Click Here for Update 114
: Yep, we’re still not done with this stupid dungeon. There’s another cutscene room to our right, so let’s go do that.
: “This AGAIN? I really hope it’s the last one.”
: “The tapes seem to be growing more and more recent, though. What do we have in store this time…?”
: “That’s a comprehensive study on the research you tried to shut down ‘all these years’ ago.”
: “Oh, this is just a quick visit out of spite. I wanted to show you in person that I had found the ‘concrete evidence’ you had discontinued my research over.”
: “Ah, no can do, Professor. Cognitive psience has made too great an impact on this world to be abandoned like that.”
: “The psychotic-breakdown incidents, the sudden changes of heart in adults that the Phantom Thieves claim to make… I’m nearly willing to call these events ‘concrete evidence’ of cognitive psience in action - how about you?”
: “He seems to be confessing to all sorts of crimes now that the Phantom Thieves have changed his heart. Years ago, Shido took notice of my research, stole it away from me, and made others develop it for his own gain.”
: “Not only that, he used cognitive psience somehow to induce the politically motivated psychotic breakdowns. Now, you’re heavily involved in that series of events - aren’t you?”
: “Oh, nothing at all. As I said before, I only came here out of spite. That paper - my work - is going to change the world.”
: I wish Maruki had a fucking spine and was written by writers who also had spines and did not immediately kowtow to the focus groups.
: Metal Gear!?
: “That paper there’s just the first step. I’ve learned how to change the cognition of not just an individual, but all of humanity! And I WILL do it, no matter how long it takes!”
: God dammit. The line should’ve been “I’m going to change the world. You’re not going to be in it.” and then Maruki fucking kills him.
: “Huh? You… you don’t see this? The sky just-”
: “This voice…”
New Persona: Azathoth
Origin: Cthulhu Mythos
First Appearance: Giten Megami Tensei
Ancestor of most of the Cthonic pantheon in the Cthulhu mythos. This includes Nyarlathotep, Cthulhu, and Yog-Sothoth. Yes, this means they gave this dipshit a demon that should have been reserved for a direct sequel to Eternal Punishment. Yes, I am fucking pissed about it.
: “The other… me? Wait - the realm of mankind’s hearts… are you telling me, this realm is…”
: “…! That’s it.. I.. finally get it. To think it’d be so… heheh…”
: “…Yes. I’ll be on my way. Finally… now, I can finally…”
: “To think he was the one who stymied Dr. Maruki’s research…”
: “Y’know, I’ve been wondering ever since we saw the earlier video… Do you think there was some connection between my mom’s cognitive psience research and Dr. Maruki’s?”
: “After he crushed Maruki’s chance at researching the field, he had his own pawns do it for him instead… although, I doubt Shido’s researchers knew anything about the subject in the way Maruki did.”
: “…That sounds exactly like the kind of plan that man would scheme up.”
: “That bastard! …Wait, now’s not the time to get pissed about that.”
: “There’s another thing about that video nobody’s mentioned yet… that being that appeared near the end was most likely Maruki’s Persona.”
: No shit.
: “If the sky did turn red like that… I wonder if that was the day we fought against the God of Control?”
: “Lady Lavenza did tell us that reality and Mementos were merged together during that time… as you’ve all seen for yourselves, a full awakening to a Persona can’t happen unless you’re within the Metaverse.”
: Can we please just drop the Dark Hour/TV World/Metaverse bullshit and go back to Persona 2 again for Persona 6, just so I don’t have to listen to another ham-fisted explanation like this again?
: “That would mean Maruki really did awaken to his Persona in that video.”
: “And at the same time, he attained the ability to meddle with Mementos… the cognition of the masses. So it is just as Lavenza has told us..”
: “The sheer number of coincidences necessary for this to happen is just…”
: “At any rate, now we have a better grasp of past events. I’m fairly certain that was a memory Maruki wouldn’t want us to have seen, either.”
: “Yeah!”
: “We don’t have the time for these questions anyhow. Let’s go!”
: " ‘The day the sky turned red?’ It must be referring to Mementos merging with the real world. We’ll leave the answer to you, Joker."
: By the way, the wiki claims that there were originally going to be TWO MORE cutscene rooms - one where the Treasure is, and a second one that plays when you give Maruki the calling card. Thank fuck those didn’t make it in.
: “…This is probably the final hurdle. This looks like a tough fight, so make sure everyone’s in peak condition first!”
: The final miniboss is Siegfried, who happens to be the second-highest level Faith Persona. This fight sucks a lot less than the last one did.
: Siegfried starts with Charge and a number of physical skills. He nulls physical and resists gun and ice.
: This means we can simply do the usual buff/concentrate/attack combo for insane amounts of damage. At half HP, Siegfried will switch to much weaker electric spells and Concentrate, but we don’t really see that.
: Naturally, the game gave me a Showtime when the boss was at double-digit health remaining.
: Welcome to the treasure room. The game doesn’t tell you its name yet, but it’s Psientific Model Eden.
: “This is…”
: “I assume Maruki’s trying to convey that the world will turn into something like this if we allow him to abuse his research.”
: “A paradise…”
: “No doubt about it - that’s our Treasure!”
: “That also means we’ve secured our route.”
: “All right! All we got left is sendin’ the calling card - oh, wait. How are we supposed’ta do that this time?”
: “That’s right, Dr. Maruki’s been here in the Palace this entire time, hasn’t he?”
: “I’m sure Maruki’s well aware that the Phantom Thieves send out their calling cards the day before their heists.”
: “Considering his actions up until now, I highly suspect he’ll attempt to directly intervene in some way that day… my money’s on him trying it with Joker.”
: “Good point. In that case, I’ll leave the calling card in your hands, Joker.”
: “We could just set up an ambush and destroy him once he steps in our trap, too.”
: “No way are we doin’ that!”
: The one time I agree with Akechi.
: “Our goal in coming here is to return reality to its original state, not to beat up Dr. Maruki.”
: “It was merely a joke. After all, you’re all well-aware that Maruki’s influence on reality goes well beyond this Palace… if we make the wrong move in here, we could get eliminated outside the Palace, since we lack our Personas there.”
: “It’d be a safer strategy to change Maruki’s heart, just as you all wish.”
: “We’re finally changing his heart… if we steal Dr. Maruki’s Treasure, everything’ll go back to the way it was, right?”
: “I don’t know for sure, but most likely.”
: “Yeah! Of course.”
: “We’ve all come so far… we can’t just give up now.”
: “We gotta stick to our own reality.”
: “About the time limit - Dr. Maruki told you it was February 3rd, correct?”
: “Yeah. He isn’t like anything we’ve faced before… we should get as strong as we can before that fight.”
: Joker promptly tells Futaba to fuck off.
: “All diseases of incredible strength. They resist all our cures, and yes, some can even kill… but there’s one disease we do not fear. We even welcome it. Any guesses?”
: “It is the disease we call happiness… heh, did you think I was only being dramatic? A scientific study suggested the emotion of happiness spreads in much the same way as a disease does…”
: This is accurate, depending on interpretation. It’s based on data derived from the Framingham Heart Study (which has been running since 1948) from 1977 to the early 2000s .
: The Framingham study is a very large study about cardiovascular health. Part of that study had participants take the CES-D (Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression Index) test.
: The data on ‘happiness’ was derived from people’s answers to the CES-D. To explain, the CES-D asks you how many times in the last week you’ve felt certain things. Two of those questions are “I felt happy” and “I enjoyed life”, which is probably what they based this on.
: What the meta-study by Harvard Medical found was that people within three degrees of separation had a higher chance of being happy if they knew a happy person (or a person who knows a happy person).
: “Now then, Kurusu-kun. How far did this study suggest personal happiness can spread?”
: “Wonderful. That’s correct. It would seem your own happiness can indirectly affect the mood of your friend’s friend’s friends. Their finding suggested that happiness is spread through connections and physical proximity.”
: This is also true - the Harvard Medical study showed the effect lessened over distance and with time. I don’t know if they’ve done any follow-up studies on things like Twitter or Facebook.
: But don’t worry, apart from this game being boring and mediocre, I’ve got something that’ll stop that dead in its tracks: the YIIK twitter account has announced that the 1.5 patch is coming “soon”.
: “Under these principles… perhaps it’s not impossible to create a world in which everyone can be happy. …But I can’t bear that thought. A world of endless, uninterrupted peace…?”
: “That’s a terrifying idea! Where’s the thrill in a world without strife, despair, agony!? Without unhappiness, there is no true happiness.. I don’t want to live in a world that boring.”
: What is this guy, Junko Enoshima? I mean, they’re both in games with godawful plots.
: “This guy never changes…”
: Here’s the first of the two optional Mementos requests we can do. The trigger for these appearing is clearing Maruki’s dungeon.
: “So he’s doing borderline illegal stuff in some goofy mask? Cramping our style, AND making life hard for people… we gotta shut this guy down, for all their sakes too!”
: This is the second to last crossword in the game, and is just as pointless as all of the other ones.
: “So this dad’s obsessed with an indie idol, huh? Well, we’ll need his name before we can do anything else. I guess we should go to Akihabara and try gathering some information.”
: This request is special in that it gets you a uh.. ‘special’ reward on the very last day. We’ll go investigate the one in Kichijoji first.
: “Hey, they’re talking about AlMaask Ouzi. Let’s listen in a bit…”
: “So AlMaask Ouzi’s little brother has a last name of Amasaki.. and he’s got haters? That’s concerning. They’re apparently hanging out in Harmony Alley. Let’s go take a look.”
: “…Those guys are bad news. I’d never be able to relax if they were after me. And ‘AIMaask OUZI’ is an anagram of his real name? That’s some interesting info.”
: And now, let’s go do the other investigation in Akihabara. This one is MUCH shorter.
: “Lily-nyan… do you think this is that idol, Lilina? That name came up in the post about the dad that’s obsessed with indie idols!”
: “Well, we’ve got his name now, but we don’t know if he’s the parent of our client… let’s go ask him.”
: “Let’s find out if this is the dad who’s overly obsessed with an indie idol.”
: I feel like this sidequest is supposed to be some kind of low-key reference to Satomi Tadashi. I hope there’s one for Hashino in Persona 6.
: I hope Satomi Tadashi is enjoying his retirement where all he does is be horny for idols all day.
: This guy reminds me of an attorney at work who just died. Dude was kinda creepy, but died of a heart attack due to what was presumably a combination of his wife hating him and his job being trash.
: " ‘He’s got no place at home’ and ‘He wants to get involved in his kids life, but he can’t.’ He’s got an unstable family situation, but he’s still fixated on that idol.. looks like we’ve got the right guy."
: Anyway, there’s one more thing we can do today - and that’s the event that will get us the final room decoration.
: “I’m so happy! This is gonna be so much fun! Let’s go!”
: “Honestly, I wanna live here. Wait, there are tons of people… but, but… all of this still gets me excited! Seeing it in person is way different than images online!”
: Didn’t we take her here at least twice as part of her confidant?
: “Come on, let’s go check out that extra-thin laptop everyone’s been talking about lately!”
: This feels like it takes place in 2008.
: “They said it was ‘full of functions,’ but I’m not really seeing it… I don’t care anymore. Do you understand how I feel?”
: “That’s right! They betrayed me! I had super high expectations for what the evolution of electronics was gonna look like… but all I saw there was an empty slab of metal.”
: “Oh well. There’s no point in getting depressed over it. There’s still gotta be some unseen treasure waiting for me in this electronic paradise! Let’s go explore, Akira! We’ll start on the underground floor! To the escalatorrrrrr!”
: “I already have three of them though, so you can have it, Akira. It’s a present!”
: There’s also a reference to Innocent Sin on the TV tonight.
: I mean, it’s basically the plot of Innocent Sin, only they didn’t let Nyarlathotep win.
: And with this, Joker’s room is complete… about two months before he leaves Tokyo forever.
: I intentionally skipped the 29th and the 30th because we don’t have that much left to do.
: A few new encounters show up in Mementos after you clear Maruki’s palace, including super Jack Frosts and Pyro Jacks with their weaknesses removed.
: The other common enemy group is a triple fight with a Yaksini, Dakini, and Kali. The dumb part is that you can’t negotiate with any of them.
: “So you’re Amasaki! You seriously don’t give a damn about how much trouble you’re causing your family?”
: This fight is over before it even starts.
: Amasaki wastes his turns calling in Legions, which.. are a complete non-threat. They exist purely to make the fight take longer.
: We merely spam multi-target Bless attacks until everything dies.
: Even once Amasaki is down, you have to take the Legions out to finish the fight.
: On our way to the next target, we run into another gimmick encounter - Mara and his two sons.
: “Come on, man. You know that’s not right, don’t you!?”
: “He’s in no condition to listen. Watch out, Joker!”
: This fight was probably originally meant for way earlier in the game. It’s a dialog battle that’s over in one attack.
: “I get idols are important.. but that’s not everything in life, right? We need to tell 'im that there’re more important things in life. Here’s the stuff we know 'bout him.”
: “He’s got no place at home, and he wants to get involved with his kid’s life, but can’t.”
: “And that’s what got you into idols… he might think he stopped caring about how family, but we all know that’s not the case. Tell 'im, Joker.”
: Well I mean, no, you’re still some middle-aged guy obsessed with idols and you’re going to lose the lead writer position for the SMT series to an incompetent fuckwad.
: “But now you know what you’ve gotta do, right?”
: Just like Satomi Tadashi, this guy learns NOTHING.
: “So you’re not gonna stop chasing her… well, I guess it’s not a bad thing to have a hobby. Become a dad your kid can be proud of.”
: And that’s it. That’s all the Mementos requests. So… what’s the reward for doing this one? It’s well-hidden and I haven’t recorded it yet, but you can find Lilina in Akihabara on the last day after defeating Maruki. She gives you an item that gives you a song in the Thieves Den. It is the worst.
: “Guess that’s one family that we’ve saved. I can’t believe that dad was so far gone, though. We better watch our step around idols.”
: “Looks like he gave everyone a proper apology. That’s great! Not that an apology is going to make things instantly better, but… now it’s up to him to make things right.”
: We’re going to skip 02/01 for the most part, but we have an IM conversation and the final crossword puzzle today.
: Welcome, once again, to The Last Day. Today, we’re doing the final two confidant events in the expansion. From here, all that’s left is to kill Maruki.
: Anyway, if you maxed Sumire’s confidant, you get a second IM today. This IM is the only way to get to her Rank 11 - Sumire isn’t even on the map today.
: I sure hope you’re ready for THE SAME GODDAMN EVENT for the eighth time!
: …Wait, why is she her sister again? I thought she got rid of the magic become-my-sister ribbon.
: “Thank you. People always say a messy room means a messy heart, so… um… I asked you here today because I wanted to tell you my decision.”
: “This is where Kasumi and I promised each other we’d be the best in the world. …Pretty much everything in here is the same as in Kasumi’s bedroom. The colors are different, but not much else.”
: “That’s how it always was. Kasumi kept saying we should get the same styles, the same clothes…”
: “Yes. So… when I lost her, I… I just went into shock. I can talk about it now that I have some distance from it, but before, I was too…”
: You know, it just occurred to me - why is she wearing her scarf inside?
: “And because everything happened the way it did, I found ways to go back to being Sumire, one step at a time. I think… I really needed that time I spent as my sister. That’s why I’m grateful to Dr. Maruki.”
: “And that’s why I have something to tell him, too. Or rather… I want to show him that I found a way to face reality. If Dr. Maruki sees how far I’ve come.. I’d like to think it might give him the strength to do the same.”
: “Yes! I’ll be the strongest Sumire Yoshizawa I can be!”
New Persona: Ella
Origin: Technically Greece
Persona 5 Royal Original
In some adaptations of the Cinderella story, the protagonist’s first name is Ella.
: Ella’s final ability is Masquerade, which is one of the best Physical skills in the game. It’s a pity that it gets wasted on a Persona that has no access to Charge.
: “Thank you so much, Akira-senpai. If I hadn’t met you, I’d never have found the strength to face myself. I hope we’ll always be able to count on each other. That way, I won’t ever lose myself again.”
: “Yes! We can help each other reach new heights!”
: I think that’s actually Sumire’s shortest confidant event. It didn’t say much, but at least it wasn’t another 10-choice fuckstrosity.
: “Well, I know it’s a bit early, but I think I’m gonna close up shop for the day. We were so busy today, I ran out of all my ingredients. I don’t even remember the last time that happened. Weird, huh?”
: “Anyway, don’t forget to lock up.”
: “This is Maruki, by the way. I’m actually rather close by… would you mind lending me an ear? There’s something important we need to talk about.”
: “…And, if you do intend to confront me, I believe there’s something you have to give me first.”
: “Thank you. I’ll be at the cafe shortly. See you later.”
: “I caught all of that. Just as we suspected, he knew he’d have to get a calling card. I have no clue how this meeting is going to go down…”
: “Hey, ah… Akira? Just make sure you keep your guard up, okay?”
: “How’s Yoshizawa-san holding up? I’ve been concerned about a potential relapse, considering her difficulties with accepting this reality.”
: “…You know, I would love for that to be the truth. But, people can’t maintain their strength forever, Kurusu-kun. So… getting down to business…”
: “I wanted to confirm with you one last time: is there no other way to come to an agreement besides fighting?”
: “The reality I created may seem distorted from your point of view… but it’s a reality where everyone can be happy. If you just stay, you’ll never have to suffer the pain of loss, or the pain of having people and things stolen away from you!”
: I think you’re about a decade late to stop people suffering the pain of Loss, much less the pain of Dominic Deegan or Something Positive.
: “So… you saw what happened with Rumi. I’m not the one who suffered - she is… but she’s still living a wonderful life right now… in this world you call a ‘distorted reality’.”
: “But she still doesn’t remember you, right? And you’re fine with that?”
: That’s one thing I never really understood about Maruki. If Rumi meant so much to him that he has giant statues of her in his head, why didn’t he just make it so her family never died? After he took over reality, I mean.
: “She may not be in my life anymore, but at least her own life is a happy one now. I’m not just doing this for Rumi - I want all of you to live just as happily as she is.”
: You just fucking said that! Fuck!
: “But for Rumi’s happiness to last, I have to move on. After all that’s happened to her - to me - I just can’t drag her into it…”
: “Doc..”
: “My stance will not change. Strange circumstances have led to my gaining this power - however, I now recognize it as being wholly inevitable.”
: “This is something only I am capable of doing. I promise: every person alive will be happy in the world I create. So, let me ask you the same: after really considering every option, do you have any doubts about your views?”
: Oh, right. You have an opportunity here to get the bad ending - it’s exactly the same one I already posted, just without the time skip.
: “I suppose it’s more accurate to ask, ‘Do you two gentlemen have any doubts?’ You’re here, aren’t you? …Akechi-kun.”
: “…You caught me.”
: “Oh, it was just a hunch. This issue doesn’t only affect you, Kurusu-kun… Akechi-kun, this involves you, too.”
: “What do these two have to do with…?”
: “The relationship you two share is very unusual.. a detective and a phantom thief. Despite being enemies, your relationship isn’t based on hatred or ill will…”
: You know what I would have fucking loved? Have Akechi fucking slam his hands on the table and outright tell Maruki he isn’t Joker’s soft gay pancake boyfriend.
: “That’s why I found it so tragic when I learned what happened in Shido’s Palace…”
: Wait, what. How the fuck does he know about that? That happened before his Persona even fully awakened, and he wasn’t there.
: “Say, Kurusu-kun.. didn’t you regre how things ended with him? You two came to a deep understanding of one another… yet you had no choice but to leave Akechi-kun to his fate.”
: Joker stands up and slams the table. “HE’S NOT MY GODDAMN BOYFRIEND! YUSUKE IS!”
: “That’s why I created a reality where you two could have a fresh start together.”
: This is the one thing Royal’s writers didn’t immediately fold on. Akechi is fucking dead and never coming back.
: “Get what I’m saying? I genuinely didn’t want to tell you like this. I didn’t want to make it seem like I’m holding him hostage…”
: Can’t hold him hostage if no one wants him.
: “But no matter what you may think of me, I just want you all to accept this reality and move on with your happy lives.”
: “…And that matters how, exactly? Don’t tell me you think dangling my life before us is going to have any impact on our decision.”
: “Well, I lacked conclusive evidence… but after I fought against you all, I had a gap in my memory that ended with meeting up with Akira again.”
: “There were also the cases of Wakaba Isshiki and President Okumura… of course I’d find all of that suspicious.”
: “I see… I had a feeling the truth of the matter still wouldn’t dissuade you, Akechi-kun. But how about you, Kurusu-kun?”
: " ‘You think dangling my life before us is going to affect our decision?’ That’s what Akechi-kun said a moment ago. If that’s how you see it at this point, I’m fine with it.."
: Stop fucking repeating shit! Fuck!
: “But I’m still going to ask you, one last time: will you accept the reality I create for you? You were the guiding light to my research. You showed me the way I could make my dream into reality.”
: “I have nothing but gratitude for you - not a single ounce of ill will. That’s why I wanted you of all people to understand..”
: “Perhaps I shouldn’t ask you for an answer on the spot like that. I’ll be going now.”
: Maruki never reads the card, but someone on the Megami Tensei wiki translated it. It reads:
"Takuto Maruki has committed the great sin of creating an overblown self-righteous reality granting people’s wishes. However, we will not soak ourselves in this false happiness, and we will overcome our pain and move forward. As a result, we will not accept your proposed salvation - and therefore, we will steal your distorted desires and take back our future.
From, John Persona."
: “I’ve heard your calling. And, about my question - let’s do this… I’ll be waiting in the Palace tomorrow, just as I promised. If you still haven’t changed your mind by then, we’ll meet there.”
: “But if you don’t show, I’ll take that to mean you’ve accepted my reality. …See you.”
: “…I’d like to speak to Akira.”
: “Akechi… gotcha. I’ll leave the decision up to you, Akira - let me know when you’ve reached an answer.”
: “I refuse to accept a reality concocted by someone else, stuck under their control for the rest of my days.”
: “All you have to do is stick to your guns and challenge Maruki. Or, are you really so spineless that you’d fold over some bullshit, trivial threat on my life?”
: “Then you already know what needs to be done… I want to hear you say it aloud. What do you intend to do?”
: “I won’t wait a moment longer. Answer me.”
: This is the last opportunity to get the bad ending. I’ll borrow some footage after this to show the other bad ending off, which happens if you haven’t cleared the palace by 02/02.
: “All right. I’m relieved to hear it. I will never accept this form of reality. I’m done being manipulated. Let’s go back.. to our true reality.”
New Persona: Hereward
Origin: An Actual Person
Persona 5 Royal Original
Hereward the Wake was an English noble who fought against the Normans in the 11th century, leading a resistance cell in several areas of eastern England. Historical sources are contradictory on what happened to him - some state that he was captured during a siege by the Normans on the Isle of Ely, while others state that he escaped to Scotland. May have been the inspiration for Robin Hood.
: Akechi’s final skill is USELESS. The only thing you’ll be fighting with it is Maruki.. who is a purely multi-target boss that can’t be downed. You also can’t get this earlier than 02/02.
: Next time, we take on Maruki in what is probably the most annoying boss fight in the game.