Click Here for Update 71
: “Regarding my father… there isn’t anything different about him yet. I can’t help but think about a lot of things when I’m just waiting. Things like, did it go well…?”
: I mean, it went well if your goal was to kill him.
: Joker’s like “No need to worry, the entire party are orphans, now you fit right in.”
: “Thanks. Hearing that from you puts my mind at ease. giggle I guess I’ll relax and look after the flowerbed. I haven’t been able to for a while.”
: Regrettably, we have to do Makoto’s Rank 9 today.
: “I want to dig up some dirt regarding Eiko’s boyfriend Tsukasa before we confront her about him. I was thinking of asking around the red-light district for info. Shall we head over there?”
: “However, we’ll need solid proof of what he’s doing if we’re going to convince Eiko. I believe some of the promoters around here may know something. As my father always said, finding evidence takes serious legwork.”
: This guy right here is the one we’re looking for.
: “We have proof now. Come on, it’s almost time for Eiko’s shift to end. Let’s wait for her in front of the shop.”
: “Eiko… your ‘boyfriend’ is infamous around here for tricking girls into debt, then forcing them to sell themselves. Moreover, he’s probably doing it in conjunction with a criminal gang. You need to get out of there.”
: “I have testimony from one of the promoters in the area. You’re not the first girl Tsukasa has lied to about a ‘broken sake bottle’. He doesn’t ask for much at first, but the interest piles up.”
: “Eventually he’ll ask you to sell your body for money. Please, reconsider this relationship.”
: “It’s always ‘princess’ with you. Why don’t you ever call her by her real name, Tsukasa? Or are there too many princesses in your life to remember?”
: I like to think this isn’t him forgetting, but that Makoto is like Agent 47 in Hitman and was designed to be as generic and bland as possible so that no one remembers her face. Anyone could be Makoto in disguise and you’d never know.
: Makoto just standing there with a Hardballer in her hand going “Personalities are for well-written characters, so I don’t need one.”
: “I knew it. I’m the one who texted you ‘I’ll be 5 mins late 2day, bb.’ I even added tons of emojis at the end to make sure it seemed like Eiko.”
: “Admit it. Every girl you get money from is your princess, right? You can’t even remember names anymore. Don’t you see, Eiko? This is who your ‘boyfriend’ really is!”
: “You already know the truth, you just don’t want to believe it! Stop lying to yourself!”
: “…This has nothing to do with her being an honor student. I just can’t rest knowing there’s such evil in the world! And I damn sure won’t keep quiet while my friend has her life ruined!”
: “As for you… apologize to Eiko! And stay away from her from now on!”
: I don’t know how anyone can take this guy seriously when he’s what one comic artist (whose comic I can no longer find) described as “the most fuck-effeminate anything ever, also disco shoes”.
: I tried to find his old deviantart page, and when I searched his name the only thing I got was inflation porn of Sword Art Online from an unrelated artist. I have suffered for this LP.
: Hoo boy! Let’s go take a look…
: …
: You know, people used to ask me “Mara, if you’re a demon based around the concept of lust as a human desire, are there souls so horny you wouldn’t eat them?” and now I know the answer. It’s yes.
: I captured this one a bit early because the animation plays and finishes before the text box shows up.
: “I dare you!”
: “Akira…”
: “I come from a long line of police officers. If you really want to start something, be my guest.”
: “He wasn’t so tough after all.”
: You know what I don’t get about this? Why this wasn’t just a sidequest. They could’ve come up with a confidant for Makoto that actually, I dunno, made her not seem as boring, and then made this a sidequest.
: “Right. Staying here now is only going to cause us more trouble. Eiko…”
: Wait… she has friends?
: “Really? I hope so… you know, I have a bad habit of acting in the moment. I can’t help but get swept up in emotion. That’s why I always have to take extra care to keep myself composed. My father was the same way…”
: “That aside, this place is… interesting. How did you ever find somewhere like this? You know so much.”
: This is actually Crossroads, the bar where we usually meet Ohya. You just never really see it at this angle.
: “So you come often? It’s hard to believe you’re really a high schooler. You have so much more life experience than me… honestly, spending time with you and getting to know Eiko has given me a lot to think about.”
: “There’s so much you can miss by living with your head buried between the pages of a book… I thought I knew how the world worked… but the more I spent time with you guys, the more I realized how naive I was.”
: “…Do you remember how Eiko said I would flunk a test about love? Well, um… I don’t know how to study that subject. What should I do, Akira?”
: There’s a text box I haven’t been showing where Joker says he’s already in a relationship with another person, and I wish it would say “I’m already in a relationship with someone more interesting.”
: Seriously though, it feels like they had to shoehorn a romance option in at the last minute.
: Some day, she will find her human-sized baked potato which lacks sour cream, chives, butter, or bacon bits.
: “…Right. People say those kinds of things are destiny anyway, so I probably shouldn’t worry myself over it. And besides, I should at least try to focus on my schoolwork right now.”
: “Let’s work hard to achieve our goals together, Akira.”
: “S-Sorry about that. It’s rude of us to stay here so long after only ordering tea…”
: “R-Right. Well, we should be going…”
: “I think between us… we managed to help Eiko see the truth. I’d probably never have pulled this off alone. Thank you so much.”
: “Heh… thanks. I’ll work off that debt through the Phantom Thieves. I’m thinking of calling Eiko once she calms down a bit. But I wanted to get a courage boost from you before I did…”
: “…Yup, that helped. I think I can talk to Eiko properly now. I really am glad I’ve got you in my corner. I’m lucky to have such a reliable leader. Well, I’ll talk to you later… bye.”
: We then have to head right back to Crossroads to meet Ohya. Unfortunately, I had to get an affinity reading - I think it’s because I missed one due to that rescheduling with Iwai.
: “I’ll shmack you if it’s not good enough…”
: “Whaddya mean? You worried about me, Lala-chan…? You’re usually kinda - hic”
: “I’m… totally not drunk… hic”
: “Oooh, you’re sharp, kid! Truth is, um… my quota got doubled. It’s gonna take like… four times as much work to get that much done though.”
: “They’re shacklin’ me down so I won’t have time for anything else… ugh, my chief’s such a shithead…”
: “Yup. That bastard prolly knows something’s up. Before this, I was starting to feel like a real journalist again… the rush of uncovering Kayo’s case… uncovering the dark secrets hidden away by our corrupt society.”
: “But now? It’s gonna be impossible to run my investigation with this quota…”
: “Course it’s not good! But what am I s’posed to do…? They’ll fire me if I can’t reach my quota! Hey, Lala-chan… if they fire me, can I live here?”
: Hm. You know, I wonder if her apartment is more or less of a trash heap than Maya’s is.
: “That still won’t help my investigation though… the incident’s over a year old, and the authorities aren’t doing shit. gasp Maybe Kayo really was the true culprit…”
: “That goes without saying! I mean if I don’t, who will!?”
: sigh “What am I doing…? I mean, I’m the one who dragged Kayo into politics. It’s my fault this ended up happening to her… y’know, she started out in book publishing, mostly taking photos of nature and wild animals.”
: “She was a genius behind the camera though. That’s why I thought she’d make the perfect partner for me…”
: “B-But if I didn’t get her involved in the first place… dammit, that incident is all my fault… that’s why I’ve gotta get to the bottom of it!”
: “Hell yeah! Y’know, it’s weird how calm I get when I’m talkin’ to you. It’s almost like you actually understand me. Oh, and… I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier. The stress must have gotten to me.”
: “It’s just, all this quota business is driving me crazy. I’m gonna have to put all my focus on that for now. I’ll still be counting on you for Phantom Thieves stories though… as long as you’re up for it.”
: “I think I’m gonna have to ease off my investigation for a while too. I don’t need any more eyes on me. But I might be able to ask some of my coworkers for help. Journalists will do anything for a scoop.”
: “Now then, I’ll take any tidbits you have for me today. Hope you don’t mind if I get back to drinking though. This whole conversation really sobered me up…”
: “If I’m being serious - I mean genuinely, actually serious - I really appreciate you. I’m only able to meet my insane quota because of the info you give me on the Phantom Thieves.”
: “Yeah, keep it coming! You’re seriously dependable, kid! But yeah, for now, guess I’ll leave the intel gathering to my partner in crime. I gotta focus on meeting my quota. I’ll never give up on my own investigation!”
: We get some time to read during Ushimaru’s class, so we’ll read Master Swordsman… which is important for a reason that has nothing to do with the stats it conveys.
: If you’ll recall, Master Swordsman was the book we got from the store owner in Jinbocho. He has three other books, which he’ll give you in order and only if you’ve read the one he already gave you.
: The last book is called “Knowing the Heart” and was added for Royal. It’s probably the most important book for the expansion content, because it expands which kinds of attacks can be used to get technical hits.
: I hope you are ready for THE most painful scene in this entire game. It’s completely unchanged from the base game.
: " ‘Learn about my generation.’ Wait, I think I can do the next one too! ‘Have a normal conversation with a stranger my age’! Hmmm, where can I find lots of young people?"
: “Welp, ain’t no time like the present! Come on, let’s go!”
: “Wow, you guys have actually started getting pretty close. Not like that’s a bad thing though. Anyway, be careful out there.”
: “I’ve heard all about the unlimited fountain drinks at these places… Well…? Where are they? I don’t see 'em anywhere!”
: Oh, great.
: “Oh crap, and you’re with a girl?”
: “Is this a friend of yours?”
: “Hmmm. How 'bout I ask him to help with my promise?”
: “What promise?”
: “W-Welllll…”
: “…You just want to have a regular old conversation? So, wait. You’re saying that you, a girl… want to talk to… me? I see. In that case, I guess I don’t have a choice. Nope, none whatsoever. I’ll just have to help you out.”
: No! Don’t encourage him!
: “U-Uh, okay… I’m Yuuki Mishima, but everyone just calls me Mishima.”
: “Hrmhrmhrm. It seems like help always comes my way when I need it most. Maybe my luck stat’s really high.”
: Joker is truly in hell, trapped between an incel and a girl gamer.
: “Heck yeah! I could prolly roll a natural twenty right now if you asked me to!”
: “Youth… the unknown frontier…”
: “Hm, maybe I should try talking about my hobbies… do you like computers?”
: “Mm, I’m always online.”
: “Me too! What sites do you use? I usually keep to forums myself… or are you more into streaming? I’d gladly subscribe to your channel. W-W-Wait, do you by chance run one of those… racy channels?”
: Is this painful enough for you yet? Because I don’t think it is. Welcome to the worst exchange in the game.
: Do people even play WoW in Japan? I thought even back then, FF14 had basically eaten Blizzard’s lunch in Asia. Hell, I had quit WoW before Wrath of the Lich King even released.
: Oh right, if you’re lost, the whole “kek” thing started out as a dumbass WoW meme. I don’t know if they still do it, but way back when there used to be a chatfilter to stop the Horde players from talking to the Alliance players.
: One of the few known bits was that if you said “lol” as a Horde player to an Alliance player, it would come out on the Alliance player’s end as “kek”.
: “H-Huh? That’s all you took from that conversation?”
: Mishima is the Demi-Fiend offering thousands of macca to a demon only to have it go “Fuck it” and walk off. And that’s one of the reasons I can’t play Nocturne for more than like half an hour at a time.
: If you look closely, you can see Mishima’s soul leave his body.
: If I could get away with answering the second one, I would.
: “Really? Huh, I guess you can’t judge a book by its cover. Anyway, I’m glad you spawned here! I killed two promises with one Nishima today! ‘Learn about my generation’ and ‘have a normal conversation with a stranger my age’! Aw yeah!”
: I mentioned this in the first post, but I have a $200 statue of Futaba on my shelf. Have I mentioned I fast-forwarded through this scene in the base game and then spent years erasing it from my memory?
: Lesson here is to never order figures of anything, and especially not before you finish the game. I’ll post pictures after this update.
: “I think I gained a ton of EXP on this adventure. And it’s all 'cause you brought me here, Akira. Thanks!”
: “Anyway, uh… what are you doing after this?”
: “Going home.”
: “O-Oh… right…”
: “I mean, I cleared two goals in one day! That’s not all! On my way home, I found a lost thing in the street, so I dropped it off at the police station.”
: “I’m a completely different person now! No more getting scared of the police! C’mon, tell me I’m cool!”
: “Heh heh… man, I love it when people tell me I did good! Though I… basically just left the thing on their doorstep. No way I’m actually talking to anyone in there. But I left a note and stuff, so still! Mission complete, basically!”
: So here’s the thing, right? I like Futaba’s character design. It’s legitimately pretty good, even if her whole thief outfit thing is kinda horny. It’s just that everything else about her sucks.
: “Compared to the police, Nishima was nothing. He’s like the first gym leader. At my current level, I can easily befriend an NPC like Nishima, and… eh, never mind.”
: “Anyhow, thanks again for today. Time to make like a tree!”
: “The one behind the mental shutdowns… it has to be someone dangerous. Now that we’re getting closer to the truth, we need to be ready for absolutely anything.”
: Unfortunately, we can do exactly fuck all tonight. I thought we could do Sojiro’s confidant, but nope. It’s Featherman time. I also just recently found out that this was something added to Royal.
: “I guess we’ve moved on from Osagiri’s space lab. This looks like an urban area on Earth.”
: “Sending a trainee into battle against a real enemy? Man, Osagiri isn’t just tough, she’s reckless.”
: “What the - is that a walking phone booth?”
: “Here it comes! Get your controller ready!”
: You know, why aren’t all the inputs just X? You know, given that Innocent Sin had cursor memory and most battles could be resolved via auto-combat.
: “Yeah! Nice dodge!”
: “This is bad. Pigeon’s caught in the cord and can’t move!”
: “Cut the cord, quick! We have to escape!”
: “Good! We escaped the cord and dodged the beam!”
: “Now, let’s finish this off! Aerial Slash!”
: “All right! We beat Phoneternum! But I wonder what he was trying to say…”
: “Having executed the royalty, the revolutionaries proceeded to take the courts under their control… all who opposed the revolution were executed. However, the revolutionaries, too, were then reviled as despots and executed by the public.”
: Just gotta keep killing until there’s no one left to kill, that’s the French way.
: “Many people were executed during the French Revolution. The fact that this many executions were possible was actually due to one specific invention. Kurusu-kun, take a look at this.”
: “Now, do you know who invented this instrument?”
: Like many questions in this game, this answer is “correct”, but also very wrong. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin did not invent the guillotine - it had already been in use in several other countries before it appeared in France.
: The French guillotine was invented by a surgeon named Antoine Louis years after Guillotin first introduced the idea of standardized executions by a beheading machine - the reason the machine is called the guillotine is because the French people took Guillotin’s idea as a joke when it was first introduced.
: Wikipedia claims that Guillotin was against the death penalty, but that’s straight-up wrong. The idea behind the guillotine was to ensure that there was one standard of execution regardless of social status, as prior to the introduction of the guillotine, commoners typically got the more… messy… means of execution.
: “That’s correct. This tool is named after him. By the way, Charles-Henri Sanson, the famous executioner… it’s said he killed 2800 people with the advent of the guillotine. It may look cruel, but it delivered a swift, painless execution regardless of one’s social status.”
: “It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it embodied the French spirit of equality. Revolution is sometimes a bloody thing… the revolutionaries that rose up for freedom became despots themselves… it’s a common tale.”
: “Our social reform doesn’t hurt anybody in the real world… it’s a bloodless revolution!”
: We can trade the Calling Postcard we bought earlier for two Strawberry Daifuku, which are not only a full heal for the entire party, but also remove all status effects.
: And now, because I’ve done it for everyone else, is Makoto’s Rank 10.
: “I think she knew it deep within her heart, and seeing him like that finally helped her realize.”
: “You’re still not gonna let me forget that, hm? Well, I’m glad she didn’t get into any danger… oh, and she told me she quit her job. Right now she doesn’t know what she wants to do, but she’s going to go to college and figure things out.”
: “So in the end, Eiko’s going to start seriously focusing on her studies again. I plan on doing the same as well.”
: I kind of screwed up recording this route, so a few of the choice screenshots will be from the uh… other friendship route. There’s two. Makoto didn’t get a romance route, probably because they were too busy writing one for Yusuke.
: It’s strange, because the two routes are word-for-word identical, only one takes place in Joker’s room with Makoto sitting uncomfortably close.
: “Yes. I thought there was no point in continuing my studies, but… this time I’m not seeking anyone’s praise, and I’m not trying to show off my intelligence. I simply want to fulfill my own personal goals and dreams.”
: “Before now, I didn’t have a clear vision of what that meant. I was lost in life… but thanks to you, I’ve finally come to realize it. My dream… is to become a police commissioner. That is why I need to study.”
: Most boring girl wants to be a cop, becomes worst girl, film at 11.
: “Yes, the head of police operations. It will require me to have an extensive academic background. There are too many incidents in this country that are never brought to light. That host was one.”
: “Villains who prey on the hearts of the weak with cowardly, legally questionable methods… my father risked his life trying to catch a group of those people. I will never forgive them.”
: Thanks for telling us all this shit we already know, Makoto. Great way to end your second to last confidant event.
: “But I won’t be able to eradicate them all on my own… instead, I want to head an organization that will destroy the lawless and help rescue victims.”
: Okay, what? First you want to be a police chief, and now you’re saying you want to be the head of some kind of NGO not even two sentences later. Were the writers drunk when they were writing this?
: “I hope so… that is the justice I aim for. I also believe it will be a continuation of my father’s legacy. Honestly, it’s a little strange that I found the true meaning of my studies outside of my studies.”
: “…Thank you for all your help. Must have been difficult babysitting the upstanding Miss President, right?”
New Persona: Anat
Origin: Semitic Mythology
First Appearance: Devil Summoner
Mesopotamian goddess of war worshipped as far away as Egypt. Sister of Hadad (aka Baal) who assisted Hadad in defeating the river god Ym and building his own palace. Normally depicted as being extremely violent and murderous.
: I honestly don’t remember how Anat works in combat, but from what I remember, Makoto no longer rides a motorcycle during her casting animations.
: It sucks that they wasted such a cool Persona on such a godawful character. They even have a transforming Johanna/Anat figure which shows off how the transformation works.
: “Now then, in order to fulfill my dream, I’ll need to be accepted into my first choice college. giggle What a funny thought… studying to become a head of police while working as a thief…”
: “But perhaps it’s not as contradictory as it seems. The objective is the same… exposing the evil lurking in the dark shadows… oh, that’s right. In thanks for helping me, I’ll gladly assist you with your studies as well.”
: In reality, we’re not doing Makoto’s Rank 10 until sometime in November, so let’s get to what we actually do on the 26th.
: “Sounds like they had another success, huh? That’s cool. The war’s still going on… it’s probably because they think I’m weak. If only I was as strong as the Phantom Thieves…”
: “What, so being big is better?”
: Is he “familiar” because he’s trying way too hard to be Travis Touchdown?
: “…Yeah, you’re the guy from all those videos online!”
: “You just called me weak! That’s it! We’re playing! I won’t lose!”
: “…I missed!? …Th-that doesn’t count! Let’s play again!”
: “One more… one more game!”
: “Shut up! You cheated, didn’t you!?”
: I’d make a joke about how no one would play a shooter that is apparently so easy to cheat in that anyone can do it, but then Team Fortress 2 exists.
: TF2 is a game where even before Valve shit it up, the top sniper players in competitive were frequently caught using aimbots.
: “Right!? There’s no way I could’ve lost…!”
: “Dammit…! You’ve gotta be kidding me…”
: I got a little suspicious here, and as it turns out this is the wrong answer - this guide picks it on purpose to get the optional events. I’m now wondering how many other times we’ve intentionally picked wrong answers, because not all of them are as obvious. The correct answer is the second one.
: I did a little looking into it, and it looks like we’ve only done it a handful of times. I still think it’s kinda shitty that the guide author doesn’t mention that they’re doing this.
: “The strongest always win in the end. Just like the Phantom Thieves… watch, I’ll win for sure next time! I’m not a loser, you’ll see!”
: “…Crap, it’s late. I gotta go… Man, that Takekuma though! Telling me to practice for next time… a grown-up shouldn’t spend so much time playing video games!”
: Little late there, Hashino. I’m only… 75 hours into this JRPG. Granted, a lot of that was grinding and me going slowly during recording to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
: I accidentally missed a crossword, so this is an old one that carried over. Not like it matters anyway.
: Tonight, we’re doing another Caroline and Justine outing.
: “…one halfway detached from this world - it is said the time spent there is like that of a dream.”
: “Men and women of all ages swarm the land, forgetting reality in search of happiness and wonder.”
: “This sounds like a similar form of escapism as the fantasies we saw in the movie theater… a sinister trap that ensorcels humans… if such a place truly exists, then we must observe it in action ourselves.”
: “Does this location sound at all familiar to you?”
: “Well? If you know where it is, then escort us there immediately! So, what’ll it be?”
: Joker’s like “You do both realize that it costs like $350 a person to get into Destinyland”, to which Caroline and Justine respond “Oh, we know. What do you think the $4,000 we charged you to fuse Mara and Baal were for?”
: Whoa, what!? They told me I was getting a cut of that! Where’s my cut?!
: “Caroline, what excites you so?”
: I’m not sure if this is meant to be Teddie or not.
: “Is there a king living in that castle? Shouldn’t we pay him our respects first?”
: I get that all the time.
: "This gleeful music… the rhythmic, monotonous dancing… the grins plastered across every spectator’s face… this overstimulation is making me grow dizzy…’
: “Ah-ha! This is a brainwashing scheme, isn’t it, Inmate?”
: “Really? They all appear entranced to me.”
: “Make sure you don’t befall the same fate.”
: “Although, it may benefit us to investigate just how they pull off such a successful mass-brainwashing. Justine, let us conduct an inspection of the premises.”
: “Lead the way, inmate.”
: “You say that now, despite appearing quite captivated before… what with your outbursts like ‘That bear is so cute!’ and ‘Let’s get in line to meet the characters!’ and so forth…”
: I have to wonder who Caroline and Justine’s favorite Disney princesses would be. Caroline I can see pretending to not be into it while secretly being very into it, but I’m not sure which one she’d like.
: “I-I said nothing of the sort! I was merely going through the motions in the guise of a brainwashed human! That’s all it was!”
: “Look, there’s another line! Let’s see where it goes!”
: “We had better catch up to her, Inmate.”
: Okay, I forgot about this. Justine’s favorite princess is definitely Alice, even though I don’t think Alice counts as a princess - not because of the film, but because she admires the demon.
: “What was that, Inmate!?”
: “The stalls were lit with chandeliers… and the sinks looked as if they were designed for royalty.”
: “…Were we actually in someone’s Palace that whole time? Well that was fun - I mean, that was a functional assignment, but we’ve had enough for today. Time to head back.”
: “Just a moment, Caroline… I have heard it is customary to bring back some sort of token gift for one’s superiors after visiting a place such as this.”
: “We should buy something for our master while we have the chance. I perused the wares on display earlier. The mouse ears or the stuffed bear… which do you think our master would prefer?”
: Joker is going to troll the fuck out of Igor for making him pay that much for Mara.
: “The master… with round mouse ears… giggle”
: “In any case, we have confirmed the existence of a ‘world of dreams’. As such, we formally acknowledge your assignment as complete. Here is your reward.”
: This admittedly would’ve saved me some time doing their confidant.
: “Look at the smiles on these people’s faces… it’s as if they’ve been liberated from their everyday lives.”
: “A human’s desire to dream even reaches into their time in the waking world… a rather curious phenomenon for us, as we dwell in the space between dream and reality.”
: “Ooh, is another brainwashing parade beginning?”
: I’m going to cut this update here, because I want to keep Makoto contained to a single update. Next time… we’re doing Yusuke’s Rank 9 (and also his Rank 10). That means TWO new More Like Yusu-Gays - one from Salty Vanilla and a second from Yokobox.
: That’s not all to the Yusuke romance route, by the way. Salty Vanilla did the Christmas date a few months ago and is now working on… a surprise for the expansion content. I’m also planning on having them do a Valentine’s Day event.
: We’ll also potentially max out Yoshida’s confidant, and find out whether that Japanese guide was correct or not. I’ll also post the romance cutscenes with Makoto (which I still insist aren’t real) under the “alternate scenes” header.