Colors Flying High - Let's Play Persona 5 Royal

Seeing how almost character’s scene is them stammering while staring blankly into space, I can see why Atlus thought a repetitive dance with no keyframes or music might help mix things up.

I’m trying to figure out what the eight dimensions are supposed to be. Or maybe 8D is supposed to be the old sunglasses emote.

Click Here for Update 78

timrodresized: I hope you’re ready for another three days of PLOT, because that’s what you’re getting with this update. It’s funny to me how people used to call games like Final Fantasy 10 movies, because I’m pretty sure P5 has the most imbalanced cutscene-to-gameplay ratio out of any game I’ve ever played.

timrodresized: I wish they had taken the time to re-do the TV graphic in English, because even I can tell that you could glean all of that just by reading the chyron… assuming you can read Japanese.

Sojiro: “If I report you to the police and they arrest you, I supposedly get thirty million yen for it.”

timrodresized: Like they’re actually going to pay that and not just brain-murder whoever claims it.

Sojiro: “I hope you understand the situation you’re in. Even people who didn’t have an interest before will be on the lookout for the Phantom Thieves. And it’ll happen every day, even at school.”

Sojiro: “…Why did this happen?”

Sojiro: “That may have been true, but still… well, how do I put this? I’m sorry I didn’t realize it. It’s also my responsibility that this happened. All I can do now is give you shelter.”

Sojiro: “Just don’t become desperate and do something reckless, all right?”

Sojiro: “I won’t sell you out. As long as you’re here, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Morgana: “I feel bad about what we’ve done to the chief. I’m responsible too.”

SIU Director: “With this, the Phantom Thieves have become public enemy number one. chuckle Exactly. …That will be when their curtain falls.”

Ryuji: “And the reward’s thirty million yen? What is this, a comic book? Haha, it feels so unrealistic, I can’t help but laugh…”

Ann: “We’re finally being treated as actual criminals…”

SMARTGIRL: “I’m positive now… remember all of those what-ifs I mentioned before? All of this was truly set up.”

timrodresized: I have to wonder if Hashino realized that this could point to Makoto being a traitor, even though she’s not. I wish she was, because that might make her interesting.

SMARTGIRL: “How President Okumura ranked first, the fad before that, even Medjed… it was all to make the Phantom Thieves famous. On top of that, we were lured to target Okumura…”

Morgana: “Yeah… the enemy likely planned to lay the blame on us from the start, after we gained popularity.”

Ann: “Then, what about everything we’ve done until now? Are the people whose hearts we changed and thought were corrupt actually not?”

timrodresized: This is Hashino admitting that you could remove the entire Madarame and Kaneshiro arcs from the game and the plot would be basically unaffected.

Makoto: “Wasn’t that the case with Kamoshida too? Considering what happened with the rankings, only the previous target would have been used to lure us…”

Ryuji: “What a cheap trick to use…”

Makoto: “Cheap? It’s nothing of the sort. There’s the fake Medjed and the site’s altercation. They might have even engineered the fad around us. So much time and effort has been put into this… President Okumura probably wasn’t their only target.”

Makoto: “Perhaps they intend to place all blame of past and future psychotic breakdowns on our group…”

timrodresized: See, here’s what I don’t get about this entire plot. If you’re going to pin future murders on the party, why would you even try to arrest them? It’s kind of hard to continue blaming dead and/or incarcerated people for murders.

Ryuji: “What, so this is my fault!? Even you agreed to it in the end! And there was that thing with Haru at the time. How’re we s’posed to ignore that, huh!?”

Haru: “…I’m sorry. This was all because I one-sidedly decided that my father was a criminal. All I could think about was my fiance. If I had only been able to cope with it more calmly…”

Makoto: “Haru…”

Ann: “It’s not Haru’s fault. I should’ve spoken up too when Principal Kobayakawa died!”

timrodresized: Ryuji has finally realized how fucking stupid the plot is.

Ann: “Ryuji! Taking out your frustrations on things doesn’t help anyone!”

Ryuji: “Hey, what do you think, Akira? …Why did we lose? What did we do wrong?”

Yusuke: “…Agreed. At the time, we only cared about the opinion of the general public.”

Ann: “Yeah… that really is it. I was so caught up in making a name for ourselves. I’m such an idiot! I became a phantom thief because I hated those same kinds of adults!”

Yusuke: “To think we had begun clinging onto fame and a place to belong that our eyes had become clouded…”

Haru: “We were meant to be the righteous Phantom Thieves, but we lost sight of our original cause…”

timrodresized: How would she know that? She wasn’t even here for 90% of the game!

Makoto: “I’m so irritated with myself!”

Futaba: “Makoto…”

timrodresized: Well yeah, I’d be irritated too if I was supposed to be the party strategist character and then did nothing but act like a fucking idiot.

Ryuji: “Dammit! I know that we’ve been set up, and that I was a complete idiot too. But still… it’s so damn frustrating! Of course I wanna do something about this…”

Morgana: “Yeah. We’ll be in deep water at this rate… however, we have no idea who we’re up against… and whether they’re an individual or an organization.”

Yusuke: “Furthermore, they must be in a position of power, or have powerful backers, if they can go so far.”

Ann: “Are we really a match for this?”

Futaba: “Should we… end this now? I mean, things might get worse for everyone…”

Ann: “Hey, what should we do?”

Ryuji: “Yeah… running away with our tails between our legs is exactly what they want… we’d be dumping everything we stand for just to save our own asses!”

Futaba: “…I see. I take back what I just said! I can’t let it end like this! Absolutely not like this!”

Morgana: “Looks like we’re settled on ‘what’ we want to do. All that’s left is ‘how’ we go about it…”

Makoto: “Yeah…”

Ryuji: “Um… about me yellin’ earlier. Bein’ framed, and the added bounty… it all felt like such bullshit. I lost it… I’m sorry.”

Ryuji: “…You too? Maybe I haven’t changed at all since that time we went up against Kamoshida…”

timrodresized: Oh shit. Ryuji’s becoming self-aware. Soon he’ll realize that he’s a two-dimensional anime trope, and then shit will really hit the fan.

Ryuji: “I wanted to be a phantom thief because I thought even someone like me could be a hero… it made me so happy to be depended on. Guess it all went straight to my head.”

Ryuji: “I thought I could do anythin’ if it was for justice. But that’d make me no different from our targets… I called them shitbags, but I must be the shittiest of shitbags. I can’t even joke about it…”

Ryuji: “Akira… heh, you’re right. I can start by changin’ who I am now. Thanks, Akira. I feel like I can think straight now. Oh - I scared Haru and Futaba, didn’t I…? I’ll have to apologize to them soon. Seeya!”

Morgana: “…We’ve reached a crucial moment. There’s no point fretting about it now though. Let’s just stay calm and wait for tomorrow.”

timrodresized: Tonight, we’ll be reading Reckless Casanova, the last book we need to finish before we can buy Knowing the Heart.

Morgana: “Would the tactics of the Casanovas in this book still work today? I wonder…”

Shido: “Only now does the government speak of taking countermeasures… but their actions are too little, too late! The government as it stands has been left behind the times. It is obsolete!”

Shido: “We don’t have to go down with a sinking ship! We have the power to change this!”

timrodresized: And then Shido spent the rest of the day blocking people on Twitter.

Akechi: "That’s a good question, but might I have a cup of coffee first?’

timrodresized: I’m going to be real here when I say that I was falling asleep at this point in recording. I didn’t miss anything, it’s just that this part’s so boring.

timrodresized: Even if this is your first time playing the game, this part drags. It really does. It feels like they were trying to cram the final 10 hours or so of the game full of as much plot as possible.

Ryuji: “Quit effin’ around!”

Makoto: “Please keep this short.”

Akechi: “There’s a bounty for information in addition to the arrest warrant… those are quite desperate measures. I’m referring to Sae-san’s actions. I assume all of you are at your wit’s end as well.”

Akechi: “She must be considerably vexed if she’s gone that far. Make headlines with the arrest warrant, then use incentives to get testimonies. It’s not a bad method.”

timrodresized: We’re over 80 hours in at this point. In that time, we could have finished both Persona 1 and Innocent Sin and probably still had time left over to get a good way into Eternal Punishment.

Futaba: “The police have nothing on us. There’s no way they can make an arrest.”

Akechi: “True. I’m the only one who’s ascertained your true identities. However, the groundwork for fabricating testimonies and concocting a culprit are underway.”

Futaba: “We don’t care about that self-gratification. Get on with it.”

timrodresized: Akechi sucks so much that the other characters have to constantly tell him to shut the fuck up.

Haru: “Huh? Really?”

Yusuke: “Is this to prevent the investigation agency’s recklessness?”

Akechi: “Precisely.”

Ann: “Still, there’s no need to change her heart just for that…”

Yusuke: “Indeed. It’s hard to believe that a single person can fabricate all that.”

Akechi: “Unfortunately, that’s not the case. What if I told you that those around her would turn a blind eye to false evidence?”

Ryuji: “You sayin’ the police would do such a thing!?”

timrodresized: The real question is how any of this makes any kind of sense. If the police are completely in the conspiracy’s pocket, why do they even need Sae to begin with? Why not just get a prosecutor who is either part of the conspiracy or in their pocket?

timrodresized: I don’t think they ever answer any of this shit either. They very well could have, but by this point in the base game I had completely checked out on the plot and was just fast-forwarding through everything.

Akechi: “It seems they’re more trusted than I thought. Their priority is settling the situation. They don’t care who the supposed culprit is.”

Haru: “No…”

Ryuji: “They’re completely rotten!”

Akechi: “My objective is to find the true culprit. That must be the case for all of you too. However, the current situation is extremely bad.”

Yusuke: “If worst come to worst, someone unrelated will be set up as the culprit, huh?”

Akechi: “Our only solution to this is to make Sae-san come to her senses. If she’s in her right mind, she can stop this situation. Her sense of justice wouldn’t allow it.”

Haru: “So what’s why…”

Akechi: “The truth will be covered up, and an innocent civilian’s life will be destroyed… I can’t allow such a thing to happen. My own ethics won’t stand for it.”

Ryuji: “I mean, I guess I can understand how you feel.”

Akechi: “And changing Sae-san’s heart will be to protect her as well.”

Makoto: “How do you mean?”

Akechi: “So how about it? Will you agree to my plan?”

Yusuke: “Even though you’re particular about being just, you’re willing to get your hands dirty?”

Akechi: “There is also one more merit in changing Sae-san’s heart. She’ll be a fine warning to others not to meddle with you any further. They can’t go public if someone in the investigation has a change of heart. It’d show their corruption.”

Akechi: “All that’s left from there is for me to discover the identity of the true culprit.”

Ann: “What do you mean?”

Makoto: “You’re gonna tell us to announce our disbandment once the real culprit is arrested… aren’t you?”

Akechi: “As expected from a Niijima. So, what do you say? I don’t think it’s a bad deal for either of us.”

Ryuji: “Makoto… what’s your take on all this?”

Makoto: “It’s a well-made plan… it even takes putting an end to our team into consideration.”

Akechi: “I’m flattered to hear that.”

Haru: “Why are you willing to do all this, Akechi-kun? Why do you seek justice?”

Akechi: “Because of sickening human beings… yes. My contempt for such people drives my sense of justice. It isn’t some grand reason like society’s sake or some lofty ideal.”

Akechi: “It’s simply an absurd grudge… and extremely personal.”

Ryuji: “Dude…”

Ann: “You know, doesn’t he remind you of us?”

Ann: “I can’t really explain it… but I guess it’s how some disgusting adult pissed him off.”

Akechi: “We’re similar, hm? Maybe that’s why I thought that I could ask this of you all… won’t you cooperate with me on the mission to change Sae-san’s heart?”

Akechi: “…Thanks. I was actually rather worried there. This mission can’t succeed without your cooperation, after all.”

Yusuke: “The Phantom Thieves will be disbanded, and everything will work out… I pray it does.”

Haru: “Mako-chan…”

Makoto: “I’m okay. I never brought it up until now… but the reason I joined the Phantom Thieves is… because I wanted to change my sister’s heart. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to resort to it, though.”

Ann: “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Makoto: “It was too selfish of a reason. Though, I was too scared to look any further into it on my own…”

Akechi: “Why don’t we try going there now to scope the place out? A lot of this will be new to me, so I’d like to get myself accustomed to it too.”

Makoto: “I-I’m sorry. I actually have plans today…”

Akechi: “I see. That’s unfortunate.”

Haru: “Will you tell your sister about this?”

Makoto: “Of course not. It’s just…”

Yusuke: “You seem awfully evasive today. Is something the matter?”

timrodresized: You might think this would be some kind of sub-plot where Makoto is planning something. She’s not, and I’m really not sure why they bothered putting these lines in when it’s obvious who the killer is.

Makoto: “I just can’t make time today.”

Akechi: “Let’s call it a day then and resume this tomorrow.”

Makoto: “I’m sorry, everyone.”

Morgana: “Well, I guess that can’t be helped… regardless, it all starts tomorrow… I hope this goes well.”

timrodresized: It’s more likely than you’d think.

Sae: “Not only that, Goro Akechi…? Then the Phantom Thieves targeted me as per his advice? And he had already experienced the Metaverse by the time of the Okumura case?”

Sae: “That can’t be… I mean, he never said a word… although, his attitude did change suddenly around that time. Akechi-kun kept quiet about the most important details, and my own sister may be a phantom thief…”

timrodresized: By the way, keep in mind that Sae knows that Makoto is a Phantom Thief and has reason to believe that Futaba is one, even if Joker never tells her outright.

timrodresized: This will become a plot hole in… let’s say a couple of weeks.

Sae: “If this is all true, I was out of the loop the entire time I led the investigation. What a joke… so you became convinced of another’s existence through the two mental shutdown cases.”

Sae: “And if you were apprehended while falsely accused of these crimes, that villain would still be loose. That’s why you targeted me? Not for your own preservation?”

timrodresized: That wasn’t really it, given that it was more about stopping the possibility of Sae accusing a random person.

Sae: “…? No… If this villain does exist and is setting up your group…”

Sae: “Perhaps I’m overthinking things…”

Sae: “Hey! Kurusu-kun! You need to keep your focus! It seems you’re completely worn out… but the look on your face isn’t one of defeat… why is that?”

timrodresized: This is true. It happens during the anime cutscene at the end of the tutorial.

Sae: “Those words normally hint at the existence of a traitor… however, if your story till now is true… one reason can be concluded. It’s frustrating to admit, but at a certain point - no, most likely from the start - I was a mere puppet…”

Sae: “…Someone set up only to bear responsibility later. Someone ‘intended’ your arrest, and the minimal staff directly involved were in their pocket. And if that’s the case, true integrity would side with you.”

timrodresized: The traitor and the killer are one and the same person. You should have already figured it out by now.

Sae: “No, I’m jumping to conclusions. I don’t believe your story yet. There’s something I need to confirm with you…”

Sae: “What happened in the time between entering my Palace and your arrest? Tell me everything.”

timrodresized: I get that they had to do these cutscenes in order for plot reasons, but it kind of doesn’t make sense that she didn’t lead with this. You’d think everything else would come secondary to “Did you and your friends brainfuck me?”

Morgana: “We’ll be going to Niijima’s Palace, so I want to look into her. Things like her work ethic and relationships. It doesn’t matter whether it’s public or private.”

Morgana: “Those would help us come up with countermeasures in case we hit a roadblock in her Palace.”

Futaba: “I can look up more, you know. Stuff like her repertoire of underwear.”

Morgana: “A girl shouldn’t say things like that! You tell her too!”

timrodresized: Well well, isn’t this a case of the pot calling the kettle horny.

Futaba: “Well… like her history with men?”

Morgana: “We are Phantom Thieves! Ahem! Also, I may be overthinking it, but my voice-”

Morgana: “Let me finish first!”

timrodresized: And here’s our second blurred cutscene. Just like the last one, there will be a second box underneath the main update that will have this scene in it.

timrodresized: This one in particular makes the entire plot seem really, really dumb. We’re going to go one more day, if only so you can see what Sae’s shadow looks like.

Morgana: “Let’s hurry up and get started. Akechi, what did you find out?”

Akechi: “I rarely get to see Sae-san directly, but I’ve figured out her course of action. On the 20th, an investigation will likely be done at Shujin Academy… as well as the Sakura residence.”

timrodresized: And that’s going to do… what exactly? They didn’t find anything the other two times they searched the school.

Futaba: “For…real?”

Yusuke: “…Then that means our time limit is November 20th.”

Akechi: “Still, there’ll be quite a bit of red tape involved. I doubt it’ll take place before the 20th.”

Makoto: “We’ll take your word. For now, we need to focus on infiltrating her Palace.”

Akechi: “I concur. And we should probably get going soon. After all, people like us standing around here is quite unnatural. Well then…”

Ann: “I’m so sorry. Until recently, Futaba was actually a… well…”

Akechi: “It’s okay, Sae-san told me the gist.”

Makoto: “Oh, right. Akechi-kun, it may be best if you exchange contact info with everyone too, not just me.”

Akechi: “That’s true.”

Futaba: “Ooh!”

Makoto: sigh “I’ll send everyone’s contacts to you later…”

Akechi: “Thanks. Well then, I hope we get along. I’ll do my best.”

Yusuke: “She’s praising you… I believe.”

Akechi: “Then, shall we get started?”

Ryuji: “We need to figure out what Makoto’s sis thinks this courthouse is, right?”

Makoto: “I often her her call it a ‘place of competition’ in which she must always win.”

Akechi: “A competition, huh? That sounds like Sae-san.”

Yusuke: “It’d be unbearable if we were put on trial for a reason like that… although, a competition means it’s a match of some sort. Might it be a martial-arts ring?”

timrodresized: The phone buzzes with the “Not found” thing in between each guess, but obviously I can’t convey that in screenshots.

Haru: “Then… perhaps a stadium? Or maybe an arena?”

Akechi: “There are other competitions besides fighting and sports.”

Futaba: “Gambling, then!”

Ann: “How about a racetrack for horses? Other than that, there’s pachinko, but does that count as gambling?”

Ryuji: “We played cards during the school trip.”

timrodresized: The phone doesn’t even chime in when Ryuji says this.

Haru: “What else is there?”

Akechi: “I definitely see Sae-san in you.”

Ryuji: “Welp, it’s time we head in then.”

Akechi: “Everywhere else seems to be a normal cityscape.”

Yusuke: “Isn’t that-”

timrodresized: Keep this in mind.

Haru: “I didn’t know that the station and the courthouse were next to each other.”

Morgana: “Right… areas outside her courthouse Palace must not be worthy of her attention. …Wait, I always look like this! I’m special! Besides, I can’t do anything in my cat form.”

Makoto: “The police station’s also part of her work area though, whenever arrests are made for her cases. I’ve brought her food and belongings when she was sent on loan to the police.”

Ryuji: “We got no business with the cops, right? This might be the Metaverse, but I don’t wanna go in a station.”

Makoto: “That reminds me, he’ll need a code name too.”

Akechi: “…Code name?”

Ryuji: “Phantom thieves can’t go around usin’ their real names, right? It ain’t cool either.”

Akechi: “Just for reference, what is everyone else’s?”

Ryuji: “Skull.”

Yusuke: “Mine’s Fox.”

Ann: “We pretty much decided on them with how we look, didn’t we?”

timrodresized: Haru’s like “I had a reason for my codename that has nothing to do with how I look! It’s beautiful and elegant and… I mean, it’s just the word ‘black’ in French but still!”

Akechi: “Then… perhaps ‘Karasu’ will be best for me. You know, like a raven.”

timrodresized: The joke is he’s picking this name because his outfit is tengu-themed, and Karasu Tengu is a kind of tengu. It’s also the Japanese word for a crow, so I’m not sure why Akechi would mention a raven.

Ryuji: “Are your clothes all black or something?”

timrodresized: This is kind of a double reference. Karasu Tengu in Nocturne wears an all-black kabuki performer’s outfit rather than being part crow. This design carried over to SMT4 and Apocalypse.

Akechi: “The reverse, actually. If our code names are to hide our identities, wouldn’t that be better?”

Futaba: “Karasu… he’d be the only Japanese-sounding one.”

timrodresized: Even in the Japanese script, everyone uses an English codename. You’ll see a scene later where we get a shot of Futaba’s contacts list on her phone.

Ann: “Why not go with ‘Crow’ instead?”

Morgana: “All right, from here on out, you’re Crow.”

Akechi: “Got it.”

Morgana: “Now then, let’s head into the courthouse!”

timrodresized: For the first part of the palace, Joker stays in his normal clothes. In fact, I believe this is the only time in the game you can see Joker do any kind of acrobatics outside of his Phantom Thief outfit.

timrodresized: Akechi’s costume is the dumbest fucking anything ever.

Skull: “Dude, you plannin’ on stealin’ stuff in that getup?”

Morgana: “It just means that’s what he thinks a rebel looks like.”

Crow: “No, this is my mental image of a person who sticks to their justice.”

Noir: “Well, I think your mask is more apt for piercing rather than sticking…”

Oracle: “But we’re in a flashy casino. There’s no doubt this is a Palace.”

Panther: “…Oh right, Crow doesn’t know too much about cognitive beings, does he?”

Fox: “Ah, yes. In addition to similar topography, cognitive people exist based on the ruler’s perceptions.”

Skull: “That prolly didn’t make much sense ‘cause of all the fancy terms he was usin’, huh?”

Crow: “In essence, since these look like real people, Sae-san’s view of others is surprisingly undistorted. But considering what I see before me, it’s difficult to believe it is not actually a real casino.”

Fox: “Not all cognitions are normal though. In Futaba and Okumura’s Palaces, we had to battle them. People may look normal, but we should be careful… particularly of those in positions of power.”

timrodresized: Yes, thank you Yusuke for that pointless plot recap.

Crow: “Is this what you have to go through every time?”

Morgana: “Just don’t slow us down, Crow.”

Crow: “I will not allow that to happen.”

Morgana: “Okay, it’s time we head inside. Our deadline for this infiltration is November 20th. Any later, and we’ll get caught in reality. Of course, we’ll need to secure an infiltration route before we send out the calling card. As always.”

timrodresized: Yeah, hi, question? Why are you explaining this again!? I already know!

Queen: “Will you please stop interrupting?”

Crow: “M-My apologies.”

timrodresized: The casino’s theme has been playing since we first got control after entering, but let me put it here because it’s both the best Palace theme and also has the most incomprehensible English lyrics since A Lone Prayer.

Music The Whims of Fate

timrodresized: Seriously try listening to that without reading the lyrics, and then read the lyrics. You won’t be anywhere close. For the longest time, I thought the actual opening lyrics were: “(incomprehensible) and dealer’s suicide, keep your bumpers away from the hidden hands”.

timrodresized: There are a surprising amount of stealables around for a trial run.

Morgana: “Wh-What!? We’re not going to fall for a trick like that…”

timrodresized: Joker points at her and shouts “HORNY!” Now, I know what you’re thinking. The answer is yes.

timrodresized: I’ve been holding on to that picture for quite a while.

ShadowSae: “The Treasure is located on the Manager’s Floor, at the peak of this building.”

timrodresized: Who are you, Yuriko?

Queen: “…Why are you telling us this?”

ShadowSae: “It’s as I said before… I wish to go about this in the fairest manner possible. First, I ask that you come up to my location. We will continue this there…”

timrodresized: No seriously though, this is the scene from the start of Thanatos Tower.

Crow: “It seems we’ll be able to use that elevator to reach higher floors. Come Joker, let us pursue her.”

timrodresized: There’s a chest we can open here with nothing good in it…

timrodresized: And a door that we can’t open because Makoto won’t let us. Seriously, Joker could probably clear most of this dungeon by himself. Speaking of which, I forgot that’s actually an option.

timrodresized: Sae’s shadow even has some unique dialog if you try that - I believe she’s the only boss you can actually do that against.

timrodresized: There’s also a bunch of stealables around here. We don’t really need them because we’re going to be doing excessive Mementos grinding for cash, but it helps.

Noir: “Member’s card?”

Crow: “Perhaps it bears relation to a player’s club of sorts.”

Skull: “I can’t handle your technical speak! Just gimme it straight!”

timrodresized: I feel like once, someone tried to explain to Ryuji how to toast bread and he gave up halfway through because it was too hard to understand.

Crow: “Casinos typically have a membership system called a player’s club. Some locations even have areas cordoned off for particular ranks of player. Considering the setup of this place, I thought things may be similar here.”

timrodresized: The ones around here don’t, at least not as far as I’m aware. They don’t care who you are, so long as you have money they can take.

timrodresized: My entire history with casinos is that I once won $60 at a slot machine and have never played again since.

Skull: “That’ll make this shit simple. C’mon, let’s join this player thingy.”

Crow: “I would agree with you, but…”

Noir: “A shadow!?”

Fox: “She must be daring us to challenge the security of this place to make it to her.”

Skull: “Tch, here it comes!”

timrodresized: Normally, Ose would be nothing more than a minor speed bump… and that’s actually true here.

timrodresized: Wait, is he DENNISing us?

Crow: “I promise to surpass even such lofty hopes as those.”

timrodresized: The other LP claims that Robin Hood is a ripoff of All Might. He’s not. The designer specifically said that they were going for Superman.

New Persona: Robin Hood

Origin: England

Persona 5 Original

Bandit from English folklore who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. Singlehandedly responsible for hundreds of furries.

timrodresized: We’ll get a good look at Robin Hood’s moveset in a bit, but he’s evenly split between Bless and Curse damage. He also has Megidola.

timrodresized: Ose is normally weak to Bless damage, but this particular Ose has a gimmick: it’s strong against everything, but has basically zero magic defense.

timrodresized: As such, one Megidola cooks it. While it’s impossible to get his finisher screen in this fight, I want to show it off right now because it is my favorite one.

timrodresized: He also does this stupid dance before this screen shows up.

Crow: “And I am capable of much more. Now then, let us deal with the Shadows quickly.”

Panther: “Wait. Doesn’t it sound like we’re gonna get ambushed based on what we heard earlier?”

Queen: “…I agree. I’d like to deal with them as quick as we can… but now that we have an infiltration route, I’d suggest we return for now and prepare.”

timrodresized: I mean, the only reason I agree with that is because I want to be as close to fusing Lucifer as possible before this dungeon. We also need to grind some levels to negotiate - the red shadows here are level 53.

Crow: “Very well. I trust your experience and judgment. Let us do that.”

Morgana: “The crucial moment’s finally here! Give it all you’ve got! This is a rare opportunity! Let’s steal Niijima’s heart!”

Morgana: “So people are turning on us even in his survey? Our popularity really is at an all-time low…”

timrodresized: The writers for this show are as bad as Hashino. Did they not realize that Red Eagle and Black Falcon got married at the end of Season 8?

timrodresized: The plot twist winds up being that it’s a fake betrayal, but the episode gets such low ratings due to the fanbase’s love of the bond between Feather Red and Feather Black that the studio issues an apology.

timrodresized: Tonight, we’re going to finish Featherman Seeker. We have a couple of train reading slots coming up, so we’ll use those to finish the books.

Morgana: “This is where we show them what Pigeon is all about. Let’s win this battle and graduate from trainee status!”

Morgana: “Over there! That must be our enemy!”

Morgana: “Here it comes! Get your controller ready!”

Morgana: “Let’s take him on! Feathernix Saber!”

Morgana: “All right! We beat Mosquiternum! But this guy said something weird before he died, just like the last one…”

Morgana: “Osagiri’s coming to see us in person? You think she’s going to give us a trainee graduation gift by hand?”

Morgana: “I guess this is our graduation exam. In which case… we have to win!”

Morgana: “Is she serious…? Well, I guess we don’t have time for questions! Blaster Shot!”

Morgana: “Yes! Pigeon wins!”

Morgana: “Who is that? Wait… I see five silhouettes…”

timrodresized: I wonder if this is foreshadowing something. In the actual game, I mean.

Morgana: “Whoa, it’s the Feathermen! But something about this feels off…”

Morgana: “This is getting weird… but the game isn’t giving us a choice.”

Morgana: “Let’s fight with this! Flame Bazooka!”

timrodresized: The button combos start getting kinda complex here, and so I didn’t take screenshots of any of them. They’re random anyway.

Morgana: “Executive seat? What is she talking about?”

Morgana: “I knew something was off, but I wasn’t expecting a twist like that…”

Morgana: “Whoa! Pigeon’s facing Alya now!”

Morgana: “We’ve got to take down Alya! Feather Phoenix!”

Morgana: “Did you see that? She just pressed some kind of switch!”

Morgana: “Man, she fights dirty… isn’t there anything we can do?”

Morgana: “Hey, something’s happening to Pigeon!”

Morgana: “O-Okay! Let’s awaken Pigeon’s powers!”

Morgana: “I get it! You can let the bomb blow up with just the two of you here… impressive move, Pigeon.”

Morgana: “All right, let’s enjoy this ending!”

timrodresized: Each game gives you a card at the end that you can bring to the store in Akihabara to get an accessory. Next time, we’ll finally get (and finish) Knowing the Heart. We’ll also take Shinya to Destiny Land, take Caroline and Justine to see Yusuke’s painting, and finally start Haru’s confidant.

|
|
|
|
|

Click Here for the blurred cutscene (optional)

Morgana: sigh “…There’s something else we want you to look into. One more person has been on our mind. If it’s possible, I want to eavesdrop on their phone conversation.”

Futaba: “Hmm, that’ll be tough…”

Joker: “You can do it, Futaba.”

Morgana: “I agree.”

Futaba: “Hmmm… I’d have to plant a bug directly on the phone…”

timrodresized: Wait. Hold on a second. You could wiretap Joker just fine from your bedroom! Moreover, why didn’t you just do this to Akechi instead of inviting him to the school festival?!

timrodresized: This? This right here? This is something Makoto should’ve suggested! So why the fuck didn’t she?! Who gives a shit about the whole “she might be the traitor” thing, we know she can’t be the killer!

Morgana: “So it’s impossible even for you…”

Futaba: “I didn’t say it was impossible! …Ok, I’ve got a plan!”

timrodresized: Futaba whispers something into Morgana’s ear. We already know what her plan is - we saw it in action.

Morgana: “…That’s perfect.”

Joker: “What kind of plan?”

Morgana: “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you the details later.”

timrodresized: Futaba turns and whispers to Joker now.

Joker: “Futaba’s going to do something…? I wonder if it’ll be okay…”

Futaba: “This is gonna be fun! I can’t wait!”

Ryuji: “What is this? Shonen Jump’s One Piece, written and illustrated by Eichiro Oda? Haha.”

Okay, this construction has appeared before in P5 and I’ve also seen it in a bunch of other things translated from Japanese. That’s now how you use the verb “lure”. It needs a preposition or prepositional phrase.

It’s also not true. My memory is hazy because of all the WORDS, but they targeted Okumura because of Haru, right? They were seriously considering Okumura because he was #1 in the online voting, but if anything they were over-suspicious of the poll numbers.

Also the whole “Palace” concept means that - Futaba’s depression palace aside - anyone with a Palace deserves (so to speak) to have their heart changed, so in that sense personal decision doesn’t even matter anyway…but that’s more meta-level.

They’re the same bird. Or the same genus. Large species of Corvus are ravens, smaller species are crows. But in practice ‘raven’ is just the more dramatic word for crow.

It’s amazing how the singer can simultaneously purge her Japanese accent while remaining completely incomprehensible.

I don’t love the song. I think I just don’t like whatever jazz subgenre most of P5’s music is.

The only winning move.

I absolutely do not blame you for having no memory of it, because I’m not sure the writers understood why the party went after Okumura. There are several contradictory scenes explaining it, so much that I had to go back and look it up.

First, you have the scene where the party is looking for a new target and Makoto steals the data off Sae’s laptop that suggests Okumura has some kind of connection to the killer. At that point, the party sort of kind of makes the decision to look into it but Makoto spends a lot of time grousing about it.

Then you have the scene in Hawaii, several days later, where Mishima says that he updated the site to add the target poll. Remember though, at this point the party thinks that Okumura knows something about the killer or is the killer himself.

The polls come in over the next couple of days, but before they can have any real impact, you have the scene where Morgana runs away with Haru and the party goes after him. Ultimately, they go after Okumura because Morgana dragged them into it.

Click Here for Update 79

timrodresized: This is the first time we’ve gotten to play the game in any capacity in probably an hour and a half.

Morgana: “There’s no need to get too worked up about this, right? Take as much time as you need to get ready. Anything goes as long as it helps out our mission. You have our trust. You’re our leader, after all.”

timrodresized: Boy, it sure is important that we get this mission done, so let’s instead do what P5’s plot would want us to do and go take Shinya to Destinyland.

Shinya: “I think it’s in some amusement park that has a huge castle…”

Shinya: “Really? You’ll take me there!? Today’s perfect because I don’t have school! I’m good to go right now!”

Shinya: “What do you do at an amusement park by yourself? Doesn’t it get lonely?”

Shinya: “You come here alone too, Kurusu-san!? So, it’s that fun of a place, huh…”

timrodresized: “Coming alone isn’t bad,” says the person who has never been to Destinyland alone. I suppose you could assume Caroline and Justine are invisible, which is practically the same thing.

Shinya: “Is there anything you wanna ride, Kurusu-san? There’s a few I’m curious about. You sure? Okay, then it’s settled!”

Shinya: “I wonder if we can ride them all in one day. There are lines, right? We better hurry up!”

Shinya: “…Um, actually… I’ve wanted to come here for a long time…! They gave me this. It’s… something they only give to kids, right? I’ll give you one too, Kurusu-san!”

timrodresized: This scene is something I hold up as one of the reasons why this game’s writing is shit. Not because this scene is bad - it’s not. It’s a great scene. The problem is that it’s optional.

timrodresized: Shinya has gotten more characterization out of this totally optional (and easily missed) scene than he has out of the ten fucking confidant ranks specifically designed to give him characterization.

timrodresized: We never see him outside of his “kid who acts like what he thinks adults act like” persona in his confidant, and it’s fucking stupid. What’s even dumber is that the writers realized this was a problem going in and just did nothing about it.

timrodresized: No, seriously. A big complaint about Persona 4 was that your party members only really got characterization in their social links, meaning that you could go through the entire game and learn almost nothing about them.

.

timrodresized: By the way, there are special loading screens today for the subway on account of it being Halloween. That top one is the first time we’ve seen a zombie nurse since Persona 1.

Sojiro: “Well, how do I put this… I’m glad you made it home…”

Morgana: “He doesn’t have any clues, but he’s confident enough to say he can definitely catch the guy… no wonder he’s a star detective. Even the way he talks about these things is different from us.”

timrodresized: I take a quick detour to put the balloons up. They’re some quality balloons - they’ll stay inflated for the rest of the year and then some.

timrodresized: We can trade that worthless healing item from the capsule machine in Akihabara for an Angel Badge. It’s a useless accessory that doubles your evasion against elemental magic (so no status effect spells or Megido/la/on).

timrodresized: If we walk around Kichijoji, all of the random faceless NPCs are now dressed in costumes.

timrodresized: Tonight, we’re doing another Caroline and Justine outing. This one is the second one that’s time-limited, and is not required for the big reward at the end.

Justine: "Listen closely: the place we wish to evaluate for your rehabilitation is… a repository for so-called ‘art exhibits.’ "

Caroline: “Apparently, such places collect many objects solely for the purpose of displaying them.”

Justine: “Autumn is supposedly referred to as ‘the season of the arts’ in your world, so it is especially appropriate timing. Art is an expression of the heart. It echoes the soul of both artists and viewers… or so I’ve heard.”

Justine: “The strength of one’s heart is the strength of their Persona… I am certain this place shall aid in the inmate’s rehabilitation. Does this location sound familiar to you?”

Caroline: “Ah, so you do know it! Take us there immediately, inmate!”

Justine: “What is it that humans call art? We shall see for ourselves.”

Caroline: “Are these all art exhibits? I’ve heard of them before - apparently they involve humans’ aesthetic senses or something. Let’s go inspect the premises.”

Justine: “Are you even capable of appreciating art properly?”

Caroline: “What do you mean by that!?”

Justine: “Stop shouting so loudly. The signs prohibit it.”

Caroline: “Art sure does take many forms, though. Some of the work was downright photo-realistic. Actually, wouldn’t it be easier to just take photos in those situations?”

Caroline: “And what’s with those ‘portraits’ or whatever they’re called? What’s the point of painting a giant human face?”

Justine: “Those ‘landscapes’ are even more incomprehensible. What is so interesting about paintings of some dull terrain? Where is the fun in painting living humans or scenery just so that other humans can look at it?”

timrodresized: They really should’ve had Yusuke in this scene. I mean, the Persona 1 and 2 cast got to meet Igor.

Justine: “Ah, I see now. There are paintings of flowers and noble women here that would certainly fit the description.”

timrodresized: I just want a scene where Yusuke is here and he’s whispering to Joker “Can we adopt that one? The one with the braid. Not the other one.”

Caroline: “But there are paintings of things like empty mountains and wrinkly old men, too. Is there also ‘true beauty’ in those, too? I don’t get it…”

Caroline: “Speaking of, there was one exhibit that just looked like a bunch of scribbles. Why would something like that be displayed? I can understand different art having different levels of craftsmanship, but wasn’t that simply on par with a child’s?”

Justine: “No, if anyone is the child here, it’s you. Even I could sense something special from that painting.”

Caroline: “What are you on about? It’s scribbles, any way you look at it! The face is all screwed up. The nose and ears are wrong.”

Justine: “That painting is an accurate depiction of the darkness within the human heart. How unfortunate, Caroline. It seems you lack even a shred of aesthetic sense.”

Justine: “Perhaps you lack any sense at all…”

Caroline: “Sounds like you need a good shock to the brain.”

Justine: “The same could be said for you.”

Caroline: “Hey, Inmate - are you going to tell me that mess-of-a-sketch is actually art?”

Caroline: “I get what you mean… at least, I think…”

Justine: “And I think you’re merely evading the question. I suppose we will call this one a draw, for now.”

timrodresized: Is that the first pun in this game?

Caroline: “500 million… that makes no sense whatsoever.”

Justine: “I wholly agree with you on that. This requires further study. Let us continue to inspect the premises.”

Caroline: “But that last sculpture we saw… that was nothing but a tasteless reproduction of a naked body. Are you really gonna tell me that THAT counts as art too?”

timrodresized: Oh great, Joker’s going to have to explain to her what horny is.

Justine: “I thought this human concept of beauty simply took many forms, but it has spread all the way into the realm of the bizarre. Why do human even pursue this ‘beauty’ in the first place?”

Justine: “Do you also waste your efforts striving towards beauty, inmate?”

Caroline: “But anyway, we’ve seen the art that humans are so fond of. This assigment is officially complete.”

Justine: “Here is your reward.”

Caroline: “I still haven’t learned why some of the humans call autumn the ‘season of the arts,’ though… well, whatever. How about we head back and try to make our own paintings?”

Justine: “A fine idea. What shall we paint?”

Caroline: “A guillotine?”

Justine: “…The master?”

Caroline: “…Eh, we’ll figure it out when we’re back. Hey, Inmate! Get to stepping.”

timrodresized: We get a free reading slot thanks to Kawakami, so let’s go ahead and finish Reckless Casanova.

Morgana: “So, you’ve finished reading Reckless Casanova. Casanova? Psh… seems to me he was more like a shameless pervert than a stud. Well, at least you’ve learned about the nuances of sex appeal.”

timrodresized: Knowing the Heart is very much worth it.

timrodresized: There’s also a thing I haven’t shown off yet that we could have done weeks ago, which is drawing on the blackboard.

timrodresized: This gets you two points to Guts the first time you do it… but why would you need that? You’ve got maxed stats.

Morgana: “They’re treating us like villains or something… damn it…”

timrodresized: Today, we start Haru’s confidant. In the base game, you wind up maxing her maybe two weeks before the end of the game. The good news is that most of our existing confidants will be maxed by the end of November, so we can focus almost entirely on her.

Sojiro: “It’s all good. Not like I have customers to deal with. So… this is what you grew?”

Haru: “Yes. I’d like an honest opinion from a culinary professional.”

Sojiro: “Let me see…”

timrodresized: Sojiro just ripping into this girl’s vegetables.

Haru: “I see.”

Sojiro: “But, it’s impressive you managed to grow anything at all up on a rooftop of all places.”

Haru: “I’m honored to hear you say that.”

Sojiro: “Y’know… I can’t say it tasted good, but it was actually somewhat refreshing. Kinda like how you feel good after taking bitter medicine.”

Haru: “Hmmm… I first came across the plant in my house… it’s possible that it’s an experimental breed created for use at Okumura Foods… thank you very much for the input, Sakura-san. I’ll take note of that.”

timrodresized: You know, that joke I made about Okumura Foods being an Umbrella front makes a lot more sense now.

Haru: “…He’s right. That was the same thought I had. I think I understand what Sakura-san meant when he said they were refreshing.”

timrodresized: Haru’s entire confidant is a mystery from a design perspective. Getting higher ranks makes the vegetables restore more SP… but I’m pretty sure growing them takes time and you already have Sojiro/Kawakami for that if you really need it.

Haru: “I agree! …I’m so happy. I didn’t expect this hobby of mine to provide value to the Phantom Thieves. This is actually the only thing I can honestly say I’m good at.”

Haru: “Thank you for worrying about me, but I find the work relaxing. Hey, um… do you think you could help me out again sometime? Like you did today.”

timrodresized: It sounds like there’s another choice here, but there isn’t. Joker just nods his head.

Haru: “Okay, I’ll do my best from now on!”

timrodresized: Here’s the thing about this. You can’t start Haru’s confidant until 10/30, long after Okumura’s palace is already over. Why doesn’t she just say Okumura Foods?

Haru: “Still, he was right… the taste leaves much to be desired…”

Haru: “Oh! If there are any vegetables you’d like in particular, just let me know. I certainly have plenty of seeds, so if you have a preference, I’ll prioritize growing those first.”

Haru: “Of course. I won’t let you down. I may not be very good yet, but I’ll contribute to the Phantom Thieves in my own way. All right, I’m going home for the day. See you later.”

timrodresized: Tonight, we’re going to pick up Sojiro’s Mementos request, which is very different from all of the other confidants.

timrodresized: I’m pretty sure that doing this event locks both Futaba and Sojiro’s confidant until you’ve cleared the Mementos request, which can be a bit tricky if you’re underlevelled or if Joker can’t heal himself.

Futaba: “Hmmmmmmmmm… maybe curry spaghetti! And curry udon! Oh, and curry croquettes, and curry pizza!”

Sojiro: “You really like curry that much…? Well, I guess it’d be pretty easy given the current menu. I’ll give it some thought. How about you? Anything you’d wanna add to the menu?”

Sojiro: “You’re hooked too, huh?”

Futaba: “Of course he is! That stuff’s super addicting, man!”

timrodresized: I mean, I only picked it because it’s the answer that gets us the most points.

Sojiro: “…Leave now, or else I’ll be forced to contact the police. I’m not giving you a penny.”

Futaba: “Stop it! Sojiro didn’t do anything wrong!”

Sojiro: “We can take it to court if you really want. Don’t underestimate how hard I’m willing to fight.”

Sojiro: “Not only do you have massive debt, but I heard you failed in your most recent business venture. How do you think the court would respond if they knew how wasteful you were with your money…?”

timrodresized: I think the writers realized how ridiculous this entire thing is, and that’s why they don’t give Sojiro a real Mementos request.

Sojiro: “What are you talking about? You clearly fell down on your own.”

Sojiro: sigh “God damn… what a pain in the ass. Don’t you have enough problems already?”

Sojiro: “Nobody said you did anything wrong. To be honest, it should’ve been me trying to stop him. Are you okay, Futaba?”

Futaba: “But Uncle said he’s gonna sue…”

Sojiro: “Don’t worry… no matter what ends up happening to me or this store, I won’t let them lay a finger on you two. I’m your guardian, after all. I have a duty to protect the both of you.”

Sojiro: “So don’t go doing anything like that again, you hear? I appreciate the spirit you showed though.”

Sojiro: “Anyway, I’m done for the day. Take care of closing up for me. Let’s go, Futaba.”

timrodresized: So much for the whole Chronicle “Everyone has to agree to the target” bit.

timrodresized: Dammit, I forgot the date change thing again.

Kawakami: “We’ve gone through pretty much all the school events now, so that frees you up for studying. It’ll be getting colder from now on, so wrap up warm and don’t get sick.”

Kawakami: “I mean it. If you even THINK you’ve got a fever, then go see the nurse. Oh, speaking of the nurse’s office… Dr. Maruki’s going to be leaving us on the 18th. If you need to talk to him, now’s the time.”

timrodresized: We’ll be finishing Maruki’s confidant on the 17th.

Kawakami: “He was kind of a quiet guy, but it was nice having him around… I’ll be kind of sad to see him go. So if he helped any of you feel better, make sure you thank him before he’s gone.”

Kawakami: “…Anyway, time to start class.”

Morgana: “Man, time really flies… a whole year’s gone by already.”

Futaba: “About my uncle, um… I wanna head into Mementos right now.”

timrodresized: If you want an easy time with this, you want to go in with Shiki-Ouji - or the “picaro” version of Izanagi if you have the DLC enabled. Or you could, you know, just go in with Baal.

Futaba: “This is a family issue, so I wanna do it alone with you. Oh, and I sent my uncle an anonymous letter, so the calling card part’s taken care of.”

Oracle: “He’s saying ‘money, money’… he forced Sojiro to pay back his debts. He made me go through horrible things, too.”

Oracle: “Joker, make him have a change of heart!”

Futaba: “I’m not getting destroyed by someone like him! Let’s go, Joker!”

timrodresized: Shadow Isshiki is not a standard Girimehkala. He’s neutral to everything, and as such lacks the Wage War -> Reflect instakill. The bad news is that he has boss HP.

timrodresized: Isshiki will only spam a single physical skill at you, and if he gets a knockdown via crit will then Tarukaja himself to increase his damage.

timrodresized: The reason you want to go in with Shiki-Ouji (and not Arahabaki or a Persona that reflects physical damage) is because if you reflect physical at any point (either naturally or via Tetrakarn), Shadow Isshiki will stop using physical skills and start using Megidola.

timrodresized: Status effects are also a non-starter (outside of maybe Shock) due to Shadow Isshiki having a skill that cuts their duration, making it harder to get technicals.

Oracle: “You were thinking about Mom…?”

Oracle: “Uncle…”

timrodresized: Another useless Morgana weapon. This one is one of those “low damage, high crit” weapons that have never been good in any game ever.

Oracle: “Now he won’t sue anyone, right? Sojiro’s safe now!”

timrodresized: We’ll check in with Sojiro tomorrow. Right now, it’s time to get the single best ability in the game at this point.

Chihaya: “The chairman turned himself in! It’s even shown up on the news!”

Chihaya: “I expected nothing less! It all happened so suddenly too. He confessed all of his crimes… the police came to question me after that, but they ultimately concluded that I’m innocent.”

Chihaya: “Apparently the chairman took full responsibility for the ADP and admitted he was brainwashing all of its members. Oh, and speaking of members, some of them said they’ve stopped using the Holy Stones because of my advice.”

Chihaya: “It was all the clients you sat in with, Kurusu-san! You know, I never saw this as a possible outcome in my readings. Not only have the fates of the ADP members improved, but even my own has begun to shift…”

Chihaya: “Me…? Right, I remember. Strong conviction is the only way to change fate. That reminds me, my readings told me that I would accomplish my objective with the aid of the Trickster…”

Chihaya: “But I’m not sure what exactly that was supposed to mean. It’s such a mystery… that aside, the ADP is finished. Nobody else will be deceived.”

Chihaya: “Oh, I just realized something… remember how I told you how the chairman knew I was a runaway? Well, I was wandering around the city with luggage at my side. Anyone could have figured that out, huh…?”

Chihaya: “I know how fragile I was back then… but it’s still embarrassing to think I let myself believe he was a psychic! But… I guess some men are good at knowing when a woman is vulnerable.”

Chihaya: “Are you one of those men, Kurusu-san…? The truth is, there’s actually something else besides the chairman that I want to talk to you about.”

timrodresized: Joker reflexively pulls out his air horn. “No.”

timrodresized: Unfortunately, this is the ‘correct’ answer. Yes, this can happen after Joker declares his undying love for Yusuke on stage.

Chihaya: “I-I mean, how interesting… oh, sorry! If we have time to waste talking about nonsense like that, we have time to read fortunes, right?”

timrodresized: Oh yes. Before, I had to farm alarms. No longer. As I understand it, this boosts the alarm rate to the point where as long as you are in Mementos or a dungeon, you will always have an alarm available.

timrodresized: We will be using this on our next Mementos trip to get most of the ultimate guns in one go.

Chihaya: “Even though the chairman turned himself in, there are still some things left unresolved. Most importantly, the other members of the ADP are still confused as to what exactly is going on.”

Chihaya: “So… I need to set things straight. This is partially my fault, after all. Right… the real battle starts now.”

Chihaya: “It’s getting late. I should close up for today. Good night, Kurusu-san.”

Chihaya: “I’m only a country bumpkin who ran from her hometown. What can I really accomplish…? And then I realized something. I could’ve easily ran away from the chairman, like I did back then…”

Chihaya: “But I didn’t. I stood firm. And I think that’s thanks to your influence.”

Chihaya: “Nonsense. I’m not that strong of a person. I only got this far because I had you at my side. In other words, I think this was all part of our fate!”

Chihaya: “I’ll do my best to give them hope. The same hope you gave me. I can’t turn my back on the ADP members any longer. I hope you’ll keep watching over me through it all. Until next time!”

timrodresized: And now, time for all that reading to pay off.

Morgana: “Even the smallest sound can seem frightening, depending on the situation…”

Morgana: “So, you’ve finished reading Knowing the Heart. I saw on the back that it’s banned from being sold… I’m not surprised though, given what we just read.”

timrodresized: I did some digging to find out if this is based on an actual book, and as far as I can tell it’s not. Japan’s government (at least, post-war) has never banned a book as far as I can find.

timrodresized: There’s also no comprehensive resource detailing books that might be banned specifically in Tokyo, but I did find a couple of results… one of which has direct ties to SMT 1.

timrodresized: In 1998, a court banned sales of the book “Yukio Mishima: The Sword and the Red Pigment of Winter”, which contained a series of letters between Yukio Mishima (who Atlus based Gotou on in SMT 1) and Jiro Fukushima detailing a gay affair they had.

timrodresized: The book was banned because Mishima’s kids asserted copyright over the letters (read: did not want to admit that their dad was gay or bisexual) and won a lawsuit over it.

timrodresized: As you can see here, this just makes technicals easier to achieve, particularly with Confuse, and makes them less dependent on having Haru in the group.

Akechi: “I trust you haven’t forgotten about the deadline? I’m going to give it everything I have, for your sake as well. Also, once the Phantom Thieves finish this final job, I don’t think I’ll be seeing you privately like this anymore.”

Akechi: “Don’t get me wrong, it was time well spent. A part of me is sad to see it end. But once you’ve disbanded, everyone’s going to be busy looking for the culprit behind the psychotic breakdowns.”

Akechi: “Until that happens though, let’s continue to work together. Now then, I’ll be going.”

Inui: “There were those incidents in April, then the Phantom Thieves and the principal… sigh. Yes… as you young folk might say, the situation is indeed quite wack.”

Inui: “Perhaps you’re wondering why I used such hip terminology, hm? Now then, Kurusu-kun. The word ‘wack’ was originally part of a code used by ancient thieves. Can you tell me the meaning of the word ‘wack’ in Thieves’ Cant?”

Inui: “Correct. You know a lot about this, do you…? I daresay you must be pretty wack, yourself. …I’m joking, of course. Still, you must be quite diligent in your studies.”

Inui: “Thieves of olden days might have worked in groups, but at the end of the day, they all expected to get their cut. If you wanted your part of a haul of riches your group stole, you would demand your wack, you see.”

Inui: “If today’s youth are freely using Thieves’ Cant to each other in broad daylight… then truly, we live in wack times indeed.”

timrodresized: This feels like Hashino channeling his complete lack of understanding of how teenagers behave into a single scene.

Morgana: “…I’ve been listening to a lot of teenagers, but I’m not sure I’ve ever heard them say that… still, he’s trying so hard, it would be a shame to correct him.”

Haru: “I didn’t realize we take the same train.”

Makoto: “Haru… what a coincidence - I was just thinking of you.”

Haru: “Oh, were you?”

timrodresized: Boy, those sure are some gay undertones. I wonder if the writers for Royal did this to spite Hashino.

Makoto: “Yep. How should I put this… our battles from this point forward are only going to get tougher, right? So, I’ve been reflecting on our approaches to combat in the hopes of finding some new tactics.”

Makoto: “In the end, I came up with something, but I realized I’ll need your help with it.”

Haru: “Me? Sure! If I can be of any help, I’d love to work with you on this!”

Makoto: “I appreciate it. So… what I’m thinking is…”

Haru: “Mako-chan?”

Makoto: “Heh… now that I think about it, this is probably going to sound rather absurd.”

Haru: “Don’t worry. If it’s your idea, Mako-chan, I’m sure it’ll be great.”

Makoto: “I’m glad to hear you say that. Well, ready to hear it?”

Haru: “…Huh?”

timrodresized: Time to borrow footage. This is the last Showtime we’ll unlock until after the base game ends. It’s called “PTE Thwackdown” in English and “Last Countdown” in Japanese.

timrodresized: I have to wonder why they didn’t name the Japanese version after New Japan Pro Wrestling instead of a totally unrelated movie that was basically propaganda for the US Navy.

timrodresized: Wait, hold on… it’s because just like The Final Countdown, Makoto takes up a lot of screen time and doesn’t accomplish very much.

Makoto: “So, any thoughts?”

Haru: “What a great idea! I’d be honored to help.”

Makoto: “Oh, thank you. Well, I hope it works out.”

Haru: “Mmhm, just leave it to me! But wow, Mako-chan. You come up with some pretty bold moves sometimes. I really look up to you for that.”

Makoto: “Do you? I’m not sure how that makes me feel, but thank you.”

Haru: “The star will grant us our wish if it’s based on such a great plan. I’m positive!”

timrodresized: The game then forces us to go to the hideout. Nothing new happens there (there’s a brief exchange about the deadline, but we don’t care). Instead, we’ll do Futaba’s confidant and pick up her Mementos request.

Futaba: “But… she never continued on to high school. I decided to do some digging into why that might be, and… well… the more I dug, the worse it got…”

Futaba: “Her parents are in heavy debt due to a gambling addiction. So… instead of sending her to school, they make her work and help try and pay it off.”

Futaba: “…Apparently, they’re still having her model in strange clothes. They’re even selling the pictures now… that’s right. They can’t just use Kana-chan like some tool!”

timrodresized: This is one of the few times where I can tell the whole thing with them re-using the “biological family has a gambling addiction” bit is intentional, rather than just lazy writing.

Futaba: “Actually though, Kana-chan herself made a request on the Phan-Site. Based on the IP and other tracking data, I’m 99.9% sure it’s her.”

Futaba: “The post was basically just her asking us to make her parents have a change of heart… but she didn’t put their names. She might be a little hesitant. Or… she doesn’t totally believe in the Phantom Thieves yet.”

Futaba: “Either way, I have a solution. I found her parents’ names in the address book we got way back in elementary school. Kouta Magario and Asami Magario.”

timrodresized: It’s a-me, Magario! Wait… is that what they’re having her dress like?

Futaba: “I got a hit for them from the Meta-Nav too… we can fix them. I’ve decided, Akira… I wanna go to Mementos and change their hearts. We can’t let them keep treating Kana-chan so horribly, right?”

Futaba: “Please, help me save her!”

timrodresized: So… what Joker’s saying is that he’ll save her life, not for honor, but for you (snake eater)? Is there going to be a ladder involved? Is Futaba still in a dream where she’s eating a tree frog?

Futaba: “Akira…! Thanks! Oh, and since you’re gonna help me with this, I’ll have to return the favor. Hmhmhm… I’ll look extra hard for valuable stuff when we’re in the Metaverse! Well? Pretty good, huh?”

timrodresized: In the base game, Treasure Reboot was an AMAZING ability. If you were farming in a palace, you could use this to get extra money while doing so.

timrodresized: The problem is that farming is largely a Mementos thing now due to Insta-Kill giving you money and EXP as well as because of Jose’s ability that gives you extra items every time you hit an item pickup.

Futaba: “Welp, I’ll be counting on you! Let’s save Kana-chan!”

Futaba: “…Oh shoot, it’s getting late. Let us adjourn for today!”

timrodresized: We’ll finish this update with Akechi, and avoid a MAJOR permafuck while doing so. Seriously, this entire event is a potential run killer if you’re a speedrunner.

Akechi: “You can’t simply strike the ball you’re aiming for. You have to be indirect, but precise, to land it in the pocket…”

Akechi: “Precisely. And the most interesting part is that it has so many parallels to a theoretical ‘perfect crime.’ You eliminate your target without ever directly connecting yourself to it. I don’t suppose that rings any bells?”

timrodresized: God dammit, he’s really going to just keep hinting at it, isn’t he?

Akechi: “That’s right. Even in the cases of criminals’ hearts being changed, too. Everything happening around us, every inconsequential event, may be one ball striking another.”

timrodresized: Akechi hits the green ball and it simply bounces off the side without going into the pocket.

Akechi: “And despite the player’s best intentions, the ball may strike many unrelated obstacles in its path. Even then, do you still intend to play this game?”

timrodresized: Joker effortlessly sinks the yellow ball. I mean, what was Akechi thinking? Joker knows how to do the Masse Shot.

Akechi: “That was quite a heated match. Shall we cool off in the evening breeze for a moment?”

Akechi: “I see. So we even share that perspective, do we…? You truly are fascinating. Remember when I said before that you and I are similar? We’re both victims of unjust adults. And now, we have the will and power to rise up against them.”

Akechi: “Yet I’m doing so as a detective, and you’re acting as a phantom thief. Our stances couldn’t be more different.”

Akechi: “…For now, yes. But even that united front will soon end. And after that, everything will return to the way it was, no? Why not join me instead…? All you’d have to do is abandon the teammates you have now.”

Akechi: “How about it?”

timrodresized: It is VERY IMPORTANT that you pick the bottom option here. Supposedly, the top one will still work, but every source I’ve seen (as well as knowing how the bad ending works in the base game) says you need to pick the bottom one.

timrodresized: Picking the middle option (and possibly the top one) is a permafuck. It will lock you out of content, including a confidant event.

Akechi: “Ahah… you truly are intriguing. I agree. I think a relationship of equals suits us better than being co-conspirators, anyway… no matter what else may change.”

Akechi: “In any case, what you just said carries great weight. Remember what you decided, and don’t run from it. All right? That said, as long as we’re working together, you’ll have my strength.”

Akechi: “Rest assured, I’ll do my part. You’ll find me very useful indeed.”

Akechi: “Ah, that reminds me. I did say that if you ever beat me using my right hand, I’d face you with all my ability… well. I’ll keep that in mind. Well then, farewell for now.”

Akechi: “You never cease to amaze me. It wasn’t against my dominant hand, of course, but I still can’t believe you beat me. Your competitive spirit definitely deserves praise.”

Akechi: “You really were terrible at first. But you caught up to me in no time… I have to ask - why do you get so competitive against me?”

Akechi: “…! Haha… yes, that’s right. Neither of us can afford to lose, because we fight in service of our principles. And that is precisely why… I cannot allow you to change.”

timrodresized: The writers really, really wanted to appease the gay Akechi fanbase. There’s one person I saw on Pixiv who did an entire More Like Yusu-Gay but for Akechi. Speaking of which, Salty Vanilla is almost done with that piece for the school festival.

Akechi: “As you are now, as you think now… I cannot allow you to win over me. …Well, perhaps that’s a bit much. I’ll let you go for now. Good night.”

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll unlock the final Mementos request we need to 100% the game. We’ll also kick Akechi’s ass, see Chihaya’s Rank 9 (and Rank 10) and finally get our money back for that holy stone.

timrodresized: Here’s the More Like Yusu-Gay piece for the school festival… which also doubles as the final shot of the Showtime attack Joker and Yusuke have together.

timrodresized: This is, of course, by Salty Vanilla.

Click Here for Update 80

timrodresized: We start off today by going to the arcade in Akihabara to start the process of getting Shinya’s Mementos request… but first, there’s a new thing we can get from the crane game.

timrodresized: I could’ve sworn Lexy was from something, but I guess not. This is another thing we can put on top of Joker’s work desk.

Shinya: “But my mom told them that it was the kid’s own fault for having his money taken… she just told them to leave without hearing what they had to say. Something’s wrong… with my mom.”

Shinya: “The other day she called my school to complain that the cost of lunch is too high. I begged her not to do it, but she said it’s for my own good… I doubt it was really 'cause of me though.”

timrodresized: She was actually complaining that they gave him lunch at all, because the only thing he should be eating is the weak.

Shinya: “Once everyone finds out, I’m gonna get made fun of again… but… she told me that once you stop fighting, you lose. And that those who complain, win.”

timrodresized: Or she’s just a super-Karen.

Shinya: “My mom was never like this before… she never used to care about stuff like winning or losing…”

Shinya: “Wh-what?”

Shinya: “S-Stop it…!”

timrodresized: Joker: “Uh… get a coffee without calling the police?”

Shinya: “M-Mom! Kurusu-san is…”

Shinya: “Stop it… Mom…”

Shinya: “But…”

Shinya: “…Y-Yes.”

Shinya: “I just wanted to say, I’m really sorry about earlier!”

Shinya: “Ugh… already!? Crap, I gotta go… I don’t like the person my mom’s turned into. She won’t listen to anything I say…”

Shinya: “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about today… um, do you think the Phantom Thieves can turn my mom back into her old self…?”

Shinya: “Please tell the Phantom Thieves… to change my mom back… to the way she used to be…”

timrodresized: I like this specific part of this scene, because like that optional scene, it’s got Shinya breaking character.

Shinya: “Her name? It’s Hanae… Hanae Oda… I gotta go. Let’s play again sometime. Um, and please don’t hate me…”

timrodresized: Strangely, even though we know what his request is, we don’t actually get it from this event. Shinya is great in that we don’t need to waste a night solely to get his request: instead, we get it during his Rank 8 event.

Ryuji: “And we’re gonna do it by changin’ his mom’s heart? …I bet that was a real tough decision to make.”

Ann: “I mean, he’s only in elementary school, right? This is a lot for a little kid to be dealing with…”

Makoto: “You’re right… we should try to help him as soon as possible. As for the calling card, let’s have him deliver it himself.”

Morgana: “So I guess this counts as a unanimous decision?”

timrodresized: Joker’s room is going to start filling up with stuff pretty fast from this point onward.

Sojiro: “…You’re not to blame. I’ll chase out anyone who says otherwise.”

Sojiro: “Thanks. I’m letting you handle today’s curry.”

Futaba: “N-No… we didn’t make it… Uncle sent his report to the police before we could make him have a change of heart…!”

Sojiro: “…Fine by me. I’ve got nothing to hide. Please, take a seat.”

Sojiro: “It’s true that Futaba was living as a shut-in, but she overcame that weakness under her own power. And… I would never abuse her. She’s like a daughter to me.”

Futaba: “You’re wrong…!”

Sojiro: “The kid never laid a finger on that guy. He just stood in the way to try and protect Futaba.”

Sojiro: “Well… there you have it.”

Futaba: “I… I’m okay. I couldn’t go out for a while… but everyone helped me get better. I’m not afraid anymore. Th-that’s why… I’m really happy living with my d-dad!”

timrodresized: While I was writing this, I found out that the person working on the fan translation for Eternal Punishment PSP has released a new video. There is progress being made on it.

timrodresized: Atlus also made a number of announcements about Persona as a series, including a possible tease of Persona 6 or a PS5 version of Persona 5.

timrodresized: Interestingly, this included new official artwork of both Jihei and Tatsuya, which has not been done in… some time.

timrodresized: Let’s be real here, it’s going to be some merch and a couple of drama CDs or other shit that will never be released in the US. My hopes are currently on the fan translation of Eternal Punishment.

Sojiro: “It’s not just her, idiot. There’s another pretty important person living here too.”

Futaba: “Yeah, yeah! He’s talking about you, Akira!”

Sojiro: sniff “This is 'cause you punks just had to go and say all that cheesy stuff…”

Futaba: “It wasn’t cheesy! It was the truth! Anyways, I hungerrr! Gimme some curry!”

Sojiro: “Heh, so much for the sentimental moment. All right, sit your butts down. This is where you two belong.”

Futaba: “Mweheh! C’mon, Akira! It’s time to eat!”

timrodresized: Unlike the confidants that have romance routes, I’m not going to do Sojiro’s Rank 10 immediately. I could have because we have a free night coming up due to finishing Yoshida early… but we’re going to use that to finish Chihaya instead.

timrodresized: The reason for this is that Chihaya doesn’t have a lot of nights where you can do her Rank 9 and Rank 10 in close proximity, and we’re coming up on one of the last chances to do that.

timrodresized: The other reason is that while Chihaya does have a unique non-rankup scene we haven’t seen, it doesn’t happen until after she’s hit Rank 10.

Sojiro: “Oh, and uh… Futaba. What you said before… when you called me your dad… do you, um, think you could say that again?”

Futaba: “Sorry, I didn’t catch that. My stomach was too grumbly! What’d you say?”

Sojiro: “I just wanted to talk. It’s hard to say some things right in front of Futaba… so… she called me ‘dad.’ Hell of a title. Not one I thought I’d ever get, but…”

Sojiro: “It’s kinda nice having someone to sit and eat with. Especially when she’s such a big fan of my cooking. God, I’m a joke. Getting all sentimental like this? At my age?”

Sojiro: “She really did. I’ve never seen her that confident in front of a total stranger… whoa, it’s pretty late already. Sorry to make you listen through all that.”

Sojiro: “Still, I guess there’s nothing wrong with a little sappiness now than then. Even from an old grump like me. Alright, I’m gonna head to sleep. Don’t catch a cold, okay? See you.”

timrodresized: We get a reminder from Haru about the palace, but I’m not going to bother showing it.

Chouno: “The Phantom Thieves should target somewhere bigger, more global - not this tiny island country. Like… oh, I don’t know, the casino city of Las Vegas or something.”

Chouno: “It was like a dream when I went there… hehe, I might not look it, but I’m good at card games.”

timrodresized: This is how you know she’s never been to Vegas. When I went, I had trouble finding anything that used actual cards - most of it is slots and electronic versions of card games.

Chouno: “The four suits of cards all symbolize something. By the way, Mr. Kurusu. Look at this.”

Chouno: “Excellent! The spade is a sword. Almost looks like one if you squint, right? And the heart is the Holy Grail. The heart was originally drawn as a cup.”

Chouno: “However, there are cards that belong to no class. In other words, they have no suit. The only card without a suit is the joker.”

timrodresized: Why would you say ‘cards’ plural when there’s only one?

Chouno: “Some theories say it originates from the Fool in tarot decks, but no one knows where it really came from. However, both are trump cards that can bring about unexpected effects. How you use them is critical.”

Morgana: “You heard her, Joker. Pretty good name, if I do say so myself. I kinda wish I’d given myself a cooler name.”

Shinya: ‘Hanae Oda’… my mom!? The Phantom Thieves are targeting my mom…? So she IS bad after all…"

Shinya: “Thanks… but my mom just isn’t herself. She used to be so nice… mom… do you think they’ll actually be able to change her heart?”

Shinya: “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. They ARE the Phantom Thieves, after all! So… someone has to give this to my mom, right? …Okay, I’ll do it.”

Shinya: “I… It IS kind of my fault… that my mom got this way… she had to deal with a lot, raising me on her own… she had to get stronger, 'cause I was so weak… but that’s not an excuse to hurt the people around her…!”

Shinya: “She fights with everyone, about everything, and ends up getting hurt… at this rate, my mom’s gonna break… I want my mom to realize that she doesn’t have to be strong for me anymore.”

Shinya: “But she won’t listen to me when I tell her that… that’s why I wanna help the Phantom Thieves. I wanna stop my mom.”

Shinya: “Kurusu-san… okay, I’ll give her the calling card. She’s my mom, after all. I really want to help her! The next time you see the Phantom Thieves, please tell them I said thank you.”

Shinya: “And thanks for talking to them about this, Kurusu-san. I’m going to teach you my best, strongest move…”

timrodresized: The bad news is that Bullet Hail actually does meaningful damage now, and if we get one that makes it harder to reach a negotiation. The good news is that we won’t need to negotiate anymore.

Shinya: “Hey, do me a favor… don’t tell anyone you saw me crying earlier, okay? Oh, and say hi to the Phantom Thieves for me. Later.”

timrodresized: Before we move on to the next scene with Akechi, we have a crossword puzzle to do.

timrodresized: Just like Akechi’s Rank 7, his Rank 8 also has a permafuck in it. This event will also kind of spoil who the killer is and also make the plot make a lot less sense. This scene is also why I chose to include the blurred cutscenes as they happen.

Akechi: “Do you have some time? I want to talk to you about something… it’d be best if we went somewhere where there aren’t many people around. How about, let’s say, Mementos? …Nobody can get in our way there.”

Morgana: “He wants the two of you to go to Mementos alone? Well, you guys are strong enough that you should be fine, but… be ready for anything, I guess.”

timrodresized: Before you go in, you’re going to want a Persona that is not weak to Bless or Curse.

timrodresized: This scene feels like it was supposed to happen at some point after the casino but before the part where Joker gets caught, but instead it happens here. No, really, it has to be done before you finish Sae’s palace.

timrodresized: But yeah, if it wasn’t obvious enough, this scene makes it clear that Akechi is the killer. The thing is, no one in the party knows this for sure yet - so this will make a lot of scenes later on seem stupid.

timrodresized: It creates this void where Joker knows Akechi’s true identity this early… but just doesn’t tell anyone or take any kind of action on it.

Crow: "Remember what I told you? If you ever won against me using my right hand, I’d take you on with everything I’ve got.

Crow: “That wasn’t enough to satisfy me… it’s your own fault, though. Your insight allowing you to determine my dominant hand, your quick wit, and most of all, how fast you’ve grown…”

Crow: “You’ve exceeded my expectations in every way. Thus, I’ve built up this urge to duel you without holding anything back.”

timrodresized: There’s also the question of “If Akechi has a real gun, why doesn’t he just use it?”

Crow: “Thank you for indulging my selfish request. No need for pleasantries at this point, correct?”

timrodresized: We couldn’t really see it earlier, but Akechi’s choice of melee weapon is a toy lightsaber. His usual gun is a toy laser pistol. The answer to “Why do these things work when they’re clearly toys” is “Because Akechi is badly written”.

timrodresized: In fact, that’s going to be the answer to a lot of things involving Akechi.

timrodresized: Akechi uses all the skills we’ve seen him with: Megaton Raid (single-target physical), Megidola, Eiga and Kouga.

timrodresized: I have Baal use Ayamur. It does something like 1500 damage and nearly ends this fight in one go.

timrodresized: At low HP, Akechi switches to Megidola… which still barely registers damage. Joker is pretty overpowered right now.

timrodresized: This only does 103 damage because the fight is scripted to end when Akechi reaches a certain HP threshold.

Crow: “You’ve caught up to me on this front already, too…”

Crow: “Of course not… but if we go any further, we’d both go beyond the point of no return, wouldn’t we? In all honestly, I’d love to see just how far we can go…”

timrodresized: Joker: “Look, I have a boyfriend.”

Crow: “But we have an important mission coming up. Until that’s finished, you’re a vital ally to me. …We’re done here. Let’s go.”

Akechi: “In all honesty, it’s to the point that I’d be relying on you in a pinch.”

Akechi: “Is that so? Well, that would please me greatly. I’m sorry I asked you to indulge me, but I do feel a bit better now.”

Akechi: “By the way, about that duel - if we had fought to the end, do you see yourself winning?”

timrodresized: I mean, we would’ve killed him had the game not scripted the fight to end. He’s just lucky we haven’t gone to Mementos yet. Seriously, that update’s going to be some shit.

Akechi: “I had a feeling you’d say that.”

timrodresized: Oh wow, Akechi knows how I feel about this game’s writing and Hashino. Oh, and my feelings about YIIK.

Akechi: “Your deft handling of your unfortunate circumstances, your uniqueness, your ability to surpass me - all these irritate me. …You’re the one person I refuse to lose to.”

Akechi: “Without a doubt. Even I was unaware that it was this severe. I’ll let you have this win today - but next time, I will be victorious. Let this be my proof.”

Akechi: “There’s a tradition in the West to throw one’s glove at their opponent when demanding a duel. Should the opponent accept the glove, the duel is also accepted.”

timrodresized: How is there not an equivalent of that in Japan?

timrodresized: This is the other permafuck in Akechi’s confidant. If you don’t accept the duel, you get locked out of content.

Akechi: “Make certain that you never forget: I am the one who will defeat you. Ah, look at the time. Let’s call it a day for now.”

timrodresized: We have a reading slot on the train, but we don’t have anything worth reading… except Jun’s book. I refuse to believe he didn’t write this.

timrodresized: We then get a second reading period. Oh well, let’s read about a pope that doesn’t exist. We’ve had that book for months now.

Morgana: “A legendary female pope, huh? Do you think she really existed?”

timrodresized: We’ve been over this, Morgana.

Morgana: “So, you’ve finished reading The Illusory Popess. Maybe the people of that era made up this mysterious female pope, but she’s still an inspirational figure.”

Morgana: “Pope Johanna, loved by so many… reading about her must have taught you the value of forgiveness…”

timrodresized: The after-school period is spent doing Makoto’s Rank 10, which we’ve already seen. We’ll just go right to doing Mishima’s Rank 8.

Mishima: “Let’s go somewhere close then!”

Mishima: “Sorry, one sec. That was from Akiyama-kun. He said he wants me to stop by. Apparently he’s pretty close. It sounded serious… I don’t think we should ignore him. Can you come with me?”

Mishima: “F-Friends?”

timrodresized: Oh look, it’s another scene straight out of Yakuza. Hooray.

timrodresized: Seriously though this is the most cliched yakuza bullshit there is. I don’t think you can have a yakuza story (Way of the House Husband doesn’t count) without this exact scene.

Mishima: “A-Akiyama-kun…”

Mishima: “Kurusu…run.”

Mishima: “A-Are you sure? I don’t want to get you involved… though having you here is definitely reassuring. …I think I have an idea. It’s risky, but it might just work.”

Mishima: “If anything happens to me, take care of Akiyama-kun, Kurusu.”

Mishima: “C-Crap, I bit my tongue…”

Mishima: “U-U-Ummm… you’d better lay off Akiyama-kun! I’ve been taking a video of this whole conversation!”

Mishima: “If you do anything to Akiyama-kun or his girlfriend, I’ll bring it straight to the police! Oh, and don’t get any ideas about breaking my phone. It backs up to the cloud automatically.”

timrodresized: That line doesn’t work when this is a fucking anime game!

Mishima: “Urgh…”

Mishima: “Kurusu… you’re right.”

Mishima: “Look, I know you guys are supposed to be tough and all… but are you sure it’s really worth getting arrested again over something like this? I mean, this video is definitely enough to get you guys busted given your previous criminal records.”

Mishima: “It doesn’t matter how. Just leave Akiyama-kun alone and we’ll be even! Then if you keep your word, I’ll delete the video. The backup too.”

Mishima: “N-No!”

timrodresized: Mishima is going to cry. Then they’ll be sorry.

Mishima: “My whole act would’ve broken down if they didn’t back off when they did. Hahaha… I really suck, huh?”

Mishima: “Yup, the whole thing. The truth is, I’ve dealt with enough bullying to know guys like that have probably been arrested at least once. Oh, and… thanks for sticking by me, Kurusu. We can’t let injustice like that go unchecked.”

Mishima: “I think I get it now… this feeling is what made me want to help you guys to begin with. That’s why I started the Phan-Site… to make sure nobody has to go through stuff like this again!”

timrodresized: I like that Mishima makes a turnaround in the last part of his arc, but I feel like it’s too late.

Mishima: “Huh?”

Mishima: “S-Sorry. It looked like you were really in trouble though… so I stepped up.”

Mishima: “Anyway, can you walk? Do you need us to call an ambulance?”

Mishima: “All right. Come on, Kurusu…”

Mishima: “Th-The panic is finally kicking in… I’m shaking so bad - I need to talk to someone… h-hey, you think I’ll be okay!? What if those guys secretly followed me home!?”

timrodresized: Why. Just why. Why did this phone call need to be here? Mishima gets some actual character development but nope, can’t have that.

Mishima: “Oh! B-But I have the model gun I got for self-defense! And my security system’s top of the line! So I’m safe, right?”

Mishima: “Wh-where does all that confidence come from…? Oh, but… I do feel a little calmer, now that I got to talk to you about it. Anyways… ugh. I’m so exhausted.”

Mishima: “I wish I could just crash, but I’ve gotta do some research on these guys… ugh, and I have to mod the Phan-Site too! it’s looking like another all-nighter…”

Mishima: “Hahaha… thanks for listening through all that, though. Okay, see you…”

timrodresized: This event is one of the harder ones to get, unless you know it exists. It requires that Ohya be at or under Rank 8, or on Rank 9 but with no additional points on the romance route.

timrodresized: For reference, her Mementos request takes place in the part of Mementos representing Futaba’s palace, meaning we could have done it months ago. Most people going for 100% do.

Morgana: “A festival, huh? I want to eat some takoyaki. I can’t wait until tomorrow!”

timrodresized: If you don’t know what a kumade is (I sure didn’t) they’re bamboo rakes that are decorated with different things to represent good fortune. You can see one on the banner above Haru’s head.

timrodresized: The festival in Asakusa is also a real thing - it happens every year in November and is a major tourist draw.

Haru: “Thank you for helping me out. …And, sorry.”

Haru: “Oh, I’m glad to hear. This festival is really bustling with people, huh? It’s nice. Anyway, wasn’t the kumade heavy? Father always bought huge, elaborate ones for good fortune. They even reported it on TV.”

Haru: “We can’t… get a new one for this year though. I’m thinking of buying one for the Phantom Thieves instead. If we set that up in the hideout, I feel like something good will happen.”

Ohya: “And with that Prince Boring I’ve seen so many times before, no less! I think this means we will need an interview!”

timrodresized: If this seems completely out of character for Ohya, that’s because it kinda is.

Ohya: “Oh, how chivalrous! She your girlfriend?”

Haru: “Are you… an acquaintance of his? What’s this about an interview?”

Ohya: “I’ve interviewed him before. I would have thought a high-class lady like yourself would be out of his league.”

Ohya: “Hmm, I see… well, it seems like I’m intruding, so I’ll get out of your way, hmm? Be wary of the mass media! …Especially when it comes to men.”

Haru: “Oh, um… okay…”

Ohya: “I sure hope so.”

Haru: “Um… that was an interesting acquaintance. Ah, so she cooperated with you too… Maybe I should have asked her to take a photo of us as a memento. Well, let’s regroup and buy that kumade.”

Haru: “Well, then… please put this up in the hideout.”

timrodresized: Let’s go put the kumade up.

timrodresized: I didn’t even think about this when I was recording, but of course they went with a visual pun. It’s a “kuma”-de.

Morgana: “Apparently, rakes bring good luck to businesses. Maybe Leblanc will serve fancier food if they make more money…”

timrodresized: Just one more thing left before we go into Mementos, that being to do Chihaya’s Rank 9 and 10.

Chihaya: “They didn’t really believe what I was saying at first, but the truth of the matter settled in eventually… however… it seems like the members from the executive class are still brainwashed.”

Chihaya: “I’m in talks with a lawyer right now though. We’re going to get refunds and outpatient care for all of them. I’m going to give back all the money I made from selling Holy Stones too.”

timrodresized: Wait… does that mean…

Chihaya: “It’s the least I can do to atone for the ignorance I showed back then. That’s why… I want you to accept this, Kurusu-san. Think of it not only as an apology, but as a sign of gratitude, for helping me see the truth.”

timrodresized: We got our money back! Not that it’s going to matter much, because we’ll hit a new record for cash on hand tomorrow.

Chihaya: “Yokoda-san!? What are you all doing here!?”

Chihaya: “N-None of it was made up… as for the chairman, I need you to listen to me. Everything he told you in those seminars was a lie! The promises of a great future, the power of the Holy Stones, the need for donations… all lies.”

Chihaya: “Doesn’t it seem strange that he kept asking members for money, even through times of financial stress? And beyond that, you guys should have known better than anyone where those ‘donations’ were ending up…”

Chihaya: “…Even I knew how horrible the ADP’s scheme was. That’s why I had to come forward…”

Chihaya: “Please, stop this! He has nothing to do with your situation! I’m the one who sold you those rocks! If you’re going to get upset with anyone… it should be me!”

Chihaya: “L-Look, the only way you can change that is with your convictions! Neither I nor one of those worthless stones will be able to help you…”

timrodresized: I play with Japanese voices on, but I imagine that in English she sounds like Sandy from Spongebob. Don’t ask me why I think that, it’s just the first thing that comes to mind.

Chihaya: “Whether yer gonna be miserable or not’s all on yer own damn shoulders! You don’t need some divine power mumbo jumbo to be changin’ yer fate!”

Chihaya: “Y’all got that strength in yourselves! Fortune tellin’ can’t hold a candle to honest-to-goodness willpower! And heck, even if things’re bad now, it’ll all be fine so long as you keep yer heads up!”

Chihaya: “O-Oh, I’m sorry about that. All this stress caused me to lapse into my country dialect… but… I stand by what I said. Nothing will ever change if all you do is rely on orders.”

Chihaya: “Take me for example. I thought I was destined to live as a monster… but I had the strength to reverse that fate. If you want to control your future, that’s all you need… strength.”

Chihaya: “The only way forward is through the fortitude of your own heart!”

Chihaya: “It might not be the easiest to accomplish at first. After all, your willpower has been constantly suppressed by all those seminars and donations… I’m partially to blame for that.”

Chihaya: “But that’s why I need to show you the light now and help you push on!”

Chihaya: “No. I’m not your Maiden anymore. I’m just Chihaya Mifune, the fortune teller that guides fate!”

Chihaya: “I know how they feel though. They want to cling onto the Holy Stones, just as I clung to my role as the Maiden. All any of us ever wanted was to be happy… to avoid our fates…”

timrodresized: If you took this last line out of context, it could easily be Chihaya talking about a different JRPG altogether.

Chihaya: “Right. I did it, so I’m sure Yokoda-san and the others will be able to as well! No matter how many times I have to try, I will talk to them until they understand.”

Chihaya: “And when they realize the difficult truth… I will be there to help them recover. Back in my village, people called me a monster. Here, they revered me as the Maiden.”

Chihaya: “Even now my heart continues to wander, yet you somehow saw the real me. Not the Maiden… not a monster… just Chihaya. Kurusu-san… thank you.”

timrodresized: Joker’s like “What? Me? Even though I’m the equivalent of one of those old ladies that browse local Facebook groups just to be able to gossip more efficiently?”

Chihaya: “I mean, normally someone wouldn’t think to involve themselves in such a strenuous ordeal. S-So, um… there’s actually something I’ve been wondering for a while now…”

Chihaya: “Is… fortune telling the only reason you come to see me? I-It’s not… is it?”

Chihaya: “Kurusu-san… why do you come here?”

timrodresized: Well, there was the extra social stat points… the the extra confidant points… and then the money readings, and now we can make alarms at will. I’m not kidding when I say in the next update, we go through like 14 alarms to get all the stuff I wanted.

Chihaya: “O-Oh, I see… sorry, I suppose I was just feeling a bit self-conscious… But there’s nothing better than knowing my readings help others! Please come have your fortune read as often as you’d like!”

Chihaya: “After all, we’ll forever be joined in our quest to oppose fate! Anyway, I should be going. Good night!”

Chihaya: “There’s something I really wanted to tell you…”

timrodresized: Yep, looks like a quality proofreading job on the Royal script.

Chihaya: “I plan on doing all I can to support everyone at the ADP for a while. If you’re in any trouble, please feel free for a consultation any time!”

timrodresized: Did the Allansons proofread this part? That’s a 2x typo combo the likes of which I have not seen since the Two Brothers LP.

Chihaya: “Great! Please, I want to help you carve a path to your future! As Chihaya Mifune. Fortune teller and emissary of fate!”

timrodresized: They really rushed this one out the door, didn’t they?

Chihaya: “…Whoops! I guess I sounded a little too full of myself just then. Maybe I’m not a monster or a maiden. I’m just Chihaya. So if you’re ever in trouble, remember you can always come to me. Okay?”

Chihaya: “Well, good night and sweet dreams…”

timrodresized: Anyway, let’s get her Rank 10 done while we’re at it.

Chihaya: “I do a phone consultation with them from time to time, and they’re all very cheerful… that goes for my fortune teller customers as well.”

Chihaya: " I’ve been getting thanked a lot more lately. Even by the people who get bad fortunes! Particularly when I tell them they can alter their fate!"

Chihaya: “That’s very true… all I used to say before was that they were going to face misfortune. I had a best friend in the town I used to live in… she was the first person I read a fortune for.”

timrodresized: So wait, hold on a second, back up. You started telling people the equivalent of “everything I just said is bullshit” and they like you more?

Chihaya: “When she started avoiding me, I read the fortune of our fate. It was a terrible result, but I prayed that it would somehow work out. However… that never happened. That’s when I started to believe that fate couldn’t be changed.”

Chihaya: “No surprise though, right? Because I didn’t take action on my part to try and change it. I haven’t talked to her in years… maybe I’ll try contacting her sometime.”

Chihaya: “Yeah, you’re right! …Oh, could this be!?”

Chihaya: “The power of conviction is amazing. Her fate and mine are connected! I will no longer be swayed… by names like Monster or Maiden… I am simply a fortune teller who provides advice to people with broken spirits.”

timrodresized: Yeah, uh, you’ve said that like ten times already. Chihaya really feels like Hashino had maybe half a confidant written, got to release and went “Fuck it, just start copy-pasting. No one’s gonna know.”

Chihaya: “So that they will have conviction and face their future without getting pushed around by fate. …That’s the fate I’ve chosen for myself.”

Chihaya: giggle “Thank you. Now, it’s your turn to speak. What would your conviction be… as a phantom thief? Sorry, I used fortune telling to find out your identity.”

timrodresized: This is the one bit I like of this confidant rank. She’s such a dumbass that she didn’t get the hint when Joker asked her for the chairman’s name - she just did a fucking tarot reading.

Chihaya: “I couldn’t help but think that you had something to do with the chairman’s confession. Then I discovered that you’re the Trickster who causes a sensation in the world.”

Chihaya: “It was the same card as the figure who helped me take down the chairman. giggle It finally struck home for me…!”

timrodresized: I remembered not liking Chihaya’s confidant in the base game, and now I’m remembering why.

Chihaya: “Well, you may interpret the cards however you like… but I don’t care what your true identity is. As long as you’re around… I can always be my true self. So it’s fine.”

Chihaya: “This is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like it.”

Chihaya: “I’m sorry. I really can’t read this sequence. However… I’ll be by your side! As the fortune teller who changes fates, I will guide you so that you can avoid misfortune!”

Music The Path Is Open

timrodresized: Lakshmi is the lowest-level Persona that requires a maxed confidant to fuse. I want to log her at the end of this update because I want you to see how bad she is compared to non-ultimates like Mara or Baal.

Chihaya: “Still, what a strange sequence the cards were in when I read the fortune about your true identity. Several cards with strong personalities gathered around the Trickster.”

Chihaya: “It’s quite improbable… it was almost as if it were trying to connect them together. You either have amazing charisma, or you’re a trouble magnet.”

Chihaya: “The verification tests are over, but don’t forget about me, okay?”

timrodresized: Okay, let’s do that log quick. Next time, we’ll pay Caroline and Justine gobs of money to break the game, fuse ultimate guns for half the party, and make it so Ann can win encounters by herself.

New Persona: Lakshmi

Origin: India

First Appearance: Megami Tensei I

timrodresized: Lakshmi is… trash. She doesn’t learn Diamond Dust (the fourth-tier ice spell) and Climate Decorum is a waste of a skill slot. Sure, she learns Life Aid - which is great in the base game where you don’t have those special fusion accidents… except Trumpeter learns it and is not an ultimate.

I’ve gotten some minor P5 spoilers when browsing the wiki, so I think I know why this fact is worded the way it is, but it’s still a translation error. The Japanese word must be seihai, which can mean either the Holy Grail or a communion chalice. If the four suits represent the classes of old European society, then the clergy (not ‘saints’ like in the picture) would be represented by a chalice – because as everyone knows, the Holy Grail is in Japan. (Also, Wikipedia makes no mention of the four suits representing social classes or anything at all for that matter, but I’ve heard it before and it sounds real.)

Incidentally, while I was thinking about this, I realized that if the Heart is a chalice then the four playing card suits are the same as the four tarot suits: Hearts (Cups), Spades (Swords), Diamonds (Coins), Clubs (Wands). It turns out this isn’t a coincidence: according to Wikipedia, all playing card suits have the same source–they’re all ultimately derived from old Chinese game suits.

1 Like

Click Here for Update 81

timrodresized: This is the final Mementos request we can do on this run, and is also why we waited this long to go in.

Morgana: “Wow, this is some good info, even for Mishima!”

timrodresized: Before we go in, we’re getting a money reading. This will pay for itself when we get to that one boss we couldn’t kill last time - the invincible hacker one.

timrodresized: We also get a Celestial Reading, which costs 20,000 yen. It is worth every single one. If you have one of these up, you will have an alarm any time you want one, and we’ll need a bunch.

timrodresized: The area that represents Okumura’s palace is now open, and let me tell you, it’s a pain in the ass if you want to get all the stamps.

Morgana: “It looks like Mementos has expanded even further…”

Fox: “Hm? I thought public opinion of us determined Mementos expansion… and that has plummeted lately.”

timrodresized: Yusuke just pointing out those plot holes.

Morgana: “Our notability must still be on the rise, even if it’s because of our currently bad reputation…”

Panther: “So we’re like a celeb who gets more famous because of scandals? I don’t like the sound of that…”

Morgana: “Either way, the further we go, the more powerful enemies we’ll meet. We need to be cautious in here. Let’s go see where the change has occurred, Joker!”

timrodresized: We’ll get there… eventually. The game kind of assumes that we’ve done a couple of Mementos requests way earlier than we actually have.

timrodresized: We also have an alarm waiting for us, so let’s make the most of it.

Returning Persona: Odin

Origin: Norse Paganism

First Appearance: Megami Tensei I

All-Father of Norse mythology. Associated with… actually, pretty much every aspect of Norse culture. Traded his eye for knowledge from the Well of Mimir. Father of most of the Norse pantheon.

timrodresized: I believe this makes us three for three on fusing Odin. He’s just that good.

timrodresized: Odin learns both Thunder Reign (fourth-tier single target elec spell) and its multi-target equivalent, Wild Thunder. Bargain Bolts is his signature ability, which cuts the cost of elec spells by 75%.

timrodresized: Bargain Bolts can be passed down in fusion, which makes Odin just that much better. We do wind up replacing Gun Boost with Elec Boost later, but we have to itemize him first - so doing it now would be pointless.

timrodresized: I then itemize Baal into Haru’s ultimate gun, Yagrush EX. Most of the ultimate guns had their stats changed from the base game - in this case, Haru’s gun had its accuracy cut by ten or fifteen percent.

timrodresized: A lot of these stat changes were due to the ultimate guns having an upgraded version obtained during alarms.

Skull: “Somethin’ about this guy tells me he’s nuts. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Queen: “He’s threatening Iwai… he’s doing this because he’s getting desperate, right?”

Fox: “He seriously intends to kill someone. We’d better change his heart immediately.”

Panther: “It’s scary, but we gotta do it!”

timrodresized: We are going to kill Tsuda in one hit.

timrodresized: Here’s the important thing about Concentrate, at least as far as Joker is concerned. If you Concentrate with one Persona, you can switch Personas on Joker’s next turn and it’ll carry over.

timrodresized: Because Concentrate is typically going to be the last action of your turn, it’s best to have one Persona with it so the rest of your lineup saves a skill slot.

timrodresized: Tsuda wastes his turn casting Bufudyne on Yusuke, who is immune.

timrodresized: Just to make things easier, Futaba gives us a full-party Tarukaja. Using it in conjunction with Charge or Concentrate is really the best way to use Tarukaja.

timrodresized: Oh yeah. That’s 5 SP for Thunder Reign, thanks to Ann’s ability kicking in at the same time. This is how you’re meant to use the fourth-tier spells: there’s a 75% SP reduction skill for each element.

timrodresized: By the way, this was without Elec Boost.

timrodresized: No shit they do! You were trying to give them toy guns!

timrodresized: Give me a Yakuza spinoff where Kiryu is a college professor in yakuza studies. The final exam is performing the tiger drop.

timrodresized: I made a quick trip back to get Odin Elec Boost, and then went on to the next target.

Skull: “He looks so suspicious.”

Fox: “Well, he is obstructing a new investigation to keep some incident hidden under the rug.”

Queen: “People died in that incident. He should be ashamed to call himself a journalist.”

Panther: “We’ll have to make him see the truth!”

timrodresized: Honjo is another one of those minibosses where they took a regular enemy and shuffled its weaknesses around. In this case, he nulls Psychic.

timrodresized: That’s fine, because Odin can kill him in two hits. Supposedly, he’s weak to wind, but I didn’t bother to check.

timrodresized: You just know Hashino made them add the bit about the wife.

New Persona: Uriel

Origin: The Bible

First Appearance: Megami Tensei II

One of the four named major archangels in the Bible who represent the cardinal directions. Name means “Flame of God”, as he is usually seen carrying a flaming sword. Guardian of the gates of Eden.

timrodresized: We have another alarm, so let’s use it. Uriel is a component of Michael, who is a component of Lucifer and also a component for Metatron.

timrodresized: He’s also our first source of Megidolaon, which isn’t as great as it could be with Almighty Boost and Almighty Amp, but is still pretty okay. More notable is that he has Spell Master to pass down.

timrodresized: I then itemize Odin into Gungnir, Ann’s best gun. I’ve talked about this before - it can end encounters in one attack, which we’ll see later.

New Persona: Raphael

Origin: Judeo-Christian Mythology

First Appearance: Megami Tensei II

One of the four named archangels. Does not appear in the Bible by name, but performs several miracle healings in various stories in it. Name means “It is God that heals”. Responsible for signalling Judgement Day by blowing a trumpet.

timrodresized: Raphael is a pure physical Persona, and so I built to his strengths. He has Charge, Heat Riser, and Arms Master, which is Spell Master but for physical and gun skills.

timrodresized: I then itemize Uriel into Providence, which is Yusuke’s best gun. Unlike Ann and Haru’s guns, his is a stat stick that increases his Agility. I believe this makes him the fastest non-Joker party member.

Panther: “All right! We have a plan this time!”

timrodresized: I’m going to skip most of the dialogue here, because it’s just the demon going “haha I’m cheating” again.

Skull: “Joker, you’ve got a plan, right? I’m countin’ on you! We’ll get 'em this time!”

timrodresized: This fight is a tutorial on how to use Down Shot.

timrodresized: Down Shot is Joker-specific, and is done through his gun menu. Remember, we can only do this three times per dungeon.

timrodresized: We finished that fight in one turn (thus getting double money from Hifumi’s ability) and with an All-Out (thus getting double money from Chihaya) on top of the 180% stamp bonus.

Morgana: “Don’t do this again! You better make amends for the wrong you’ve done!”

Panther: “I get chills just looking at him.”

Fox: “He’s an ex-mercenary who is now a professional assassin. He’s no ordinary person.”

Noir: “If even the police can’t handle him, then it’s up to us to take care of him.”

Morgana: “Let’s approach him with caution.”

Skull: “We can’t just let someone dangerous like you go around, killin’ people.”

timrodresized: Why is this guy the only person to ever question what the party is doing?

Panther: “Evil? Don’t be ridiculous! We’re doing our best to do what’s right!”

timrodresized: I’m really, really surprised they let that last line through after how far Atlus went to defang shit in this game.

timrodresized: Kiritani has no weaknesses and a boatload of HP.

timrodresized: He also likes to use full-party physical attacks that do a shitload of damage.

timrodresized: Fortunately, Ann gets a burn off on him and Joker follows up with a technical.

timrodresized: Yusuke and Ann then decide to Showtime to finish it off.

Morgana: Sorry, but we’re not the same. The Phantom Thieves would never murder people.

Panther: “How can you say that after you murdered so many people!?”

Oracle: “You better accept that you lost already. Prepare yourself.”

Queen: “We’ll destroy evil in a way that’s different from yours. You can disappear without worry.”

timrodresized: This is the other way to get a High Counter skill card, if you haven’t already finished Caroline and Justine’s confidant.

Oracle: “Wow… this place is a lot bigger than what I’d heard.”

Morgana: “I expect the Shadows here will be strong, too. Be careful!”

timrodresized: In the base game (and to an extent, in Royal as well) this was pretty much how you learned what Haru’s personality was.

timrodresized: Adyeshach is where you should stop collecting stamps. There’s 30 of them, and you will need to grind to get them all - I spent something like two hours just reloading floors for stamps.

timrodresized: What I found out the hard way is that once you have your money maxed and have items at x7 or so, there’s not much of a point to stamps.

timrodresized: Going any further with items just means this will happen sooner. The cap for any one item is 99, any any further items of that type picked up are lost. Granted, this was after like four hours of grind.

timrodresized: Bullet Hail does damage now. Of course, so does Uriel.

timrodresized: Jose sells Nirvanas now. I probably should’ve picked a few of these up for Lucifer, since theoretically we can fuse him as early as about three weeks before the final dungeon of the base game.

timrodresized: By the end of the run, this is how the stamp bonuses looked. There’s not really any point to putting points into EXP, because money is just so much better.

timrodresized: This is Ann’s new gun in action. Despair locks down an enemy for three turns, draining their SP and killing them after the third turn. This is a great way to regenerate SP if you need to, since you can sit there and regen 7 HP a turn.

Queen: “Why are there so many parents who try to control their children?”

Skull: “Don’t overthink it. Let’s worry more about helpin’ their daughter.”

Panther: “We have to change their hearts if we want to save Futaba’s friend!”

Oracle: “L-Let’s go!”

Oracle: “You call yourselves parents!? Kana-chan’s suffering so much because of you!”

Oracle: “…I knew it. These two are rotten to the core! Joker, please save Kana-chan!”

timrodresized: I get Joker charged up, and then Haru actually manages to hit with her gun.

timrodresized: Sure, I could go for the Technical hit… but why bother? We’ve got Odin.

timrodresized: Haru then uses Triple Down, which is actually a really good gun skill even once you have One Shot Kill. The reason is that Triple Down will give you three Technical hits which are likely to hit for a higher amount, which plays nicely into her gun’s AOE shock.

Oracle: “You HAVE to! Don’t hurt Kana-chan ever again!”

Oracle: “Thank you, Joker. I think Kana-chan’s going to be alright now.”

timrodresized: At this point, there was a rest area, so I went back and used another alarm or two.

New Persona: King Frost

Origin: SMT Original (Probably)

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei II

timrodresized: I needed King Frost to fuse one of the other archangels, who also happens to be the best one despite being the lowest level of them all.

New Persona: Gabriel

Origin: The Bible

First Appearance: Megami Tensei II

Archangel who serves at the left hand of God. Name means “God is my strength”. Scholars believe that Gabriel may be non-binary, as they generally have an androgynous appearance in early art. Appeared before Mary to announce the conception of Jesus, and also appeared before Muhammad to reveal his role as Islam’s prophet.

timrodresized: Gabriel is easily the best of the named archangels, simply because they’re one of the two Personas in the base game (and three in Royal, not counting DLC) to learn Ali Dance.

timrodresized: The description in the game states that it “Increases evasion against one opponent”, which is incorrect. What it actually does is sets your evasion at 50%, regardless of the number of enemies.

timrodresized: The only limitation on it is that Ali Dance (and evasion in general) does not work against status effects. Either way, this is an ability we’re going to want on everything.

timrodresized: I should mention that when you’re fusing the named archangels, you are going to want to pay attention to what skills you carry over, especially if you’re planning on fusing Lucifer.

timrodresized: With Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel, we can fuse one of the two harder ingredients for Lucifer.

New Persona: Michael

Origin: The Bible

First Appearance: Megami Tensei II

Archangel who serves as the right hand of god. Name means “Who is like God?”, which has been interpreted as a symbol of humility. Field commander of the Army of God who leads it in the war against Lucifer.

timrodresized: Michael is kind of hamstrung right now by the fact that we don’t get an EXP bonus from Sae’s confidant. He learns his best skill at level 92, that being Cosmic Flare, the fourth-tier all-target Nuke spell.

timrodresized: Ordinarily, passing down Spell Master is a waste because Lucifer starts with it. Ali Dance is also not as good for Lucifer as a different defensive skill we’ll get on Sandalphon.

timrodresized: The reason I put those on Michael is so he can pass them down to Metatron, who is the best Bless Persona in the game. Metatron is another Lucifer ingredient, but I’ll probably keep him around just for bless damage.

timrodresized: On a side note, I’ll probably fuse a second Michael once we’ve maxed out Sojiro’s confidant and turn him into a Nuclear/Psychic hybrid caster type. This one is here just to pass down skills to Metatron.

timrodresized: By the way, fusing Michael is not cheap. Neither is summoning him from the compendium, which sucks, because…

timrodresized: Michael itemizes into Makoto’s best gun. +11 to all stats is an amazing bonus, and it’d be even better if it was on someone who isn’t Makoto.

New Persona: Black Frost

Origin: Atlus Original

First Appearance: Nocturne

Demon based on a pun involving the fact that the name “Jack” sounds like a Japanese word for “evil” or “wicked”.

image

timrodresized: Black Frost is a special fusion between Jack Frost, Pyro Jack, and King Frost. While he’s hardly a bad Persona, we can do much better.

timrodresized: The real reason we want Black Frost is because he itemizes into the best whip for Ann.

Queen: “It looks a little anxious.”

Fox: “I hear he’s been repeatedly changing his name and face with plastic surgery to escape debt.”

Panther: “The police will never catch him, so it’s up to us.”

Skull: “Yeah. Let’s go!”

Skull: “Hey, we’d never accept any help from a guy as bad as you.”

Queen: “You’d better return all the money you stole!”

timrodresized: So… wait, we’re fighting a guy because he’s embezzling money from banks? Why do we care again?

Fox: “I disagree. You’ve been running away, always hiding behind a new name and face.”

timrodresized: Even after fusing Gabriel, I was still using Odin… despite the fact that Gabriel had Odin’s entire moveset plus Ali Dance.

timrodresized: This entire dialog feels like that dub of School Ghost Stories. It feels like they asked an intern to write a sidequest and the intern went “You know what, fuck it.”

Panther: “So, you were saying the Phantom Thieves are hypocrites?”

Fox: “From now on, live your life with an open heart and nothing to hide.”

timrodresized: I had another alarm, and the final request is near the bottom of this area, so I did some last fusions before leaving. In hindsight, there’s one Persona I should have fused here, but I’ll do that in the casino.

New Persona: Pale Rider

Origin: The Bible

First Appearance: Nocturne

Death.

timrodresized: Pale Rider’s skills are a hodgepodge because we just need him to fuse Trumpeter, who is a component for Lucifer.

New Persona: Trumpeter

Origin: The Bible

First Appearance: Nocturne

Angel from the Book of Revelations that is said to sound seven trumpets to herald the end of the world.

timrodresized: In the mainline SMT games (well, Nocturne and 4/Apocalypse anyway) Trumpeter is one of the best obtainable demons. Here, he’s pretty mediocre. With him, we now have four of Lucifer’s six components - the other two being Satan and Metatron, who we can’t fuse yet.

timrodresized: Trumpeter gets us over the 50% mark for compendium completion.

timrodresized: No, Haru! Don’t encourage him! He’s horny for humans!

Queen: “She looks like she would bite us if we even tried to speak to her.”

Panther: “I heard she’s the definition of a helicopter parent. She’s really selfish too.”

timrodresized: Gotta love the values dissonance of “We have to stop this guy because he’s killing people!” becoming “We have to stop this lady because she’s kind of a bitch!”

Skull: “We gotta do somethin’ about this! Kids really look up to their parents, you know?”

timrodresized: Shadow Oda is a Dakini, an enemy we last saw in Persona 1. This was where I wished I had fused Asura, because Joker has no fire damage, and that’s what her weakness is.

timrodresized: Even with Debilitate and hitting a weakness, Ann is barely registering damage.

timrodresized: The fight is mostly Ann and Yusuke chipping away at her health… at least, until she starts putting people to sleep.

timrodresized: Once she gets enough people asleep, Oda follows up with Vorpal Blade, which hits extremely hard and will get Technical hits off people who are sleeping.

timrodresized: Shadow Oda is on Floor 11 of this area, which has a total of 13 floors. As I mentioned before, this area sucks to get all the stamps for. That’s because there’s a good chance each floor will only spawn one stamp pedestal (the fixed one) and Floor 10 doesn’t spawn any at all.

timrodresized: Futaba really has a thing for Ann’s outfit for some reason.

timrodresized: As I mentioned before, I spent two hours searching for stamps.

timrodresized: I honestly don’t know what possessed Atlus to go with this instead of having each floor spawn a fixed number of stamp pedestals so you can get them all in one run provided you fully explore each floor.

timrodresized: As we’ll see in the next update, this game has kind of a problem with scaling, in that it’s quite common for people to be high enough level that they can insta-kill the enemies in the casino.

timrodresized: Tonight, we get what is quite possibly the longest IM conversation in the game.

timrodresized: He’d know, wouldn’t he?

timrodresized: “I also think the killer is extremely handsome and smart, and I’m definitely not him despite me showing Joker that I own a silenced pistol.”

Morgana: “He’s right. If we get caught now, all our hard work will amount to nothing.”

timrodresized: We call Kawakami for a massage, and then go to Iwai and the clothing store in Kichijoji to sell clothes, raking in a total of nearly two million yen.

timrodresized: We have so many clothing points that I use a few to get new armor for everyone. Even though we have a shit-ton of money, I’m not going to buy anything new for the casino because we’ll have everyone’s ultimate weapons pretty soon.

Ohya: “He said he’s been concerned for my health… which is actually kinda creepy, now that I think about it. Anyway, that’s not all. He said he’s letting me re-open my investigation into what happened to Kayo!”

Ohya: “He told me he wants me to do everything I can to pursue the truth. I think… he was serious. I wonder what happened to make him change so suddenly…?”

Ohya: “…What, just out of the blue? The whole thing’s too convenient. It seems a little fishy, you know? I mean, you… asked me for the chief’s name the other day, right?”

Ohya: “Hmmm…”

Ohya: “I… I know where Kayo is. That was part of the chief’s apology to me. Apparently he did some investigating on his own. So, he followed up on my journalist friend’s source and… it turns out she really is alive after all.”

Ohya: “That explains why she hasn’t been able to contact me this whole time. I really wanna go see her, but to be honest… I’m afraid. I’m afraid to know the truth. Not just about Kayo’s current state… but about what happened to her that night too.”

timrodresized: You know, just in case someone has sent a bunch of Taiwanese mafia guys to kill her. Kayo being in a mental hospital in the countryside is taken straight from Eternal Punishment.

Ohya: “That’s really considerate of you, but the hospital she’s in is far out in the countryside. But… thank you. You give me the courage I need to do this.”

Ohya: “I’m… going to go see her. No matter what happens, I need to see this through to the end. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be Ichiko Ohya, journalist extraordinaire!”

Ohya: “I’m really glad I talked to you about this. I never would’ve made my mind up without your help. You know, you’re way more than just some high school kid. You’re almost like my guidance counselor.”

timrodresized: Oh, right. I just remembered about the final Devil Persona, and realized I forgot to explain something earlier.

timrodresized: You know how all the elements have fourth-tier spells? Bless and Curse do too… only they suck. They’re called Divine Judgment and Demonic Decree, and instead of doing damage they reduce an enemy’s HP by 50%. This counts as a weakness hit if the enemy is weak to it.

timrodresized: It sucks because in most cases, you’ll get more than 50% of an enemy’s HP in damage using an elemental spell (or hell, even Eigaon or Kougaon) and doesn’t work on bosses.

Ohya: “Oh, by the way… everything with the chief worked out okay, but the higher-ups are still keeping an eye on me. So I’ll need you to keep the juicy tidbits coming! I can’t stop writing about the Phantom Thieves now!”

Ohya: “…All right, let’s see what you have for me today!”

Ohya: “Thanks for pushing me… to go see Kayo. I’m a journalist. From now on, I’m always gonna chase the truth.”

Ohya: “Thanks. You really are a weird kid, you know that? Whenever I talk to you, I get this… heightened sense of duty, for some reason. I’ll come back with some awesome stories, so let’s meet up again.”

Ohya: “Okay, I’m gonna hang up. Gotta pack for my big trip. See ya!”

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll see what happens when the game stops railroading us, but also doesn’t provide for a non-linear level structure so you’re basically railroaded just with worse signposting. Link to the Past or Super Metroid this game is not.

I guess Joker’s just got a real “I’m John Persona The Phantom Thief” vibe considering every confidant seems to have realized what’s going on.

1 Like

Click Here for Update 82

Ushimaru: “What? You’re asking if the Phantom Thieves would be given a trial if they get caught? Of course they would. All they would need to do is prove a link between the deaths and their activities.”

Ushimaru: “In short, they would be put on trial for murder. Hey, Kurusu. Tell me how old you have to be to listen in on a trial.”

Ushimaru: “That’s right. No age restrictions for listening in on a trial - you can get in whether you’re 0 or 85. Youth crimes are an exception, but it’s basically open to the public. Meaning you can all go attend.”

timrodresized: This is also true for the United States, although that’s becoming less and less necessary with the courts modernizing and allowing cameras in the courtroom.

Ushimaru: “Well, I imagine the visitors seats will be full if the Phantom Thieves were put to trial. Everyone is dying to know who exactly the culprits are and how they did it.”

Ushimaru: “However, their method and how it connects to the murder must be proven in order to sentence them. The methods that the Phantom Thieves use far exceed human knowledge.”

timrodresized: I know Japan’s gun laws are among the most restrictive in the world, but I’m pretty sure people there know how a gun works.

Ushimaru: “I’d imagine in order to prove it, they’d have to catch them in the act. Hmmm…”

timrodresized: We have two confidants we need to do before we can go to the casino. Originally, I was going to put this after the casino instead, but that would put it in the same update as her Rank 9 and Rank 10.

Tae: “Yes?”

Tae: “The hospital on the news?”

Tae: “…Wh-What’s going on?”

Tae: “I haven’t… seen it…”

Tae: “What? Um… it’s something that shouldn’t be allowed to happen… I guess.”

Tae: “Is this all some elaborate joke? Oyamada surrendering himself… at such a convenient time… why? …It doesn’t matter. It’s too late. It doesn’t change the fact that I couldn’t save her.”

Tae: “What…!? There’s… no way…”

Tae: “So she’s… she’s alive…”

Tae: “…Yes, of course! You’ll help me, right? I take back what I said. We’ll resume development right away.”

Tae: “We’re going to move quickly today, so you may experience some pain during the examination. …Sorry. Just hang in there, okay?”

Tae: “Thank you. You’re… a good guy. Once the medicine is perfected, I’ll introduce you to Miwa-chan and tell her how much you helped. All right, into the examination room you go.”

Tae: “I pushed you way too hard today. Really, I’m sorry… but I won’t waste the opportunity you’re giving me. We’re going to make up for our lost time.”

Tae: “God, what was wrong with me…? I can’t believe I spent all that time moping. Feeling sorry for myself. Miwa-chan was fighting all that time. I have to fight for her too.”

Tae: “Thanks… it’s honestly encouraging knowing I’ve got you supporting me. We’re so close to making this drug work… I just have to perfect it. Anyways, get some good rest today. Remember you can call me anytime. Okay, goodnight…”

timrodresized: I like a lot of these post-request cutscenes, and I wish more of the game was written like that.

timrodresized: We’ll also be seeing Iwai’s Rank 9 immediately after the casino.

Iwai: “Tsuda rang me up a while back. Told me to forget everythin’ he was threatenin’ me with. I honestly thought it was some kinda joke at first, but I ain’t seen or heard from him since.”

Iwai: “Y’know, it almost felt like I was talkin’ to the old Tsuda somehow. My sworn brother… Hey, you think a guy can really go through a drastic change that quick?”

timrodresized: Your friend is a total dumbass, so yeah probably.

Iwai: “What kinda answer is that? I ain’t really one to talk, but you should prolly think about takin’ this a little more seriously, kid. Anyways, somethin’ fishy is still goin’ down… but Tsuda changin’ is a real load off my shoulders.”

Iwai: “Oh, and this prolly means our deal’s through with, huh? I mean, your end of the bargain was drivin’ Tsuda away… and you did that and then some.”

Iwai: “One more thing… I know I kinda fired you n’ all, but d’you think you’d maybe wanna keep workin’ here with me? I understand kids these days have all sortsa commitments, so I get it if the answer’s gotta be no…”

timrodresized: Were the localizers trying to set a new record for number of vestigial apostrophes in a sentence?

Iwai: “Heh, don’t gimme that attitude. I know you wanna come back. Don’t go expectin’ me to make the job any easier for you though, y’hear? I’ll be countin’ on you, kid. I mean, uh… Akira.”

Iwai: “All right, first order of business is takin’ out the trash. C’mon, we gotta get rid of these prototypes. Disassemble 'em and wipe the prints off before we toss 'em though, okay?”

timrodresized: You’d think that if the garbage people saw a bag full of model guns next to a shop that, well, sells model guns they probably wouldn’t ask too many questions - and it’s not like they’re illegal anyway.

Iwai: “Oh, and I’m not lettin’ you leave 'til they’re done.”

Iwai: “About Tsuda… let’s keep an eye on him for a while. Seemed like he was on the level, but… can’t be too careful.”

Iwai: “Good. If anything bad happened, it’d already be too late. I’m just gonna hang back and run the store for a while. Safer that way. And that means…”

Iwai: “I’m gonna teach you all you gotta know about the business. Hope you’re ready for it. Okay. I’m countin’ on you, Akira.”

timrodresized: And now it’s casino time.

timrodresized: I got a money reading and a celestial reading for alarms, but I never wound up using any. We can’t clear the casino in one day anyway, so it’s not a big deal that I didn’t.

Crow: “And for that, we will need to have a member’s card.”

Skull: “Where’re we gonna get one though? There’s not too many places we can go right now.”

Crow: “Hm… I doubt we will find one simply lying on the ground in the main hall. I suggest we head for the backroom.”

Morgana: “Huh…? But why?”

Crow: “I will explain later. In any case, let’s try to find an entrance.”

timrodresized: We have to go the same way we went the last time we were here - there’s a save room on the ground floor, but the game won’t let you open it the first time you’re here.

timrodresized: Going through the vent puts us on the ledge where we first met Sae’s shadow earlier.

timrodresized: The first floor has enemies that we’ve already fused as Personas several dungeons ago. Even if we hadn’t done any extra grinding, I think we’d still be high enough level to insta-kill these.

timrodresized: Joker oneshots anything he hits, and the rest are taken out quickly by a combination of Haru’s gun and a follow-up by Ann.

timrodresized: Speaking of which, you can customize the ultimate guns from the get-go in Royal. Most of them you want accuracy on, especially Haru’s (which goes from 70% to 77%).

timrodresized: The human NPCs will comment on Joker’s appearance (and some other things) if you get close enough.

timrodresized: Also present on the first floor are Ose and Kikuri-Hime, who I had actually fused to get… actually, I can’t remember why I fused them, I just kinda did. There was a reason.

timrodresized: Now, let me show you why it’s so hard to get Akechi’s finisher screen.

timrodresized: The reason is because he has already learned Eigaon, which does enough damage to oneshot most of the enemies here. He starts at… I think level 44, which we had already surpassed in Okumura’s palace.

Crow: “Then let us check around. We may find something useful.”

Panther: “Like… what?”

Oracle: “Mwehehe… I get it. You mean some kinda customer data terminal.”

Crow: “Haha, I am glad you’re so quick to understand. Though even if I were to find such a terminal, there is nothing my meager skills could do about it…”

Oracle: “That’s where I come in. Leave it all to me!”

timrodresized: The back room is a Persona 1 style hallway maze, only without any of the things that made Persona 1 interesting. The casino as a whole is basically a defanged Thanatos Tower.

timrodresized: The problem with the casino is really that the map sucks - it wasn’t really designed for dungeons with overlapping floors. It also has a lot of rooms that serve no purpose.

timrodresized: There’s a box about halfway through that you can climb to get to where the first will seed is.

timrodresized: I think it’s technically possible to get this without backtracking if you know what you’re doing, but I kind of had very few memories of this dungeon beyond the general structure and what the boss fight is.

timrodresized: In the back rooms, we find a second kind of stealable.

timrodresized: This one contains a new treasure demon, Orlov. The real stone it is modeled after was supposedly stolen from a Hindu temple by a French soldier, but that’s not actually true.

timrodresized: The Orlov started out much in the same way the Koh-i-noor did, in that it was mined in the Mughal Empire and was later taken when the Mughals fell - in its case, it wound up in Persia and was then lost when the king of Persia was assassinated.

timrodresized: It was traded around for a while, and then ended up in Amsterdam, where it was purchased by a Russian count by the name of Grigory Grigorevich Orlov. It was then set into a scepter belonging to Catherine the Great, and is stored in the Kremlin today.

timrodresized: Orlov is weak to curse, so we let Akechi handle it and then grab it for compendium purposes.

timrodresized: There’s another save room at the end of this area.

timrodresized: Right outside the save room, we run into a group of Ose. Now’s our chance to get Akechi’s finisher screen so I can stop using him forever.

Skull: “That thing really doesn’t want anyone gettin’ past there, huh… you wanna try attackin’ it?”

Queen: “What do you want to do, Joker? We’ll go along with whatever you decide.”

timrodresized: There actually is a way around fighting this encounter, but it’s INCREDIBLY badly signposted. First, let me show you the map of this area.

timrodresized: The thing is, there’s no indication on the map that you can even sneak around the enemy. There actually is a way to do it… that I had to look up a guide to find. I want to re-record part of the casino anyway, so I’ll show the alternate solution after this.

timrodresized: For the record, you still do this same fight in the alternate path, it’s just that you get an ambush on the enemy instead of facing them head-on. Consider this my equivalent of intentionally pinching Kumi in Hypnos Tower.

timrodresized: The fight is against two Queen Mabs, who are weak to wind. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fit Wind Boost and Wind Amp (it really whips the llama’s ass) onto Michael, so this merely does 60% of the enemy’s HP in damage rather than killing her outright.

timrodresized: I tried negotiating just to see if I could do it, because this is realistically the only chance we’re going to get. Getting Personas from auto-winning fights is kind of a crapshoot because (with some exceptions) you can’t really tell which one you’re going to get.

Skull: “Hey, it dropped something… is this some kinda keycard?”

Morgana: “Nice find! Maybe this’ll let us open that barred door.”

timrodresized: Your other option is to go up these boxes over to the right, which for some reason are not marked on the map.

timrodresized: The boxes lead to a vent, which you can crawl through to get to the other side of the door where that shadow is.

timrodresized: Now, here’s why I think this entire thing is dumb. Let’s say you do this, and try to continue onward after skipping that fight.

timrodresized: The only thing past that door is a door we can’t open because we don’t have the keycard for it. If we go down even further…

Skull: “Talk about bein’ heavily guarded. They’re practically screamin’ 'bout how there’s something important in there.”

Crow: “It would be foolish to overlook this, though perhaps even more foolish to meet them head on… what is your call, Joker?”

timrodresized: Let’s pretend we don’t already have the keycard, and do this fight head-on as well.

timrodresized: You get two fights against a Unicorn and a Valkyrie. Both will die very quickly to Akechi, but Joker can also straight up oneshot either of them at this point.

timrodresized: Behind them is… an empty room with a door we can’t open because it’s locked from the other side. This fight is truly skippable.

timrodresized: If we go through the keycard door instead, there’s a vent that will take us to where we’ve been trying to get to this entire time.

Panther: “Okay then, let’s hurry up and take that guard down!”

timrodresized: The guard is a single Ganesha, not even close to a challenge at this point. I think I managed to kill this one using only guns - Haru got a shock off with hers and then Ann followed up with a Technical.

timrodresized: Having ultimate equipment this early is great.

Crow: “Ah, aren’t those what we’re looking for? Oh, there are no names on them. They’ll be unusable if they remain unregistered.”

Oracle: “Mweheheh! I can handle that!”

Oracle: “I wasn’t sure what name to give it, so I just thought of a random one: Taro Tanaka.”

Skull: “That’s way too simple! Aren’t they gonna figure that out?”

timrodresized: Admittedly, if this were me, I’d probably have named them after the aliens from Buckaroo Banzai. That movie is a fucking experience.

Oracle: “Um, they already know what we look like, and that we’ve intruded into the Palace… then again, it’s prolly better to be safe than sorry.”

timrodresized: It would’ve made a lot more sense thematically for Sae’s shadow to give them the player card at the start, the way Kaneshiro gave Makoto the bank card in his palace.

timrodresized: The whole idea, as we’ll see in a bit, is that the courthouse has become a casino where Sae always wins and the goal is to fuck over the people playing - the defendants in the court.

timrodresized: You can even hear this in the music for the casino, with the whole “roll the dice, spin the wheel” bit being stand-ins for the criminal justice system.

timrodresized: It just would’ve made more sense because they’d be “customers” of the court the same way Makoto was a “customer” at Kaneshiro’s brain bank. Though what would I know, I’m not a JRPG writer.

Oracle: “Okay, the fake name for this card is a little more elaborate this time: Shinji Nakanomatsu.”

Oracle: “Joker, you can hold on to this card and the map. Don’t lose them, 'kay? As for the Taro Tanaka card… hmmm… Crow, get rid of it next time you see a garbage can.”

Crow: “Hm? Why me?”

timrodresized: If I was writing this, I absolutely would’ve had Futaba say something like “Because the trash is where you belong.”

Oracle: “These kinds of chores always fall to the newbie.”

Crow: “…Oh.”

Panther: “We can also use that elevator now, right?”

Queen: “According to the map, it would be quicker to use this path than to go back the way we came.”

timrodresized: As usual, Makoto is wrong. I’ll show you why, but first…

timrodresized: Okay, so now let’s assume that you’ve already backtracked for the will seed and you’re in the control room we were just in.

timrodresized: Going through the vent takes you to this room, which has a keycard door (and nothing else) in it. This will take you past where those two enemies were that we fought earlier.

timrodresized: There’s a few more staircases and a lot of pointless bullshit. By the way, I realized I haven’t shown off Megidolaon yet.

timrodresized: Just imagine if I’d gotten Almighty Boost and Almighty Amp. Problem is, that’d take a lot of effort at this point to get and then fuse onto something I could fuse into Uriel. I’d then have to make a Michael specifically to carry those to Lucifer.

timrodresized: At the end of this hallway is another keycard door. If we take this, we wind up…

timrodresized: Back at the top of the main area, right across from where we came in. There’s a vent just off to the right you can use to get back down.

timrodresized: Or you could, you know… backtrack less than half that distance down the stairs to the save room, and then use that to warp to the one on the ground floor right next to the elevator.

Skull: “It didn’t say nothing about the one for the manager…”

Crow: “Well, the floors we have access to are limited by player ranking. That must mean the members floor is the highest we can go for now.”

Mara: “Heh, members floor. I’ll fit right in.”

Oracle: “It’s impossible to mess with the data on the card too. It’s nothing like the ones I’ve seen before.”

Noir: “So we can’t go directly to the manager’s floor… in that case, what exactly should we do?”

Crow: “Our first move should be to head upward. Either way, we have no more business on this floor.”

timrodresized: Sae’s shadow has a tramp stamp of a doberman. Somehow, I don’t think that gives off quite the message that Soejima intended it to. Then again, Soejima might’ve just been horny.

Skull: “You wanna just get this over with right now, huh? That makes this easy. Bring it on.”

ShadowSae: “Do not speak to me as though you are my equal. I am the manager of this casino, as well as its number-one player. At the moment, you lack the qualifications to fight me.”

Fox: “It would seem she looks down on us.”

Crow: “And what if we would like to battle you, no matter what?”

ShadowSae: “I had to win time and time again in order to reach my number-one rank. If you want to face me, you must continue to win as well.”

Noir: “Continue to win?”

timrodresized: Metal Gear!?

Crow: “It must have to do with the fact that this place is a casino.”

ShadowSae: “Correct. Do you have the confidence to win?”

Queen: “We might just pull the rug out from underneath you if you aren’t careful.”

timrodresized: What the fuck is that facial expression.

Oracle: “It’s going up…”

Fox: “I wasn’t expecting to come all the way to a Palace only to end up gambling…”

timrodresized: Clearly Yusuke never did Snow Queen.

Panther: “What about you guys?”

Morgana: “Looks like this is going to take longer than expected.”

Skull: “We don’t got time to waste!”

Crow: “No need to worry. Leave this to me.”

Queen: “You know how to do this?”

timrodresized: Well yeah, of course I do. First you start Code Breaker, you make a savestate, and then find out what the code is and reload to get a million casino coins so you can skip the grind.

Crow: “I’m well-informed on what it takes to win. In any case, we need to hurry and change her heart. If she acts recklessly, both her chances of promotion and reputation as prosecutor will drop greatly.”

Crow: “Sae-san didn’t use to be like this, did she?”

Queen: “My sister must have lost her sense of justice because her desires became distorted…”

Crow: “Do you think there was a particular event that triggered her Palace’s creation?”

timrodresized: It was when she realized she was an inferior ripoff of Katsuya Suou.

Queen: “My sister took on all the responsibilities of dealing with it herself. Trying to earn a living wage, gain a promotion in a male society, and uphold justice at the same time… those things may have weighed her down and led to the distortion within her heart.”

timrodresized: This game uses the word “distortion” like Kingdom Hearts uses “darkness”.

Crow: “…My apologies, but we don’t have time to be sentimental. The longer we wait, the more people will learn about us. The investigation will advance as well. Hence, we must infiltrate this Palace as quickly as possible.”

Morgana: “She did challenge us to reach her, after all. Niijima’s Treasure must be at her managerial base of operations. Either way, we have to get there!”

Crow: “It should be quite clear. We must play in the casino and win. Customers are divided into the different floors based on the rank of their play. If we wish to enter a higher floor, we will need to increase our rank.”

timrodresized: I think we know that. Also, you might want to cool it on the red text or people will think this is Umineko.

Oracle: “And as I kinda mentioned earlier, a different kinda member’s card is used depending on your rank. We’ll have to obtain a card for the high limit floor somewhere around here.”

Skull: “For real!? Ugh, what a pain!”

Crow: “Why don’t we begin by walking around this floor? That should be a solid approach for acquiring intel.”

timrodresized: The game will make us stop at the cashier before we do anything.

Fox: “So all of this is going according to her plan… I cannot help but feel we’re being manipulated here.”

timrodresized: The chip tracker will stay with us for the rest of this dungeon.

Panther: “He’s just giving them to us!?”

Crow: “Perhaps this is a show of confidence. It seems she truly has no intention of losing.”

timrodresized: I hate that the way they word this, it makes it seem like the dungeon is non-linear and you can complete the slots room first, but you can’t. This is a totally linear dungeon.

Noir: “That means we should probably start with the dice game… right?”

Morgana: “Prizes? What kind of things can we get?”

timrodresized: Nothing great. This counter has a Soma (full SP restore) and a Bead Chain (full party HP restore) in addition to the item we need to progress.

Crow: “I see… I believe I have figured out Sae-san’s intent behind this. She wants us to obtain that card by winning coins in the casino.”

timrodresized: No fucking shit!

Fox: “That’s absurd! 50,000 coins!?”

timrodresized: Come to think of it, wasn’t 50,000 about the number of casino coins you need to have a chance at doing Thanatos Tower first?

Skull: “I don’t wanna do that! Owin’ cash to a weird-ass casino in someone’s head is way too weird!”

Morgana: “Oh well… standing around here won’t get us anywhere. So, should we head to this dice game?”

Crow: “Actually, do you mind if I speak to you all beforehand? There is something on my mind.”

Crow: “It would not surprise me in the least if all the games here were somehow rigged.”

timrodresized: You know what, I’m going to call it. Akechi/Makoto ship. They deserve each other. We’ve already seen they’re rigging shit, dumbass!

Skull: “You think she’s cheatin’!?”

Crow: “Remember, this is a courthouse in the real world. Sae-san is quite particular about ‘winning’ here. To compound that, defendants in Japan are prosecuted at a 99.9% success rate - defendants are nearly always found guilty.”

timrodresized: Hashino, let’s be real here. I’ve played all of the Ace Attorney games. I’m seriously considering doing an LP of Great Ace Attorney Chronicle when it comes out. I’ve had that on pre-order for months.

timrodresized: Shu Takumi is a far better writer than you could ever hope to be. Please leave the critique of the Japanese justice system to him.

Panther: “What!? How can a rate like that really be possible? Are all those verdicts accurate?”

timrodresized: From what I’ve heard, yes. However, I’m not sure where people get that specific statistic from. It’s also hard to make a comparison to the US because of the US’s tiered court system, and the fact that there are 50 separate state court systems.

Crow: “No… the investigators are merely human.”

Panther: “Then…”

Crow: “You are not the first to point out the rigged nature of this system. The prosecution is nigh-unbeatable. That’s why cases of false accusation cause such a stir: they are exceedingly rare.”

timrodresized: That’s kind of a questionable statement. The Innocence Project in the US estimates that around 4% of defendants in capital cases (read: death penalty) are wrongly convicted. That number becomes higher for non-capital cases, somewhere around 6%.

Skull: “But it’s total bullshit gettin’ arrested even when you’re not guilty!”

Crow: “Indeed - and if we do not hurry, the Phantom Thieves will fall victim to a similar fate.”

Queen: “We’re going to win this, no matter what.”

timrodresized: There’s some gift boxes lying around that give you either 100 or 200 casino coins. If you want all the prizes, you’re going to want to grab these.

timrodresized: There are rule tablets for the dice game and the slots, which… why do these exist? The entire point of the dungeon is that the games are rigged - you can’t actually play them anyway.

Panther: “Y-Yeah, I guess… that’s not really how a normal high schooler would describe it though…”

Queen: “In any case, we should proceed further in.”

timrodresized: I’m going to show you the easiest way to do this, which comes from my second run.

timrodresized: See all those rooms on the map? Ignore them! I don’t even know why they’re here. There’s lots of stealables here though, so you might as well grab those first.

timrodresized: If you take a left from the door where you enter the area, there’s a vent. This is where we want to go, though we can ignore about half the maze behind it.

Oracle: “Super convenient, don’tcha think?”

Skull: “Oooh, so we’re gonna catch 'em in the act! I guess that’s easy… c’mon, let’s get to it!”

timrodresized: Let’s talk about why this area sucks. See the map here?

timrodresized: These two areas in white are actually connected - but they’re not connected on the map. One other thing I’d like you to notice is that if you look in the top-left, you can see a little thing representing the vent we crawled through to get in here, with an arrow to indicate that it goes somewhere else.

timrodresized: That entire area in red? Pointless bullshit! There’s some stealables in there, and a chest with a weapon for Makoto…

timrodresized: Which isn’t even better than the dumbass bear fists that we itemized off Bugs. By this point, most people are going to be within level range to fuse Bugs without needing to max Caroline and Justine.

timrodresized: Anyway, let’s go back and take a look at some of the pointless bullshit, because I spent a while in here.

Returning Persona: Valkyrie

Origin: Norse Mythology

First Appearance: Megami Tensei II

Battle maidens of Norse mythology who bring the souls of dead warriors to Valhalla, where they spend eternity preparing for Ragnarok.

timrodresized: Valkyrie is a pure physical Persona who we have no real reason to use at this point. She’s not that great even if you’re not using overpowered bullshit like we are.

timrodresized: I’d make a Valkyrie Profile joke here, but the only one of those I’ve played is the DS one, which is fucking garbage. It’s a game that forces you to “overkill” enemies or you die even though you’ve cleared the stage.

timrodresized: It also commits the cardinal sin of being a game about “do not do the thing” and then forcing you to do that thing because the AI cheats so hard that you can’t win any other way. Fuck that shit!

timrodresized: There’s some game coming out which is basically that but with furries (where it’s apparently about a bunch of furries in a tank that has a gun that requires a human sacrifice to fire) and I know they’re going to pull the same shit there.

New Persona: Kushinada

Origin: Japan

First Appearance: Megami Tensei II

Lesser goddess who was to be a sacrifice to Yamata-no-Orochi until she was saved by Susano-O. Comb imagery comes from Susano turning her into a comb to hide her from Orochi. Later became Susano’s wife.

timrodresized: Personally, I prefer her appearance in Okami. Kushinada’s moveset kind of sucks, given that she has no offensive skills whatsoever, but she comes up in a lot of fusion lists for end-game stuff.

timrodresized: Okay, so back to the second run. This door right here is the one you want. Notice that although it goes to a different area, it doesn’t have the arrow next to it the way the vent does.

Queen: “So this is the cheating control room… what should we do, Joker?”

Crow: “Very well. Let us dispatch it swiftly.”

timrodresized: The guard is a Nebiros, which is exclusive to the area of Mementos covering Sae’s palace. It’s also part of a special fusion for Alice, the final Death Persona.

timrodresized: Nebiros is weak to Bless, and given that we have all four of the canonical archangels, this isn’t much of a challenge.

Oracle: “C’mon, we should stop the rigging.”

Crow: “Hold on a moment, I have an idea I’d like to discuss.”

Skull: “Whaddya wanna talk about?”

Crow: “I’ve devised an easier way of doing this… a way to get all the coins we need.”

Fox: “All of them in here?”

Panther: “Is that even possible?”

timrodresized: I had to check the base game LP briefly to see if I had missed a line here (I didn’t) and they pointed out that everyone except Makoto and Futaba disappears when the camera turns.

timrodresized: Now, you can call this bad cutscene direction… but it’s my firm belief that Ryuji got bored and went to go find tacos, and just took everyone else with him.

timrodresized: They make it back before the scene ends because that’s how long-winded Akechi is. Futaba didn’t go because she spends most of her time in palaces playing video games on her headset and didn’t notice everyone else leaving, and Joker didn’t go because he had to cover for everyone else.

Skull: “You can do that!?”

timrodresized: Ryuji is actually reacting to the person at the taco place telling him he can, in fact, order a burrito the size of a newspaper and then have that burrito dipped in crushed doritos.

Oracle: “Wait, this is a job for me! It’ll be a breeze!”

Noir: “Cheating seems somehow wrong though…”

Crow: “The odds here are stacked against us. We would never win if we stuck to normal methods. We do not have any time to waste either. It would be best for us to focus on our objective.”

Queen: “…You’re right. Changing my sister’s heart is the ultimate goal here.”

Crow: “I feel bad asking this, but may we borrow your expertise yet another time, Oracle?”

Oracle: “I’m game! But man, you sure give a lot of orders for a noob!”

timrodresized: Meanwhile, Haru and Yusuke are running down the street trying to order curry for Futaba. Ann is buying out the cream puffs at the bakery.

Oracle: “Okay, I rigged one of the rooms in our favor, just like Crow said. The other rooms should at least be back to normal honest gambling now too. Anyway, I marked our special room on the map. Make sure you use that one!”

Crow: “Perfect. Now, let us head into the fray.”

timrodresized: There’s a door right around the corner from the control room you can use to get back to where the dice games are.

timrodresized: I like to think that at this moment, Joker’s phone rings. It’s Ryuji. “So, uh… can you do me a favor and ask Morgana what happens if you spill nacho cheese in someone’s brain?”

timrodresized: The game explains the rules, which don’t matter, but I’ll explain them briefly. You roll three dice and guess whether they’ll be over or under 10.5. Getting the over/under right doubles your bet. Getting three matching dice triples it.

timrodresized: If you get three sixes, you win five times your initial bet regardless of what your prediction was. The usual bet amount is 25 coins, but as we’ll see…

Crow: “There is no need to worry. We will most certainly win.”

timrodresized: I have no idea why they even have you do this, because the result is the same no matter what you pick.

timrodresized: We repeat this three times.

Crow: “We’ve got what we need - our next move’s up to you, Joker.”

Fox: “Have we reached our goal?”

Crow: “It still may not be enough.”

Morgana: “Are you seriously planning on taking every last coin in here?”

Crow: “Ahaha, it was a joke. However, it would be nice to have a little more coinage on hand, would it not? Everyone wait here. Skull, I would like you to come with me.”

timrodresized: This scene is not going to make any sense when we get to the slot room.

Skull: “Why me?”

Crow: “Because I am the ‘brains’ here, am I not?”

Skull: “Huh? Oh, sure.”

Morgana: “…Time to see what he’s made of.”

Noir: “That was amazing! It was like magic!”

Panther: “I could totally get addicted to this!”

Morgana: “Where are Crow and Skull?”

timrodresized: There’s a scene in the slot room where the party wins this gigantic pool of chips, and Makoto goes “Oh, they don’t matter, the total gets added to the player card when you win.” Presumably, Akechi knows this as well.

Queen: “Whoa…”

Skull: “So… heavy…”

Panther: “Amazing… we managed to get our hands on 6800 coins…”

Crow: “We still have a long way before we reach our goal though. Now then, on to the slot machines.”

timrodresized: Ignore the chip counter, I took this shot earlier.

timrodresized: This is just like the dice room in that we never actually have to play slots. In fact, there is no slots minigame.

Queen: “We’re here to make money, not to play your games!”

timrodresized: Atlus’s slogan for Persona as a franchise past Eternal Punishment. “We’re here to milk money from our fanbase, not make games!”

timrodresized: In the base game, this fight was against three Kumbhandas. Instead, we get a fight against one Jatayu, who is significantly higher level.

timrodresized: Joker gets a shock off using Gabriel, and then Haru finishes it before it can move. Haru’s gun can do some serious damage on a technical.

Panther: “Wait, why didn’t the guests around us react to that battle?”

Crow: “Perhaps as she sees it, they only care for their own victory, while ignoring the needs of others.”

Queen: “That reaction is certainly different from what we saw on the lower floor. I wonder if that trend grows stronger the higher up you go in the court system.”

Crow: “It is possible. In any case, we can now freely access the Slot Room. We should go look around… although I doubt we will find a fair fight waiting for us in this scamming casino.”

timrodresized: I originally came in here to grab any gift boxes lying around, mostly because I wanted to experiment and see if Futaba’s thing that replaces the stealables works on them. It doesn’t.

Crow: “I would expect they’re all rigged to prevent us from winning.”

Morgana: “Then should we deal with that first?”

Crow: “No, I believe it would be prudent to examine this slot area further. Casinos hold their higher-limit slots somewhere in the back. If we were going to circumvent their trick, would it not be more efficient to do so on those?”

timrodresized: This statement is kind of confusing, because the high-limit slots are actually in another room that we have to go through the maintenance area to get to.

Queen: “That’s assuming we’ll even be able to solve the problem.”

Crow: “I trust in your ability to handle such a matter.”

Skull: “A-aight, let’s go look for that sweet, sweet slot machine!”

timrodresized: First though… you see that thing on the wall? That’s important. You can examine it to have it added to your map.

Panther: “Can you mess with it and figure out how they’re cheating, Navi?”

Oracle: “Welllll… this one’s on standby. Uh, basically I’m gonna have to activate it remotely from a main terminal somewhere else.”

Crow: “So this one is useless unless we can access the main hub. Oh well. We should at least commit this place to memory for now.”

timrodresized: The back door leads to the maintenance area, which has a very obvious path that is not the one we want to take. All this does is loop you back to the slot room.

timrodresized: Instead, you want to jump down here to make this entire process as painless as possible.

timrodresized: This area has the green terminal, which is the other one we need. There’s two dummy terminals - the yellow and one the blue one - which we don’t need.

timrodresized: Right across from the green terminal is this pile of crap we can climb up to get to where the second will seed is.

timrodresized: On the same platform as the will seed room is a vent that will take us right where we need to go. The rest of this area? Fuck it! You can skip it! There’s nothing in there except some chests with shit you don’t need.

timrodresized: There’s a door nearby you can open with the keycard that provides a shortcut back to the main slots room and that other terminal we saw.

Crow: “This must be the main hall of the slot room.”

timrodresized: The slot area has bunnygirl shadows. They’re in the first part too, but I couldn’t get a good shot of them without getting spotted.

Panther: “Wait, all cherries wins you 5,000 coins, BAR gets you 10,000, while a 777 gives you 50,000!? Whoa! That’ll get us all the coins we need in one fell swoop!”

Morgana: “Assuming we can win, that is. If the reward’s high, the risk will surely be high as well.”

Crow: “Either way, our goal here is to gain a member’s card for the high limit floor. It would make the most sense for us to utilize this slot machine in some way, shape or form. However…”

Skull: “Lemme guess, ‘We will need to stop their cheating first’? There’s no doubt this one’s rigged too.”

Crow: “Haha, I’m glad you understand. Now then, let us search the area. Hopefully we will find something that can give us a little more information about this slot.”

Oracle: “There’s prolly a terminal for info back behind the thing. Try looking there, Joker.”

timrodresized: There’s a chest on one side of the machine. The control panel is on the other side.

Oracle: “Mweheheh… let’s see… wow, they’re going really hard on this whole cheating angle. We wouldn’t have won a penny here.”

Queen: “Do you think you’ll be able to disable their rigging of it?”

Oracle: “Not from this terminal. It looks like there are multiple different-colored control panels throughout this area. Out of those, I’ll need the red and green ones. I should be able to control things from there.”

Queen: “Do you know where we can find them though?”

timrodresized: I’ll just cut this short because we already know where they are. Futaba will explain that one’s near the entrance to the area and one’s in the back room.

Oracle: “Gotcha! We’ll be done after this!”

Crow: “…Hold on.”

Skull: “C’mon, what now?”

timrodresized: I like to think that everyone realized they were in for Akechi overexplaining the obvious, so they went out for ice cream. Ann stayed behind because Ryuji offered to pay for her and bring it back if he didn’t have to wait instead.

timrodresized: Ryuji orders a cone because he wanted a waffle cone, and gets ice cream dripped all over the carpet in the member lobby. The carpet is forever ruined by ice cream and nacho cheese.

Queen: “So you want to take advantage of the system, just like we did for the dice game.”

Crow: “Essentially. My aim here is the giant slot machine.”

Panther: “You mean the one that’s 5,000 coins a play!? I don’t know if that’s really possible…!”

Oracle: “Oooh, sounds like fun to me. Just gimme a sec.”

Oracle: “The giant one’s still only on an 8:2 ratio though. There’s honestly no guarantee it’ll work properly.”

timrodresized: Couldn’t you just borrow 6,000 chips or whatever first? That’d give you two shots at an 80% chance of winning.

Noir: “Does that mean it will still miss two times out of ten? That’s somewhat concerning…”

Crow: “It should be fine. Nothing the Phantom Thieves do can ever be considered truly risk-free, after all. If we want to succeed, we simply have no other choice but this.”

timrodresized: Yes, putting all of your chips into a slot machine that has an 80% chance of giving you a 33% chance at getting the amount of chips you need is a solid plan. Wait, no it isn’t.

timrodresized: Anyway, the game will offer to warp you right to the big slot machine, so let’s do that.

Panther: “I-I wonder if we’ll actually manage to score that 50,000…”

Morgana: “She’s right. There’s a 20% chance the rig won’t work, and even if we win, it might not be enough.”

Crow: “This is a big gamble, Joker. Are you sure about this?”

Crow: “50,000 coins, hm? …You truly are special, Joker.”

Crow: “It is no surprise the customers are reacting to this commotion. We should leave for now.”

timrodresized: So yeah, that scene earlier? The only reason I can think of it for it to exist is because Akechi wanted to feel superior by making Ryuji push around a thing full of chips.

Crow: “I wonder if we’ll be able to use that slot machine again…”

Fox: “You wish to win more coins? I’m pretty sure we have enough.”

Crow: “More is always better than less. Then again, I suppose we are already good to go.”

Morgana: “That’s right… we have 50,000 coins now! Let’s go exchange them for a member’s card to the high limit floor!”

timrodresized: The game offers to warp us back to the cashier, so let’s do that. I realized I forgot to get shots of the red shadow here as well, so let’s grab one quick.

timrodresized: The red shadows here are Skadi, and they only show up in the dice game area as far as I know - I cleared the rest of the palace without running into one. Like all red shadows, they will not negotiate until they are at very low HP.

timrodresized: Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to negotiate with one because I kept accidentally shocking them, which prevents negotiations. I’ll just log it anyway, because her origin is kind of interesting.

New Persona: Skadi

Origin: Norse Mythology

First Appearance: Nocturne

Skadi (also called the “Snowshoe Goddess”) is a ice giantess in Norse mythology. She is the mother of Freyr (who was Ayase’s ultimate Persona in Persona 1) and Freya (who was added to Royal) and is associated with skiing and winter.

Her design in the Megami Tensei games is based on a false interpretation by an author named Barbara Walker, who re-interpreted her as a Celtic goddess of shadows - essentially turning her into a Celtic Scathach. Walker’s writing also influenced the design for Mem Aleph in Strange Journey.

timrodresized: Basically, the lesson here is never trust anyone named Barbara. It’s a lesson that has served me well in life.

timrodresized: Now that we have the coins, we can just buy out the store.

Noir: “We finally have the card! Let’s do our best on the next floor as well.”

Crow: “I hope I was able to contribute in some meaningful way. Come, let us head over to the elevator.”

Crow: “This must be due to the instigation of Sae-san. We should be prepared to fight.”

Crow: “We merely followed your rules.”

ShadowSae: “Hmph! I am the manager of this casino, and the rules deem that I am the victor!”

Crow: “It appears both the Sae-san of the real world and that of this world are at their wit’s end…”

ShadowSae: “…I think our guests will be leaving now.”

Skull: “You’re the only one who’s gonna be leaving, black suit!”

Morgana: “Things would’ve been so much simpler if we could do this from the start!”

timrodresized: This time, we’re up against a Norn, which is a common encounter in the second half of this dungeon. I opt to go for a good old-fashioned devil busting by means of shooting it until it dies.

timrodresized: Norn is a significant downgrade from Innocent Sin, when all three of the major Norns were individual Personas (Verdandi was Maki’s ultimate Persona in 1).

timrodresized: Like an increasing number of enemies, Norn has no weaknesses. This one will Diarahan itself for a full heal, but we can still gun it down.

ShadowSae: “Criminal trials are but a gamble to be won, and us prosecutors arrange the gambling table. Hence, losses are unacceptable! We must win, even if it has to be on false charges!”

Queen: “Are you serious, Sis!? Why won’t you answer me!?”

Noir: “Mako-chan…”

ShadowSae: “Don’t think such a petty trick could defeat me. I may have to acknowledge your skills - if you can make it up to the manager’s floor, that is.”

Crow: “She thinks the trials which shape the outcomes of people’s lives are nothing more than gambles? I wish I didn’t have to hear that from Sae-san herself…”

Queen: “Sis is completely distorted! We have to stop her, quickly!”

Noir: “We all feel the same way.”

Morgana: “There’s no time to waste. She mentioned something about a manager’s floor, right? Let’s try heading up there. We’ll change Niijima-san’s heart for sure.”

Panther: “Huh, the manager’s floor still isn’t showing up…”

Oracle: “But she’s so close I can almost smell her! The next floor’s prolly gonna be the last one.”

Skull: “I said, outta the way!”

Noir: “We shouldn’t cause a scene.”

Fox: “It seems there is some kind of requirement we must meet before we can access this high limit floor.”

Skull: “Even though we got the coins?”

timrodresized: Sae’s Palace is the first one since Madarame’s where we can’t clear it in one day due to there being a barrier… even if thematically, the barrier doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Queen: “It must be related to my sister’s cognition in some way…”

Panther: “I can’t imagine how though…”

Crow: “Her cognition? Essentially, Sae-san needs to think of us as being allowed to enter, correct? Hm. This casino is the courthouse in reality… so that floor must be a place only authorized personnel are given access to…”

Crow: “… I would say it has to be the courtroom.”

timrodresized: The idea of a courtroom as being a “restricted area” makes a lot less sense for a game that takes place in 2016. Remember, Japan’s justice system had started reintroducing juries in 2009, which would probably account for a good part of Sae’s legal career.

timrodresized: There’s also the whole thing with people being able to observe trials, but according to that article, it rarely happened due to trials in Japan being very boring to watch, even compared to trials in the US.

Panther: “You really are an ace detective.”

Fox: “He’s come to understand the workings of the cognitive world so quickly.”

Skull: “I was just like that too, right?”

Skull: “I just understood it right away though. No need for that logic stuff.”

Noir: “That aside, how are we going to get into the courtroom?”

Oracle: “Ryuji! Go piss off the police!”

Skull: “Hell no!”

Queen: “We just need to attend a trial. Still, how are we supposed to know which trials my sister will be attending?”

Crow: “Leave that to me. I have some connections in mind. I will contact you once I manage to arrange a time.”

timrodresized: I wound up leaving without even using the fusion alarm.

Morgana: “It feels like we’re fairly close to the Treasure now. There’s no doubt we’re nearing the end.”

Crow: “It seems we have a solid overall understanding of this place. I assume this is simple for you? Either way, please let me know when we are meeting next. I will be eagerly awaiting your call.”

Morgana: “We really can’t fail this time. Let’s go about this carefully. After we go to the courtroom tomorrow, we should head straight into the Palace.”

timrodresized: Just like Morgana says, we’re being launched directly into the second half of the dungeon with no time in between. This means no money reading or alarm reading.

timrodresized: After getting a massage from Kawakami, we’re doing Mishima’s Rank 9 tonight.

Mishima: “Let’s talk at the diner then. It’ll probably surprise you… but we can talk some more over there.”

Mishima: “Well, it turns out they were really dangerous. I looked them up… and found some seriously scary info. Apparently they’re part of a gang that’s involved in extortion stuff like that all the time.”

Mishima: “I wish I had known that going in… one slip of the tongue in that act I pulled, and I would’ve been dead.”

Mishima: “Me too! Now I really know the true joy of life. Honestly though… you’re amazing. You weren’t afraid in the slightest. Maybe it’s only natural after all the nightmares you’ve been through…”

Mishima: “H-Hi there…”

Mishima: “U-Um, not yet…”

timrodresized: The Zero wasn’t a stealth fighter though. Stealth technology didn’t really exist in World War II.

Mishima: “Akiyama-kun…”

Mishima: “Um, ‘before’? I don’t really know what you’re talking about.”

Mishima: “Huh…?”

Mishima: “It looks like Akiyama-kun’s gonna be just fine. He’s a pretty strong-willed guy. And… I really have changed, huh? Do you think maybe now I’m starting to be like the Phantom Thieves…?”

Mishima: “I’m gonna work even harder now to make sure I live up to your legacy!”

Mishima: “You know, I always used to think I couldn’t amount to anything. But I somehow managed to step up and help Akiyama-kun with those thugs. It made me realize… there really are things I can do to save people.”

Mishima: “That’s why I’ve started writing a documentary on the Phantom Thieves. The research I did on that gang Akiyama-kun was wrapped up in was actually what pushed me to do it.”

Mishima: “And now I’m basically putting together a massive log of all your activities from the Phan-Site.”

timrodresized: Clearly, Mishima has learned nothing.

Mishima: “Oh, don’t worry! I’m coming up with aliases for all of you. If you guys have code names you use, those would work too. At any rate, we should celebrate today! My treat!”

Mishima: “Screw the fountain drinks… let’s go straight for the fancy fruit juice! It’s three times the price, so it’s gotta be three times better!”

timrodresized: “Fancy fruit juice”, aka “Let’s order wine with a fake ID”.

Mishima: “But I only have so much money… if you wanna order anything else, it’ll have to come out of your own pocket, okay? Anyway… let’s party until we have to go catch the last train!”

timrodresized: Yes, partying until the last train with ‘juice’. Got it.

Mishima: “Uh… sorry. I don’t know the right thing to say after coming home from a party. Ahaha… but that was so fun, right? I’ve never stayed that late at a diner before.”

Mishima: “You think it’s the power of that fancy fruit juice? I mean, it did cost three times the usual price! …Okay, I’ll stop joking around. I think I’m just really happy to hear that one comment from Akiyama-kun…”

Mishima: “You heard what he said about me… but do you really think some part of me’s changed?”

Mishima: “Wait, really? You mean… I actually look confident now? Eheh… gosh, man, you’re gonna make me blush… but thank you.”

Mishima: “…That documentary I mentioned? Starting today, I’m going to start writing it seriously. And once it’s finished, I want you to be the first one to read the script! It’s our promise! A vow between men, okay? See you!”

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll go to court to see an unfitting visual metaphor and then finish off the casino.

There are some repeated images at the start of the fight with Shadow Honjo.

Akechi…what are you talking about? She wants you to not obtain that card by not winning coins in the casino. Because it’s a casino. She wants you to lose.

Just went back and fixed that. Thanks for pointing it out.

So do you think Joker’s telling Sae what the shadows look like? I’m having a chuckle imagining him telling her that her Shadow has a mountain of eyeliner and a tramp stamp of a dog.

Mostly I’m just weirded out that they needed to slam together two different metaphors (Running the casino and never losing vs. the dog fight with the collar and tattoo) into one goofy less coherent than either mess.

Sae: “Let’s say I believe your story. What did my Shadow look like?”

Joker: “Okay so look, your shadow is you but with a shit-ton of eyeliner on. We’re talking like, an entire tube of eyeliner. Per eye.”

Sae: “What.”

Joker: “Yeah, and then she’s got this weirdly cut fishnet dress, and yellow flower tattoos up her arms. Oh, and this hat that I can only really describe as ‘the fuck hat’. You know the one.”

Sae: “…Go on.”

Joker: “The weirdest part though is the tramp stamp. It’s of a doberman and you can see it because-”

Sae: “Lies! That’s not me! I would never have a… tramp stamp… especially not one of a canine! Even I know what kind of message that’s sending!”

Joker: “Pfft… did I mention the part about the collar? It’s one of those spiked ones from Hot Topic.”

Sae: “If you ever speak of this again, I assure you that you will not live long. Never speak of this again.”

She might just be glad her Shadow isn’t a dude in his boxers or a fat cartoon fly. In terms of maintaining dignity, Shadow Sae is actually doing comparatively well.

Click Here for Update 83

timrodresized: We get another reading period on the train that we don’t need.

Morgana: “This doesn’t make any sense to me. Does the author even understand what they’re saying…?”

Morgana: “So, you’ve finished reading Social Thought. I’m getting information overload… groan

Kawakami: “My neighbors have been careless lately on garbage day… the crows were cawing away this morning. Those trash nets the city makes us use only keep them away at the start. Crows are quick learners.”

Kawakami: “On that note, do you all know how to write the kanji for ‘crow’? The characters for ‘bird’ and ‘crow’ look very similar, but the latter has one fewer line. What do you think, Kurusu-kun? Isn’t it easy to confuse with ‘bird’?”

timrodresized: I know this is a mistake that comes up sometimes in fan translations.

Kawakami: “Do you know why it’s missing in the character for ‘crow’?”

Kawakami: “That’s right.”

Kawakami: “But crows actually have great vision. They can even see UV rays, apparently. By the way, one reading for a different ‘crow’ kanji is ‘ga’, to imitate the sound of it cawing.”

Kawakami: “The character for ‘pigeon’ is the same. It’s based on the bird’s coo, leading to the ‘ku’ pronunciation. Crows are pretty smart, so you’d better study enough so that you don’t lose to them.”

Morgana: “Crows are scary, lemme tell ya. When your eyes meet, they start flapping and. shudder

timrodresized: There’s no jury box, because this is probably a trial that’s not considered important enough for one. From what I’ve read, juries are only used for high-profile cases, like murder.

timrodresized: Huh. In the Ace Attorney games, the defense attorney is always on the left.

Yusuke: “Just being here causes my body to tense up.”

Haru: “I’m shocked that Niijima-san can think of somewhere this solemn as a casino…”

Futaba: “So Makoto’s sis is that lady who’s overflowing with the aura of a capable woman.”

Makoto: “…Mm-hm.”

Ryuji: “By the way, what’s this trial about?”

timrodresized: This is another reference to the trial of Ryutaro Nonomura, which I mentioned way back when we saw Madarame’s breakdown scene. It’s hard to believe I’ve been LPing this game for almost a year.

Ryuji: “Aren’t politicians supposed to be loaded? Why’d he mess with our tax money?”

timrodresized: Ryuji, do you even pay taxes?

Futaba: “Playing with other people’s cash is a total no-go.”

Haru: “This may sound odd, but isn’t Niijima-san supposed to be busy with our investigation? Does she really have time to be coming to a trial like this?”

Akechi: “Supposedly, she was on this case before being assigned to the Phantom Thieves… normally, another prosecutor would take her place, but… Sae-san can be a bit of a perfectionist.”

Ann: “Hey, how’re we gonna get Niijima-san to notice us? Did you tell her we’d be coming?”

Makoto: “I don’t think she read the message, though.”

Futaba: “Do we have a backup plan?”

Akechi: “…Not exactly, but I’m sure she’ll notice us eventually.”

Sae: “Hm…? I noticed a lot of students here, but is that Akechi-kun… and Makoto? Now that I think about it, there was a message about her coming… sigh That doesn’t matter for now.”

Akechi: “See? It’s almost time to begin.”

timrodresized: Let me just talk a bit about how this entire visual metaphor doesn’t really work at all. With Madarame, you had a visual metaphor that worked: the door in his house in the real world corresponded to the barrier, and opening the door opened the barrier.

timrodresized: Here, though, the barrier isn’t the door to the courtroom: that would make sense. Instead, it’s that fence between the audience area and where the people actually involved in the trial are. In fact, if you look, you can tell that the barrier in Sae’s palace is just a bigger version of that fence.

timrodresized: We’ll see a bit later (when we go back into the palace) that the visual designers knew that this was the case, and then kinda hamfisted it. The big difference here is that unlike Madarame’s locked door, the party never really gets over the physical barrier that corresponds to the one in the palace.

timrodresized: Now, there’s things they could have done to make this work. They could have put in a thing where Akechi slips a John Persona logo into a place where Sae would notice it, representing the idea that the barrier doesn’t mean anything to John Persona.

timrodresized: Instead, you get this, which doesn’t feel consistent with the way things worked in Madarame’s palace. There’s going to be a lot of that coming up, both in this dungeon and the final dungeon of the base game.

Morgana: “This should let us enter that high limit thingamajig! Let’s head over to her Palace once the trial’s over!”

Ryuji: “Stay in the bag, dammit!”

timrodresized: I don’t know why they chose to do this, because it looks like ass - it’s pretty clearly a flat screenshot they slapped over the 3D visuals and it sticks out, even if you’re not taking still shots of it.

timrodresized: It’s also kinda dumb because most of the other times they do the overlay thing, it’s in rooms that are scaled to their real-world counterparts. It’s why you don’t see it a lot in Futaba’s palace, or at all in Okumura’s.

timrodresized: It feels like the level designers didn’t know whether they wanted to go the Snow Queen route (where the Ice Castle is roughly the same size as St. Hermelin, but with stuff re-arranged) or just go nuts and make it so that the palaces can be completely different from their real-world counterparts, so they just did a little of both and hoped it’d mesh.

timrodresized: That’s another thing that really doesn’t make much sense to me: why they even included the whole ‘palaces are based on a real location’ thing if half of them don’t share any design elements whatsoever with the places they’re supposed to be.

Skull: “You’re gonna have a heart attack if you keep gettin’ surprised like that.”

Crow: “Haha… honestly though, this is all somewhat hard to believe.”

Fox: “Look, there is a counter up ahead. Shall we head there first?”

timrodresized: Before we do that, we can get the third will seed right now. Joker can grapple up to this chandelier, which seems pointless at first.

timrodresized: The trick is that you can jump off the back of the chandelier and onto a series of ramps along the back wall.

timrodresized: There’s a vent at the top.

Queen: “Sorry, but you’ll be letting us through!”

Morgana: “Hold on, Queen - I’m getting the feeling that this one’s gonna be a headache. We’ll probably want to be as ready as possible for this fight. Are we, Joker?”

timrodresized: We have four archangels. We’re ready.

timrodresized: I think this is one of the few times you can actually fuse a will seed miniboss before fighting them.

timrodresized: Baal might have been difficult if we weren’t overleveled and didn’t have Gabriel.

timrodresized: He doesn’t hit Joker due to Ali Dance - the only reason Joker is missing HP is because I didn’t realize the will seed was up there until I had cleared the rest of the floor.

timrodresized: Hadad is wiped out by Judeo-Christianity, just like in real life.

Queen: “And that takes care of that! Let’s move.”

timrodresized: Quality proofreading right there. I had to do a read-back because I thought I had read it wrong.

timrodresized: Sae’s will seed accessory sucks… until Jose improves it. Then it gives you a free Charge/Concentrate at the start of a fight, which makes it great for wiping out encounters fast.

Oracle: “Just 1,000 though. At least give each person that much, cheapskate.”

Queen: “Okay, show us your prizes now. We want to exchange our coins for a member’s card.”

timrodresized: Unfortunately, the prizes kinda suck. No Megidolaon tablets here.

Queen: “What? Then how are we supposed to get to the manager’s floor…?”

Crow: “Well, we cannot proceed unless we check it out. Why don’t we head over there for the time being?”

Panther: “Maybe it’s a scale-shaped bridge? There’s an area on the other side too. That could lead to the manager’s floor!”

Crow: “There can be no doubt… we’ll need to lower the bridge to cross.”

Noir: “But how do we do that?”

Crow: “Hm, how indeed. Let us try investigating around here.”

Noir: “What…? We need 100,000 coins just to cross over there!?”

Morgana: “It’s getting clearer that she has no intention of letting us proceed onward.”

Crow: “I don’t believe there is any need for pessimism though.”

Panther: “But think about how much that is! We were desperate just to get our hands on 50,000…”

Crow: “But we still obtained them in the end. We can succeed if we do that again, then double our total.”

Queen: “I suppose this is the high limit floor…”

Fox: “Indeed, there must be a high risk, high return game somewhere here. Though we’ll need to win too…”

Crow: “Our first order of business should be to see what kind of games exist on this floor.”

timrodresized: We saw them from the chandelier earlier.

timrodresized: We can’t do the Battle Arena, because it requires a 10,000 coin entry fee.

timrodresized: And now it’s time for what is probably the least annoying dark room in the entire Megami Tensei franchise. What, you didn’t think we’d get through an Atlus game without a dark room, did you?

Skull: “You better not be lookin’ for a fight. We ain’t interested!”

Morgana: “Participants?”

timrodresized: Wait, is this the Hunger Games?

Queen: “Of course we don’t. That should be obvious.”

Morgana: “…So we basically need to be our own substitutes. Eh, sounds perfect to me! That’s way better than spectating!”

Noir: “10,000 coins, just from completing a maze!?”

Crow: “It is no wonder they call this the high-limit floor. I doubt the maze will be as simple as it sounds…”

timrodresized: It’s kind of strange to me that they’d put a save room here when there’s one in the lobby just outside, but whatever.

Queen: “This is definitely not ‘a little’. We’ve been tricked.”

Oracle: “I’m sensing Shadows too. ‘Very simple,’ my ass.”

Fox: “If we do not ascertain the layout and placement of the enemies, we will surely find ourselves in danger. I just hope there is an adequate way of doing so…”

timrodresized: You can use Batman Vision to make things a little easier to see, and the enemies will appear on the minimap… even if there isn’t much of one.

timrodresized: The shadows in here are all the black-suited type, which makes them hard to see unless you’re running around with Batman Vision at all times.

timrodresized: I get ambushed by some Rangda. We want one of these, because they’re one of the two components for Shiva. Shiva is one of a handful of special fusions that do not involve more than two Personas - the components are Rangda and Barong.

timrodresized: Unlike the other special fusions, Shiva does not show up in the “Advanced Fusion” list - the only way you can even know the fusion exists is if you have Rangda and Barong in your roster at the same time.

timrodresized: We want Shiva because he itemizes into Ryuji’s ultimate gun, but also because he’s a component for Ardha, the final Temperance Persona. Ardha itemizes into Kasumi’s ultimate gun.

timrodresized: Anyway, Rangda is weak to Bless, and we’ve got plenty of that.

timrodresized: I’m pretty sure Rangda has a unique voice for the “I am thou, thou art I” line, and in Japanese it’s kinda funny because she goes “Ware wa Nanji, Nanji wa Wareeeeeeee” like she’s being tossed into the shadow realm.

New Persona: Rangda

Origin: Indonesia (Bali)

First Appearance: Megami Tensei I

Demon queen from Balinese mythology who leads an army of witches against Barong and eats children. Name means “widow” in the language spoken in ancient Bali. Possibly a home-grown version of Kali or Durga.

image

timrodresized: Rangda can be a pretty okay Persona, so long as you replace half her moveset. I believe she’s also one of the few Personas you can build to reflect everything.

timrodresized: There’s a few scattered groups of NPCs who don’t say anything.

Fox: “Impossible. We took the only path available straight to this point.”

Crow: “…It seems they have no intention of letting us proceed further.”

Skull: “Dammit, this is cheatin’… actually, it’s even worse than cheatin’!”

Queen: “Regardless, let’s search for a way past here. We can’t get the coins if we don’t reach the goal.”

timrodresized: This part of the dungeon is less about finding your way through the maze and more about playing “hunt the vent”. The vent is on the wall right next to the door.

Queen: “Hm, how convenient. If they’re not going to let us move forward, we can force our way through here.”

Crow: “Haha, an unsurprising idea for Sae-san’s sister. I will go along with whatever plan we choose.”

timrodresized: As soon as I got through the vent, there was a shadow waiting for me and I had about half a second to press the “attack” button to not have it be an ambush. We’ve fought Norn before.

Technically Returning Persona: Norn

Origin: Norse Mythology

First Appearance: SMT If

Norse goddesses more or less analgous to the Fates in Greek myth. The three major ones are Verdandi, Urd and Skuld - none of which have appeared in any Persona or mainline SMT game past Eternal Punishment.

timrodresized: Norn is kind of a trashsona, though she comes up on a lot of fusion lists.

timrodresized: There’s really not much to see here - you go through vents until you find an unlocked door. The room isn’t that big.

timrodresized: There’s two doors you can use to get in. The bottom one has a chest near it, but it’s nothing special.

Panther: “Is that it though? It feels like there’s more up ahead.”

timrodresized: The chest on the minimap is an SP recovery item. Thankfully, this is the last area of the dark room maze.

Skull: “What was that, you bastard!?”

Morgana: “I hope you’re read. We didn’t appreciate that trap of yours.”

Panther: “He’s right! You didn’t have any intention of letting us get past that maze in the first place!”

timrodresized: The miniboss is a Raja Naga, which has no weaknesses and likes to use electric attacks.

timrodresized: He likes to use Maziodyne, though in this case, that becomes his downfall.

timrodresized: He shocks Yusuke and then gets a Technical to reduce him to 10 HP, using the follow-up to force Yusuke to Endure. However, Raja Naga forgot one important thing: if you physically attack a shocked enemy, there’s a good chance the shock transfers to you.

timrodresized: Haru follows up with One-Shot Kill after Yusuke dumps his magazine. Boss down.

Queen: “Considering how things were on the members floor, it’s no surprise this isn’t a fair game either.”

Crow: “And yet we still reached our goal. Come now, let us go. We have no more business here.”

Fox: “Hm, we will have to go to another game if we want to win more coins… Joker, should we go back to the elevator?”

timrodresized: There’s only one other place we can even go, so let’s go there.

Panther: “Of course! Our teamwork’s gonna take down this arena of yours!”

timrodresized: If you’ve played Nocturne, you’ll probably have a pretty good idea of what’s coming.

Fox: “Don’t tell me…”

Panther: “Wait, what!? That’s enough to get us across this bridge! Come on, we need to do this!”

Crow: “Hm… this feels like a trap to me. An amount that high would certainly ensure great danger.”

Queen: “But failure to infiltrate this Palace will be the end of us.”

Skull: “So we don’t got a choice…”

Crow: “Very well. In that case, Joker should be the one to participate. We don’t know what kind of enemies may appear, so his high level of adaptability will be vital here.”

timrodresized: It’s mostly just beefed-up random encounters with lower HP.

Fox: “Are you sure about this? You will have to fight alone…”

Panther: “But… that’s why Joker’s the one doing it, right…? I mean, I understand why… J-Just be careful, okay? Don’t do anything reckless in there.”

timrodresized: Before you go in, you’re going to want to make sure you have something that can hit Psychic, something that can hit Bless, and a status effect. Or, you know, just Concentrate and Megidolaon. I was tempted to make a Mot with those, but that’s kind of a waste at this point.

Crow: “Only you will be able to continue from here onward. We’ll be cheering from the stands, so best of luck!”

timrodresized: I find it funny that the Mantra (an organization of demons who are firmly “strong eat the weak”) honor the whole one-on-one battle thing in their battle arena, but Sae doesn’t.

Panther: “This isn’t one-on-one at all! They’re just ignoring the rules right from the beginning!”

timrodresized: Joker opens with Concentrate, and then promptly gets critted by a Miracle Punch. Miracle Punch is a garbage skill that does no damage but has a high crit rate.

Noir: “How cowardly! There’s nothing fair or honest about this!”

timrodresized: I figured that it was probably going to take two turns to kill these either way, so I brought out Uriel and went right to Makougaon. Turns out the Rangdas here have lower HP than usual.

timrodresized: Oh look, a battle arena where the final enemy is Thor.

Oracle: “Yowza… that’s a big one.”

Music Nocturne Boss Theme

timrodresized: This is strangely appropriate given our mostly-angel party.

timrodresized: Meet US Ambassador to Japan John Thorman. He has no weaknesses and absorbs lightning. He’s also the source of Ryuji’s best melee weapon, meaning I’ll probably fuse one sooner or later.

timrodresized: Thorman’s tactics are pretty simple: he uses Charge, then uses Megaton Raid to do a shitload of damage. He also has Ziodyne (which he can randomly use instead) and Megidolaon if you reflect both Phys and Elec.

timrodresized: I’m pretty sure that this follows the same rules as that one Mementos boss, where you can null (but not repel) elec and phys and he won’t go to Megidolaon.

timrodresized: We’ll just make him drink of the wine of the wrath of God, then force him to hand over all the magatsuhi.

Crow: “Once again, justice prevails.”

Skull: “Ohhh shittttt! That was freakin’ amazin’, Joker!”

Panther: “You were incredible! They never even planned on giving you a fair fight in there.”

Crow: “Yes, I expected that would be the case. Our other trials have been rigged as well, after all.”

Queen: “So you sent Joker in knowing full well the possible dangers!?”

Crow: “I simply had faith in his skill. And to be honest… there was no other course of action available. Come now, we should head to the bridge. This shall be our moment to shine.”

timrodresized: The prize counter in the high-limit area has a new weapon for Akechi, an accessory that gives you Pulinpa (why) and an accessory that nulls Despair. I grab the sword and the Despair Charm.

timrodresized: I forgot to show it off earlier, but the chest you can see on the left has a new weapon for Joker in it. We’ll need to keep equipping Joker with new stuff, because you can’t get his ultimate melee weapon until New Game Plus.

Skull: “We got that! Now let us through!”

ShadowSae: “I never expected you would make it this far. I commend you on your vigorous efforts. However, you will never proceed to the manager’s floor ahead.”

timrodresized: I don’t know why she doesn’t just say a billion. Anyway, what we’re about to see here is a bit of an ass-pull if you’ve been using Akechi in the party the entire time.

Panther: “WHAT!?”

Oracle: “What!? That’s not fair! You can’t give us an impossible task like that!”

ShadowSae: “Ah, you finally understand? That is the point. Your task will forever be impossible! Hence, I will emerge victorious!”

Noir: “We had only just barely gotten 100,000 coins…”

Crow: “In that case, there won’t be a problem.”

Crow: “Not exactly. I already have the requisite coins right here.”

ShadowSae: “What…? How could that be!?”

Crow: “Do you remember what we were told at the very beginning? Essentially, we could borrow as many coins from the casino as we already held on our card.”

Noir: “Well yes, but…”

Crow: “For example, had we borrowed the max when we had 10,000 coins, we would have ended up with 20,000. And had we then bet on Joker at the colosseum as a guest, our total would have grown to 460,000.”

Queen: “Yes, but you’re speaking purely in hypotheticals. That’s not what actually happened.”

Crow: “Correct, on Joker’s card. However, that is not the only card in our possession.”

timrodresized: Akechi pulls out a mint condition first-edition Charizard, despite the fact that he probably would have been an infant when those released.

ShadowSae: “You have… another card!?”

Oracle: “That’s the Taro Tanaka card I told you to get rid of!”

Crow: “Exactly. Instead of disposing of it, I secretly used it to gather coins and outsmart this system.”

timrodresized: So here’s my question: WHY ISN’T MAKOTO DOING THIS!? This would have been prime SMART GIRL territory.

ShadowSae: “H-Hmph… so what? That’s still clearly not close to the required total.”

Crow: “Actually, once my count reached 460,000, I borrowed the maximum amount a second time. After paying back the original 10,000, I was left with 910,000.”

Crow: “Adding Joker’s total to that brings us to 1,010,000 coins. We can surely cross the bridge now.”

timrodresized: I’m surprised they didn’t put that number in as a variable, because we actually have 1,010,230 coins.

Crow: “Is there a problem? The manager’s room lies ahead. We won’t need to worry about coins after this. Or did you honestly intend on paying back such a large sum?”

Morgana: “Crow… it’s actually a little frightening how sharp you are…”

Crow: “I’ll take that as a compliment. I’m glad I was able to contribute to our Phantom Thieves efforts. Now, we should hurry and let the bridge down before she decides to change the rules once again.”

timrodresized: They come in the next day and Sae has installed a retinal scanner that specifically scans for eyeliner. Ann, Haru, and Yusuke quickly form a voting bloc to make Joker do it. It takes him days to get his face clean again and he has to endure Sojiro comparing him to Gene Simmons for the rest of the year.

Skull: “Hell yeah, we’re almost there!”

Morgana: “We had better be ready for whatever lies ahead!”

timrodresized: You see that door up the stairs? The one that’s just a giant roulette wheel? That should give you a pretty good idea of what Sae’s boss fight is.

Morgana: “A lot has happened, but we managed to get up here! Miss Manager’s days are numbered!”

ShadowSae: “How uncouth of you to simply barge in here. Elegance is necessary for victory as well, you know. I entertained you with all of my ‘games’, but it appears you are still far from satisfied.”

ShadowSae: “Very well. I’ve made preparations especially for that possibility. This will be a game of life and death from now on! No matter who I face, I shall not lose!”

timrodresized: Sis, please, you’re embarrassing me. I mean really, the tramp stamp? Was that really necessary?

Queen: “Our infiltration route is secure. We need to head back out and send the calling card.”

Crow: “And once the calling card is sent, Sae-san’s Treasure will appear, correct?”

Morgana: “Yeah. Once the target is cognizant of the danger, that cloudy thing will take shape.”

Crow: “I wonder… what will the Treasure look like?”

Panther: “That depends on the person… for Kamoshida, it was a medal. Madarame’s was a painting, and Kaneshiro’s was fake money…”

Noir: “Father’s was a plastic model…”

Crow: “In other words… the Treasure is what marked the beginning of the Palace ruler’s aspirations.”

Fox: “It could also be what caused their desires to swell.”

Morgana: “Thinking about it won’t get us anywhere though. Let’s head back and prepare the calling card.”

Noir: “Speaking of that, it actually looks like there’s a shape formed in the haziness…”

Queen: “If I had to guess… I’d say Sis’s Treasure is a police notebook.”

Crow: “Right… your father was…”

Queen: “She… probably thinks Dad died because the police were using him. That’s why she believes justice is meaningless, and that there’s no point living a subservient life…”

Queen: “Dad’s death is even the reason she aspired to become a prosecutor and grew so obsessed with winning… she really loved him…”

Crow: “Honest beliefs alone are not enough to get you through. Even I understand that pain… but that is exactly why we need to change our heart.”

Queen: “…Yes, that it is.”

Fox: “And now we’ve ascertained the location of the Treasure for that goal. Would you like to return to the entrance now, Joker?”

timrodresized: We don’t have a fusion alarm, and all of the Personas I actually want to fuse are still locked. There is one I wind up fusing a bit later, without any alarms.

timrodresized: There’s a TV quiz show thing we can do tonight, but why.

timrodresized: Where’s the option for “SuperPACs funded entirely by infinite amounts of corporate dark money?”

Morgana: “Oh, you got it right! So… what do you think? Do I count as a citizen?”

timrodresized: As usual, we call Kawakami. I’m really not sure why the game doesn’t do this automatically - I’m pretty sure it doesn’t cost you money, and there’s no reason you wouldn’t want it.

Sojiro: “I’m going to the church with Futaba. Sorry, but you’re coming along too.”

Sojiro: “No. We’re visiting Wakaba’s grave. Be ready in three minutes.”

timrodresized: It might seem strange for Wakaba to be buried at a church when no one mentions her being particularly religious, but that’s because Atlus didn’t feel like designing a new set for one confidant scene.

timrodresized: I mean, it’s either that, or Hashino really thinks that people are still buried in the church when they die.

Sojiro: “I’ve been so busy with the shop and all… no, that’s not it. The guilt is what kept me from coming. I thought Wakaba would be angry with me…”

Sojiro: “But now that I managed to get Futaba over here, I can finally meet her with my head held high. I sure kept her waiting… but it felt good to tell her about how much Futaba’s improved lately.”

Sojiro: “Oh… I told her about you too.”

Sojiro: “Idiot. I should be the one thanking you. Huh… this is the first time the four of us are all together.”

Futaba: “Sojiro? What are you smirking for?”

Sojiro: “Er…”

timrodresized: Sojiro is definitely an ending to Disco Elysium where Harry never realizes who he is and just kind of ends up here.

Futaba: “I approve.”

Sojiro: “Phew… oh, I have some news. The family court gave me a call the other day. Futaba’s uncle decided to retract his report. It was 'cause of you, wasn’t it?”

Sojiro: “I’m sure she’ll make a fine lady either way. After all… she is Wakaba’s daughter. sigh Do all fathers have to go through this anxiety…?”

Sojiro: “You know, I really just wanted to have you help out at the store. But you showed me so much more… you showed me I have a family I need to protect. Not just Futaba… but you too.”

Sojiro: “I may not always be reliable, but feel free to come to me if anything happens. I’ll be there for you… as family. And… ah, I know. I’ll teach you everything I know. You’re a full-fledged man now.”

timrodresized: I watched part of a speedrun of the base game while working on this update, and it turns Persona 5 into a game about how fast you can get to sleep.

Sojiro: “That might not be enough to return the favor… but it’s all I can do.”

Music The Path Is Open

timrodresized: Kohryu is the second best Nuke Persona in the game, next to one that requires a bunch of stuff we can’t fuse yet. It’s one of the easiest ways to get high-tier Nuke skills onto Michael.

timrodresized: I wound up fusing most of the components for it off-screen without using any alarms, because we can get all the skills we really need for Kohryu without them. I might buy an alarm for Kohryu itself.

timrodresized: I also realized I haven’t shown the “max confidant theme” from Persona 5 at any point. Unlike The Path is Open (which ONLY played when maxing an S-Link in 3 and 4) the theme in 5 is shared with a bunch of other story scenes. It also sucks compared to The Path is Open.

Music Swear To My Bones

timrodresized: No can do. Nothing can stop Straight Joker and his limitless amounts of horny.

Sojiro: “I can’t imagine you calling me ‘father’… although, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad…”

Futaba: “What are you two talking about?”

Sojiro:“Nothing!”

Futaba: “I hunger! Curry time!”

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll see Ohya’s Rank 9 (and Rank 10) scenes. We’ll also see Shinya’s Rank 9, Iwai’s Rank 9, and Tae’s Rank 9 (and 10). We’re almost done with confidants. Calling card? What’s that? Why would we send one of those?

timrodresized: It’s actually kind of hard to believe I got this far into the LP. When I first started it, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish, let alone 100% the game a second time.

timrodresized: One minor addendum: before you leave Sae’s palace, make sure you grab one of these. They’re only on the first floor of the casino, and chances are you’ll auto-stomp them like I did without realizing it.

timrodresized: Power is a trashsona, but it’s a component for Metatron and also itemizes into Bless Boost and Bless Amp. It also learns Null Curse, though by the time we get around to fusing Metatron, we’ll have a way to get Drain Curse in skill card form.

Maybe I’m reading too much into Nice Cop’s offhand comment about Joker’s friends but…

The entire scooby gang here goes to court to watch Sae prosecute, including Joker (That she knows lives with Sojiro and she recognized him at the start of the interrogation scenes), Futaba (That she was using to try to blackmail Sojiro), Makoto (That’s her sister), and Akechi (That does… police stuff). All of them show up, in person, to explicitly be seen together by Sae.

And she was still surprised Makoto was a part of the Phantom Thieves.

Yeah, the parts with Makoto are a kind of a plot hole. There is a plot reason that she doesn’t ‘know’ who the Phantom Thieves are, but it’s… honestly kinda dumb. We’ll see that when we get to the bad ending of the base game, which happens pretty soon.

This is making me think it would be extremely funny but extremely terrible if there were books that were so bad they lowered your stats.

Haru…I can see the room. Atticus Finch isn’t exactly about to make his closing argument here. It looks more like my fourth-grade classroom.

I also, uh, don’t see the point of this interlude. If I were to guess, they were stressed that Sae’s Palace would feel shorter than the others, even though it’s the penultimate (I think) palace, since you don’t have to leave and come back five times.

This feels like the solution to one of the games in Liar Game. Only in Liar Game, the solution would have been twice as complicated and also 40 chapters earlier, Akechi would have said “Nao Joker, for this game I think we should act separately”.

This one’s gonna get a lot of angry letters about the question being ambiguous.