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Expect My Mom
Nov 18, 2013

by Smythe

MythosDragon posted:

P4 for example would be a stronger story if I didnt forget that Izanagi was a thing in it beyond the first few hours. But since you dislike the concept so much, how about just turning the canon persona into a fully functioning one like the party members so it can be relevant the entire game?
I don't think keeping a "character" around for the entire game when they only appear again at the very end in an optional end would fix Persona 4's writing issues

Wild Card is good because if I'm not fusing then why the gently caress am I play a Shin Megami Tensei game

Being back Persona 1 and 2 systems, everyone is a Wild Card, fuse new demons for everyone, punk rear end

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CottonWolf
Jul 20, 2012

Good ideas generator

Good on you for LPing the best Persona game, Dragonatrix. Really glad you're showing the FeMC route too. It's definitely my favourite version.

Anyway, Makoto's clearly a sword fan, so Kendo.

Kaboom Dragoon
May 7, 2010

The greatest of feasts

In basic terms, the Wild Card is there to make the protagonist feel special: they have this super-awesome power literally no one else has! But it also ties into the greater story. They're the wild card, the ace in the hole, the spanner in the works, the one factor that can't be accounted for. I'd love it if the series went back to some of the older mechanics for a while, but being The Chosen One is part and parcel of games and RPGs in particular.

Keeshhound
Jan 14, 2010

Mad Duck Swagger
The social link system also kind of depends on it as the primary (or at least most visable) reward for progress.

Lotus Aura
Aug 16, 2009

KNEEL BEFORE THE WICKED KING!
code:
Kendo: |||||||||||||
 Swim: |||
Track: ||
'Slookin' pretty close to me so far. Gonna give it a few more hours because I don't want to stop playing P5 yet of that.

Keeshhound
Jan 14, 2010

Mad Duck Swagger

Dragonatrix posted:

code:
Kendo: |||||||||||||
 Swim: |||
Track: ||
'Slookin' pretty close to me so far. Gonna give it a few more hours because I don't want to stop playing P5 yet of that.

So far, the single most impressive thing to me about P5 (in a game full of really impressive poo poo) is how they managed to make use of so much red without it being painful to look at.

I'm not even being facetious, that poo poo is hard to do.

Expect My Mom
Nov 18, 2013

by Smythe
I'm still not sure I like the P3-5 thing of You're The Special One Of The Group as opposed to Persona 1 and 2's cast all being on the same page because they did weird occult rituals together and opened up forces they weren't supposed to.

I do like how they almost rationalize it tho, with P1 and 2's directly meeting Philemon to get their Personas, making them all Wild Cards, where the 3-5 cast, only meets Philemon's created servant, Igor and Igor's own created servants, cause idk Philemon just kinda hosed off a bit after that whole Nyarlathotep thing

e: oh right the vote. It's not gonna make a difference but I vote for Track so it at least makes sense for the character

Arcade Rabbit
Nov 11, 2013

I do wish the starter Persona could be more relevant, mostly because I just love their designs. I did an Izanagi only run in P4G since the Shuffle Time in that gives you free stat ups and ways to get skills on different Persona. It was fun keeping Izanagi relevant, and I wish you could do the same with Arsene and Orpheus.

Jen X
Sep 29, 2014

To bring light to the darkness, whether that darkness be ignorance, injustice, apathy, or stagnation.
Let's maybe not talk about P5 stuff at all here

That aside, I'm 100% on board with having the main character's original persona always be relevant; hell, I'd just stuff it in its own unique slot in the team so you always have it with you, and have it level up when you do.

Lotus Aura
Aug 16, 2009

KNEEL BEFORE THE WICKED KING!
Well good news, Persona Q did (the latter part of) that! :shepface:

Lotus Aura fucked around with this message at 03:26 on Apr 8, 2017

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
Yeah, in hindsight, Sub-Persona will be your bread and butter in Persona Q. I don't think I ever used many of the built-in Persona skills for a character unless they were really good.

MythosDragon
Jan 3, 2016

I dont remember, does the link even change based on which sport you do?

Also holy poo poo, I last played this game when I wasnt even nerdy since I did Swimming, like wow. Nostalgia vote.

I skipped Persona Q, first my 3DS starting turning off a the slightest impact (take hand off, put hand back on, turns off) around then, and I was in a "eegh dungeon crawler" stage back then cuz the Vita was making GBS threads them out. Strangely enough, like a week ago my 3DS seems to have fixed itself.

mandatory lesbian
Dec 18, 2012

MythosDragon posted:

I skipped Persona Q

you made a good choice

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.
Persona Q is really not a good game. You didn't miss out on much.

MythosDragon
Jan 3, 2016

I developed a thirst for DRPGs a few months ago due to reasons that would probably spark an outrage here, and never did anything with because my 3DS was broken, but now that its fixed I'll probably end up shelling out for PQ soon enough.

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
I'll say this for Persona Q: while I would not call it a great or even good game (and would have less flattering things to say about the plot), I will say it's at least not without a degree of charm or enjoyability.

eternaldough
Jan 16, 2017

See, I bought Persona Q ages ago but never got around to actually taking it out of the box. Now I'm not sure I even want to pick it up one day, but if I don't, then I definitely wasted the money.

These are the silly things I do to myself sometimes

SloppyDoughnuts
Apr 9, 2010

I set fire to the rain watched it pour as I touched your face
I love Persona Q :(

eternaldough
Jan 16, 2017

SloppyDoughnuts posted:

I love Persona Q :(

I'm sure I'd still have some amount of fun and laughs! It's just these kind of dungeon crawlers are quite the investment in time, especially since I heard the level design is far from top notch

neongrey
Feb 28, 2007

Plaguing your posts with incidental music.
I remember not liking PQ right after it came out and people got really defensive at me about it at the time. And I was kind of crushed about it being bad, too.

MythosDragon
Jan 3, 2016

How much does it focus on the story? DRPG's are kind of infamous for not really falling under standard RPG classifications due to a lack of story focus.

Kaboom Dragoon
May 7, 2010

The greatest of feasts

Hobgoblin2099 posted:

I'll say this for Persona Q: while I would not call it a great or even good game (and would have less flattering things to say about the plot), I will say it's at least not without a degree of charm or enjoyability.

(spoilers for P3 and P3P cast members we haven't seen yet)

Item Getter
Dec 14, 2015

MythosDragon posted:

I developed a thirst for DRPGs a few months ago due to reasons that would probably spark an outrage here, and never did anything with because my 3DS was broken, but now that its fixed I'll probably end up shelling out for PQ soon enough.

Get Etrian Odyssey instead.

Expect My Mom
Nov 18, 2013

by Smythe
i'm going to play persona q one day

this is a vow i made, an oath i took

Lotus Aura
Aug 16, 2009

KNEEL BEFORE THE WICKED KING!
code:
Kendo: ||||||||||||||||
 Swim: ||||
Track: |||||
Alright so I'm gonna call it here. Hopefully get the update done and ready for Monday but no promises. It does kind of depend on how often I fall into the Metaverse after all.

Farseli
Sep 28, 2009

This is what I live for. This is the purpose of living, for those who have no life.
So glad I noticed this. I tried playing P3FES and P3P like 5 times now, always getting a few months into the game and then just dropping it. I really like the combat and the dungeon stuff but can't stand time management and school/dating sim stuff. It was the plot, style, battles, and music that really drew me to the game. Plus everything is just so ominous.

One of my friends is QA and editor at Atlus NA so our friend group has been talking about P5 almost non-stop for the past few days. I gotta get through (via LP) P3 and P4 first.

MythosDragon
Jan 3, 2016

Item Getter posted:

Get Etrian Odyssey instead.

Not a chance in hell.

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.

MythosDragon posted:

Not a chance in hell.

If you don't like Etrian Odyssey, then you are really not gonna like Persona Q since it's pretty much a worse version of that from a gameplay standpoint.

If you're getting it for the Persona aspect, it's gonna depend on your tolerance for Persona spinoff writing because a lot of the characters got reduced to one-note jokes.

MythosDragon
Jan 3, 2016

Dr. Fetus posted:

If you don't like Etrian Odyssey, then you are really not gonna like Persona Q since it's pretty much a worse version of that from a gameplay standpoint.

If you're getting it for the Persona aspect, it's gonna depend on your tolerance for Persona spinoff writing because a lot of the characters got reduced to one-note jokes.

I'm a story gamer, so I disliked Etrian in the first place, and then I remember reading something along the lines "Luminous Arc 3 passed up in favor of Etrian Odyssey 3" when that was a relevant newspiece and thus a hatred was born, though I cant find anything actually saying that now so it might be me misremembering, but hey who said hatred was rational? I have no clue if I even hate the gameplay tbh, I never played enough to actually form an opinion, but every once in a while, I do develop a DRPG craving, but theres so few with enough story to actually be playable.

Anyway, we got off topic. How about them ingame bathrooms?

tithin
Nov 14, 2003


[Grandmaster Tactician]



Put it this way, I'd sooner play EO 1.0 for the DS without a medic / protector, than pick up Persona Q again, and I only made it to the sixth floor

Montegoraon
Aug 22, 2013

MythosDragon posted:

Anyway, we got off topic. How about them ingame bathrooms?

Truly, they are the finest in all of gaming. Too resplendent to be properly rendered by the PS2. Using one makes you feel like the platonic essence of a placebo has been infused into your very soul.

Carados
Jan 28, 2009

We're a couple, when our bodies double.
PQ is what you play when you're out of Etrian Odyssey games and don't want to play the knock-off from other companies yet. Don't play it before that, it's not worth it.

Petiso
Apr 30, 2012



I, for one, enjoy Persona games, EO games and enjoyed my Persona Q playthrough and will probably do another run in the future as the other MC. Only thing I really disliked was Akihiko's and Chie's writing.

Lotus Aura
Aug 16, 2009

KNEEL BEFORE THE WICKED KING!


Today is a very important day...

Want To Be Close / Time



Yeah, why?
Man, I knew it. I heard from Junpei that you're pretty close with Yukari-san.
...What's up with that?





There's a morning assembly, so we better hurry.



Next, we'll hear a word from the Student Council.



Thank you.



Well... I guess she IS the most popular girl in school.
You can say that again! There's like some kinda aura around her...



Yeah, I try not to think about that.



It is my firm belief that each of us must accept the responsibility of bettering our school.
However, change cannot occur without sustained effort and an unprecedented level of commitment.
That is why we must restructure our daily lives to accommodate this lofty goal.



...To imagine a bold new future without losing sight of the realities around you. That is the key.
I am certain that many of you have your own visions of the future... For us to reap the full benefits of our education, your participation, ideas, and enthusiasm are essential.
Thank you.



So... Do you have any idea what she just said?
Sort of.
Sure didn't sound like somethin' a high-schooler would say...
If it was anyone else, we'd be laughin' our asses off.



...You know what? I'm tired of these textbooks. I just went over this novel in the last class.
I've got a great poem we can cover instead. Close your textbooks, everyone, and listen...



All right, Kenji, you'd better not be sleeping back there! You should be ashamed of yourself, taking a nap while I pour my heart into reading this poem!
For that, you get another essay along with your regular assignment tonight!
I'll expect a slice of cake when you turn it in, too! And don't cheap out with the store-bought stuff like last time!



This is nice and all, but what makes today so important?



This train be off the rails at long last! We've finally got the freedom to do whatever we want during downtime. Hurray!

...There's not much we can do today, though. That'll very quickly change, but we'll deal with that when we can. Same with looking around the school proper. For now, let's just leave and see what we find.




And what we find... is a cutscene. Great.

Where!? ...Oh, there he is!
......



I didn't use to talk to him much, but now I've got a good excuse.
I know he's the captain of the boxing team, but... Who woulda thought he'd be such a chick magnet!?
I mean, come on! You don't even see girls flock like that on TV! I wonder where they're going...







Normally I'd truncate this and combine the latter 2 into one image like before, but that heart icon over Junpei's head is kind of hilarious I dunno.

I want the two of you to meet me at Paulownia Mall.
You know where it is, right? I'll be at the police station. See ya there.
Th-The police station? You mean, we're not hangin' out with your friends...?
Who, these girls?



Anyway, I'm gonna head out. ...Don't keep me waiting.



...Oh well, let's go.

> Akihiko asked you to meet him at the Paulownia Mall police station...
> You decide to head over there...

Fortunately, we're not forced there immediately so we can do something else first.



Namely, talk to this guy. We'll probably be seeing him around a lot. Call it a bit of a hunch, there.

When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life



We could try and do other things, but we're sort of not allowed (...free time...) and it's a good idea to get this out of the way quicker anyway.

Paulownia Mall



Oh, these are the guys I was talking about earlier.



I was waiting for you guys. This is Officer Kurosawa. He helps keep our squad well-equipped.
And, this is from Ikutsuki-san...
R-Really!? Sweet!



You can't fight something empty-handed, so find something you like. Officer Kurosawa has connections...
But, these things still cost money.
Of course they do. Nothing in life is free.
I realize that.
Well, I'll see you later. Thanks again.



My job is to maintain peace in this city, regardless of the circumstances.
I'm just an ordinary police officer, but it doesn't take a genius to know something strange is going on here. I'm only doing what I think is right.

So, Kurosawa here runs the Weapon/Armor store out of the Police Station.



We can buy an upgrade for anyone/everyone if we have the funds but thats 9600 Yen for the weapons alone and we'd have 8000 flat if I didn't buy soda so...



Instead, I'm just not gonna buy anything right now. They're all upgrades across the board, sure, but we can get anything he sells for free in Tartarus and we can find BETTER stuff in general too.


When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life



I'm gonna take off, since I'm in a bad mood now...
Later.

> Junpei has left.

So, NOW we have actual real free time. Finally.



Since we're already here, we might as well look around the mall a bit first.



Since Kurosawa won't sell accessories, we need to find somewhere else to buy them. Fortunately that's next door! I do appreciate here how the HP/SP increases are proportional and not what they do in later games when it's just "oh this thing gives you a whole 10 points of SP!" or whatever.

That said the other stat boosters are just +1 and that's real bad so whatever.



...Honestly, for the most part I kind of forget that the actual stores in the mall exist after a while.



Speaking of forgetting, every shopkeeper has normal dialogue too but it's not exciting or anything. Kurosawa just tells us his "store" is only open during the day, for example.



I guess since we're going clockwise, we'll finish off that way too. Gonna make a note of this to come back in about 2 months when it's open.



...So, basically, there's no point to shopping at the Pharmacy when it's not a Saturday. Gotcha.



Being a Pharmacy, it sells restoratives... and hoity-toity cat food.

I dunno, I just love that this is here and it describes the cat food as being snobbish.



Nothing else in the mall worth our time right now (sadly Tower Power Records is not a store we can buy things in), so we'll just leave and go... somewhere. The station over by our dorm seems like a good first stop. We'll go everywhere here repeatedly over time, don't worry.



For sensible reasons, it drops us off at the train station but that's not why we're here!



No, off-screen to the south-west we can find a path to the strip mall here. We've seen it twice already so we have an idea of what's out here. I'm sure we'll see what's in all these stores later but for now..



I feel like grabbing a cheap and easy snack. It's only 400 yen so the Chairman's paid for this already, if you think about it.



It's weird because it doesn't have octopus in it. At all. I would think that means it isn't even takoyaki but I guess I'm wrong.



Moving swiftly on, we'll head over to the other station. This is a small area with one important thing in it.



This guy right here.



It shows movies on a bit of a rotation with each one increasing a social stat. This is our first chance to boost Courage and it only costs 1500 yen!



It does use up our afternoon free time but that's okay. There's not really much else we COULD do with it anyway.



More important is that since right now our Charm and Academics are at 4 and our Courage is at 0 it might seem like it has a bit of catching up to do.



It's already done so. The movie theatre is a pretty nice bonus for social stats since it IS a +4 gain. It's just... not actually worth using outside of the really early stuff because we have better things to spend time on soon enough.


Iwatodai Dorm



Regarding our exploration of Tartarus...
Akihiko is still on the mend, so for now, I'd like you to lead the team.
You never know when a powerful enemy might appear, like the one you faced the other day.
It's best to be prepared, or else you may find yourself in a difficult situation.
So, whenever you'd like to explore Tartarus, just let me know, and I'll gather everyone there.
Also, since I'm sure there are other things you will need to take care of, you may go out at night if you need to.
Well, that's it. Keep up the good work.

Simply put: we can leave on an Evening now.

But first...




Tell me, what did you think about it?
It was a piece of cake.
Why, that's absolutely remarkable! Would you like to apply to become the next chairman?



But, he knows about us and helps out when he can.
Why does he help us?



But, he's a police officer, so he's dedicated his life to helping people.
Plus, he's a pretty cool guy.
Does everyone go there?



How did you meet him?



He's someone you can count on.
Anything else I should know?



...so you won't be able to buy equipment during those times.



They appear as coffins.
Shadows are quite enigmatic.. They only attack thoe who have not been Transmogrified.
Shadows feed on the minds of their victims, leaving them unable to speak.
We call this Apathy Syndrome.
And those who suffer from this incapactitating afflication are known as...
...The Lost.



I feel like I spent all day hiking up Mount Fuji.
What about you, Makoto-kun?
I feel fine.
Really? You don't look like you have that much endurance.



Well, I was thinking, why does it have to look like a gun?
I mean, you gotta be a little nutty to point a gun at your head and pull the trigger, ya know?



Investigators are facing a difficult case, since there were no witnesses. This is the 12th instance of the mysterious incident. A team of investigators is working hard to track down any leads.

When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life



Welp, no point in hanging around the dorm if we don't have to. We COULD go to Tartarus right away but I'll give it a bit of time first.



Our nighttime exploration options are even more limited than normal. I guess we'll be spending a lot of time in the mall.



So, there's a thing back here that I skipped over earlier since I didn't think it'd be relevant right now. It still isn't, but let's just get it out of the way now.


Silence



It's the door to the Velvet Room! This will prove pretty dang handy to have quick access to later, since this is the only spot it turns up in outside of Tartarus.

The Poem For Everyone's Soul



Welcome to the Velvet Room.
Well... I suppose it's time for me to explain what I really do here.



But in order to do so, I must fuse your Persona cards together...
In other words, I shall merge them into a single Persona.
The number of Personas you have buried within you is approximately 170...
We've never seen a visitor with this many possibilities before...



Heh heh heh... This should prove veeery interesting,.
So, as you accumulate cards, please bring them to me.

We could fuse Orpheua and Pixie but right now that wouldn't be the best idea. So, we'll just leave for now...

When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life



And check out the Arcade. We're gonna be spending a lot of money and time here, for a simple reason.



Every day, there are two different game available. We're gonna be focusing on the more expensive one almost exclusively.



So, for today we'll be checking out the, uh, Haunted House I guess.



Mainly because it gives us a Courage boost. We want to get as much Courage as possible in as short a time as possible, so...


Silence



Provided we don't go to Tartarus, we can spend extra night time Studying if we really want to.



Needless to say, yes, we're going to study here very often. There's little reason not to, really.



It's an easy and consistent Academics increase, after all.



Although, sometimes this happens which is a good thing in itself. I just wish it happened later than the first possible day...



Because it lasts through to Wednesday and that's not a good thing but only in this particular instance.


Want To Be Close / Time



Dude, I thought the rumor about you and Yukari-san was true...
It is what it is.



You keep saying that, Kenji. I think you do care.

But, you've sure had some bad luck since you transferred here.
...You know, dude, all the weird stuff that's been happening...
How everyone's been saying they're hearing strange voices...
Well, I guess since you're always listening to your headphones, you probably haven't heard anything.

Joy



> It's the classmate you were talking to earlier this morning...



Why are you asking me?
No reason, really. I just don't have anything to do later...
...and I thought we could finish our conversation from this morning.
So whaddya say, man? Let's get some ramen and talk.

> You accepted your classmate's offer.



Super unsubtle ulterior motive... makes sense here, really.

> You have decided to go with him.





...Whew! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!
...Well, was I right, or was I right? This ramen tastes great, doesn't it?
I bet they put a special ingredient in it--something no other ramen shop uses.
It's probably some sort of secret spice...
Oh, sorry. My bad. I get all geeked up when I eat here.
I agree with you.



...Wow, you don't look like the type of guy I'd normally hang around with... But I guess looks aren't everything.
...By the way, man, I hear you and Yukari are close.
drat, boy, you move fast! I mean, you just transferred here.
...I can't blame you, though. A man's gotta be aggressive nowadays.

Even in 2009, huh? I guess there really is nothing new under the sun. Hopefully Kenji is going to end up being more likable than most people with this mindset...

Hey, let's hang out after school again sometime.



> Kenji seems to like you...

> You have become friends with Kenji.

The Power of The Heart



> A mysterious voice rings in your head...





Well, I guess today could've been used less productively...

Joy



What, it's already nighttime? ...drat, I missed my favorite TV show!
Man, you're one serious dude... Oh well, let's get going.

> You decided to return to the dorm.

Iwatodai Dorm



Exploring Tartarus can be very tiring. If the exploration becomes too long, you might get exhausted.



There's a chance you might not be able to recuperate fully before whatever's going to happen.
The others' conditions will vary as well, so make sure you take that into consideration before you begin exploring.
If you want my evaluation of everyone's condition, don't hesitate to ask.

Mitsuru remains so consistently bad at tutorials in this instance she outright got it wrong. Good job, Mitsuru.



You should return to your room and rest for the remainder of the day.
Don't push yourself too hard if you're not feeling well.



Right, so we're currently Tired from getting a bad RNG when Studying. It happens. Since we can only check our own status easily (because while it makes sense in terms of plot, Persona 3 is a mechanical pain in the rear end), Mitsuru exists to at least make this part somewhat easier. Bascally, we could talk to everyone separately when in Tartarus or we could talk to Mitsuru. One of these is the better option, yes.

But we're not checking stats since we've only been in Tartarus once and that was a tutorial and so it didn't even count anyway. We're just going to normally Talk.




there is a possibility you may falter.
However, continuous attacks with a sword will inflict a great amount of damage.
Contrarily, there is no danger of stumbling when you use a far-range weapon such as a bow.
However, a bow is nowhere near as powerful as a sword.

And not just because Yukari has low Strength. Though that doesn't help.

No, see, ranged attacks don't have a penalty for missing so they deal poo poo damage AND miss constantly because of their massively reduced accuracy (12% miss rate is a lot). Balancing!


I see that you can use both types of weapons.
it is important to think about these advantages and disadvantages when choosing between the two.



And if you don't get up fast enough, you'll become the enemy's main target.



I'm not wearing a nurse's uniform, but you can come to me if ya need healing!



What, is that funny?
You need to be hot to pull off a nurse's uniform, and you're definitely--*cough*--NOT.
Why you little--!

...Moving ever so swiftly on.



Everyone else can only use one type of weapon. For me, it's the two-handed sword.
That's because real men fight with katanas!
With a katana you can sometimes hit an enemy over and over... and it's super strong!
Consider me the main attacker of the team! I'm one baaad mutha!
Although, sometimes I fall down when an enemy dodges my attack... but don't worry about that.



The man has regained consciousness, but due to his condition, has been unable to speak. Police are awaiting the man's recovery before questioning him. And that's the news for today.

When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life



Well, there's no reason to stay in the dorm at Night. Being Tired doesn't mean anything out here, so we'll be going to the mall every night except when we go to Tartarus for obvious reasons.



Although, today we're not playing arcade games. Instead, we're checking out the place with the empty orchestra sign.



800 yen is relatively cheap for what this does, really.



Even without the arcade machine, there are ways in the mall to increase Courage and Charm which is nice.


Silence



There's basically no reason to not study so...!



...Well, okay there is this. Since we're Tired, we can't actually get anything out of studying right now. This was just a waste of time, really.



And now we're no longer tired, and that's a bad thing right now. It ISN'T bad normally but there's something special you can do in a bad condition at school.


Want To Be Close / Time



Listening: You're talking about the Apathy Syndrome, right? My neighbor has that... He grosses me out. Sometimes I think I might have it too, and it depresses me.
Gossiping: Maybe you just need some exercise.



> The first bell has rung.



We could go and join a school club right now, or we could, uh, not.



Kenji's right here and though I don't exactly like it, he did tease us with something of maybe interest. Plus he's a Social Link and we probably should deal with those.



We can still decide to not spend time with him though, or we can get reminded what our rank is. Which is also in the menu, so that's just pointless here.

...Still, we've got no real reason to bail.


Joy



> Contrary to its simple appearance, the soup has a complex flavor that is accentuated by the noodles.

Hey, dude, your dorm's co-ed, right?
So, can you, like, go into Yukari-san's room and stuff?
No.
...No, huh? Yeah, that's what I thought.



So, a lot of dialogue choices in most S.Link scenes matter. They affect how quickly you'll reach the next rank, which is kind of important for a couple reasons. We'll get to those when we get to those though.

Well, I'm not interested in girls her age, anyway.
When it comes to women, I like them to be older than me. What about you?
I like girls my age.
...Psh, you don't know what you're missing, man.
Older women are smart, sexy, and sophisticated.
drat, dude. I thought you'd understand.



Anyway, so, the music note from before is how you know you picked "right" and this one is a clear sign of choosing the "wrong" option. In this instance, it doesn't even matter though. You need 1 point to get Kenji up from here and getting either one correct gives 5 points (7 if you use a semi-hidden mechanic).

...Well, to tell you the truth, I--wait, this is just between us, okay?--I have my eye on someone.
This is the "secret plan" I was talking about. I'm going to ask her out.



Anyways, I want you to be there when I ask her out. But you gotta promise you won't tell anyone, okay?

...On the one hand, I so want no part of anything that's going to happen from here. On the other hand, I cannot wait to see (and most likely laugh at) everything that happens out of this.

Cuz if people find out they'll be all like, "That's inappropriate" or whatever...

> Kenji told you his secret plan...

> Your relationship is stronger now!

The Power of The Heart



And this scene plays every single time we get a rank up in the S.Link it's dumb. I'm just gonna cut it out from now on, honestly.



> Your power to create Personas of the Magician Arcana has grown!

It's not like you're going to forget who represents which Arcana anyway.

Joy



> You decide to return to the dorm.

Iwatodai Dorm



...Y'know, I do wonder if Junpei knows about Kenji's "secret plan" or not. He has to, right?

He said you're a pretty cool guy...
Are you two friends too?
Well, sort of... I've known him for a long time, even though we don't usually hang out.
He's a good guy... and, man, he has no fear when it comes to the ladies...

Understatement, yes.

By the way, let's go to Tartarus tonight...
I hear the Lost are increasing, so we better kick some Shadow rear end.

Eh, there's no need to go to Tartarus just yet. We'll be fine if we leave it a couple days more.



By the way, have you joined any clubs?
Sure have.
Good, I hope you enjoy it.
It's tough to attend all the time, but you'll really get a lot out of it if you do.



Teammates who are sick or tired should not be permitted to explore the tower.



That's why mine only learns physical skills.

Among others, though since we're only like level 3 you don't know that yet I guess.

...Because dudes are supposed to fight with their fists! Mano a mano!
Oh, that's right... I use a sword.



I'd have thought those two things would be the other way around, but whatever.

What's great about a bow is you don't fall down if an enemy dodges one of your arrows.
Although... a bow doesn't do very much damage, and it misses a lot...
But, you can always balance those negatives with your Persona.
So, no worries.

Hey guys, do you maybe get it yet? There are mechanical differences between weapons! And not just the fact that there are three different Physical elements!



Our next story is about the release of the spring carp. Over 10,000 were released into the river this year. The next carp-release ceremony will be held in June.

As interesting as carp is, let's see... today is Thursday, so that means...



Karaoke, I guess. Let that Courage sour ever-higher!



And then late night studying for good measure. Academics is slowly, slowly creeping up to where we're going to want it.



Don't worry, I have a stupid plan for certain things in mind anyway.


Want To Be Close / Time



Gossiping: I got seriously hooked on that punching game.



Yeah, so, uh, the games that I'm not bothering with at the arcade don't increase Social stats. They increase your actual Stats.

Listening: That's at Paulownia Mall, right? Game Panic has a good selection, but it's always packed.



Gossiping: Oh, really? Let's go see what cabs are open today.
Gossiping: That is... if you can spot me some change.
Listening: No way! You still owe me for that game of Super Neo all the way back in 2003!

> The first bell has rung.



So, this is probably the first and last time we'll see this here. I'll see it a lot though...

Afternoon Break



You doing anything after school?
Maybe.
Oh...
Well, if you're looking for something to do, come talk to me, man. I'll be at my desk.
Well, I guess I should go study...
...NOT! Who needs to study, right? Hahaha...



> Maybe you should talk to him after school...

Maybe, yeah. This scene just means he's going to rank up if we hang out with him. If this scene plays, that's definitely going to happen but the reverse is not necessarily true. It should be obvious why I'm going to skip this whenever it plays in the future.

Want To Be Close / Time



Anyway, we COULD hang out with Kenji again but we're sure not gonna today.



We're not really going to check out much of the school, but there's one specific area we're heading to.



...First though, I see someone we didn't do anything with yesterday.




Um, why am I telling you this?
Well, whatever... You have to admit, he IS a hottie...



Oh yeah, dude, she's DEFINITELY checking me out...

This isn't exactly the only NPC mini-threadline but it's the one that exists right now.



But what I do know is that we're off through this door next to the bulletin board that we couldn't before.




It's hard to read... It doesn't look like English...
And if you listen close, you can hear mysterious voices inside...
It's one awfully mysterious home economics class, let me tell you.

Huh, that's a little too specifically odd. Wonder if it'll come up again.



We're going to be going through this fire exit, but those stairs there? Lead to our classroom, basically. We could've come down there and be done quicker, but then we'd miss out on Creepy Stalker and... whatever is going on with the home ec class.



Out through the fire exit, there's this... tree. That really does stand out, alright.



And since this is a Japanese high school, this path also leads to the Gym.



From here, we can pick which sports club we join. Track is the door dead ahead, swimming is to the left and kendo is to the right.

Now, let's see...

code:
Kendo: ||||||||||||||||
 Swim: ||||
Track: |||||
Alright, that works for me; kendo it is.




Joy





This is Yuko, our manager.



You're a junior, right? SInce we're the same year, you can just call me "Yuko."

...That might be one of the most Japanese sentences I have ever seen in an official English release of a thing, wow. See, basically, just referring to someone by their first name is either a signifier of closeness or that you're absurdly ridiculously rude. Yuko's cool though, so she don't mind which is nice I guess.

...Hey! Kazushi!



This is the future captain of this team. He's a great athlete and scores well in competitions.
You two are in the same class, right? Kazushi, keep an eye on the new guy here, okay?
You got it.
You're the guy who went out with Yukari Takeba on the first day of school, right?
You're practically famous.
I'm Kazushi Miyamoto. You've seen me around, right?
Yeah.



Just because you joined mid-season, don't think I'll go easy on you!

> You have made friends with Kazushi...

> You joined the Kendo Team and befriended your new teammates.

The Power of The Heart





Joy



I'll make sure your uniform is ready for next time.

> After looking around, you decided to go back to the dorm.

Iwatodai Dorm



Nope.
Well, don't wait too long, cuz they fill up quickly.
Oh, by the way, maybe we should go to Tartarus tonight...



Plus, I didn't have practice today, so I could use the exercise...
Just don't take it lightly, okay? It's dangerous there.
I'm aware of that.

We'll leave Tartarus be for the moment, of course. Before we consider doing anything else...



Equipping one of them will affect your status, dude!
I think only Persona-users can use them, though.



Hmm... I wonder why you don't notice you've been infected until after the battle...
Must be because you're concentrating so hard on fighting... Well, anyway, just don't come near me if you get sick.



Let me rephrase that... WE don't have weaknesses, our Personas do.
My Persona seems to be weak against electricity, but strong against wind. *sigh* She'll probably never learn any electricity skills...



Our next story is about a strange animal from overseas.



The platypus, an animal native to Australia, is an egg-laying mammal. And behind the male playpus' feet are poisonous spurs! What a strange animal!

...Why is "hey guys, platypi exist!" a PS2 Persona running joke? It's here and it was a big deal in Persona 4 for no apparent reason. I don't get it.

When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life



So, we can't go to Karaoke right now. That's fine. Let's see...



Okay, good, the arcade has what we want. But we can't afford it. Hrm. Gotta flip some of this stuff from our first Tartarus run I guess.



It's worth it though. Because not only does this give us a Courage boost...



It pushes our Courage up to Rank 2 already! We can do something with this in the future now!



Academics is just a tedious, long grind that isn't even close to rank 2 yet...

Plus we're out of money now. I guess we should go to Tartarus tomorrow.

Lotus Aura fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Apr 8, 2018

Orcs and Ostriches
Aug 26, 2010


The Great Twist

Dragonatrix posted:

...Why is "hey guys, platypi exist!" a PS2-era Persona running joke? It's here and it was a big deal in Persona 4 for no apparent reason. I don't get it.

Because platypuses are rad.

While I can't really pick a favourite out of P3/4/5, I think this one has my favourite atmosphere. Even some of the bad mechanical choices in the game I'll support due to it.

Some of the social links might have some issues in this one, but I don't want to bring them up yet. I find them thematically appropriate all the same

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
What the hell is up with these teachers? :stare:

Blueberry Pancakes fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Apr 10, 2017

DMorbid
Jan 6, 2011

Hello! I see you.


Hobgoblin2099 posted:

What the hell is up with these teachers? :stare:
School staff in general is a bit... special in the Persona games.

Hunt11
Jul 24, 2013

Grimey Drawer
I thought you wanted to max charm for the boost it gives to raising s-links?

GoneRampant
Aug 19, 2016

by FactsAreUseless
So we finally have some proper Social Links to talk about. I volunteered to do little writeups on them (I've since gone back and done the Fool on that post), so I guess here's a proof of concept.

The Magician

Represented by action, initiative and self-confidence, the Magician acts as an embodiment of striving to reach one's dreams. This is represented in the games, with many of the Magician arcana characters being goal-driven... in one way or another in Kenji's case. Though that actually is a recurring trait for Magician arcana characters; they all tend to have slight streaks of immaturity.

The hands at the bottom of the card, and the infinity symbol at the top, both serve to symbolize as a link between the spiritual and human realms. This is worth noting since many Magician characters tend to be for the most part normal; the straight men of their groups... again in Kenji's case, in one way or another (It's a better example for Portable). And that link can be seen in that the Magician characters are normal, but have a link to the paranormal through their relationship to the MC.

In Persona 3, Kenji is our Magician Arcana character, and we'll see how Kenji's attempts to woo his teacher go. The Magician is also the Arcana that Junpei represents, and he is in fact the Magician S-Link in Portable. Junpei's popularity means that Kenji is often forgotten about or ignored, which as we've seen here... isn't entirely a bad thing (Junpei being my favorite character means that him getting an S-Link is music to my ears). Junpei is notable in that he isn't a romance option- something that caused many a fan to gnash their teeth in frustration- especially given later revelations on who can be romanced in Portable, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

In terms of game mechanics, Magician Personas are, fittingly enough, often based around high Magic skills, with a strong penchant for Fire. Series mascot Jack Frost is a Magician Persona, and his brother Pyro Jack is as well.

The Chariot

The Chariot Arcana represents victory, conquest, self-assertion and self-control. The tarot card for this symbolizes the self-control by how the gladiator in the card is not holding the reins of the sphinxes carrying him. It also tends to represent having the willpower to press against what's in your way. It's also a tarot associated with war, which is likely why many of the Chariot personas tend to be war gods.

Many of these traits are shown in Kaz, our sports-club friend. Unlike in Persona 4, where your club choice changed which character represented a social link, Kax will always be a member of whatever sports team you join. In Portable, Kaz is demoted from social link status and replaced by Rio Iwasaki, who we saw when Hamuko was exploring school. She has the same deal as Kaz where she is a member of whatever team you join, either the vollyball or tennis club.

Chariot Personas are heavily specialized towards physical attacking. They all have high Strength and learn a lot of physical-based attacks, alongside physical buffs to boost their attack and defense.

Minor trivia as well, but the Chariot is the first Arcana in the game where we have yet to meet the SEES member who uses a Persona from its Arcana.

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tithin
Nov 14, 2003


[Grandmaster Tactician]



The difference in demeanor between the school staff in persona 3 and 5 is something else alright

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