… which is what the writers wanted in the first place.

timrodresized: Have the dialog choices happen before and after the part with Makoto, and the whole point is that the player realizes what’s going on but Futaba doesn’t - on purpose.

timrodresized: Then, when it gets to Rank 8, have a scene where she’s still worked up about that last point, and then Morgana goes “I don’t think you realized it, but really, you were okay the entire time,” and it flashes back to this scene.

Futaba: “That reminds me of this time I was the only kid who didn’t get a pudding with my meal… oh, and this other time I ate a strawberry with ketchup on it. I didn’t notice 'cause they’re both red. It was really gross…”

Makoto: “U-um, anyway… the cafeteria’s pretty boring, huh? Let’s move on.”

Makoto: “We have all the regular academic fare here: textbooks, encyclopedias, study guides… but we also have a few manga and light novels at the request of some especially vocal students.”

Futaba: “So many books…”

Makoto: “Do you like to read, Futaba?”

Futaba: “Mm-hm. Back in elementary school, I memorized the titles of all the books on a shelf in just one glance. The other kids thought I was making it up when I told them though…”

Futaba: “But then when I recited all the titles to prove it… they just laughed and called me a freak… am I weird, Akira?”

Futaba: “…I don’t wanna be talented if it’s gonna creep people out. Ugh… school is the worst…”

Makoto: “W-Well, should we move along? Only the classrooms remain… though on second thought, maybe we should just pass on those today. Shall we head back to the entrance?”

Futaba: “Don’t be. It’s my fault… I remembered all that stuff on my own… I guess dwelling on the past is a bad habit of mine, huh?”

Futaba: “Huh? Wh-what kinda weird fetish stuff are you into, Akira?”

timrodresized: Joker just goes “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you” and then it cuts to a shot of Yusuke going “Joker! Hurry up! Curtain’s in five minutes and there’s a sold-out house waiting for our all-catboy stage adaptation of Hibike Euphonium!”

timrodresized: Now, you might say “Wait, wouldn’t that just be Jersey Boys but anime?” and yes, but also no.

Makoto: “Honestly, Futaba… it’s clear how much you’ve improved recently. You would never have gotten so worried about this before.”

Futaba: “Huh?”

Makoto: “What I mean is, worrying about something is the first step toward changing it. Coming to school like this is a huge breakthrough, Futaba. You’re doing great… right, Akira-kun?”

Futaba: “Hmmm… is this like that saying about when life gives you lemons? Maybe I could make lemonade for the Phantom Thieves! Er, figuratively speaking.”

Makoto: “That would be wonderful.”

Futaba: “Aw yeah!”

timrodresized: Position Hack doesn’t trigger often from what I remember, but it’s nice when it does.

timrodresized: Yeah, Friends was really overrated and a lot of people only like it because it’s just kind of always been there.

Makoto: “Futaba?”

Futaba: “Oh, uh… nothing!”

Futaba: “Anyways, let’s retreat for now. What’re you feeling for dinner? How about curry?”

Futaba: “Feeling crazy fulfilled, but also super tired, tbh… I can’t believe everyone runs such a high-level dungeon every single day… you guys really are OP.”

Futaba: “I get the sense I’ll level up faster if I stay close to you. But… I still think I’d run out of MP too fast. The real world is a scary place…”

Futaba: “Really!? …But I still gotta work on it, huh. So much for taking it easy on me… urgh.”

Futaba: “But I do feel like I’m making a lot of progress thanks to you, Akira! I’m gonna keep going at my own pace for my next goal too. Gotta focus on healing when you need to, right?”

Futaba: “And I can’t just keep getting carried through all this. I gotta learn how to fend for myself. Okay, later!”

timrodresized: We have Hifumi’s Rank 9 tonight, and it’s here I’m going to make a minor time digression in order to fit both her Rank 9 and Rank 10 in the same update.

timrodresized: Nothing really important happens on the 25th, so what we’ll do is jump from the 24th right to the 26th in order to do both of Hifumi’s confidant events, and then jump back to the 25th.

Hifumi: “However, I’m not going to give them the satisfaction. I’m going to win… with these very hands.”

Hifumi: “Of course! Well, it’s time. I have to go to the venue. You won’t be able to go inside the match room, but you can watch over the internet, if you’d like. Now… I should be going.”

timrodresized: I hate that they had to add this in to make it clear that Hifumi does know how to play shogi and it’s not one of those Harvard admissions scandal type things.

Hifumi: “It was as if an ant had challenged an elephant. A shogi player should know her limits.”

Hifumi: “I was so ashamed of myself. I didn’t want to hurt the pieces any longer…”

Hifumi: “You remembered! One must concede defeat with grace - maintaining dignity until the very end, as a queen should… but, I confess I am confused… I mean, naturally I am disappointed that I lost…”

Hifumi: “But I still feel happy… as if a demon has been purged from me. The moment I realized that victory was impossible… I felt a strange peace.”

Hifumi: “What’s important is what I do from this point on… I played so disgracefully in front of you… perhaps you can just view it as an example of what not to do…”

Hifumi: “And understand that there are times which require one to forfeit with valor and grace.”

timrodresized: If this was Nocturne, this might be a useful ability. We haven’t run from a single battle this entire run.

Hifumi: “Um, I’ve been thinking about this for a while… let’s make today your last lesson… spending time with me has only brought you pain…”

timrodresized: Hifumi’s romance route is… awkward, to say the least.

Hifumi: “The things you say sometimes… perhaps I should take a lesson from that ambitious nature of yours. If that is what you wish, then prepare yourself. Your training will be quite intensive.”

Hifumi: “There may be things I can learn from you as well. I suppose this is a friendly rivalry for both of us… as irreplaceable shogi friends.”

Hifumi: “About how things would’ve been if I had kept playing shogi according to my mother’s strategy… I could have enjoyed a transient, empty success. But when I looked two, three moves ahead…”

Hifumi: “I saw myself in incessant hell… playing a purgatorial, Pyrrhic shogi, unable to ever win or lose… I probably would’ve ended up hating shogi. Perhaps even given up on life.”

Hifumi: “That’s why I can say with certainty. Today’s loss was not a setback, but a glorious step forward.”

Hifumi: “…Yes! I was just thinking the same thing. It is so encouraging to have someone who truly understands me. I’m so happy…”

Hifumi: “All right, I should go. But I’m looking forward to seeing you again.”

timrodresized: The good news is that we’ve now freed up a Persona slot… but we need one more Affinity Reading with her, as I found out when I skipped to the 26th and couldn’t progress. Let’s do her Rank 10 now.

Hifumi: “That’s my intention. There were a lot of people who covered for me by saying that I was just being used by adults. But I’m the one who was most at fault. I was overconfident.”

timrodresized: I mean, your mother was apparently running some kind of blackmail ring, so technically she’s the one at fault, but…

Hifumi: “If only I had taken a look at myself and properly assessed my shogi skills. I believed that with my skills, I could overcome being treated like an idol. …There’s nothing I can say about my mother.”

Hifumi: “You didn’t abandon me, even after you learned about the fixed matches… now i know how encouraging it feels to have someone believe in you.”

Hifumi: “At first, this was just a deal… you help me develop new moves and I give you shogi lessons. But before I knew it, you became… someone I couldn’t do without.”

Hifumi: “I’m not gonna pay attention to the criticism anymore.”

Hifumi: “The reason I’m able to think this way is because you stuck by my side. …I’m really grateful.”

Music The Path Is Open

timrodresized: Hifumi’s last ability is extremely useful because it allows us to shift party members on the fly to counter weaknesses. We’ll want this for the next boss.

timrodresized: We also get the ability to fuse Lucifer. Will we be doing that? You fucking bet we will. I’ll need to do Caroline and Justine’s confidant first and farm a shitload of money.

timrodresized: In fact, without the discount you get for compendium completion, Lucifer costs almost a million yen to fuse assuming you are high enough level do so. We will not be.

Hifumi: “I truly hope that you… no… that the Phantom Thieves find my lessons useful.”

Hifumi: “I’m honored to hear that from one of the Phantom Thieves. I spoke to you about my mother, and then my mother changed… I knew that couldn’t be a coincidence.”

timrodresized: Joker: “Look, we could easily get rid of Makoto and let you in instead.”

Hifumi: “If there’s anything I can do to help, please know that you can rely on me.”

Hifumi: “I will support you in whatever you want to accomplish. Now, let’s play a match. I have a lot of new moves I’d like to test out. I hope you’re okay to stay here a while longer.”

timrodresized: With that done, let’s go back to the 25th. As always, Hifumi’s Rank 9 and Rank 10 on the dating route will be located under the “Alternate Scenes” header in the hub post.

Futaba: “It’s Power Intuition. A real controller-busting thumb-muncher! You have the courage to meet me in a test of mettle?”

timrodresized: I mentioned this before, but Power Intuition is a parody of Atlus’s long-dead fighting game franchise Power Instinct. The last release was on the Neo-Geo in the early 2000s.

timrodresized: None of the Power Instinct games were on the NES/Famicom. The first one was on the SNES/Super Famicom, the second on the PS1, and the third was the Neo-Geo one.

Futaba: “Kk, game start!”

timrodresized: I’m very surprised she doesn’t recognize her console.

Futaba: “Dang… you’re good! C’mon, it’s the final round!”

timrodresized: I did not win this one because I was busy taking screenshots. On a subsequent recording (when I went to do Hifumi’s Rank 10) I did win it but couldn’t take a shot of it.

timrodresized: Instead of doing Yoshida’s confidant, we opt to take Makoto to the jazz club to learn Concentrate. All I can say is that this guide had better be correct about Yoshida being available on 10/10.

Makoto: “O-Oh. I suppose it would be rude of me to look around while there’re so many people here…”

Makoto: “I tend to handle most of the general housework at home… and I realized that I go about it in a very particular way. Especially cleaning.”

Makoto: “When I pointed out that a window was dusty, Sis said I was like a ‘mother-in-law’…”

Makoto: “It’s gotten so late… I was nervous at first, but it’s very homey here. I feel like talking with you helped me to remember my original resolve. Thank you.”

timrodresized: I got rid of Makoto’s one physical skill because Concentrate kind of sets her on a path of being a pure magic build the way Charge sets Yusuke onto the path of being a pure physical hitter.

timrodresized: Finally, let’s get to the canon version of the 26th.

Shinya: “Don’t you get it!? You can’t just shoot all over the place!”

Shinya: “Gahhh! You haven’t gotten better at all! When are you gonna learn!?”

Shinya: “Thanks to you taking so long to figure it out…”

Shinya: “Yeah, you’re right. I’ve always been good at shooting games… but I absolutely NEVER wanna lose at Gun About. So I guess I tend to get all heated up about it…”

timrodresized: He’s not gonna be happy in 2018 when the servers start going down.

Shinya: “…Shut up.”

Shinya: “…Fine. I’ll leave, all right? sigh

Shinya: “Seriously. I… really wanted to keep playing. …My house is so boring. No one’s ever there and there’s never anything to do.”

Shinya: “Adults and high schoolers are so lucky. They get to play all night long. Having that much time helps you get stronger…”

Shinya: “…I wish I could play all day instead of going to school. I’d never lose another game… I need to get really strong, like the Phantom Thieves.”

timrodresized: I mean, we already know he does, but for some reason this is the correct answer.

Shinya: “Of course I do! I wanna be just as strong as they are! I believe in the Phantom Thieves and their strength.”

Shinya: “…That’d be great! Thanks! Seriously though, I can’t stop thinking about that employee. He was super annoying, huh?”

Shinya: “If he says something again, I might just have to use that move on him. The one I taught you, remember? You should use it sometime.”

timrodresized: Bullet Hail is kind of a garbage ability.

timrodresized: Basically, you enter combat and you get a “Fire” prompt. This also gives us a good shot of Haru’s gun, which is a grenade launcher.

timrodresized: The problem is that it takes time and does fuck all for damage. There’s a good reason why - it’s because if it did actual damage, it’d make negotiations a pain in the ass to accomplish - but still.

Shinya: “Well, it’s just a move in the game, so it won’t work against actual people… I wish it did. Then I’d be strong in real life. I need to be able to win in real life… I’m gonna head home.”

timrodresized: What part of dumping an entire magazine into someone wouldn’t work? Unless he’s talking about wasting ammo, because we know that six bullets are more than enough to kill anything that moves.

Shinya: “I was bored, so I thought I’d call. I forgot to mention earlier, but you gotta keep practicing even on single player, okay? Everyone sucks at first, but you can get good if you do it every day!”

Shinya: “You better. You’re supposed to be the adult here. I’m practicing a lot too. I wanna get as strong as the Phantom Thieves. Oh, my mom came home… I gotta hang up. Bye.”

timrodresized: Finally, on the canon version of the 26th, we finish billiards off forever.

timrodresized: Note that what Joker is doing here is a pretty extreme version of the masse shot. Generally, you wouldn’t do this expecting to hit a ball on the other side of the table.

timrodresized: We are going to need this for Okumura’s palace. Guaranteed knockdowns are fucking HUGE, especially now that we have easy access to both Freidyne and Psiodyne.

timrodresized: You might think I’m talking about Makoto and Haru, but I’m not. I’m talking about when I snap the game in two in the next update without even needing the PS5 or Network Fusion.

timrodresized: Have I mentioned we’re going to be doing all ten ranks of Caroline and Justine’s confidant in the next update? We do that. In a single day.

Maruki: “I’d like to hear your opinion on these Phantom Thieves of Hearts. The ones who ‘steal the desires’ of criminals, and reportedly force them to confess…”

Maruki: “Maybe it’s a little hard to believe, but I guess I’ve taken an academic interest in them.”

Maruki: “Hmm… yeah, I guess you could say that. I’d love to sit down and talk with one of them. I just get the feeling the Phantom Thieves’ work and my own research are rooted in the same principles.”

Maruki: “That’s why I’ve decided to analyze them from my own perspective. …For example, there’s the matter of their methods.”

Maruki: “According to those calling cards they send out, their stated method is to ‘steal your desires’… how is such a feat even possible? Any ideas, Kurusu-kun?”

timrodresized: Why’s he asking Joker? How would Joker know?

Maruki: “Hmm, removing them… as if they’re something material rather than abstract? So, they’d be stealing desires by taking some tangible form of them… well, in that case…”

Maruki: “I suppose it’d be possible if you could find some physical proxy for human desires. …Kurusu-kun, do you remember that story with the cookies?”

Maruki: “In that experiment, the desire for the cookies actually changed the way people tasted them. I think we can look at this in the same way.”

timrodresized: I don’t recall that being true from the actual study, back when I posted it. I remember it said that they rated the artificially rare cookies more highly, but I dont think there was anything about taste.

Maruki: “They’re not something easily perceived, but desires do have a tremendous effect on our cognition. Put another way, if that desire is gone, your cognitive perception of the cookies skews back to normal.”

Maruki: “So, does that remind you of anything?”

Maruki: “That’s right. The Phantom Thieves’ own change of heart. That’s the basis of my theory: their ‘theft of desire’ is not metaphorical, but something more direct.”

Maruki: “We still don’t know exactly how they steal these desires, of course… but if this idea of physical, tangible desires can be actualized, I think it’d logically follow that they can be taken away.”

Maruki: “In a world of intangibles… let’s say, a world composed of the contents of people’s hearts… well, they’re thieves, so… if they could perceive a world like that, they could steal desires like any other treasure…”

timrodresized: For someone who supposedly knows nothing about the existence of the Metaverse, he sure gave a pretty accurate description.

Maruki: “Hey, Kurusu-kun. You think I’m getting anywhere here?”

Maruki: “You think so too, Kurusu-kun? If it’s actually anywhere close to the truth, it’d be incredible. Then again, we’ll probably never know for sure unless we could ask one of the Phantom Thieves themselves.”

Maruki: “Mm… I think I can construct a solid hypothesis now. It feels like I’m just one step away from finishing this paper… thank you, Kurusu-kun.”

timrodresized: This ability. It’s the worst thing in the fucking game. Flow was great when it was a once-in-a-while buff, but with this, it procced in almost half the battles I did in the first half hour of Okumura’s palace.

timrodresized: The problem here is twofold. First, the animation for Flow lasts longer than a lot of the actual battles do. Second, it makes using Joker for knockdowns hard because he’ll usually instakill enemies.

timrodresized: We also get 5 max SP and another Phantom Wafer, which I won’t bother showing.

timrodresized: By the way, I found the calendar that fuckhead on Gamefaqs plagiarized, and as it turns out we are in fact in the clear on Yoshida - he’s available on 10/10. Thanks to the Persona 5 Speedrun Discord for providing that information.

Sojiro: “All I want in a relationship is spicy stimulation followed by some smooth, relaxing comfort. And I can get both of those things from my curry and my coffee. That’s enough for me.”

timrodresized: Crazy how he went from this turbosmug horny dude to just being a dad.

Sojiro: “That’s a real roundabout way of showing disapproval… anyway, the only thing I care about in life is making sure my customers are satisfied. Nothing makes me happier than seeing people relax in here. Come back anytime, okay?”

Sojiro: “But I guess food service relies on keeping the right distance from people. Not too far, not too close.”

Sojiro: “Yeah? And what have YOU done to care for her?”

Sojiro: “Don’t be ridiculous. Futaba had a terrible life living with you… plus I already gave you most of the inheritance for custody! Is that still not enough for you!?”

Sojiro: “You…”

timrodresized: The thing is, at least in the US, the court is the one who put the kid with a guardian in the first place - and usually when they do that, they’re hesitant to go back on that decision.

timrodresized: This becomes a real problem in elder law, where you have people who get guardianships over old people for financial gain, often without the family being involved.

Sojiro: “Hey, keep your neck out of this. Just get on upstairs, okay?”

Sojiro: “She’s only like this because she saw you here!”

Sojiro: “Grrr…”

Sojiro: “Futaba… you should just head home for today. I’ll take you.”

Futaba: “Sojiro…”

Sojiro: “That man… is Futaba’s uncle. After Wakaba died, Futaba was passed around all her relatives. His place was the last. He treated her like garbage. He never fed her, and forced her to sleep on the floor like an animal.”

timrodresized: Wait, is this some kind of allegory about 4chan? It’s not like 2ch doesn’t have a lot of the same problems 4chan does.

Sojiro: “He didn’t even let her bathe… once I learned that, I knew I had to step in. I couldn’t stand for that kind of horrible treatment, so I decided to take Futaba under my care.”

timrodresized: It would’ve been great if this was like the old Persona games and Futaba just lit him on fire.

Sojiro: “Even back then, he was whining about all the damn expenses… I threw some cash his way, thinking that would put the issue to bed… but now he’s back for more.”

Sojiro: “I don’t even know how he managed to find me here… maybe paying him was a mistake.”

Sojiro: “Heh… thanks. I never thought you’d be the one comforting me. Either way though, it’s my fault Futaba didn’t leave her room. I just didn’t know how to help her through it… I’d make curry, leave it by her door, and go.”

Sojiro: “If not for you, I’d probably still be waiting for her to come out. So if you asked me whether I deserve to be Futaba’s guardian… my answer would be no.”

Sojiro: “They say blood’s thicker than water, right? I wonder what’d be the best for Futaba. Haha… look at me, spilling my heart out to a punk like you.”

Sojiro: “Though… it’s kinda weird. For some reason, I just feel like telling you this stuff. It’s like you’re peering into my heart… heh, I guess there really is something special about you.”

timrodresized: Another ability we will never use.

Sojiro: “It’s already pretty late… I should be heading home. I’m still worried about Futaba. Don’t stay up too late, you hear? Oh, and… thanks.”

Sojiro: “Futaba’s fast asleep… didn’t mean to get you tangled up in all this mess.”

timrodresized: Well, I mean, there’s going to be a very obvious Mementos request at Rank 7, so…

Sojiro: “No, you don’t have to do anything. The fact that you asked is enough. Man, though. I never know what I’m doing when I talk to you.”

Sojiro: “I just keep yammering on about stuff I never planned on talking about. Must be going senile, huh? Anyways, don’t worry about that guy. I’ll find some way to deal with him.”

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll do all ten ranks of Caroline and Justine’s confidant and snap the balance in half without needing Network Fusion. I’ll also be putting up the alternate versions of Hifumi’s Rank 9 and Rank 10.

Click Here for Update 67

timrodresized: On the 28th, we wind up going into Okumura’s palace. Before we do that, though, I wanted to max out Caroline and Justine’s confidant. We actually just got the item we need to finish it - that being the totem that lets us fuse Bugs.

timrodresized: The first target is a Jack Frost with Mabufu. We could have done this as soon as the confidant becomes available, but it’s a lot easier when you have a bunch of maxed or near-maxed confidants.

timrodresized: As you can see, Jack Frost learns Mabufu naturally at level 12, which we can easily achieve with the Arcana Burst bonus. I made this one out of a Kelpie and a Succubus.

Caroline: “Hmph… fine, I’ll take it. By the way, your Personas are super weak - not that I’m interested, inmate. Though I guess you deserve at least some praise for finishing your penal labor.”

Caroline: “You might actually complete your rehabilitation…”

Justine: “In order to promote that process, we would like to offer you the use of a new facility.”

Caroline: “Hmph. It’s rare to see you smile, Justine.”

Justine: “You are the smiling one, Caroline. Did something happen to make you so joyful?”

Caroline: “Me? Hey, are you laughing at us!?”

timrodresized: Naturally, none of the answers matter. The only thing that ranks you up is making the right Persona.

Caroline: “Know your place, inmate!”

Justine: “As wardens, we simply feel satisfaction in seeing your rehabilitation progress. I find it upsetting that you would see such a matter as a source of amusement.”

Caroline: “It’s like you forget where you are, Inmate. You’ve got some real guts though! With that spirit, you should have no trouble making progress!”

Justine: “Very well then… if you have the will to continue your penal labor, we can grant you greater freedom within this prison. It is a deal between us, the wardens, and you, the inmate.”

Caroline: “Not like you have the right to turn it down though! Hard work is what you’re meant to do, inmate!”

timrodresized: The Group Guillotine is going to be a necessity for fusing Lucifer, though we’ll need five-way fusions unlocked for that.

timrodresized: The base game had the same request, only it’s a Shiisaa instead of Ame-no-Uzume. The reason this was probably changed is the shakeup of the fusion charts that happened in Royal.

timrodresized: There’s a couple of ways you can accomplish this. If you’re in Madarame’s palace, you can simply negotiate with a Shiisaa to get a Frei card.

timrodresized: We also had one from Caroline and Justine that I forgot to use, and one from the beginning of the game when we did the save bonus.

timrodresized: The other option would be to fuse Suzaku with Berith, which will get you this fusion in one step. However, because I never fused Suzaku, we’ll take an alternate route instead.

timrodresized: Fusing Makami with a Mandrake gets us Inugami, who we carry Frei onto. We can then fuse Inugami with an Angel to get Ame-no-Uzume.

Caroline: “Hmph. I guess at least you’ve got the will to work.”

Caroline: “Don’t gimme that smug attitude! This is your duty, inmate!”

Justine: “That said, you have completed the task surprisingly easily.”

Caroline: “You might actually be worth our time after all. Justine, tell him his next task. It’s on that list, correct?”

Justine: “Indeed… now then, I will assign your next task. Be aware that the tasks on this list will increase in difficulty as we go. Are you prepared? How admirable.”

timrodresized: Flauros is the first Persona to require a three-Persona fusion.

timrodresized: Any fusion that requires more than two Personas will always have a set recipe. The game is nice enough that if you have all of the components in the compendium, it will pay to summon them automatically if you decide to fuse.

timrodresized: This is another really easy one. Flauros is made from Eligor, Berith, and Orobas. Eligor starts with Tarukaja, so all you need to do is the basic fusion.

New Persona: Flauros

Origin: Ars Goetia

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei I

64th demon of the Ars Goetia. Very similar to Ose, in that they have almost the same description and shared a sprite in the early SMT games. Only difference is that he controls fire instead of shapeshifting.

image

timrodresized: Flauros is a trash Persona, plain and simple.

Justine: “It is to be expected of the human our master saw potential in.”

Caroline: “You’re dedicated, I’ll give you that. Just keep it up, all right?”

Justine: “That is a fine attitude to have.”

Caroline: “Talk’s cheap though. You’re gonna have to put your money where your mouth is. I’ve gotta say, Justine, it’s an accomplishment that he hasn’t thrown in the towel yet.”

Justine: “How so?”

Caroline: “That task list you wrote. It’s not only keeping him on his toes, but helping him improve too.”

Justine: “…Hm? I am not the one who wrote it. I have always assumed it was you…”

Caroline: “What!? I don’t know anything about that thing.”

Justine: “…I suppose now that I consider it, that list is far too precise for you to have written it.”

Caroline: “Quiet! You didn’t need to say that! But wait… who wrote it then? It wasn’t our master, was it?”

Justine: “No, I have not heard him mention anything of the sort…”

Caroline: “S-Shut up! Don’t read too much into this! Just keep quiet and focus on your tasks, inmate!”

Justine: “Caroline, should we consult with our master about this?”

Caroline: “We shouldn’t waste his time on something this pointless.”

Justine: “…Indeed. It does not matter who conceived the list.”

Justine: “Of course, we will continue to offer benefits to you if you can further fulfill our tasks. All that we ask is that you work hard in the duty you are assigned.”

Caroline: “…Anyway, time for your next task! According to the list, it’s… uh… what is it, Justine?”

Justine: “One more thing… the next privilege we provide for you will unlock great power. Therefore, we will need you to fulfill two more tasks before we can hand it over to you.”

timrodresized: The next ability is the one that breaks the game. It used to be their Rank 10 ability.

timrodresized: This unlocks the “Train Personas” option. Lockdown is basically useless - you can put a Persona in there and use incense on it to increase its stats. If you leave it in long enough, it can gain new resistances.

timrodresized: The only thing we’d want to use this on is Lucifer, or a few of the other very high level Personas where we’re going to keep them for a very long time. I believe you also have to do Lockdown over a number of days.

timrodresized: I’m also pretty sure that if you have a Persona in Lockdown, it doesn’t count for confidant purposes, so that’s another reason we wouldn’t have wanted this.

timrodresized: I’d show my fusion process, but there’s only one way to do it really: you fuse a Yaksini (who starts with Counter) with a Kelpie. There’s no way to get a skill card for Counter outside of an accident.

Caroline: “True… I guess we’ve gotta at least admit THAT much. Your Personas are starting to get pretty damn strong too.”

timrodresized: She has no idea what I’m about to fuse as soon as we max their confidant.

Justine: “Is fostering Personas… truly rehabilitation?”

Caroline: “What’re you saying that for?”

Justine: “It is… merely a thought I had. Will the inmate truly be rehabilitated… if we help cultivate power within him?”

Caroline: “Keep it together, Justine. This is the job our master ordered us to do. Orrr, are you gonna try and disobey your orders?”

Justine: “That is not what I meant…”

Caroline: “Don’t worry yourself too much over one measly prisoner. All we gotta do is get the most out of his wild card thing, and make him work hard at his tasks.”

timrodresized: What is this, Among Us?

Justine: “The wild card…”

Caroline: “What is it now?”

Justine: “The more I consider this list, the stranger it seems. Its author must have known that the one carrying out these tasks would possess the power of the wild card…”

timrodresized: I wish the canon explanation for it was that it was written by Philemon for the Persona 1 or Persona 2 cast to do as a group, and somehow got carried from the piano lounge Velvet Room to the jail.

Caroline: “You’ve gotta be kidding me. How would somebody predict that?”

Justine: “…”

Caroline: “I mean, even our master didn’t know the inmate had that wild card thing before we met him!”

timrodresized: I also wish that the canon explanation for the whole wild card thing is that Igor got sick of dealing with six or seven party members at once, so while all of the party members are actually wild cards, Igor just won’t let them into the Velvet Room.

Caroline: “Hmph. Either way, this’ll all get resolved if you just hurry up and finish your rehabilitation already! Justine, give him his next task so he’ll stop talking back!”

Justine: “… Very well.”

timrodresized: One thing I don’t like about this confidant is that Margaret’s confidant in Persona 4 kind of had this thing where the Personas you fused for it built on each other.

timrodresized: As an example, the first request for Margaret was an Ippon-Datara with Sukukaja. The second request was a Matador with Mahama. The third was for a Gdon (a Persona who isn’t in 5) with Rampage.

timrodresized: The easiest way to get that was to fuse the Ippon-Datara you already made with the Matador. This wasn’t true for her entire S-Link, but was pretty close.

timrodresized: We have a skill card for Rakukaja, but there’s no point in using it. You can do this one extremely easily by simply having a Lamia and a Silky and fusing them - Lamia starts with it.

timrodresized: I’m pretty sure this is a glitch and they gave Setanta the wrong introduction script.

New Persona: Setanta

Origin: Celtic Mythology

First Appearance: Nocturne

Setanta is Cu Chulainn prior to his killing of the god Culann’s guard dog and gaining the name Cu Chulainn (which translates to “Hound of Chulann”). Wields the magic spear Gae Bolg and trained under Scathach in the Land of Shadows. Dies after being forced to break two geas he was under: one to not eat dog meat, and a second to not refuse a meal offered to him by a woman, after being offered dog meat by a woman.

timrodresized: Setanta is notable for the sole reason that he’s the first Persona to learn Charge. Given that we had Anzu by this point, he’s still trash.

Caroline: “Heh, you’re pretty interesting, Inmate!”

Justine: “I must say… as Caroline noted before, this list is quite well thought-out. The tasks are designed to push you toward achieving your goals while also measuring your true strength.”

timrodresized: Is this Hashino patting himself on the back?

Caroline: “Hm? I guess so… hey, Inmate! What’re your thoughts on these tasks!?”

timrodresized: To get an idea, it took me about 90 minutes to record this entire confidant, plus all the fusing.

Justine: sigh “Perhaps they are not difficult enough if that is your impression of them…”

Caroline: “Oh well. We should give him the next one. Let’s see here…”

Caroline: “Huh…!? It feels like I’ve seen the writing on this list before…”

Justine: “Do you speak of the penmanship?”

Caroline: “Yeah. Dammit… I can’t remember! Do you recognize it, Justine?”

timrodresized: Caroline went to an all-tsundere elementary school.

Caroline: “I, uh, no… I mean…”

Justine: “It seems you have been rather looking forward to the inmate’s visits.”

Caroline: “Never mind that! I-I’m talking about the handwriting of the tasks themselves! Stop yanking my chain!”

Justine: “Hm… now that you mention it, I do feel as though I’ve seen that handwriting somewhere before…”

Caroline: “Keep your nose out of other people’s business, Inmate!”

Justine: “To be honest, the sense of deja vu I feel when reading this list is certainly concerning to me. Who made this list… and why?”

Caroline: “Whaddya mean? The goal’s pretty obvious. It’s to help train the inmate.”

Justine: “Beyond that though, what exactly is the purpose of training him?”

Caroline: “…Rehabilitation?”

Justine: “But that is merely our master’s order. Someone other than him wrote this list, correct?”

Caroline: “… Then let’s just assume there’s some purpose we don’t know about. If we’re right in our assumption, the purpose’ll be clear once he finishes the whole list, right?”

Justine: “…I suppose you have a point. Hearing something logical from you is like a cool rush of air amidst the sweltering heat of summer.”

Caroline: “You didn’t need to say that!”

timrodresized: Joker’s like “That’s bullshit! Tatsuya got to use Personas five levels higher than he was for free!”

timrodresized: …Except this ability is a lot better than that. This COMPLETELY REMOVES the level limit on Personas. This means that theoretically, with enough grinding, you could have anything that isn’t gated by confidant ranks as early as Level 25.

timrodresized: That’s the one problem, you see. Most of the good Personas are locked behind confidants, with the best ones requiring Sae and Morgana to be Rank 10. That won’t happen until the end of the game.

timrodresized: That does not mean, however, that I can’t fuse a gamebreaker. I’ve already done it in recording, but I’m waiting for a third fusion alarm to really max everything out.

timrodresized: One final note - just because we have this doesn’t mean we want to go nuts with it just yet. It’s still EXTREMELY expensive to use, and there’s a discount at Rank 10.

Justine: “Now then, allow me to give you your next assignment. Please note that the next privilege we provide for you will be quite powerful indeed. Therefore, we will require that you complete three tasks before you can receive it.”

timrodresized: We’re just high enough level to meet that requirement. That means we’ll need to pay for Rank 9 and Rank 10.

timrodresized: Neko Shogun was a request in Persona 4 as well. He’s another 3-way fusion.

New Persona: Sudama

Origin: Japan

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei II

One-footed mountain spirits born of rocks and trees on mountains where humans rarely go. Sometimes known to take human shape to watch over their mountain homes. It’s said that if you get the feeling you’re being watched while hiking the mountains, it’s a Sudama… or coyotes. Probably coyotes.

timrodresized: Sudama is fused from an Orobas and a High Pixie and inherits Dekaja from Orobas.

timrodresized: We also need to call Anzu and our old Kodama back, as they’re the other two component Personas for Neko Shogun.

New Persona: Neko Shogun

Origin: Vietnam?

First Appearance: Devil Summoner

timrodresized: I honestly don’t know what Neko Shogun’s deal is. The wiki page has this whole thing on Vietnamese folklore with a link that no longer works, and there’s zero documentation on it anywhere else.

timrodresized: In fact, you know what, let’s just say he’s from Samurai Pizza Cats Cat Ninja Legend Teyandee Anime and be done with it.

Caroline: “What’s wrong, Justine?”

Justine: “It is nothing vital… however… presiding over the growth of another feels almost… nostalgic, in a way… do you feel the same, Caroline?”

Caroline: “Whaddya mean? We’ve never taken care of someone like this before.”

Justine: “You are not wrong about that… and yet, our duty to aid his rehabilitation aside, observing his growth feels oddly familiar…”

Caroline: “That can’t be right! The inmate’s growth and his rehabilitation are the exact same thing! Hey, Inmate. The growth you’re getting from these tasks is helping with your rehabilitation, right?”

Caroline: “See, Justine? They’re the same.”

Justine: “Is that not something we should judge for ourselves, though?”

Caroline: “Anyway Justine, don’t forget about our job. The duty we’ve been handed is all that matters.”

Justine: “I suppose… you are correct…”

Caroline: sigh “I guess you’re gonna keep worrying about this till the inmate finishes his rehabilitation, huh, Justine? Look what you’ve done, Inmate! Getting us all wrapped up in your fate… ugh.”

Caroline: “What’s wrong?”

Justine: “…Nothing. But… I believe I am beginning to look forward to seeing whether the inmate can complete his tasks.”

Caroline: “Okay! On to the next task! …Justine?”

timrodresized: If we had waited a week or so to do this, this would’ve been simple. The outing to the maid cafe with Caroline and Justine gives you a Tetraja card.

timrodresized: We actually already had a Lachesis, which I had to delete to make a new one. Fortunately, there’s a very easy process to do this because we’ve done most of Chihaya’s confidant.

timrodresized: First, you need a Pixie and a Silky. Fuse them into Clotho, who then learns Tetraja automatically due to the bonus EXP. Then you just fuse the Clotho with a Regent to get Lachesis.

Caroline: “Looks like you’re getting the hang of this. Well, that’s another assignment done…”

Caroline: “No difficult questions, Justine. Just give him his assignment.”

Justine: “Understood.”

Caroline: “Huh? What’s with you? You’re not usually this cooperative.”

Justine: “I have no intention of abandoning my duty… but I would like to know the truth of this situation. After all, we possess a mysterious list which seems to have foretold the current state of affairs…”

Justine: “Who wrote it? Why do I recognize the penmanship? Why does observing growth feel nostalgic? And beyond that… what was the true intent of its creator?”

timrodresized: The questions to be answered… not in this confidant. In fact, we won’t know who wrote the list until just before the final dungeon of the base game.

Caroline: “I thought I said no difficult questions…”

Justine: “To be honest though… I have arrived at a hypothesis.”

Caroline: “What!? You know the answer?”

timrodresized: Yeah, I know The Answer. I also know a lot of people hate it and think it was a terrible addon to Persona 3.

Justine: “We manage the inmate’s power via several arcana, which symbolize the mystic nature of this world. In truth, the encounter we share with him is represented by the Strength arcana.”

Justine: “Strength represents great power, a mighty will, and the awakening of the unknown…”

Caroline: “Sounds about right.”

Justine: “Caroline… in our interactions, has the inmate been the only one to have had something awaken within him? Perhaps… therein lies the answer.”

Caroline: “Wh-What’s that supposed to mean!? Uuuugh, dammit! Why do I feel so weird!?”

Caroline: “Although… this next task is gonna be the eighth one. There aren’t too many left on the list. You’ve come this far, Inmate. I hope you see it through.”

Justine: “If you do so… the answer will surely become clear.”

Caroline: “And, uh… you’re more than just some random schmuck to us now… you’re the only one who can find the answer we’re looking for. You got that, Inmate!?”

Caroline: “Okay, next! You’ve only gotta bring us one more Persona before you get another reward!”

timrodresized: Belphegor starts with Masukunda, but unfortunately the one I fused earlier had it mutate into Sledegehammer.

timrodresized: So I had to fuse another one, and then fuse it with an Isis I already had sitting around from our last Mementos trip.

timrodresized: We could also have re-summoned Anzu, fed the Lachesis to Lilim to have her learn Masukunda, and then fused Lilim with Anzu, but I’m not fucking up a perfectly good Lilim for that.

New Persona: Hecatoncheir

Origin: Greece

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei II

Giants with one hundred hands and fifty heads. Originally tossed into Tartarus by their father, Ouranos, they were freed by Zeus to fight against the Titans.

timrodresized: Hecatoncheir is, of course, a trash-sona.

Caroline: “We might be getting close to finding out the hidden goal behind that list. snicker Y’know, thanks to you, I’m actually starting to look forward to seeing what happens.”

Justine: “Your attitude has shifted quite considerably, Caroline. I see now that the harsh mask you wear during the fusion ritual is nothing more than a facade.”

Justine: “Perhaps in your heart, you have longed for the days the Inmate would come to fuse the specified Personas.”

timrodresized: It’s funny, because we’re doing this entire confidant on the same day. Seriously, this is how most 100% runs do it.

Caroline: “Th-That’s not true! And what about YOU, Justine!? You’ve been awful chatty lately!”

Justine: chuckle “I suppose you are correct.”

Justine: “Perhaps my hypothesis is true after all. We have thought that if we were to complete the list, we would bring to light the intent of its creator…”

Justine: “We have overseen the inmate, all the while considering the changes that have begun to appear within him. However, can it truly be said that the inmate is the only one who has changed?”

Justine: “The completion of these tasks has also had a great impact on both my consciousness and my memories.”

Caroline: “No way, are you trying to say the list isn’t supposed to change the inmate… but rather… ourselves!?”

Justine: “I have no proof of that… however, if this list represented the will of our master, why has it fallen into our hands and not remained in his?”

Caroline: “This has gotta be some kinda joke. You’re telling me somebody made it… so they could change… us? But… why?”

Igor: “Does something trouble you?”

Justine: “O-Our apologies, Master.”

Igor: “Is the inmate proving to be too horrible a subject for you?”

Caroline: “No, the fault does not lie with him. If you must reprimand anyone… let it be us.”

Justine: “Caroline…”

Igor: “…I see. Very well, continue onward with his rehabilitation.”

Justine: “…Our deepest apologies for that brief loss of composure. Now then, as you have completed three tasks, let us bestow upon you the next reward.”

timrodresized: This allows us to do fusions involving up to five Personas at once. Just like the three-way fusions, four-way and five-way fusions are always fixed. We need this for Lucifer.

Caroline: “Hmph. So I guess we’ve changed, huh? That much is clear. Strength… the eleventh arcana, which near-evenly splits the major twenty-two… the awakening of the unknown… a solitary woman calmly coming to face a lion…”

Justine: “Caroline. Let us assign the inmate his next task before we discuss this matter any further. If this list is meant to change us, that change must surely be important…”

Caroline: “…Fine. All right, Inmate! It’s time for your new task! Oh, and your next reward is gonna be incredible, so you’ve gotta do two tasks before you can have it!”

Justine: “Accordingly, these next two shall be the most difficult you have faced to this point.”

timrodresized: Realistically, I should’ve waited a bit to do this, but fuck that. Bugs is a three-way fusion between Hariti, Pisaca, and a Pixie. Hariti learns Samarecarm at level 41… but we have a much easier way.

timrodresized: By the way, Bugs also requires that totem we picked up in Mementos to fuse.

New Persona: Bugbear (Bugs)

Origin: England

First Appearance: Megami Tensei II

Hobgoblin that looks like a bear. Lives in the woods and scares children.

timrodresized: Bugs is kinda meh. He starts with Psiodyne, which is nice, but most of his value comes from inheriting Bless Boost and Kougaon from Hariti.

timrodresized: This costs us 58,000 yen to fuse.

Caroline: “Hmph. You make it seem easy. Well, the assignment is done…”

Justine: “Thinking back on our encounters here, we have lost our composure in front of you quite a few times.”

Caroline: “So, uh… me and Justine had a little talk. I dunno how to put thi… but we don’t know each other too well, even though we’re so close.”

Justine: “We have also come to realize that each of us complements the faults of the other quite nicely…”

Caroline: “I don’t think I’ve ever had a deep conversation like that with anyone before. Oh, and it made me remember something super important. I bet you wanna hear what that was. Isn’t that right, Inmate!?”

Caroline: “Of course you would. The thing that I remembered… is something someone once told me. You explain it, Justine.”

timrodresized: Is this going to lead into All Star because I feel like you can’t really do that without…

Justine: “Essentially, the twenty-two arcana represent a journey… the Fool embarks on a pilgrimage through the numbers, overcoming Death and eventually obtaining the World.”

Justine: “In short, this journey is the tale of one’s path through life.”

Caroline: “So we realized something. If this wild card thing - the potential of the Fool - proves that you’re a traveler…”

Justine: “Then your becoming stronger will lead us all in the right direction. That may be the true meaning of rehabilitation. Or perhaps it is something beyond even that…”

Justine: “Regardless, one thing we can be sure of is that this list was written with the intent of being completed.”

Caroline: “Understanding and having faith in that intent is the change this list has brought about in us… not that somebody like you would be able to comprehend that.”

Caroline: “But for us… it was something really important to learn. Oh, and… I think we might know who that voice in my head was too. I can’t tell you right now though.”

Caroline: “First of all, we don’t have any way to actually prove it.”

Justine: “Secondly… if it is indeed true, everything we have come to know would be thrown into question. Regardless, we have grown able to reflect on ourselves thanks to you.”

timrodresized: Joker’s like “I fused a bunch of random trash Personas because you asked me to, and then deleted most of them because I’m never going to use them.”

Justine: “This may not be something I should be saying to you… but I have quite enjoyed our time spent together.”

Caroline: “You hear that, Inmate!? You’d better overcome this ruin stuff! Keep surviving, all the way until we learn the truth… together!”

Caroline: “So there you have it. Don’t expect us to play nice just 'cause we believe in you though! We’re gonna be as strict as ever!”

timrodresized: This one is a complete pain in the ass. Seth is a four-way fusion between Isis, Anubis, Thoth, and Horus. None of those Personas know High Counter or learn it.

timrodresized: There’s two ways to get a High Counter card: you can get one from Caroline and Justine during an outing at the end of November, or get one from a Mementos request in October.

timrodresized: You can also fuse a Dakini and get it to level 52, and then downfuse it into Anubis, but fuck that. We need an alarm.

timrodresized: Now that we’ve got one (from me dicking around in the first room of Okumura’s palace) we can resummon that Ose and itemize it into High Counter. That’s one problem solved.

timrodresized: However, we have a second problem. We can’t get Horus easily with what we have - he’s only level 47, but getting him is a pain in the ass. First, I fuse Yurlungr using that Hecatoncheir and a Daisoujou.

New Persona: Yurlungur

Origin: Australia

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei I

Giant copper snake responsible for rain. Commonly known as the Rainbow Snake because the water where it lives is rainbow-colored.

timrodresized: Yurlungur’s not bad. He’s not great either, but Mouth of Savoring is an ability that boosts all SP restoration by 50% and I want it.

timrodresized: So anyway, I fuse Yurlungur thinking that oh, I can just fuse him and then use a treasure demon to upfuse him to Horus, which should be the next Persona up in the Sun arcana. Simple, right?

New Persona: Ganesha

Origin: India

First Appearance: Megami Tensei

Major deity of the Hindu pantheon, the son of Shiva and Parvati. Represents wisdom, intelligence, and the arts and sciences. Has an elephant’s head and anywhere from two to six arms. In some variations of the myth, he was born that way (and had his tusk broken by Shiva) while in others his original head was cut off by Shiva and replaced with an elephant’s.

timrodresized: To understand why this happened, you have to understand how fusions with treasure demons work. Treasure demon fusions bump a Persona up or down a rank within its arcana depending on level.

timrodresized: Because we’re so far into Yoshida’s confidant, Yurlungur got to level 47, meaning he skips over Horus (who is level 47) and goes right to Ganesha at level 53.

New Persona: Horus

Origin: Egypt

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei II

Egyptian god of the sun, moon, and skies. Son of Osiris and Isis who battled Seth for control of the skies after Seth murdered his father. Usually portrayed as a man with the head of a falcon. In Egyptian mythology, the cycle of day and night represents the battle between Horus and Seth, with Horus losing an eye (the sun) until it is restored by Thoth.

timrodresized: This cost me about 90,000 yen, and I hadn’t saved since Rank 1.

timrodresized: Seth is a hybrid Persona who has Eigaon (it got overwritten during fusion) and a couple of very good Gun skills, along with Gun Amp. He’s pretty solid… but we can do better.

timrodresized: For some reason, Seth is locked behind the incredibly high barrier of… having Rank 1 with Caroline and Justine, even though you can’t actually fuse him until you unlock four-way fusions.

Caroline: “Oh, that’s it! That’s the Persona we asked for! You really made it!? The inmate with all those pitiful Personas actually managed this? Hmph… I guess I can compliment you this time.”

Justine: “Well done. You have far exceeded our original expectations. This may not be a proper thing to say to an inmate, but you have done extraordinary work.”

Caroline: “You’re a real handful, but I gotta give you some credit.”

Justine: “As for the next task we will assign you… there is nothing. You have fulfilled every duty available to you. As the ones who rule over power, our role is…”

Justine: “Rule over… power? Why did I say that? Unh… a voice is echoing… in my head!”

Justine: “I-It is nothing. Just… my head… urgh! These memories… the one who first wrote this list.”

Justine: pant pant “My apologies…”

Caroline: “Don’t worry. This has happened to me too. Inmate! This is all your fault for not keeping your mouth shut!”

Justine: “Caroline, do not shift the blame onto him…”

Caroline: “Ugh… I hope you know you’re a real handful, Inmate! But… fine. I’ll grant you that privilege. Heh, we’ve really gone soft, huh?”

Justine: “Perhaps… perhaps you are too concerned to admit how much his concern pleased you?”

Caroline: “And, um, Inmate… there’s no doubt you’re a problem child… but honestly… we’re real impressed that you conquered all the trials we put forth.”

Justine: “You hold a surprisingly great potential.”

Caroline: “So… fight. I’m sure you’ll be able to accomplish anything you put your mind to. And you’d better put a stop to the ruin, okay!?”

timrodresized: That was Persona 4!

Music The Path Is Open

timrodresized: I wasn’t sure how much of an upgrade VIP Treatment was going to be, but it seems to cut costs by a significant amount. And now, it’s time to break the game.

New Persona: White Rider

Origin: The Bible

First Appearance: Nocturne

Conquest.

timrodresized: We want White Rider for two reasons. He’s an indirect component for Lucifer, and he itemizes into Gun Boost (Gun Amp during an alarm).

timrodresized: For what I’m after, we could have used Seth instead, but Red Rider has Psy Break. We want that more than we want whatever Seth has. We also really want Intense Focus.

New Persona: Black Rider

Origin: The Bible

First Appearance: Nocturne

Famine.

timrodresized: Black Rider is an indirect component for Lucifer. He also itemizes into Megidolaon. But that’s not why we want him. I mean, it is, but we’ll do that later. The good news is that if you pay to fuse a Persona, you don’t have to pay the extra fee if you resummon them from the compendium.

timrodresized: No, the reason we want Black Rider is to fuse him into everyone’s favorite giant penis, Mara. It took me almost halfway through Okumura’s dungeon to get another alarm, so we won’t see Mara immediately.

timrodresized: Meet my gamebreaker. One-Shot Kill is the fourth tier single target gun skill, and we have not only Gun Boost and Gun Amp, but also Intense Focus and Charge. We can get three or four of those off for the cost of a single Mediarama, which we recover each battle thanks to Life Aid.

timrodresized: Mara also itemizes into Psycho Force, which we could absolutely do and stick on him - but we don’t want to do that just yet because Mapsiodyne is going to be more useful in this dungeon… and resummoning Mara costs something like 60,000 yen.

timrodresized: I’m going to put up the alternate Hifumi scenes. Next time, we introduce Okumura to our giant green friend.

Summary

Hifumi: “Spending time with me has only brought you pain…”

timrodresized: This time, let’s pick the other option.

Hifumi: “You’re… just trying to comfort me because I lost, right…? P-please stop… I’m the Phony Princess… I mean, I lied to everyone… and yet, you want to be by my side…?”

Hifumi: “What do you mean by that…?”

timrodresized: I kinda feel like this is going against the entire idea of what her confidant is. I mean, the whole point is she’s been kind of bombarded by all these people who were pretending to be interested in shogi to try and date her, and that’s pretty much what we’re doing.

Hifumi: “…Really? You really feel that way? If that’s what you truly want, I… I will become a woman worthy of you.”

timrodresized: Hifumi’s confidant is also really lazy in that it has the fewest amount of differences between the dating route and the non-dating route. It makes me wonder if at some point in development, the writers did not intend for Hifumi to be dateable and then had to shoehorn it in at the last minute due to Hashino or corporate or something.

timrodresized: Keep in mind that in the base game, this scene just kinda ended here.

Hifumi: “I-I don’t know what I’m saying… I forfeit this match… A-Allow me to start over. I’ve been… thinking, this entire time. About how things would’ve been if I’d kept playing shogi according to my mother’s strategy…”

Hifumi: “I could have enjoyed a transient, empty success. But when I looked two, three moves ahead… I saw myself in incessant hell, playing a purgatorial, Pyrrhic shogi, unable to ever win or lose. I probably would’ve ended up hating Shogi. Perhaps even given up on life.”

Hifumi: “But I had you… and through our mutual revelations, I was saved. So thank you.”

Hifumi: “Wait… what!? So by the first move, you were already…? I-I can’t believe I missed it… but what indescribable joy. I will work hard to become a woman worthy of you.”

timrodresized: Her Rank 10 is even lazier - it’s word for word identical to the one we already saw, it just takes place in Joker’s room rather than in the church.

Hifumi: “Being a hero must keep you busy trying to help everyone, huh? Well… I no longer have a ban on dating… so for the time being, please let me have you all to myself…”

Well no one played Zero Time Dilemma so we don’t know how that ended. But don’t spoil it, I’m playing through the Zero Escape trilogy very, VERY slowly.

I would watch that. (EDITOR’S NOTE: I would not watch that.)

Click Here for Update 68

timrodresized: We have a reading slot on the train, and Chinese Sweets is one of the few books that will still unlock something.

Morgana: “Everything from high-class, traditional cuisine to street food, like xiao long bao. This seems like a fun place to explore and try out all the different cuisine.”

Maruki: “There are a lot of students here at this hour. It’s refreshing to make the work commute at a different time every now and then.”

Maruki: “Hahaha… you caught me. On my way to work today, I ran into these old ladies carrying some heavy luggage. Three of them in fact. So I was offering to help carry their things, but then my back made this sound that it shouldn’t make…”

Maruki: “…Well, anyway! Have you heard the news from Yoshizawa-san? I’m so happy for her. It makes me feel like doing my best too! Of course, as I say that, I’m running late.”

timrodresized: I was honestly confused as to what the shit he was talking about, and then remembered there’s a throwaway IM conversation in the last update about her doing another meet.

Maruki: “Well, hey, we all need to switch it up every now and then! So let’s do our best for today, shall we?”

timrodresized: There’s a glorified tutorial here to let us know there’s new food available at the diner in Shibuya. We don’t care.

Chouno: “It seems so many of us have experienced this that a term has been created for it. The English name for that particular phenomenon can be abbreviated to ‘PVS’… would anyone care to tell me what that stands for?”

Chouno: “Mr. Kurusu! Let’s hear it. What is this phenomenon commonly called in English?”

Morgana: “Okay! Let’s remember what she said together. So ‘PVS’, referring to when you mistakenly think your phone is going off? What’s the P?”

timrodresized: That’s not the only P we’ll be seeing this update. I’m not even kidding when I say we’re going to oneshot a boss later.

Morgana: “Right. It’s gotta start with ‘Phantom’, since you’re only imagining it. So next is the V part. That means it’d be ‘phantom…’ what?”

Morgana: “Yeah, that’s it! When your phone buzzes, you say it’s ‘vibrating.’ Last is the S. So if we have ‘phantom vibration’ so far…”

timrodresized: I really wish they would’ve done this in reverse, where they ask you about a Japanese word instead for English players.

Chouno: “The correct English term is ‘phantom vibration syndrome’. If you’re anxiously waiting for someone to contact you, your brain will apparently trick you. This is an affliction that can only affect a modern society, where being connected 24/7 is commonplace.”

timrodresized: There have been a number of studies on PVS and an associated syndrome called “Phantom Ringing”, but from casually looking it up, it seems like PVS was something talked about a lot in the sort of mid-2010s and kind of peters out after that.

Chouno: “When I was a student, I’d get all worked up waiting for my S.O. to call me at night. Nowadays people complain if you don’t reply to a text you just saw. Kind of obnoxious, if you ask me.”

Morgana: “Think it’ll ever get to a point where we’ll be able to read each other’s minds? …I’ll pass on that, thanks.”

timrodresized: If Joker had telepathy, he’d build that big dumbass brain machine from the X-Men movies and broadcast air horns into the minds of the horny.

timrodresized: We grab a money reading from Chihaya and head in. This was kind of a waste, because the one-turn-kill bonus from Hifumi will apply far more often.

Noir: “Oh, just one moment! I can fight too! Please, let me join you in battle!”

Morgana: “Your Persona is too weak to fight safely at the moment. Just leave that side of things to us for now.”

Mara: I think you mean just leave that side of things to me.

timrodresized: There’s enemies in this first area now, which is what I was farming in that last update to get fusion alarms.

timrodresized: Okumura’s palace is kind of ass-backwards from a design perspective in that the toughest enemies appear at the start. We know what Arahabaki is capable of.

timrodresized: I didn’t have Mara for this first part, even though I could’ve. Instead, I wound up using Bugs for almost the entire first half of the dungeon. Bugs can singlehandedly deal with most of the enemies here.

timrodresized: By the way, do NOT attempt to do the Greatest Weapon on an Arahabaki. Kill these fuckers immediately.

timrodresized: Notice how low Joker’s HP is. This is because if you knock down Arahabaki and do not immediately follow up with a kill, it will cast Makarakarn on itself, reflecting the next magic attack to hit it.

timrodresized: Since Arahabaki reflects Physical and Gun, this makes it effectively invincible unless you somehow have Makara Break or are willing to take a hit. That’s what happened to Joker here, and why I used Kougaon instead of Psiodyne, as Psiodyne would have been a game over.

timrodresized: The other enemy type are these floating orbs.

timrodresized: Any fight like this, where it’s just Decarabia, you can win in a single button press - that button being the “RUSH” button.

timrodresized: Hitting an enemy who is weak to physical gives you an automatic crit, where the party member involved will follow up with a gun attack.

timrodresized: There’s a chest in one of these early areas before the biometric door, which I don’t think you can get the first time you’re here. Most of the chests here contain Physical or Magic Ointment, which provide Tetrakarn and Makarakarn for physical and magic reflects, respectively.

Oracle: “Looks like a hamburger to me. I mean, we’re dealing with Big Bang Burger here.”

Queen: “I’m sure it’ll become clearer as we proceed. Come on, let’s go.”

Queen: “So, for the door in question…”

Noir: “Leave it to me.”

Oracle: “Haha! That biometric scanner’s useless now that we’ve got his actual family on our side!”

Skull: “Was that an act Mona put you up to? Y’know, the beauty thingy?”

Noir: “I was trying to be a heroine of justice.”

Skull: “Uh… is that a joke?”

Panther: “You moron!”

Noir: “Ever since I was young, people have never seen me for who I really am. They would be kind to me just to please my father, and would get money and presents in exchange. Adults, teachers, even friends… it seemed like everyone smiled at me for their own personal gain.”

Queen: “That’s why you kept the details of your family a secret at school…”

Noir: “But the female superheroes I used to see on TV were great! They always fought for others, not themselves… and they were always happy. I wanted to be just like that! Even though I knew it was a fantasy… I still looked up to them.”

Skull: “Everyone goes wild over heroes at some point. It’s fine havin’ someone like that on our side, right, Joker?”

timrodresized: You know what was a total waste? Having Okumura not be voiceacted by the guy who did Dessler in the Yamato remake. Funny enough, he also does Inspector Zenigata in the newer Lupin stuff.

timrodresized: Instead, they got some no-name actor. His biggest credit to date is being about 30 different minor villains in One Piece. He was also in Policenauts.

Panther: “This is insane on so many levels!”

Noir: “Him!? Did he come into the Palace too?!?”

Morgana: “No! He might look the same, but that isn’t the real person. Remember what I explained to you earlier?”

Noir: “You mean about the cognition thing?”

Noir: “Do you recall what I said before? That I would do my best for you? This is my answer to that!”

Dessler: “Are those… the rumored Phantom Thieves? …I see!”

timrodresized: Just like Sojiro, Discount Dessler has exactly two facial expressions. We’ve seen the first. The second… is MAXIMUM OVERSMUG.

Dessler: " ‘Overcome failure at any cost, even if it means betraying others’ … You truly embody the Okumura motto!"

Noir: “Why do you only ever think about gains and losses!? That’s why the company has a bad reputation… all because you treat people like they’re tools!”

Dessler: “To gain, you must give… one must be resolved to give even more if they wish to stand above others.”

Dessler: “The cold reality of kicking people down is a part of business! Virtue and sentiment are for losers. chuckle Okumura foods shall be the foundation of my victory!”

timrodresized: If we actually had Mara at this point, I would have made a joke about firing the wave motion gun.

Queen: “His company is just a stepping stone…”

Dessler: “She needn’t be your lawful wife anymore… take her as your lover, or whatever it is you desire.”

Noir: “Lover? I was raised under this company’s wealth… I even accepted a political marriage for you. This is not what we discussed! Father! You want me to be that man’s plaything just to satisfy your own ambitions?”

Dessler: “Hmph, why fret? You should be overjoyed that you’re fulfilling your role as an Okumura daughter. This is the only value you’ve had since the beginning.”

Fox: “So… even his own daughter’s life is a commodity to him.”

timrodresized: This looks like a Daft Punk music video.

timrodresized: So here’s what I don’t like about this. With Kamoshida, who was the last boss to have a construct of a person, you knew that his portrayal of Ann is completely different from how Ann actually is.

timrodresized: That’s why it made sense that his Ann looks the same but dresses differently - because what he had was basically Ann with a different personality slapped on.

timrodresized: The thing with this is that we know this is how Yoshikage Kira actually is. There’s really no difference between this version of him and the real one, so it doesn’t really make sense for him to be a giant robot.

New Persona: Milady

Origin: The Three Musketeers

Persona 5 Original

Full name: Milady de Winter. Villain from The Three Musketeers.

timrodresized: Time to cuckold a robot.

Queen: “So this is Haru’s true power…!”

Morgana: “Haru… all right, let’s do this! Time to pummel that scummy jerk!”

timrodresized: The big robot is weak to Psychic, while the small ones are weak to both Fire and Wind. I also find it funny that Haru replaced Makoto.

timrodresized: Because Bugs is so fast, I managed to do this fight without the robots ever getting a turn. This is what you want to do even if for some reason you aren’t using Caroline and Justine’s confidant to break the game.

timrodresized: If you don’t kill the small robots fast enough, they’ll use a spell that reduces their HP to 1 to heal each other or the big robot to full.

timrodresized: Not entirely sure how the table lands like that, given that you can see the teapot loads underneath it.

timrodresized: Makoto learns Nuke Boost. We’ll be swapping Yusuke out for her, because physical damage is the one thing you do not want to use in this dungeon.

timrodresized: Here’s Haru’s Persona. She’s a Gun/Psychic hybrid, and learns Psy Boost pretty quickly.

Noir: “I did it, Mona-chan!”

Skull: “What were you sayin’ about her Persona bein’ weak?”

Noir: “Ah! He disappeared! Is that okay?”

Panther: “Are you sure you taught her how things work in here?”

Morgana: “I did… or so I thought.”

Oracle: “What’s the point if she doesn’t get it?”

Queen: “Don’t worry. Cognitive beings have no correlation to their real-world counterparts. You’ll see when we get back. I guarantee he will be okay.”

Noir: “Then, he’s not dead?”

timrodresized: Don’t you just love cutscenes where they re-establish shit we’ve known since the beginning of the game?

Fox: “That’s right.”

Skull: “Dude, does this mean we got a new teammate? Good to have ya… uh…”

Morgana: “She already has a code name.”

Noir: “I’d like to be a heroine of justice, but the Phantom Thieves are on the darker side of the law. I chose the name Noir to remind me of that.”

Morgana: “…There you have it.”

Panther: “As long as she’s into it…”

Skull: “She created quite an elaborate backstory…”

Queen: “Noir. I like it. It conveys a dignity that won’t bow down to others, as well as a rebellious spirit toward society.”

Noir: “Thank you.”

Morgana: “Don’t let your guard down, Noir. Our trip through the Palace doesn’t end until we steal the Treasure, after all.”

Fox: “Hm, that seems quite far off… it is difficult to ascertain the shortest route there as well.”

Queen: “We’ll just have to keep going on whatever path we find for the time being… let’s go.”

timrodresized: There’s a save room to the left and a hallway to the right. This first part has nothing but Arahabaki and Decarabia in it, but during one fight, something interesting happens.

timrodresized: We get a follow-up crit from Morgana.

Oracle: “No, this one isn’t a biometric authentication… but it might be hard to open it from here. We’ll probably need to look for a server or a terminal if we wanna break through.”

Skull: “A server, huh…”

timrodresized: There’s a small raised platform just to the right of the locked door with an air vent on it.

timrodresized: This is the first dungeon outside of Mementos where we start getting these party chat things in real-time in the top right.

Oracle: “Mwehehe… watch this… all right, that should’ve opened up a buncha doors! I managed to grab a map of the place, too.”

Oracle: “I dunno about that… there are three more areas ahead: the barracks, the factory, and the airlock area…”

timrodresized: In the base game, it was, and absolutely no one liked it. This is that dungeon I mentioned earlier that was reworked for Royal because it was the single most hated thing in the game.

timrodresized: They also significantly nerfed the enemies - except for one, who we’ll meet in a bit and was the cause of two or three game overs, which were admittedly my fault.

Skull: “Yeah, and what’re they makin’ in that factory? Burgers?”

Oracle: “Actually, I found one other interesting file when I was cracking into the system. It’s called ‘Project: Escape to Utopia’. There was some kinda blueprint inside too. It looks like whatever they’re making for it is ginormous. That factory can’t just be for burgers.”

timrodresized: You’ll notice if you look at the minimap that the server rack is halfway through the room. If you go all the way through, Morgana will warn you about a nearby Will Seed.

timrodresized: Two grappling hooks later and we’re at the seed room.

Mara: “Hah. Seed room.”

timrodresized: And now we can move past that locked door.

Queen: “But it doesn’t seem to be completely out of order either. Perhaps it’s on another floor. Let’s try coming back later.”

Skull: “That bastard really doesn’t trust anybody, huh?”

Panther: “Skull!”

Noir: “It’s all right. Father is clearly guilty of some horrible crimes… that’s why we will stop him.”

Queen: “We’ll still need to think of a way to get past here though. Can you figure something out, Navi?”

Oracle: “If it’s not a normal lock or a biometric one, I think it might use rank-based authentication. Basically, you’ve gotta be at least a chief director to get through here.”

timrodresized: Oh boy was this one of the worst parts of this dungeon in the base game. It’s so bad that I believe the speedrun skips it entirely by clipping through a wall.

Noir: “Oh, you mean an employee ID! Those are used to authorize entry in the real world company as well.”

Panther: “You two are so smart! That’s gotta be it!”

Queen: “Then it’s decided. Let’s find an employee with the rank of chief director or higher and take their employee ID!”

Skull: “Look, there’re a ton of ‘em… you wanna start takin’ their IDs?”

Fox: “Not yet. If we go instead to their origin, there should be even more ‘employees’ for us.”

Queen: “Oh, great idea. That should make it even easier to find a chief director! Let’s head over there, Joker.”

Oracle: “I did a scan of the area, but there are multiple large readings around here. They’re definitely different from normal robots, so it’s prolly one of them.”

Noir: “So we’ll need to find which one is the real one? But how exactly will we do that?”

timrodresized: This is where the new design for this area really kicks in. In the base game, you kind of stumbled on these robots in a room and that was where things went to shit.

Fox: “By all appearances, that massive red robot must be quite important.”

Queen: “True. Even if it isn’t a chief director, it might have some intel.”

timrodresized: In the base game, there were several rooms like this one with a larger red robot in them. You had to eavesdrop on the small robots (which was VERY finicky) and then get clues to identify which of the big robots was the Chief Clerk.

timrodresized: Once you had that, there was a dialog puzzle with each big robot where you had to determine which one matched the clues you were given. If at any stage of this process you got caught or fucked up, you got a security level increase and all the doors would lock until you fought an encounter.

timrodresized: Royal’s version of this dungeon says “fuck it” and cuts out the middleman. This is truly one of the biggest improvements it made gameplay-wise apart from the reloading gun ammo.

timrodresized: I almost feel like they’re trying to insult me by repeating it three times.

Skull: “Dude, we don’t even work here.”

Queen: “Skull, would you mind staying focused? Excuse me, we have a matter to discuss with the chief director.”

Queen: “Well, it was worth a try.”

Oracle: “Sounds like this guy REALLY doesn’t like the section chief. Let’s try and pump him for information, Joker!”

timrodresized: There’s still kind of a dialog puzzle, in that if you pick the right option you get some information about what the next big robot is weak to. The base game didn’t give you that information at all.

timrodresized: I laughed so fucking hard at this when I read it. I actually like the way this robot is written, because it amuses the shit out of me that there’s a robot who does nothing all day but be stressed and scream about his boss’s elemental weaknesses.

timrodresized: I’m just picturing the little robots going “Dammit, there he goes about the wind powers again.”

Oracle: “Mweheheh, so the section chief is weak to Wind, is he? We didn’t get any deets on the chief director, but this is still good! Looks like this guy’s done chatting, so let’s clean up, Joker!”

timrodresized: I promptly nuke the small robots down in a single hit with Agidyne, and then completely forget what I just read about the wind powers.

timrodresized: You know what, let’s try that one again.

timrodresized: The larger robots have Endure, so they’ll withstand a single killing blow. I should mention that in the base game, these robots had access to third-tier spells of their element. That was removed for Royal.

Noir: “Oh, this must be an employee ID card! Let me see… it says chief clerk on it.”

Queen: “But we’re looking for one that’s chief director or higher, yes?”

Oracle: “This one should be okay for now. At the very least it’ll help us get to some new places.”

timrodresized: Localization fails!

timrodresized: Right down the hall, there’s another save room and then our first red shadow.

timrodresized: The red shadow here is Girimekhala, who only seems to spawn in the first half of the dungeon. Girimekhala is absurdly lethal.

timrodresized: Through some combination of shock and just being amazed at how bullshit it was, I didn’t record the two or three deaths I had to him.

timrodresized: Girimekhala’s gimmick is that he reflects physical and has a spell called Wage War which targets the entire party and enrages on hit. This means that your party will automatically use a physical attack next turn and die to the reflect.

timrodresized: The door we need that ID to open is right behind the Girimekhala.

timrodresized: Little premature there, Haru.

Queen: “Agreed. Let’s go about this one step at a time.”

Panther: “Hey… are those two giving orders to the other robots? You guys think they might be the chief director or the section chief?”

Oracle: “Prolly the section chief. I’m sensing something big further down. That one’s gotta be the chief director.”

Fox: “Ideally, we should secure the ID of the highest-ranking one here.”

Noir: " Yes… we can’t reach the chief director with the ID we have now."

Skull: “Then let’s just beat one of 'em and swipe what we can!”

Oracle: “Hold up. The reading’s not super clear, but I’m pretty sure only one of them’s a section chief…”

Fox: “So only one of them has our key. What’s the plan? Shall we simply crush both of them?”

timrodresized: This was something a lot of people wound up doing in the base game, because it was just that annoying to deal with.

Queen: “There’s no need to waste energy like that. If we can talk to each one and compare what they say to the intel we have on hand… that way, we might be able to tell which one is the section chief.”

timrodresized: The game even has it so you’re facing the actual section chief when you come out of the cutscene.

Queen: “Hold on a second. We’re…”

timrodresized: We already know that this is the right robot, given the whole giant red “USELESS” in all caps. In the base game, picking this option failed the dialog puzzle. In Royal, however…

Noir: “It looks like fighting is our only option now. Let’s go!”

timrodresized: I have questions about how Futaba manages to take those goggles off in time for battles. Do her glasses magically morph into the goggles like a magical girl? Is she wearing them underneath? Does her UFO have a glasses storage bin specifically for this kind of situation?

Oracle: “Well! Sounds to me like he’s got some beef with the chief. Joker, if you play him right, he might dish some useful details!”

timrodresized: This becomes kind of hilarious when you outright tell him you’re John Persona.

Oracle: “Nice! A classic slip of the tongue! I don’t think he has any more useful dirt, so let’s just mop the floor with him real quick!”

Oracle: “Any boss that lets their employees suffer deserves the same thing!”

timrodresized: If this was a good game, they would have had a scene where the chief clerk comes running in after you get the section chief into a hold up (or force him to use endure) where he runs in holding a table fan and screaming “Taste my WIND POWERS!” before turning the fan on and using the breeze to do the last point of damage.

Noir: “It’s an ID! This should get us through the gates.”

Skull: “So that one was the… Section Chief? Or somethin’? Ugh, why can’t the big boss just come to us…?”

timrodresized: Makoto won’t even let you fight the other robot, which is kind of a disappointment.

Noir: “Great! This one’s open as well!”

Oracle: “We’ve gotta be close to the end, right? Chief director is usually directly above section chief!”

Oracle: “Probably safe to assume there aren’t any high-rank robots in there.”

Skull: “Well, sounds like there’s no point checkin’ it out.”

Morgana: “Not quite. If we don’t have any bosses watching, that might just be an opportunity to get something good.”

Oracle: “Good point. Joker, let’s sneak by them and listen in on their conversation.”

timrodresized: The actual eavesdropping text box is on screen for like five frames. It’s so fast that I could barely read it, let alone screenshot it.

timrodresized: I took this on a second run after dying in the next area to a Girimehkala.

timrodresized: In a very strange move, they’ll only say it once, and after that any robot you eavesdrop on will just say this over and over.

Skull: “Huh… so we’re basically eavesdroppin’ on 'em…”

Oracle: “It’s a divine skill of mine.”

Panther: “Impressive. I can see how you managed to wiretap Leblanc for so long…”

Oracle: “That? Oh, that was nothing! Someday I’ll show you what real wiretapping is. Mwehehe…”

timrodresized: Makoto and Yusuke will suggest eavesdropping on a different group of robots, but we have all the information we need.

timrodresized: It would’ve been really funny if they made the second robot in this section have near-identical responses but he’s like, a marketing intern.

timrodresized: Again, they should’ve had the section chief come in screaming “MIND POWERS!” and then have him pick up a chair and throw it at the chief director for the last point of damage.

timrodresized: Then he looks at the party and goes “What? That totally required the use of my mind. Mind powers.”

Noir: “Perfect! We’ve finally found the chief director’s ID card!”

Panther: “This means we can go in that rank door downstairs now!”

Oracle: “Welp, let’s go check it out! Time to make like a banana and split!”

timrodresized: And that’s it for this section of the dungeon. The map is about half the size of the base game’s, and really this dungeon lost a lot of its length because of it. If you do everything right the first time, this dungeon is way shorter than Futaba’s was.

Queen: “Perfect. We have the employee ID card we were after, so let’s head downstairs when we’re done here!”

timrodresized: The doors to the save room lock after you kill the chief clerk, and you need the chief director’s ID to unlock them.

Oracle: “Of course! Well… probably.”

Queen: “You know, it’s a little odd… I thought Okumura might be behind the mental shutdowns… but we haven’t found anything even remotely pointing to such a secret so far.”

Morgana: “Something that important might be deeper in. Let’s just keep going.”

Skull: “If it’s seriously that close, can’t we just go from outside? No point goin’ through there.”

Queen: “Hm… that might be worth a try.”

timrodresized: Solidifying the fact that this palace is just Space Colony ARK from Sonic Adventure 2, we grapple onto a… thing… that then shoots us across the map.

timrodresized: There’s an elevator platform you can use to get back to the start, where there’s a save room I missed.

timrodresized: Strangely, Arahabaki basically stops showing up here, so the fights are actually so easy we can use Insta-Kill on them.

New Trashsona: Mothman

Origin: West Virginia

First Appearance: Devil Summoner

Creature supposedly seen by a number of people in West Virginia in the 1960s. Conspiracy theorists at the time believed that Mothman was a bio-weapon that lived in an abandoned World War 2-era munitions plant near Point Pleasant. In reality, Mothman was likely a sandhill crane (a bird not native to West Virginia) that had been knocked off its migration route.

timrodresized: Insta-Kill is kind of a pain to do, because you have to dash into an enemy and hope it doesn’t ambush you. Mothman, by the way, is very good for using the Greatest Weapon on as he is weak to guns.

timrodresized: The start of this area is a semi-circle surrounded by platforms. You can skip all but the last one, which has the grapple spot to get to the next set of platforms.

timrodresized: The grapple spot leads right to the door to the next area. There’s some optional bits here which are largely not worth it.

timrodresized: After getting fucking mauled by a Girimehkala, I change tactics. Yusuke is out, Makoto is in.

New Persona: Girimehkala

Origin: Sri Lanka

First Appearance: Megami Tensei II

Giant demon elephant said to be the steed of Mara. Has one eye that kills anyone who looks at it.

Mara: Look, I wanted an elephant with laser tusks and bling. Turns out I suck at the whole creation thing. You have any idea how hard it is to throw out a ten-foot tall elephant demon once you’ve made it?

timrodresized: We encounter a Koh-i-noor, the treasure demon for this palace. Futaba then immediately holds it up for us.

timrodresized: In the base game, Koh-i-noor was a demon you had to knock down with either a technical or Down Shot from Shinya. Royal gives it a weakness to Gun to make it like all the other treasure demons.

timrodresized: The real Koh-i-noor is one of the British crown jewels, and is currently on display in the Tower of London. It’s one of the largest existing diamonds in the world.

timrodresized: Naturally, the British got it after annexing India, which had gained and lost it several times between when it was first mined in the 13th century and 1849, when it came into British possession.

timrodresized: Four countries hold claim over it - those being Iran, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. All four have demanded the return of the gem from the British government.

Morgana: “Just past this building. We’re definitely getting closer.”

Fox: “I find it somewhat odd that we have still yet to see anything about the mental shutdowns…”

Morgana: “Well, this Palace is on the site of the corporate HQ, remember? If he never told any employees about it, we may not find any hints toward his involvement.”

timrodresized: This part doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. Why would it matter if Okumura told anyone when he would be the one who knows about the murders in the first place?

timrodresized: I mean, that would make sense if the palace was made from the thoughts of his employees and he just happens to rule it - but that’s not the case, this is entirely in Okumura’s brain.

Skull: “Worst comes to worst, we’re just gonna have to get that info outta the Shadow himself.”

Fox: “Anyway, let us hurry inside… I believe the factory comes next…”

timrodresized: I got into another fight with a Koh-i-noor and as it turns out, they’re worth a shitload of money if you kill them with an All-Out.

timrodresized: There’s two ways you can go in here - the obvious progress route, and then a second route up a small staircase onto some catwalks that doesn’t seem to go anywhere.

timrodresized: You can jump onto a catwalk from the stairs and grab a chest, and also find a vent that will take you to the second Will Seed room, except…

timrodresized: Why would we even need to? The party can kill most of the enemies here without even fighting them. Oh well, let’s go the other way.

Oracle: “Do you think it’s related to that ‘Escape to Utopia’ thing?”

Skull: “Hold on a sec. Ain’t the guys in here movin’ kinda weird…?”

Queen: “…Unfortunately, this is the exact opposite of how you would imagine a utopia to be.”

Noir: “These conveyor belts and the positioning of the workers… this is almost identical to the company’s bun factory… I can’t believe this.”

Fox: “At the very least, this is how Okumura views his workers. My apologies for saying so, Noir, but this is truly atrocious.”

Skull: “Well, it’ll all be under control if we can trigger that change of heart in him, yeah? Let’s go!”

timrodresized: You’ll immediately notice that big blue cylinder on the left. We’ll come back for that.

Skull: “Is this gonna be another one of them authenti-whatever things?”

timrodresized: Didn’t he know the word “authentication” in one of the earlier updates? I’m too lazy to look.

Oracle: “No, there’s no authentication here. Kinda anticlimactic, huh?”

Panther: “Well, the easier, the better, right? Let’s go!”

Panther: “Whoa! We almost got crushed!”

Skull: “That freakin’ hunk of metal broke way too goddamn easy!”

Fox: “There is no point in complaining at this point. We will be forced to search for another route.”

Morgana: “You’re right. Let’s find something that will get us past here.”

Queen: “Hmm, do you think we’d be able to make use of these fragile arms somehow?”

timrodresized: Now we can go back to the cylinder.

Mara: “Hah!”

Queen: “Huh… this is the control panel for that robotic arm. It seems we can use this to set it to either 3x, 5x, or 10x normal speed.”

Panther: “I bet it’d break if it was stuck on 10x speed for a long time.”

Skull: “It was dead like, instantly. I know it was 10x normal speed, but still… that’s weak.”

Queen: “That just proves how truly overworked these machines are.”

Fox: “It seems any increase in workload would have led to its collapse…”

timrodresized: Yusuke is right in that it doesn’t matter what you pick, the arm still breaks.

Noir: “Wait, but don’t you think we might be able to walk on the broken arm? We should check it out, Joker!”

timrodresized: A couple of new enemies show up here, one being Lilim. Bugs can easily instakill her with Kougaon.

timrodresized: If we cross the broken robot arm and go back toward the elevator instead of forward, there’s a server rack.

timrodresized: From there, all we have to do is grapple twice and we’re back at the top of that staircase from earlier.

timrodresized: If we go the other way, there’s a tunnel underneath some blocks we can use to progress. It’s right around here that I got the fusion alarm that let me fuse Mara.

timrodresized: Kumbhanda is also encounterable in this part of the dungeon.

timrodresized: And here’s that alarm I needed.

Returning Persona: Mara

Origin: Buddhism

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei I

Demon in Buddhist mythology who is essentially the Buddhist equivalent of Lucifer. Considered to be evil itself, they control people through lust and their fear of death. Is considered the ultimate obstacle to achieving nirvana. Penis imagery comes from a Sri Lankan story in which Mara tempts the Buddha with their daughters.

Mara: In some variations of the myth, I’m a goddess instead!

timrodresized: Mara also isn’t the only giant penis demon anymore. Royal added a Persona called Mishaguji, an ancient Shinto god of sex that is basically a giant sperm with legs.

timrodresized: I then itemize Bugs into a weapon for Makoto. A lot of the high-level Personas itemize into very good equipment, and it is in fact possible to break the game even more by doing so.

timrodresized: At 90 more attack and a crit bonus, we won’t be replacing these anytime soon.

timrodresized: Naturally, Makoto gets a ridiculous looking pair of bear gloves in combat.

timrodresized: The cylinders are color-coded, and we can see the arm it controls in the background.

timrodresized: Before we make progress, there’s a third cylinder that controls an arm way off in the distance.

timrodresized: The yellow arm leads to a new weapon for Haru.

timrodresized: Belphegor starts showing up in this room, and I believe it’s the only one in which he appears. Of course, we have Mara now, so…

Fox: “We will not be able to reach it without passing over what appears to be a hydraulic press…”

timrodresized: This is starting to sound like the intro to Legends of the Hidden Temple.

Skull: “We gotta do somethin’ about those before we get to the press.”

Morgana: “It’ll probably be a hassle, but I have a feeling it’s our only option. We need to turn off those infrared lasers and deactivate the hydraulic press. Let’s try to find some sort of controls for those.”

timrodresized: I don’t remember if the base game did this or not, but all of the switches in this palace get marked with giant check marks on the map so long as you’ve seen them - you don’t even need to interact.

Fox: “Wait… break is an option!?”

timrodresized: A Press Shift is that thing that Mot does in Nocturne where he gives himself infinite press turns.

timrodresized: Oh, so this is like Naughty Dog. Got it.

Skull: “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up! What the hell did it mean, ‘constant’!?”

Morgana: “Working unpaid overtime is just how these workers live, so setting it to that changes nothing.”

Oracle: “What a nightmare…”

Noir: “…”

Fox: “There is no benefit to us if nothing changes. We can likely ignore that option entirely.”

timrodresized: Ryuji looks at the machine. “Where’s my lunch!? I pressed the lunch button, where’s my lunch!?”

timrodresized: The timer on this is pretty generous as long as you’ve cleared the area out.

Music Run

timrodresized: They also got Shoji Meguro to do a fucking theme for when the timer is going, but couldn’t be bothered to do one for the three days Joker spends alone at home. Fuck this game.

timrodresized: Crossing the nearest press brings us to another switch.

Panther: “Should we set it to ‘Lunch’ again?”

Oracle: “Yup. Actually, I did some research into these… and the other two options are meaningless. ‘Break’ only lasted for like 5 seconds…”

Skull: “Five!? What the hell’re you supposed to do in five seconds!?”

Panther: “Take a deep breath?”

Fox: “Regardless, those options are no use to us. It’s probably best we simply choose ‘Lunch’ from now on.”

Panther: “Hold on, it looks like you can disable the infrared on this too.”

Oracle: “Aha! So this room is actually the one with the main console in it. We should prolly disable the infrared before setting it to ‘Lunch’.”

timrodresized: This seems ridiculous, but this actually happened in one place I worked at. The company was tanking so they got rid of all the security guards… which promptly caused them to lose the certifications they needed to keep their contracts with their clients going.

Skull: “Well, now we can get over to that hydraulic press, right?”

timrodresized: We get over with about 10 seconds to spare.

timrodresized: This door is one that you can clip through, which avoids a series of really easy fights. I was going to attempt it, but then in my hunger for fusion alarms I accidentally killed all the enemies on the floor.

timrodresized: The clip involves getting an enemy to chase you into geometry, fighting them, running from the battle and then using a smoke bomb to get the dalek thing to clip you into the floor.

Fox: “Hm, that is how it appears on the map as well. However, with the infrared sensor as it is, we cannot proceed.”

Queen: “Wait a moment. Don’t you think those robots over there are acting a little strange?”

Skull: “They’re still respectin’ him even though they prolly see coworkers collapse from gettin’ overworked…”

Queen: “It’s mind control. They’ve been purposely driven into a state of overadaptation.”

Skull: “Over…what?”

Fox: “When a person is continually faced with oppression, they come to welcome its presence. Such psychological trickery is being used here. I… experienced it first-hand for many years.”

Panther: “Fox…”

Noir: “So these robots exist because Father is aware that he’s exploiting his employees…”

timrodresized: Hashino, I get it already, please stop beating me over the head with it.

Morgana: “Yes. We should be careful though. I doubt we’ll be able to communicate with these ones. We’ll probably go straight into battle when we approach them. I suggest you prepare beforehand!”

timrodresized: We have all the preparation we need. Their name is Mara.

timrodresized: This opens a path near the arm we knocked down on our way in.

timrodresized: It doesn’t stop the yellow press, which we have to do a bit more work to get to.

timrodresized: There’s a weapon for Ryuji over here.

Morgana: “But we have to do this. I smell the Treasure somewhere past where they are. Brace yourselves!”

timrodresized: These robots are different from the ones we fought earlier in that they’re weak to psychic.

timrodresized: There’s three waves of these robots, and Joker destroys them in one hit with Mara.

Skull: “The heck? That was easy as hell…”

Morgana: “Well I mean, they’re overworked, brainwashed, AND forced to go up against an impossible enemy. I hope nobody ever treats me like that after I turn back into a human.”

timrodresized: These robots have learned the hard lesson that there is no winning when your opponent is a giant penis.

Noir: “…”

Panther: “C-Come on, let’s keep going! Don’t look so down, Noir!”

Fox: “The employees are being dumped in that incinerator!”

Queen: “No… they’re turning all of the worn-down robots into fuel… that means the power source running this factory…”

Noir: “It’s… people’s lives…”

timrodresized: Dammit, Hashino! I fucking get it! Japanese work culture sucks! Doing this kind of shit is why I checked out on the plot when I played this the first time!

timrodresized: I’m also wondering who had to restrain Hashino from having it so that Okumura is using the robots to make crystal skulls.

Panther: “Noir… are you okay?”

Noir: “I’m not…”

Panther: “Huh?”

Noir: “I’m not going to forgive my father for this! I can’t believe this is how he sees his workers! Let us go, everyone! We will change his heart, no matter what!”

Morgana: “Right! We’re with you all the way, Noir!”

timrodresized: And now we’re in the last area. I feel like this one was also made shorter in Royal, but I’m not so sure.

Fox: “Putting it lightly, I believe such an action would lead to our extermination.”

timrodresized: Nah, if Space Station 13 taught me anything it’s that all you need is a firesuit, an oxygen tank, and some coffee and you’ll be fine.

Oracle: “Wellllll, apparently you’ll be okay for like thirty seconds if you keep your eyes and mouth shut. Which is weird, because honestly, I woulda thought we’d just explode out there.”

Skull: “Don’t scare us, dammit!”

timrodresized: At this point, we’ve had an alarm sitting around for a while and I wanted to use it. Kali has fallen a long way from Innocent Sin, where she used to be what was essentially Yukino’s ultimate Persona.

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Returning Persona: Kali

Origin: India

First Appearance: Megami Tensei I

Hindu goddess associated with death, time, and destruction. An aspect of Durga, who was Yukino’s Ultimate Persona in 1 and Innocent Sin. Modern Hinduism changes her portrayal as a violent goddess who represents time and change.

timrodresized: We then fuse Kali with Mara to make Baal, who I’ve somehow wound up using in every Persona game I’ve LPed.

Returning Persona: Baal

Origin: Syria

First Appearance: Megami Tensei I

Baal is a Semitic word meaning “lord” or “master”, and does not refer to a single entity. The portrayal of Baal in the Megami Tensei games is actually a Canaanite god called Hadad, who was associated with rain, agriculture, and fertility.

timrodresized: Baal is basically a better Mara. Ayamur is his signature skill - it’s a single target physical attack that hits three times and has a 95% hit rate… which is better than a lot of similar skills.

timrodresized: He also starts with Panta Rhei, which is the best single-target wind spell in the game. I made a mistake here by not sacrificing to him to get Vacuum Wave instead.

timrodresized: I also replaced Matarukaja with Wind Amp and re-summoned Mara because I still need him for Mapsiodyne.

timrodresized: During a fusion alarm, Baal itemizes into what is probably Haru’s best gun. We will be doing this in November, because we’re already low on money and the palace sucks for farming.

timrodresized: The only door in this area is locked, so it’s time to do the Final Rush thing.

timrodresized: The console here lets us unlock the doors and progress.

timrodresized: The side room that we passed by earlier has an itemized tetrakarn in it. We’ll be making good use of that later.

Queen: “To think we’d end up flying through space…the awe I felt at seeing that flying bank feels like a distant memory at this point.”

timrodresized: And this is where we find this area’s gimmick.

Morgana: “I hope we can reach our goal with just the ones that are on…”

Oracle: “Hmm… we need to get past here, though. Guess we can’t just sit around. Let’s keep going.”

timrodresized: Welcome to the gimmick. The airlock field has two types of airlocks: Alpha and Omega. The switches control which one of those is active.

timrodresized: However, what’s not immediately obvious is there’s a third airlock type - those being orange airlocks. Orange airlocks are unlocked at specific switches (which still function as the ordinary alpha/omega switches) and stay unlocked even if their letter is turned off.

timrodresized: Two new enemies show up here: Mithras (seen above) and Kaiwan, who we fused a while back.

New Persona: Mithras

Origin: Rome

First Appearance: Soul Hackers

Roman sun god about whom little is known. His worshippers, known as Mithraites, were persecuted by the early Christians and very few written records about the religion remain. Believed to have been born out of a rock and is often portrayed slaying a bull. Worship of Mithras was popular in the Roman army.

timrodresized: We want Mithras because he itemizes into Nuke Boost and Nuke Amp.

Noir: “There is something written above each one. These symbols…”

timrodresized: Here’s a map of this first area. It’s not too complicated.

timrodresized: This little dead end room in the middle has the switch that controls the airlock we need to progress… and also the one that lets us access the last Will Seed.

Noir: “Don’t give us that! Your so-called training is nothing more than torture! Let’s go, everyone!”

timrodresized: When I got here, I hadn’t really used Mara a whole lot - at least, not for the purpose I built him for. You can see that even tossing out Agidyne, Ann is barely registering damage.

timrodresized: Melchizedek gets one hit off, casting an enemy-only spell that causes Hunger. Hunger is pretty much exclusive to Okumura’s dungeon, is very hard to fix, and cuts damage by like 75%.

timrodresized: My plan was to use Mara to charge and then do One-Shot Kill to see how much damage it did.

timrodresized: The answer is roughly 2500 damage, killing Melchizedek in one hit. Despite the name, One-Shot Kill is merely a high damage gun skill, and Melchizedek is not weak to gun damage, nor did I have a baton pass active.

timrodresized: I would’ve used Baal instead, but I think I just kind of forgot I had him.

timrodresized: The special switches are highlighted in orange, which is a detail I did not notice in the base game and as a result made everything take longer.

Panther: “That was simple! Let’s keep blazing a path through here!”

Oracle: “Once we pass through this airlock, the Treasure’ll be right in front of us.”

Skull: “Sweet! …Uh, but this one ain’t workin’… I guess we’ll just hafta find another switch, huh?”

Noir: “That could very well be the only way. Let’s do what we can.”

timrodresized: There’s only one active airlock in this room, so let’s go for it.

timrodresized: This part introduces the final gimmick of this dungeon - green airlocks. These are basically Persona 5’s version of those one-way doors you see in the mainline SMT games and Persona 1.

timrodresized: They’re on a separate cycle from the regular airlocks and switch when you go through one - so in this case, going through the Alpha airlock would close all the green Alpha airlocks and open the green Omega ones.

timrodresized: One thing I think is kind of badly designed about this part is that if you don’t notice the orange switches, there’s no reason to touch them because you can get pretty much anywhere without them.

timrodresized: Here’s a map of the floor. The orange switch is the one at the very top, where you can see the footsteps coming out of.

Queen: “So this is where they’re being used.”

Panther: “But what are they…? It’s hard to tell just from looking…”

Skull: “Dude, let’s leave the factory tour for later. We gotta focus on the Treasure right now!”

Morgana: “Huh. It’s rare to hear Skull say something sensible…”

Fox: “But we haven’t found any information about the mental collapses. That bothers me…”

Panther: “Oh yeah, you’re right.”

Skull: “Maybe he’s hidin’ it? We got this far. Wouldn’t it be better to just squeeze the truth outta the guy?”

Noir: “That plan is fine by me.”

Morgana: “Let’s send out the calling card and take his Treasure then.”

timrodresized: The update’s going to abruptly cut off here, because I didn’t do my due diligence. Actually, the guide author didn’t. Have I mentioned that I reported them to GameFAQs for plagiarism and was told it’s perfectly acceptable to steal entire charts from a Japanese guide without credit? They only seem to give a shit if there’s an actual copyright issue.

timrodresized: Anyway, there’s an optional scene with Hifumi that is supposed to happen tonight… but even without that extra reading, we wouldn’t have gotten it. In order to get it, you have to be Rank 8 and have no extra points with Hifumi beyond those you got from the Rank 8 event, unless that was changed in Royal.

timrodresized: Fortunately, I was able to find a recording of it from the base game on Youtube. You can see that here. You know what? I’ll download the video and take screenshots too.

timrodresized: That’s not the only scene with Hifumi that’s extremely hard to get. There’s a second one on 10/10 that requires you to be Rank 9, on the romance route, read the “Theme Park Escort” book to unlock Destinyland, and to have zero extra points with Hifumi. This one’s also on Youtube: you can see it here. The guide doesn’t even acknowledge that this scene exists.

timrodresized: This means that what I actually wound up doing in-game was Hifumi’s Rank 10. I’ll have to make a minor schedule change to accomodate this: we’ll be doing Sojiro’s confidant on the night we’d normally do her Rank 10, because he has no optional events.

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll discard the one lesson we learned from Ni no Kuni 2 and do a boss fight on Extreme… because it’s so badly designed that it’s actually easier that way.

Hifumi: “This means at times, retreating is an effective strategy in order to attack with your next move.”

timrodresized: I hope you’re ready to see the QUALITY translation the base game had.

Hifumi: “I’ve read all my textbooks… where can I gain knowledge that I have yet to discover…? Oh, never mind. May I request a match?”

timrodresized: This is why I didn’t like Morgana in the base game, because holy FUCK are his portraits bad. Royal improved them and I appreciate that.

Hifumi: “Indeed, that place may have knowledge that I have yet to discover… well then, let’s go there right away.”

Hifumi: “…But look at all these books. It’s not going to be easy to find.”

Hifumi: “Yes, you’re right. I have no intention of giving up easily. I’ll do my best to look for it. It would make me happy if you could assist me.”

Hifumi: “…Rather than search blindly, we should study the shelves and come up with a strategy. First, let’s get an idea of how books are arranged here. Is it by title, or by author…?”

timrodresized: I like to think that there’s a stack right behind Hifumi with a giant shogi piece sign on it reading “SHOGI STRATEGY GUIDES” in five different languages.

Hifumi: “Let’s take a good look around the store to fully understand the layout. I’d also like to find a book about shogi problems as well. I’ll explain while we search.”

Hifumi: “Now then… if we approach this methodically, we’ll find them. I appreciate your assistance.”

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