The Cool Crime of Robbery: Let's Play Persona 5

I love that, of the three things to suggest for the newspaper club member to write about, suggesting yourself is somehow the best one. “Hello, yes, I think you should write about that transfer student, who is hot and mysterious and everyone loves him, actually,” is still better than, “So there was this magical castle with a talking cat…”

So Kamoshida is pure evil

That’s what it looks like. Or at least has done some shitty things, and is going to get absolutely mind broken when he inevitably gets defeated. Cue tears and admissions of being a monster.

One of my favorite little voice acting moments is when Ryuji goes “A Ca-Castle?”

It legit sounds like the VA flubbed it but it worked super well with the scene. So far so good with the LP!

my favorite thing is when he says “FOR REAL!” I laugh every time.

[details=Part 6]Part 6: 4/12

I feel exhausted. Maybe it’s because of all the weird stuff that’s been happening to me…


Music: Aria of the Soul

Maaku wakes up in the Velvet Room once more.

On your feet, Inmate!
Our master wishes to speak with you. It’s for your own sake that you take his words to heart.
First off, let us celebrate our reunion. Oh…? You’ve awakened to your powers. And special ones at that. Your rehabilitation can finally begin.

There is no need to understand it all for the time being. You will be training the power of Persona, which you have awakened to. Personas are, in other words, a “mask”–an armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters. I have high expectations for you.

There is no need to worry. You will learn when the time comes. By the by… have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator? Using it will allow you to come and go between reality and Palaces.

…I bestowed it to you as a means to train you as a thief.
The Metaverse Navigator is a gift from our master! You better take care in using it, Inmate!
Devote yourself to your training so that you may become a fine thief.
It must be disheartening to make use of the Metaverse Navigator alone. Should there be others who would prove beneficial to you, I will grant it to them as well. This is all for you to grow as a most excellent thief…
Hmph, it’s time. Go back and enjoy whatever rest you might have…

Music: Beneath the Mask (Instrumental Version)

Fate… and awakening…? More importantly… I need to hurry and get ready for school…

Didn’t you hear? The guy totally lost it. It’s been happening a lot lately.
All these accidents are because people are suddenly losing their minds, right?
Well, between the economy sucking and how depressing the news always is, it’s not that surprising.

On the path to school, we get another opportunity to eavesdrop.

I am not looking forward to that. Why’d I have to be on the same team as Takamaki? She’s only a magazine model because of her stupid ridiculous body. Being near her disgusts me.
Yeah, but we can’t just ignore her, either, because of what happened with Mr. Kamoshida.
Dealing with her is such a hassle. I wish she’d just not come to school.

Seems like the other students have something against Takamaki.

Anyway, time for class.

Music: So Boring

Hmph… You all look like you’ve been spoiled growing up. Before we learn society’s rules, maybe I should start with the rules of being a decent human being. Hey, new kid.

The Greek philosopher Plato divided the human soul into three parts. A soul is composed of appetite, spirit, and what else?

Correct. So you knew that, huh? Plato’s teacher, Socrates, said that evil is born from ignorance. People who’ve been babied, taught that evil is due to individuality, can only become society’s scum.

He seems like a punk, but maybe he’s actually serious about studying?
I feel like I got a little smarter from being able to answer that question…

Aw shucks.


This right here is our social stats screen. The five stats in this game are Knowledge, Charm, Kindness, Proficiency, and Guts. These aren’t terribly relevant yet, but in the future these are going to be the bane of my fucking existence. They still don’t show you how close you are to the next rank, too, which is really frustrating.

From that we got Knowledge +1. I’m not sure if different activities have different outputs in regards to what’s displayed, but I am fairly certain that the five stats have wildly different thresholds in regards to how much is needed to rank up. Knowledge takes forever, for example, while Proficiency can be done far more quickly.

Bizarre incidents have been occurring frequently. Those are but the actions of such scum. We don’t need crude people like that in this school. Understand?

After class ends…

Music: Disquiet

You looking for a ride home? Things have been pretty dangerous lately with all those accidents.
Sorry, I have a photoshoot today. It’s for the special summer issue, so I can’t afford to miss it…
Hey, now… Being a model’s fine and dandy, but don’t work your pretty little self to the bone. You mentioned you weren’t feeling well, right? Something about appendicitis?
Yes, I keep planning to go to the hospital, but I’ve been too busy… Sorry to worry you.
You must be lonely too. I feel bad for keeping your best friend at practice so often. That’s why I asked you out in the first place. Oh, and… be careful around that transfer student. He’s got a criminal record, after all. If something were to happen to you…
…Thank you. Please excuse me.

Holy shit, what a dirtbag.

Music: Suspicion


I wanna talk about that castle from yesterday. I tried tellin’ myself it was all just a dream… but I couldn’t do it. I can’t act like nothing happened. It’s all connected to that bastard Kamoshida, after all. I wanna find out what’s up with that place, no matter what. And y’know, you’re the only person I can rely on for this stuff. So, you in?

Ooh… Looks like I managed to talk some sense into you. I think we should just try and retrace our steps from yesterday. In the meantime, you’re walkin’ to the station, right? Let’s go together. Lemme know if you notice any other weird buildings on the way.
Ryuji doesn’t seem like a bad guy. I should probably just go along with this…

When’d they build something like that though? We walked that way from here, right?

When you put it that way, I’m not so sure anymore… …All right, this way. Lemme know if you notice something.

We’re at school… There wasn’t anything out of place along the way, right? I didn’t see no castle either… …We must’ve made a wrong turn somewhere. Let’s try again.

C’mon, you gotta stick with me to the end. Let’s go.

One more attempt later…

Is it smaller than we think it is? What do you think?

I already did that. I didn’t see anything like it around here… Huh? Phone… Hey, that reminds me—didn’t you have a navigation app thingy on, back then?

I dunno if it was or not, but I heard stuff that sounded like one comin’ from your phone. Y’know, didn’t it say stuff like “returned to the real world” or something like that? Lemme see your phone for a bit.


What’s this eyeball-lookin’ thing?

Wait, what? What a weird app… …Oh wait, this is it!

Oh man, I’m such a genius! Let’s try usin’ it.

Why? All we’re doin’ is startin’ an app.
Kamoshida… Shujin Academy… Pervert… Castle… Beginning navigation.
There we go! …Then, we went in a certain direction, and–

…Huh? What the hell!?




Music: Desire


…Yeargh! Those clothes…!

That happened last time too, huh!? What’s with that outfit!?

You LIKE it!? What’s goin’ on jere!? This makes no effin’ sense at all…

Stop making a commotion.
Ah… You!?
The Shadows started acting up, so I came here wondering what it could be… …To think you guys would come back to the entrance when you barely managed to escape.
What is this place? …Is it the school?
That’s right.
But it’s a castle!
This castle IS the school. …But only to this castle’s ruler.
The castle’s ruler…?
I think you called him Kamoshida? It’s how his distorted heart views the school.
Kamoshida… Distorted…? Explain it in a way that makes sense!

These games always need one party member who needs everything explained thoroughly to them just in case the player’s even denser than they are.

I shouldn’t have expected a moron to get it…
What’d you say!?

What was that!?
It must be the slaves captive here.
For real!?

The screaming continues.

Oh, shit… It’s for real! We saw other guys held captive here yesterday… I’m pretty sure they’re from our school.
Most likely on Kamoshida’s orders. It’s nothing out of the ordinary; Ir’s like that every day here. What’s more, you two escaped yesterday. He must have lost his temper quite a bit.
That son of a bitch…!
Ryuji…?
…This is bullshit!

You hear me, Kamoshida!?
Doing that isn’t going to open it, you know… Still, it seems you have your reasons.
Hey, Monamona!

Do you know where those voices are comin’ from?
You want me to take you to them? …Well, I guess I could guide you there. But only if he comes with us.

……
I just want to get a better look at your powers. Even if you don’t agree, I bet this guy’ll go on even if he has to do it alone. Are you gonna leave him?

It’s settled then!
For real…!? …Thanks, man.
All right, let’s do this. Follow me!

Ain’t that where we escaped outta last time…?
That’s right. Not barging in through the entrance is one of the basics of phantom thievery.
How’re we supposed to know about that stuff…?
I’ll make sure to teach you as we go. Come on, follow me!
So, uh… sorry for draggin’ you into all of this… But I can’t just forgive that bastard Kamoshida doin’ whatever the hell he wants! Really though, thanks for comin’ along. I owe you big time!

Music: King, Queen, and Slaves (Another Version)

Mm-hm. Now, make sure you do exactly as I say, all right? …Follow me!


The room changes appearance suddenly, then changes back.

I was seein’ double or something just now…! Was that Shujin!?
I’ve told you before. This place is your school. Regardless, we don’t have the time to stand around. Who knows when a shadow might show up. Come on, this way!


It looks like we won’t be able to avoid conflict from this point forward.
F-For real…?
Oh well. I’ll just teach you the basics of battle right now. You had better remember all of this. As a rule of thumb, try to ambush as many enemies as you can. Attack them from behind whenever possible. You’ll need to rip off their masks to momentarily break the control the Palace ruler has over them. If you succeed, the enemy will be caught off guard, allowing us to jump in for a preemptive attack.


So we wanna ambush ‘em and go for the first strike… All right, I got it!
Uh, you know you’re just going to be watching, right? You can’t use a Persona… Anyway, let’s go!

Simple enough.

Sneak up behind, tear off the mask…

…and get to act first in battle.

However, ambushing can really mess you up sometimes if you’re not careful, because the enemy gets two actions after your party acts: Once guaranteed after the full party goes, and then again after the order resets and it gets its usual action. If it’s a strong enemy it might get to act twice in a row, and if it’s hitting weaknesses it can be even more than that. It’s a bad scene all around. I’m not saying don’t ambush, but know what you’re getting into if you can’t kill the enemy in one turn.

Music: Last Surprise (Probably listen to this)

Also worth noting is that we get our first taste of the battle theme here, Last Surprise. You can listen to it now, but for the true experience of reading this update just play the first ten seconds, stop, then repeat 3 times or so, because you’re not gonna hear any more of it than that fighting these enemies.


Quiet down!
Oh yeah, there were more of ‘em further in too…!
They might have been transferred already…

It would be a problem if they discovered us now… Hey, let’s head into that room. We should be able to hide in there until they leave.

Music: Wicked Plan

gasp pant How can you tell?
There’s a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler’s control over this area is weak.


Now do you understand? This place is another reality that the ruler’s heart projects.
This is Kamoshida’s reality…? Shit makes no sense at all!
One could say it’s a world in which one’s distorted desires have materialized. I call such a place a “Palace.”
A Palace…?
This is happening because he thinks the school is his own castle.
So, it became like this ‘cause he just thought of it like that!? Hahaha… That son of a bitch!
You must really hate this Kamoshida guy.
Hate doesn’t even cover how I feel. Everything is that asshole’s fault!
I don’t know what happened between you two, but don’t let your emotions get the better of you. His lackeys are everywhere inside.

Yeah, I’m curious as hell about it too.
That’s also because of this world.
More stuff that makes no sense…
Anything distorts according to how a ruler pleases within his Palace. A school can turn into a castle like this, after all. In order to prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion. Your appearance is a manifestation of that. It’s the image of rebellion that you hold within.
Uuugh, I’m so fed up with all this! I’m more curious about you than his clothes! What the hell are you anyways!?


This is, well… It’s because I lost my true form. …I think.
You think?
But I do know how to regain my true form. The reason why I snuck in here was for a preliminary investigation of those means. Well, I ended up getting caught though… Besides, I’ve been tortured by Kamoshida too! I’m gonna make him pay for sure!
What is this, a comic book? This is seriously crazy…
If we’re gonna keep going, we should hurry along. I’ll be counting on your skills this time too, rookie. Got it?
Don’t worry, I’m not gonna force it all on you. I thought it might help, so…

Ryuji, did you bring a gun to school?

That’s a toy!
But it looks totally real, so it’ll at least fake ‘em out. I brought some medicine too. You know what they say: “Providin’ is pre…something.” Huh? Huh?
So you were planning this from the start… Well, fine. If you’re ready to go, we’ll resume our infiltration.

And so we obtain the sacred power of GUN.

Let’s use this time to sort through our current situation.

Music: Have a Short Rest

Safe rooms are a new concept to the series. They let you warp between them, leave the Palace, save, check your progress, serve as checkpoints when you die, and even let you use special healing items within them.


And what of the slaves?
They’re all in the training hall. I’d assume they’re screaming in pain by now.
Very well. By the way, I heard we may have intruders around. Stay on your guard.

Did you hear that?

I think that’s just a little further ahead. Let’s go!

The way to the training hall should be just past those bars…
So… what’re we gonna do? Do we gotta fight it?
Seems so. Just don’t let it notice you beforehand… If it does, the Palace’s security level will rise.


Being forced to leave the palace at 100% is dire indeed. We’ll have to take care not to get caught too many times.


Being at 0% is awesome because you can just ambush from wherever you want. It’s great. You can be smack dab in front of their face and as long as they haven’t “noticed” you you’re golden.

One fight later…


Yeah, it’s a little further. Make sure you watch out for any guards along the way.

No, nobody yet…
Shoot… I had a feeling there would be a lot of enemies. It’d be impossible to dodge all of them…
Then, what do we do? Should we try and take ‘em down like before?
It’s not that simple. We still have a long way to go, so we should be conserving energy.
I-I see… Sorry… Dammit, I wish I could fight… I’d at least be able to help out a little bit… But all I got is this toy from earlier… I’m such a loser.
Huh? Do you mean that gun?
Yeah… It looks real n’ all, but it doesn’t shoot anything…
I see… Well, there is a way… Okay, we’ll use that to take down the enemies!
What!? Were you listenin’ to me? It don’t even shoot pellets…
Don’t worry, I’m sure this’ll work. Attack away, Frizzy Hair!

Wait, dude! I keep sayin’, it’s not gonna fire anything!

You have the gun with you, right? Point it at a Shadow and fire!





Guns are a good source of knockdowns against enemies weak to it. A lot of winged enemies are weak to Gun, for the record. There’s a price, however…

How about that? Surprised? Be mindful of how much ammo you have left!


Limited ammo. There are ways to restore ammo but they’re not very good. While it’s technically true that dumping an entire clip into an enemy will generally do more damage than a physical attack, there’s no reason to, especially because ammo is so limited and you’re generally not going to be upgrading your gun for better damage very often. It’s pretty much never worth it. Of course, weapon types vary across party members, and have different ammo counts and do different amounts of damage.

Morgana for instance, has a Bart Simpson-esque slingshot…

…that he wastefully tears through ammunition with.

This is a cognitive world. As long as our opponent sees it as real, it becomes such. It’s a good thing it’s realistic-looking.
…I don’t get it.
I wasn’t expecting someone with your brains to understand. How about you, Frizzy Hair? Did you get what I said?

I feel kind of bad for Ryuji, constantly getting shit on by this fucking cat.

Maybe I was expecting too much…
Wait, if it’s better havin’ something realistic, why do you got that slingshot!? And it was just as strong as a goddamn gun! What about your whole cognitive whatever!?
W-Well, um… sigh Fine, you can choose to understand it however you want. Oh, by the way, we should decide how we divvy up our roles in battle from here on out.
He totally dodged my question…
As you can see, there are quite a lot of enemies. It’ll be important to coordinate our moves well. I can keep providing intel for us, but you should decide how we fight, Frizzy Hair.
Whaddya mean by “how we fight”?
Basically, what we do in battle. He can order us directly, or let us decide what we do. …Though I guess I’m the only other one fighting right now…




So, we can set Morgana to take orders from us from now on, which the game helpfully does for us.


We can also automatically use skills that will hit the enemy’s weakness, if we know it.


Finally, to speed up trash fights, we can use Rush, which will quickly make every party member auto-melee.

You guys gonna take it down again?
I guess that’s our only choice… But wait, this might be a good time… Okay, I’ve decided! I’m going to teach you two a special way to fight enemies!

Something like that! Let’s go!

First, knock down all the enemies! Everything starts with that crucial step!

All right! Now rush on in for an All-out Attack!




All-out Attacks are better and more stylish than they’ve ever been, and in this game every character gets a unique pose for starting one that defeats all enemies. It’s awesome.

Wh-What was that super-move thing you just did!?
I told you, it’s called an All-out Attack. If you manage to knock all the enemies down, you might be able to use it to beat them all at once.
Yeah… That was over quick…
It’s a concentrated attack on defenseless enemies, after all. Now as I mentioned before, I want you to be the head of our command. You can decide when we use this.



That last bit is important; if Maaku or everyone but Maaku are incapacitated for one reason or another, no All-out Attacking.

Kamoshida’s… Training Hall… of Love…? What kinda bullshit is this!?


Music: Desire

The slaves are repeatedly beaten with sticks by the guards.

How many times do I have to tell you to keep your voice down!?
But this is beyond messed up! How do I open this…?


Huh!?

You’re tellin’ me you wanna stay in a place like this!?
Wait a minute… Were you planning on taking these guys out of here?
We can’t just leave ‘em here!
How stupid can you be…?
What!?
These are only humans in Kamoshida’s cognition. They aren’t real humans that have entered from reality. They’re different from you two.
Cognition…?
It means there’s no point in saving them! They’re different from the real ones in the real world. You could say that these are extremely similar-looking dolls.
The hell!? Why’s it gotta be so complicated!? So the school’s a castle, and the students are slaves… It’s so on point that it makes me laugh. This really is the inside of that asshole’s head…!
Still, this is horrible. It must mean he treats them as slaves in the real world too.
In the real world too…? Wait, I know these guys… They’re members of the volleyball team—the one Kamoshida coaches for!
They must be physically abused every day… There’s no way they’d be so beat up normally.
Don’t tell me… They’re going through similar shit in reality!?
Most likely. I mean, this proves that Kamoshida thinks of them as slaves.
So it might be for real… I heard that Kamoshida’s usin’ physical punishment. They’re just rumors, but… If they’re true, wouldn’t this be somethin’ to report to the police…? I’ll use these guys as evidence.


We can use the navigation app, but the camera’s a no go!?
A navigation app?
That’s what we used to come here. What about yours?

My camera app won’t open.
Whatever you do is fine, but we’re gonna get caught if we stand around like this. We need to head back!
Hang on a sec! There’s no other way… I’ll just memorize their faces before goin’ home!

Time to gather evidence.

Urghh… Please, no more…

Students run on a treadmill towards a pot.

Not givin’ athletes water even for tough trainin’ is a common thing in the real world too… That sack of shit…! I’m gonna try and memorize all these guys’ faces before we go back… Mkay, I’m done. Let’s check and see if there’re any more!

It hurts… It hurts…!

A cannon repeatedly fires explosive volleyballs at a student.

The hell…? This ain’t trainin’ at all… It’s just violence! This means he’s been doin’ something similar in reality too, right…? Damn that bastard…!

What, exactly, is similar to this? This is just insane.

I know, I know… Just gimme a sec. I’ll memorize ‘em quick.
Hey, are you done yet!? We’re cutting it close here!
Don’t freak me out like that, you goddamn moron! Anyways, I got all of ‘em!
Then let’s stop wasting time! We need to scram!



Chances of intruder activity are extremely high! All personnel, increase security measures!





To think you’d make the same mistake again. You’re hopeless!
The school ain’t your castle! I’ve memorized their faces real good. You’re goin’ down!
It seems it’s true when they say “barking dogs seldom bite.” How far the star runner of the track team has fallen.
The hell are you gettin’ at!?
I speak of the “Track Traitor” who acted in violence, ending his teammates’ dreams. Oh, I can only imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under with your… selfish act.
Ngh…

What a surprise. So you’re accompanying him without knowing anything at all? He betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever.

You’ve come along with this fool and are now going to end up dead. …How unlucky of you. Go. Kill them all. Don’t sully my castle with garbage.

Ryuji, move!





Morgana goes down.


And swiftly enough, so does Maaku.


No…
What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly… How dare you raise your hand at me. Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?

It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me! That coach who got fired was hopeless too… Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would’ve settled it with only breaking his star’s leg.
…What?
Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defense anyway!
Dammit… Am I gonna lose again…? Not only can I not run anymore… the track team is gone too ‘cause of this asshole…!
So that’s why…
Once these two are dealt with, you’re next. Hahahaha…!
Ryuji!

…You’re right. Everything that was important to me was taken by him… I’ll never get ‘em back…!
Stay there and watch. Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you.

All you think about is using people… You’re the real scumbag, Kamoshida!


Music: Awakening

Ryuji’s Awakening (Watch this)




Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc…? The “other you” who exists within desires it thus…

There’s no turning back…







Music: Will Power



Ugh… This one as well!?

Kamoshida must be getting real sick of these fucking teenagers bleeding face blood all over his castle.

This effin’ rocks! Now that I got this power, it’s time for payback… Yo, I’m ready…



The guard transforms into another Shadow.

So, Ryuji’s joined our party now, and he brings with him maybe my favorite Persona design. Maybe. There’s some good ones.

Captain Kidd was a Scottish pirate (or maybe not, there’s apparently some debate about this). He is, notably, not fictional, but the legend that he left behind treasure after his death inspired works such as Treasure Island and motherfucking One Piece.

Ryuji fills an interesting niche we haven’t seen bef—He’s Kanji. He’s Kanji almost exactly, down to the Electricity/Physical affinity and shit SP pool. And he’s the good Kanji from Golden, not the bad one from vanilla. The only meaningful differences are that Kanji got the Elec buffs and Ryuji gets multitarget physical attacks, but that’s kinda it.

Ryuji is voiced by Max Mittelman (and Mamoru Miyano in Japanese), who’s honestly pretty great even if I did spend the last few months complaining it wasn’t Ben Diskin. He’s a newer VA whose most prominent role is almost certainly that of Saitama in One Punch Man.[/details]

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Pirate Ryuji is definitely rad as hell, even if I don’t like his mask as much as Maaku’s.

Captain Kidd is probably one of my favorite Personas ever. Honestly a lot of the Party Based Personas are super good, but I just love the pirate surfing on a boat.

[details=Part 7]Part 7: 4/12-4/13

We just got Ryuji. Time to fight.

Music: Will Power

Kamoshida’s cognition ain’t changin, right? Then I’ll act like the troublemaker I am!


Ryuji uses Electric and Physical skills, as I said last update. He doesn’t actually know any physical strikes at the moment, though, leaving just plain ol’ Zio to knock down these enemies. We won’t be using Zio all that much because of Ryuji’s garbage SP pool, but it’s handy nonetheless.



This is not a very trying fight.

Music: Disquiet

…How ‘bout that!?
Whoa… So Ryuji had the potential too…
Even if you apologize now… I ain’t forgivin’ you!
I told you that this is my castle. It seems you still don’t understand…


Oh…!

What’s going on…!?

Yeah, now that you mention it… But why is she even here!?

How many times must I tell you until you understand? This is MY castle—a place in which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me. …That is, everyone besides slow-witted thieves like you.
Takamaki! Say somethin’!
Calm down, Ryuji! It seems that girl isn’t the real one. She’s the same as those slaves—a being made from Kamoshida’s cognition of her!
Are you jealous? Well, I’m not surprised. Women aren’t drawn to problematic punks like you.
Dammit…!
Clean them up this instant!

We’re outnumbered… Let’s scram before we get surrounded!
We’re not gonna do anything and just run!?

Thank god you’ve got a level head.
Ngh… Fine. We’ll expose what you really are, no matter what! You better be ready for us…!
Hahaha! I was beginning to get bored of torturing the ones here! Come at me whenever you want, if you don’t care about your life! Haaaahahahaha!
Ignore him. Let’s go!

pant Anyways! I don’t remember changin’ into this!

Uhh… Should I be happy about that? …Then again, it ain’t as bad as yours.
Did you find them!?
Quiet!
No. Search that way!
So what’s goin’ on? I’m completely lost, man…!
I told you before. When a Persona-user opposes a Palace’s ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens. It’s to prevent you from being affected by distortions.
Is this… a skull?
Your appearance reflects you inner self. It’s the rebel that slumbers within… …Not that you’ll get it.
Nope…
Then stop asking questions and accept what you see for what it is.
Easy for you to say. gasp Wait, we’re in deep shit!
I said to be quiet!
We might’ve gotten away here, but we’re still screwed with Kamoshida at the real school…
That’s quite sharp of you! …For being an idiot. Relax. The Kamoshida in reality can’t possibly know about what happens here. A Shadow is the true self that is suppressed—a side of one’s personality they don’t want to see.
…So we’re OK?
Did the Kamoshida in reality remember about the execution?

There you have it.
All right! Now that we know that, all we gotta do is–
Wait. I guided you as promised. It’s your turn to cooperate with me.

That’s why I was super nice about teaching you idiots everything.
Huh? Cooperate?
Don’t you remember? I originally came here for an investigation. I need to erase the distortion from my body and regain my real form! That’s why we must delve deep into Mementos and–
Whoa, hold up. What’re you goin’ on and on about? We never said anything about helpin’ you out.

Music: My Homie

Huh? Don’t tell me… Are you not going to repay the hospitality I showed you? Especially you! You’re going to up and leave, even though you’re already part of my master plan!?

Is it because I’m not human…? Because I’m like a cat…? Is that why you’re making a fool of me!?
We’re busy! Thanks for everything, cat. You’ve got guts, bein’ a cat and all! See you around!
Hey! What the hell!? Ugh, seriously! Why’re you wrapping this up like everything’s hunky-dory!?

Music: Break it Down (Elp Version)

…Thank god. We’re back. I dragged you around a lot, huh? …Sorry, man. Ugh, I’m dead tired… How you holdin’ up?

Me too… Man, I’m gonna sleep like a rock when I get home. But damn, if what we saw was for real, this is gonna get good! I totally remember the faces of the guys Kamoshida was treatin’ like slaves. Once we make ‘em fess up to any physical abuse, Kamoshida will be done. So… wanna help me look for those guys or any witnesses?

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! Hey, so… If you’re thinkin’ of layin’ low ‘cause you got a record, I don’t think that’ll help… Everyone already knows. They totally got you pegged as a criminal.

Kamoshida opened his damn mouth!

No one else besides a teacher could’ve leaked it that fast! It doesn’t matter if it’s a student or a club; that asshole just wrecks things he doesn’t agree with. Just like he did with me…! No one’ll take anything I say seriously. Still, those rumors about him gettin’ physical might be real. And after seein’ Kamoshida’s distorted-heart thing in person, there’s no way I can just sit back!

We should know what we’re getting into, man. I’m not saying don’t do it, but this could have unforeseen consequences.

You gotta do this! I’ll help out too!
nods
I’m countin’ on you! Don’t worry; I’m hyped about this too!

Music: Interrogation Room


However, you did not. There are merits to having associates… That’s what you decided. Am I wrong?

Music: The Spirit



So, we’ve unlocked our first Confidant. These are just a themed version of the Social Links from 3 and 4. The tarot motifs return and everything. Speaking of which, Ryuji is not, in fact, the Magician, as one might think from his similarity in role to Junpei and Yosuke. He is instead the Chariot, which symbolizes concepts like determination and will power, but also a lack of control and aggression when reversed.

Right. I haven’t eaten anything since lunch. It’d be weird splittin’ off now, so why don’t we grab a bite somewhere?

Just follow me. I mean, I totally gotta hear about your past!

The hell, man! How much shittier can that asshole get!?

Are you for real? If it was me, I wouldn’t calm down until I punched that dick in the face. So… you left your hometown, and… you’re livin’ here now, huh? We might be more alike than I originally thought.

I don’t got a record like you do. I mean, that’s not the point. I guess it’s how we’re treated like a pain in the ass by the people around us, like we don’t belong. I did something stupid at school before, too.

Ryuji shovels the entire bowl into his mouth and slams it onto the counter.

The place you’re livin’ now is in… Yongen, right? It’s rush hour on the subways. I suggest you kill some time before headin’ home.


Ryuji places more of… something into your bowl.

Just lemme do it. I gotta thank you for helpin’ me. Anyways, I got your back like you got mine from tomorrow on. As long as we do something about Kamoshida, I’m sure we’ll both feel better about bein’ at school. Oh, yeah!


By “occasionally” they of course mean “constantly.” The deluge of messages in this game never ceases.

Just you wait, Kamoshida… We’re gonna start right away tomorrow. First, let’s hit up those guys that were kept as slaves. The volleyball rally’s tomorrow, huh? Shit’s recommended by Kamoshida. Makes me wanna gag. But thanks to that, we got no classes in the afternoon, and we can walk around unnoticed. Well, I guess we can work out the details tomorrow…


Meanwhile, at school…

I-I haven’t been sleeping well lately… Whenever I close my eyes, I keep thinking about too many things…
Shiho…

Music: Confession/Secret

Nationals are coming up soon, so I keep thinking… Should someone like me really be on the starting lineup…?
Don’t worry. Just be confident in yourself! Your skills have been recognized! It’s all because you work harder than anyone else!
…… Yeah… Volleyball’s all I have, after all…
More importantly, was that injury OK? It looked really swollen.
No, it’s nothing. It’s normal… Especially because a meet’s coming up…
……

Um… Mr. Kamoshida told me to get you.
Huh? What does he want…?
He didn’t say…
…… Ann, I…
…… It’ll be fine! I bet it’s a meeting about the starting lineup or something.
…… …Yeah. Well, I better go…
Yup. Good luck!

Shiho and the quiet student leave.

Hang in there, Shiho…!

Music: Beneath the Mask (Instrumental Version)

I take it you actually went to school today?

I guess you learned your lesson after what happened yesterday. Eh, as long as you’re not getting into trouble, it’s fine by me. I don’t know what you’ve been up to, but trust me, you’ll be gone if you start causing problems. In case you forget, your life is not a free one right now.
nods



You’re a bro, man… Welp, seeya tomorrow! Let’s save those guys who’ve been getting abused. You and me.
…Sheesh, are you even listening to me? Just stay away from bad influences, OK? Hey, I’m gonna head home for the night. I’ll lock the store up. Don’t go wandering out.


We ended up at that weird place when we used this nav app, right?

I deleted it earlier, but it came back… Think it’s being downloaded on its own somehow?

Basically, it’s gonna depend on how we use it. But first we gotta find evidence for the beatings. I’m counting on you, all right? Don’t go ditching school on me.



Music: Aria of the Soul


I thought about resuming our previous conversation tonight. That is why I have summoned you. What are your thoughts? Are you becoming accustomed to this place?

Ah, glad to hear it. It seems you have nerves of steel. Your rehabilitation determines if ruin can be stopped. Yet, such a feat cannot be done by you alone. But today, you entered a partnership with someone who awoke to the same power, haven’t you?

Involving yourself with others is an important foundation for your recovery. You’ve done well. That said, I am not advising the formation of superficial relationships. It must not be of frivolity, but a ring of those, who would, by morals or faith, lend you their strength. In other words, they are bonds with those who have been robbed of their places to belong. The expansion of said ring will, in return, help you mature as well.
Personas are the strength of heart… The stronger the bonds that surround you, the more power your Personas will gain.
There are countless people in the city who have talents that a weakling like you doesn’t. You better rack that noggin of yours and get them on your side. We’ll change that into power.



So yeah, just Social Links under a new name. But, there’s more, and that’s where this gets way more compelling.

Indeed. You should be prepared to use even myself, or your ambitions will not come to fruition. chuckle We have a deal then.
It feels like Igor has high expectations of me…

Igor is Fool, for the record, which symbolizes beginnings and free-spiritedness, but also naïveté. It applies more to the protagonist than to Igor, which is why it’s actually the protagonist’s Arcana. The Fool Arcana is special because it’s the number 0, which on its own symbolizes emptiness and possibility. All the protagonists of the more recent Persona games were of the Fool Arcana, and it grants special abilities to those blessed with it. I could be coy about it but there’s really no point: it’s the power to control multiple Personas.


What really elevates the Confidants above Social Links is that each of them provides specific abilities. Wild Talk lets us negotiate with enemy Shadows during a Hold Up instead of proceeding into an All-out Attack, while Arcana Burst gives bonus experience from fusion based on the Confidant Rank of the resulting Persona’s Arcana. We’ll go more into what those mean for us when we get to them.

Well, you will understand it all in due time… Continue devoting yourself to your rehabilitation.
Now this conversation’s over! Get lost, Inmate!

The next morning…

And why are they pitting us against the teacher team? Kamoshida’s gonna crush us.
We get to see his technique live and in person, though. We should totally get spiked on!
Yeah, OK. You’re gonna get your face smashed in. Just look at how banged up the volleyball team is. What the hell goes on during their practices?

Music: So Boring

As you all know, today is the volleyball rally. Head to the gymnasium once you’ve changed. Got it?

Volleyball

Kamoshida spikes…


…and the student fails to return.



So, if I’m understanding this correctly, this volleyball rally is just an excuse for the teachers, primarily Kamoshida, to dunk all over every student in school. What the hell is the stated point of this?








They show this spike from three different angles, because Kamoshida’s just that good.



The same student takes the spike right to the face.




Someone! Take him to the nurse’s office!




And Kamoshida continues on without breaking stride.

Later…

Music: Tokyo Emergency

Get to know each other better, my ass. It’s just a one-man show for him to stroke his ego. And how he acted like he was worried about Mishima? What an abusive d-bag…! …Well, anyways. Now’s our chance to go look for the guys we saw were slaves yesterday. Let’s look for the faces we saw at the castle. All the members of the team should be here today. I’ll be sure to find someone to spill about Kamoshida’s physical abuse. Just you wait, asshole.

The first one that popped out was a guy from Class D, so let’s start from there. That’s your class. Hopefully you can get him to talk without any issues. People have been avoidin’ me lately, so… Oh, but you’re kinda in the same boat, huh.



Returning from Persona 4 is the incredibly useful ability to warp around the map. The areas in P5 are generally a lot bigger, so it’s a life-saver.





The rumors are only getting worse. Now we’ve got multiple convictions for murder and pull knives on people.

Let’s see if newspaper girl knows anything.

I can’t… Every time I try to look into them, the higher-ups of our school pressure me out of it.
The hell!? So Kamoshida’s pullin’ strings behind the scenes?
…Can we stop this? I’d rather not get in trouble for talking to you guys.
Tch, fine…

Are you skipping out on the volleyball rally? I guess I expect it from you, transfer.
Hey, that’s the guy who was over at the castle.
You too, Sakamoto!? What do you guys want…?

What!? Wh-What are you saying? Of course not.
It’s Kamoshida, ain’t it? Look, I ain’t gonna tell anyone you squealed. Just tell us about how Kamoshida’s abusin’ you.
I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!

I’m not! You guys are talking complete nonsense!
Don’t try n’ hide it! We already know!
You… You know? You have proof?
Well, uh… I…
This is ridiculous. Please, leave me alone. You’re really bothering me!
…All right, that’s enough. C’mon, let’s go.

Crap. If we keep goin’ at this pace, the ball game’s gonna end…

Guess that’d be faster. I’ll check the Practice Building for people before clubs start. You handle the Classroom Building. There’s a third-year on the volleyball team that I remember. I think he’s in… 3-C? He might be around his classroom. The third-year classrooms are on the first floor. He was gettin’ beat pretty badly at the castle. He might have some injuries here too… Anyways, I’ll hit you up if I find anything. Seeya!

I know. I hate rumors already, but they’re only getting more and more complex as time goes on.
I wonder if he’s all right… I hope he’s not letting it get to him too much.
That’s just like you, Shiho. Always worrying about other people before yourself. Kinda like when you were there for me…


We’ve been discovered!



…It’s from practice.
Hey, I know who this guy is. He’s that transfer student who’s been hanging out with Sakamoto…
Oh, I get it. You’re trying to snoop on Mr. Kamoshida, right? Look, our volleyball team performs at a national level. Of course our practices are gonna be tough. Mr. Kamoshida’s just dedicated to training us. Don’t believe everything Sakamoto says.

D-Don’t talk like you know!
Hey, we should stop talking to him. What if he loses it and starts attacking us? I heard he even carries a knife around. Who knows what he’s capable of.


Him too…? Man, everyone’s too freaked out about Kamoshida. But I still got a lead. A first-year, new member. He just joined, so he might not be all wrapped up in Kamoshida’s web of bullshit yet. Pretty sure he’s in class 1-B. Try the first-year classrooms. They’re up on the third floor!

Up on the third floor, we find our target.

Whaddya want?

Wh-What…!? Why would you say something like that? I mean, sure Mr. Kamoshida’s strict, but it’s like this for all the other sports teams, right? Though, the special coaching he gave Mishima-senpai was prolly too far… O-Oh, uh… I seriously don’t know anything! Sorry!

P-Please… just stop talking to me… Ask someone else if you wanna know anything more…
Attention, attention.


So you didn’t have any luck either… Mkay, let’s regroup for now. See you in the courtyard?

Music: Disquiet


It’ll be quick. Anyway, what’s with you? Like, how you were late the other day was a lie and all. …There’s that weird rumor about you too.
Whaddya want with him?

…We just happened to get to know each other.
What’re you planning on doing to Mr. Kamoshida?
Huh!? …I see. I getcha. You’re all buddy-buddy with Kamoshida after all.
This has nothing to do with you, Sakamoto!
If you found out what he’s been doin’ behind your back, you’d dump him right away.
Behind my back…? What’s that supposed to mean…?
You wouldn’t get it.
Anyway, people are already talking about you two. I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but no one’s gonna help you. I’m warning you, just in case. That’s all.


We just went to the same middle school. Anyways, that’s not what we’re here to talk about. I had no luck on my end. What about you? Did anything like someone’s name turn up?

Huh? I don’t get where you’re goin’ with that…
It might have been a different name…

Huh…? …Special “coaching,” huh? True. I always see the guy covered in bruises. Let’s go talk to him before he leaves then.

Sakamoto…? And you, too…!?
C’mon, we just wanna chat. Kamoshida’s been “coaching” you, huh? You sure it’s not just physical abuse?

What’re you talkin’ all polite for? Anyways… We saw him spike you today. Right in the face.
That was just because I’m not good a the sport…
Still, that doesn’t explain all the other bruises you’ve got.
They’re from practice…!
Is he forcin’ you to keep quiet?
That’s…

Mishima, isn’t it time for practice?
I-I’m not feeling well today…
What? Maybe you’re better off quitting then. You’re never going to improve that crappy form unless you show up to practice.

Well, Mishima? Are you coming to practice or not?
…I’ll go.

Bastard…
Same goes for you. Didn’t the principal tell you to keep in line.

Nothing beats some hot, fresh, spicy sass towards an authority figure.

Hmph. Just don’t get in the way of my practice. All these unsettling rumors are making the students anxious after all.

I’m sure you’d know all about that, huh?

That’s your own goddamn fault.
This won’t get us anywhere. Let’s go, Mishima. Shujin Academy is a place where those with aspirations come to learn. Unworthy students like yourselves don’t have any right to be here. Get with the program!
Yes, sir.

Kamoshida walks away.

That asshole…

…There’s no point.
Huh!?
Proving that he’s physically abusing us… is meaningless.

Your parents know? Holy shit, that’s dark.

This has gotta be a joke…
…Don’t be a pain. You don’t understand what I’m going through. Shouldn’t you of all people know that nothing’s going to help…!?
……!


No… I ain’t givin’ up. …I’ll try one more time to persuade the other guys. That’s… all I can do.

Back at home…




Yeah… It’s basically because Kamoshida made the volleyball team famous, yeah? Even so, that don’t give him the right to do whatever he wants!

Ann Takamaki. You met her in the courtyard, remember? You should know her. I mean, she’s in your class, dude. Ugh! What a load of bull! I can’t let it end like this. I’m gonna try and find someone who knows about what’s going one with Kamoshida during break tomorrow. Just you watch. I ain’t giving up!

Ryuji’s gonna keep trying. Good for him. We’ll see how that goes when tomorrow comes.[/details]

2 Likes

In this game with a talking cat, fighting weird monsters, and having to deal with a king in a speedo, the most unrealistic part for me is Ryuji texting paragraphs with perfect spelling and grammar.

[details=Part 8]Part 8: 4/14-4/15

Time to head to school. Maybe Ryuji will have more luck convincing someone to talk about Kamoshida today.

I think I might ask for his autograph after school.
I dunno if that’s such a good idea… I hear that you shouldn’t go near the PE faculty office. People say you can hear weird sounds, like screaming, even though no one’s there…
What? That’s probably just a rumor spread by fans to scare the competition.

Pretty odd for a rumor. Of course, they’re also saying Maaku is the Zodiac Killer or something so maybe these kids are just into making up weird shit.

Music: So Boring


No, that ain’t why. Just hear me out. You know how we didn’t get a thing outta the volleyball team? I figured it’d be a good idea to talk to someone who knows them. Takamaki’s BFFs with a starter. A girl named Suzui. I tried to talk to that girl during break, but I got nothing. That’s why we should have Takamaki talk to her. Then again, I guess it’ll be hard getting her to help us… Sorry. Lemme see what else I can come up with.

Music: Confession/Secret


Holy crap, what happened to you?

That bruise above your eye… Is that from practice, too?
Y-Yeah…
Are you sure you’re not pushing yourself too hard?
I’m OK… Volleyball’s the only thing I can do right…

Ann’s phone begins to ring.

Shouldn’t you take that?
It’s probably just my part-time job… I think.
I…should get going.
Shiho… …Are you sure you’re OK?
Uh-huh…

Shiho leaves. Ann’s phone continues to ring.


Today won’t work… I’m… I’m not feeling so good… Sorry… Bye.

Ann hangs up and leaves. Two male students enter the courtyard at the same time.

Rumor has it she’s dating Kamoshida.
Seriously?
I heard people saw them in his car together.
You know… she seems pretty easy, huh? You think I’d have a chance, too?
C’mon dude, you can’t go after Kamoshida’s bitch!

This is a really messed up school.

…What? Oh… I’m in the way, aren’t I? Sorry…

I really am sorry though. I must have spaced out… Hm, you don’t look familiar. Could you be that transfer student from Class D?
nods
Uh, this might not be any of my business, but don’t let the rumors get to you, OK…?

I’m glad to hear that. …My best friend is often misunderstood too, all because of her looks… Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to drag on like that. Anyway, I have to go to practice… I’ll see you around.

Music: Suspicion


Is that what it looks like? All of ‘em kept sayin’ the same shit Mishima was talkin’ about…!

At this rate… it looks like we’ll have to go to him directly…

I know… But seriously, isn’t there something we can do? No way I’m gonna give in like this! Can you think of anything?

Let’s go straight for the insane option.

That’d be fine if we could do it without gettin’ caught, but… if we did, we’d be seriously done for. You got any other ideas…?

And now for the insanely pointless option.

So you wanna tell ‘em about the castle? They’d never believe us… Have any other ideas…? What do we do…?

The king…? You mean that other world’s Kamoshida? I didn’t think of that, but… Is there any meaning to–

Music: My Homie


…You say something?

That voice… Is that you, Morgana!?
How dare you, up and leaving me the other day!
The cat’s talkin’!?
I am NOT a cat! This is just what happened when I came to this world! It was a lot of trouble finding you two.
Wait… You came to our world!? Does that mean you’ve got a phone!?
You don’t need one when you’re at my level. I did get pretty lost making my escape though…
That aside, why can you talk!? You’re a cat!
How should I know!?
You hearin’ this too…?

This is no time to be jokin’ around!
You guys are having a rough time of this, hm? I heard you mention something about witnesses.
Oh, shuddup.
You know, I could tell you a thing or two about what to do about Kamoshida. You were pretty close just a moment ago.
God, that condescendin’ attitude! This thing’s gotta be Morgana!
You were still doubting me!?
Ack…! Quiet down!

I just heard a meow somewhere near here. Didn’t you hear it?

Oh shit, sorry guys. That was me.

Make sure you check every nook and cranny around.
Meow…? Does that mean only us two can understand what you’re sayin’?
Looks like it.
What the hell’s goin’ on…? Anyways, what you were talkin’ about earlier… is it for real?
You’re quite the skeptic for being an idiot.
Hey, tell us more. Then again, this probably ain’t the best place…


Music: Wicked Plan

Enough of that! You said you know how we can do something about Kamoshida, right?
It has to do with what this guy was talking about earlier. You’ll need to attack his castle.
What do you mean…?
That castle is how Kamoshida views this school. He doesn’t realize what happens in there, but it’s deeply connected to the depths of his heart. Thus, if the castle disappears, it would naturally impact the real Kamoshida.
What’d happen?
A Palace is a manifestation of a person’s distorted desires. So, if that castle were no more…

Precisely! You sure pick up things fast!
For real!? H-He’s gonna turn good!? But… is that really gettin’ back at him?
Erasing a Palace essentially means forcing the owner to have a change of heart. However, even though their warped wants disappear, the crimes they committed remain. Kamoshida will become unable to bear the weight of those crimes, and he’ll confess them himself!
You for real!? That’s possible!?
And since the Palace will no longer exist, he’ll forget what we did there as well. Not only will we be able to bring Kamoshida down, but there won’t even be a trace of our involvement.
That’s amazing! You are one incredible cat!
True, except for the cat part!
So? How do we get rid of the Palace!?
By stealing the Treasure held within.
Stealing…?
I’ll tell you more once you agree to go ahead with this. It’s my most valuable, secret plan, after all. If you want to help me out, I’ll gladly teach you. What’s your call?
Our luck’s runnin’ dry lookin’ for witnesses. Guess we have no choice but to go along…

…Good. Oh, right. There’s one more thing I should tell you. If we erase a Palace, there is no doubt that the person’s distorted desires will be erased as well. But desires are what we all need in order to survive. The will to sleep, eat, fall in love—those sorts of things.
What’re you gettin’ at?
If all of those yearnings were to vanish, they’d be no different than someone who has shut down entirely. They may even die if they’re not given proper care. So…

Will you listen to everything I have to say first?
Would their death be our fault…?
Aren’t you determined enough to face those kinds of risks?
Hey… What do you think?

This seems like a little much, even for that piece of shit.

O-Of course not…
Sheesh… I come all this way, and this is what I get. It’s not like anyone will ever find out.
That’s not the point! If we just go around secretly doin’ whatever we want, we’d be no different than that effin’ Kanoshida…
Isn’t this your only option? …I’ll come back later. Make sure you’ve made your decision by then.

Morgana leaves.

I’ll try and see if I can figure out another way… C’mon, let’s get outta here.


About that Suzui girl… Looks like rumors are going around about her and Kamoshida.

It’s just impossible. I’ve known Takamaki and Suzui since middle school. There’s just no way Kamoshida’s their type, y’know? So… I gotta wonder where those rumors came from. Well, whatever. I’ll try asking around some more.

On the way home…


This has nothing to do with Shiho!

The person on the other end abruptly hangs up.

Ah…

Shiho’s… starting position…

Maaku walks closer. Ann notices him and backs away.

Wait… Were you listening?

Haven’t you heard of privacy? …… …No, I was out of line. Sorry.

So how much did you hear…?

Shiho… It’s nothing at all. Nothing…



Time to pursue an emotionally fragile teenager over something that’s none of our business. This should go well.



Ann eventually stops near these pillars.


Why… Why do you keep worrying about me? sob

What the heck…? I really don’t get you…

Then why are we even here?

It was just an argument…

It seems like she’s really stressed out…

Confession

Music: Confession/Secret (Piano Version)


About Mr. Kamoshida. Everyone says we’re getting it on. But… that’s so not true…!

I avoided giving him my number… for the longest time… He told me to go to his place after this…

If I turn him down, he said he’d take my friend off as a regular on the team…

I can’t take it anymore…


But still… Shiho’s my best friend.

Tell me… What should I do…?

Sorry… I shouldn’t have asked. It’s not your problem.

Music: Sunset Bridge


…You might be right. …You’re so weird. Usually everyone just ignores me. Are you really a bad person as the rumor says…? You just don’t seem like it…

Is that supposed to be a joke? I kinda had a feeling they were all just exaggerations. You seemed lonely—almost like you didn’t belong anywhere… We’re the same in that regard. Maybe that’s why it was so easy for me to talk to you. Is there really no way for me to help Shiho…? I wish he’d just change his mind… Like, forget about me, and everything… As if something like that would ever happen…

I wasn’t asking for a serious response. But I do feel a bit better now. …I’m gonna head home.

I’ll try and think of a way to persuade Kamoshida. Well… thanks.

Are you leaving…?
What is it…?
Mr. Kamoshida’s asking for you… He’s in the PE faculty office.
What did he say?
…I don’t know. Well… I have to go.

Mishima runs off.



Ann…

Shiho ignores the call and walks off.

Music: Beneath the Mask (Instrumental Version)



…By the way, you haven’t been hanging around any bad influences, have you?

Huh. They’ve gotta be pretty strange to want to spend time with you. Just make sure you’re careful who your friends are, if you don’t want them ruining your life. yawn Look at the time. Seriously, think about how I feel having to stay up here waiting for you. Hey, I’m leaving. In the future, try not to come back so damn late. Understood?

I dunno if I get all that stuff about stealing desires… And Kamoshida’s gonna turn like, brain dead if we mess up, right?

For sure. I mean, maybe I’m just freaking out, but I don’t wanna end up a murderer cause of this shit. Oh well… I’ll try and see if I can come up with some other way tonight.

One thing I’ve been neglecting to do every night is sit on the sofa. Depending on changes in the story, you’ll have new brief ruminations. It’s not much, but it’s cool all the same.

Anyway, I should get some sleep.

Mr. Kamoshida asked to see her…
You know, I’ve been hearing rumors about how Mr. Kamoshida and Suzui-senpai stay late… She always shows up to meetings though. It’s weird she wasn’t at the one yesterday…

Music: So Boring

The National Diet is legislative, the Cabinet is executive, and the Supreme Court is judiciary. This division of power provides checks and balances, which ensures no one branch becomes unstoppable.

JESUS CHRIST

No matter how much thinking you do, there’s only one option. You’d be better off just listening to me.

Hm? Did I just hear a cat just now?
M-Meow!
Could that rumored cat be somewhere nearby…? Settle down! We’re in the middle of an important lecture!

Maaku’s phone vibrates.

I can’t deal with that shit right now. I mean, what’re we gonna do about Kamoshida? Do we just gotta go along with what that cat says? Urgh, that damn furball…
If he only knew I’m reading this too…

Enough! This is a classroom!
Wait… She’s going to jump…!
Suzui…?

Hey! Stay in your seats! Do not step foot outside of this room!



Music: Desire



…holy shit.

Calm down! Back to your seats!
No… Why…?


…Right. We should get down there.

There’s no way we’re gonna get past all these goddamn people… C’mon, let’s try goin’ through the practice buildin’!


What the hell!?
Outta the way, man! Please!

Shiho…!

We need someone to go with her… Are there any teachers around?

We should leave this to Principal Kobayakawa…
I’ll go!
Please hurry!

Ann…? I’m sorry. I… I can’t take this… anymore…
Shiho…?

Shiho says something to Ann that we cannot hear.

…Huh? …Kamoshida!?
Ngh…

The ambulance drives off.

Return to your classrooms at once!


Mishima runs off.

That guy… Hey, wasn’t Mishima acting weird?

…We’re gonna make him talk this time.

Music: Suspicion

Why’d you run like that? Huh!?
I didn’t run…


…L-Leave me alone…

He’s right! We ain’t tryin’ to get you busted. We won’t say you talked either!
Suzui…

Wait, what!?
I was called by him a number of times too… to the teacher’s room. It wasn’t just me or Suzui either. He’d nominate someone when he was in a bad mood… and hit them.
So the physical punishment thing was for real…
But yesterday, he called Suzui out of the blue. She didn’t make any mistakes or anything… Mr. Kamoshida seemed really irritated that day, so it must’ve been… worse than usual…
He didn’t…!

Ryuji runs off.

Maaku follows, and ultimately so does Mishima.

Music: Tension

Mr. Kamoshida’s probably in the PE faculty office on the second floor.

He went into the PE faculty office! Let’s hurry, we have to go after him.

You bastard! The hell did you do to that girl!?
What are you talking about?

Ryuji kicks a chair over in rage.

That is enough!
What you did… wasn’t coaching…!
What did you say?
You… You ordered me to call Suzui here… I can only imagine what you did to her…!

Basically, you’re simply making these claims because you can’t be a regular on the team, right?
That’s not what this is about…!

We just received a call from the hospital. Suzui’s in a coma, and her chances of recovery are slim… How would someone like that make a statement?

There’s no chance of her getting better, I hear… The poor girl.
No… That can’t be…
You goddamn…!

Ryuji is physically shaking at this point.

This, again…? Does this mean we need to have yet another case of “self-defense”?
You shut your mouth, you son of a bitch!

Why’re you stoppin’ me…!?

But still!
Oh? You’re stopping him? What a surprise. There’s no need to hold back. Why not attack me? …Ohhh, you can’t. Hahaha, but of course you can’t. Everyone present right now… will be expelled. I’m reporting all of you at the next board meeting.

Wha–
You can’t make a decision like that…!
Who would seriously consider what scum like you say? You threatened me too, Mishima, so you’re just as responsible.
Huh…?
To think you didn’t know why I kept someone as talentless as you on the team. You act like you’re a victim, but you leaked his criminal records, didn’t you? It’s all over the internet, correct? How terrible.


Kamoshida begins laughing sickeningly.

Now, are we finished here? You’re all expelled! You’re done for; your futures are mine to take. Now get out of my sight.
I can’t believe this asshole’s gettin’ away with this…!

And he does. The rest of this game takes place in jail.

Huh…? …Oh right. We have that!

I don’t understand what garbage like you are thinking, but go ahead and try. All you can do is wait for your disposal though…

I bet he thinks that was a really clever line. He’s been waiting weeks to use that one.

The stakes have never been higher. We’re about to get expelled, and if that goes through, the terms of our probation mean we’re headed straight to juvie. Kamoshida is one devious son of a bitch. For the record, Kamoshida is voiced by D.C. Douglas, probably best known as Albert goddamn Wesker. He’s an all-around amazing VA, and while Kamoshida’s Japanese voice isn’t bad, this is probably a straight upgrade.[/details]

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Kamoshida is such a well executed starter villain, his crimes are much smaller in scope than some later villains but it feels so much more personal. Both because of what he did to Shiho and because you interact with him personally a fair amount, he’s nearly as openly malicious to you in reality as his Shadow is. He’s also a very believable villain even with how monstrous he is.

Also unrelated but with how much eavesdropping you (can) do in the game I’m pretty sure its basically a hobby for the protagonist.

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If there’s one thing Kamoshida wasn’t prepared for, it was a frame narrative. If he wasn’t about to eat his words and many years of abusive behavior, it wouldn’t be canon.

Honestly, there’s a part of me that feels like Kamoshida was too good of a villain, he kinda makes some other ones in the future seem pretty disappointing. Of course, I acknowledge that its because he’s way more personal than the others.

There are definitely points in this arc where P5 can’t decide whether it’s good or bad to be extremely creepy towards women. Obviously they take it a step further with Kamoshida, but this game has no issue with making sympathetic characters act like creeps for laughs. All of this DURING an arc about a dude who commits sex crimes really made it hard to take the game seriously. Still, good job with the LP! I’m enjoying following along even though i just finished my playthrough, haha

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When I was playing through it myself, I couldn’t help but think that they made Kamoshida a little too over the top. Being a sexual predator in a high school is already bad enough, so the fact that he’s physically abusing his players seemed like an excessive touch.

But now that I’m thinking about it again, I see why they did it. If the name of the game is stealing someone’s heart, then there’s no better first villain than someone who’s just a complete, 100% asshole.

Its also important that he be a complete bastard given that the group knows he might die if they fuck up. They need to be motivated to do something risky and the player needs to be on board with them in thinking that this is the right/only thing to do.

[details=Part 9]Part 9: 4/15

Kamoshida’s got us on the ropes. Seems like we only have one option left…

Music: Suspicion

We gotta hurry up and go to that world and beat the shit outta that asshole!
…We’re not beating him up. We’re simply stealing his distorted desires. Can I assume that you’ve made up your minds about this—about how he might suffer a mental shutdown?
…I have. Someone almost died because of him! I don’t give a rat’s ass what happens to him anymore!
And you?

There you have it.
By the way, is gettin’ rid of a Palace hard…? You’ve tried it before, right?
…When did I ever say that?
…Eh? WHAT!? Were you just pretendin’ to know!?


That asshole’s at it again…! So you came all this way to tell us that?
If you’re going to deal with Kamoshida… let me in on it too.

I can’t just sit back and do nothing after what happened to Shiho!
This has nothing to do with you… Don’t butt your head into this…
But it does! Shiho’s my–
I said don’t get in our way!
……

…That was harsh.
We can’t take her somewhere like that…
I hope that she doesn’t torment herself over this. When it comes down to it, women don’t hesitate.
We just gotta hurry up and deal with Kamoshida. Let’s go already!

Huh? Phantom thieves?
Those who covertly sneak in and stylishly steal Treasure—that is what we become!

That sounds kinda cool! So we just gotta say the school, Kamoshida’s name, and… castle? Then we end up in bizarro world.


True. There’s no point in thinkin’ about it now. We’ll show that effin’ Kamoshida!
Let’s go!

They’re doing something on their phone? A name… School…?


Music: King, Queen, and Slaves (Another Version)



That voice… Sakamoto!? And… are you Hamiru-kun!?
Wh-Wh-Why are you here!?
How should I know!?


Uh-oh, the cat’s making googly eyes.

I see. Perhaps she was dragged in because of that app thing. If multiple people can enter with the person who uses it, it stands to reason it’ll pull anyone nearby.
For real…?
Wait, so THIS is related to Kamoshida!?
Anyways, you gotta leave!
No!
The Shadows are going to find us if you make a scene.
No way! It talked!? Oh my god, it’s a monster cat…!
Monster…?
You better explain what’s going on! I won’t leave until you do!
Looks like we gotta force her. But… how’re we supposed to do that?
Just take her back to where we came in. That’s how it worked last time, right?
O-Oh, yeah. Can you lend me a hand?

We can’t deal with Kamoshida if we don’t!

We’ll explain after everything’s over!


Hey! And just where are you touching!?
Whoa, sorry, I didn’t mean-- …That’s not important!
You guys seriously-- Ah!?

We’d better be careful from now on when we use that app…
You should’ve checked the tools you used! Why do I—the one who was just watching—know more about it than you two!?
Sh-Shuddup! Geez, Takamaki found out right when we were startin’off… We gotta deal with this fast!
That girl’s name is Ann Takamaki, right? Lady Ann…

Oh jeez. I’m not liking where this is going.

We’re counting on you, Joker!
Joker? That a nickname?
Don’t refer to it in such a lame way. It’s a code name.

It’s cool to have a code name, I guess. It’s not that weird.

What kind of stupid phantom thief would use their real name!? I’m not down for that! And there’s no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names will have on the Palace. It’s just a precaution.
So, why’s he Joker?
Because he’s our trump card when it comes to fighting strength.

Just go with it! You’re Joker!
It ain’t too bad, yeah?
Next up is you, Ryuji. You’ll be… Let’s see… “Thug.”
Are you pickin’ a fight with me!? I’ll choose it myself! Hm… When it comes to me, it’s gotta be this mask. Honestly, I actually kinda like it. What if we named me after this?
Fine… Why not “Skull” then?
Ooh! That sounds awesome! I’m Skull! What do we do about this one’s code name?

How ‘bout “Mona”?
Well, if Joker thinks it’s easier to call me that, then I’ll go with it. All right. From here on out, we’re Joker, Skull, and Mona. We need to be absolutely thorough about using those code names from now on!



We can run faster, but at the risk of making ourselves easier to detect. Simple stuff that’s really only useful for specific moments.

Looks like they don’t know ‘bout this way in yet.
Joker, Skull… Are you ready? Let’s go!

Music: Blood of Villain

“Entertaining” is certainly a word you could use to describe what happened, sure.

However, I can’t allow that trash to ransack my castle! Strengthen the security! Kill them on sight! I’ll reward whoever brings me their heads.

Death to the intruders!

Look at all those soldiers, idiot! It’d be suicide. And I’m sure you don’t want a repeat of last time. Besides, don’t you want him to confess his sins? There’s no point beating him up. We need to steal his materialized desires… The Treasure.
Fiiiine. So, where is it?
It has to be somewhere in the depths of this castle. Let’s infiltrate further in while he’s out here!

Whaddya wanna do? Should we kick its ass?
Hold on… Hmmm… This might be a good opportunity to teach you something… All right, Joker! Are you ready to take it down?
>Let’s go.

Music: Last Surprise

There’s another use for Hold Ups besides simply defeating enemies. Shadows are beings born from people’s hearts, so naturally, they can talk too. In other words, you can communicate with them. Get it? If you talk to them when they’re cornered, they might offer money or items since they don’t want to die. In fact, talking has a better chance of scoring something great, as opposed to just offing them*.

*This isn’t true. Well, it’s not true yet. We don’t have the Confidant abilities that make going for rare items or lots o’ cash possible, so most of what we get from these guys is going to be junk. Keeping in mind that the battle immediately ends after a successful negotiation, and that enemies left undefeated because of this don’t give money or experience, there’s really only one reason we’d want to talk at this point in the game instead of just launching into an All-out Attack. We’ll get to that in a second.

Well then, let’s do the first step: Knock all the enemies down, and do a Hold Up!

Music: Talk

It can’t get worse than this… What’re you going to do with me!?

Huh? So you’ll let me live if I just give you money?
Well, something along those lines… Now let it be money or items. Just cough it up!
But, this happened so suddenly… I actually don’t have anything on me… I-I usually do though, you know!?
W-Wait, what? Oh… This isn’t how I was planning this to go. Uh… Anyway, it can’t be helped if that’s the case. Time for you to go to hell.
W-Wait!
Sorry, but we’re in a hurry.
No, wait up! Can’t we work something out? Don’t kill me, please! Won’t you let me go?

Ugh! Sorry, but that sounded really lame. That was the best one-liner you could come up with? I say cheesy stuff like that all the time too, though. I guess I’m more like you than I thought. Whoa, I feel different! Something’s happening!
What the…!? What’s going on!?

I’m an existence that drifts about in the sea of humanity’s souls… My real name… is “Pixie”! I’m Pixie! From now on, I’ll live on inside your heart!



What was that just now…? What happened!?

I-I have no idea! I wasn’t expecting that either…


Crap, they noticed us!





We can hold multiple Personas, just like in 3 and 4. gaining each Persona’s respective skills and elemental affinities. We can only switch once per turn, though.

Pixie is strong against Electricity and Blessed and weak against Gun, Ice, and Curse. Stats aren’t great, but all we want is that Zio.

I-Is that the Shadow from earlier!? Don’t tell me… Did you take in the Shadow’s appearance and powers as a Persona!?

Let’s try to get this one on our side.

So that’s yer move? …Then I guess I’ll talk first. I’ll decide if I’m gonna help you after. I gotta say, you’ve been a pretty inconsiderate host. You oughta show more hospitality. Couldn’t you at least make me a cup of tea or somethin’? Hell, that’d be real polite.


Red veins are bad news, as you might have guessed.

…Hey. Won’t you listen ta my dyin’ request? I wanna have some of yer “hospitality.” What kinda “hospitality” will you show me at the end of my life?


Well, I guess I’ll try to worry more like a young person… while I’m runnin’ away!

And just like that, we’re ejected back into the fight because we failed miserably. In addition to red veins for displeasure, there are also yellow notes for answers Shadows will accept and blue sweatdrops for neutral. Neutral gives items and notes lead to the Shadow joining. A Shadow’s reaction to specific answers is determined by its nature.

From the game’s digital manual:

These are the kinds of answers each personality likes. The real challenge, then, is just figuring out what answer from the selection is “vague” or “kind,” which isn’t always as easy as it sounds.

I should also mention that we can only recruit Shadows that are at or below Maaku’s level, so no recruiting powerful enemies.


He sealed the enemy’s appearance and powers into his mask, and made it his new Persona… I’ve never seen anyone do that before… didn’t even know it was possible!

Of course it is! Only one heart exists per person, so normally a person can only have one Persona! But this… this is incredible! That ability will give us a huge advantage in battle! All right, try to do that even more if the opportunity arises! You better help out too, Skull!
Hell yeah! We’ll hold every last one of ‘em up!

It’s worth noting now that we’re free that Maaku and his Personas level separately and at very different rates. Personas require quite a bit more experience to level, in fact. We can only hold six at the moment, so there’s incentive to get rid of old ones. But that’s not really relevant quite yet.

There’s nothing we can do here right now. Let’s try elsewhere.




In that chest we find a new knife for Maaku. It’s good to upgrade when we can, even if it only affects our melee attack.

We get some new Personas while we’re here, but the real reason I took this picture is because they changed Pyro Jack’s name to Jack-o’-Lantern and I’m not over it.

A safe room. We can discuss our strategy inside. There are a lot of places even I don’t know about in here…

Outside…

Music: Disquiet


I just said the words Sakamoto said, and I ended up–

Huh?

Aaaaaaaah!

Just gettin’ this far’s been a real pain in my ass!
It’s all because you guys provoked Kamoshida, you know. Still… he seems to be awfully on guard…
Anyways, how’re we supposed to steal that Treasure thing?
Don’t be so hasty. First, we’ll need to secure an infiltration route.
A what…?
A path to the Treasure’s location. But honestly, I think we’ll need a little more manpower in order to accomplish this. At the very least, one more person would be nice…

Gee, I wonder who.

Hey, you say you don’t have your memories and all, but somehow you still know about that kinda stuff? Do you think this thing’s really got amnesia?


I should really stop making the cat sad.

You sure talk big, but what if it turns out you’re just some stray cat in the end?
That can’t be…

Princess…?

It doesn’t matter now. We must take her back to King Kamoshida!
Who’s this princess they’re talkin’ about…?

Morgana leaves.

And yet another question goes unanswered… Stuff like the castle and that navigation app are mysterious… but Morgana’s got ‘em both beat.

Crap, sorry! What was I again? …Oh yeah, Skull!

This is bad!
That was fast!
Your friend… Lady Ann! She’s been taken by Shadows…!
Wait, what? We sent her home earlier.
If Lady Ann does indeed have the app, it could be possible.
Oh no… Don’t tell me it got put on hers just like mine…!? Dammit! We let her out for her own safety, and she just came back in by herself…!

We need to hurry and rescue her! Follow me! I’ll guide you!



On our way back through the dining room, we see Morgana’s All-out Attack finisher. It’s one of the better ones.



Look, I’ll apologize for touching the armor without permission!
She totally doesn’t get what’s goin’ on!
Let’s hurry! We have to save her!


Like in previous games, they’ll warn you before big fights, which is always nice.

OK, let’s go!

Music: Desire

So, this is the intruder.


Who’s that…? More importantly, what is this place!? Why’s the school turned into something like this!?
I can’t believe you mistook my Ann for someone like her. Are you afraid?
What is that outfit…? Have you lost your mind?
I do as I please here. After all, this is my castle… The world of my desires.
What the–!? Wait… Is this some red-light district!?
What a lively slave.
This isn’t funny! Enough of the bullshit, Kamoshida!


In that case… she should be executed.

Are you kidding me…?

Is that what he thinks of the girls on the volleyball team…!?


Just when I was about to start enjoying myself…
What’s the deal with this guy…!?
You little…!
…How many times are you gonna come back?

Kamoshida turns to Ann.

I bet you’re just like those thieves. You came because you’re pissed at me, huh? But, ah… I forget that chick’s name, but it’s your fault she jumped, you know.
Huh…?

…Holy shit. That’s… okay, we need to repave this dude’s face.

You bastard!

A guard approaches Ann.

……!
No!

Dammit…!
Just sit back and enjoy the dismantlement show.
No! Don’t!

giggle You’re such a perv!
H-Hey, what’re we gonna do!? Takamaki!

That’s more like it. You should’ve looked like this from the start.
Shiho… I’m so sorry…

Huh…? …You’re right. Letting this piece of shit toy with me… What was I thinking…!?
It’s like I always say. Slaves should just behave and–
…Shut up! I’ve had enough of this… You’ve pissed me off, you son of a bitch!

Ann’s Awakening

Music: Awakening

Urgh…!

Tell me… Who is going to avenge her if you don’t?

Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within… I am thou, thou art I…









Music: Will Power




Ann kicks the guard’s sword into the air…


…then jumps up and catches it…

…and slices clean through her doppelganger.

You know what? I’m not some cheap girl you can toy with… you scumbag.






YOOO IT’S MY MAN BELPHEGOR

No one’s gonna stop me now!

Sadly, Carmen is not named after Carmen Sandiego. From the Megami Tensei wiki:

"Carmen is a fictive female [Romani] created by Prosper Mérimée. She first appeared in Mérimée’s eponymous novella that was first written and published in 1845. The novella was adapted into a variety of different genres, most notably the opera Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet which diverges in significant points from Mérimée’s original story.

Whatever the version, Carmen is generally depicted as a classic femme fatale who would take advantage of her beauty and charm to make men fall for her but quickly break the relationship once she is bored of her wooer and then looks for the next victim. Carmen is also usually seen smoking tobacco because she had once been working in a tobacco factory. She is later slain by a spurned ex-lover driven to a jealous rage after she leaves him. Though she knew he would be fated to kill her, she declares that she would rather die than allow herself to be bound to the will of another and that “Carmen will always be free”.”

Ann is… interesting. She’s Yukiko in a lot of ways, but the ways in which they’re different honestly kind of kill her. She’s got the fire affinity as well as healing, and her stats and skills make her probably the party’s most effective magic user. However, she has odd limitations in her skillset. Not only does she never learn any form of multitarget healing, which is a real bummer, even the niche spells she learns aren’t as useful as what other party members bring to the table. Ann can do a lot of damage, but she’s one of the less flexible party members in a game that really rewards flexibility. This isn’t to say she’s not useful, because she learns skills like Tarunda (enemy attack down) and Dekaja (gets rid of enemy buffs) very early on. It’s just that especially in the late game her limitations come into focus. She’s not as much Yukiko, who was an excellent all-rounder, as she is Chie from Golden, who can technically do tons of damage but becomes hopelessly outclassed in actual utility at certain points in the game. But hey, nuking shit with fire’s always good.

Ann and Carmen are voiced by Erika Harlacher, who’s… uh… well, let’s see… she’s Videl in Dragon Ball Super and Kurapika in Hunter x Hunter, and that’s all I really know her from.[/details]

2 Likes

Both Erikas involved with this game actually were a local con
Also annoyed that they used the slur for Carmen

[details=Part 10]Part 10: 4/15-4/17

Now Ann has a Persona. Time to go to work.

Music: Will Power

That dirtbag just sees women as sexual outlets! Don’t make me laugh with that “love” bullshit! C’mon, Carmen! Let’s give ‘em hell!

This is Belphegor, and yes, that is a toilet. He’s one of my favorite SMT demons because all he wants to do is take a shit. He’s my friend and I love him.


He’s weak to fire, so he goes down real quick. Minibosses can’t be talked to, so there’s no reason to do anything but All-out Attack.

Pff, outside of school, that guy’s nothing but a pathetic loser!

Morgana also learns Patra, which cures Dizzy/Forget/Sleep/Hunger for one ally. We’ll go more into status effects later.

Music: Desire

Kamoshida runs away.

Why’d you come here, man!? And more importantly, how!?
Hey! Is that how you speak to a woman!? Are you all right, Lady Ann!?
Lady Ann…? Wait, what is this thing? Is it alive…? How can it talk? And… where in the world are we…!?
J-Just calm gown. Everything’s going to be OK; don’t worry.






Huh? What are you talking about!? What the hell are you thinking!?

Yeah, in retrospect that probably wasn’t the best thing to say.

Well, I’m stumped… A search party will be coming for us soon. There’s no time to explain. We don’t have a choice. Let’s retreat for now!
We were just gettin’ fired up, and you had to go and get in the way… Rgh, fine…

You take the other side.

Music: Break it Down (Elp Version)

Whichever’s not carbonated.
Uh, they’re both actually.
Then…



What about me?
Huh? But you’re a cat.
giggles

Um… Morgana, right? I really am talking to a cat… This feels so strange… Oh, sorry! You’re not a cat, right?
It’s only natural that you’re confused. Demanding that you understand all of this right after what you went through is asking too much.
Honestly, I still can’t believe what happened… And that power… my Persona…
It’s the will of your rebellion, Lady Ann. With it, you’ll be able to fight in that other world.
So if what you told me is true, we can make Kamoshida have a change of heart, right? Is it really possible…? Can we actually force him to confess his crimes?
The volleyball team’s keepin’ quiet about this, while teachers and parents turn a blind eye. If guys like us try and complain, they’re just gonna shoot us down. Goin’ all in on this plan is the only choice we got.
Then let me help too. I want to make him pay for what happened to Shiho. He just keeps going like nothing happened, even after what he did to her… I’ll never forgive him.
Wait, did you just say, “let me help”? You mean, you want us to take you along?
Don’t act like I’m going to drag you down. Weren’t you watching? I can fight too.
Hey, what should we do?

Ann is actually probably my least favorite party member in the game for a few reasons, including her overall lack of utility and her battle character design which manages to be both oversexualized and also just not that visually interesting, but, uh, sure, yeah, she’ll be great. I guess.

I agree as well. We are lacking in manpower, after all. Don’t worry, I’ll protect her.

This game needs an option to bust out laughing at that.

Even if you said, no, I’d just go in alone.
Oh right, she can go by herself… I guess it’d be more dangerous turnin’ her down… Rgh, fine…
Then it’s decided. Well, I hope we get along! I’m going to make Kamoshida atone for what he did. Not just for Shiho’s sake, but for everything he’s done. I won’t let any more people suffer because of him. I’ll do whatever it takes!
I sense a strong fighting resolve from Ann…

Music: Interrogation Room


It wouldn’t be odd if you had someone that was proficient in deceiving the eyes of others… …If you’re listening, then answer me!

I guess this relates to Ann because… she’s a model? I guess?

Music: The Spirit

The Lovers Arcana represents relationships and choices, but also disharmony and inner conflict.

Ann learns Baton Pass from the first rank of her Confidant. This is a skill all of our party members will eventually learn at early ranks of their Confidants. It lets us pass the additional turn gained from a 1 More over to someone else who knows Baton Pass, dealing increased damage in the process. It’s one of the best new additions to the combat in this game over previous entries. The only downside is that not knowing it is a severe hindrance to any new party members you haven’t progressed through the Confidants of.

Hey, give me your number and chat ID. And, um…

I’ll be counting on you, then. Same goes for you, Morgana.
The pleasure is all mine, Lady Ann.

Ann walks off.

And the innocence to cast herself into the jaws of death to achieve her goal… She cares about her friends, and she’s beautiful to boot… What a girl! She’s captured my heart…
Dude.

I’m with Ryuji, this is getting mighty uncomfortable.

True. Our best option would be to make a secret hideout where we could discuss these things.
A hideout, huh…? I like the sound of that.
The school rooftop would work… It seems like nobody goes up there. For the time being, that will make the perfect hideout. I can’t contact you from inside a Palace, so I’ll stay in this world. That being said, I’ll need someone to take care of me. I’m personally nominating you. You should feel honored.

…This’s all you. There’s no way I can at my place. Well, we now have our hideout, so let’s meet there tomorrow!

Ryuji runs to board the train.


Music: Beneath the Mask (Instrumental Version)

Hm? Who’s this? Let’s talk to her.

Hey, lay off the customers. Sorry if he was rude, Doctor.
…I don’t mind.
Come on, you’re getting in the way. Go on upstairs.

Come back again.

Oh, that customer just now? She’s the head doctor over at that clinic down the street. Rumor has it she gives pretty crappy examinations, and sells some weird homemade medicines on top of that. At least, that’s what I’ve heard. I haven’t been there myself. They should really just leave her alone. It’s not like she’s getting in the way of their lives…
Hey, are we there yet?

Well, I’ve gotta get home and start making dinner…


What the…!? What is this place!? Is this some kind of abandoned house…!?

I was wondering why I heard meowing… What did you bring it here for!?

Not my problem. Look, this place is a restaurant. Animals are a no-go… Though I guess you might stay on good behavior if you’ve got a pet to take care of… Fine… But keep it quiet when we’re open for business. And don’t let it roam downstairs, or I’ll toss it out. Oh, and I’m not gonna take care of it. That’s all on you.

Boy, you backed down quick.

He seemed pretty understanding for someone who keeps you cramped up in this dump. Then again, I suppose to normal people I just sound like a meowing cat.


Make sure you wash that dish. By the way… have you decided on a name?
nods
Morgana? Huh… I was hoping I’d get to name it.

Sojiro’s the fucking best.

And to be honest, this place is heaven compared to Kamoshida’s cells. …Remember how you guys asked me before about what I am? To be honest… I don’t remember anything about my birth. I think the Metaverse’s distortions made me lose both my memories and my true form.

I already told you! I’m an honest-to-god human! If I were originally just a cat, how could I talk!? It doesn’t make any sense! There’s no doubt that the distortions were what caused me to lose my real self. I’m sure that once they’re purged, I’ll finally be able to get that self back. And I have a pretty good idea on how to do it too. That’s why I was in the castle in the first place.


Let me make myself clear: Your taking care of me won’t be for nothing. It’ll be give and take. Due to my knowledgeable and dexterous nature, I have a lot of intel on infiltration tools.

Whoa, I can’t tell you more unless we settle on a deal. In exchange for you keeping me here, I’ll teach you about these tools. How does that sound?

Still not too jazzed about living with this smug cat but I’ll take what I can get.

I take it that means you accept?
nods
Hehehe… Then it’s a deal.
Morgana seems rather happy…

Music: Interrogation Room


There’s even the possibility that you used special tools and had someone who manufactured them… …Answer me!

Music: The Spirit

The Magician Arcana represents action or skill, but also trickery and manipulation. It’s generally associated with the beginnings of journeys, which is why it’s typically the Arcana of Your Dumb Friend Who Doesn’t Know Anything in 3 and 4.

Morgana gives us the ability to craft infiltration tools, which are items that will help us out within dungeons.

By the way, the power you used in the Palace was seriously amazing. The stronger that power gets, the more reliable it’ll be as a trump card. All right, I’m gonna stick with you wherever you go from today on. Personas are the strength born from one’s heart. Depending on what kind of life experience you gain, I bet it’ll affect that power as well!

And if you become acquainted with capable people, you might learn various, useful skills too… This is all part of our deal, got it?

I expect great things from you. Don’t let me down, OK?
nods

Getting around in cat form sounds pretty inconvenient, though… Well, it is what it is. I’ll just have to deal with being carried in that bag of yours.

I can’t. Anyway, I wanted to let you know at least. See you tomorrow.
You guys send messages to each other with that thing, right? I want in too, so I’m gonna have to ask you to type for me. At any rate… Is this really a place for someone to live in?

In addition to sitting on the couch, we can also talk to Morgana for some more flavor text related to what we’re currently doing.


Is this the stress of Kamoshida’s threat weighing on me…?

…… While we’re riding the train, we’ve got some downtime. I wonder if we could put it to good use…

I haven’t been feeling well lately. My head’s all foggy, and I have no energy… I’ve tried every drug at the pharmacy, but nothing works. Do I have some new virus? …Is this the onset of a psychotic breakdown? Wh-What should I do? Am I going to die!?
Calm down, calm down! Let’s go to the clinic. Come on. I’m sure the doctor can prescribe something that’ll fix you right up!
Doctors have the best medicine, huh… Hey, wasn’t that one customer back at Leblanc a doctor?

That’s not what’s important here! Though she did have an interesting fashion sense… Anyway, it might be nice to have some strong medicine to use in the palace…

Music: So Boring


Don’t text now. We’re in class.
Whoa! You mean you’re actually listening to all this crap?
Yeah, but none of it is really sticking today…
I know, right? Anyways, hideout after school?
Where exactly is this “hideout”?
The school roof.
Wait, we can still go up there?

I’m gonna fine you if you’re late!

You! Pay attention! Is that how you listen when someone’s talking to you!?
I feel a murderous intent…!



Mr. Ushimaru throws a piece of chalk that hits Maaku square in the forehead.

Ooh… That looked like it hurt.
snicker He hit him right in the forehead…
That’s what you get for daydreaming! Kids these days have no respect for their elders.
Good grief… Looks like you need more Proficiency to completely dodge that.

Considering that we haven’t seen even a single opportunity to raise Proficiency at this point, that check is unwinnable. It’s entirely meant for New Game +, and even then it just gives you Charm, making it kind of pointless at that stage.

Music: Suspicion

Mkay, let’s get goin’!
Hold on, it’s still too early for us to head to the Palace.
But why? Don’t we just gotta steal that Treasure thing?
Don’t underestimate the dangers of that place. We need to prepare.
Ain’t that Persona shit we got enough to deal with it?
That’s exactly what I mean when I say don’t underestimate it. You’ll die if you mess up in there. So again, we need to prepare before we head in.
But… how exactly are we supposed to do that?
I’m glad you asked, Lady Ann. First, we’ll need to find better equipment for all of you.
You talkin’ about weapons? I know a kick-ass place!
In that case, you can handle that side of things. The only other thing would be stocking up on medicine. Fatigue is unavoidable in a Palace…
And where can we get medicine?
Don’t worry, I know just the place. I hope you look forward to it, Lady Ann! Now then, Maaku and I have some business in Yongen, so let’s head off for today!

Just come with me! I won’t be able to get close enough by myself!

Music: Tokyo Emergency

The doctor who prescribes medication after a quick examination? She was sitting at the booth…

I just realized something. If she’s the kind of doctor who gets sketchy rumors like that, maybe she’ll help us out. She’s somewhere in the neighborhood, right? Take me to her.


…Well, I guess that’s the only choice we have. We’ll just have to go for it. All right, let’s step inside.

Music: Butterfly Kiss

Hm? I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before…

Hmmm… Well, whatever… So, what are you here for today?

…… …Fine. Please head to the exam room.

I’m going to prescribe you some pain relievers, OK?
nods

So let’s go with sleeping pills instead. Sleep is the best medicine anyway. What type of pill do you want, a sweet-tasting one or a bitter one?

The plan is falling apart!

Is that right? And I bet you think you should have a year-long supply of them too.

…I’m guessing you’re here because you heard the rumors about me, huh?

Who’s to say? But as a result, all I get are patients with ulterior motives now. I guess high school kids have it tough nowadays too, huh? Well, fine. I’ll prescribe you some medication. But only medication that will help you recover your health. I guess it’s fine. You seem pretty earnest, and you don’t look like you’ll be any trouble. This is my private practice. All the medicine I dispense is original. I have a license to make my own formulas. You’ve likely seen them being sold at various hospitals. It’s your responsibility to take care of yourself. So if that’s OK with you, stop by anytime.

Great. It’s nice that you’re so quick on the uptake… Saves me the hassle. You’re a pretty weird kid, you know? I wonder what you’re going to use the medicine for… Well, as long as you don’t cause me any trouble, it’s not my problem…


This is where we can buy restorative items. We’ll be back later, but for now we’ll just purchase a Revivadrin (revives a downed party member) and as many Recov-R: 50 mg (50 HP restore) as we can afford.


A strange man is waiting outside. He enters the examination room.

Do you have a cold? Stomachache? Athlete’s foot? Whatever it is, you’ll need to take a number…
…Enough of this!

You’re the only one who could have developed that type of medicine.

Don’t play dumb with me. Rumor has it, it’s a drug so potent it can give a person unlimited power.
Really? That’s news to me.
Developing experimental drugs, medicine, and herbal remedies violates all health regulations. Are you attempting to create a super-stimulant? A drug like that will only become a social issue.
You’re really persistent, you know that? I’m just a quack…
The police may not be taking action, but I imagine the media will soon pick up on it. You intend to ruin my reputation again, huh? You’re a disgrace to the medical community.
…Tsk!
What’s with the look? That was your mistake, was it not? I won’t be responsible for your criminal actions. Dispose of that “medicine” immediately and resign. The name “Tae Takemi” will never–

My eavesdropping has backfired yet again!

Maaku leaves in a hurry.

Sounded like they were talking about something dangerous… Could that woman be hiding some extra strong medicine…?

I agree. If it’s that strong, it might come in handy at the Palace. All right, let’s come back when that man isn’t here. We shouldn’t involve people who have nothing to do with this. Keep the Phantom Thieves a secret, OK? Anyway, great work! That went really well!

Sweet. Welp, let’s figure out where to meet. You at least know how to get to Shibuya Station, yeah?
Hey, I can’t make it. Can I trust you guys to check the place out for me?
You can’t come?
Not tomorrow. I made plans to go see Shiho in the hospital.
Ah, gotcha. Don’t worry, we got this. Well, seeya in Shibuya, Maaku! I’ll be in front of the station!
We might be able to get our hands on some decent stuff if this store really has model guns. Well, we can leave that for tomorrow. Let’s go home!

Once we’re prepared, let’s take on the Palace. That’s where the real fun starts, got it?

“No, for real dude, just give it another hour, the game’s gonna pick up I swear.”

Oh, um… O-Of course I’ve heard of it before. I just can’t remember a time that I’ve been there…

That seems reasonable, I guess.

But before we do that, let’s check out our stuff.

This is where we obtain the free DLC items we picked up at the start. The important one is the healing item set, for reasons we’ll see very shortly.

The next day…

Mkay, let’s get goin’. The shop’s over this way!

Ryuji runs over towards a nearby politician.

This politician’s actually saying some decent things, but not many people are stopping to listen…
Eh, people give speeches all the time. Plus, politics are pretty boring, anyways. We’re almost there. Just don’t get lost in the crowd.

Following Ryuji to Central Street, he runs down a back alley.

Don’t go into that alley. I saw a blond punk just head in…

Poor Ryuji. Well, let’s explore a bit before joining him.

That I am!

Looking for a part-time job? It’s easy money! I can make a recommendation just for you.
Hey, you’ll lose track of Ryuji if you waste time with this guy.

Shut up Morgana, I’m having a conversation with this nice man about a job opportunity.

Don’t you want some pocket change? I can help you out.

Look, it’s easy, and it’ll net you tons of cash. Just follow me and we’ll get you sorted out.
Hey, we don’t have time for this guy. We’re supposed to be getting weapons today, remember? Let’s just go after Ryuji.

Fiiiiiiine.

Oh yeah, now that’ we’re here… you know anything about military stuff? I guess worst comes to worst we can just ask the shopkeep what they recommend. C’mon, let’s go.

Music: Layer Cake

Maybe we should try askin’ the guy behind the counter. And man, who’d have thunk model guns would shoot real bullets in that Palace?


…I dunno, just buy whatever looks interestin’ to you.
Ugh, some customer service…
Fine, whaddya want? An automatic? A revolver?
Uh, automatic…? Dude, why’re you talkin’ about cars now!?
Listen, this here’s an enthusiast shop. My regulars’ll be mad if I let a casual like you hang around.
I’m not a freakin’ casual! I bought shit from here like, last week!
Huh, can’t remember you.
You bastard…
And you? Lookin’ for somethin’?


Th-That ain’t it! We just like how they look, is all!
Anyways… you shoulda said before you two’re enthusiasts. I’m always up for helpin’ fresh faces. Some precautions first though. Don’t go ‘round pointing ‘em at other people. Keep ‘em in a bag or somethin’ if you’re outside. Oh, and don’t let the fuzz catch wind of you having ‘em. I don’t need them comin’ around here.

How ‘bout that? Me too. Now, if you look close, you’ll be able to to tell these’re models. Real guns feel… different. Maybe someday I’ll show you the real good stuff though… if you got the Guts for it, of course. …But for now, you get the beginner selection. Just sit tight, I’ll bring ‘em out.


Oh, and here’s the cash for mine. Pick me out something good!


Time to shop.

But first, we need to sell something. This Soma from the healing item pack DLC fully restores HP and SP to all allies. It’s incredibly rare and useful as SP is at a massive premium in this game and ways to restore it are few.

So, of course, we’re going to sell it for 50,000 yen. Money’s not a huge problem for most of P5, but at the beginning at least we’re going to be pretty hard up for cash. Not anymore.

So what are we going to buy with all the money we just got? Well, we’re going to buy a piece of armor for Maaku… and that’s it. We’ll go back to the clinic and buy more HP restore items before heading back to the Palace, but for now we’re going to be pretty frugal. We’re only buying this in the first place because like in P3 and P4, if the protagonist dies it’s game over, so we need to be careful. We’re not even going to bother with physical weapons at this point, though it’s funny to think about why this airsoft guy is selling lengths of pipe for Ryuji to swing around.

Anyways, I’ll have you do the choosin’ from now on. Get me the strongest-lookin’ one!

Apparently that subway driver from the accident was acting really odd during his testimony hearing.
You talking about that psychotic whatever thing people’re going on about?
Yeah, I heard it completely alters your personality. The news is saying the driver couldn’t even speak when they tried asking him questions.
There’s no way a preposterous story like that could be true. Oh and sorry, but we’re closing soon.
Hmph, how rude. This must be why you don’t get many customers. Your coffee’s actually not half bad. The beans must be lamenting the sorry state of this store…
Thanks for stopping in. Please come again.
Hmph. I only say this out of politeness, but… thanks for the coffee.

Oh… What do you want? If you’re bored, go wash some dishes or something.

Shut it. It’s all good as long as the shop doesn’t fail. I’m not gonna go wearing a fake smile.

Who knows? Maybe I’ll end up living out on the streets.

You’re awful unconcerned about that prospect.

As long as I’m here, the world leaves me be. No annoyances or troublesome people to deal with. It’d like my own personal hideaway. I’d be kinda screwed if I lost it, but I guess you would be too. So, you better at least try and be useful around here. Anyway, I’m leaving now. Don’t cause any trouble.


Yeah. She’ll get better, I know it. I just need to believe in her. But… I’ll never forgive Kamoshida. He’s going to pay for what he did, no matter what.

We just need to assemble some infiltration tools. Clean off that desk back there so we can use it.









So, get materials from Shadows, craft infiltration tools, use the Proficiency you get from crafting to be able to craft more tools at once. Simple.

Everyone starts off a little clumsy. Don’t be sad if it doesn’t go well at first, OK?

Did you finish?

We got Lockpick x1.

Great! We should be able to use this.

From making the Lockpick, we get Proficiency +2. It’s possible to get +3 but I’m not savescumming for that.

We should be ready now. We’re heading into the Palace tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep.

It’s all coming together. We’ve got our medicine, our gear, and our full party, and we’re finally ready to head back into the Palace. But sorry, Morgana, because before we do that, it’s time to explore the world a bit. Next time, we’re going to see just how much shit there is to do in this game.[/details]

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