Colors Flying High - Let's Play Persona 5 Royal

Click Here for Update 91

Morgana: “Haha, I’m impressed. Whatever happens, you always manage to just shake it off. You’re finally facing off against your archenemy. I know you know this, but don’t get impatient…”

Morgana: “Let’s look to see if we can find anything to help us get warm.”

timrodresized: The heater is basically Morgana’s room decoration, because he’s an auto-confidant.

Morgana: “Once we take care of Shido…”

Morgana: “Hm? Well… I was just thinking… this might be the last job for the Phantom Thieves. Everyone’s goals and ambitions… they’re all linked to taking down Shido. That’s how I feel.”

Morgana: “We all became phantom thieves for our own reasons. We weren’t just playing around. Outside of the Phantom Thieves, you also have friends who’ve been helping you. They believe in you.”

Morgana: “We have an important battle ahead of us, and we only made it all this way because of them.”

timrodresized: Morgana’s saying this because we have less than a month left until The Last Day, which is on 12/22. The Last Day is the cutoff for all confidants that are not Caroline and Justine - they’re either maxed out or you’re permafucked until a New Game Plus.

timrodresized: This is also true of Royal. While you do get an extra month, confidants work differently in the expansion. The cutoff to hit Rank 10 is still 12/22, or 12/24 for Caroline and Justine.

timrodresized: We will be hitting 100% on 12/05, and by sheer coincidence spending the last day with Yusuke. By that point, we will have seen all of the optional events that aren’t that one with Hifumi.

Morgana: “Akira… I’m with you, all the way to the end.”

Kawakami: “It’s a personal matter, so don’t go spreading rumors.”

Ann: “How long can we keep this up? We need to take care of things before we get caught…”

Sojiro: “I mean, wouldn’t it be bad if a Shujin student walked in and saw him?”

Futaba: “Eh, don’t worry about it.”

Sojiro: “Welcome-”

Sojiro: “What did I just say?”

Futaba: “Nah, still fine.”

Kasumi: “You… you’re not like a stunt double or something, right?”

Kasumi: “I don’t know what’s happening, but I really hope this isn’t a dream!”

Morgana: “Well, are you pleased? I’m the one who set this up - a little surprise from me to you. I asked Futaba to do me a favor…”

Futaba: “…And I asked Ryuji to pass the message along to Kasumi.”

Morgana: “I knew you’d be wiped out for a while, so I made sure to give you time to recover first.”

timrodresized: This scene is ALMOST good until you realize why it’s here, then it becomes laughably dumb.

Sojiro: “Well, it looks like you know what’s been going on with him. Take a seat, why don’tcha? No reason to stand around. I’m going out for a bit to grab some groceries. I’ll let you all get caught up with each other.”

Futaba: “W-Wassup? It’s a… pleasure meeting you!”

Kasumi: “Yes, nice to meet you as well, Sakura-san!”

Morgana: “Could you at least figure out whether to be polite or casual?”

Futaba: “Sh-Shuddup! Don’t you underestimate my people anxiety!”

Futaba: “Mona tells me that you helped Akira out in that Palace a while back. We’re awfully grateful for that.”

timrodresized: You know, helping him out with that one bless spell before he annihilated everything.

Kasumi: “Oh no, it was my pleasure. He’s usually the one who helps me out. Not only that, I’d promised to repay his kindness to me, no matter what.”

Futaba: “What a refined response! Are we really around the same age?”

Morgana: “You know, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you, Yoshizawa: why were you in that Palace in the first place?”

timrodresized: Because she accidentally activated the navigator by using the keywords, even if she broke the rules by not using the person’s full name.

Kasumi: “That’s, ah…”

Futaba: “I was wondering that too. Of course, I’m extra-grateful that you saved our leader… but if our plan had somehow leaked, then we need to change our tactics from here on out.”

Kasumi: “It all started about a week ago, when we had lunch together on the roof of the school…”

Kasumi: “I got the feeling that something big was going to take place that day, so… I’m so sorry! I was actually following you the entire time!”

timrodresized: Man, Futaba SUCKS at detecting people. Akechi was with them the whole time in Okumura’s palace and she didn’t notice, and now this.

Futaba: “Wait, we were tailed there?”

Morgana: “We definitely had no idea about that. It’s like night and day compared to when Makoto was following us…”

Kasumi: “I’ve been considering for a while now… perhaps I should be fighting alongside you if I have special powers like yours, Senpai. I wondered if an outsider like myself should even get involved, but I couldn’t just stand back and do nothing…”

Kasumi: “Oh, it was nothing compared to how much you’ve done for me in the past. …Um… correct me if I’m wrong, but… you’re not done here yet, are you? Then perhaps I ought to lend you a hand.”

timrodresized: This entire cutscene is here solely to explain why Kasumi can’t accompany Joker into Shido’s Palace. The reason is sheer laziness on Atlus’s part.

timrodresized: There’s a couple of anime cutscenes they’d need to redo, but the other reason they didn’t do it has to do with the gimmick of Shido’s palace, which would require a model I don’t think exists for Kasumi.

Morgana: “Well, we could definitely use the additional firepower, but…”

timrodresized: This is about as dumb and shoehorned as Fallout 3’s ending. I never played any of the DLC for that, but I heard they were mostly trash.

Kasumi: “…Senpai?”

Kasumi: “Well, you say that, but…”

timrodresized: They could’ve just had her join and then leave once you find the treasure, or have her show up for Shido’s bossfight but she leaves to go clear the escape route or something. Still shoehorned, but at least not as dumb.

Morgana: “Honestly, we have no idea what risks you would face. Our enemy this time is more dangerous than anyone else so far. Also, we pretty much brought this entire mess down upon ourselves, so this is on us.”

Morgana: “We’re delighted by the offer, but we really can’t drag you into this any further. Moreover, you have something to do yourself, right?”

Kasumi: “…I believe I’d be acting selfishly if I were to press any further. Very well, I understand your reasoning. If that’s the situation, then I’ll wait for you to return…”

Kasumi: “But you have to promise me this: you’ll come back safe, no matter what. I don’t ever want to feel as horrible as I did when I thought you…”

Kasumi: “…I really do believe you. It’s time I get going - I’ve got practice today, as usual. Well, be seeing you.”

Morgana: “Okay, so - you’ll stand out too much during the day, so we need to go out at night. We’re about to face our toughest target to date. Don’t skimp on your preparations.”

timrodresized: For reference, I beat Shido in the base game without any tier 4 spells. The base game didn’t have traits to lower their SP cost, and even with Spell Master they were exorbitantly expensive.

timrodresized: We’re doing Haru’s Rank 5 today, so I figured I’d grab the vegetables. You can only go to the roof - the rest of the school is locked off.

timrodresized: We’ll definitely want these carrots for the final bosses, because your party members learn fourth-tier spells but don’t get Spell Master or the traits that reduce their cost.

timrodresized: Well, that’s not entirely correct. You can get Spell Master through the jazz club… about three days before the end of the game.

Haru: “Several people I asked said that he often complained about my father… but just as many seemed to say the exact opposite. One side has to be deceiving me, correct? I’m honestly suspicious of everyone at this point.”

Haru: “I see… if there are two contradictory stories, one of them has to be right. I suppose I’ll need to learn the truth of the matter myself… to be honest, Takakura-san has been pushing the marriage particularly hard lately.”

Haru: “He says it will help provide vital backup for myself and Okumura Foods, both in public and in private… he’s even started asking Sugimura-san into important company meetings…”

Haru: “We have a ‘contract’… does this mean… it’s already too late? Is marrying him my only option? Though now that I think about it… that may be my best chance to help the employees my father left behind…”

Haru: “You’re right. Perhaps I shouldn’t give up so easily… either way, graduation is quickly approaching… I’ll need to decide my course of action soon enough…”

Haru: “You know, before you came along, I hadn’t even considered not going through with this marriage. I believed I would simply marry the man my father had chosen, and let the rest of my life pass me by.”

Haru: “I wonder what would have happened if my father didn’t have a Palace… would I have just resigned myself to the fate he had made for me…?”

Haru: “Akira-kun… thank you. You always know how to make me feel better. Honestly though, things would have been far worse for me if I hadn’t joined the Phantom Thieves.”

Haru: “Plus, I would never have had anyone to talk to like this. If there’s anything I can do to return the favor, please tell me. I want to help you as much as I can!”

timrodresized: This is a mistranslation. This ability actually increases the amount of vegetables you get per planting from two to three.

Haru: sigh “I hope someday I can just look out at the sea with a nice cup of coffee and forget about all of this… and… I hope you’ll be there with me, Akira-kun.”

Haru: “We can forego the elephants though, don’t worry. Well then, shall we go home?”

Haru: “U-Um, I wanted to apologize for all the weird stuff I said earlier… you know how I talked about how things would have been if I hadn’t joined the Phantom Thieves?”

Haru: “Once I started to imagine that again, this powerful fear came flooding back…”

Haru: “…Ow. Hee hee… yes, that hurt. So this is all real, then. And I’m so indebted to you once again. I’ll have to work hard so I can repay you. Sorry if I worried you. Okay, see you.”

timrodresized: Tonight, we’re doing the last Caroline and Justine event we need to do in order to get the reward. There is one more event with them that we’ll be seeing on 12/02, but it’s entirely optional - this is the one that determines whether or not you get the reward… which we’ll see when we get to the expansion.

Justine: “Listen closely: the place we wish to evaluate for your rehabilitation is… the castle of your own master, Inmate.”

timrodresized: We’re about to introduce Sojiro to two little girls who may or may not be gods. What could possibly go wrong?

Caroline: “The individual responsible for your successful rehabilitation in your own world - this is a person of great import.”

Justine: “As your wardens, we would be remiss to forgo a meeting with this person. Take us to your master immediately.”

Caroline: “Excellent. Let’s move out, on the double!”

Justine: “What kind of person could your master be? Well, lead the way so we may find out.”

timrodresized: I like to think this is the moment when Sojiro finally realizes that he’s boarding a JRPG protagonist.

Justine: “Are you the master of this place? Thank you for assisting the Inmate with his rehabilitation.”

Sojiro: " ‘Inmate’?"

Caroline: “Yes, it is all going as planned, in no small part due to your own efforts. We must express our gratitude for that.”

Sojiro: “Uh, sure…? Hey, Akira… what kind of crowd are you running with nowadays, exactly?”

timrodresized: Joker: “Well, y’know… Satan. Oh, and Beelzebub.”

Sojiro: “Well, yeah, I suppose that’s true, but… how and where do you even meet these people? Well, take a seat. Have you already eaten? If not, I could bring out some curry for you.”

Caroline: “Curry?”

Justine: “We haven’t a clue what that is, but we will politely accept your offer.”

timrodresized: Sojiro: “Wait, if you don’t know what curry is… what do you eat? Ramen?”

timrodresized: Justine: “Ramen? What kind of god is Ramen? It sounds delicious.”

Caroline: “What in the world is this? The rice is slowly being absorbed by this sludge…”

Sojiro: " ‘Sludge’? Really? Wait - have you really never had this before?"

Justine: “The scent isn’t bad at all… in fact, it’s rather appetizing.”

Caroline: “What are these poisonous-looking red chunks along the edge here?”

Sojiro: “It’s called fukujinzuke…”

timrodresized: Fukujinzuke is a mix of vegetables - it usually has eggplant, daikon radish, cucumber, and lotus root - pickled in soy sauce. It’s used as a condiment on curry.

Caroline: “Fukujin… what is it?”

Justine: “So this is dyed with the blood of a god…”

Caroline: “This man’s a god killer… now I see how he’s able to rein in the Inmate.”

timrodresized: It is now my headcanon that Sojiro was a JRPG protagonist at one point. He’s killed God before.

Justine: “I have high hopes for any dish prepared by a godslayer. Let us pay our proper respects and happily eat our sludge.”

timrodresized: I really, really wish they had put Dagda in for Royal and had him unlock through finishing these optional events. It’d be fitting given that he originated in Innocent Sin.

Sojiro: “Look, it’s not sludge, alright?”

Caroline: “Hrff! It’s so spicy! My mouth’s on fire!”

Justine: “I agree… nom… mmm… but it seems I cannot stop myself…”

Caroline: “…Eh, it’s not bad. I think it could stand to be a little sweeter, though.”

timrodresized: I don’t know if this is a common complaint among kids in Japan or what, because Disgaea 5 also has a child character who only eats sweet curry. That’s one of the two things I remember about that game.

Justine: “I must say, I do feel this ‘curry’ sludge filling both my body and spirit to burst. Eating this every day would, no doubt, support your rehabilitation immensely.”

Caroline: “Be grateful to that godslayer for sheltering you, Inmate. If you were to cross him… he’d chop you up for his next garnish.”

Sojiro: “…I should get going. I have to get Futaba’s dinner ready. If they want coffee, you know how to make it. Okay, the shop’s yours for the night.”

timrodresized: Sojiro, no! They’re never gonna get to sleep!

Justine: “Coffee… I believe that was served at the slave camp as well.”

Caroline: “All right, Inmate, serve us coffee.”

Justine: “…The smell’s not bad, though. It’s more satisfying than we’d previously experienced as well.”

Caroline: “And now, for a test sip…”

timrodresized: Joker could pick the top two options. He could… but he won’t. Igor’s not sleeping tonight.

Caroline: “Yeah? What’re those?”

Justine: “I have heard of them both. Supposedly, they are magical white-colored additives that can enhance the taste of this inky abomination… I shall demand those additives.”

timrodresized: This is Joker’s revenge for them overcharging him for fusion.

Justine: “Ah, it’s so sweet… there is an intriguing, crunchy texture to it. However, it does have its own unique appeal.”

Caroline: “Not only did we get to meet the Inmate’s master in this realm, but we also got to try some exotic food. And as for yourself, this assignment is now complete.”

Justine: “Here is your reward.”

timrodresized: This is the other way you can get a High Counter card for their confidant, assuming you don’t fuse Ose for some reason.

Caroline: “Now that I’m thinking about it, the Inmate’s shown us quite a number of different places, huh?”

Justine: “Indeed - we’ve been able to see some unexpected sides to humans. This has been a very fulfilling experience for us.”

Justine: “Fun has nothing to do with our mission. We are here to oversee your special assignments - don’t forget that. Although, Caroline does occasionally forget her station in her excitement.”

Caroline: “O-Oh yeah!? I could say the same for you! I KNOW you asked our master if we could get a jellyfish tank for our room! Don’t try to deny it!”

Justine: “It appears we’re out of time. We must be heading back now.”

Caroline: “HEY! Don’t act like you can just drop the subject that easily! You’re not getting out of this one!”

Justine: “…We are wardens, and this is our prisoner. Nothing more, nothing less. However, there is no denying the fact that the Inmate’s results have exceeded our expectations. For that alone ,we would certainly be remiss to not express our appreciation.”

Caroline: “Yeah! That’s high praise coming from us! Show your own appreciation for us, Inmate! But this isn’t the end of your special assignments! You better not give up on 'em now - got it!?”

Caroline: “Let’s finish the godslayer’s meal before we leave - what were they called again? Curby and coughing?”

Justine: “I believe you mean curdy and comfy.”

timrodresized: I love when I don’t have to try to come up with an update title.

timrodresized: It’s time to do Futaba’s Rank 8. Her Rank 9 and 10 will be in another update.

Futaba: “And believe it or not, she replied. We even ended up talking on the phone about elementary school. She said the only reason she got mad at me about her diary was because she was embarrassed.”

Futaba: “Apparently she thought I would hate her if I knew about her secrets… so she ran away. I guess me and her are pretty much the same after all.”

timrodresized: I was going to do one of those things where I quote song lyrics here, only I remembered it was a Linkin Park song so I will spare you all from that horrible fate.

Futaba: “Long story short… we made up! I finally apologized to her!”

Futaba: “Really!? I’m surprised you’re so excited about it… but I’m glad. Anyway, it’s too far to actually visit each other, so we’ve been sending emails back and forth.”

Futaba: “We even made a promise recently… to both go to high school next year. Y’know… there’s no way I would’ve been able to call her and apologize before. It’s all because of you that I could do it, Akira!”

Futaba: “Y-Yeah, I guess you’re right! It’s kinda embarrassing to actually hear you say it though. Oh, I almost forgot! Kana-chan was really surprised the Phantom Thieves listened to her request.”

Futaba: “She’ll never know the truth of the matter though… mwehehe! I’ve finally finished that promise. ‘Get along with Kana-chan’…”

Futaba: “Um… this is really important, so I’m gonna say it again… thank you, Akira. Wait a second… I never even said it the first time. I guess that means I’ll just have to say it again now! Thank you, Akira. Seriously.”

Futaba: “Um, is it okay if I ask you for a favor real quick? I mean, I Just finished a super-old promise. S-So, um… c-can you… pat me on the head?”

timrodresized: And now this confidant takes a hard right turn into awkward.

Futaba: “Mom used to do it when she was happy with me. Just… pat pat. …Can you do it?”

Futaba: “M-My heart…! M-My face…! It feels like they’re on fire! pant pant C-Calm down, Futaba…”

timrodresized: Joker realizes what he’s done and brings out the air horn. “Fight it, Futaba! You don’t have to be horny!”

Futaba: “Phew… looks like that strange outburst is finally over. My heart’s still beating real hard, but I’m totally good now. Sorry for making you worry.”

Futaba: “I just remembered… I still have one more promise to do. ‘Being okay without you around.’ …Is that really possible? Meh, I’ll find out some other day!”

Futaba: “So I’ve been having a lot of fun talking with Kana-chan over the internet! We talk all the time now. We tell each other what we’re doing, what our days are like…”

timrodresized: Boy do I love these phone calls that tell us nothing we didn’t already learn in the confidant event immediately preceding it.

Futaba: “Kana-chan said she cried when I reached out to her. When I heard that… I kinda cried a little too. And now I’m getting along with Kana-chan… I’m so glad I cleared that goal.”

Futaba: “Whaaaaa!? D-Don’t tease me like that! I might freak out again! Anyways, I just have one more goal to clear! It’s like I’m about to face the final boss!”

Futaba: “Once I beat that, it’s game over. Credits roll. I hope you’ll stick around until then, Akira! Okay, later!”

timrodresized: Tonight, we’re going to finish Iwai’s confidant. The Persona we get from this is rather unique - it’s one of the few times Atlus has really tried something different from a design perspective.

Iwai: “Hold on; I’ll call him over.”

Iwai: “Hmph… intruding on another private family moment.”

Iwai: “Whoa there, kiddo…”

Iwai: "Who your parents are and where you come from stays with you for your entire life. Thanks to my loser parents, I got bullied by complete strangers, and- "

Iwai: “Yeah, there’s nothin’ to worry about now… sigh So in the end, I was just fightin’ my own demons… stuck in my crappy childhood and all the problems I had growin’ up…”

Iwai: “My view of Kaoru was all distorted… 'cause of my rotten childhood memories.”

Iwai: “Wow… you’ve really matured, huh?”

Iwai: “You gotta go, Kaoru. The supermarket’s about to close. Aren’t you in charge of dinner tonight?”

Iwai: “Sheesh… kids grow up quick. They can be a pain in the ass, but they’re worth it. …All right, let’s close up shop. Go pull down the shutter.”

Iwai: “Seems like he had a change of heart, just like them people they’ve been talkin’ about on TV. I can’t be the only one who was saved by his change of heart. Wonder who else knows…”

Iwai: “Heh, I wonder. Well, don’t worry. It ain’t really none of my concern. Man, you really had me fooled. That whole thing about being an enthusiast was all just BS.”

timrodresized: Joker: “No it wasn’t. I want my anime gun.”

Iwai: “I hired you as a mere pawn… and now you’re Kaoru’s bro… the Phantom Thieves are usin’ my guns to take down bad guys, aren’t they? They help people in need, huh?”

timrodresized: I would have loved to see Atlus add a Richter mode to this game that follows from Royal’s bad ending where you play as Iwai. You’d be able to pick from the other adult confidants to fill out the party.

timrodresized: I thought about this a little, and it would’ve been really interesting to see a mechanic where no one is a wild card, but the trade-off is that they are VERY good at their skillset.

timrodresized: Then again, that’d basically just be Yakuza 7.

Iwai: chuckle “Interesting… All right, I’m gonna put all my effort into that special menu we talked about. I don’t like to owe nobody nothin’, so I’ll do my best for ya… because that’s the kind of support I can provide.”

Music The Path Is Open

timrodresized: Attis is an interesting Persona in that he’s probably the closest thing in the SMT series to something like a Trick Room team in Pokemon. I was originally going to reserve a slot for him in the final Persona roster, and I still might… once we have Lucifer.

timrodresized: Mara and Scathach is a valid combination, which is kind of funny when you know what Attis’s story is.

New Persona: Attis

Origin: Greece

First Appearance: Soul Hackers

Greek god born when his mother ate a fruit from a tree that grew from the castrated penis of Agdistis, the son of Cybele and Zeus. He attracted the romantic attention of Cybele, and then castrated himself in front of a pine tree and died. The tree saved his spirit, allowing Zeus and Cybele to revive him.

Mara: “Pfffffft! Damn, that’s all kinds of fucked up! Don’t fuse me into that shit! I’ll call my agent!”

timrodresized: In the base game, Attis was easily the worst ultimate Persona. Royal makes him into the single best buffer/defensive hybrid in the game. He’s also an excellent Concentrate carrier.

timrodresized: Attis’s trait, Vitality of the Tree, makes it so that any skill that would require you to be in an ambush to use can be used at any time. Thermopylae is one of those skills - it’s a full party Heat Riser for only 30 SP (15 with Spell Master).

timrodresized: He can also get a skill which is a straight-up better version of Ali Dance that gives 66% evasion but only when ambushed. All of this is great, but that precludes him from taking a trait like Lucifer’s that reduces all spell costs by 75%.

timrodresized: What you want to do is use him to Concentrate (or Charge), Thermopylae, and then pass to another Persona that can do damage.

Iwai: “And the knives are just replicas. They’re even less useful than a butter knife, y’know? …Haha, you’re such a weirdo.”

Iwai: “…We were in the middle of closing shop, weren’t we? Well, let’s get to it.”

timrodresized: The only thing we’re doing today is Futaba’s confidant. This is because this is the night we actually do Chihaya’s Rank 10.

timrodresized: That is, right after we get the new arcade prize. This is a sheep man from Catherine, a game where Hashino proves that he’s not only a homophobe - he’s also a transphobe.

timrodresized: There’s also this conversation, which I’ll only post this part of. Poor girl thinks Joker can save her dog, but he’d need a very different kind of overpowered bullshit Persona for that.

timrodresized: There’s a trade you can make today by buying a Legendary Yaki-Imo from this guy in Yongen-Jaya and trading it to the guy in Kichijoji. It gives you an itemized Heat Riser. We have Attis. Fuck that.

Futaba: “She said she wants to go back to school next year, but she might not have the money… as for me, I… I’m gonna go back.”

Futaba: “Mwehehe! I think I’ve gained like fifty levels in the past few months, and it’s all 'cause of you, Akira! And I mean, sure I hated elementary school, but I met Kana-chan there, so… maybe it wasn’t all bad.”

Futaba: "The same goes for high school. Even if I hate it, I know something positive will come from it. But… I still have to do the last item on my promise list. ‘Being okay without you around…’ "

Futaba: “Honestly, I’ve been feeling kinda weird lately… my heart’s been beating real fast when we’re together. Then even when we’re apart, I can’t stop thinking about you…”

Futaba: “Not at all. I’m more like… NO-kay. But then again, I feel good too… by the way, um… can I ask you a favor? It’s a pretty big one. …Can we skip that last promise?”

Futaba: “Y-You demon… I know you’re only being strict 'cause it’ll help me, but… I just… can’t be okay without you around. Life doesn’t feel the same when you’re not with me.”

timrodresized: Futaba’s confidant is really the only one that seems like it was written with a romance route in mind. All of the others feel like they were written and then had it shoehorned in at the last minute.

Futaba: “I mean, er… not that, but… I dunno… Akira… you’re always so nice to me, kinda like Sojiro is… that makes sense for him though. I mean, he’s basically my dad.”

Futaba: “But you don’t have a reason like that, so… why are you so nice? O-Oh, I just thought of a possibility… am I, um… the only one you treat like this?”

timrodresized: If her writing was more consistent and less gamer gremlin, Futaba would probably be the best girl in this game. They should have gone with the original plan and made her a goth.

Futaba: “Teammates… r-right… of course teammates would wanna be nice to each other… it’s so obvious! That’s gotta be why my heart’s always pounding so much.”

Futaba: “It knows how much I care about my teammates! And you, Akira… my key item! From now on, I’m gonna devote every fiber of my being into supporting you guys!”

timrodresized: Unless we do the one superboss we can access outside of New Game+, it’s highly unlikely we will ever see this activate.

Futaba: “Hehehe… it’s gonna be great!”

Futaba: “Akira joined Futaba’s party! Futaba is beaming at Akira! Futaba attacks! Fatal damage to Akira! Wait a second… that’s not what teammates are supposed to do…”

Futaba: “When we talked earlier today, you said I’m your teammate. But that’s, y’know… kinda vague, right? Could you get specific? What kind of teammate am I to you?”

Futaba: “Seriously!? So I fall under your most valuable items, huh!? Heh heh… I didn’t know I was that important to you. Good thing I’m your teammate!”

Futaba: “We’ve got something special, you know? Like, no matter how far apart we are, our hearts will always be connected!”

timrodresized: So what you’re saying is that you’re Joker’s forever? That with every passing day the winds might grow stronger and carry you away but you will move on to joy to light the way to keep the reminder that love does not escape?

Futaba: “Wait…? No matter how far apart…? So… that means… oh, sorry. I completely spaced out. But yeah! We’re gonna be really great teammates! Anyhow, time to make like a tree!”

timrodresized: And now for Futaba’s Rank 10. There’s a three-day gap in availability, so I’ll be fusing her final Persona in my next recording run when I do her romance route.

Futaba: “I think I wanna give it another shot. I’m comin’ for you, Akihabara!”

Futaba: “If I’m not back in half an hour… just stay here and wait for me to come back. I’m kinda nervous… but here I go! Time to make like a tree… and branch out!”

Futaba: “I, ummm… I was having fun. Guess that means I beat my mission, huh? Y’know, it was the same Akihabara as before, but everything looked so different to me this time… it’s not just here though.”

Futaba: “My whole world is expanding. Every day brings new and different discoveries. The direction of Sojiro’s cowlick, the atmosphere of Yongen, the various types of coffee beans…”

Futaba: “Things might be the exact same as they were yesterday, but from my perspective, it’s all spinning. I knew it was possible… but I had never really felt that sensation before now.”

Futaba: “I just hope I can keep changing little by little… like everyone else does.”

Futaba: “Yeah… that sounds good. Oh, by the way… I got a text from Kana-chan saying she got a job at a convenience store. It sounds like she’s just happy to be living life like a normal teenager.”

Futaba: “Plus, she got study guides with the money she made! She’s gonna take the high school entrance exam! Even Kana-chan’s trying to step out into the world.”

Futaba: “Th-the Phantom Thieves are more important right now! But… I’d like to, someday. Hey! You said you’d give me a reward if I completed my promise list, remember!?”

Futaba: “You da man. You know, I was looking in a bunch of stores thinking about what to buy… but it felt kinda weird. There were plenty of things I wanted, but it was all stuff I could get if I worked really hard.”

timrodresized: I worked really hard today. By that I mean I sat in the office and read Jojolion on my phone for seven hours. They called me back into the office for no good reason.

Futaba: “And after all… I already have something I wouldn’t have been able to get on my own. You don’t think so? No… you’re forgetting.”

Futaba: “It’s thanks to you that I learned I’m fine just as I am… and that I learned to trust my mom again. I was as good as dead, but you resurrected me. I want to use my work with the Phantom Thieves to return you the favor.”

Music The Path Is Open

timrodresized: And now we have the last thing I actually need for Lucifer, not counting the ability to fuse Metatron. Ongyo-ki is one of two sources of Firm Stance that are not DLC.

timrodresized: Firm Stance halves all incoming damage, but sets your evasion to zero. Lucifer has a lot of resists, which are upgraded to being nearly a null for all practical purposes.

Mara: I used to have it too! They took it away in Royal, and my agent’s going to sue!

Returning Persona: Prometheus

Origin: Greece

First Appearance: Devil Summoner

Titan of Greek mythology who sided with Zeus against his brethren. He and his brother Epimetheus were given the task of populating the Earth. While Epimetheus created animals and gave them all the gifts he could, Prometheus created humans… but had no gifts to give them, so he stole fire from Mount Olympus and gave them that.

Later taught humans how to trick the gods, for which he was chained to a rock and sentenced to having his liver eaten by an eagle for eternity by the gods - until Hercules freed him as part of the Twelve Labors.

timrodresized: As if Futaba’s design doesn’t share enough elements with Baofu, she also gets his ultimate Persona. Of course, his had a bit more thought put into the design as opposed to… whatever that is.

Futaba: “You gave me my life back, so it’s my turn to risk my life for you. Feel free to tell me anything. I’ll do whatever I can to help. I’m serious, okay!?”

Futaba: “Yup! You might as well just give in! And…! I never said I was gonna let my reward go unclaimed! So, lemme see… how 'bout a month’s supply of instant yakisoba!? Pretty good deal, huh!?”

Futaba: “I don’t wanna order it off the net though! Let’s go look for it in the real world!”

timrodresized: You might ask what we’re doing on the night of the 27th. Well, the answer is failing at videogames.

timrodresized: Train of Life and Gambla Goemon are both purely luck-based. You’ll want to have read Game Secrets to minimize the save reloading if you really want to complete these.

timrodresized: The game gives us the option to cheat or not. DEFINITELY CHEAT.

Morgana: “Ah, I see. Not only do the dice rolls move you forward, you can also use them to buy properties. I think things are going well. You might finish in first place at this rate.”

Morgana: “Huh? There’s something strange up ahead. Is that… an octopus?”

Morgana: “Does this guy exist just to get in our way?”

timrodresized: You mean Hashino? Yeah, yeah he does.

timrodresized: I’m going to cut this off by saying that you roll the dice and see where fate may fall (come on why don’t we spin the wheel, see who it may call) to give into temptation…

timrodresized: And roll a four five fucking times. The number we need is 8. Fuck this. Next time, nothing but Haru. We’re going to finish her entire confidant in a single update.

timrodresized: Before I go though, since I already recorded 11/30… 11/30 marks the first night at which the Persona 4 callbacks on the TV start.

timrodresized: Oh boy, is it gonna be Yukiko? I want to see Yukiko again!

timrodresized: Rise can go right into the “Atlus’s Lightning” bin with Kasumi and Marie.

Click Here for Update 92

timrodresized: Time for an update of nothing but Haru. Off screen, I have her grow some tomatoes. We’ll need full-party SP recovery for later.

Haru: “It says here that the type of roast you want should differ depending on how you want to drink your coffee.”

Haru: giggle “I’d rather not. I don’t think I could ever hope to match the intense depth of Sakura-san’s coffee. You know, Okumura Foods didn’t start out as a burger chain… originally it was nothing more than a small cafe run by my grandfather.”

Haru: “That particular shop closed before I was old enough to appreciate the finer intricacies of coffee. But that’s where the real origin of our family business lies.”

Haru: “I didn’t either. My father only first mentioned it to me a year or two ago. At any rate, after my grandfather passed, the company shut the cafe down due to its steady loss of revenue.”

Haru: “He had never cared about turning a profit though. His only goal was to make people happy. He built a strong community around the cafe… he’d even give out free meals to those who couldn’t afford it.”

timrodresized: Was your grandfather Shadow the Hedgehog?

Haru: “Then the day it closed, people lined up for blocks to give flowers. They really loved that place… I wonder how many people would line up for Big Bang Burger if it suddenly went out of business…”

Haru: “I know we need to do well to keep our employees paid, but I can’t help but think we’ve lost something important. I mean, Takakura-san seems to only be focused on profits… at this rate, we’ll never lose our black image.”

timrodresized: What she’s talking about there is Okumura Foods being a so-called ‘black company’, which is a Japanese term used for a company embroiled in scandals.

Haru: “…Huh? Oh, I get it! giggle You’re so funny, Akira-kun! You were trying to cheer me up, weren’t you…? Thanks for that. sigh I think what I really need… is to get stronger.”

Haru: “I mean, I can act tough in front of my employees… but you know how weak I am inside. …I have a plan though. Before I can really determine who I trust, I first need to know what it means to have others trust in me.”

Haru: “So I’m going to get stronger… strong enough for you and the others to rely on me!”

Haru: “Hm… but how am I supposed to gain the trust of my employees? I’m not great at public speaking… and even just giving my opinion makes me a little nervous…”

Sugimura: “Hm? Do I know you from somewhere? …! You’re one of those brats from before…”

Haru: “Um, this is a friend from school. He’s helping me look for some books today. Anyway, we should be getting back to our shopping. Please excuse us.”

Sugimura: “…Hold on, Haru. You think you can go on a date with another man and leave your fiance in the dust?”

Haru: “You are not my fiance… I already said, I’m not going to marry you.”

Sugimura: “Oh yeah? And what about the contract I made with your father?”

Haru: “F-Father is… no longer here… besides, marriage is something you go into with your own free will… a contract could never hold the same weight…”

Sugimura: “Are you sure about that? Think about the reparations clause. If you back out of the deal now, you will lose everything you own. Okumura Foods, your estate…”

timrodresized: I’m pretty sure Hashino has no idea how contracts work.

Haru: “Even so, I…”

Sugimura: “And what about your employees? Are you really willing to put their jobs on the line for the sake of your selfishness? Besides, this marriage is exactly what Okumura Foods needs right now.”

Sugimura: “My father would have no trouble managing your shares or sweeping away your company’s tarnished image.”

timrodresized: Why would you even need to ‘manage’ them? It’s stock in one company. It’s not like her father was a hedge fund manager.

Sugimura: “That reminds me, did Takakura-san tell you about the wedding hall? He got us the Phoenix Wing at the Wilton.”

Haru: “Wh-What!?”

Sugimura: “He made a provisional reservation for ten days this coming spring. After all, the sooner the better.”

Haru: “W-Wait a minute!”

Sugimura: “We’ll have to look into our guests’ schedules as well. There’ll be over three hundred of them, you know.”

timrodresized: I like to think that in the background, Joker’s texting Yusuke. “Haru’s idiot fiance just bought a big expensive wedding hall. Do you want to get married once it inevitably falls through?”

Sugimura: “I’m out of here.”

Haru: “I’m sorry about that…”

Haru: “You’re not wrong about that… he has everything… fame, intelligence, etiquette… the only thing he needs now is a wife he can control… and I guess I’m the perfect target.”

timrodresized: I want a wife who is completely out of control. We’re talking like, clipping through walls in real life to go out of bounds.

Haru: “He’s going to get Okumura Foods as well as my entire inheritance… and I’m totally powerless against him…”

timrodresized: Something tells me Okumura may have been solidly in the ‘too dumb to live’ camp.

Haru: “You’re right… I can’t afford to drag myself down with such negativity. …Thank you. Anyway, um, I hope I can share with you again some other time. For today though… I’m rather tired. Would it be okay if we parted here?”

Haru: “The thing is, Sugimura-san reached out to me again after we saw him. I’d rather not talk to him, but I couldn’t stand him using the company to threaten me, and even speaking badly of you…”

Haru: “The negativity felt so painful, too much to handle alone, and… before I knew it, I was already calling you.”

Haru: “Hearing that makes me so happy… thank you. Even though I just promised myself I’d get stronger, I suppose I’m still just depending on you. But still, I can’t help but worry about the contract…”

Haru: “…How frustrating. I can’t just let them keep manipulating me like a puppet. I have to find some way I can change this.”

timrodresized: We have a crossword tonight. Why do I even bother showing these anymore?

timrodresized: And now we have Ohya’s optional event. This one requires you to be Rank 8 or higher.

Ohya: “C’mon, don’t hold back! Order anything you want. Think of it as a thanks for all the info you’ve given me. Plus, I like to eat normal food once in a while too, you know.”

Ohya: “Heh… yeah, you’re right. Let’s make sure we get nice and energized for out next big mission. Okay, it’s on me today! Knock yourself out!”

Ohya: “Wow, you ate a ton… well, I guess that’s normal for a high school kid. …I’ll just have you make up for it with more scoops. I’ll be counting on you!”

Ohya: “Well, I guess we should get going. Let’s get some sushi to go and stop by Lala-chan’s place.”

Ohya: “Hey… I didn’t know you could buy this. All right, I’m giving you one as a gift! Now we’ll each have one piece of a matching set.”

timrodresized: Let’s put down our new decorations.

timrodresized: Probably the fact that he’s in a kinda mediocre puzzle VN.

timrodresized: Holy fuck that’s a huge mug. Anyway, let’s move on to Haru’s Rank 7. We’ll be skipping the 30th entirely (because that’s the day we do Futaba’s Rank 10). I may also start skipping nights, since we’ve seen the vast majority of the nighttime confidant events and there’s not a whole lot else to do.

Haru: “I thought it would be fun making coffee myself. It’s certainly not easy, but it’s an immensely satisfying process…”

Haru: “I’m fine, honestly… let’s see, next up is… dirt for the planters…”

Haru: “I’m sorry… I think I just need to rest a little.”

Haru: “Takakura-san has really been pushing for us to start a new business venture soon… in particular, he’s adamant about a chain of low-cost, intimate cafes. Some employees don’t think it’s a good idea though, so they want me to step in and put a stop to it…”

Haru: “But I’m just a high schooler… there’s no way I could predict the success or failure of this idea… in the end, I’m just not sure what to do.”

Haru: “H-Huh…? That’s a good question… the idea does sound nice… the smell of a fresh cup of coffee always brings a smile to my face. And it certainly would be nice to be able to give that experience to as many people as possible…”

Haru: “But… I don’t think you can truly gain the same joy from the low-cost chain Takakura-san is suggesting.”

timrodresized: Yeah, it’s probably really hard to replicate Leblanc’s “no customers” atmosphere.

Haru: “Huh…? You really think he’d listen to a high schooler with no prior work experience? Hm, I see…”

Haru: “I’ll make him see what I’m really thinking… and what’s truly important to me.”

Haru: “I understand… by refusing to trust Takakura-san, I was also shutting myself off from any hope of having him trust me…! But that’s going to be different now… I’ll do my best, Akira-kun!”

timrodresized: This ability works retroactively and lowers the time needed to harvest by one day.

Haru: “…Oh, and I just thought of the perfect way to do it! A magic item that will help me convey my true feelings to Takakura-san… giggle It’s going to take some time to prepare though, so it will have to be my secret for now.”

Haru: “But I’ll tell you next time, okay? Now then, shall we return home?”

Haru: “I wanted to thank you again. You helped me realize something important… thank you so much for today. It’s thanks to your support that I can keep pushing forward.”

Haru: “Just hearing you say that gives me so much strength. You’re always such an inspiration, Akira-kun. The rest is up to me. It’s going to be a lot of trial and error… but I believe it’ll go well.”

Haru: “And it’d make me very happy if you could help me through the process. I’ll have to make sure everything is ready first, though. Okay, I’ll see you again at the rooftop.”

timrodresized: On my first recording run, I took Futaba to the jazz club because what’s supposed to happen is that her support abilities power up. Turns out that only happens if you take her on a night when it would teach your party member a skill.

timrodresized: Instead, she gets a stat boost… which is pointless because her stats don’t do anything. We will be coming back here a few times in January to get some really good skills - namely Ali Dance, Arms Master for Yusuke and Spell Master for Ann.

timrodresized: While recording, I remembered there was something very important we were supposed to do now that we have a lot of free nights.

timrodresized: No, it’s not to place a giant statue of Sae inside Joker’s brain palace because the sight of that tramp stamp is now forever etched in his memory.

timrodresized: Nor is it to do the batting cages. You can get prizes if you do it during the day, but free days are a luxury we do not have. I played on Extreme and I think you can figure out how that went.

timrodresized: This was out of over 20 pitches.

timrodresized: Oh, that’s right. It’s darts. We want to raise our baton pass rank because it’s one of the only remaining ways we have to boost Joker’s damage.

timrodresized: The game has descriptions for each party member’s playstyle. Fuck that nonsense, they’re all the same. Also Yusuke throws beautifully because he is our boyfriend and everything he does is beautiful.

timrodresized: So here’s how darts works. Each time you invite someone, you’ll also get a second random party member who will play with you in a second round. This means you can improve two characters per run.

timrodresized: The controls for this are the worst possible thing. You use the gyro to aim and then can freeze the aim area with R2…

timrodresized: And then you have to shake the controller to throw like this is 2007 and you’re Naughty Dog desperately trying to find a way to shoehorn the Sixaxis controls into Uncharted 1.

timrodresized: Remember when Naughty Dog made games and not CGI films?

timrodresized: Once you hit R2, a little white ball appears inside the oval and starts bouncing around. It kinda follows Pong physics in that it’ll hit the walls of the oval and bounce off at an angle.

timrodresized: It takes me a bit to hit a bullseye because there’s a degree of lag in the motion controls. I don’t think that’s my capture card, because usually it’s pretty low latency.

timrodresized: You trade off after each round.

timrodresized: Joker is immediately shown up by his boyfriend.

timrodresized: I unintentionally fuck up on the third round trying to hit the bullseye. This is actually a good thing, and is also why your partner’s stats do not matter in the slightest. What you want to do is get your score at 100 or under in the third round and leave it.

timrodresized: What happens here is that you get a dialog option. Pick the right one, and your partner automatically wins the game for you and you get two baton pass levels instead of one.

timrodresized: If you pick the wrong one, your partner will fail and usually go below zero, which forces you to finish in the fifth round.

timrodresized: Yusuke goes from Rank 1 to Rank 3. Given that he has Charge, passing to a Charged Yusuke is a really good idea if you can’t hit a weakness.

timrodresized: Level 3 baton pass makes a pretty big difference, by the way. We go into the part of Mementos that covers Sae’s palace next update, and at one point I got a baton pass to Joker and was hitting 1000 damage with Beelzebub even without Concentrate.

timrodresized: Once we finish with Yusuke, Ryuji wants to play. We’re already Rank 2 with him due to the tutorial we went through way back when, which is perfect because you can’t get the rank-up bonus in 501.

timrodresized: By the time we finish this update, I hit at least Rank 2 with everyone but Morgana and Futaba. I’m not sure if the game can choose Futaba as a random second partner, but she can’t get anything out of it.

timrodresized: That’s kinda disappointing. I would’ve liked to see a thing where you can train her up and baton pass to her if you can’t hit a weakness so she can do a full-party heat riser or something.

timrodresized: So what you’re saying is that it’s been a… long December, but there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last?

timrodresized: Wait a second. Why does Yusuke take this train? This is the one that goes to Aoyama. I mean, we don’t know where his school is, but still.

timrodresized: I’m going to save Haru’s Rank 9 and 10 for next update, where we’re going to finally 100% the base game. Technically it’s more like 110% because Maruki and Kasumi didn’t exist in the base game, plus we did all the Caroline and Justine events.

Haru: “The thing that will help me show Takakura-san how I really feel… is right here.”

Haru: giggle “Correct! You see, the soil here is a special mix I made with a few different kinds of fertilizer. It’s very high quality. It’s soft, it’s warm, it has good drainage… and it’s full of nutrients. This… this is the magic I need.”

Haru: “But I’ve been pouring my heart and soul into this soil for months now. It knows exactly how I feel. That’s why I’m going to use it to grow my coffee plants.”

Haru: “Then once they’re ready, I’m going to make coffee with the beans! It shouldn’t be much longer now. Honestly… just raising those plants has taken considerable effort.”

Haru: “I’ve checked on them every day, given them water, put them in the sun… but… all of that love and care has found its way into the beans themselves.”

Haru: “Combining that with the nurturing warmth of this soil should give me the perfect way to convey how I feel. I wonder what Takakura-san will think when he tries it…”

Haru: giggle “I hope you’re right. I’m not particularly confident in the flavor though. After all, this is my first attempt. By the way, I’ve thought about it some more and… I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to Takakura-san’s idea.”

timrodresized: You know, this is something I didn’t think of while I was recording, but Haru’s confidant events are all very samey. You’d think that for a character who only appears a month and a half before the base game ends they would’ve gone out of their way to make her confidant interesting.

Haru: “If that’s what management decides to do, I won’t get in their way. At the same time, I can’t support them if their main goal is to deceive. What I mean is, people don’t think of Okumura Foods very highly right now.”

Haru: “So… I’m afraid management is trying to use this new chain to sneak under the radar rather than rebuild our image. Of course, I understand how hard it is to rid yourself of a negative label…”

Haru: giggle “Well, naturally. I’m a heroine of justice, after all…just kidding. You know, Akira-kun… it’s so reassuring having you here. It’s because of you that I was able to cultivate this soil…”

Haru: “And because of you that I have the courage to tell Takakura-san how I really feel. Speaking of which, um… do you think you could be there when I do it? As long as you’re with me, I won’t be afraid to say what I’m thinking.”

Haru: “Now then, I need to take some of this soil home to my coffee plants. Could you carry a bag for me? Well, see you later.”

Haru: “I’m already testing the soil I brought home today. I can tell my coffee plants are happy.”

Haru: “Come to think of it, I remember seeing some plants in Leblanc too. Are you taking good care of them? Make sure you give them lots of love, okay?”

Haru: “…All that’s left is for me to muster up the courage and express my own opinion. I’ll contact Takakura-san. And I’ll make sure it works with your schedule. I hope… my magic item will work on Takakura-san.”

Haru: “I’m going to do everything I can, so I hope you’ll see it through with me. Okay, bye!”

Morgana: “They’re right: this is totally bizarre. What’s going on here?”

timrodresized: The last thing we’ll do this update is Iwai’s optional event. Next time, we’ll 100% the game. We’ll also see the last optional Caroline and Justine event, spend the better part of two million yen on fusion, have terrible luck trying to itemize armor, and spend an hour looking at a fusion calculator to figure out how to pass down Fire Boost.

Iwai: “Yeah, this’ll do. Thanks for tellin’ me about it.”

Iwai: “I’m surprised you figured that out. …I wanna give a student who’s preparin’ for the high school entrance exams a chance to relax. Either way, thanks for today.”

timrodresized: If you’re wondering why he’s not mentioning Kaoru, it’s because this event can happen at any time after Rank 1.

Iwai: “I’ll continue bein’ flexible with our deal. Make sure you keep bein’ useful for me, all right? Man, there’s so much nature here. It must be really peaceful during the day… but it’s places like this where you’re most likely to run into trouble.”

Iwai: “So just be careful. I remember him playin’ with something like this… I think it was a duck, though. Anyway. You oughta hold on to it. For future purposes, and all.”

Summary

timrodresized: Futaba’s Rank 9 romance scene is probably the most fleshed-out of any of them.

Futaba: “What…!? L-L-L-L-L…!? M-My heart feels like it’s gonna burst outta my body… I think I’m gonna dieee… is this feeling… ‘love’? I’ve always heard it’s the most intense joy in the world…”

Futaba: “Th-then does that mean… you’re my boyfriend? And… I’m your girlfriend?”

Futaba: “…”

Futaba: “…”

Futaba: “…”

Futaba: “…Ah!”

timrodresized: Oh, I thought we’d broken Futaba.

Futaba: “Th-That was so surprising… but I think… I understand.”

Futaba: “I’m gonna keep giving it my all from here on out. As a phantom thief, sure… but especially as your girlfriend! Anyway, I don’t think my heart can handle any more today. I-I should go home.”

Futaba: “U-Umm… W-Welcome home, darling… :heart: Want me to cook you dinner? Or fill up the bath for you? Or… maybe… uh… I mean, like… what do you want…?”

Futaba: “D-Don’t make it sound so weird, Akira… ugh… I’m blushing like crazy. My heart’s all itchy, and… I can’t sit still. Is this what it’s like to be a girlfriend…? Heh heh… it’s kinda fun, actually.”

Futaba: “…Oh, wait. That stuff’s more kinda like… a newlywed thing, not a girlfriend fresh outta the confession. Hrm… being a girlfriend is hard. Is this something I’m gonna get used to?”

timrodresized: And now, let’s see Futaba’s Rank 10.

Futaba: " ‘Being okay without you around’… I-It’s like the complete opposite of that c-cramped up in here…! But I went shopping in Akihabara all by myself the other day!"

Futaba: “The crowd freaked me out and my palms got all sweaty, but I did it.”

timrodresized: Somehow, I don’t see Futaba as being a Catherine-with-a-C type. I see her as being the person who immediately goes for the space tourism ending.

Futaba: “She’s mint condition! You see the sculpting on those drills? And totally freestanding, too! …A-Anyway… M-Mission complete, huh?”

Futaba: “Walking around was… actually kinda fun. S-So… me being right next to you, um, c-can’t be helped…”

timrodresized: I am very disappointed that Atlus didn’t put in a trophy pop-up for this.

Futaba: “So, uh… well… I…”

Futaba: “N-N-Nothing, it’s just… mind if I… you know… do the ‘getting closer’ thing? You gave me permission, so no take-backs!”

timrodresized: The next part is all identical to her regular Rank 10 scene, until…

Futaba: “S-So… instead of training myself to be away from you… I want the right to not have to leave you. That way… we’ll never be apart if I don’t want to be.”

Futaba: “R-Really…? …You know, I don’t mind if my purpose is the same as yours… not just as a thief, but in life too… actually, I want it to be the same.”

Futaba: “I don’t understand… but this is my right. Until I say so… don’t let go of me. Well, not like I’d ever say that!”

timrodresized: And that’s that. Haru’s romance scenes will be put up after the next update, and then we’re done until the expansion.

I dunno, I’m not really feeling the upgrade from UFO to RGB smiley face like we went from regular popercycle to Arcee.

I’m surprised they even gave Sugimura a name since his textbox is still Haru’s Fiance.

You’re not being reductive enough, Haru. Everyone knows if there are two competing ideas, there’s a 50% chance each of them is right.

Is…is that the final boss of Okami? Is that Yami? A…smiley Yami?

Maybe Haru’s dad swore an oath on the River Styx.

Click Here for Update 93

timrodresized: It’s time to 100% this game. Let’s start with Haru’s Rank 9.

Haru: “Please, if only a taste. This wasn’t made with particularly expensive coffee beans, nor was it brewed by any sort of coffee expert.”

Haru: “My apologies for bothering you at such a busy time.”

Haru: “The truth is… after my father’s passing, I couldn’t bring myself to trust anyone at Okumura Foods.”

Haru: “…That includes you, Takakura-san.”

Haru: “…My apologies. Now then, um, what I wanted to discuss is…”

Haru: giggle “Right… I’ll be okay. Takakura-san, what did you think of that coffee? I grew the beans in my own garden, and even handled the preparation.”

Haru: “I honestly don’t believe it’s a particularly good cup of coffee… but I put my heart into making it. That’s why I asked you here today, Takakura-san.”

Haru: “I’m not suggesting we need to put this level of effort into the Okumura Foods coffee chain. And I’m not suggesting we should put a halt to the plan either. However, I won’t let my company serve low-quality food to our customers.”

timrodresized: Does Haru not realize what the point of a massive international burger chain is? It’s to be maybe the fourth-lowest rung in the food quality chain, just above Sbarro, Arby’s, and the mystery meat that’s in Subway’s ‘tuna’ sandwiches.

Haru: “What…?”

Haru: “Is… that so…?”

Haru: “I…I’m sorry for being so rude…”

Haru: “Me…?”

Haru: “W-Well… um…”

Haru: “O-Okay…!”

Haru: “Thank you very much!”

Haru: “H-Huh!? Um…!”

timrodresized: I think he had entirely too much screen time and probably should’ve died with Okumura.

Haru: “I think he’s an intelligent man… but… I have no interest in him. I have no interest in being his wife either. I would prefer to walk my own path. One in which the only person in control of my actions… is me. Not my father, and not Sugimura-san.”

Haru: “But… what about the contract Sugimura-san made with my father…? He said the reparations will be immense if I refuse the marriage…”

timrodresized: Does the concept of calling someone’s bluff not exist in this world?

Haru: “Huh…? Well, now that you mention it… no, I haven’t.”

Haru: “Thank you…!”

Haru: “Not only about the company, but about Sugimura-san as well. I was so afraid… but now that it’s over, I think it was honestly pretty simple. I only made it to this point because you were with me though.”

Haru: “…Thank you, Akira-kun.”

Haru: “You did too, you know? giggle Anyway, um… I only started trusting people again because you were by my side helping me. So, I want to return the favor. Please confide in me if you ever need help. I’ll be there for you.”

Haru: “Oh, that reminds me! Takakura-san said something… a little strange, didn’t he? Th-th-that I… like you… goodness, why would he say that?”

Haru: “Why do you think…?”

timrodresized: Man, we just ruined Haru’s hopes and dreams, didn’t we? And we didn’t even have a crystal skull to take them so we can power Xibalba with it.

Haru: “I mean, that’s all we are, so… a-anyway, um… I should go study. I have entrance exams coming up… so I don’t really have time to be sitting around here… but, um… thank you for today.”

Haru: “After we met, Takakura-san told me my grandfather’s blend recipe. I’m brewing some in my room right now, and it smells amazing… if only you could smell it too.”

timrodresized: Is it those bags of pre-ground coffee you buy at the grocery store? I bet it is.

Haru: “Yes! And it’s all thanks to you. I’d never have found the courage to do any of this if I was alone. I’d just have given up without trying… and never find out about how Takakura-san was feeling about any of this.”

timrodresized: I think you mean ‘never FOUND out’.

Haru: “So… I hope you’ll indulge a small gift, for fighting at my side through it all. Okay, good night.”

timrodresized: Tonight, there’s another reference to the older games on the TV at Leblanc, this time to Persona 3.

timrodresized: And now, it’s time for the last optional Caroline and Justine event until after we finish the base game.

Justine: “Listen closely: the place we wish to evaluate for your rehabilitation is… a nightmarish place for acquiring gifts.”

Caroline: “Apparently, when the cold winds arrive, humans gather in a number of areas and search high and low for gifts.”

Justine: “The specific one we seek is buried beneath another similar area. People flock there for all manner of goods. Such unchecked greed condensed into one location… this place sounds like a maelstrom of human desire.”

Justine: “We believe it necessary to ascertain just how much of a threat this place is.”

Caroline: “Well, if you know where it is, then escort us there immediately! So, what’ll it be?”

Caroline: “So you’ve heard of it! Then let’s get going, Inmate - and you better keep your greed in check while we’re there!”

Justine: “We will not be held responsible if you are consumed by your desires. Now, take us there at once.”

timrodresized: Why is there a poster for… ‘Popo Kernel’? What the fuck is that?

Justine: “It’s so energetic… I’m nearly unable to feel the cold here…”

Caroline: “Crowds come to fulfill their material wants while the vendors seek their profits. This place is a whirlpool of human desire.”

Justine: “It seems the words ‘sale’ and ‘bonus’ carry extra weight in this place. Humans are incapable of resisting such simple temptation… how foolish.”

timrodresized: This scene reminds me a lot of that part in Strange Journey where you go to a sector that is a demon’s interpretation of a shopping mall, and they hit you over the head with it the entire time you’re there.

Caroline: “That reminds me - it looks like a lot of people who fell prey to their pitiful desires come to places like this. I hear the term used for such people is ‘lovey-dovey’ or something like that. Is that what’s going on here?”

Justine: “That’s right, ‘lovey-dovey’ is supposed to mean a harmonious relationship of two people doting on one another. I’ve also heard that such pairings emante a special aura that incites the rage of those around them.”

Caroline: “Yep, that’s lovey-dovey. It’s so obvious, I don’t even need to ask. Their aura is so irritating, words can’t describe it.”

Justine: “On the other hand, I’ve heard that lovey-dovey individuals are actually secretly envied by many in society. Could you be one of the envious?”

timrodresized: I mean, he did spend an entire weekend in Paris with Yusuke. It is also absolutely canon to the Yusu-Gay route that they have matching boyfriend rings.

timrodresized: Joker would explain to them the difference between being in love and being horny, but it’d be lost on them.

timrodresized: I looked up how much platinum rings are in real life, and unless they’re buying plain bands, that’s a pretty low price for one. Most of the decorated ones shoot up from around $1000 to around $10,000 because of all the diamonds they usually encrust the things with. Thanks, De Beers.

Justine: “The atmosphere’s shifted…”

Caroline: “Yep… a storm’s coming.”

Justine: “The clash of the lovey-dovey shoppers has been decided.”

Caroline: “Hmph. Pretty one-sided clash… why’d that man end up doing whatever the woman said? What sort of subservience is this?”

Caroline: “I’ve heard of such foolishness befalling lovers before. This must be what they mean when they say ‘love is blind’.”

Justine: “How terrifying love is, that it can render an individual so useless. Be careful, Inmate.”

Caroline: “To think they can generate so much disorder just by coming together… humans are such strange beings.”

Justine: “However, upon realizing that is a source of their power, it’s easy to see how this place has aided the Inmate’s rehabilitation. Humans truly are fascinating.”

timrodresized: I mean, all we really did here was buy plant fertilizer and meet up with Ann for her confidant.

Caroline: “Anyway, we hereby acknowledge the completion of your assignment.”

Justine: “Here is your reward.”

timrodresized: This would be great… if we didn’t have access to Attis. I actually wound up fusing one in the unscheduled Mementos grind trip on the 4th that has the 66% dodge when ambushed skill.

Caroline: “I was expecting you to give up partway through. Not too bad at all, inmate!”

Justine: “The strength of spirit you’ve displayed while carrying out your rehabilitation… that deserves our recognition.”

Caroline: “So you’ve finally learned to show us respect, huh? You’ve come a long way!”

Justine: “Please continue such strong efforts towards your rehabilitation.”

Caroline: “Hm? Speaking of which… humans seem unusually predisposed to giving each other money and material goods if they’re closely related. People buying one another’s affection! Doesn’t that sound pathetic, Inmate?”

Caroline: “Oh? And don’t you think there are people you should express some gratitude towards right now?”

Justine: “Indeed. I think a certain pair of exceptional wardens deserve a little something for observing their troublesome Inmate. That was a joke, Inmate. We are not so low as to exploit you for material gain.”

timrodresized: Joker: “Does this mean I can have the millions of yen I paid you for fusion back?”

Caroline: “Say, Justine - shouldn’t we buy something for our master while we’re here?”

Justine: “There appears to be a delivery service we can take advantage of here. Perhaps they can ship packages directly to our world?”

timrodresized: “Please ship to: Velvet Room c/o Philemon, This Side. Just drop the package anywhere and we’ll find it.”

timrodresized: Today, it’s time to finish Shinya’s confidant. With this, the only remaining non-auto confidant will be Haru.

Shinya: “It’s because you worked so hard. I didn’t really do that much… actually, yeah I did! chuckle Have you noticed that my playing style has changed? I feel calmer when I’m under pressure now.”

Shinya: “I wonder if it’s because I’m not so obsessed with winning anymore… hey… I invited some people here today. They should be arriving any minute now. Oh, here they are.”

Shinya: “I’m sorry!”

Shinya: “I finally realized that I was being selfish… please forgive me. I’ll understand if you guys don’t, but… I promise I’ll pay back the money as soon as I save up enough.”

Shinya: “That’s all I wanted to say… thanks for coming. Let’s go.”

Shinya: “Huh? Then…”

Shinya: “…I’ve gotten better since we last played, you know. Now I can stay calm during a battle. I’m gonna blast right through that pitch-black armor of yours.”

Shinya: “…Take that. Don’t aim for the body… and that!”

Shinya: “Stop using that armor and start playing fair and square. It’s unacceptable to break the rules just to win, whether you’re an adult or a child. And if you don’t stop, I’ll tell everyone.”

Shinya: “No it won’t. Your life will go on, even after you lose. But if you don’t change now, then it might really be the end for you. And then no one will be able to help you. I don’t want you go to through that.”

timrodresized: I mean, unless you’re Tim Tebow. Then your career’s over before it even really begins.

timrodresized: Why does this whole thing feel like a Saturday morning cartoon in the early 90s?

Shinya: “No… I’m not. I haven’t won the tournament yet. Besides, it’s thanks to you guys… that I was able to get stronger.”

Shinya: “…I’m so happy right now.”

Shinya: “…Yeah, I think we’ll get along fine from now on. I’ve always thought that winning was the coolest thing. But being nice is pretty cool too… losing wasn’t the end. It was just a new beginning.”

Shinya: “I was able to change. Now it’s my turn to help others. My mom, my friends… even people I don’t know. I wonder… will that help me become a member of the Phantom Thieves?”

Shinya: “So you ARE one of them, after all!? …Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. Well, this is the last time we’ll play together. There’s nothing left to teach you, and the Phantom Thieves seem to be having a rough time…”

Shinya: “Thank you… for hanging out with a lonely kid like myself. …I’ll continue to do my best. Okay, put out your hand.”

Music The Path Is Open

timrodresized: Oda Special would be fucking amazing if you could apply it to Ann instead of Joker. Joker’s final gun is a stat stick like Makoto’s.

timrodresized: Mada took me some doing to fuse properly. To a lot of people, he’s not actually the ultimate Tower Persona - that would be Yoshitsune, who is three levels below him.

New Persona: Mada

Origin: India

First Appearance: Nocturne

Hindu deity of drunkenness. Has two sets of jaws and is large enough to eat the entire universe. Summoned by two gods who were prevented from getting into a feast because they had been among mortals for too long.

timrodresized: Mada is the best fire Persona in the game. I purposely left Burn Boost on rather than put Concentrate on him because burn is a straight up damage boost if it hits anything and we have other ways of doing Concentrate.

timrodresized: On a side note, carrying Fire Boost up to him is a massive pain in the ass. I had to do three intermediate fusion steps just to carry that.

timrodresized: Unfortunately, we can’t get the best wind Persona until after Shido, so I re-summoned Baal off screen to be able to hit any burns from Mada with a technical.

Shinya: “…You’ve gotten really good! But you’ll still never be able to beat me! You won’t lose to anyone else though! chuckle I’ll be supporting you, no matter what!”

timrodresized: We spend the night of 12/03 playing darts again. I’m going to skip the daytime period of 12/04, because I go into Mementos to grind and fuse - we’ll see that in a side update where I show off our final Persona roster before the Shido fight.

timrodresized: We’re going to spend 12/04 seeing one of Chihaya’s optional events.

Chihaya: “Jinbocho? There’s a lot of used bookstores there… it’s a bit far, but let’s go! I wonder if the stores are still open…”

Chihaya: “Hmm, there’s a lot here… which ones would be good as reference?”

Chihaya: “The lives of people who have left their names in history… true, those would be worth reading once. There is a lot to learn from their stormy lives! Also, you know those self-help books?”

Chihaya: “With those, you feel like just reading them is enough. You end up not actually helping yourself. I’d like to learn the ideas expressed in those books, and use them to help my customers.”

Chihaya: “…Hmm!? That used bookstore’s sign says ‘Study of Destiny’! Wh… a fortune telling specific shop!? Kurusu-san, let’s go check it out!”

timrodresized: Save me from that Study Destiny.

Ryuji: “God, can’t these people see past their own fat noses? They’re crazier about Shido than ever… when I think about how he used us… Dammit! It pisses me right the hell off.”

Ryuji: “Well… it’ll be fine. The better his rep gets, the more I look forward to tearin’ it down. We’ll make him own up to all this bullshit. Then they’ll see who the real heroes are.”

timrodresized: And now… it’s time to 100% the game. We’ve conquered every possible permafuck. A part of me wasn’t sure I was going to make it this far, and I thank all of you for your support.

Sojiro: “I heard you’ve been getting into the roasting scene, little lady.”

timrodresized: The roasting scene, where they only make coffee from beans you’ve never heard of.

Haru: “Yes. I often have the urge to drink a fresh cup of your coffee.”

Sojiro: “Heh, that near brings a tear to my eye. Well, I’m heading home now. Close up shop for me, will you?”

Haru: “I was finally able to convey my feelings during the company meeting. Not just about the new chain, but about the future of the company, and even about Father…”

Haru: “I think my presence angered some people at first, but in the end they all listened to my thoughts.”

Haru: “All that nervousness was exhausting… I’ve had diplomatic dealings with VIPs before, but I’ve never once spoken my true feelings… that aside, after talking with management, I’ve decided to let them handle Okumura Foods.”

timrodresized: Wait, didn’t she say on two or three different occasions that she didn’t have anything to do with running the company when her father was alive? When was she making deals with people?

Haru: “It’s simply not something I would have been able to supervise on my own. And after their sincere acceptance of the public’s criticism, I felt it was okay to trust them.”

Haru: “As for my future goals… I’m interested in opening a small private cafe. Everything will be home-grown, from the coffee to the salad. I want to set my own standards.”

Haru: “It’ll be a shop that people love, like Grandfather’s… and like this place. What do you think?”

Haru: “It’s a pretty boring dream, huh? But when you say that… I feel like it will actually happen. Truth be told, I don’t plan on opening the shop immediately after I graduate. I’ll need to study and improve my knowledge beforehand. After all, right now it’s only a hobby.”

timrodresized: Joker’s like “If you need knowledge points, I’ve got a shit-ton of books I’m never going to get around to reading. My knowledge maxed out months ago.”

Haru: “Perhaps I should apprentice here at Leblanc in the meantime?”

Haru: giggle “I take it that comes from personal experience? Either way, I think this dream of mine will be no easy feat. But I somehow manged to tackle my childhood dream of becoming a heroine of justice.”

Haru: “If I act with resolve and believe in my actions, I know I’ll be able to achieve anything. I’m so glad I met you. At first, it was nice having someone that understands me… but now, it’s much more.”

Haru: “There may be times where people resent me for it… but as long as you’re here, I’ll be okay. You know… I’d like to return the favor. If you ever find yourself in trouble, I’ll be there for you.”

Haru: “Feel free to rely on me from now on. I have the strength to help you… I can sense it.”

Music The Path Is Open

timrodresized: Mother Harlot is an ultimate Persona in the Persona 1 and 2 sense. Her moveset makes no sense.

timrodresized: She’s got Curse-based instakills, which Alice does better. She’s got ice spells, which Satan does better. Her trait is called Ghost Nest, and… increases the chance of inflicting status ailments on downed enemies. Typically, the only reason you’d want to inflict a status effect is to down an enemy.

New Persona: Astarte

Origin: Syria (technically)

First Appearance: Giten Megami Tensei

Middle-eastern version of Ishtar, and the basis for Aphrodite in Greek myth. Originally used by ancient Mesopotamian cultures as another name for Ishtar. Became interpreted a number of different ways, including by the Phoenicians as the wife of Hadad. In Ancient Egypt, she was a hunting goddess usually associated with Anat.

Christianity refers to her as “Ashtoreth” in the Bible, a play on the Hebrew word for “abomination”. The Bible uses the name Ashtoreth to refer to pagan worship and idols in general, rather than as a specific entity. Later demonized into Astaroth in the Ars Goetia.

Haru: giggle “I can’t wait. My, look at the time. We’ve been speaking for quite a while! I should be going now!”

timrodresized: And that’s it. That’s all the non-automatic confidants completed. Everything else from here on out is automatic… minus the expansion.

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll do a quick trip into Mementos to do one request and grind a shitload of money. We’ll also fail to itemize a single Persona six times in a row and finalize our roster for Shido and beyond.

You know, now that I think about it? Yeah, it pretty much is.

I’m surprised Sugimura survived Okumura’s Palace, to be honest.

Well if you stopped turning all our crystal skulls into rings, maybe we would. :angry:

Damn, Joker really hit Haru with “we look like a couple of besties!” That’s cold.

Summary

timrodresized: Now let’s go to Mementos. It’ll be short.

timrodresized: The area covering Sae’s palace opens up.

Morgana: “It seems the number of areas we can go to has increased…”

Oracle: “Well, more people know about us than ever. But probably not for the right reasons though…”

Noir: “I’m sure this misunderstanding will be resolved once this is all over. Come, let us cheer up.”

Morgana: “She’s right. Plus, there will be stronger enemies the deeper we go. We’ll need to stay careful.”

timrodresized: We start with an alarm, so I fuse another Tantric Oath for Yusuke and make Ongyo-ki. We need him to carry a skill to Sandalphon so we can carry it to Lucifer via Metatron.

New Persona: Ongyo-ki

Origin: Japan

First Appearance: Nocturne

Demon whose name means “Invisible Oni”. Supposedly used by the onmyoji Fujiwara no Chikata. May also be associated with ninjutsu.

timrodresized: Like Attis, Ongyo-ki is a gimmick Persona. His ability doubles all healing he receives, and he has Regenerate 3 - which when combined with his ability will pay for any of his skills in one turn.

timrodresized: You want Ongyo-ki for two things. The first is passing down his trait to Yoshitsune, because Yoshitsune’s trait kinda sucks. The second is Firm Stance. He’s one of two Personas to learn it. The other is the final Magician Persona.

timrodresized: As I’ve mentioned before, Firm Stance reduces all incoming damage by half but sets evasion to zero. It’s very, very good on anything that doesn’t have a weakness.

Skull: “He’s some kinda scam artist, right?”

Noir: “Yes, and he only targets lonely, elderly people.”

Panther: “How could he do something so terrible?”

Fox: “Now this is a man who requires a change of heart.”

Morgana: “Don’t lump us in the same category with scam artists like you!”

Skull: “Tricking nice old people into givin’ you their money… just how big of a jerk are you?”

Panther: “Would you say something like that about your own parents!?”

timrodresized: Wakasa is Chernobog… only without Chernobog’s gaping weakness to Bless and Fire.

timrodresized: He gets slammed before he can even really do much of anything. No one took unintentional damage - the HP missing from Yusuke is from using his skill.

timrodresized: I should mention that Ann learns Concentrate before we leave, which is the point at which Attis becomes worth it.

Noir: “It was really horrible of you to take advantage of people’s weakness like that.”

Fox: “What do you intend to do from now on?”

timrodresized: We get a piece of armor that will not matter in the slightest.

timrodresized: We can now go into the Sae area of Mementos.

Noir: “Is it just my imagination, or is this place even creepier?”

Fox: “No, you’re right. Without exaggeration, this repugnant place is an assault on the senses.”

Oracle: “Uh, sure, and the enemies here are gonna be pretty feisty, too! Be careful, all right?”

timrodresized: There’s 30 stamps here, just like there were in the last area. We’re going to have to come back here anyway, so I only grabbed 27 before leaving. With that, let’s get fusing.

New Persona: Cybele

Origin: Phrygia (Present-day Turkey)

First Appearance: Devil Summoner

Phrygian mother goddess who rules over nature. May have been adapted from a Hittite goddess called Kubaba. Later assimilated into Greek mythology, where she was also a nature goddess and had a priesthood consisting entirely of trans people and eunuchs. Her cult was also known for worshiping Attis, who we already know is heavily connected to her in myth.

Cybele was also adapted by the Romans as the goddess of Troy.

timrodresized: Cybele is made from Ongyo-ki and Black Frost, and is there entirely to pass down skills to both Attis (who I hadn’t actually fused yet) and Lucifer via Metatron and Sandalphon.

timrodresized: This isn’t the final one I fused; I forgot to put Concentrate on to pass down to Attis, so I reloaded the game. Cybele also itemizes into one of the two strongest melee weapons for Makoto.

timrodresized: The other choice is from Asura, which has slightly lower stats but has a chance to apply a random status effect on hit.

New Persona: Parvati

Origin: India

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei II

Hindu goddess of love and beauty. Parvati is Shiva’s second wife, but also technically his first wife because she’s a reincarnation of Sati - his first wife. She is the mother of Ganesha and Kartikeya. Also capable of fusing with Shiva to form the half-male, half-female god Ardha.

timrodresized: Does this technically make Shiva the ultimate wife guy? I mean, he married the same person twice and then decided he loved his wife so much he wanted to be part of her.

timrodresized: If you’re wondering about the dumbass skillset, that’s because we’re using Parvati solely to fuse Baphomet, who we need to fuse Sandalphon.

New Persona: Baphomet

Origin: Europe

First Appearance: Megami Tensei II

King of demons, typically depicted with the head of a goat and the body of a woman. Supposedly has the power to control all human women, and is a source of power for witches. The Knights Templar were at one point accused of worshiping Baphomet, though this was later discovered to be a plot by the French king to obtain their gold.

In reality, Baphomet is probably a demonized version of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.

timrodresized: Baphomet’s another Persona we don’t really give a shit about.

New Persona: Sandalphon

Origin: The Kabbalah

First Appearance: Devil Summoner

Archangel of Jewish myth. Twin brother of Metatron, which is why he’s a robo-angel. Master of heavenly songs, and apparently so large that it would take 500 years to walk across his body. Responsible for delivering prayers to God and determining people’s gender at birth. May or may not be an angelic form of Elijah.

timrodresized: Sandalphon isn’t a terrible Persona if you need to fill a gap in your elemental coverage, but he’s just not as good as most of the dedicated elemental Personas. In this case, we’re using him purely to carry Firm Stance to Lucifer.

timrodresized: If we try to itemize Sandalphon, this happens. This is because Sandalphon itemizes into Kasumi’s best melee weapon.

Oracle: “Well, you’re in the third area on this floor. That makes it the 55th area overall.”

Skull: “Man, Mona, you were right. This place is astrologically big, or whatever you said.”

Morgana: “Well… I’m surprised too…”

timrodresized: Ann learns Concentrate, and will learn Fire Amp before we leave here. At that point, she can easily hit four-digit damage numbers.

timrodresized: Leveling up Baton Pass does in fact pay off. This might seem low for Joker, but this is with Beelzebub using Maeigaon after a single baton pass without Concentrate.

New Persona: Jikokuten

Origin: India

First Appearance: Megami Tensei II

Buddhist guardian deity who protects the East. Also appears in Chinese and Japanese buddhism. Leader of Buddha’s celestial messengers. Name means “He who upholds the realm”.

timrodresized: Jikokuten is a low-level trashsona. We want him because he’s one of the components for Asura, and because we can use him to fuse Mitra. We need Mitra to make Sraosha.

timrodresized: I think I grabbed Mitra back in Futaba’s Palace, but never put him in the party to save him to the compendium.

New Persona: Sraosha

Origin: Zoroastrianism

First Appearance: Devil Summoner

Zoroastrian equivalent of a major archangel. Serves as a medium between humanity and Ahura Mazda, and protects souls on their way to the Zoroastrian heaven from attacks by demons by hitting them with a club. Later became a god in his own right who protects the material world.

Also appears in ancient Persian Islamic art as an angel named Surush.

timrodresized: Sraosha is a five-way special fusion between Mitra, Mithras, Melchizedek, Lilith, and Gabriel. The only reason we want him is to itemize him into the best armor for female characters… which failed like four times due to accidents.

timrodresized: Fuck accidents. I wound up running out of black robes because I kept forgetting to save, so only Ann and Haru have the best armor.

timrodresized: Zouchouten, Koumokuten and Bishamonten are all direction-affiliated Buddhist guardian deities. Bishamonten is a little more involved because he’s one of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japan. And with their powers combined…

timrodresized: Asura is the best Nuke Persona in the game… kind of. His stats are lower than a lot of the other specialist elemental Personas, and that’s why we’re going to fuse him into something else.

timrodresized: Anyway, that’s all the fusion I’m going to do in this particular dungeon. Let’s take a look at the final Persona roster we’ll have heading into Shido’s palace.

timrodresized: First up is Big Mike 2.0, who takes Asura’s skillset and combines it with Kohyru’s to make him the best Nuclear Persona I can make. He’s also a pretty good Psy caster, and has Ali Dance. If I could’ve found some way to get him Firm Stance I probably would’ve, but Ali Dance is good enough.

timrodresized: Next up is Beelzebub. Best Curse Persona, still pretty competent at fire. I probably could’ve gone back and re-fused him with Ali Dance or Firm Stance, but his magic stat is wasted on Maeigaon.

timrodresized: Mada gives us very powerful Fire coverage, despite not being quite as high-statted as Beelzebub.

timrodresized: Satan has both Ice coverage and the best Almighty spell in the game, combined with the second-highest magic stat (tied with Beelzebub) of any non-DLC Persona. I’ll probably stick Ice Boost over Concentrate, since we now have…

timrodresized: Attis 2.0. He’s an amazing support Persona, between his 66% evasion rate, complete lack of weaknesses and ability to buff the entire party at once. He also has the best heal in the game and the ability to remove most status effects. Attis will be our Concentrate carrier, and will be our starting Persona for all boss fights.

timrodresized: Note that he doesn’t have Spell Master - this is because we’re only really using him to open boss fights and buff occasionally. Most of our other Personas have single-digit SP costs for their spells, so it’s not like we’re ever going to run out of MP.

timrodresized: Gabriel is still our Lightning coverage, despite having a magic stat slightly under Odin’s. The reason I haven’t bothered to get her Spell Master is that one of the 12 possible fusion combos for Odin is Metatron and Gabriel - so I’ll just make another Odin at that point that has Spell Master and Ali Dance.

timrodresized: Mara is here because no roster is complete without him. He’s still a pretty okay Gun Persona, even if his role as a Psychic nuker has been overtaken by Kohryu and Michael. I might see later on if I can re-fuse him with Ongyo-ki’s trait and Regenerate 3.

timrodresized: Baal is still the same way he was back when we fused him in Okumura’s Palace. That’s because I’m waiting on the final Magician Persona so I can fuse the two of them together.

timrodresized: And that’s our final roster. You might notice a lack of Bless and Physical coverage - this is because we’ll be unlocking Metatron and Yoshitsune soon, along with Lucifer.

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll do a couple of optional events and then steamroll Shido’s palace.

Mario Kart getting called the fuck out!

Click Here for Update 94

timrodresized: We still have a couple of days to go before we go into the dungeon, and a surprising amount of optional confidant events left.

Inui: “That’s right. The turning point of any era is when a hero is born. They address everyone’s fears and worries and skillfully carry out a revolution. Representative Shido is like that, don’t you think?”

timrodresized: Does he always gravitate toward the worst possible people?

Ann: “A hero? Him…? Don’t make me laugh. This is getting really bad. We need to make everyone realize it.”

timrodresized: Over the next couple of weeks, we’re going to be seeing a lot of optional confidant events that involve Joker picking a place to bring someone. I believe these can be done at any time once you’ve unlocked the relevant locations, provided you’re not going to rank up.

Ryuji: “Sure thing. Where we goin’? I think I’d prolly pick somewhere with good food if it were up to me…”

timrodresized: We’re going to take Ryuji to the ramen shop in Ogikubo first.

Ryuji: “We’re gonna look like we’re just goin’ for the new fad, but my stomach’s already in ramen mode. C’mon, let’s get in line!”

Ryuji: “Ain’t you totally fallin’ for this soy sauce flavor too!?”

Ryuji: “Right!? Tokyo guys are all over this stuff! You’re one of us now. Anyways… .thanks for askin’ me here today. I’m all cheered up now 'cause of you!”

timrodresized: Joker’s like “I’m one of what? A dumbass who is so dense as to be unbelievable?”

Ryuji: “Huh, looks like they’re givin’ out presents. Here, you can have mine.”

Ryuji: “I’m not crazy enough about ramen to be showin’ that off in my room. All right, let’s run to the station and work that meal off!”

timrodresized: Tonight’s more of the same, with an optional event with Chihaya at the Sky Tree.

Chihaya: “If any place comes to mind, please let me know.”

Chihaya: “The Skytree? Hmm… it sounds like a nice place. Let’s go!”

Chihaya: “The skyscrapers are now under our feet… doesn’t that give you a sense of superiority?”

Chihaya: “For some reason, when you say that, it makes you sound like a villain…when I’m at street level, all the tall buildings make me feel like Tokyo is a prison.”

Chihaya: “But when I look down from here, it’s surprisingly huge. I forget how big it actually is.”

Chihaya: “…All the members are still trapped in their tiny world. That’s why I need to help them realize that there are more important things than destiny. And since I realized that, I have to be the one to help them…!”

timrodresized: This is another one of those events that I don’t think has a specific rank trigger. The only requirement to get it is that you’ve done the event at Jinbocho.

Chihaya: “Okay… I have to do something! But for now, I’m going to immerse myself in the feeling of being a ruler of this city… and I’ll do so by your side.”

Chihaya: “I had a great time today. …This is to say thanks for always encouraging me. May the light guide you…!”

timrodresized: Joker looks nervously at Beelzebub and Satan. “Uh, yeah… the light.”

timrodresized: There’s another Persona 4 reference on the TV today, so let’s go take a look.

timrodresized: I’m of the opinion that Namatame should’ve fucking died. While you couldn’t make the comparison at the time, he feels a lot like Huey Emmerich in The Phantom Pain.

timrodresized: “How was I supposed to know that throwing people into the TV kills them? You’re the one who belongs in that TV, Yu!”

timrodresized: Killing him should’ve been the good ending. He’s either too much of a fucking idiot to live or was playing dumb to get out of being killed.

Morgana: “Isn’t he a bit old for a newcomer? Huh… that kind of makes me want to root for him.”

Kasumi: “I love aquariums! I hope there’re penguins… let’s go!”

timrodresized: Hearing someone talk to a character played by Jun Fukuyama about penguins reminds me of Shirokuma Cafe.

Kasumi: “Ahh… I could stare at this tank forever. Aren’t the movements of living creatures just fascinating?”

Kasumi: “Right!? Their will to survive shines through in their every move. If only I could perform like this… oh, speaking of performances! I really want to see the dolphin show!”

Kasumi: “I might get some inspiration from watching an elegant dolphin moving in perfect sync with its trainer. Oh, but there’s a sea lion show too… hmm…”

Kasumi: “Kurusu-senpai, which would you rather see? The dolphin show or the sea lion show?”

timrodresized: Kasumi really belongs in one of those Saturn/Dreamcast-era Sega games that had a strange fascination with sea life. This game would’ve been better on the Saturn because it would’ve forced them to cut a lot of the pointless dialog.

Kasumi: “You’re a genius! Why limit ourselves to just one? All right, let’s check out the dolphins AND the sea lions! We still have some time before the show starts. Let’s look around at the exhibits a bit more.”

Kasumi: “Oh, actually, before that… I have a present for you, Kurusu-senpai. I saw this at the gift shop earlier, and it was so cute I couldn’t resist! Please, take it.”

timrodresized: Speaking of games on other platforms, I played through Psychonauts 2 recently and I think it’s what they should’ve done with Strikers instead of making it a generic-ass action RPG.

timrodresized: There is an entire stage where Razputin has a character explain Jungian psychology to him and then gets a powerup that gives him a Persona. That one stage fucking rules.

timrodresized: We spend the night doing one last round of darts to get everyone to Rank 3 except Morgana. One thing I find out later is that baton pass kind of becomes a lot less useful in Shido’s palace.

timrodresized: In fact, let me talk about that a little. Roughly half the enemies in Shido’s palace do not have a weakness, and in most cases it’s more efficient to just nuke them down rather than try to go for Technicals.

timrodresized: What I’m saying is that Shido’s palace is poorly designed, a fact that will make itself obvious from about the first minute we actually set foot in it.

Makoto: “Charismatic, eh? I suppose that’s an accurate description, at least in terms of deceiving people. He only thinks of people as stepping stones for his own personal gain.”

Makoto: “…Father… Father, is this the type of person you fought to protect us from? I will fight against this injustice with my own power. I’ll be all right. I have Sis and the Phantom Thieves on my side. So… watch over me, okay?”

timrodresized: Okay, Makoto? Clearly you have no grasp of dumbass shonen battle anime. You say that when your partner has died and you’re ass-pulling a last minute ability because the writers wrote themselves into a corner.

timrodresized: We’re going in tomorrow. Today, we have an optional event with Futaba in Asakusa.

Futaba: “Nope! Nope, nope, nope! I-I wanna go home and hide in my futon…”

Futaba: “A ninja!? Where!? WHERE!? I know… they have to be in hiding. I’ll find them! Now that I take a better look around… aren’t there a lot of foreigners here? I guess this kind of place is unique to Japan, after all.”

Futaba: “Actually… I’m a little excited too. Even though I hate crowds… weird. Okeydokey, let’s go explorin’! Akira, you walk ahead and push through the crowd for me.”

timrodresized: There’s a TV thing tonight, and one more tomorrow morning.

timrodresized: We’re going into the palace today. Because it’s so long, and there’s not much to this update otherwise, I’ll do a little bit of it today just so you can get a taste for why I hate it.

timrodresized: Wait… did they just… acknowledge that Persona 2 exists? The first detective is Katsuya Suou, who we’ll see if the Eternal Punishment PSP translation is ever finished. The second is Akihiko from Persona 3.

timrodresized: And this is, of course, Chie from Persona 4. This is the second to last one of these - the last one is on 12/14.

Music Ark

timrodresized: The theme for Shido’s palace is called Ark, and it’s a remix of the track that plays when you’re walking around during the VN portions of the game.

Music Tokyo Daylight

Queen: “We know the identities of the five VIPs.”

Oracle: “A politician, a former noble, a TV station president, an IT company president, and that cleaner guy!”

Noir: “Hm, according to the map, there should be a restaurant up ahead.”

Fox: “That’s where the politician should be, yes? Let us go check it out.”

Morgana: “We might be able to gain intel from talking to them. Just don’t ask any suspicious questions, okay?”

timrodresized: Now, I have a theory about Shido’s palace. My theory is that the level designers went “We’re going to make this big fuckoff cruise ship map” and then the budget alarm went off and they realized that was about as far as they were going to get.

timrodresized: This first room off the main area is two floors and is completely empty apart from a bunch of shadows. It’s also confusing as shit, so let me cut through the bullshit and show you how dumb this is.

timrodresized: We entered from the second floor, and in the bottom-right corner of the first floor is the restaurant. Now, let’s try opening that door.

Panther: “A members-only restaurant… ‘Ristorante…Elite’?”

timrodresized: Uh, Ann? The sign just says “The Ark of Elite Restaurant”.

Skull: “You really can’t read that either? Aren’t you suppose’ta be Lil Miss English or something?”

Panther: “Yeah, Ryuji? That’s not English, it’s Italian. So, anyway…”

timrodresized: Now, you’re probably thinking something along the lines of “The game is telling me to go find a membership card before I go in, so clearly there must be one in this big empty room somewhere.”

timrodresized: …Except you’re not whatever dipshit designed the event flags for this dungeon. No, we have to go into the restaurant so they can tell us that we don’t have a card and THEN we can go look for the card in the big empty room.

Skull: “Oh yeah, we heard about that thing earlier… what a pain.”

Queen: “This is bad… we should retreat. It seems we won’t be able to get inside peacefully until we can obtain this membership card…”

timrodresized: Now that we’ve set this pointless event flag, we can go outside and find a new conversation that will lead us to the card. I reloaded and checked this exact spot, and it doesn’t show up until you’ve gone inside.

timrodresized: The new conversation is on the second floor, roughly here.

Panther: “Hey, isn’t this a good chance for us? He said he dropped his membership card.”

Fox: “I am not keen on this, but we may be able to take it from him if we can find it first.”

Skull: “Hell yeah! He dropped it, so we gotta swoop in n’ take it!”

timrodresized: Now that we’ve hit all these stupid plot flags, we can follow the footsteps to the bar on the other side of the room.

timrodresized: If you’re wondering - yes, this is exactly what the rest of this dungeon is going to be. It’s less a dungeon and more a boring, repetitive cutscene disguised as one.

Queen: “That was actually pretty easy. Should it have been that simple?”

Skull: “Who cares? It’s all thanks to that dick Shido thinkin’ everyone around him is incompetent.”

timrodresized: Whoa there, Ryuji. Those are some awful big words for you to be throwing around.

Noir: “So he doesn’t believe in anyone… that must be why there are so many membership cards around.”

Oracle: “Well, it’s not bad that it went by quick. Let’s head to the restaurant and grab a letter of introduction.”

timrodresized: So wait, if he thinks everyone else is incompetent and useless, why are they even on his ship? You’re not really supporting the narrative of this being a magic ark to save a hand-picked group of elites.

Skull: “Special guests…? Eh, who cares.”

Queen: “A reserved seat is special information. That may lead us to the politician we’re looking for.”

Skull: “For real!?”

Queen: “That possibility didn’t even cross your mind!? Ugh. Anyway, let’s head in and find a seat.”

Queen: “Try not to get too excited, okay? You’re embarrassing us…”

Fox: “That must be the table.”

Oracle: “Right. That influential politician comes here.”

Queen: “…Why don’t we have a seat at the table next to it and wait for him? I’ll go. He may become guarded if we go in a big group.”

Queen: “Does someone want to come with me?”

timrodresized: Joker volunteers to go knowing Makoto’s track record of being THE SMART GIRL.

Skull: “Hold up, Joker! Lemme go with her! I mean, dude! It’s a restaurant!”

Panther: “What are you, a preschooler!?”

Queen: “I was wondering why you were so excited about this… sigh

Morgana: “Why isn’t anyone asking me to do this?”

Queen: “All right, we’re going in. Everyone else stay nearby. I’ll give the signal when the time is right.”

Skull: “Man, what should I eat?”

Oracle: “You can’t get full off of food in a Palace.”

Morgana: “He’s as dumb as ever…”

Queen: “A salad garnished with truffles… and roasted lamb, please.”

timrodresized: This sounds like something she read in a book, which I guess kind of makes sense given she’s a dipshit teen.

Skull: “I can’t believe you can order so easily like that… say, ain’t we kinda young compared to the others here? They’re all involved with Shido, yeah?”

Queen: “They seem to be major figures in the political and financial worlds.”

Skull: “Whose? Uhh… I don’t see any reserved signs or nothing here.”

Skull: “What was that?”

Queen: “Skull! Be quiet!”

Skull: “S-Sorry…”

Queen: “I apologize for our discourtesy.”

Queen: “Excuse me, might you be Mr. Ooe?”

Queen: “This will be an impudent request, but would you provide us a letter of introduction to… Mr. Shido?”

Queen: “We wish to be granted an audience with him… his political ideology resonates so much with us… of course, the same can be said about you, Mr. Ooe.”

Queen: “Yes, sir.”

timrodresized: Basically, this entire dungeon is Hashino realizing that he wrote this entire plot centered around a shadowy cabal trying to take over Japan but forgot to write a narrative that supports it.

timrodresized: Out of all the people the Phantom Thieves went up against, only one - Okumura - was a member of the cabal. In fact, they never even really try to tie in any of the other palace bosses.

timrodresized: I think there’s some optional dialogue somewhere where they tell you that Madarame and Kaneshiro were giving money to Shido, but if you need to put that in optional dialogue it barely counts.

Queen: “Considering your caliber, I would assume that the target must have been someone quite important.”

Queen: “Oh, you must be being modest…”

timrodresized: Shit localization, D-. See me after class. “Oh, you’re just being modest…”

Skull: “That was you!?”

timrodresized: Okay so wait. Why would you even… why would you do that and not just kill the two people individually, especially when your entire goal is for the murders to look like accidents and go unnoticed?

timrodresized: As we’ll find out later, Shido has a fucking yakuza hit squad that works for him - even if they didn’t have palaces/weren’t in Mementos, wouldn’t it have been easier to just order a regular hit?

Queen: “I see… that was very useful, Mr. Ooe. Actually, my sister is a prosecutor at the Public Prosecutor’s Office. I could pass on what you just said to her… how about it? Won’t you give us a letter of introduction?”

Queen: “The letter of introduction, please.”

Skull: “Looks like you have one though! Welp, guess it’s time to use brute force!”

Queen: “Guys!”

timrodresized: This is going to be the formula for the rest of this dungeon: long cutscenes followed by minibosses.

timrodresized: Ooe turns into Yamata no Orochi. We can destroy him with zero effort, but let me show you what our new boss fight strategy looks like.

timrodresized: Yusuke uses Charge. Everyone else uses Concentrate except Haru, who doesn’t have it. Technically I should’ve subbed her out for Makoto but whatever.

timrodresized: Joker uses Thermopylae for a full-party attack buff. This has a side effect of making enemies miss a lot. And now, let’s win this fight in exactly three attacks.

timrodresized: Orochi is weak to psychic, which we can then pivot into an All-Out.

timrodresized: Joker doesn’t even get his concentrated attack in.

Skull: “Fine…”

Queen: “In any case… it turns out Principal Kobayakawa was connected to Shido after all… no wonder he was so adamant about me digging up information on the Phantom Thieves.”

timrodresized: That still doesn’t explain why some random high school principal was allowed into this big shadowy conspiracy. Did he order killings too?

Panther: “Still, I can’t believe Shido just killed him so nonchalantly…”

Fox: “The entire nation is underwater in his Palace. He must feel nothing toward one measly educator.”

Panther: “In any case, even though that politician was cognitive, he turned into a monster. Up until Kaneshiro’s Palace, cognitive beings were nothing more than weak presences…”

timrodresized: I mean, you know, apart from Sugimura in Okumura’s palace. Or the Haru-bot, but that wasn’t in the base game.

Queen: “Hm? But he had the memories and appearance of an actual person…”

Oracle: “He was probably a Shadow fused with a cognition… it’s like making the Shadow wear human skin.”

timrodresized: Of all the dumb bullshit in this palace, THIS is what you choose to explain away!?

Morgana: “I’ve never seen anything like that before… such power is normally impossible.”

Fox: “Wasn’t Shido the one who destroyed the research done by Navi’s mother on cognition?”

timrodresized: We already know he did!

Noir: “Oh! Do you think that when he did, he took the results for his own purposes?”

Oracle: “Shido…”

Morgana: “For all we know, Shido could have some hidden trick that allows him to tamper with his own Palace. We need to be especially careful from here on out!”

timrodresized: You know, it’d be cool if they actually did something with that. They won’t.

Shido: “And in return, I only ask for your continued support… standing up to the world does require money.”

Shido: “If the study of cognitive psience progresses, I believe it’s possible to increase the target range.”

timrodresized: What’s the point of all that? Seriously, what was the point? They could have cut two thirds of that out - have the boss fight happen and then have the shadow explain the whole “I ordered the hit on the subway driver” thing.

timrodresized: Can you believe we still have five of these to go? Yes, five. Not four.

Oracle: “According to the map, the elevator ahead will take us to the pool deck.”

Fox: “Hm… if our intel is correct, there should be a womanizing ‘former noble’ there.”

Panther: “Womanizing, huh…? I am so not up for this…”

timrodresized: If you’re wondering “Is there going to be another segment in which Ann gets sexually harassed and/or assaulted?”, the answer is that this is a Hashino game. Of COURSE she will!

timrodresized: The piano here plays a theme that is a remix of Ark, but sounds a lot like the opening theme to Persona 4. It has a name - the name is “Improvised Song Dedicated to the Next Prime Minister’s Ship”.

timrodresized: This is honestly one of the only cool things they do with music in this game - the piano theme syncs to Ark, so when you leave the room it’ll go right into it, and it gets louder or fades based on your distance from the stage.

timrodresized: And now it’s time for us to be introduced to this dungeon’s annoying and tedious gimmick.

Fox: “This is prepawsterous! …Or something like that.”

Oracle: “Ugh, go to hell, Inari. Can you just come back here?”

Oracle: “Looks like we turn back when we leave the affected range. It’s not really a big deal.”

Panther: “It most certainly is a big deal! Explain what just happened to us!”

timrodresized: Okay so it’s called Furaffinity and…

Morgana: “So we’re nothing but rodents to him, huh? That’s irritating.”

Oracle: “I agree, but we need to be extra careful when we’re in mouse form. We won’t be able to open doors, and any enemy we try to fight in that state’ll beat us to a pulp.”

timrodresized: They nerf the sight lines on the enemies so hard that I think I only had one notice me once the entire time I did this recording run - and it doesn’t matter because triggering a cutscene (such as examining the Shido statue) makes the shadow disappear.

Queen: “So all we can do is hide? I guess we’ll have to change to a completely defensive strategy… I hope we can find a secret passage to get through there…”

timrodresized: Here’s what the rest of the party looks like as mice.

timrodresized: As a mouse, you can enter these small ducts that allow you to move between areas without opening doors.

timrodresized: Now, there’s a bit of an exploit to these areas - the party will turn back when in hallways, so if you attract an enemy’s attention as a mouse you can run into the hallway and fight. You can also ambush enemies who are in mouse rooms from outside.

]

timrodresized: At this point, the enemies kind of waver in and out of Insta-Kill range. Titania is an okay Nuke Persona in that she has Freidyne, Nuke Amp and Concentrate… but we’ve got Michael for that.

timrodresized: Most of the rest of this dungeon is going to be “Enter mouse room, hold down the Batman Vision button until you find a vent, enter the vent, repeat.”

Fox: “Hm, something moved… what was that button for?”

timrodresized: These pillars control all of the Shido statues in the area. Turning them off turns off all the mouse rooms.

timrodresized: We can then go back through that last big empty room to where we exited that first vent, and then open a door that goes to the next elevator… but first…

timrodresized: There’s a door in the big central room we couldn’t open before because we were mice.

timrodresized: Is it just me, or does that landing on the map leading to this room look like a dick?

timrodresized: And now we’ve got a crystal skull to collect all of Haru’s hopes and dreams in.

timrodresized: There’s also a room up in the corner that has a red shadow in it. We don’t need these, because we already fused the Persona from them.

timrodresized: Kali is annoying to fight due to having a large HP pool, no weaknesses, and nulling fire. You’re going to want to bring Makoto in for this one.

timrodresized: Or, you know, don’t. We don’t really need to. Alternatively, you can nuke her down to near-zero HP and use a Down Shot to get a negotiation.

timrodresized: Welcome to the pool area. This is the last one we’ll be doing for this update - the rest of the dungeon will be in the next one.

Panther: “Our target’s here, right? Some sort of former noble guy?”

Morgana: “Yeah. Let’s find him and get a hold of his letter of introduction!”

timrodresized: I’d have done some in-between shots of Joker running to this guy, but the pool area is a big empty rectangle. There’s a total of like, two or three shadows walking around… and that’s it.

Skull: “Uhhh… nice day today, huh? …Actually, m-maybe not. I-I wanna go swimming in the pool! Yeah! …It’s your turn, Panther.”

timrodresized: If they wanted to go for the whole “Oh, these are SPECIAL SHADOWS” bit, they should’ve done something to make the level design reflect that. Make the palace non-linear, and give each target their own mini-dungeon.

Panther: “What!? U-Um… h-hello there. We really would like to speak with you…”

Queen: “We won’t take much of your time. Will you listen?”

Noir: “Please, sir.”

Skull: “Hey, you little…!”

Queen: “No, we apologize for our lack of manners. Come on, Skull. We should leave.”

Queen: “To be fair, you walked up to him and said ‘Hey dude’. You need to approach him with more tact. Starting the conversation with a quarrel won’t get us anywhere.”

timrodresized: Let me ask you this. Why. We already know this is going to lead to a fight, and the developers had to know that this entire area was devoid of content. Why would they not just skip right to the inevitable fight when they know there’s fucking nothing in this room!?

Morgana: “Our approach doesn’t matter if he won’t listen to us. What are we supposed to do?”

Noir: “Let’s speak to the people around here. Perhaps we’ll learn more about that man’s temperament.”

Panther: “At the very least we might get some kind of hint.”

Skull: “I guess that’d be better than nothin’! Welp, askin’ for info it is!”

timrodresized: There’s one NPC we need to talk to, and it’s in the back by where you can barely see that shadow in the background.

Skull: “Heh heh heh… I’ve got the perfect plan!”

Morgana: “That laugh was scary…”

Skull: “Forget about that! Onward to the bar, you guys!”

timrodresized: Now, it’s obvious what his plan is, but just imagine if they’d done something more with it. Have this area be a thing where only women can enter, and the female party members are poofed into their swimsuits when they come in.

timrodresized: There’s a lot of ways you could go from there - you could play through it as just the female party members and fight the miniboss without Joker or have them find a way for Joker to get in.

timrodresized: Or shit, maybe even make the whole “We can make clones of people” thing feel like less of an ass-pull and make a clone to distract him while you forge a letter using his stationery or some shit.

timrodresized: The stupid part is, they actually simplified this area in Royal. It’s kind of hard to show without a shot from the base game.

timrodresized: Okay, so you see those pink doors at the back there? They’re right next to the “N” in “Flu Season”. Those are the doors to the dressing room, and they’re locked.

timrodresized: Now, if you’ll look over to the right a bit, you’ll notice a vent in the wall. In the base game, the vent was hidden under the stairs and was obscured by the stair supports.

timrodresized: It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that they didn’t fix this dungeon for Royal when it was really the one most in need of a rework.

Skull: “Hey, you guys rent out swimsuits, yeah? Give us some, ASAP!”

Panther: “You moron…! Come on, Skull, let’s get out of here! You too, Joker!”

Skull: “Naw, that was part of my plan! Over there’s the fittin’ room… I’m just gonna need your help findin’ a way in, Joker!”

Panther: “You’re seriously going for the fitting room? Come on, this feels like a criminal offense…”

Skull: “But we’re the Phantom Thieves! Just go with it… I got a plan! Hey, Joker, you wanna bust in here?”

timrodresized: I don’t know why it bothers asking us. There’s no fights in the dressing room.

Noir: “And more importantly, isn’t this a fitting room?”

Skull: “Just trust me! Wait here and I’ll be right back!”

timrodresized: I captured this shot too early to get the text to show up, but really, the empty text box works just as well.

Panther: “What’s he up to? I have a really bad feeling about this…”

Skull: “It’s perfect… hehehe! This’ll totally work!”

Queen: “Skull… you have quite a scary look on your face.”

Oracle: “Actually, it’s creepy.”

Skull: “Don’t worry 'bout that. C’mon, let’s head back to where that former… noble dude is!”

Morgana: “Well, there’s no way guys lounging by the pool would not check out girls in swimsuits.”

Futaba: “I wanna go home…”

Makoto: “Are we really going to do this?”

Makoto: “Um… no, but…”

Skull: “If you guys don’t hurry, he’s gonna go off somewhere!”

Haru: “Um, would you grant us a letter of introduction to Mr. Shido?”

timrodresized: You know what would have been good writing? If they subverted expectations by having the noble go “What the hell is this shit, do you really think I’m going to give you a letter of introduction just because you’re in bikinis… and whatever that thing Haru has on is that can’t decide if it wants to be a one piece or a two piece?” and then you fight him.

Haru: “A nobody?”

Makoto: “Yes, that may be true, but… well…”

Futaba: “We’re…”

timrodresized: This entire thing is voiced, and Ann’s Japanese VA speaks this out in heavily-accented English. The subtitles match what she’s saying - they didn’t change this part in the English dub.

Makoto: “Ann Windsor!?”

timrodresized: Or even better, have Makoto SMART GIRL it up and that’s why he fights you.

Ann: “My father is the descendant of British royalty.”

timrodresized: So uh, which one? You’re too old to be Prince William or Prince Harry’s daughter, and way too young to be anyone else’s.

Futaba: “Seriously!?”

Ann: “These girls are the daughters of my retainers.”

Makoto: “Oh, yes. Lady Ann treats us quite well.”

Ann: “I am.”

timrodresized: Ahh yes, the well-known half-Japanese side of the British royal family.

Ann: “…People tend to have such misconceptions, but that isn’t true. My hobbies include tea ceremonies. Then again, my father forced me to learn that art.”

Haru: “Servants?”

Ann: “You’re absolutely correct. I do feel a little sorry for these girls.”

Futaba: “For real!?”

timrodresized: It also would’ve been good writing if at the end of all this, the noble gives her the letter and goes “By the way, Princess Ann, what happened to speaking English?” and just kinda laughs her away, since she stops even trying to speak English after saying her name.

Ann: “By the by, about the letter of introduction… if you’d be so generous to grant me one, I’ll consider introducing you to my father.”

Ann: “Thank you kindly.”

Ann: “Oh no…”

Ann: “Hey, um…”

Ann: “Excuse me?”

Ann: “Would you kindly stop this?”

timrodresized: An Ann chooses, a slave obeys.

Ann: “Now that I’m done using you - get away, you creep! This guy’s a molester!”

timrodresized: Okay, so now I have questions. Clearly, they had to take their thief outfits off to put on the swimsuits… so why did they turn back into their thief suits? Did their original clothes warp to them magical girl style, or did they get duplicated? Is half the party going to be in swimsuits when they leave?

Skull: “Uh, it’s your fault for falling for such bad acting…”

Panther: “Oh shuddup! We’re doing this!”

timrodresized: Oh look, it’s Forneus.

timrodresized: Forneus retains his lightning weakness from Nocturne, though this fight gets a little interesting in the middle.

timrodresized: He manages to brainwash Haru, who then casts a reflect on him. While I could easily just have taken the hit (since I think all of Joker’s Personas null or repel their primary element) I just said fuck it and went guns.

Panther: “Only three more left! Were you asking Shido for mental shutdowns too?”

timrodresized: We went through all of that bullshit, and he doesn’t even have anything to do with the plot! He had some people killed off-screen… or maybe he didn’t. We don’t even know if Shido granted his request.

Fox: “I see… so this system of introductions is taking place in reality as well.”

Queen: “So he’s screening potential associates to find wealthy people who won’t betray him…”

Morgana: “And that’s why the passengers are wearing masks. He isn’t deceived by people’s outward appearances.”

timrodresized: Fuck you, Hashino! Stop explaining the goddamn visual design choices that I can already see! I have fucking eyes! Fuck!

Fox: “In any case, Ann… your acting skills have developed quite strongly since our nude incident.”

Panther: “Stop bringing that up!”

Shido: “I hope you remember the conditions for our arrangement. Support me as best you can, understood?”

Shido: “I’ll have you step down if I catch wind of any slack on your end. Are we clear?”

Shido: “…Good.”

timrodresized: Why is this here? Seriously, why is this here? We already know Shido uses people and only really gives a shit about them as long as they’re useful to him. We also already know he’s willing to kill them when he’s done with them. There’s no new information here.

Panther: “Let’s see… one of them is apparently at the slots, and the other doesn’t leave his room? Well, the map says there’s an entertainment hall up ahead. Maybe the slots are there?”

Fox: “Seeing for ourselves will likely be the quickest way to find out. Let us proceed onward.”

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll do the rest of Shido’s palace. We’ll also fuse Lucifer.

The link to Tokyo Daylight isn’t a link, just an image. Also, Ark is pretty good; I think it might be my favorite dungeon theme.

Based on some incidental dialogue in the game and certain aspects of where the ‘story’ seemed to be ‘progressing’, I had suspected the final Palace was going to be Tokyo – like, the entirety of Tokyo only distorted or something like that. The fact that the Shido’s Palace’s theme is a remix of the overworld theme suggests that might be what they originally intended, but they scaled it back because, as observed elsewhere, making assets is hard and expensive.

Yusuke…he’s not real. And Futaba’s pyramid wasn’t real either.

(After reading for 5 more minutes) Or is he real???

But they already do??? The Palace rulers are already people that turn into monsters??? Also does that mean that was the actual Ooe??? Or his…Shadow…like if we killed Orochi harder we would have killed him?

No no, descended from British royalty. In the Attila the Hun sense.

Legends say if Forneus ever meets Decarabia, the world will end. End even harder than usual, I mean.

Just fixed that. Thanks for pointing it out!

My best guess is that those lines are like the one about the cognitive Akechi in Sae’s palace that doesn’t exist. They’re from an earlier draft of the plot and never got removed.

Click Here for Update 95

timrodresized: Welcome to the second update of cutscene hell. This update has a shitload of pointless dialog and minibosses we kill in a single turn. I’d recommend you skim it for context, but not read the entire thing.

timrodresized: Joker makes a mental note to scold Yusuke for running like Naruto.

Queen: “I guess that means there’s a Shido statue here too. How troublesome.”

Fox: “Hm… my ad-mice would be to pro-squeak cautiously.”

Oracle: “…”

Fox: “Navi, my ad-mice would be-”

Noir: “I believe she heard you the first time. Anyway, can we focus on the task at hand?”

Fox: “Cheese… more cheese… is there any more cheese left!?”

Panther: “We knew it was a trap but we walked right in anyway… aaaaand it doesn’t open from the inside.”

Oracle: “So, did the little meese enjoy their feast?”

timrodresized: Wait, how did Futaba get in there to open the door? If she can just float over the floor to not be a mouse, why doesn’t she just turn the damn things off? Actually, given what we’re about to run into, it would’ve made a lot of sense to have a thing where if all the enemies on the floor are dead, Futaba can just fly over and hit the switch for you.

Skull: “But jeez, who knew cheese could hypnotize? I seriously had no control…”

Fox: “Indeed, nobody was able to stop themselves… it was simply too delectable. I must say though, the sight of all seven of us gorging ourselves, as mice, on a single piece of cheese… what a spectacle.”

Queen: “But, was that cheese… even safe to eat?”

Morgana: “I don’t think we have to worry about that, at least - I didn’t sense any danger from it.”

Noir: “I actually feel somewhat refreshed having eaten that.”

Morgana: “Hmm… then I vote that we have ourselves a nibble of we spot any more cheese! Now that we’re fed, let’s get moving!”

timrodresized: I didn’t bother to check, but I think the cheese restores HP and SP. It’s mostly useful if you get spotted as a mouse, because it counts as a cutscene and will break pursuit.

timrodresized: The hallway immediately after the cutscene is probably the most dangerous one, because you have two shadows that patrol the hallway. That door on the underside is locked and has to be opened from the far side.

timrodresized: Dakini and Barong start showing up here, and I grab Barong so I can make Shiva later.

timrodresized: More importantly, there’s a new treasure demon. Emperor’s Amulet is actually the Talisman of Charlemagne, a sapphire necklace that supposedly contained pieces of the True Cross and one of Mary’s hairs.

timrodresized: Anyway, this area sucks.

timrodresized: The entire floor consists of turning the mouse statues on…

timrodresized: Then using the mouse to bypass locked doors…

timrodresized: And then opening those doors from the other side before going all the way back to the switch. The whole thing feels like busy work in lieu of actual level design.

timrodresized: You can encounter Narcissus here, but we don’t because we’re level 70 at this point and almost every shadow in the dungeon is within insta-kill range.

timrodresized: There’s a locked chest with a sword for Yusuke in it that I only bother to grab because we don’t unlock his best melee weapon until after the last day.

Fox: “Hm!? Look.”

timrodresized: These paramilitary shadows replace the regular humanoid ones for the rest of the dungeon. They do shoot at you if you get spotted, but it doesn’t have any effect.

Oracle: “That seems to be a Shadow too. Be careful, guys.”

Skull: “He looks way tougher than the other ones… you think they’re tightenin’ security?”

Morgana: “It wouldn’t be surprising. We’ve taken down two targets, after all. Let’s proceed forward cautiously.”

timrodresized: We basically have to go past this shadow to get to the next area. It’s two Forneus. They die in a single hit each.

timrodresized: One thing I forgot to mention is that with the best armor in the game, enemies can barely hurt the party. While we’re ending most fights without ever taking a hit, we’ll see one with the next miniboss.

timrodresized: SP recovery items are always welcome. This area is mostly big and empty just like the other ones were. Let’s just skip to the door that leads to progress.

Oracle: “He looks super dangerous! I don’t wanna get involved, even if he’s just some old cognitive thing!”

Morgana: “Eep…! W-We’re totally not making a mess, we swear! Who are you anyway!?”

Skull: “Salt water!? Does that mean… whoa, hold on a sec!”

timrodresized: Ryuji’s having a goddamn Jimmy Neutron brain blast.

timrodresized: We ‘fight’ this dipshit four times. The first time is two Baphomets. The second time is three. The third time is four. The fourth time… is actually fighting him.

timrodresized: Sraosha fills on on Bless duty since I don’t have Uriel and we can’t make Metatron yet.

timrodresized: Yusuke, we just slaughtered them in a single turn. If I had Metatron, that Makougaon probably would’ve done the job by itself.

Skull: “That wasn’t funny, dammit! They were totally tryin’ to kill us!”

Noir: “Maybe because we caused a scene at both the restaurant and the pool. Somebody has to clean up the mess. Wait a second… ‘clean up the mess’?”

Oracle: “Ohhh, that’s why they call him the ‘cleaner’! It’s 'cause he mops up any trouble that shows its face! That should make him pretty easy to find though. We just gotta disturb the peace somehow.”

timrodresized: Futaba’s too young for it, but I’m picturing her eyes lighting up at the thought of a real-life reenactment of those Second Life raids 4chan used to do where they’d have a guy dressed as Mario jumping around and dumping so many particle effects that it’d crash entire blocks of the game.

Queen: “But doing so would have an adverse effect on us finding the other letters of introduction. Let’s leave him for last and hurry over to the other two first.”

timrodresized: I mean, that’d be non-linear dungeon design! We can’t have that!

Fox: “In that case, our next target should be the TV station president in the entertainment hall ahead.”

Oracle: “Let’s go, Joker.”

timrodresized: Oh look, a big empty room full of nothing but re-used assets. I suppose in the base game you could kind of understand this, because they pretty clearly shoved the base game out the door before it was ready due to the repeated delays becoming a joke on Twitter.

timrodresized: You’d think in a full-price re-release that they’d be able to go back and fix this shit. Maybe remove some of the more pointless areas, or fix the ones that were there to be less big and empty… but we all know what Atlus’s slogan is. Can’t be helped.

timrodresized: Here’s the best part. You see that staircase in the corner? This area is two floors! It’s two floors and the first floor is just a big empty room with a single shadow in it! Fuck!

timrodresized: Once we go down the stairs, we find… another big empty hallway. See that doorway on the right side of the minimap? Guess where that goes?

timrodresized: If you answered “Yet another big empty room that has two floors for no apparent reason”, congratulations. You are now qualified for a job as Atlus’s level designer.

Fox: “Then the slot-loving TV station president should be here. Let us search the area for him.”

timrodresized: There’s NPCs we can talk to around here, but other than that, it’s a big featureless void.

timrodresized: King Frost shows up here, and even though he’s not weak to Fire (he doesn’t have a weakness at all, actually) we can still kill him in a single hit with Mada.

timrodresized: “Whoa there, Joker! We can’t have you skipping minibosses and maybe doing them on the way back! What do you think this is, Persona 1?”

timrodresized: The dumb part is that you basically have to pass by this door to get to where the next miniboss is.

Oracle: “Maybe we’ll find that TV station prez we heard about in here.”

Noir: “In that case, why don’t we try searching for him?”

Oracle: “This place isn’t too big, so spotting him should be easy. Be careful if you find him though!”

Panther: “He’s the president of a TV station, isn’t he?”

Queen: “He gives letters of introduction to executives of companies who are willing to sponsor his programs. That’s a difficult condition to meet…”

Skull: “Wanna just beat it outta him?”

timrodresized: We could, but then where would we get dozens of textboxes of pointless exposition from?

Noir: “Let me handle this.”

Skull: “For real? But…”

Morgana: “I’ll allow it. You’ve got this, Noir.”

Noir: “Yes, Senpai!”

Noir: “I am Haru Okumura, daughter of the president of Okumura Foods. I believe we sponsored you as well.”

timrodresized: I thought the whole idea was that you had to use the codenames and… you know what, forget it. This is a Hashino plot. Why do I even bother asking questions.

Noir: “Cut off…”

timrodresized: I can’t tell if this is just Hashino being on his bullshit again or if all this repetitive dialog about shit both we and the characters know already is from an earlier draft of the plot they never bothered to edit.

timrodresized: I mean, if you assume that line about the cognitive Akechi in Sae’s palace is true, I could see an earlier draft of the plot where the party doesn’t know that the real Akechi is the one doing the murders, and to them it appears that someone has instead been implanting fake Akechis into people’s brains who then kill them.

Noir: “…Won’t you please give me a letter of recommendation? Once our company recovers, I will arrange for us to cooperate with you in a sponsorship role.”

Noir: “Thank you… very much…”

Noir: “…Stop it.”

timrodresized: We’ve got a fight against a Hanuman and two Jatayu.

timrodresized: Satan knocks down Hanuman and freezes both of the Jatayu.

timrodresized: The Hanuman gets exactly one attack off before Haru grinds him into paste, and it does around 20 damage.

Noir: “I assume as part of the media, you have knowledge about quite a few important topics. We will not take your life, as long as you share the knowledge that you’ve kept from the public.”

timrodresized: I wasn’t really reading this when I first ran through it, and now I’m just as confused as some of you as to what the fucking deal is here. Is this actually the TV executive’s shadow?

timrodresized: Honestly, it doesn’t matter. None of this dungeon matters. They could have cut all of it apart from the boss fight we’ll run into before we leave and it would have been exactly the same.

timrodresized: This is Hashino’s feeble attempt to make Kaneshiro relevant.

Queen: “Shido and Kaneshiro were connected?”

Fox: “I understand now…”

Skull: “Hey, you were forcin’ the news to be about Shido and Akechi all the time, right? I’m sick of ‘em! …Wait, this guy’s not a real person. Tellin’ him ain’t gonna do shit for us.”

Noir: “Come on, we have to take down Shido himself!”

Akechi: “Oh, certainly not to this extent… but it is important to note that he was the mastermind behind the recent commotion. Getting captured must have wounded his pride irreparably. Such things happen often to insurgent leaders.”

Akechi: “May I butt in for a second?”

Akechi: “The Phantom Thieves may have laid low since then… but they must not be excused! I don’t care if they come after me! For the victims of their evil deeds, and for their families…”

Akechi: “…My apologies. I didn’t mean to get so worked up.”

Akechi: “I will do the best I can. …Oh, but I do have to study for my college entrance exams. I might not be able to promise that…”

Akechi: “I wanted people to rely on me… I wanted to be needed… I devoted myself to my studies, acted as an honor student, and made my name as an ace detective. And thanks to the Nav app and the Persona bestowed upon me by the gods…”

Akechi: “I managed to dispose of any who got in my way. Though it took some time to finally do so… all that remains is to tell him.”

Akechi: “True… it did make me feel somewhat dizzy… just a little though. Perhaps my mind was worked up due to the major task I had undertaken…”

timrodresized: Someone’s phone goes off in the background.

Akechi: “…A phone?”

Akechi: “A-Ah, sorry about that. I’m not bothered. Just make sure to turn it off when you go to the movies!”

timrodresized: Just a lot of blank hallways, really.

Oracle: “We’re leaving the cleaner for last, so we just got that IT president guy left.”

Queen: “We don’t have any clues about him yet though… either way, let’s proceed onward. We still haven’t gotten a full grasp of this ship’s layout.”

timrodresized: We can now go through that door Futaba complained at us for trying to go through earlier. Guess what? It’s another big, empty hallway!

timrodresized: We’re going to take this bottom-left door first, because the second will seed is here… but also because we need to go this way to turn on the mouse statues.

timrodresized: This is yet another mouse-door puzzle.

timrodresized: Now that we have the statues on, we can go through this duct to get back to the big empty main room.

timrodresized: We can then use this duct to bypass the locked door to the next area.

timrodresized: There’s a second statue switch here (it’s the checkmark on the minimap) and we can unlock this door to make a shortcut… but there’s little reason to do so, given that the only time we have to backtrack in this dungeon it’s to a spot that’s right next to a save room.

timrodresized: And… another hallway. Clearly the level designers were taking from the Turok 2 school of level design.

Skull: “Wait, you’re the one who attacked us, remember!?”

timrodresized: We can kill two Baphomets in a single turn, so killing three isn’t exactly a huge challenge.

Fox: “We caused no trouble whatsoever, yet were met with the same end result…”

timrodresized: I found out earlier today that there is a private server for SMT Imagine, and I gave it a shot. It’s not something I can LP because it doesn’t work with OBS.

Skull: “And on top of that, he up and disappeared again!”

timrodresized: It’s a very interesting game and by interesting I mean kinda questionably designed. It was originally an F2P MMO with a cash shop, but that’s all been stripped out by the private server operators.

timrodresized: It uses a lot of elements from SMT 1 - most of the music is taken from SMT 1’s soundtrack, and it more or less takes place in an alternate version of the post-apocalypse in SMT 1.

timrodresized: The start kinda sucks because you’re at the mercy of the AI that controls your demon. Sometimes it works, and other times you watch your starting Cerberus get pummeled to death by a Pixie. This continues to happen later in the game because most of the time you either specialize in physical or gun attacks and things can null those. Even magic users usually only take one kind of magic.

timrodresized: It’s also only partially translated, since the Japanese version went about two years beyond where the English one did before being shut down in 2016.

Queen: “We should ignore him if our actions have no actual impact on the results. For now, let’s focus on searching for the IT company president. I hope there are clues somewhere…”

timrodresized: Yes, ignoring Hashino is generally a good idea.

timrodresized: Yep, it’s another rat maze.

timrodresized: Oberon shows up here, but dies quickly to… well, everything.

timrodresized: At the end of the rat maze is another elevator. This is the one time we need to backtrack.

Queen: “And without any particularly useful information about the IT company president…”

Oracle: “He almost never leaves his room! Nobody’s even seen him around!”

timrodresized: In case you’re wondering if there’s any NPCs or anything in the maze, the answer is no. They haven’t asked anyone about the IT guy.

Fox: “Hm. If he ‘almost never’ leaves, does that mean there are times that he does in fact leave?”

Oracle: “Wouldn’t he have to head out to go to the bathroom? That’s how it was for me in my room!”

Noir: “But there are restrooms in the rooms here… what about meals?”

Oracle: “Just one call and food gets delivered to your room.”

Queen: “I think you’re right. Though this place is just a cognition, it has restaurants and bars as well. If the IT company president never leaves his room, somebody must be delivering the food to him.”

Panther: “Ohhh, so you think we should get info at the restaurants too! Nice idea, Joker! Oh, and Queen!”

timrodresized: We now need to head back to the restaurant we fought Ooe in.

Noir: “Um, is it possible to have meals delivered to my room?”

timrodresized: “Ah, you mean room service. You absolute fucking moron.”

Panther: “Aha! So, is there one room in particular that always orders food delivery?”

timrodresized: So wait, one thing I never thought of - is the waiter some kind of VIP as well? Like, he’s the best waiter in Japan or something? That’s about the only way I can imagine a waiter giving enough of a shit to check a boarding pass.

Queen: “O-Oh um, we’ve been asked to make a delivery. It’s to the president of an IT company, I believe.”

timrodresized: Hold on. Wasn’t this guy here when we turned Ooe into a fine red mist? How could he possibly mistake the party for a delivery service?

Queen: “He apparently never leaves his room, but Mr. Shido has given us direct orders about this… now then, this is a highly confidential matter, so we must take it to him ourselves.”

timrodresized: And another thing. Is this waiter a super shadow as well? Like, does he have deeply-held regrets about fucking up people’s orders on purpose or something? I have so many questions.

Morgana: “Well done, Queen! Just as I’d expect from you!”

Noir: “Isn’t this pretty close? I suppose it’s just upstairs.”

Fox: “It seems to be above the side deck we passed through earlier. Is there a way up somewhere?”

Oracle: “Honestly, guys, I doubt this is gonna be any use. If it were me, I’d never open the door.”

Panther: “Well, that’s no good! What are we gonna do!?”

Morgana: “If only there was a way in besides through the door…”

Panther: “In any case, should we head back to the side deck? Not that we’ll be able to get in from there…”

timrodresized: We need to go back to where we encountered the yakuza guy. The fastest way to do this is to use the save room in the first area to warp to the one there. From there, we take a left instead of a right.

Oracle: “I mean, we ARE phantom thieves. We can use places that normal guests don’t have access to.”

timrodresized: We could go this way, but instead we actually want to turn around because there’s a platform on the other side.

timrodresized: I’m also not sure why this boat has these random platforms jutting out from the side with eight foot gaps between them. What purpose do they serve? This is fucking level design 101 shit.

timrodresized: This area is just a hallway leading to the third will seed room.

Morgana: “I’m getting that feeling again - that’s a you-know-what all right. We’re in for a tough battle first, though. You ready?”

timrodresized: This is a fight that’s more annoying than actually dangerous. Kali has the same MO that Girimehkala did - she uses Wage War to berserk the party… except she doesn’t repel physical, so that’s kind of a pointless exercise that only makes the fight take longer.

timrodresized: Eventually the entire party is berserk. This might be more annoying if Ann and Haru didn’t already have their best melee weapons.

timrodresized: Futaba gives the party a free Concentrate, and between Satan and Haru, Kali’s fucked.

Noir: “Whew… thank goodness we didn’t get you-know-what’d.”

Morgana: “Yeah! And now that the path’s clear, let’s grab that you-know-what!”

timrodresized: Should be enough to get us into Xibalba.

timrodresized: Anyway, we can hit the left side now to get to where the next miniboss is. You can drop right down from the will seed area to get here.

Oracle: “I’m gonna go!”

Noir: “By yourself?”

timrodresized: You know, if they were going to do this whole “There’s five targets and each one corresponds to one of the party members” bit they could have at least designed the fucking level around that.

Oracle: “He’ll be on guard if we all go together… plus, it’s IT stuff! This is my time to shine!”

Queen: “Should we leave it to her?”

Oracle: “It’s been left to me! It’s like that show where the kid goes shopping alone for the first time. Hehe, this is gonna be tough.”

Skull: “She’s feelin’ good enough to joke around, so maybe this’ll be fine after all?”

Panther: “Just yell if things get dangerous, okay?”

Oracle: “W-Well the door’s locked and you weren’t answering! How else am I supposed to get in here? Oh, but I get how you feel! There’s totes nothing better than relaxing in your own room!”

timrodresized: I imagine he’s saying that because those women standing behind him are a lot like the ship - they don’t actually exist.

Oracle: “You’re an IT guy, right? I can tell we talk the same language!”

Oracle: “Hehehe… this little guy caught your attention, huh? I made it myself!”

timrodresized: Add laptops to the pile of things Hashino doesn’t understand. While it’s theoretically possible to build a laptop from scratch, most places don’t sell components because the prebuild market is so lucrative.

Oracle: “Wanna see the benchmarks? It can pump out some awesome numbers. Although normally I just use this one as a sub-processor when I’m hacking into a tough system.”

Oracle: “Hehehe… ever heard of Medjed?”

Oracle: “Try not to be surprised by this. Actually, be surprised. I am Medjed! I’m the one who took down the fake!”

Oracle: “Don’t believe me, huh? Here, this is proof.”

timrodresized: Can we just hurry up and get to the fight already?

Oracle: “If you want my skills, I’ll need a letter of introduction.”

Oracle: “Huh? Y-You prepared it?”

Oracle: “Because I’m a Phant- I-It was just because I couldn’t forgive someone using the Medjed name without my permission. So, why’d you send Medjed after the Phantom Thieves?”

Oracle: “That’s why…?”

timrodresized: God dammit, game! We already know this shit! Fuck!

Oracle: “You little…”

Oracle: “…What a third-rate fool. Not only are your skills third-rate, but you stink worse than a third-rate person. Don’t treat me like we’re equals. I’m gonna reform society!”

Oracle: “That’s right! It’s because I’m a member of the Phantom Thieves! Picking on the weak and calling that innovative? Looks like I just gotta ban the guy at the root of all this… Shido!”

Oracle: “Now, you’re gonna give me that letter of introduction!”

Oracle: “H-How about a computer competition for it!?”

timrodresized: Here’s what I hate about that last line. There was an interview I read years ago with one of the producers for NCIS, because I think they had done an episode involving video games and it had a bunch of shit in it that was obviously wrong to anyone who knew anything about the subject.

timrodresized: The producer was like “Yeah we have to dumb down the nerd shit because our audience is like 60 years old and doesn’t understand any of that.” That’s what it feels like Hashino is doing, even though he knows (or should know) that his audience is much younger and much more tech-literate.

timrodresized: Seriously though, ‘computer competition’? Where the fuck did he come up with that? What would that even be?

Oracle: “G-Guys!”

Morgana: “Well, now that we know he has one, this should be the easiest way to get it!”

timrodresized: If you’re wondering why Haru has 1 HP, it’s because the Oberon managed to hit her with Hama.

Oracle: “Making that fake Medjed wasn’t the only bad thing you did, right? I want to hear your biggest secret.”

Morgana: “Shido… what the hell was he researching?”

Oracle: “No matter what it was, we won’t let him abuse it!”

Shido: “We’ve only made it this far thanks to you.”

Akechi: “I’m honored to hear that.”

Shido: “Now then… I have a favor to ask of you.”

Akechi: “What might that be?”

Shido: “It’s about the loyal customers of our mental shutdown business. How about you dispose of all the ones you think suspicious?”

Akechi: “Right at this moment? But the election is coming up soon.”

Shido: “Correct. The earlier the better.”

Akechi: “Why so suddenly? Did something happen?”

Shido: “Nothing in particular. But if something were to happen, it would already be too late.”

Akechi: “I can understand why you might be nervous, but why not stay calm and hold off until after the election?”

Shido: “I’d like to take out all of the trash before my inauguration as prime minister of this nation. For the sake of absolute victory, I need all roots of anxiety to be pulled as soon as possible.”

timrodresized: I’d like to talk about this conversation as well. This is fucking nothing dialog. Let’s just look at what they’re actually saying. You have Shido telling Akechi to kill all the people in his shadowy cabal, and then an exchange of “Why?” “Because.” that repeats three times in slightly different language.

Akechi: “Anxiety? You’ve never mentioned such things before now. Um… Shido-san?”

Shido: “Just do as I ask. I’ll be counting on you.”

Akechi: “…This is all too sudden. Could it be…?”

timrodresized: Yes, we’re going to fight Akechi again. I’m going to save that for the next update because I have a lot to say about it and it’s very long.

Skull: “Just that cleaner dude left then. Wanna go cause a scene somewhere and lure him out?”

Queen: “As I’ve already said, we should avoid doing that if we can.”

Noir: “But we’ve gone everywhere on the map. Is there any place we haven’t checked yet?”

Fox: “Hm? I don’t recall passing by such a place.”

Queen: “Wait, I found something… the engine room. Remember how you were wondering about that smoke earlier, Skull?”

Skull: “Oh yeah… where was that?”

timrodresized: It’s right by where we jumped up to go to the IT guy’s room.

Oracle: “I’m getting a reading from inside, but I can’t tell if it’s him.”

Skull: “Huh? We ain’t gonna be able to get in like this. You wanna try forcin’ it open, Joker?”

Fox: “But his men are with him too. Exiting here will land us directly in front of them. There will be no chance of escape at that point. What should we do, Joker?”

Fox: “Very well. We shall jump in!”

Panther: “Crap, this guy might be just a cognition, but he’s damn scary!”

Skull: “Again? This better be the last time!”

timrodresized: Oh no, four Baphomets. Whatever will we do? I also find it weird that they do the miniboss thing of not identifying the demon even if you have them in the compendium.

Skull: “Dammit, we’re not lettin’ him escape! Let’s take that letter by force if we gotta!”

timrodresized: Naturally, they have to throw one more vent at you. You know, for old times sake.

timrodresized: Joker throws his coat to the ground and tears his vest off, revealing a tattoo of a fox on his back. “The Boyfriend Clan.”

Skull: “…Clan? Does he mean like, yakuza clan?”

Oracle: “Wait, does he ‘clean up’ problems by making people disappear?”

Panther: “Crap… is he really yakuza?”

timrodresized: How did it take you all this long to figure that out!?

Fox: “It seems that bastard Shido has close ties to the underground…”

Queen: “How are we supposed to get the letter of introduction from him? Do we have to prove our worth?”

Queen: “As I expected…”

Panther: “Umm… actually, we’re here to suggest a tattoo design for you.”

Panther: “Th-This guy is great at drawing… h-he’s an artist!”

timrodresized: Yusuke’s ink can only truly shine when on the skin of a boyfriend. This guy is probably single.

Panther: “I thought you’d be able to do it, Yusuke…”

Skull: “Yusuke, draw something! Art’s art, ain’t it!?”

timrodresized: Codenames?

Fox: “…Very well. May I at least decide what I draw?”

Fox: “A phoenix… I’d rather something else…”

timrodresized: Yusuke’s secret boyfriend yakuza tattoo is a phoenix, that’s why.

Fox: “I am not all talk. I can draw anything you want. Bring me a brush and a piece of paper.”

Panther: “Is it a monster? It has some kinda crazy aura…”

Noir: “A truly… explosive piece…”

Fox: “This is my perception of a phoenix.”

Morgana: “There’s no way this is gonna work…”

Fox: “Thank you.”

Queen: “It seems like… it went well?”

Fox: “Well then, I request a letter of introduction.”

Morgana: “He wants to recruit you!?”

timrodresized: Yusuke could, you know, just say yes because this is a construct and doesn’t exist outside of Shido’s brain.

Fox: “I decline.”

Fox: “I must decide my own path as an artist. I will not receive aid from others any longer. Now if you understand, hand over the letter. Otherwise we’ll have to take it by force. By the way, you’re more feral pigeon than phoenix.”

timrodresized: Yeah I mean, who could possibly think that a lengthy cutscene could be enough to resolve this dumb shit?

timrodresized: We start this fight in the normal way - charge/concentrate and then thermopylae.

timrodresized: You saw that correctly. He hit Yusuke for a whopping 9 damage.

Fox: “You’re letting us go?”

Fox: “That was an unexpected response for a cognitive creation…”

timrodresized: So wait, was the yakuza guy not a super-shadow? What about the IT guy? Make up your fucking mind, Hashino!

Noir: “Politicians never get too close to their shady connections. They must have only been linked monetarily.”

Morgana: “That must be it.”

Panther: “Well, we finally have all five. We need to use these to get into the main assembly hall, right?”

Noir: “Yes, and I believe that will be where we find the Treasure. We’ve been to most other places to gather the letters - there’s almost no doubt about it.”

Skull: “We’re gonna take his Treasure, no matter what!”

Queen: “As I’m sure you all know, the importance of this particular card is unlike any that’s come before. Once we send it, our opponents will know that Joker, who they presumed dead, is in fact alive. We will be putting our backs to the wall.”

timrodresized: SMART GIRL.

Fox: “If we lose, our lives will truly be over.”

Noir: “We can’t let that happen, can we!?”

Skull: “Hell yeah!”

Morgana: “Then it’s decided.”

Queen: “The real question is, how and where do we send the calling card?”

Panther: “How about we make it super flashy? Our whole big plan was all for this moment, you know!”

Fox: “Actually, it must be theatrically done. A minor leak will only be crushed by Shido’s influence.”

Noir: “Maybe it doesn’t have to be in letter form this time.”

Oracle: “Hehe… it’s finally my turn to steal the spotlight.”

Queen: “…What’s the matter?”

Oracle: “Heeheehee… it’s nothing.”

timrodresized: Next time, we fight Akechi. We’ll also fuse Metatron and Lucifer, then fight Shido. We’ll also get to one of the best songs in the game.

Some housekeeping I caught. During Haru’s conversation with the Shadow TV President, there’s a double of him saying “Hm? That’s just business.” There’s another double the second time the cleaner appears, right after Ryuji “Wait, you’re the one who attacked us, remember!?” (that’s text, so you can Ctrl+F it)

And last, this…

I assume is supposed to be Yusuke.

Me (whenever someone asks me a question): None of these people know that I read screenshot LPs of SMT games.

Thanks. That was one of those updates I struggled to get through because of how awful that entire dungeon is. I just want to get to the part where Shido attacks Joker with Diamond Dust and does 16 damage.

I feel like we just glimpsed the Berenstein Bears universe in which the party members have much better banter with one another.

I’d ask Haru why she doesn’t just offer to join Shido as the real Medjed (What’s the shadow going to do? Tell people in the real world she lied?) but she’s probably the one with the best excuse for not being able to come up with something good.

Also it’s a good thing for Akechi this is an RPG and jumping six people with guns, a cat, and someone in a UFO won’t have any consequences.

Click Here for Update 96

timrodresized: It’s time. Immediately after this fight, we will finally have Lucifer. Shido is going to be a joke even without him, but with him…

Skull: “You!?”

Oracle: “Why’s he here!?”

Crow: “Hmph… I’m impressed that you managed to deceive me. It seems I underestimated your abilities. You truly are interesting… quiet, yet possessing the courage and determination to take action.”

Crow: “Under different circumstances, we could have been great rivals… or perhaps even friends.”

timrodresized: This scene was mostly unchanged from the base game, but the writers for Royal misunderstood the relationship between Joker and Akechi - I’m guessing this was on purpose due to Akechi consistently winning popularity polls in Japan, particularly among shippers.

timrodresized: We’ll talk about that a little later.

Crow: “You don’t allow yourself to be enslaved by such things as human relations or past selves… and so, your heart is always free. The exact opposite of mine. To be honest, I’m envious… I wonder why we couldn’t have met a few years earlier, Akira…”

Panther: “Akechi…”

Crow: “But… it’s no use talking in hypotheticals. That didn’t happen in reality…”

Queen: “Don’t you see what this Palace looks like!? His true nature is-”

timrodresized: By the way, almost all of the shots in this scene either pan in one direction or zoom in, and I actually sat here for a few minutes just to see if it would eventually do something stupid. It doesn’t. This is about as far as it goes.

Crow: “Cooperating…? What are you talking about? I don’t care for Shido, or this country.”

timrodresized: Remember when I said I hate Akechi because he’s a ripoff of Reiji from Persona 1? This is why. He’s got the exact same background, the exact same motive, the only difference is that he’s a friendless loser and Reiji isn’t. No really, that’s the entire reason we’re going to beat Akechi. I’m not joking.

Fox: “Shido is your father!?”

Crow: “Remember I said before, how my mother had been in a relationship with some good-for-nothing man? So I’m his bastard child. My very existence is nothing but a scandal…”

Crow: “My mother’s life turned for the worst after she had me… and died. I was a cursed child for her too.”

timrodresized: This shot zooms in, and I wanted to see how far it’d go. The answer is this far - it’ll zoom in just a bit more and then snap back out to here to keep the illusion that it’s still going.

Crow: “I resented him, but he was already a high-ranking official by then. A kid like me could do nothing. But… that’s when it happened!”

timrodresized: Akechi is fucking loving this shit. Also, I don’t think there’s ever been a time where the portrait reflects what the model is doing less than this particular shot.

timrodresized: Man’s just having a time.

Skull: “You son of a…”

Crow: “Who cares? My targets were all doing the same damn thing in this eat or be eaten world. All I did was remove their evil from society. How is that any different than the Phantom Thieves?”

Panther: “We’re not murderers!”

Crow: “So what!? Masayoshi Shido is finally within my grasp! Once he reaches the apex of his power and acknowledges me, I’m going to whisper in his ear… I will tell him the truth of who I really am!”

Crow: “And that’s when I - an utter disgrace to the world - will rule over him. I will prevail!”

Fox: “What a warped thought… it’s almost pitiable.”

Crow: “In just a few weeks, my plan would have come to fruition… but no, you just had to interfere! I can still take it back though. I’ll just need to kill you all.”

timrodresized: I don’t even get what his plan was. He was going to tell Shido that he’s his illegitimate son… and then what? Why would he not just do what he did to Okumura and sneak in to kill Shido’s shadow after the party takes him down?

Morgana: “Hmph, we won’t get killed for something like that. You talk big, but you’re really nothing more than a little kid throwing a temper tantrum!”

Crow: “Don’t lecture me, you piece of shit… I am going to personally thrust Masayoshi Shido into a living hell. So, Joker… rest easy and die.”

Crow: “…Yes. I’ll do it better than you could ever imagine. That is, once I get rid of you.”

timrodresized: If Akechi had been like this for the entire game, I’d have liked him a lot more.

Skull: “You sure sound confident, but don’t go pressin’ your luck. We already know all your tricks from back when you were workin’ with us.”

Crow: “Joker… how could you be so successful while having such an idiot as your partner?”

Skull: “Huh!? Quit bluffin’!”

Queen: "It’s no bluff. If he truly is behind the mental shutdowns, he’s likely only shown us a fraction of his strength.

Crow: chuckle “I’ll tell you all about my true power… while you die. You can take that knowledge with you to the grave.”

Crow: “The mental shutdowns aren’t the only incidents people are talking about.”

Crow: “Those cannot be explained unless the true culprit has the power to make people’s hearts psychotic… snicker That’s right! It’s my power - one that you don’t have!”

timrodresized: I think this is something that mattered more in an earlier draft of the script, where there was an actual difference between the ‘mental shutdowns’ and ‘psychotic breakdowns’. In the final script for the base game they’re essentially the same thing.

Oracle: “He’s gonna try something…!”

Crow: “Allow me to show you!”

timrodresized: This doesn’t do anything, it just makes the Cu Chulainn and Cerberus black and red.

timrodresized: This fight was also unchanged from the base game, and I feel like they could’ve done something really interesting with it. Maybe you’d have two separate fights - one with the party against the super-shadows while Joker has a duel with Akechi and kicks his ass again. But they didn’t.

timrodresized: Annoyingly, both of these enemies have the same weaknesses as their regular variety, but the game won’t show you the information for them.

timrodresized: Oh. Turns out there’s a reason for that… kind of. In the base game, the Cerberus has no weaknesses. They nerfed that in Royal and gave him back his weakness to ice. There’s a bug in the launch version of Royal where if you take down Cu Chulainn first and then knock down Cerberus and finish him off with an All-Out, it skips the next phase of the boss.

timrodresized: Ann nearly takes out the Cu Chulainn in a single hit.

timrodresized: The Cerberus gets a single attack in, and it hurts - this is with Haru having the best physical protection she can have.

Oracle: “That power to make others turn psychotic… he used it on actual people…? This guy’s out of his mind!”

Crow: “Of course I didn’t expect you to be defeated by them. You have deceived me and escaped death, after all. I wouldn’t give up my chance to massacre you with my own two hands…!”

timrodresized: We’re already Concentrated for the most part, so I rush a Thermopylae and it’s go time.

timrodresized: Akechi has the same moves he did when we had him - Kougaon and Eigaon. Joker has Big Mike, who repels Bless and nulls Curse. Speaking of which…

timrodresized: Two hits and Akechi’s dead. We’ve done more than just break the game - we’ve shattered it. I could go up to Hard or Merciless, but… why?

Morgana: “So he’s able to turn people psychotic… I thought it was some special thing like the Nav, but it seems to be his own Persona’s power.”

timrodresized: I think what I hate about this is that it’s too Shonen Jump battle manga. None of the other Persona games ever really got to that level.

Queen: “I can’t believe that the ability to control and drive others mad was born from within his heart…”

Panther: “Will you please stop!? You’re fighting the wrong people! We both hate the same guy! Why do we have to go against each other!?”

Queen: “Killing us won’t make you happy.”

Crow: “But… I…!”

Skull: “This ain’t about what Shido says! You’re your own person! You gotta know that!”

Crow: “Damn it…!”

Oracle: “You know… sometimes I think about that fake Medjed that you guys made up… that was the worst trap… but if not for that, I don’t think I’d be here right now. Uhhh, basically… it doesn’t matter where you start over!”

timrodresized: This? This is bad writing. Futaba should be fucking furious. This is the guy who killed her mother. Nobody made him do it, either - it’s clear he did it because he wanted to.

timrodresized: This should have been like the moment with Namatame in Persona 4 where the party is urging you to fucking kill him. Futaba should be asking Joker to hand her his pistol so she can kill him.

timrodresized: That’s one of the things I don’t get about this game. They’re trying their hardest to make it be a shonen battle manga while forgetting that people die violently in shonen battle manga all the fucking time. Hell, Tatsuya Sudou fucking incinerated a kid in Innocent Sin.

Morgana: “And… you don’t really hate Joker, do you? That smile before we fought… isn’t that how you really feel?”

Crow: “…!?”

Morgana: “Follow your true feelings! Even if you think people hate you or don’t want you around, that’s-”

Crow: “Teammates!? Friends!? To hell with that! Why am I inferior to you!? I was extremely particular about my life, my grades, my public image, so someone would want me around! I am an ace detective… a celebrity!”

timrodresized: It’s because Joker has THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP and a giant anime nakama that is completely and utterly unrealistic. I went to high school. No one had shit like that.

Noir: “Akechi-kun…”

Crow: “But you… you’re just some criminal trash living in an attic! So, how… how does someone like you have things I don’t!? How can such a worthless piece of trash be more special than me!?”

Crow: “This argument is meaningless!”

Queen: “What was that!?”

Fox: “A black mask!”

timrodresized: There’s around ten shots of flashback, I’m going to cut it down to three.

Morgana: “Then, what Kaneshiro said before…”

timrodresized: The thing is, I don’t get why any of this is surprising. It’s not like Akechi couldn’t bring a second outfit with a black mask that he puts on when he’s going on murder runs.

SMARTGIRL “So… you were behind the mental shutdowns after all…”

timrodresized: NO FUCKING SHIT! HE JUST FUCKING SAID HE WAS!

Crow: “Oh, this is great… I’m surprised… this is actually a first for me. I might even have to try my hardest against you. You know… I just came up with a fun little idea… I wonder how far I can go with this…”

Queen: “Fun?”

Crow: “You’re not satisfied with where we left it either, are you? Isn’t this what you really wanted? You and I are going to strike and strike again until one of us is dead! To hell with holding back!”

Crow: “Ah… just picturing it sends chills down my spine. What Shido thinks of me? Haha! I don’t give a shit… all I care about now is killing you… to prove I’m better than you!”

timrodresized: Akechi’s in the wrong anime. No, really, we’ll see in a second.

timrodresized: If I wanted to re-caption this, it would read “I just shit my pants, Joker! And now I’m gonna shit yours!”

timrodresized: Loki? Really. Loki’s the best you can do? He’s a fucking third-stringer in Persona 1 and never really gets better. Seriously, I don’t think there’s a single game Loki has been in where he’s not a jobber.

timrodresized: Whoever did the animation for this was probably drunk. That’s about the only reason I can think of as to why Akechi’s such a fucking dumbass.

timrodresized: Remember when I said Akechi’s weakness is that he’s a friendless loser? Akechi is canonically a wild card - it’s just that he only has two Personas because he has no friends.

timrodresized: Uh, he’s a hitman and a serial killer. I think he’s already psychotic.

timrodresized: If you’ve read Berserk, Akechi’s new outfit is going to look remarkably familiar. That’s because he’s wearing Guts’s berserker armor.

timrodresized: I agree with that statement because I have played team-based multiplayer games before.

timrodresized: While we charge up, Akechi uses Tetrakarn on himself. This renders Yusuke useless for the rest of the fight, as he can’t physically attack without killing himself.

timrodresized: This version of Akechi has a lot more HP, and if we weren’t as bullshit overpowered as we are I’d probably have dropped a Soma to get everyone back up.

timrodresized: If you think this is no damage, just wait until you see Shido. I’m not kidding when I say that at one point he uses Diamond Dust on Joker and does exactly 16 damage.

timrodresized: At this point, we’ve skipped a phase. What’s supposed to happen is that Akechi goes into a phase where he uses Makarakarn on himself and starts unleashing Eigaon… and Maragion. He’s still using second-tier spells and this is one of the final bosses in the base game.

timrodresized: If you have Yusuke, you want to get rid of him at that point because if Maragion hits, Akechi responds by using Desperation on himself and at that point things can get kinda iffy.

timrodresized: However, we’ve nuked him down so much in one turn that he’s moved right into his third and final phase. In this phase, he’ll waste a turn staring at Joker and then use Laevateinn, a single-target Almighty skill that can hit really hard if he’s got Desperation.

timrodresized: And he’s fucked. RIP Akechi, never got past his first phase. Oh right - he also has Megidolaon, which he’ll use if anyone has a reflect up. The thing is, Akechi’s magic stat is kind of a joke. He has 80 strength, higher than any of Joker’s broken Personas, but only 30 magic.

BlackMask: “…You’re so lucky. Lucky to be surrounded… by teammates who acknowledge you… and once Shido confesses his crimes, you’ll all be heroes.”

BlackMask: “As for me, people will find out my past deductions were just charade. My fame and trust will vanish.”

Morgana: “…I see. So you were turning people psychotic, then solving the cases yourself. And you did that by joining forces with Shido.”

timrodresized: God fucking dammit! Fuck! Fucking fuck! WE ALREADY FUCKING KNOW THIS! IT’S BEEN STATED AND RESTATED A THOUSAND GODDAMN TIMES! SHUT THE FUCK UP!

BlackMask: “In the end… I couldn’t be special…”

Skull: “Dude, you’re more than special…”

Queen: “It pains me to admit… but your wit and strength far exceeds ours. We only defeated you by teaming up… I was honestly… envious of your natural ability. It was frustrating to see how much my sister trusted you…”

timrodresized: I’d do a second take of this where I kill Akechi solo as Joker, but it would consist entirely of fusing something that can abuse reflects and abusing them.

Noir: “I have no intention of forgiving you for what you did to my father, but… I sympathize with you. I wholeheartedly understand wanting to get back at the adults who took from you…”

Fox: “But when you gained the power to fulfill that desire, you only used it for your own self-benefit.”

Oracle: “If you’ve got more than one Persona, maybe you actually have the same kinda power as Joker’s. But you trusted no one, so you only got two Personas: one for your lies, and one for your hate.”

Oracle: “Still, you thought that was enough, right? That part I totally get.”

Fox: “You excelled at everything over us… yet that was the one thing you lacked.”

BlackMask: “…”

Skull: “All right, let’s go back and get that callin’ card ready! We’re gonna take Shido down. What’re you gonna do?”

timrodresized: Why is it that everyone immediately wants to give Akechi a redemption arc when he has zero redeeming qualities?

Panther: “It’d be a problem if you kept getting in our way. Wanna come along and help us settle things?”

BlackMask: “… Are you all idiots? You should get rid of me… if you don’t want me getting in your way. …You are all truly beyond my comprehension.”

timrodresized: I mean, it’d be one thing if Akechi had some redeeming quality. Something like, say, “I had to kill those people because Shido had a gun to my head, literally and figuratively” or “I had to do it because otherwise, Shido would find (or make) another person with the same power and send them after me, and who knows what that person might do?”

timrodresized: Remember how I said the cognitive Akechi doesn’t exist? I was lying a little. He does, but only in this dungeon. There’s zero foreshadowing that he exists - at least that I know of.

Morgana: “That’s… Shido’s cognitive version of Akechi!”

timrodresized: How would that even be dangerous? He’s a shadow. There’s no way he can have a Persona, so why wouldn’t Akechi just light him on fire and be done with it?

BlackMask: "…!’

Akechi: “Captain Shido’s orders. He has no need for losers. Well… this just moves the plan up a little. He was going to get rid of you after the election anyway.”

BlackMask: “What!?”

Akechi: “Did you truly believe you’d be spared after all the murders you undertook? Don’t tell me… were you actually feeling good about having someone rely on you for once? Oh by the way, the captain says it’s time you receive retribution for causing the mental shutdowns.”

timrodresized: You uh, just said that.

Skull: “What the hell, man!? That bastard’s the one who put him up to it!”

BlackMask: “I see… I was wondering how he’d protect himself if I used my power to tear through his Palace. Turns out you’re how. So he’s making a puppet kill me… sounds like something he’d do.”

timrodresized: Yep, that’s typical Shido for you, has a bunch of hitmen ready to kill each other just in case one turns on him.

Akechi: “That’s right. I’ll do anything. But look at yourself… you’re the true puppet.”

BlackMask: “…!”

timrodresized: I feel like the direction given to the artist here was “Just draw Light Yagami having an orgasm”.

Akechi: “You’ve been nothing but a puppet from the very beginning!”

Skull: “You little…”

Queen: “So this… is how Shido thinks of Goro Akechi? It’s… it’s too horrible!”

Noir: “It’s still not too late! We can change his heart together! Even if he’s your father… no, BECAUSE he’s your father!”

timrodresized: I don’t know what this even is. What the fuck is that facial expression?

Akechi: “You know what? I’ll let someone volunteer to take his place. Who knows, you might delay his death.”

Skull: “Damn you…”

Akechi: “You guys are all about doing things for others, aren’t you? Oh, that’s just the same as me. I’m going to take all the blame for our captain. I’ll die for him too.”

Queen: “This is what Shido thinks of Akechi-kun, even after making him help with the murders!?”

Akechi: “Here, I’ll give you one last chance. Shoot them.”

BlackMask: “…Don’t misunderstand. You’re the one who’s going to disappear!”

timrodresized: Akechi quickly turns and shoots the fake Akechi.

timrodresized: You know what would have been a super shonen thing to do? Have the party jump into save Akechi, and then immediately after the fight Joker kills him.

timrodresized: It’s a watertight bulkhead door. Didn’t you hear the announcement?

Skull: “Akechi!”

BlackMask: “Hurry up and go.”

Fox: “You fool! Are you trying to get yourself killed!?”

BlackMask: “The real fools… are you guys. You should have just abandoned me here a long time ago. You would have all perished… if you had tried to face these with me weighing you down…”

Queen: “Akechi-kun!”

BlackMask: “Let’s make a deal, okay? You won’t say no, will you?”

Fox: “Why at a time like this!?”

BlackMask: “Change Shido’s heart… in my stead. End his crimes… please!”

timrodresized: This choice was changed for Royal. My guess is it only changes if you maxed Akechi’s confidant and picked the right options.

timrodresized: Akechi does not get The Path Is Open because he sucks.

timrodresized: We now have the final component for Lucifer. We will be fusing him as soon as this cutscene is over, so I’ll save Metatron for then too. I wound up making two Metatrons: one for fusion into Lucifer and a second to be the best Bless Persona with the highest magic stat of any of the Personas we have.

timrodresized: Why would he not have just immediately mag-dumped his gun into the shadow?

timrodresized: Two gunshots ring out at nearly the same time.

Panther: “No…”

Morgana: “Come on, you guys! We can’t let a rotten criminal like Shido do what he wants any longer! We can’t… no matter what!”

Skull: “Akechi…”

Queen: “…We should get going.”

Noir: “He entrusted us with an important task, after all…”

Morgana: “Let’s go, Joker.”

timrodresized: I wanted to leave right now to go fuse, but the game will not fucking let you.

Oracle: “It looks like we’ve come out on the side deck. We should be able to secure a route from here.”

Skull: “Welp, let’s head over and get to usin’ those letters then.”

Oracle: “Open sesame!”

Queen: “Yes.”

Skull: “The hell is that!?”

Oracle: “It’s pretty rockin’!”

Noir: “So this… is the main assembly hall?”

Queen: “P-Probably. Daruma are often used as symbols of election luck, plus everything else in here seems real…”

Fox: “Odd… there isn’t a single person in here. It sounded as though there was quite the crowd inside when we heard voices through the door.”

Panther: “But given how it looks, this has to be the root of the distortion.”

Morgana: “Yes. I’m picking up on the Treasure’s presence as well. There’s no doubt this place is where it’ll appear.”

timrodresized: It’s time to fuse. This will be our second to last time in the Velvet Room.

New Persona: Dominion

Origin: Judeo-Christianity

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei II

Angels who watch over nations.

timrodresized: Wait a second… isn’t that just Yusuke in a robe with some hair extensions? He must keep the scarf afloat with his boyfriend powers. Either that, or a shitload of hidden wire.

New Persona: Metatron

Origin: Abrahamic Mythology

First Appearance: Shin Megami Tensei II

The voice of the Judeo-Christian God. Has a million eyes, a million mouths and 36 wings. Appears largely in ancient Jewish texts, in which he is an entity (not an angel) who has a higher status than that of Michael. Supposedly the twin brother of Sandalphon. Some branches of Gnosticism claim that Metatron is the same thing as the Holy Spirit. Does not appear in the Bible.

timrodresized: This is the Metatron I made specifically to fuse into Lucifer. The one we wind up using as a Persona has Bless Boost and Bless Amp and replaces Arms Master with Spell Master.

timrodresized: Metatron fuses into one of Joker’s two ultimate guns. This one does less damage than the one we’re actually going to use, but it’s better if you plan on fusing and using Yoshitsune later. And now, please welcome…

New Persona: Lucifer

Origin: Judeo-Christianity

First Appearance: Megami Tensei I

Former highest-ranked archangel who rebelled against the Judeo-Christian God. Not the same entity as Satan - Lucifer is likely based on a Babylonian myth involving a celestial being who tries to overthrow the Babylonian pantheon but is cast into the underworld.

timrodresized: Lucifer is MASSIVELY improved over how he was in the base game. In fact, let me show you my base game Lucifer.

timrodresized: In the base game, Lucifer had no resistances and a weakness to Bless. In Royal, he’s fucking invincible, especially with Firm Stance. His job isn’t to do damage - without Almighty Boost and Almighty Amp his damage will be middling at best - his job is to be a wall.

timrodresized: Here’s his signature move, Morning Star. It doesn’t do much damage, but Joker can spam it all day.

timrodresized: Lucifer itemizes into the Tyrant Pistol, which is Joker’s best gun provided he’s using magic-based Personas. 15 magic is a huge stat boost, bringing a couple of our Personas up to around 80.

timrodresized: Off-screen, I also fused another Odin using Metatron and Gabriel. This Odin has Firm Stance and Spell Master, making him the best electric Persona in the game.

Morgana: “Akechi saved us all in the end. I think in his heart, he might not have been so bad… Hey, Akira. Let’s succeed on this mission, no matter what.”

timrodresized: We get a massage from Kawakami… so we can do an optional event with her. Strangely, I didn’t get the optional event I thought I would - this may be because I skipped one early on.

Kawakami: “I’ll let you decide where to go. I guess you can consider that our first assignment. If there’s anything I can help you with today, I’d be glad to come over. So, what do you think?”

Kawakami: “The art museum in Ueno, huh? Sounds like it could be educational. I hope it’s not closed yet. Let’s go check it out.”

timrodresized: Okay, so what I’d like you to keep in mind is that Akechi has died. Is Joker grieving? No. He cares so little that he’s going to an art museum with Kawakami. This is how it was in the base game.

Kawakami: “I wanted to teach you things like that. This is an extracurricular lesson to enhance your education. Eheh… or something. It’s more like a thanks for helping me make up my mind.”

Kawakami: “I’m going to start acting like an honest teacher again.”

Kawakami: “Ooh, I feel like I never hear you talk like that. It would be really easy to teach you if you were always this compliant. giggle I realized that I love being a teacher.”

timrodresized: When is Joker ever not compliant in class? I mean, I guess this could be one of those things like in Strikers when Morgana reveals that Joker hates crepes out of nowhere.

Kawakami: “It’s really rewarding, you know? Especially the moments when you realize how a student’s grown… and also thinking about your future… okay, let’s resume our lesson! If there’s anything you don’t understand, please ask me!”

Kawakami: “…Wait, no! I take that back! Just ask me simple questions, okay? Please?”

timrodresized: What you are about to see is a scene that was added for Royal. This is where we’re going to find out about how the writers for Royal understand Joker and Akechi in a very different way than Hashino did.

Joker: “I wonder what happened to Akechi… after we heard the gunshot on the other side of the shutters, Futaba said there were no readings left… does this mean we’ll never meet again…?”

timrodresized: There are two distinct gunshots.

timrodresized: Remember how I said there were those two options in Akechi’s Rank 7 and Rank 8 that were permafucks if you didn’t pick them? This is a third permafuck. You want to pick the bottom option.

Joker: “I do still have that promise with Akechi to duel again someday… I know Akechi would especially hate having it end with his defeat… still, there’s nothing I can do now.”

timrodresized: In the base game, Akech is confirmed dead. Joker never thinks about him again, and I don’t think he ever comes up in conversation outside of Shido’s boss fight. Joker could not give less of a shit about Akechi or his death.

timrodresized: Now I need to talk about that OVA. Right before Royal released in Japan, the anime studio behind the Persona 5 anime put out a promotional OVA called Proof of Justice.

timrodresized: Proof of Justice is a 17-minute OVA (with about 5 minutes of that runtime taken by the OP and ED) that is mostly an advertisement for Royal. Let’s take a brief look, shall we?

timrodresized: The OVA opens with this shot. I showed this to Salty Vanilla, and their response was “What did they to do Yusuke!? What did they do to my boy!?”

timrodresized: I told Salty Vanilla that they’re more qualified to be an anime director than whoever directed this, and I meant it.

timrodresized: Anyway, this shot takes place roughly when they’re sending the calling card to Shido, which happens tomorrow in-game.

timrodresized: Joker pours a coffee for Akechi, who is working on a crossword puzzle. Note that nothing is on model because the animators this SUCK. Even in the close-ups they can’t get shit right.

timrodresized: I’m pretty sure this is the last night we meet Akechi in Leblanc, right before Sae’s palace.

timrodresized: That night, Joker takes the crossword magazine into his room and starts looking at it because all he can think about is Akechi. This, despite the fact that in the actual game he does not give a single fuck.

timrodresized: Crosswords in Japanese must be a nightmare to do. Do you count the “extended sound” character after the “bi” as a second “bi”, or is it that the one going down would have to have an “extended sound” in it even if it’s not a “bi”?

timrodresized: Oh, but what’s this? Akechi wrote “Proof of Justice” for no fucking reason! Clearly, this is a mystery that only a 13-minute OVA could solve.

timrodresized: This disturbs Joker so much that he cannot sleep. It’s pretty clear that whoever authorized this did so knowing the massive Joker/Akechi shipping fanbase that continually bumps Akechi to first place in popularity polls (even over the playable characters) is very much a thing.

timrodresized: Joker spends the night going around Tokyo (making sure to stop at Kichijoji, the darts place, and the jazz club where he has flashbacks to Akechi’s confidant) before he finds his answer.

timrodresized: The answer is that “Proof of Justice” is written on the box that had Akechi’s toy laser pistol in it. I am not fucking kidding when I say that in the OVA, Joker fucking breaks down and starts crying.

timrodresized: Then he has a flashback to Akechi’s death, which… I suppose if you hadn’t played the base game and were watching this it spoiled Akechi being the killer and his death.

timrodresized: Then he sees a poorly-drawn anime kid whose dad bought him one of the laser pistols, and for some reason has a flashback to Akechi as a kid even though he never knew Akechi that young.

timrodresized: It’s like the writers forgot that Akechi is a serial killer and were like “It’s okay because he’s pretty!”

timrodresized: Oh, and then it ends with Joker going back to bed and being an insomniac because of Akechi. The final shot…

timrodresized: Is Joker trying to finish an unfinished game of chess that Akechi left behind. Fuck this shit.

timrodresized: So why am I showing you this? Because it’s canon. This is how Royal’s writers re-interpreted Akechi. This is what they’re going to use to justify a plot point in the expansion content… and that plot point is why I hate Akechi. We’ll talk about that more when we get there. It’s not far away.

Ann: “Having Shido as your dad? The thought makes me sick… could you really stand having a dad that has destroyed people’s lives for his own benefit? What would happen to this country if someone like that became the prime minister?”

Ann: “…We can’t let him win, no matter what. There is no way we’re going to let you have your way, Shido!”

Yusuke: “It would be pointless to send it to the Diet Building.”

Makoto: “And even if we handed it over to different media sources, who knows how it would be treated… the worst case scenario would be giving it to the police under the table.”

Haru: “What shall we do then?”

Ann: “We just said that’s not gonna work.”

Haru: “Um, Futaba-chan?”

timrodresized: This name is based on an actual tool used by Anonymous called Low Orbit Ion Cannon, which was used to crowdsource DDoS attacks.

Ryuji: “Huh?”

Futaba: “It’s good to go. Look. Now, if I do this…”

timrodresized: Oh no, a command prompt! Hide the Linux, the cops are gonna be here any second!

Ryuji: “You shoulda told us you were plannin’ something!”

Futaba: “To trick your enemies, you first gotta trick your allies.”

timrodresized: Futaba is then isekai’d on the spot into Ni no Kuni 2.

Yusuke: “How stylish.”

Ann: “It’s kickass!”

Haru: “This should work nicely…”

Ryuji: “All right! It’s time for people to start comin’ to their senses!”

timrodresized: If I remember right, the TV lines weren’t subtitled in the base game in this scene either.

timrodresized: I thought the thing on the TV in the back was Eikichi. It’s not, but it’s definitely got that same aesthetic as Innocent Sin.

timrodresized: I feel like they got a completely separate animation studio for this one shot, because it looks nothing like the usual P5 anime. It’s surprisingly on-model.

timrodresized: I think the anime studio forgot the whole “cameras don’t work in the metaverse” bit. Actually, this shot being there doesn’t make a whole lot of sense if you think about it.

timrodresized: The only person who knew what the party looked like in their thief outfits was Akechi, and he’s dead. Shido doesn’t know what they look like because he’s never been to the metaverse.

timrodresized: This part is narrated by Joker’s VA.

timrodresized: It’s almost like John Persona… is some kind of stand-alone complex! Actually, nah. Stand Alone Complex had better writing.

Shido: “And what about Akechi!? Where did that useless brat go!? He must have run away knowing he failed! Bring him here when you find him! Got that!?”

Sae: “Phantom thief? Body?”

Sae: “Um, I really don’t know what you’re speaking of… oh, but that reminds me… I received a calling card from the Phantom Thieves… but everything from then on is a blur…”

Sae: “No… could I have done something wrong!? Then, I… I…”

timrodresized: I like to think that Sae isn’t doing this out of some dumbass shounen anime ‘sense of justice’ but instead because the tramp stamp is real and this is how she’s going to explain it away.

Sae: “What have I done?”

Sae: “Why me?”

Sae: “I’m sorry, I honestly don’t know what’s going on here…”

timrodresized: You know what I don’t get? Why they needed that scene right before this one. They’re both repeating the same information that we already know.

Sae: “Is illness really what killed him? Do you think his death was truly due to illness!?”

Sae: “…Very well. It’s all up to you now, everyone.”

timrodresized: I think of all of these scenes, this one is the only one that really works.

Sojiro: “Who the hell’re you?”

Sojiro: “Oh, you mean those guys they’ve been talking about on TV?”

timrodresized: How would they know that Sojiro knows that Joker is a phantom thief?

Sojiro: “This is obstruction of business, you know.”

Sojiro: “Is this the only way you do things?”

Sojiro: “If you’re not a customer, I’m gonna have to ask you to leave.”

Sojiro: “Justice isn’t on your side.”

timrodresized: Was there some kind of betting pool in the writer’s room as to how many cutscenes they could cram into the game?

Shido: “It is nothing more than a wicked terrorist act, aimed at obstructing the elections. What we need now is a powerful, unyielding leader. I am willing to risk my life to fight them.”

Shido: “I speak now to those who call themselves the Phantom Thieves. Your actions are gravely serious crimes. You are rebelling against the laws of this country and unnecessarily causing alarm among its citizens.”

Shido: “I call on you to surrender yourselves at once and apologize to the people of this proud nation.”

timrodresized: I like to think that last line is actually directed at Hashino.

Ryuji: “That bastard Shido’s tryin’ to act all calm, but he’s prolly freakin’ out on the inside.”

Yusuke: " ‘Apologize’? Quite the funny joke."

Haru: “Who is the real criminal here?”

timrodresized: The real criminal is Sega for allowing Atlus to do a full-price re-release without fixing the script.

Yusuke: “Our calling card has had a tremendous effect.”

Futaba: “I’m real proud of that one!”

Ryuji: “All they’re doin’ is makin’ noise though…”

timrodresized: The people in the back are chanting “Shi-do! Shi-do!”

Ann: “Seriously. They should just go home and get some sleep…”

timrodresized: I stopped playing SMT Imagine because it sucks, but one of the lines you can get if you fail to negotiate with a beast-type demon (which happens all the time because the default negotiation success rate is 1% please buy our microtransaction master balls that auto-capture demons) is “GO HOME AND SLEEP”.

Makoto: “Even after what happened, not many people want to see Shido have a change of heart. What we’re about to do is just… right?”

Morgana: “That’s right. Have we ever acted outside of the scope of justice?”

timrodresized: I mean, if you believe the part about the party going after Okumura to get famous, then technically yes.

Makoto: “You have a point.”

Morgana: “Hey, look over there.”

Ohya: “This has me excited as well. snicker That boy really keeps the news rolling in.”

Morgana: “She doesn’t notice we’re here… right? That keen journalist nose is a force to be reckoned with. Whoa! Why’s Mishima here!? Man, that kid’s impressive…”

timrodresized: I have no idea if there’s a rank requirement to get these little scenes with the confidants, but it doesn’t matter because we’re maxed anyway.

Mishima: “The Phantom Thieves are just. I guarantee it.”

Ryuji: “Heh… now that’s what I like to hear.”

Morgana: “There may not be many of them, but we have to cherish our fans. Let’s go change Shido’s heart!”

timrodresized: It might seem weird that Iwai, Yoshida and Hifumi are all so close. They were actually going to put a scene in Royal to explain that. It was (mercifully) cut before release.

timrodresized: I wish we could bring Shinya with us, but when you see how hard we break Shido you’ll understand why he couldn’t come.

Fox: “What did you do to Akechi!? He… he was your own son!”

Shido: “Hmph, I had a feeling it was something like that. He reminded me too much of that woman. I also have an idea as to why he approached me. He was hoping to trap me, was he not?”"

Shido: “He was sharp, but in the end he was just a kid. I controlled him merely by offering praise. I intended to dispose of him as soon as I became prime minister.”

Skull: “What!?”

Shido: “I could never keep someone with such intimate knowledge of my past alive. What an ‘ace’ detective. He was standing beside me all this time, yet couldn’t see through my plans. His destroying himself saved me quite a bit of effort though.”

Panther: “How could you…!?”

Oracle: “You stole my mom’s research… and took her life!”

Noir: “Everything you’ve done has been for your own selfish gains! You even killed my father! I will never forgive you!”

timrodresized: I would do the Princess Bride thing here but that movie is super overrated.

Shido: “Sacrifices are inevitable in the path of reform. I only require that the foolish entrust themselves to their superiors. I shall guide them.”

Skull: “The hell makes you think you’re so much better than everyone else!?”

Panther: “You never would have been able to make it this far without Akechi’s help!”

timrodresized: I mean, he apparently had connections to a yakuza hit squad. It’s not like he couldn’t have just used them instead.

Shido: “He only appeared because of the expectations God held for me. Moreover, it was thanks to me that Akechi was able to properly use his power to begin with. The ‘changing of hearts’ that you’ve been doing… was nothing more than provoking the public.”

Fox: “How selfish! You were unable to win by honest means, so you used foul tricks to ascend the political ladder!”

timrodresized: Yusuke, we already know that.

Queen: “A cruel person like you has no right to stand leading the citizens of this country. You’re nothing but a criminal who rose above others by climbing a staircase of sin.”

Shido: “The life of the nation as opposed to those of a few sacrifices… there can be no comparison. The ignorant masses only care about their own personal happiness. I am merely granting that for them. That is the social reform that only I, as the one chosen by God, can enact!”

timrodresized: This whole speech feels like a budget version of the Messians in SMT 1.

Noir: “I can’t believe you look down on everyone else so harshly…”

Panther: “I’d never accept a leader who makes a teenager murder people! You say it’s for the country, but I bet it’s all for yourself. Nobody would wish for something like that!”

timrodresized: Ann, you can’t even vote.

Shido: “Nobody?”

timrodresized: There’s an animation of him walking from the second tier of the podium to the third tier, followed by an elevator noise. I’m not really sure what that’s supposed to add to this cutscene.

Shido: “Everyone denies the value of hard work these days. Instead, they seek to effortlessly gain wealth. That is why I must reestablish this mighty country. One that does not waver… one that others bow to.”

Skull: “Mighty, my ass! That’s just a crooked country made by a crook!”

Fox: “We cannot let you do this. You are a disgrace to Japan. Hence, we will take your deranged heart.”

Shido: “Hmph. Those who disobey me must be eliminated. However… considering the loss of Akechi, it would be a waste to kill those who are actually capable. I will allow you to choose between life or death one last time.”

Shido: “Devote your power to my social reform. I will give you anything you want, be it wealth or status.”

timrodresized: I get that he’s not being serious because he’s already revealed that he was going to kill Akechi himself and would do the same to the party, but still this is kinda dumb.

Morgana: “There’s no way we’d follow you!”

Panther: “No matter how many times you ask, our answer’s not gonna change!”

timrodresized: Couldn’t we have, I dunno, skipped right past the whole monologue and gone right to this?

timrodresized: I’m not sure what the kanji say.

timrodresized: Shido’s first form is a blatant ripoff of Char Aznable.

timrodresized: If I had come into this fight with an ideal party setup, I probably could’ve wiped Shido before he could enter any of his other phases.

Music Rivers in the Desert Instrumental

timrodresized: You see, what Shido doesn’t realize is that he’s just undammed a river that he is about to drown in.

timrodresized: The wiki tells me that this first phase is mostly about stealing Girimehkala’s gimmick: the “Beast of Human Sacrifice” repels Physical and Gun, and has Wage War to attempt to enrage the entire party. We will not be seeing that.

timrodresized: It also has a thing where it’ll cast Makarakarn on itself to force you to eat a magic attack (not that it would do shit) and can charge up an attack that’s basically Megidolaon but with a chance of inflicting rage.

timrodresized: So yeah, don’t bring Yusuke. This was an instant death.

timrodresized: You also don’t want to bother trying to buff, debuff, or cast reflects as he will simply remove them. But fuck that. We’re not constrained by game mechanics anymore.

timrodresized: That is over 1800 damage with Metatron using Kougaon on an enemy that is not weak to Bless. By lowering his HP under 50%, we’re going to skip his entire second phase.

timrodresized: The second phase is the “Wings of Human Sacrifice”. It resists magic across the board, but loses its physical and gun repels. This doesn’t matter, because we’ve already killed it. Before we can even act…

timrodresized: Meet the third form, the Tomb of Human Sacrifice. The wiki tells me it has two attacks: a single-target almighty attack…

timrodresized: And a charged Almighty spell that takes two turns to charge. We will not be seeing that.

timrodresized: We go through nearly 10,000 HP in six turns, three of which were spent charging and buffing. I also switched Yusuke out for Makoto.

timrodresized: This could’ve been done faster if I had switched Haru for Makoto and revived Yusuke so we had more sources of charged damage, but this is good enough.

Skull: “Once you’re losin’, you’re puttin’ all the blame on the masses, huh!?”

Panther: “A touching reunion, isn’t it?”

Fox: “The next time you crush a foe, I suggest you do it in a more certain manner.”

Oracle: “Not that there’ll be a next time for you!”

Queen: “You took him to court and yet you don’t remember? You truly don’t care about the fate of others.”

timrodresized: There’s a flashback here to the scene at the beginning of the game with Joker pushing Shido Shido falling completely on his own because we can’t have Joker being a bad boy that I’ll skip.

Skull: “What!?”

Noir: “Are you saying that the people you killed deserved to die!?”

Panther: “He’s totally insane…”

timrodresized: Oh look, it’s US Senator Stephen Armstrong. What’s he doing in Japan?

timrodresized: Actually, he looks more like a ripoff of Allen O’Neill from Metal Slug.

timrodresized: As soon as Shido reveals his true form, the battle music changes to one of the most memorable vocal themes in the game.

Music Rivers in the Desert

timrodresized: I have Haru blow a Bead Chain. We have several of them, and switching to Morgana is slow.

timrodresized: In this form, Shido has one major difference - he won’t remove buffs and debuffs. I have everyone start nuking while Joker gets ready to buff.

timrodresized: Shido uses Tyrant’s Purge, a new move for the Royal version of this fight. It’s a physical attack with a high chance of instant kill - but he CANNOT use this on Joker.

timrodresized: This change was made because in the base game, he had both Mudoon and Hamaon and could target Joker with both. I remember this hitting me in the base game and me being really pissed about it.

timrodresized: At 50% HP, Shido takes an extra turn to buff himself.

timrodresized: We respond by nuking him to death before he can do anything with it.

timrodresized: His head looks way too small for his body now.

timrodresized: We only took two turns to kill Shido’s first form, because we’re able to extend Thermopylae.

timrodresized: Shido’s final form has 5,800 HP and has access to all of the Ma-Dyne spells as well as a couple of strong physical attacks. He also has the ability to grant himself extra press turns - but he has to use these to do one specific attack.

timrodresized: Joker simply dodges with Ali Dance.

timrodresized: Shido can barely hurt Joker even without Lucifer active.

timrodresized: He uses Maragidyne again, but Futaba blocks it.

timrodresized: It’s not obvious, but we’ve actually broken the game so hard the seams are showing. In the base game, this hit would’ve killed him - except now we enter the new part of the fight added for Royal.

timrodresized: Shido has turned this fight into a duel, and in doing so has fucked up.

Shido: “I never would’ve imagined… that impertinent brat from so long ago, managing to get in my way this much! Honestly unbelievable… I should’ve finished you off before this could’ve happened… hahaha, it seems I was too naive.”

timrodresized: Shido looks like he’s either having an orgasm or shitting his pants, and I’m not sure which.

Shido: “My desire to steer this country has finally come to fruition! But, my ambition has only yet begun! I WILL NOT stumble over mere minutia like yourself!”

timrodresized: Our party is gone. It’s time to bring out Lucifer.

timrodresized: We’re going to keep spamming Morning Star until Shido dies. In the meantime…

timrodresized: He switches to fourth-tier spells. I’m pretty sure Shido’s stats get lowered for this part to account for the fact that you only have Joker, but that’s a grand total of 16 damage.

timrodresized: Tyrant’s Judgement bounces right back into Shido’s face for free damage. In hindsight, I probably could’ve won this part of the fight without doing anything.

timrodresized: He’ll alternate between the elements, but it doesn’t matter - nothing is going to do significant damage to Lucifer.

timrodresized: We still have a SHITLOAD of cutscene left, so I’ll stop the update here. Next time, we’ll do the rest of the cutscenes. We’ll then go through a bunch of optional confidant events before heading to Mementos. That run should be quick as I’ll only need to grind money.

timrodresized: From there, it’s on to the true final boss of the base game.

No Futaba that’s the wrong boyfriend if it’s a Toru Furuya character then stuff isn’t just for show.

I guess the moral is, if you don’t get a redemption story you should’ve tried being more pretty and more popular.