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IO's First LP- Forgotten in the Conscious Mind: Persona 2: Innocent Sin (Screenshot LP)


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Hello everybody!

I've chosen to try making my first ever Let's Play. :): And I hope to finish it unlike so many other projects, which for understandable reasons fall to the wayside. Fortunately, I think this game is only ~30-40 hours, so it's on the moderate side of JRPGs, that's good.

I can't promise to be the most insightful, witty, or irreverent of LPers, I could be as dry as the Atacama and not be suited for the role at all. But I'll try this once and see, if you don't mind.;]

 

So, for the first game I've chosen to LP, it is Persona 2: Innocent Sin. This is the 2011 PSP version to be precise, the original 1999 PS1 release was Japan only; it has a few additions and updates compared to the original.

Why did I pick Persona 2: Innocent Sin? Well I've stared at the Persona franchise from afar for years. I'm not fond of major life sim elements, and from what I'm aware, they're not present in Persona 2.  Persona 3 is responsible for the creation of that half of the successful modern Persona formula, and it is perfectly fine to like it. This said, Persona 2: Innocent Sin does have a dating sim element, and that I'm totally fine with, P3 and beyond just sound like they have too much of it for me.

I also picked Persona 2 because of the rise of "modern" Persona: which began with Persona 3, gained great niche popularity with Persona 4, and has since exploded to the point of getting in Smash Bros with Persona 5. Persona 2 predates this and hasn't received any attention in the Persona intra-series crossovers I think, yet I've heard good of its narrative. Thus I wish to show to others this "forgotten" earlier part of the franchise, before it hit it big.

 

Why not start with Persona 1 then? It is the very first Persona. I'll tell you why. It appears Persona 1 has never been retranslated. Why is that a problem?

The PS1 original's English translation engages in an atrocious de-Japanizing of the entire game, keeping the Shinto shrines but little else. It replaces dollars with yen, Japanese food with American food, likewise, they renamed all the locations and characters from Japanese to English names. And they even made a playable character African-American when they were originally white. Did I mention they cut an alternative route with an ending from the game? This is too much, so it must be skipped, or played in Japanese -but then I couldn't understand it. It won't be enough to simply see Igor smile at me, I need to understand what he says.

EDIT: For some inconceivable reason I thought the PSP version wasn't translated! I'm going to stay the course with Persona 2 though for now. I'll get to real origins of Persona later, that game is apparently a bit more archaic (I can manage- Soul Hackers I completed and that originally released months before it) and not so memorable in itself, compared to Persona 2.

Why not start with Shin Megami Tensei: If...? If... is the SMT game which inspired Persona. For this, I just don't feel like trying it at the moment, I'll get to it later. And it isn't that Persona-y I hazard to guess.

 

 

As a disclaimer, I already looked up this game's plot in summation a long time ago, thinking I'd never have the means to play it. That's understandable I think. 

Nonetheless, though I know how things will end, there is still the journey and all its minutiae to experience, that should be plenty of fun. Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies everyone knows will end the one way or the other, but that doesn't stop the Bard of Stratford-on-Avon from having been so treasured over the centuries. -Not to call this game, or any other, on par with Shakespeare, I won't make that call either way.

 

For a content disclaimer, Nazis and Hitler himself do appear in the main plot as pure evil villains. I don't think they were needed, and I have a Nazis in popular entertainment aversion myself, but I'll stomach it for the sake of Philemon. For those who have an aversion to Nazis (totally justified), I will issue a "WARNING!" when they first appear. And another warning when he one of the most disgusting human beings to ever exist appears. And I'll even put him in a spoiler box inside the usual spoiler box I'll be putting my LP entries in so you don't have to look at his mug and sprite, you can skip right past it.

 

Now having mentioned If... and Persona 1 above let me provide a little timeline around Persona 2 for context.:

Spoiler

Pre-Persona 2 initial release:

  • March 3rd, 1986: Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei (The light novel that begins the franchise is released.)
  • September 11th, 1987: Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei (The video game based on the light novel is released.)
  • April 6th 1990: Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II (The second video game which begins SMT as a franchise.)
  • October 30th, 1992: Shin Megami Tensei
  • October 28th, 1994: Shin Megami Tensei: If...
  • September 20th, 1996: Megami Ibunroku Persona

June 24th, 1999: Persona 2: Innocent Sin

June 29th, 2000: Persona 2: Eternal Punishment

Post Persona 2 initial release:

  • February 20th, 2003: Shin Megami Tensei III (The original Japan-only no True Demon Ending version of the game that invented modern SMT.)
  • July 13th, 2006: Persona 3 
  • April 19, 2007: Persona 3: FES
  • July 10th, 2008: Persona 4
  • January 15th, 2009: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
  • October 8th, 2009: Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
  • November 1st, 2009: Persona 3 Portable
  • April 14th, 2011: Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP)
  • July 28, 2011: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
  • May 17th, 2012: Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PSP)
  • June 14th, 2012: Persona 4: The Golden

So what was the entire point to that chronology? To show when this game was released, what Atlus had done before it, and what they had done afterwards up to just after they released Innocent Sin PSP- where they had gone.

Now as you see, while I've spoken of Persona 2: Innocent Sin, there is something called Persona 2: Eternal Punishment on that chronology as well. That is a direct sequel to Innocent Sin, which I intend to get to some time after finishing the first game. Maybe not right away, but eventually. Persona 2 is a duology, and you need both games to fully appreciate it. I like chosen subtitles on face value, one sounds sympathetically sweet yet criminal, and  the other sounds like a terribly harsh reprimand for the innocent sinning.

Besides Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment, Persona 2 had two Japan-only cell phone games. The first is a bridge between IS and EP, and is an okay game I hear in what bridging of the two stories it does. The second cell phone game is absolute trash that has absolutely nothing to do with P2 narratively and is best forgotten forever.

 

To end this opening post, I'm going to post off of YouTube the two opening trailers to Innocent Sin, just to actually show off the game for once in this post. 

The first is the original PS1 opening, the second was added in the PSP port. The PSP port keeps the original opening too, you just have to wait two seconds on the title screen for it to show. This reminds of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, which rereleased in 2012 on 3DS. It features its original Sega Saturn opening and a brand new one exactly the same way as Innocent Sin PSP before it.

Next time: I begin my journey as an LPer. Leave comments if you're interested in this!

Edited by Interdimensional Observer
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I'm surprised you don't bring up the PSP re-release of Persona 1, known as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona.  Its translation is much more faithful to the original, but it also replaces the original soundtrack with a new one meant specifically to appeal to Persona 3 and 4 fans.  Thankfully there should be a patched version that mostly restores the original soundtrack.

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11 minutes ago, Von Ithipathachai said:

I'm surprised you don't bring up the PSP re-release of Persona 1, known as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona.  Its translation is much more faithful to the original, but it also replaces the original soundtrack with a new one meant specifically to appeal to Persona 3 and 4 fans.  Thankfully there should be a patched version that mostly restores the original soundtrack.

How'd I miss that!?!???????????????????:>_<:

Still, I think I'll stick with Innocent Sin and return to Persona 1 later. From what I hear it isn't so accessible or fun compared to P2. The two games I know aren't linked save for being continuations of the same general war in the collective unconscious.

Editing the OP for that humungous blunder.

Edited by Interdimensional Observer
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You have my attention, friend.

Get in loosers ! We're actually going to see a plot that is going somewhere. Featuring, Hit-The Fuhrer.
Ah ah ah... oh those silly censorships.

Well, I'll be honest, it's weird as fuck to see them.

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11 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I don't have an image-sharing site account of any kind, so I hope SF has provided my account enough storage space to host all the screenshots I intend to include (and I've all but 2% of it presently available). If not, I guess I'll delete the screenshots for the older entries, with a willingness to PM those earlier LP entries to others if they missed one or two.

I'll be honest with you, get an image sharing account. You're going to likely end up having to. How much space do you have with SF then that you're pretty confident of this? Is there a particular reason you'd rather not get one?

I'd say I've had no issues with imgbb, though I could be missing said issues the whole time (well, barring the upper limit of image size, but 16 MB isn't a bad upper limit for image sizes.).

Also, it's a Persona game. I do not pretend to know the series (and am afraid of going down the rabbit hole of SMT as a whole, considering the snapshot you just gave us).

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2 minutes ago, Dayni said:

I'll be honest with you, get an image sharing account. You're going to likely end up having to. How much space do you have with SF then that you're pretty confident of this? Is there a particular reason you'd rather not get one?

I'd say I've had no issues with imgbb, though I could be missing said issues the whole time (well, barring the upper limit of image size, but 16 MB isn't a bad upper limit for image sizes.).

I'm just not familiar with them. Any reputable and free ones you'd recommend? I'll see about this imgbb you mention.

SF gives 10 MBs total, which at 200kbs for a screenshot of just the title screen. Not good... Yeah, I'll have to join one of these image sharing sites then. No problem.

 

7 minutes ago, Dayni said:

Also, it's a Persona game. I do not pretend to know the series (and am afraid of going down the rabbit hole of SMT as a whole, considering the snapshot you just gave us).

If you wish to join Alice, play the first SMT, that is the game where she first appeared. No seriously, she is in SMT.

Spoiler

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Although she didn't actually do any fighting against the player until SMTII (later games make her summonable for the player). She became a superboss in Devil Survivor 2, and usually has an exclusive skill called Die For Me! (in Japanese it's more like "Will you please die for me?")- a very high success rate Death-element party insta-kill. She is never important to the plot, but she is something of a popular recurring demon.

To be more serious, Devil Survivor- the 3DS Overclocked enhanced port to be precise- is a great entry point to SMT. No dungeon crawling due to an SRPG gird for movement unique to this spinoff, but it has the general themes of mainline SMT done fairly well and isn't too old or too difficult. Combat once you select an enemy team to fight is the usual stuff for SMT with only a few tweaks (no insta-death nor -kaja buffs and -kunda debuffs in Devil Survivor).

SMTIV for 3DS is very modern and accessible as far as console go. But I'd say Devil Survivor, my own entry point, is just better on the whole for being a starter SMT.

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1 minute ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

SF gives 10 MBs total, which at 200kbs for a screenshot of just the title screen.

I was wondering if you'd asked for more.

Guess not.

Also, huh guess someone saw Lewis Carroll's world for what it is.

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Well, here is the first part of what will hopefully be an LP allllll the way to completion.

Covers the opening to when the shops open up, which could be done in a half hour I guess, but LPing and exploring the beginning made it take longer than usual. No actual controllable fighting in this segment, but at least this isn't Dragon Quest VII PS1.

Part 1: From Bikes to Blue (lots of screenshots for so little actual game)

Section 1: The Sin Begins

Spoiler

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Not a bad title screen, aligns more with the original opening than the new one. A face of anguish, a red sky that speaks of sorrow, and a butterfly, whose meaning will become clear soon enough.

I select "New Game" of course, and...

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I selected Hard being an SMT veteran, but free adjustability once I start the game is always a good thing.

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After picking the difficulty, the game gives me a "This game is a work of fiction. Any real world resemblances are purely coincidental" message.  -Uh, don't the Nazis kinda undermine this? This kind of opening warning is typical with SMT, given it tends to be dark and it doesn't want presumably that darkness to have any chance of leading someone to commit murder or suicide or freak out in some other extreme way. Good legal coverage Atlus.

Now let's see how Atlus chose to begin the story. With a bang, a whimper, or somewhere in between.:

 

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......?

 

 

 

 

 

Classy. That bike from the opening and its owner, who is of course the hero of this game.

Heads up, he's the silent type, like the rest of Atlus's protags.

Let's continue on and see what follows.:

 

 

The tone of this could be ambiguous, were it not for the name "Thuggish student". Nope he isn't asking me if I'm looking to get grandma's medications or drive along the coast for a few hours inhaling the salty sea air.

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Light swearing.

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Heavy swearing. Only four text boxes in. This game is the s***.

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Supernatural lighting, am I going to turn Mr. student Thuggish and friend to mincemeat with my Special Powers already?

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Either he's being cowardly or considerate, not sure which, but probably the former.

(Supposed to be a screenshot here, but I deleted it in a little mistake- it was the Unknown Voice speaking below whose words I think you should be getting the gist of.)

Disembodied voices have no hands, manifest and maybe I would.

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That would explain why gun ammo is infinite in most SMTs, the tension of battle leads people to generate their own shells. I hope this guy has skipped on the antiperspirant then.

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Already starting with the psychological mumbo jumbo Persona dabbles in. Don't quite know who the voice is yet.

(Another image I messed up with, as the main character saying "......!")

Okay, so he can adjust his punctuation. That's one micrometer of progress for a silent protag.

And then this guy walks and interrupts:

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High school trope number 1- evil principal. The game isn't trying at all to hide it with that face.

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"Looked up to?" Why? 

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Cowards indeed.

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I'm sure you're the type who has them swim in circles around you in the school's pool. After dark, with nipping. -Or so the rumors of the most august Tiberius went.

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And now...

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I get to name my silent protag. 

As you see, he has a default (and canonical) name, not a common thing for SMT, but I'll go with it. It'd otherwise take me a while to come up with a good one.

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Assigning a nickname is not uncommon in SMT. Sometimes it's more important than assigning the first name, but I haven't seen this game use it yet. This one is little weird, but I'll let it stay.

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Rumors? And more importantly he clearly knows supernatural stuff by saying "resonance". But I'm fine as long as I don't encounter my perfect isophone and end up hyperresonating, that could blow up cities.

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Happiness will die.

Let's survive. :evil:

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Principal Early Boss walks away and this normal dude walks in. He proves the principal is somehow praised and tells me what I should do next.

Section 2: Just Chatting at School :

Spoiler

Now I gain the freedom to move around and do stuff. I talk to this girl hidden by the trees.

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First NPC I talk to, and she thinks I want sex. Not so forgettable.

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Useful information, thank you.

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What is with her head?

She can't see a thing, she can't smell, she can't hear, how is she even speaking to me? These old PS1-ish (I'd imagine there has been some PSP improvements) sprites couldn't afford too much detail, better than Xenogears though.

Senpai? This game like the rest in Persona but not SMT, these very Japanorific things are maintained in translation. Could they invent a mode where everyone is called Ore-Baka-sama? I'm not really against them though.

And unusual character attraction- as if I didn't already have a hint of this nutcase knowing the preternatural, but I'll take it.

I figured out how to move the camera if you haven't noticed. L or R will rotate it 45 degrees, and change the compass readings appropriately, but there is no compass shown here.

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So I know something about my silent self. The original Megami Tensei protag was good with computers, which is how he got his demons. Will my motorcycle be my demon summoning device this time? Gotta one up the GUMP (which was a little lame because it didn't actually shoot bullets).

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Welcome to high school! It is a foundational setting of any Persona so I know. 

See all the HUD information and that offered by my auto map? Looks to be useful and functional.

Now onto exploring and reading a bunch of NPC dialogue, because the game has only begun. Not all will be posted, and less will be read as the game progresses.:

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They sound important, and like I'll have to rescue them.

And what is "Cuss High"? A school where people learn to swear? I'd get an A there, which the worst possible grade I think (F for F*** has to be the best) because IRL I don't actually swear at all. I find those words "lazy", and prefer using a fuller vocabulary.

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Wonder why the developers chose this reference? It's nice in itself without a deeper meaning though.

Cursed emblem? Sounds like an early plot point to me, a little high school hijinks to kick things off before the world catastrophe starts getting into gear.

And "Sevens"? Hmmm...

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Cybernetics? Get down to earth girl. This is the nineties, the era of PEDs- Phazon Enhanced Devices. Don't you remember Lance Armstrong looking a little blue when he won the Tour de France? 

I kid, it's magic. We all should know that.

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More talk of rumors and wish fulfillment.

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Undie Boss.

:facepalm:

...Well there is still 39 hours and 50 minutes left to for things to get better.

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Fun fact, in a kids game, they censored lifting up girls' skirt to tickling

Also, the MC is praised for beating up people according to a rumor. Isn't this the opposite of Persona 5's knife guy?

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Do your dreams include covertly converting criminals and chatting with Confidants? Then yes, it works. Otherwise, no.

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Protag worship, let's hope they Atlus kept it in check.

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So many bandaged faces. What is wrong here?

Are they driving at 70mph in a top down convertible during a once-in-a-millennia giant stag beetle swarming? Is the school swimming pool dangerously too shallow for diving? Did they forget to wear their helmets when Mt. Everest erupted as they were walking to school?

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Namu Amida Butsu is a prayer. It means "(In the) name of Amida Buddha". Amida Buddha is the Buddha worshipped by those of the very popular Pure Land sect of Mahayana Buddhism (Japanese and Chinese Buddhisms are all Mayahana variants). Through faith in Amida Buddha, carried out commonly in the form of recitation of their name, one can achieve eternal salvation in the afterlife in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha, a heaven of sorts.

This isn't is the first time I've seen a game include the prayer. Boze the Japanophile in Xenoblade Chronicles X utters it at the end of an Affinity Mission of his to honor his just slain students.

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There goes the old man's prayers... His Majesty King Enma of Buddhist Hell (Naraku) will sentence you to some time in penance for your most inappropriate lust. Only afterwards will you if the weight of your sins are not too great, will you be reincarnated as a human or sent to Amida's Pure Land cleansed of your wrongful craving.

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NPCs with pictures, must have at least a modicum of importance.

Miho's left eye looks a little off, the artwork here isn't the best.

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So it's just her spreading a rumor, hope it doesn't come true. Now where is this Lisa?

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So now I have to go up another floor.

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Game's first chest (Tatsuya is blocking it) is just sitting at a dead end, and it has two Antidotes. They should be useful, Poison usually lingers after a battle in SMT.

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Funny, and it gets a point across. The Joker's power is real and one must be careful what they wish for, the student was on the verge of collapse, I could see something like this ending in death.

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Not a bad explanation, nice to know we're the top dog in town, not sure how common that is high school hijinks. But the game doesn't point out how Kasugayama sounds like "cuss".

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Sounds like another little episode in the plot. 

And club = prostitution? 

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I would hate this game if this petite villain actually did it.

A loner? Well to return to Megami Tensei's protag, they too were edgy I think. Sounds like SMT has a preference to some degree for this, given P5, the Demi-Fiend, and Nanashi, to name a few.

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First physical textual description of the Joker, not like the opening didn't already give me an eyeful.

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Very boring chest. Yen and not Macca here for currency, hopefully no ripoff conversion will happen like SMTI.

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First dialogue selection, with potential boss info for later. The replies weren't entertaining enough to mention.

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Unfunny irony, have to go back downstairs now, a wild goose chase just to get me to explore and talk to people.

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A fighter and a ladykiller.

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Can't call this anti-player worship, due to implications of a curse involved, being non compos mentis means it isn't legitimate criticism.

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Sounds like a Japanese stereotype of us Americans confusing Chinese and Japanese things. A criticism not wholly without justification. 

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Not really a contradiction. Obey him, but don't ask him for handouts, or emergency rations. Selfishness.

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What about the boulevard of broken dreams?

My shadow is the only one who walks besides me. 

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This guy just keeps playing his tune to the key of Eviluh Major. -I went back and forth here, this screenshot came earlier than those in the courtyard.

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Must be true then. This is a game with mythological monstrous beings.

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Wait, is this the Maya? *Does a quick check*

Nope, just a first name redundancy. This isn't the Maya who we'll be seeing a lot of later. Weird they'd let this slip. Works fine in Japanese possibly with Kanji and all. And it's a tad more realistic than in most video games and other things where no name, even common ones, get repeated.

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As I said, unfunny goose chase.

Section 3: Guidance to Guidance

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Now here she is:

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Answered these pessimistically truthfully to IRL me. 

I don't know if there is gameplay repercussions from this questioning, but I'll be able to deal with them for sure if there were. SMT has made obscure questions meaningful before. Soul Hackers asks you to describe the main girl Hitomi at the start: Cool, Sexy, or something else I forget; which you pick determines what non-healing spells Nemissa learns for the entire game.

Looks appropriate for a kind guidance counselor.

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I'm curious. And fortunately, there is a limit to how emo a silent protagonist can be. A double win of sorts.

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She was in the game's opening, must be playable.

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Literal to the name's origins emblem, fine for me. 

Tatsuya obviously doesn't believe in curses.

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*Sigh* Not expected, but I can certainly bear with it, I'm not that petty.

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Geez already, no buildup. Will this be my chance to see some action?

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What are they doing at a prison? Must be old and abandoned- not like I'd expect to see much abandoned space not being demolished in Japan in a living city.

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Quick motorcycle cutscene.

So much distance fog, "Sumaru" must be Japanese for Silent Hill. 

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NPC girl that's fat, loves food, and doesn't seem to care about that. A useful student it sounds like.

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Can only somewhat how Eikichi Mishina could be corrupted into the "Michel" nickname.

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Eeeeek! This guy is hideous! Someone get me the brain bleach!

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But it Is all a joke hostage situation, and Eikichi is as the opening showed, one of the playable characters. Hope a less than excellent first impression is compensated for later, I'm optimistic.

Also, is a rogue male common in Persona?

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Cotton candy, blue raspberry flavor.

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Well a Bro Code indicates you have some honor.

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Mostly agreed.

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*Sigh*

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Death Boss sounds so generic, but bring on the Mudo.

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So this pathetic guy is that? I wonder if he has ever heard of Panty Party. An actual Switch game which is tamer than the name suggests, it's apparently a cheap and so-so beat 'em up.

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"Undie Boss" causes the first Persona to be triggered in this game. I would have never expected that. 

Someone, please insult me as harshly as you can. I want to awaken!

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Flash of light and the normal loading screen for this game. The character in the lower right can be any playable recruited.

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Rhadamanthus is the first Mirage shown in this game. His introduction line was awesomely voiced (99% of dialogue isn't). Not very pretty due to the restrictions of this era.

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A little better, if eclectic and thin. Also, motorcycle headlight crouch. Close enough to a motorbike summoning device.

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Eros. Also had a voiced intro. 

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Looks feminine, despite this being Greek Cupid, and hence mythologically male.

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So he has had some prior experience as a Persona user. Hmm...

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Vulcanus is our main character's first Persona.

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Do not get too attached to these, I don't think they'll be staying for long.

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They all collapse for some reason.

Now, for the magic to begin.

 

 

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Cutscene with butterflies, a wormhole, and Tatsuya.

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A TARDIS of soulspace, wandering not beyond us in outer dimensions, but resting deep within us all.

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Heathens, harken to this!

Worship not the girly rams of Elizabeth and Margaret. Behold the True God of our collective unconscious! He is Philemon, the butterfly of our existential being, the manifestation of all our internal goodness and yet greater than its sum. He takes to a watchful slumber after overseeing three crises of the human heart (P1, P2IS, P2EP), but know he is what is True. Igor and the rest are but his emanations, given to Humanity as midwives for its psychological evolution and perseverance.

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Such poetry my Lord, to read of you from afar, I am delighted to bask in your presence at last.

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Thank you for your divine providence Master of myself. I hope to see you again but feel infinitely blessed to meet you but this once. Your mission I shalt take to mind and never forget it.

Section 4: No Laughing Matter, and Eccentric Entrepreneurs:

Spoiler

...And back to reality...

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So I could boot up my PS3, but I don't have the cash on hand for a copy.

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Weird little school game, but I could sorta see such a "ritual" being real.

Also, one dated phone, but I do remember them. *Feels old*

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A Joker and three clone-like goons.

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The final trump card? A desperate card then, a Faustian bargain no doubt. And if the world were to ever need you, it must be in a pretty depraved state.

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Was this really needed? I think we already know this.

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Clever, no time to question whether a deal with the Devil is worth it or not, you just buy it or die.

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A Crystal Skull? And Nazis? Indiana Jones stole its lame modern sequel's idea from this! (Yes, I know its Russians in IJtCS).

And what is this about them no having working trump cards? They clearly worked for other NPCs.

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This dood looks like he was made for the darkness, his face is just perfect for the shade. Now if only his skin glowed in the dark.

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So my choices with the counselor earlier will doom me to death?

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A sad fate suited to Persona I guess.

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So demons and Personae coexist in Persona 2, proof the two franchises don't have to be enemies. Then again, the Personae are fighting the demons, so it might have foretold what was to come starting with P3.

The two harpy-like demons are killed by spells from the Personae, I just forgot I could stop the game to take screenshots.

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Salvation-Ragnarok-Megidoloan

"The corrupted light of the divine radiate and eradicate thine foe. Come, Black Sun!"

-But it can't reach from another dimension... Phooey. And none of the character have those spells or the MP to cast them.

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Thief would have made for a great name nope, had Tatsuya not a default one.

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Tell me more Joker. Do tell more of what you know and which the heroes have forgotten.

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So he refuses to kill without the heroes remembering, this stylistic fussiness will get him killed later when I'm no longer level 1.

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A beautiful parting gift, is this supposed to make me paranoid that you'll get us one day? Like a Purple Mirror?

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Not ten ions of memory of them endure in those who lack Persona it seems. Dead and truly unknown.

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So those are their dreams, not sure what was impossible about them.

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Hahahahahaha! When do they ever do anything right in popular entertainment that isn't about them specifically?

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This isn't unheard of in SMT. The SMTI sold guns out of an "antique shop" initially, a tradition SMTIV kept alive.

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World map in the same aesthetic as Soul Hackers- pre-rendered scenery with defined paths and locations with you as a little icon. Typical in different graphical formats in other SMTs.

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Working class neighborhood, then I guess the Seven Sisters one is middle class, explains the being better at everything. Fix the education system to ensure achievement for all Fictional Japan!

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All the stores in one place, just like Soul Hackers. We'll start with Shiraishi Ramen to get weapons.

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Another ugly. This entry is already too dang long so I'll cut his blabber out, he is just trying to get some weapons by ordering the "secret dish".

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Well she looks the part for a spy, quite tough and foreign.

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Well I can't do anything else here, it seems she doesn't actually have weapons, off the Kuzunoha Detective Agency. It has been added to the shop selection, I just didn't screenshot it.

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How dare you insult my favorite character in the game so far (Philemon is a nominal first)!

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Well this sounds cool and appropriate for the setting, spreading rumors makes them come true. I cut a few screenshots out of this.

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Actually, I'll ditch Philemon entirely, Lucky Cat Statute is my one and only.

Now I'm going to explain this place. The Kuzunoha Detective Agency originates in SMT: Devil Summoner (Japan-only, never fan translated), traditional SMT's successor in a way until SMTIII and the failure called NINE came out.

Tamaki is the female protag option from SMT: If... with a redesign. The reason for Todoroki's sudden change from failure to success is because he is actually being possessed by the ghost of Kyouji Kuzunoha, who died at the start of Devil Summoner and whose body became its silent protag's. He reappeared in Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers as an NPC by controlling somebody else's body, but I don't get how one is supposed to know that. And here he is possessing yet another. Together they canonize their worlds with Persona 2, and thereby show that demons and Persona/shadows can coexist in one dimension.

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Et viola! The rumor came true! Now she suddenly gives me weapons.

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Wait- is Ekechi's weapon a guitar, or just a gun that looks like one? We'll have to see.  A misericorde is a knife, Tatsuya as an Echo Fighter confirmed.

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Banana + a fish + ramen, must be really atrocious.

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Excellent! I get to kill Principal Scarface soon.

But first, let's explore the other shops. Starting with Toua Defense.

Weirdly weapons are sold covertly, but an armor store is so in the open .

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Sooooooooooooooooooo wrong. I heard a transgender person on a late night TV talk show say "baby trans" is a thing- having just transitioned and wanting to passionately live it. For a transgender woman who changed from a formerly male body, that would be a particularly short miniskirt for instance. 

But no transgender person would ever offer to flash you. This is the late 90s, hopefully we've moved past this caricature and it can die a shadow's unmemorable death.

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Alright. Won't trust you that much though.

Bruce Lee sounds like this is a dated line, right Hitmonlee and Mallow?

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That I think IRL would be a really painful and protracted surgery, he'd not be so happy. 

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Because I have some spare Yen, I buy the helmets, because the body armor is too pricey for a comparable defense boost, and I didn't want to lay down money for shoes too.

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Geez you're antisocial. One attempt at small talk and you shoot me down.

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Let me show you the menu while I'm here.

Next up: Satomi Tadashi, the item shop.

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Fight big tobacco together! And this explains Vulcanus.

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So the Velvet Room is visible only to those of a certain mind, but others besides the heroes can at least see it, if not enter.

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Indeed the music in here is a bit infectious, I wonder if there is medicine I can buy to fix that.

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You go by a number like you're part of a hive mind and speak of brainwashing, I really shouldn't buy items from you. But you've a monopoly on my consumable item purchasing, so I must trust in the quality.

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Balms of Life and Beads this early? Full heal single target heals and full revives being buyable at all is not that common in SMT, at least normally buyable.

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I've never chewed gum, but I want to know what soul tastes like. Can I have some late comedian? Any comedian will do. Sweet with a delayed pop of depressive bitterness I would hazard to imagine.

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I asked myself whether I should see what these do, I said no. I'll try them later when I have more Yen.

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You're even worse than Sister #5! File the lawsuits NAO! I'm sure you studied with legions of gymnastic coaches. You do a disservice to the Red, White, & Blue.

And are you friends with a Mr.... is it.... Camo-caeda?

But thankfully I don't need healing right now, since I've max HP and MP, having ya know, not ever fought yet.

Now onto Gatten Sushi:

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Dated but excellent song reference. I forgive you for some earlier behavior.

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One tough father here! Of course he's just doing the bare minimum to be a sushi chef according to the regulations set out by the Japanese Operational Kaikau Ethicists.

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That is the one strike you'll get. Don't remind of that terrible moniker. Ever

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This guy is yet another hideous man, but I'll be making use of his services later.

And he actually has a Persona, and is conscious of it? And they're good things not fighting?

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Sounds good, I'm but not going to buy any of it for now.

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Now I hear more of his side of things.

And last but not least:

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The Velvet Room! I was playing 'till I got here, and at last I have arrived! Persona's repository for anything related to Personas. With its incredible and invincible guide, Igor!

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Apparently, Two-Face and The Penguin have decided that The Joker is a bigger threat than Batman have have thus allied together to stop him. -Has DC ever seriously done that before?

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These are Igor's assistants. Not ever brought back after EP I guess, since I've never heard them mentioned. They look appropriate for the soft jazzy room though.

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These two offer no services, but they are nice wallflowers. The hair does appear to slightly block her ears, just as the blindfold does his eyes.

I don't know what Nameless is referencing with the 90155 nights, but that number divided by 365.25 equals 246.83097714 years. Although I doubt that has significance.

One piece of music (it changes) that plays in the Velvet Room is Claude Debussy's "Clair de Lune", a timeless masterpiece. So gentle, so touching, pairs well here, like this Google Doodle I stumbled on a summer's night, and took a moment to simply admire with one of my dearest persons in my life. 

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I'll save most of Igor's many tutorials for later when they become relevant, as I will the Demon Painter's. But I will show some snippets cut from here and there:

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Now in Persona 3 and beyond, only the silent protag from what I am aware can freely change Personas as opposed to just evolving their lone one- a special power called the "Wild Card". The spinoff called Persona Q apparently gave everyone a temporary Wild Card, due to the natural Wild Cards that are the 3 and 4 protags coming into contact with each other.

In Ps 1 & 2, the Wild Card doesn't exist, everyone can freely use any Persona. However, while the modern Wild Carders can use any Arcana well, there are soft limitations on the 1 & 2 crews on who can use what, in the form of compatibility.

My three starting Personae:

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Notice the Arcana and little faces next to them. All three of these are being looked at from Tatsuya's compatibility perspective. He is very compatible with Vulcanus his starter, but does poorly with Lisa's and Ekechi, due to being of differing Arcana. Likewise, Lisa and Ekechi are poor with those other than their starters right now.

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And now I save in the main menu for the first time and I'm done for the day! Quite a long one.

Phew that was a lot of work! Future entries should be shorter.

 

23 hours ago, B.Leu said:

Well, I'll be honest, it's weird as fuck to see them.

And for the PSP version, they probably could've replaced the Nazis with General Munakata and his goons from Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army. A fictional Japanese 1930s evil military hawk sounds more appropriate for a Japan-centered story. Japan never fought the Nazis in WWII or suffered their atrocities though, so I can somewhat understand how this would slip through. They are evil, but not so intimately evil in the Japanese psyche that they wouldn't consider using them more freely than say the US (the land of Wolfenstein be truth as truth is) or Germany.

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8 hours ago, Von Ithipathachai said:

Uhh...  Some of the screenshots aren't showing up.

Hmm? Which ones? They all look fine to me.

 

Also, I just realized I made terrible mistake- I said Everest, I meant Fuji. FUji me for not getting Japan's signature mountain right. I blame the sheer quantity I wrote.

Edited by Interdimensional Observer
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Next is Part 2: First Dungeon, Second Encounter: Section 1 (my divisions are according to what I find to be the narrative packets)

I could post more, but it's overwhelming doing so much at once, this makes it less of a chore for me. I also cut out dialogue I felt was not really meaningful.

Section 1: Home and Hysteria

Spoiler

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Now we go to the greater world map, a simple selection sends me to the neighborhood I want. We were in Hirasaka, now we go to Rengedai. 

Nice clean circular city layout, with some green countryside in the distance. Like Tokyo, but certainly not it.

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This is the home district for Tatsuya and Lisa, looks very middle class. Pleiades is right shining in the middle, it's our destination, but I walk around first.

The housewife, perhaps because it's so obvious to Japanese, fails to mention Tanabata the summer festival that inspired the Pokemon Jirachi. Where a herder and a princess are separated by the river called the Milky Way for the entire year, save for the seventh day of the seventh month IIRC- if the sky is cloud-free.

And foxes? I guess he means kitsune going around causing trouble- this could be clearer for an English audience.

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I try to enter that mountain up there, but I can't. Instead Ekichi only drops this mysterious tidbit.

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I then went to Homura Park to the west.

Lisa is concerned about rumors, we meet another Rumormonger who doesn't actually give me any right now, and find some little world flavor text.

But most significant is another Shadowman, establishing it as a real evil that didn't just befall elongated skullhead. And nobody who is normal here talks about him, indicating he has truly been forgotten and only Persona users can see him.

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I then visited the Amuya (I didn't screenshot its name) Shrine. I can't do anything here either, but like Mt. Iwato to its northwest, I get some tantalizing foreshadowing of the secrets of the past. What happened ten years ago, and was it Joker?

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I did not expect to find more shops here, but I check them out.

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She is another healer, and not in the least creepy, I'll be using her perfumes to heal over that chiropractor's "magic fingers".

Lisa here just talks about how she doesn't like this Pheromone XX perfume because it stinks, while Ekichi likes it but says he makes it naturally.

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All she was selling was an overpriced and weak piece of body armor.

And there is no solution for Artemis's Curse, one must accept heartbreak forever.

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Back to the drugstore. Another creepy sister, this one mothered that ugly young man at the Ramen Shop, must tragically be the family's genes.

Not sure what Ekechi meant, is he being aware of himself not being perfect? And Lisa- if you say you have lots of friends like that, you clearly don't and must be lonely.

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Now to the Time Castle. Lots of serious and glum philosophy here, and an overpriced and underpowered pocket watch accessory I didn't bother to buy.

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I went back to the Velvet Room, even though I had no real reason to other than curiosity for dialogue. And it's all good. I picked "To find that answer" my first time for Nameless and got a Revival Bead. I got nothing on subsequent answers to the same question.

Given all these people Nameless mentions, it's wholly possible that the man at the other pharmacy had been inside the Velvet Room before. Only a handful of individuals in the sea of humans to ever live have been there I would think, but certainly more than just the Persona heroes.

Then I visited the Silverman Mansion. Silverman sounded familiar- it is Lisa's last name. I forgot to screenshot her saying effectively "We really shouldn't be here!" like Ekechi at his father's sushi shop, but not so memorably.

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"Applied for citizenship." Just to emphasize this, Japanese citizen through naturalization and not birth is extremely hard to earn. Even those who are of pure or partial Japanese descent from aboard have a serious challenge ahead of them if they want to become citizens of Japan. Japan welcomes visitors and expats, but it has a hardline stance on immigrants who intend to stay forever and continue their families in Japan. Donald Keene, an American history of Japanese literature of some popular notoriety in Japan, forsook his US citizenship and was granted Japanese citizenship following the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, while he was in his 80s. Japanese citizenship for those not born ethnically Japanese in Japan is a lifetime achievement lesser mortals cannot hope to achieve.

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So like Eikichi, Lisa has problems with a domineering father. This is fleshing her out and making her more sympathetic for sure, because her father is definitely worse than Eikichi's.

Now I go back to school...

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So we get to school again to see if the Principal has met the Joker, and things immediately go south. A clock stopped for ten years starts moving, creating chaos. Students start panicking, the perv and priestly janitor starts praying again. Someone's face gets ugly but far from the ugliest we've seen, and Ms. Ideal puts on a shocked expression not to be forgotten. There is a butterfly around too, but I've no idea why, is Philemon watching us?

After this, we will finally get to the fighting which we can control.

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Sorry, I changed my mind, I'll get to posting combat tomorrow. I've enough in this post as is.

Part 2 Section 2: Tutorial Battle and Jousting Journalists

Spoiler

So we walk back into the school, with the goal of finding of the Principal. The obvious place to look would be the Principal's Office on the third floor, but I choose to wander around first.

Without warning as I walk down the school's halls, I trigger the game's first random encounter.

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This slime and its silent pal offer to teach me how to converse with demons hands on. This is good, since Igor’s instructions being removed from the battlefield make them harder to understand than they should be.

To summarize what they mean without using more screenshots, see that multicolored box in the upper corner? A conversation ends with a demon once you've increased any one of those emotions three times in the conversation. That will be indicated by its triangle getting bigger and moving closer to the center of the box. Maxing each emotion has different results:

  • Happy means you form a pact with a demon and the battle ends. Next time you fight them and build up any non-Anger emotion, you’ll get some benefit, Happiness a second time gives you the choice of an item, including Blank Tarot Cards which you can convert to get Personae of most Arcana (demon groupings) I think. Or you’ll can pick Yen, or information- which I’ve gotten none of so far (the demons just healed me or gave Yen instead), but probably amount to new Rumors or those Demon Rumors the Kuzunoha Detective Agency mentioned. Getting a demon species you've made a pact with to max Anger in future negotiations will break the pact, but killing it or triggering the other emotions won't. Happy is a good emotion to max, if inferior to Eagerness I think.
  • Scared means the demons will run away, ending the battle. The problem is you won't get EXP or Yen or anything else from this, and the non-Anger emotions already do that but give a bonus too, avoid this unless you really don't want to fight.
  • Anger means you failed at negotiations, this is if you're doing things blindly the emotion to trigger. Anger causes at least the enemy you were conversing with to preemptively attack you. You'll then have to fight as negotiation for the rest of that battle won't be possible.
  • Eagerness is the emotion you really want. At max Eagerness, the demon will reward you with Tarot Cards belonging to that demon's displayed Arcana. Apparently later in the game, higher level demons will offer more Tarot Cards. You use Tarot Cards back in the Velvet Room by talking with Igor and then trading those cards for Personae of the matching Arcana. This is the replacement for the demon fusion usually found in SMT- more on this later.

It is possible to trigger two emotions at once, and if you max two emotions at the same time, you get different results. So far, maxing Eagerness and Happy got me a full heal from a demon for the character who did the conversing, and the battle immediately ended. Eagerness and Scared I think inflicted Charm on all enemies- meaning they'd attack each other and not me- allowing for an easy win.

 

I'm going to get to more of Persona 2's demon conversations battles in the next section, so I'll set aside any further screenshots I've taken of it so far and instead continue with a turn towards the story. Before going to the Principal's Office, I explore the various classrooms and the courtyard, where students can be talked to and there are no battles. I'm going to leave both of these for two sections from now.

The Teachers' Lounge is inaccessible, must be for some good reason. The Janitor's room had his granddaughter offering free heals, which were nice, but not really needed for a reason I'll get to in the next section. I then reach the Principal's Office, and this happens:

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Of course he wouldn't be, why else would the Teacher's Lounge be locked, and this would have been much too short a dungeon if it was.

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He climbed to the tippity top of this school to grab the giant butterknife, with which he could use to spread the chaos.

Eikichi then utters some of his usual narcissism and complains the principal isn't here to meet the glorious pathetic punk he is. To which the students respond:

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Ekichi calls the students groping him cursed creeps and wonders what he did to deserve this. Lisa responds it's he gets for wearing his school's emblems here. Eikichi's response:

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You already used up your one strike Lisa, now you've gone through four. Even if I could them as balls, you're out. But I'll deduct two only because you're starting to become sympathetic with the bad father and friendlessness. Your score card will be based on an awful nickname deficit column and a sympathy assets column, stay close to black or in the green, please.

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Tell me Ore-Ekichi-baka-sama, what language would you recommend she use while living in Japan? Apparently your country doesn't quite get what is wrong with such phrases as "A winner is you!" (and TBF, we Amerikuns would not get comparable structurally flawed translations into Japanese ).

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-Not understanding Japanese, I’ve no idea of how Ginko is an insulting name. Soul Hackers even had a respectable minor NPC named Madame Ginko.

Now, everything that was labeled Lisa is labeled Ginko instead, which I assume will remain this way for the entire game. I’ll keep to Lisa's real name though.

After this, something unexpected:

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When you say it simultaneously like this, you do create the grounds for assuming there will be future love between you two.

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Drumroll please...

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This is the Maya I was waiting for! She is on the PSP port's boxart of this game:

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and had a dominant place in the new opening. 

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There were NPCs mentioning these two earlier, they apparently were looking for Tatsuya, because why not the player character?

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First frisked, now knocked in the same room, Eikichi probably deserves them both for now though.

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Umm... how'd you not encounter demons on the way here? No slime residue? No angelic Nightmares? No Pixie dust? 

And I'm pretty sure there were a bunch of boastful students on all the floors who would have loved to do an interview with you.

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Could I entrust you with the nuclear launch codes? I'm feeling nihilistic. I'm sure Scratchy if he saw the state of this universe would approve.

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Yukino looks strong and acts tough, I like that.

But wait-

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Quit slurrying your speech!

So these are the assassins Joker said he'd send. They look like they might be zombie students, but nope, they aren't FYI.

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Fairly good retort for this moment, if not forceful.

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Maya gets Maia, the homophone is right there. Eccentric again for the design, but good beyond the face. In myth, she was the eldest Pleiades sister, so she is appropriate for this moment too.

I didn't screenshot it, but Maia kills a demon with the Hama (Light insta-kill) spell.

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Yukino summons Vesta, who really doesn't really look like the Goddess of the Hearth. Persona 2 so far has leaned on the Rama side of demon design in SMT- a radical departure from tradition. To be contrasted with the Osiris end of the spectrum, where things are very much in line with traditional depictions of the mythological entity. Loki in his smiling and glossy Soul Hackers redesign is a happy medium between the spirit of the figure and modernization.

Vesta, another Fire-oriented Persona like Vulcanus, a little redundant but I’ll take her. Oddly, Yukino was barely if at all in the game’s opening sequences, they focus on Tatsuya-Maya-Ekichi-Lisa, I wonder why?

Vesta kills the remaining demon with Agi, thus ending the battle.

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More foreshadowing, the game just keeps dropping these breadcrumbs.

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Being optimistic and not afraid of someone who could easily kill you. Foolish, but peppy you are Maya.

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How is that relevant? I don't think anyone here has staked a position on this topic. I'll admit to slight humor here though.

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I can now walk around the room with the conversation adjourned. Eikichi and Lisa repeat the warmth felt from Maia and the sense of nostalgia, despite having only met this first time.

Maya says:

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*staraaaaaaaare*

I'm liking you already Maya, no, seriously.

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Not quite a surprise Persona 1 also takes place in this world, and this is a good but spoilers-free summary of it I think (the Persona Game was also from it, not relevant here). But to have one of its heroes now playable here is neato! A veteran Persona user, if deleveled for balance’s sake. 

We try to leave the room, but Ekichi stops me

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I'm liking that face Yukino, sweatdrop and all.

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A knife, dual knives actually, I didn't screenshot her swinging them for practice, but she did. Strong again she is.

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Maya shoots her twin pistols, but everyone ducking means she was ducking with real ammo. 

A little too carefree, but I still can't dislike her yet even for an incident like this. Kinda funny I guess. And the pink suits her.

Now that I've these new two allies, my team is ready to tackle any demon that comes its way- provided they're in the level ~5 range.

Edited by Interdimensional Observer
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"Haven't you guys played the Persona Game?"

Please tell me that's a reference to a plot device and not a fourth wall break. Also "The Rumors of High Schoolers" Sounds like bottom of the barrel reporting. 

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I've hard so many good things about DQVII that's why I played the 3DS version, but I've heard so many bad thing about the start of the PS1 version. Heh.

Okay first part...

First section: Principal Hanya look like the high-tier of goodness. Have you seen that winning smile ? And that scar ? ?
Also, did you just make a mother-dunking reference to Tales of the Abyss ? DS is one thing, TotA is another.

Second section: Ah, you know about Megami Tensei. Once again, you prove youself to be a man of culture.
You gotta understand, we are still in a phase where things like beatings are cool, like in Jojo. Now we live in a periods where the mere thinking of beating anything is unnacceptable. ?
"Protag worship, let's hope they Atlus kept it in check"  Ahah, nope. ?
I feel that it was justifed or better before. It might be nostalgia talking thought.
Oriri would feel right at home in our time 'Your grade are better, you must have cheated. Oh you can say the 100 digit of Pi, but I'm an english teacher so I don't see what's impressive about it.' What. Spooky tho.
Hey yo, don't compare Hito-shura with small fries like P5's portagonist !
Also look closer to the bandaged students... That's not bandage... that's right ! Those are condoms they wear !
So much foreshadowing, I love it.
Can't wait for Persona 5D's too buddy.

Third section: Ah, so many good characters. Love Lisa and Eikichi. Oh Michel, my bro Michel.
Future Persona games should have took a page from this Awakening. No imaginary world, no rethorics false philosophical BS , just awakening. Don't count on me to insult you though.
And boy, they are not voiced often in this game, but when they do, it's awesome. Moreso for the Personas.
I thought that the reasons why Elizabeth, Igor and all those normies took the place of Philemon and all of that was because the lead developer was no longer there.
Must have been my imagination. ?

Fourth section: Well, obviously they don't have to be ennemies anymore, since they became the same bad anime frachise.There's a reason why everyone lost their mind after seeing demon in P5, that's why, demons.
I really love how they introduce Joker. And the skulls. And the fusions spells.
So many terrible people though. My boy Michel doesn't deserve that.
Okay Igor, you were not better in the past games. ?
I forgot how... complete, the persona page were before.

Part 2
Section 1: Deja vu could be the theme song of the game at this rate. ?
So many terrible parent and people. My girl Lisa doesn't deserve it.
It's hard to have japanese citizenship ? Gee, who could've though ? Are you saying that Japan doesn't like outsiders ? Well damned. ?
Not only do they shows the parents, but they show how shit they are. No Steven, you are not japanese at all, you are just a stupid weaboo. No, Lisa isn't rebelious, she is normal and just have a personality.
Meanwhile, at school, there's a problem with the clocktower, seriously what kind of school have a clocktower ? A person lose face and Ms Ideal looks like she is... huh. I won't say it.

Section 2: Holy molly, a fight !
Poor Michel.
Huh... Ginko... don't quote me on that, if Gin means silver or gold, I always forgot which, that would explain a lot. Ko means child or girl. Ginko also design a lot things, like somebody who act like if they were from a different time or country.
Japan is... special like that with their names and insults.
Poor Tatsuya who is like every protagonist ever in the middle of stupid dispute. ?
Foreshadowing. Good foreshadowing everywhere.
Oh hey, nice multi references to P1 there.
I actually hate this 'Let's think positive' line of her, surprisingly. But not her.

Edited by B.Leu
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Finally I get to the combat! This section is a little messy, since it isn't chronological, but a flipping through of various combat aspects.

Part 2 Section 3: This is Kindergarten!:

Spoiler

Let's begin with the main menu.

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This game has a two-part menu. The first is options before actually choosing to fight, including a choice to just select Fusion Spells. After this, if I choose to Fight, then I select each character’s actions individually- Attack, Skills, Items, Guard, to name the usual options. If select Auto Setting, that actually lets me choose which skills my characters automatically perform instead of just using weak normal attacks like in some games. The quick menu for Fusion Skills can also automatically skills to everyone not in the Fusion Skill(s) selected, or I can choose them myself. Plenty of convenience here.

Some other general minutiae.:

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And after fighting against any enemy once, their data becomes mine to see when I fight them again, useful. The Ghosts here as you see are immune to all but Sword on the physical side of things. So Tatsuya can attack them normally, but Ekechi and Lisa cannot.

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Poison doesn’t wear off after battle, and I have only those two Antidotes with no Posmudi spell to cure it. Fortunately the Slimes only very very rarely succeed in landing it, that was the lone instance of poison in this dungeon. I’ll load up on items afterwards though.

See the colored area above the minimap with the floor labeled in it? That changes from blue to yellow to orange to red to tell me when I’ll get in a random encounter. Yet sometimes it doesn’t get to red and I’ll still get in a fight. The encounter rate is really really high in this game, if they ever become a slog (and right now they aren’t) I’ll need to find a Persona with Estoma.

The enemies are really weak here, barely if ever breaking 10 damage, more likely to deal just 1-4, a pittance. On Hard this is! Two hits kills most of them. I don’t get why everyone can move around, positioning is irrelevant here and you have no control over it. Animations are slow, so I set a fast forward key to speed things up.

 

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Level up after my first real battle, and everyone gets three stat points, plus whatever extra their equipped Persona gives. Tatsuya like most SMT protags lets me assign his points, unlike my other characters. Lck is dump stat no doubt, only SMTIV and Apo make it meaningful, so I have Str for damage, Vit for durability particularly physical, Ag might be junk since all it effects is turn order I guess, and my current Persona gives a permanent +1 to it on character level up. We have Dex, but no Mag? What do spells use then? I chose to invest 2 in Str and 1 in Vit.

Dex I only later realized boosts magic attack and defense, and SP. So that is the Magic stat by another name. Not sure whether this game favors magical or physical attacks or which the Personae Tatsuya is good with gets more of, so I've change to Str/Vit/Dx with every level up.

Next up, attacks:

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No actual guitar, as I imagined, Ekichi’s got a gun that is simply shaped like a guitar. A little unwieldy and not as cool.

I've seen guitar guns before (albeit in a game made years later than P2), but the character who used one was an old man whose class, was I kid you not, was "Witch Otaku". Yeah, a creep who I would not lump even Ekichi with, not yet at least, and hopefully not ever. 

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Magnes, the weakest Earth spell. Just to show off a spell animation. Nothing real fancy, but it gets the job done.

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This skill hit a weakness, albeit it was a skill that hits twice, so this one shot doesn't tell everything.

In the absence of the not-yet-invented Press Turns, enemies and allies take their actions at the same time instead of all one and then all the other. Agility is the stat which determines the order of actions, visibly displayed to the right, allowing one to plan things like heals and which enemies to take out first. Fusion Spells let you play with action order to some extent.

Weakness targeting in Persona 2, like all classic SMTs, is nowhere near as centralizing as modern SMT. Press Turns and these things I hear called All-Out Attacks in modern Persona, make hitting weaknesses or dealing Crits incredibly important, too much so one might argue. It’s only a 50% damage boost from hitting a weakness, good to do it, but not essential. And a benefit is that target all ma- magics are probably better here, since no Press Turns means I don’t lose turns if I hit an enemy’s null or absorb.

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The menu for selecting Fusion Spells. Selecting it shows you who it uses and what skills they are using. Hydro Boost is there by default as the skill used on Joker in the unplayable battle earlier.

The idea of a composite skill, with two elements associated with it sounds possibly good on paper. In practice, they deal two separate hits (Almighty skill might be different), one of one element and one of the other, this makes them not so great after all. If this was like Etrian Odyssey it’d be a lot better. There, the two elements in composite skill are as one in all of an attack's hits, and the damage is based on whichever element is less resisted/is weak to. Makes EO composites, not rare, inherently more flexible than non-composite skills though.

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Cut-ins when using Fusion Spells, they look stylish! (I'll get Maya's later.)

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Personae in this game do not start with all their skills learned. To unlock them, the Persona must Rank Up, which it does by using skills, normal attacks won't count. This encourages heavy skill usage. Persona ranks max at 8, and later levels require more skill use than earlier ones.

 

We will now return to Contact stuff with demons, which I sorta cut short last time. Fortunately, Incubus isn't around to make Contact with, only Slimes, girlish Ratatoskr squirrels, childlike Ghosts and Poltergeist, angelic Nightmares, Xaphans, and Pixies.

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Could I ask the Pi student from earlier how many distinct personality combinations there are from this? Not like it matters, it's all trial and error, dealing with hissy fits until you get it right. Once you've fought or contacted a demon once, you'll always be able to see its personality combo.

Basically, it seems each specific demon has an option that works 95% of the time, find it, and you’ll succeed in negotiations easily. Having Tatsuya use Death Stare three times gets a Slime to full Eagerness, for instance. Or Yukino can triple Reprimand a Pixie to the same effect. Apparently, Reprimand reminds the Pixie of their mother, that somehow makes them Eager. Tough love that the children love, or Stockholm Syndrome and parental abuse?

However, demons can and frequently will throw in a question or two after you pick any option, these have less consistent good answers, like 70% of the time it seems. Sometimes enemies will start the battle by trying to Contact you with a question- better than an outright ambush at least.

Now for selections from very first attempt to negotiate:

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Gas Chamber? ? 

Looking at your attire Eikichi, I'm sure the Nazis yet to show would love to send you there. Nothing says "degenerate art" like a singer with blue hair.

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Oh cool! He actually does a little singsong with a moving spotlight and randomly appearing stand mic, if not having lyrics.

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Eagerness and Happy are up, good start.

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To crap a dime, one must first ingest one.

Or, there is bacteria capable of converting consumed food into coinage? Like Auto-Brewery Syndrome, a rare real world condition that consists of having yeast live in your digestive tract and turn the carbohydrates you devour into alcohol. Sounds fun. Until the two hot and buttery or Loxalicious everything bagels you ate for breakfast cause you to go careening off the side of the side of the road on the way to work. And because the everything bagels had poppy seeds on them, you are doubly arrested for driving drunk and under the effects of drugs. Good luck not blacking out when its unlimited breadsticks at Olive Garden!

And did Ekichi mean "Catch a dime!"? Too much effort even in the 90s to do. Might have been reasonable in terms of "caloric input to pecuniary output" in the 1930s or earlier, but not later.

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Angry, not good.

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Doubly not good.

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*In a Smash Bros announcer voice* FAILURE!

Would I expect anything less from SMT?

Well I'm sure you've a few acorns stuck up your rear for the winter brought by Skadi you haughty rodent. No, I can think of a fate worse than Ragnarok for you. I shall slay you, and force you to reincarnate into a boy who thinks courage is the magic that makes dreams reality. *Grabs my weapons* 

 

My first success:

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Lisa dances, not that you can really tell from a single screenshot.

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The Poltergeist complains about adults, I answer what sounds most like Lisa and effective on this childlike demon.

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Lisa talks about relationships.

Now I'm two steps towards Eager, and one in Angry and Scared.

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The Shy Guy thought I was lying to it. Truth be told, it isn't. Except that is no mask it's wearing, its even worse- its real face.

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Success! Child like logic! Teach coding to them all so I don't have to learn it myself!

 

So far, I've almost entirely ignored how I have to choose someone in particular to Contact a demon, it can be any of the playable characters, not just the silent protag like most SMTs have it.

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Each character as you see has their own set of four options, with individualized dialogue, and some silly animations even. I like it, it adds flair and accentuates their character.

For Tatsuya, the options include Persuade, Discuss Masculinity (might have got its name wrong), Do Impressions, and Death Stare, Lisa has Seduce, Discuss Relationships, Dance, and Do Kung Fu. Ekichi has Control, Sing, Narcissism, and something else. I'll screenshot them later, promise.

 

As I said somewhere above, I can pick multiple characters to contact a demon, even if I'm not sure what it does (I think I once saw an emotion move a stage from it). But when picking multiple characters...

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they mention character relationships here? Unexpected, but I like the details.

Let me comment on these in descending order:

  • "Cool animosity" makes sense for Tatsuya and Ekichi. They only just met, Ekichi didn't like Tatsuya initially, and they're only in it together now because of the Joker, Philemon, and the Personae. A friendship is forming, but only gradually over where none was before. "Cool animosity" sounds dangerous, because you never know (although it likely won't happen) if the relationship could self-destruct at any time, and yet in this "rivalry", there is something brotastic about it. I really like this relationship.
  • "Unrequited love" sounds a little pitiful for Lisa, maybe she'll get a chance to requite it. Or at least spring for someone else.
  • Perfect way to describe it. :lol:

 

More relationships:

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I didn't screenshot YukinoxEkichi for a reason, maybe it was the same as YukinoxLisa?

I know "nervous around each other" or something like that described several relations of Maya or Yukino I think- a generic-ish line I guess when synergy is otherwise lacking.

Yukino and Tatsuya are both cool, mature, and fire-using, so they make sense. YukinoxLisa is good, MayaxYukino is expected.

Triple-relationships:

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Girl Power! 

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Except this competition sounds like they all want Tatsuya, that ain't no girl power there.

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Girl Power of two >= Tatsuya Power. The science is coming in.

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But Man Power of two fighting each other >= Big Sis Power.

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*Silence*

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A little endearing for Yukino.

And lastly...

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*Ekichi speaks aloud*

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:):

I'll end on this note for today.

Sorry if this was fairly chaotic in a bad way. I'll be cleaner the next time I discuss fighting, I should be able to integrate it with plot happenings. I only had to separate it because this was the first time around.

If there is anything that you want screenshotted from battles- more of the Contact lines, or relationships, or spell animations, tell me and I'll do it.

Next is the final section for Part 2, we chat up the school, crush some clocks, and finally do something about that grimacing principal.

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2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Could I ask the Pi student from earlier how many distinct personality combinations there are from this?

92

 

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

And did Ekichi mean "Catch a dime!"?

My guess is he meant Carpe Diem, a common Latin phrase meaning seize the day.

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6 hours ago, B.Leu said:

Huh... Ginko... don't quote me on that, if Gin means silver or gold, I always forgot which, that would explain a lot. Ko means child or girl. Ginko also design a lot things, like somebody who act like if they were from a different time or country.

Her last name being Silverman, yeah either precious metal would make sense.

6 hours ago, B.Leu said:

Also look closer to the bandaged students... That's not bandage... that's right ! Those are condoms they wear !

Bandages, condoms, either way it is birth control. 

 

1 hour ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

92

 

My guess is he meant Carpe Diem, a common Latin phrase meaning seize the day.

Thank you. And you're probably right on the second point.

 

This time we wrap up this game's beginning at pleasant Pleiades High.

Part 2 Section 4: Getting Janitorial and a Wrench in the Gears of Fate:

Spoiler

First I decided to pay a trip back to the courtyard, because of the Shonen Ninja Stone and that supposedly walking statue of the principal.

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Something isn't right here.... Where is my Dark-Light Device so I reveal the statue again?

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......You're right.

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You nearly died after calling up the Joker and watching three friends of yours be turned to forgotten nothings, after you and others gained the power to shoot water and fire and rocks. A walking statute is nothing. Get used to the supernatural reality of things my semifreddo friend.

Also, no betting unless Tatsuya collects a surcharge from your personal funds as the good faith arbitrator and enforcer of all bets. 3000 yen is a lot at this point, we could use the money for important things right now.

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Ekichi has to come along, no leaving him out. 

Ya know, despite being cats and dogs, and this happening before Lisa gets the name change to Ginko, they handled this well. They aren't happy with each other, but things stay under control. Adds a little nuance to see their feuding when it isn't the same level of kvetching.

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To my surprise, I don't actually fight the statue. It seems like this was just a red herring. What is the point to it then? Well I guess it's proof any rumor benign, beneficial, or bad, can come true in Sumaru City. This neither helps nor hurts, it just exists, as bizarre as it is.

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She is still in a state of shock. To the point she still doesn't explain anything to me.

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More Cantonese lessons in the bike rack area.

In the Janitor's room:

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How about I just wrap a blindfold over your eyes so you can't see them? And then cuff your soft, slender wrists so you can't possibly touch the rope and candles. Best be safe from the gutter.

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??

At least this only a poster of the head, and not the whole body? I'm looking for a silver lining somewhere here.

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He wrong. Yo daddy is wrong

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So we're practically the only ones who see demons. Because they only want us and nobody else because we have Persona Power and are destined to fight the evil they are?

Better than Soul Hackers. No reason there for people to not see demons and the demons to not want to kill them. The Spookies crew as they wander the halls of various buildings are somehow not shredded by the monsters despite being pretty powerless. Then again, Yu-Ichi probably just abandoned his disguise and used Volt Tackle.

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So the fat girl back at Eikichi's hideout who later showed up at the Ramen Shop to tell the Principal was meeting with someone? That was Kozy who happens to be Hanakouji, and she did say not to tell Eikichi her real name.

Hanakouji I can see being tweaked into the Kozy nickname. My ability to start seeing things like this goes to I HATE JIPS! -NO I FIGHT FOR HONORABLE IDEALS! Ronaldo. Joe called him Clicky, which sounded weird, until I saw how "c" can sound like "k", "y" like "i", and the Japanese "rl" thing, and thus you get Kuriki to Clicky.

A childhood crush sounds sweet. And Ekichi despite his wannabe playboy behavior does love her still, I'm interested to see how this all pans out. It sounds like a good romance/ex-romance.

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Suggesting only the smart attend Pleiades and the dumber/poorer attend Kasugoyama. But yes, he deserves a measure of praise, even though this was long before high school.

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They're gone, and don't show up during the events here. Must be off having minor importance for some later part of the story.

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??

OF COURSE THERE IS! MWAHAHAHAHA! 

How could there not be? The only question is who and what Tatsuya Sudowoodo is. Heck it was already mentioned at a pharmacy that Tatsuya the Silent carries a lighter. This game drops hints in the spades- which might also be an Arcana I think.

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Well that is a strong reaction to just talk of a past event, something isn't right here...

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Lisa, we made a rumor come true that the Ramen Shop lady owned weapons. Either rethink your wording, or rethink your thoughts.

As for Tatsuya's supposed dad. Tough on crime to the point of criminal behavior, well better than Steve the Weeb (not to be confused with Steven Roc-ing). A third father to be mentioned, nothing of mothers so far though.

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This guy got added to the room later. He says the T's Dad stuff was just rumors, but again, this can't possibly be the case.

 

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Why does one built a fence? To keep something in, or to keep something out? Why does one act distant? 

Poetics aside, this guy clearly has it wrong. Lisa has issues she isn't talking about and don't want us to know. An interrogation and picking a few Psyche Locks could fix that though.

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Most of this is before I met with Maya and Yukino, just felt like pointing that out so far if you couldn't tell. I added the relevant Maya and Yukino lines for each conversation later.

 

Now let's move on to after meeting Maya and Yukino. Now our goal is destroying every clock in every classroom, which means revisiting all of the rooms I just ran through.

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How nice, the rest of the school is helping in emblematic destruction. Sure it might get a little out of hand, but I don't mind, give delinquents their day to unleash all their inner aggression. Why, if this game had a bigger budget, I'd throw students everywhere doing repetitive animations of them destroying stuff, just to add some excitement.

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I smash a clock, took me a few tries to screenshot this, fortunately each floor has a couple classrooms to try this in. Tatsuya rather than Vulcan the wall or swing his sword, uses what looks like a broom a janitor would use. I like it actually, wouldn't mind one of these as a joke weapon.

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Must be a demon whom Yukino had slain before.

I get the impression is this the "Hand in the Toilet" thing the Legend of Zelda has referenced before.

But I never encountered this fiend in the school actually. I don't get access to the bathrooms I think.

 

I forgot where I put this screenshot, but now I found it.

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Maya has daddy issues too. The fourth case amongst the PCs, what are the odds of this? And as the saying goes "Only the Good Dads die before their children mature to adulthood. The Bad Dads live until well after the grandkids graduate from college." 

 

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So you wanted to interview students to find the Joker and learn about the curse? Well you got one thing right, and you'll be getting the other shortly.

Also, certain countries disagree with your stance on the harmlessness of good journalism, that is most unfortunate.

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No, I very much doubt love is a misunderstanding. Although people do misunderstand what love is. Love is matter of maintaining a comfortable distance between two people, because humans cannot truly understand each other and do not want to. Therefore, I propose abolishing all false conceptions of love and having humanity enter the cold embrace of God's love. 

-Signed, Named After An Overlord whose name got telephoned from English to Japanese to English again and got a little messed up.

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"Save me, Senpai...!" sounds like a such an anime phrase. Maybe because it's one word off from a memeishly known one.

Still, I'm a little sympathetic for the girl. If only she knew how un-seriously threatening her tormentor was.

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Is this another weird case of a rumor coming true?

 

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Either the Teacher's Lounge, or beyond the locked door in the Clock Tower I forgot to mention I couldn't open first time here.

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Yup, by this point I smashed every clock in the building other than those in the Teacher's Lounge, which is now open to me.

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Ms. Saeko is thus revealed to me to be another Persona 1 character. And that St. Hermelin High is not in Sumaru City I think. Clearly she is party to whatever crisis forced the need for Personae back then. And thus a veteran of some sort, she is taking a little action to help after I've done most of the work already.

Why is there a "St." titled school in Japan? Only a tiny minority of the population is Christian. Make it Saint Gracia, no- Saint Kanbei, that much better.

I smash the last clocks in here. Curse lifted, right?

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*Smashes piano keys* Dun dun!

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Notice he is sometimes called Hamya and others Hanya. Hanya I'm pretty sure is some mythological creature like a fox. Wonder why the Hamya though.

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So there is a supernatural brainwashing over all the non-Persona user students after all. And even Lisa is capable of being affected by it.

And Yukino, I want to see a guidance counselor do just that.

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She displays a failed but extant measure of resistance. I appreciate the detail.

Fortunately, Hanya does not order everyone to attack me, only the still-present in the halls demons do. I was afraid I would have to chop the student body down. Or worse, they sing "Stick to the Status Quo" from High School Musical at me, why can't I forget it all these years later?

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You're as dumb as your Principal is comically evil and dumb. Thank you.

I leave out the trip back to the Janitor's office, it is really meaningless filler. The Clock Tower key is found real easily, you just have to talk a few times with a forgetful old man.

On the way up to the Clock Tower just before the stairs to it, I clicked too fast to catch a screenshot of Lisa telling me her Persona is scared. Personae can feel fear? But it’s a good way of telling me my first boss is at hand, I saved to be safe.

 

Behold the Clock Tower.

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Ekichi don't like it. I like this expression of his though for some reason.

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A g-g-g- why are afraid of something like this when you have Personae burnt, flooded, cut, expelled, and rocked several dozen Ghosts on the way up here.

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This guy is a good looking ghost, sufficiently dour with disheveled hair. Remains cryptic because he has to be, Ghost Code (not applicable to A Christmas Carol or Halloween) 101.

And Fusion Dialogue!

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I love the triple negative here!

-And wait! TATSUYA SAID A WORD IN ACTUAL DIALOGUE! THE UNIVERSE IS TEARING APART!

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More negatives.?

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Like Scratchy cares about student grades. Don't tell them that though, otherwise they'll crack from self-doubt under the weight of all those standardized tests . Michizane I can see caring however, so the students can carry on, but he doesn't work for you.

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So he is a puppet of the Joker himself. Adults are willing to play that silly game of running around and calling yourself. I am ashamed of him, as if I already didn't like him.

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Mane, what mane? I see no facial hair on either your sprite nor your profile. Dude, if you feel insecure because you don’t have beard, you’re really weird. Selling your soul to the Joker might be worth it for forced respect, but facial hair?

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The Giver? I read that dystopian young adult novel back in middle school before it became a movie. I don't recall any Jokers. Maybe it was in the sequel, because apparently the main character boy didn't actually die at the end in the frigid cold wilderness but got rescued by some nice people? I should it read it then.

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But how can you assume they'll act the same? Since if they don't remember who they were, then are they really the same people who will behave as expected?

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The Joker was crying bloody tears in the new opening.

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Enter Daisoujou! 

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Notice to the right of Maya is another parting gift flower from Joker. He is like the Bachelor in reverse. Yes I spoke of the Great Evil.

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And so the first boss battle begins! On the inner working of the clock tower I fight a deranged school faculty member with a giant wrench. I thought he’d turn into a demon, but nope.

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Looks like he has mustache now. A floppy one which only shows how ripped off Hanya the Heinous got. I could sell my sole-fish to the average joe fishmonger for more whiskers than that.

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Analyze is most worthless when you want it the most, as is always the case in SMT.

As for killing him, Hanya is weak to Fire (as a screenshot in my earlier entry showed) and nulls Water. Using the Fusion Spell of Tatsuya and Yukino- Blazing Burst deals 50 damage, using Towering Inferno calls for Tatsuya, Ekichi, and Lisa, but deals 90 damage so it’s better I realize partway into the fight.

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He has a Persona he uses to attack with, it doesn’t have a name or artwork though. While I was on Megami Tensei Wiki just to check if there was one, I stumbled on this, his Persona 1 artwork:

latest?cb=20091114062401

Somehow he is even worse than what I've been seeing of him. His P2 appearance has the beauty of Parvati by comparison.

His strongest attack is called Dark Young Legend- apparently the trivia section of MT Wiki says this was pitched as Persona 2's subtitle instead of Innocent Sin. Thank Philemon they changed it, Innocent Sin sound classic and very SMT. Dark Young Legend would make it impossible for me to take this game seriously. Might as well toss in Shadow with a gun it's no better than that.

Dark Young Legend damages everyone, though Ekechi and Maya nullify it,  Dark elemental it is then. He always attacks first because he is so fast, but I’ve two users of Dia who can heal for 60 HP a pop. And I don't even need that since he can't deal even 20 to anyone in his single target attacks. Lisa barely had to heal, Maya could handle that by herself and still had free turns to just defend or attack for a pittance of damage.

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How adorable, he bends over when his HP is nearly gone. Nice indicator Atlus, besides the red = low HP circle that isn't showing up around the + sign here.

I run low on MP by the time I’ve won, but it was no sweat. 

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Wow, two level ups from defeating this guy, are all bosses going to follow this old school tendency? I’ve seen it in SMTI and Soul Hackers before.

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The Clock Tower shakes, one cog breaks away and falls off, and so does the clock itself, smashing the last and biggest emblem around.

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Get back here and I’LL KILL YOU!

He leaped out the window.

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Sadly, I must agree Eikichi. The guy is a lunatic.

But I don't see what the point to keeping Hanya around though would be. I've just defeated him and he has lost his power base- the school. He is harmless now and Joker I don't think trusted him with much, he was just a pawn. Only a lazy boss rehash would he have any use.

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Maya is strangely sympathetic to the Joker, everyone here but her have some unexplained connection to him. This mystery provides a strong hook for now.

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The lines in the old opening now show themselves in game. It's referring to Joker and his suffering it looks like.

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Is the game giving away that much already? The first dungeon has just been finished. Well the journey can always be fun, even when you know how it ends.

I'll end things here. Part 2: First Dungeon, Second Encounter Fin 

Overall, the plot is doing a good job of baiting me onwards. Gameplay-wise, this is baby's-first-SMT-weak, with a high but manageable encounter rate. And this, on Hard. It is no Naraku, a sneeze in Naraku would deal more damage than I suffered in total in this building. Nor is this SMTI or Soul Hackers in the classic SMT department regarding difficulty, hopefully the game sets up the challenge after this.

I'll write up a little Interlude of NPC dialogues in this school and across Sumaru that'll drop me off just before I begin the next Part of the plot. I'm liking the dialogue in this game; and with Yukino and Maya, things are starting to feel like a harmonious and dynamic team I could possibly remember well after I'm done with this game.

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And here I thought that I was the only one in my age range they didn't like High School Musical. The plot seems pretty interesting so far. I wonder if Joker was the one who set fire to the school? Or maybe Maya has something to do with the fire? I thought that SMT where supposed to be difficult? It looks like you had a pretty easy time with it. 

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Here is a light entry

Interlude 1: From School to Shinbuya-lite

Spoiler

Picking up right where we left off...

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Maya continues to think positively, Michel (yes I'll use his nickname for once) acts knowledgeable, and we've our next destination selected. 

And then in walks

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I probably should have selected the top option because the guy was a dirty rotten scoundrel, but I felt like being nicer to the brainwash victim and truthful assuming he lived.

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To save a few screenshots, everyone at the school still loves Principal Hanya and thinks he saved the day. We the real heroes get no respect, Ekichi isn't happy about that, but Maya and the rest let it slide. This is not unsurprising.

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Now to gather up the last round of babble around this school, in the future, unless I have to, I think I'll spare myself visiting this place after every dungeon- because it's too big, and demons still inhabit it.

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Yukino expresses her self confidence, and I learn of a little of another individual who certainly had to have something to do with the events ten years ago which everyone in the heroes group (outside of Yukino) has forgotten about.

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Lisa the traumatically distant, she should open up eventually. I want to know what is exactly she is hiding.

The thing is though, she hasn't been mean or stoic or shy this entire time. She doesn't seem cold to me, hiding something yes, but she is perfectly likable.

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All's well that ends well, Ms. Saeko getting a promotion is swell to me.

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Thanks for the tip that I should visit the Rumormonger now.

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Thanks for increasing my speculation Yukino. Yet if he dumped her, he still loves her it is apparent.

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Ms. Saeko is great, and sees the truth of who really saved the day. No small part because she knows of Personae and all that stuff.

And from what I can piece together from the NPCs, the "Emblem Curse" which made that girl's face change to all creepy was the mysterious disease sweeping across Pleiades. And, all the bandaged heads were everyone who had been afflicted with the Curse. Now that it was cured, all the mummy heads are gone.

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You don't act or look the most teacher-like Yukino, but I think you sell yourself short. I wonder why?

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Even our "Big Sister" of the group is having her own issues, to be later resolved in the story I would imagine.

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This sounds... okay? Not sure what to think of this.

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?‍❤️‍?⚔️?⚰️

I change my mind. Lesbians of the world, prove your rwomantic devotion to each other and be wives with deadly knives. Execute this tolerator of old leches.

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Maya (and Yukino- but I wanted to spare a screenshot) are a little slow on the uptake.

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Tell us old woman! We have Personae, whatever it is we can fight it! Why are you hiding the all-important truth?

I like hearing there is a Persona 1 parallel of sorts. And this place seems like it'd be reasonable for a magical entrance to a late-game or final dungeon.

And "archaeologist-ninja" Michel? Great idea. Prepare for anime Indiana Jones.

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Because you know something deep down inside. Could you please stop being so emotional speaking of him for once? It makes you seem mysterious and weak, I don't like those qualities in a heroine- see Ninian.

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Stronger than Ekichi? Maybe he will attack if you dare him like that, I want to know what he is like. A threat to me?

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So the girl who I thought wanted Tatsuya back when she was the second NPC I conversed with ends up giving her first kiss to Ekichi. And Eikich it seems handled himself well, no playboy "Hell yeah I scored!" here. He is genuinely classy sometimes (but not all as I pointed out above).

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Unions? Nope, just a sex cult, that is less of a fantasy. But it is probably a Joker-approved sex cult. 

We now pay visits to various places:

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I'd be more concerned about the syphilis you picked up from Princess Pig your geisha, you misogynist slave to the antiquated shackles of Japanese culture.

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Maya, the Torii gate is that way, let the demons slam into you on the way out of this sacred place. Lisa's father is plain and simple awful like pickled plums wrapped in grilled eel.

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Yukino has no daddy issues, the only PC not to. She is feeling like the Gale of the group to speak of Digital Devil Saga. She interacts well with everybody and is a good teammate, but she is something of an outsider.

Better no father fretting than any, that I am coming to conclude.

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Maya has a physical marker related to those ten years prior, and now a deceased little girl is involved, this is our second ghost. First the ten years stopped Clock Tower, now the ten years burnt Alaya Shrine.

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So it was at a place just like this you first met Our Supreme Butterfly of Being, thank you!

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First Ekichi complained about the mountain, now does Lisa.

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Except in your case, the rumor will probably backfire and bind you two in marital bless to beyond the grave.

I'd be fine with that, were it not for Cozy. I'd entertain the possibility of her and Eikchi reuniting. 

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Just felt like commenting I found this refreshing.?

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From this Rumormonger I get a bunch of Rumors now, which I can use at the Kuzunoha Detective Agency. I did not have to get them anything I had to go out of my way to get, just information I picked up naturally in the plot- like the walking statue.

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So he lives and is trying to get back to nature. I hope he doesn't strip down and think roaming in the wilderness like our ancestors did will give him a 9 foot beard.

Now I return to the area with Eikichi's school to enact the new rumors I've gotten and to check out the other Rumormonger, as I showed above.

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I could be a food critic too ya know. I like to dabble in being eloquent with my words describing the flavors and textures, and I watch a lot of cooking shows.

And fun fact- ramen does taste better when you slurp your noodles, so be loud and hungry.

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Aha! I've caught you redhanded Eikichi! Your grade school romance with Hanakouji was broken off because you were fat and she was thin and you thought you weren't worthy of her!

Such splendid irony! That Eikichi would lose the weight and she would gain it. I like Atlus. I just can't wait for Eikichi and Hanakouji to spill the gum balls about this to confirm it.

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Vegetarianism is good for the planet. You're environmentally friendly Ekichi if this is true. Remember, meat of all kinds are less sustainable than fruits and vegetables and nuts and grains. It takes tons of corn or grass to make one cow ready for slaughter, all that land could be used to produce crops able to feed many more.

-This is from someone who just ate a cheesesteak for lunch. I'm not vegetarian at all. But if they made meat-substitutes that tasted like the real deal, I'd convert. Hope Impossible Meat is as good as they say and can greatly expand their production.

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The story of the Ramen Shop owner is flawed, and her bodyguard can't remember anything about it. Rumors can become reality, but lacking depth, they're a thin reality which leaves their victims hanging.

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And she actually sells food now, I didn't see this before. Again, I'm not ordering anything for now.

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Is there a part 1 I missed Yukino? You have your own version of Lisa's Cantonese lessons. That's okay for me.

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Her clothes hide the size well though. A few females in video games could learn from Maya.:dry:

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Maya likes ramen, likes crab. Sounds like a cheap date in Maryland and Japan.

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Trust him I would not, unless we can spread the weight-loss shoes as a rumor- that would be of great benefit to humankind.

I talk with Toro and exchange the same information I got for doing nothing special and get more rumors from this guy in, in the same topics as the man in the park.

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Referring the Ramen Shop lady. This is a Russian foreign influence I for once don't mind. Albeit the weapons are only starter stuff, the Soviets were quantity over quality as any historian of their economics would tell you. 

Off to Kuzunoha Detective Agency:

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Yukino informs me more of Persona 1, I appreciate this.

And I really do love this little conversation the other three are having here. It takes ideas which a player might actually consider feasible if they think about it a lot, and gives logical explanations why they wouldn't work.

So let's try spreading our new rumors!

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3000 yen for every rumor? That is much too expensive right now. I choose not to enact any. If I need to, I can just come back later and do it.

The types of rumors (demon rumors haven't been spread yet), are for shops all about quality vs. price. For the sweepstakes, it's chance of a good reward vs. the quality of the reward. For the casino, it's about the which type of game gives the best payout.

I save the game and choose to enact some rumors anyhow just to see what the more expensive prices are, I'll reset and reload later.

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They aren't as pricey as I thought they would be. I know the stat values so far are low in this game, but my general rule here will be maybe new equips stat increase >= 10 points for me to buy something. That way I don't run out of money.

Oh yeah, let me return to Sumaru Prison to check on dialogue there.

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So Ekichi's plan was to pass on his father's place to Shogo. Selfish, or did this guy actually want to do it?

"If the fish is fresh and fair, you needn't run for air." A real sushi restaurant should not be smelly if it keeps bringing in fresh inventory and serving it up. Good fish doesn't smell.

The other guy only confirms my suspicions of this district being lower class, and his story is sweet.

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So you wished to protect and avenge the weak, like Keisuke. He'd actually be fine here, DS1 was good with blending a little teen drama with SMT general themes- but I praise the game too much I know.

And I think you ARE a rotten apple.

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Officially believes Marth > Ike.

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So Gas Chamber was his band's name, I thought it was Death Band. It makes the word choice a little better, going for an edgy rock band Gas Chambers sounds like an okay name. But the song title is still really bad.

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Another grape off the vine falls, from the vineyard locked inside us all.

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Must be a wonderful, if weird sense of nostalgia. You change, but nothing here will for as long as humanity is as it is.

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There was a Ms. Ideal with the same first name as you at the school. Probably means nothing, again, only so many Japanese syllables.

But there has to be some meaning Maya's philosophical babble here, otherwise it's meaningless and confusing idle chatter. And SMT did later use the ideal self idea at least once.

I skip Belladonna here, her words are not so meaningful. And I have no reason to talk to the Demon Painter since I have no Blank Tarot Cards to give him.

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Actually, my midwife metaphor earlier for the Velvet Room attendees has meaning here. Nameless plays for humanity, but himself cannot be truly like it. He manages births, but is himself infertile.

Now let me talk to Igor and trade the Tarot Cards I got from Contacting demons for new Personae. There is no demon fusion in Persona 2, this replaces it. It's simpler, but I guess it works. Also, unlike SMT where you normally can only use demons at or below your current level, Persona 2 lets you exceed your current level when using Personae by 5.

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...I changed my mind. I need more Tarot Cards. I can always come back here later. I haven't maxed any of my Personae's Ranks yet.

I do like being able to see a little ahead regarding new Personae, and so do I the compatibilities. If anyone wants, I'll write up a list of everyone's Arcana compatibilities, in case you want to see if it actually says anything about their personality in Tarot-ology.

More shops and more talk back in Regendai:

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T-M-I Lisa!

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Miss Van Houten? Yes. Call the Antitype.

Oh, it's another P1 person? Maybe another day, but I'm open to meeting her. 

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I cannot call Maya a slob, but she isn't an ultra-prim and proper woman.

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If this friend of Maya's is Yukino, though it could very well not be, then this is contradictory. And what kind of fashion statement is breast hearts- albeit tasteful ones that have a measure of realism?

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Maya, dream of Pop Star, your ultimate Persona lay there.

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More Time Count pessimism, and Maya does ask elementary questions of science and metaphysical philosophy. To which I answer time can have an beginning and ending, but not anything before or after. Anything before and after time doesn't exist, since "before" and "after" refer to time itself.

Now let us go somewhere new, our destination is Yumezaki, but I see this place has been quietly added to the world map. I will check it out first.

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A demo for Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth! (Releases in the US two days from now as the very last major 3DS game.)

The game had to have gone through real development hell to released eight years later. I'm picking P3 Protag, P4 Protag, P5 Protag, P3 FeMC, and Koromaru. Less talking = better dungeon crawling experience.

-

To speak seriously, the reviews I read for this game said Climax Theater was a PSP addition. Knowing this, I can tell right away that this girl here, Mitsugi, is aesthetically very different from everyone else in the game. Her artstyle is brighter and more polished to a fine sheen, reflective of where anime art for Persona and RPGs as a whole has gone since the days of Persona 2.

Drawing everyone by hand, if that was a still living art in P2's day, has been replaced by digital drawing with the freedom to easily erase mistake and blemishes which the old days had to accept and work with. -Or so was the explanation of Langrisser 1 & 2's old vs. new artworks.

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Someone likes her job. 

Anywho, these movies appear to be gauntlets of battles one after the other. Completing movies earns me points which ups my membership, which starts at "Black Raspberry" and this imagine but unexplained gives me gameplay rewards of some kind.

What Max Enemy Level indicates I know not. Is it enemy strength, or is something that if I exceed it I'll be deleveled to match? I think it the former, and with the second movie having a level of 70 when I'm only 6, I walk out of this theater.

That was short, but Yumezaki should be long.:

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Has the vibe and stated description of a "party central" city district, which I think Shinjuku is as well. And now that I notice it, this place has a scramble crossing like Shibuya, another party central I believe.

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MAYA GOT A GAMBLING PROBLEMMMMMM?

Pacinko honestly does seem sorta fun-ish though. Super Mario 64 DS had a version of it as a minigame and I enjoyed it. But that was free, I'm not wasting my real money on metal balls and slots I can't control.

This building is in the lower left, which is why you can't see my blue person.

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Giga Macho, a primitive name. And "used to" is only another hint of your drifting Lisa.

We instead walk into Mu, the non-real money arcade in the lower left to the right of Pachinko Silver. 

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P1 has a photographer, a perfumer, and a gambler as playables. Thanks for telling me Yukino, continue on with this.

Since I didn't spend for a rumor, this place is only an arcade- no real money gambling. I don't want to use the casino until later in the game, right now it's too early for it to be justified to me.

But let me save and enact a rumor to make this place a gambling den so I and you can see what it offers.

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Wait, how can I gamble here when Pacinko was off limits earlier b/c I'm not an adult? The excuse we know was just because the plot doesn't want me going into Pachinko Silver until later, but I'd like a better one. Make this place illicit gambling and all is fixed, since then I'd be breaking two laws by gambling here, and slightly underaged gambling is less serious than illicit gambling, so I might as well break it too.

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Like the bodyguard at the Ramen Shop, the casino manager is in a mental fog due to the rumor I put in place. It's 100 Yen per Casino Coin, expectable it'd cost so much. What does he offer?

The one weapon- the Moebius Ring for Yukino, is not worth mentioning.

The accessories:

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A permanent stat boost sounds like a reward stat maxers are going to want to grind for right away, but Luck and Agility aren't very useful I'm thinking. The Orb of Solving sounds like it makes it easier to figure out Fusion Spells?

Consumable items:

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The Disguise Kit lowers encounter rates. This version of the Muscle Drink, a common and sometimes dysfunctional SMT item is actually very good here. Full HP and a max HP buff of some duration is great.

And the Cards:

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Charon? Can I pay for him in Play Coins? I've 290 to give.

So there is a Persona locked behind the casino, he better be good. The ferryman of the Styx deserves to be treated well.

Those other other Cards must be these Material Cards Igor's tutorials mention. There is no fusion in this game I said before, but I can use 1 Material Card per Persona summoning (not sure about Persona you already have) to teach a Persona a new skill. These here only offer basic spells, but they could be useful. 

Given the lack of weapons and other things in the rewards, the casino should improve its offering later.

Now what can I play to multiply my Coins enough for those prizes?:

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Bingo! With four bingo cards to win on. Looks a bit much, but it should be easy to follow in practice- just pick ten spots per card and hope I get 5 aligned in any direction on any of the cards.

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Video Poker, an easy gambling staple for video games.

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Blackjack! With the ability play as all of the PCs together, although I very much doubt setting multiple characters to Manual will let me rake in the Coins quickly.

And lastly

Spoiler

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???

The Engrish is an unintentional palooza of innuendo! 

Someone, spread this image across the web. It deserves meme status.

Not what I was expecting from a slot machine, but I love it. Let me yank the lever and see what spits out. 

Leaving the now-casino, the lit building in the middle of Yumezaki's map shown above, is called Zodiac, a club of some sort I currently cannot enter because of Kasugayama High students inside the place. This said, the name "Zodiac" reminded me of a little facet I forgot to show all this time in the main menu:

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The artwork here isn't good barring maybe Tatsuya and Yukino; Eikichi looks like a lesbian vampire. And the information is short and pretty useless at this point- games couldn't handle updating profiles like Tokyo Mirage Sessions to name something off the top of my head I guess. But the horoscopes and blood types suit the kind of game this is, since they're the stuff of superstitions just like rumors.

Now to the shopping area in the upper right. The Velvet Room is the same dialogue so I skip it.

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I go Bikini Line, Tony's Shop, Anima Mundi, and then Satomi Tadashi.

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Yukino and Maya are right. Healing with the UV light of a tanning bed is a no, natural lighting is best.

And looking at Bro here, who also says he owes his looks to these possibly rumored up tanning beds, I think they must emit botox.

Perfume lady is my only choice for healing, I don't care if I have to walk a little extra.

I haven't said anything of healing yet, because Hanya leveling me a felt eon ago meant I got fully healed from that.

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Heal yourself, 'kay?

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Dolphins are smart enough to lie you know. And they love sex, including self-love, and they rape. High intelligence in the sea world comes at the price that they're much like us. I wonder if they have a Velvet Reef?

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The World Health Organization (or some other international entity) just declared burnout a real medical condition Maya, take care of yourself.

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Yukino likes practicality I think, Ekichi likes some eclecticism- just look at how he dresses. Let us see what the owner has to say:

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A young man from California loved his seaweed,  was ran over by a car, and then ran over again by a man in roller skates and a thong with an American flag attached to its backside on Venice Beach. You fortunately sell nothing good, so I leave. 

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You're mistaken Lisa, sounds like Yukino has a boyfriend or someone she'd like to be her's.

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Eikichi has improved at least physically, hopefully more. And Maya has a sense of modesty.

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Another friend? Probably not Yukino, may we meet her when the time comes.

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The Big Loser offers altruistic advice here, thanks.

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Septuplets? Must have been born under a pentagram with the blood of six bulls washing over you. 

It’s only dawning on me now this ties into the Pleiades thing with the school, but my this is twisted.

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I didn't notice it with the first two stores, but with the third I did. Still catchy. Nothing beats Malo Mart though. MALO MART! MALO MART! Pick it up at Malo MART!

...

We end with a dedicated collection of additional Cantonese lessons I've assembled during this time:

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With this, I've now caught up to where I've stopped. I didn't want to get too far ahead. Next I visit the Peace Diner and hopefully get the game moving on to the second dungeon by talking with Kozy. Assuming I don't get distracted on a peninsula.

 

1 hour ago, Cure Naga said:

I thought that SMT where supposed to be difficult? It looks like you had a pretty easy time with it. 

Usually it is fairly hard by JRPG standards. Classic or modern, SMT tries to be challenging. Persona 2IP hasn't had a hard start at all, and I'm aware Persona tends to be considered easier than SMT, but I don't really know the ins and outs of this particular game.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My apologies for the delay on another entry, it turns out I did lose my way when I made that detour and wound up in Fiana.

 

Part 3: Kasugayama Drama

Section 1: The Stars Align and Eikichi is Fine!

Spoiler

So last time I left off, I was about to head into the Peace Diner to meet with Kozy, who was looking into who started the Emblem Curse and whatever the Joker might be doing. Let's walk in there now:

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A little unexpected. But a "Big Peace Burger" sounds cool. Why fight, when we can decrease our lifespans through delicious fat laden calorie sandwiches stuffed with so many ingredients you can't even taste them all, together?

This isn't what I think when I think "diner", but this is Japan, they likely don't know what a real old Americana diner looks like. I understand.

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So this is the other girl they've mentioned with Kozy, and she offer up rumors like the guy at the sushi place and at the park. That is three of the five Rumormongers, and this one looks okay.

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I would expect someone who used to be overweight themselves would have more sympathy for those who currently are, bad EIkichi.

But yup, that is our next objective, the club called Zodiac. Let me talk in here first.

Lisa insists Eikichi had a role in spreading the Emblem Curse rumor, Eikichi argues back he and his guys did not- their usual disagreement. Maya and Yukino said nothing memorable enough to screenshot.

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I talked to this person only after checking out the eatery here, but I didn't notice the wording they speak of, so I checked again.

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An English Major

In Japan, will find themselves

A full-timer here.

 

First box I can sorta see the fanciful nature of, but because I can be a little unusually eloquent with my tongue, I didn't notice it right away. The second one certainly gets that across though. Still better than 85% of portraited NPCs I've seen so far.

So now I walk into Zodiac:

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Doesn't look like much of a club here, more like a warehouse. But this is only the entrance room. No monsters in these halls, that's okay I guess.

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That disco ball makes this look a little dated, but I guess it's a little snazzy?

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So this is that Anna girl, or rather woman, that they mentioned before. She looks apathetic. I wonder exactly "that" she can't keep up is? Drugs, alcohol, the sex trade? I'd be more inclined to say the former two now that I see this place, I went to the worst case of prostitution originally, but that doesn't look so likely here.

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I think I found the sandpaper I was looking to remove some wood varnish with.

Well she is no crying broken girl worthy of sympathy at the outset. She is as cool as the blue she wears, and as abrasive as a sandstorm.

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A student worthy of the school's nickname, and is what he expels from his mouth. And unbeknownst to him, the Glorious Mr. Hanya has taken a great leap forward and beyond his job at Sevens.

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Shinier? You're not even particularly shiny Eikichi. Although lining your jacket in polished chrome would be awesome.

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So this is what became of that guy from Soul Hackers? Well replacing Eikichi with that guy is quite pathetic. The whole SH crew is as cheesy and thin as a Kraft processed American single slice, and not as tasty. 

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Nope, different dude.

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Whoops! Missed the text here, but as you can see, Eikichi bopped the guy and he is now on his knees.

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So power level rumors will work, making one work on Joker is just infeasible for lack of want to make it happen. Though like with Hanya, this also has to do with popularity.

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Chronologically, things don't seem to be adding up. It sounded like the Emblem Curse rumor had been around for a while, enough you'd think Eikichi would have known about this Sugimoto guy replacing him.

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It isn't much a secret if you give away its existence like that. Aren't you unnamed generic working for the guy?

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Not to mention Tatsuya has the wooden sword.

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Well this can't go over well. It's fairly early, and Eikichi is going to get the truth sprung on him. He has actually left my team for the time being, it's off to go help Eikichi, rescue Hanakouji, and see about this evil leader guy, maybe he is our next opponent.

But first, chatting in this room a bit. Lisa just ponders why, if Eikichi and Kozy used to date, why she doesn't want him to know who she really is. 

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That would be one tricky rumor to deal with, but I like the sound of a comparative one that continually reevaluates itself to stay true, the magic behind it would be real sophisticated.

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Another P1 reference, and this implies why Yukino took the strong stance on Anna. Reads like good motivation.

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Sounds like Hanya indeed!

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And we must return it to the dragons! Wait, wrong zodiac, it's the Greek ones being referred to here.

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I don't think I actually ever found anything like a real maze when was I exploring here, but oh well.

So I walk through the door Eikichi went to find and him and the rest.

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That yellow surrounding the floor means there are demons here. This hardly looks like a club to me, red lighting everywhere, looks more to me like an emergency exit with the main power supply cut to the building. Some of the other screenshots show off tables and chairs and wall decor in a modernist aesthetic, so there is a little more club vibe, if still not a lot. Like this one:

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And onto a battle.:

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No! Imma killja!

I guess I like the idea of zombie DJs. Even if I don't know where they came from. 

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Initially, I read that as "Necrophile", which would have made as much sense. 

Zombie isn't an actual Arcana, that line I listed earlier is just their way of saying you can't Contact them.

Enemies in this dungeon consist of some holdovers from Sevens, and some new demons too, including pink harpy creatures whose specific names I forget. Battles here put up a little more resistance, but not a whole lot more, things are still easy.

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This happened once at the end of a battle. I like they gave an explanation here instead of just forcing me to turn to Igor for an answer.

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So enemies can randomly drop Material Cards, better than just having to buy them all at the casino. Though the ability to inflict Poison is pretty worthless.

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Well know I know what I need to find then to get through this door.

And look, a bouncer of what appears to be African descent. Diversity in Japan!

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You see that yellow spot on the floor, which corresponds to that red square on the minimap? The game's first damage tile, and as you see from my characters' HP values, it hurt. I curiously stepped into that and was not knowing what to expect- it doesn't turn red until you step on it.

Although what is acid or goo doing in the middle of a club floor? -Then again, I guess acid and clubs do go together.

I step into a side room where NPCs lurk and demons don't exist.

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I guess Lisa means this entire area beyond the room where Eikichi ran off is considered a secret, even if this isn't the secret lounge room I need to be in.

And Lisa hitting up the clubs isn't surprising given she likes having fun and dancing, but here in particular I felt to be worth noting.

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Strange masks, mysterious invitations to come to a mysterious gatherings, sounds like Joker to me. "Those thingies" I think means Shadowmen, and it the guy it seems received the blessing of no leg hair from the Joker. No leg hair on a girl I could see being a big desire, but for a guy that doesn't sound like a high vanity priority.

I stumble into a totally different room in this dungeon:

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So this game does have in-dungeon healers, one that came back from Persona 1, and like many an SMT healer, costs money to use.

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Looking at that jacket and sugarcoated face, this nurse is no Titania. Still, let's check to see if Yukino is right about the price.

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Yep, she is a knockoff, like her knockoff sexy nurse attire, which is never of good quality in the first place, but this looks real bad.

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No, it'll be you who dies. For soon you will cease to exist in Persona, fading to obscurity forevermore. Good riddance with you. I much prefer your younger sister Pixie, who is loyal regardless of how her flesh is warped, and will one day Megidoloan you into oblivion at my command.

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So chest designs vary with dungeon, a nifty little touch. 

A Free Card is a blank Tarot Card, I can have the Demon Painter in the Velvet Room make this into a Tarot of any Arcana I want I think. This makes Free Cards very useful, but this is the very first I've found, and one card won't take me very far.

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I thought this was another Zombie DJ. Nope, it's Zombie Junkie. I didn't check it out with Contact, but I do sometimes like these more contemporary B-movie monsters amid all of SMT's ancient and refined demons and deities and the like.

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So boss battle? This is just like the warning Lisa gave at Sevens before the Hanya fight.

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I didn't get the masks in that one room, they must be somewhere else on this floor.

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Ranking up Tatsuya gives him a skill that just inflicts the Fury ailment. Why is it named after a famed French author? Was he that angry? Maybe this is one botched translation of "Berserk?" This game looks like it has been well translated so far though, and this would be one hefty error to make.

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First a Trish and now a "Lady", albeit wholly unrelated.

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I clicked too fast and missed the prior dialogue. It was Yukino saying Tatsuya was good with his katana (it doesn't look like one in battle though), and her mentioning someone she knew (another P1 drop for her) that was good with a katana, and then she asked if Tatsuya was good with his fists. I said yes, and this was the result. I can't go back and repeat this choice, it seems permanent, I'll check about what she says later.

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Bad apple? Yeah he has his flaws, but I don't think running off like that was inherent selfishness, it was for a good cause I'd say. Reckless is the better word here Lisa.

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Another weird anatomical request, people really do tell the Joker their deepest requests, regardless of how odd they might seem in public.

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Mask Get, now through the door to Eikichi and this Leader fella.

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But first, Maya learned Media. Excellent, party heals for the 60 plain old Dia already does is very very good. And it costs the same SP as Dia, making it just superior in every way. It appears SP costs are all equal for skills, the determinant for SP costs is the equipped Persona; on paper, I can see this being a flawed system.

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Sounds outrageous, let's see how Eikichi is fairing.

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I didn't capture it, but Eikichi was getting pounded by the four guys surrounding him.

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This guy metaphorically punches Eikichi right in the gut! Perfectly mocking dialogue here.

Doesn't look very Japanese with that orange hair, but such is such in a game.

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Revenge is a dish best served cold, and it reads here like Eikichi might deserve a little karma.

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It appears as when we first met Eikichi that others knew about his Rhadamanthus Persona. And now I get what "Death Boss" referred to, Eikichi's Persona, not the band.

Using a hostage to force away his strongest weapon, a smart move. 

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The reveal has come! Filled with tears and not the slightest disbelief or dislike, just sorrow in the moment. Wonderful.

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The way this reads says at first to me that Eikichi doesn't admire Hanakouji now, but I think he doesn't actually mean that on a second read. He does not really know her as he is now, and is not casting a judgement call on the present her.

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He swiped the knife at her, see the scar on her right cheek?

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So we've been in the room the entire time just watching with nobody reacting to it. Odd.

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Well, one should learn to swallow their pride and accept help when they need it. But Sugimoto has a hostage and threatened to badly harm them if Eikichi brought out his Persona (although he just scarred Hanakouji over less than a Persona summon). Considering the hostage, I opt to agree with Yukino and wait and see.

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Such brutally beautiful language! I think Kaido uses similar language with Keisuke if he kills him- I wouldn't know since I always did the best outcome on that event.

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Well Tang Head has no case for revenge then, he deserved to be dumped into a sewage treatment plant. Or maybe I should sacrifice him on that ominous faux magic circle representing the zodiac that I've noticed this room has.

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HOLY HELL!

EIKICHI LOOKS INCREDIBLE! BADASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

That blood looks electrified like rockin' neon red with a demonic glow. He wears the cut he just got like he's thirsty for more. He is no victim now, he is the hunter. Devour him! DEVOUR!

And oh yeah, it looks like Tang Head here was going to summon his Astronaut Persona, but he not gonna get that chance!

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To explain what His Wicked Awesomeness means, I later realized Eikichi found a loophole in the rumor.

The rumor says that Leader > Boss. But by abandoning the title of Boss, Eikichi was no longer bound by the rumor, allowing him to be stronger than Hiroki. And boy is he stronger.

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The Orange has been muddled, its bloody oils have been beaten loose, to flavor the fruity cocktail of victory.

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And he lost his awesome face so fast.:(:

Humility is great and all given how you've been such a narcissist in bluster, but what happened to the blood that was just on your right cheek? 

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And she ran off. Their love story is sure to continue somewhere and someplace later.

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So the Leader is actually the Pawn of a pawn of Joker. Joker is carrying out ceremonies with the help of a Lady Scorpio, named after a zodiac. And our next destination is a second high school. But this is enough for this entry.

 

I was not expecting so much development so early for a main character, but Eikichi got gooooood here! They didn't beat around the bush, and it looks like my decision paid off. Eikichi met the challenge with flying colors.

The dungeon itself though was short, easy, and uneventful, without a boss battle. Kasugayama High may hopefully do better on this front.

 

Edited by Interdimensional Observer
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This section will be fairly short and uneventful, I'm just getting some stuff out of the way to wrap up this part in a third, not super long section. It's just chatting around, stopping right before things get serious again.

Part 3 Section 2: How the Other School Is

Spoiler

 

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I can't return to Zodiac for now it looks like. However, there was a door I couldn't open there that said it led to a bar, so I'm expecting I will return to Zodiac sometime later.

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2709-Shin-Megami-Tensei-Persona-2-InnoceAs you see, after completing just one little dungeon, dialogue all around the town has changed. Not all of, much of it remains exactly the same, and dialogue within a given store might have changed only for the heroes, or only select members of the playable cast even. Mostly the PC dialogue changes are to talk about Kasugayama, the council president there, and what happened at Zodiac. So it's just a little reflection on what was and where things are currently going. It's good, I like it, just as I did similar changes in Digital Devil Saga and sought them all out. Not going to return to Pleaides though- too many voices there.

To comment on it all here rather than right after each individual, going roughly in order of everything I posted:

  • A masquerade sounds like the perfect opportunity for evil to go to work that is obvious. Masks suit a Persona game of course, since a persona is a mask. Unless the persona becomes so stuck to you that you can't pull it off or recognize it as a mask.
    • Hamlet had that problem you know. Feigning insanity for the sake of avenging his father, but forgetting to do that while he pretended to be insane. Can Hamlet please appear in a Persona game? Not as a Persona you summon, make him a main character. Let the collective unconscious of humanity incarnate him as a real mortal, with Claudius and Laertes as well. Claudius as I interpret it is "He Who Forsakes Doing the Good Thing and Lives in Pleasure" and Laertes is "He Who Forsakes Pleasure and Rushes into Doing the Good Thing". Hamlet is the Procrastinator- he wants to do the Good Thing (avenge his father), but doesn't, has time to for pleasure, but doesn't enjoy it since his want to do the Good Thing bites at him. Stuck as he is between two better options, Hamlet makes everybody die because of it.
  • Hanakouji is off doing more research for us, that is a fine explanation for now. Can't wait to see her and Eikichi's stories fully resolved, it still has something left to it.
  • Lisa is dropping that awful nickname for Eikichi, the two are getting along better. Eikichi is largely getting the credit he deserves for what he did from the other heroes, with a little justifiable criticism too. Him seriously moving past his old Boss identity shows maturity too.
  • Maya has dropped mentions of a friend again, when will she (assuming a "she") show up? And how will she play into any potential character arc of Maya?
  • I like the philosophic babble of both the Velvet Room and the Time Castle. I can see people not liking it, and if this was mandatorily spouted in the main plot, I could see it being a problem. But as is so far, it's all on the side, optional for those who like it and skippable for those who don't. 
  • So we meet the mother of one of the Shadowmen victims, even she is forgetting her son. It does bring it home a little bit more, otherwise you yourselves could forget what happened to them.
  • Mother whose son has a picture of the Sevens Principal still in his room, I think it's time you had a talk with him. Be there for him, tell him you'll love him and his closeted Hanyasexuality.
  • As for Anna, she certainly is hiding something, what is yet to be shown.
  • So Kasugayama is all-male, well that could very easily explain the aggressiveness. Clearly it's a substandard all-boys' school, no upper middle class professionalism if Eikichi and Sugimoto are anything to go by.
  • The Ramen Shop Lady being involved in the Russian Revolution? Yeah no. That can't be possible. She doesn't look like she is even 80, and the Russian Revolution started in March 1917. Assuming this game is set in the late 90s, that means she would be over 100 to have feasibly done anything back then. The magical power of rumors to distort what people actually think they are is impressive.
  • A "Visual Kei Band" is apparently this. Eikichi would readily fit in as is.
  • I have to agree the Satomi Tadashi music is a little addicting, and Lisa actually brings out the slight ridiculousness of Maya's outfit. I mean it isn't overdone, but who IRL would actually wear that? It's cheery like Maya's external behavior, but a little too bold for most I'd think with the hearts exactly as they are placed.
  • I ordered food for the first time from Gatten Sushi. Strangely, the biggest boost- you can't see what each dish gives until after you've ordered it once, isn't given by the most pricey item. The Halibut's +8 Dx was cheaper than smaller boosts for the same stat.
  • Lisa's father is yet again showing his slavishness to Glorious Nippon. Lisa on the other hand leaves hints of stuff she is hiding. Is she dreamless and secretly tainted by her father's antiquated Japanophilia as well?
  • On Lisa- her Cantonese lessons are now sounding really suspicious. "Baibai" looks so much like the English "bye bye" that unless it is just that, but adapted phonetically into the Cantonese language, I can't believe her. Cantonese I forgot to explain, is from what I understand, Chinese as is spoken in parts of the country's south, it's more distinct than a mere dialect, but written Cantonese uses the same ideographs and all as Mandarin/Traditional Chinese, I think all the difference is spoken, not written. Cantonese gets its name from the formerly British controlled spot in China called Canton, and is also referred to as Yue I believe, which sounds like it'd be what actual speaker of the language would call it.
  • One dropout gives a lengthy encomia about his former school and internationalism as well. Thats pleasant, cheesy, and a tad humorous for me actually.

Now we stroll into the school itself.

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My comments in rough chronological order:

  • Well Eikichi tells me upfront my destination in this building, so I'll be avoiding it for now.
  • That yellow means more demon assassins strolling about which leave everyone else alone. Yay!
  • An air raid shelter rumored to be an inescapable labyrinth which I cannot enter at this moment. No duh it is the next dungeon.
  • Oh yeah, that guy who looks a little darkened who told me about the bomb shelter? He is a Shadowman, there are like ten of them in all of the classrooms combined I think. This school has had a lot of Joker attacks it seems.
  • I chose to be humble before Eikichi, which might not have been the right answer, given how Eikichi looks disappointed. I could have savestated and tried both options now that I think about it, but I didn't and don't exactly regret it. This is like the Yukino choice earlier I think, I'll have to check it out.
  • Maya gets me thinking, if a new rumor was spread that "X is stronger than Eikichi" would he be able to escape it? Would declaring his name is now Shaggy McCarpet undo the power weakening?
  • I'm loving the waitresses. Better graphics please!
  • So even though the leadership is corrupt and working for Joker, and there is a bit of hormones involved, this school really is cleaning up its reputation, well that's nice.
  • Rhadmanthus learned the attack spell Zan, and it's Almighty element, which is weird. Usually, Almighty uses Megido-Megidola-Megidoloan. But here, it using Zan, while Force/Wind, which is usually what Zan represents, uses Garu.
  • I forgot to show Eikichi's Contact options earlier, so there they are.
  • The Joker Game, just as the Shadowmen here indicate, is popular at Kasugayama just as it was at Sevens. Albeit as Yukino speaks. there were no Shadowmen there for some odd reason. To be fair, this game began "idyllic", now I know of the evil that is out there, and it is increasingly making itself known, which is an upping of the stakes that makes the threat the Joker poses to more than just the heroes more felt. Left to his own, the Joker would make the world a place forgotten insofar as I yet know him.
  • It sounds like only a few days is all that has really passed since this story started, sounds reasonable. I'm just playing glacially with this being an LP.
  • Mirror mirror on the wall, that's my tip for escaping that endless underground hall.
  • Eikichi really it respected here it seems. And he has done a good job of announcing his departure from the Boss job.
  • As you can see, those two little questions earlier really have changed Tatsuya's relationships with Eikichi and Yukino.
  • Phaleg is an angel I've never seen in SMT before. He sounds fairly chill. I can make Happy on him with three uses of Persuade from Tatsuya, and make him Eager with, of all things, three uses of Michel's Self-Promotion. This is one swell angel, I can't recall one so reasonable in plain old SMT.
  • The game tells you when someone is hungry and the food stat bonus wears off with actual messages every time it happens. This is also shown by their little face icon with the HP and SP values listed underneath glowing yellow when food is in effect, and it stops when it isn't.
  • On that note, Maya loves ramen, Eikichi hates sushi because it reminds him of his father no doubt,
  • A blue skull? Ya know I was wondering when the crystal skulls would be brought up again.
  • Philosophical babble about ideals and dreams aren't actually something I care for. And when will Lisa finally come out and reveal what she's hiding about herself. I'm almost expecting to see her pop out of her skin and reveal that she is actually 100% Japanese and everything we know of her is a hoax.
  • I missed capturing a few lines about Eikichi asking about what happened to some transfer student. But said (male) student sounds clearly important in some way.
  • Not only is there a masquerade, but the entire school is being a multfaceted festival. You've a maid cafe, a Japanese temple booth, a haunted house, an anime convention, and a movie sounds great. Minus the spying on changing girls. And the movie sounds really thematic- everyone but Yukino on the main character front having seeming daddy issues. "Scent of the Wind" is a ehhhh title though, it invites flatus jokes.
  • And I'll end with the clarification that "Death Boss" was what everyone called Eikichi when they wanted to be more reverential than "Boss", but Eikichi used it for Rhadmanthus himself.

Well, now we're done for this entry. The next will cover all the substance here at Kasugayama High.

Edited by Interdimensional Observer
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I was going to finish this in one more Section, but due to IRL constraints and the length of this one as I was making it, I'll split it off into two Sections. The last one for this Part should certainly be posted within a day of this one.

Part 3 Section 3: Get Me Outta This Shelter

Spoiler

To being, I walk into the student council room where I was supposed to be headed all along.

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I missed a little line or two here for Eikichi and this generic student

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How could this be anything but a trap? But hey, this is a video game, thou must falleth for it.

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More hunger lines. Just thinking, if food wears off this fast, then are its stat boosts really at all useful? I doubt they could last all the way to a boss battle even if I wasn't roaming around. I'm getting ~1000 Yen per battle now though, so food is cheap, I may as well buy it.

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To quote Issun: "Leap before you think.", ...which actually sounds terrible taken out of context.

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Talking in the dark is so silly I don't need snark.

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The latest plot mystery appears- what happened to Maya's flashlight. Did the Joker steal it ten years ago and she only thinks she still has one all this time later?

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If you don't see right away, notice in Tatsuya's right hand he is holding that lighter an NPC mentioned earlier. He sometimes brings it out in an idle animation.

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Say it with me now!: IT'S A TRAP!

"It's a trap, it's a trap. I hope you brought a Taco Bell wrap, because it'll take some time before we're out of this trap!":^_^:

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That term sounds so silly, and so outdated. Although walkie-talkies are still useful in a number of employments, smartphones haven't put those bricks out of a job, even if they're worthless to the mass consumer.

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I'll pretend you make the same high-pitched laugh as Yomotsu Ikusa in that optional NG+ battle in Devil Survivor. Better than the alternatives I can imagine.

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So you're an arrogant nerd, leave it to this blue-haired cocky jock then to hang you by your strap.

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So you think we're a cancer on the universe then? Ganglion or Inspector, your life is now forfeit.

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Now you're more Frankie, I shall I HIGH TECHNICALLLL!-y kick you into Sumaru Bay once I get my chance. 

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Maya by herself doesn't sting much here, but add in Yukino and Lisa, and I this is an Agilao-level burn, not sure if I'd say Agidyne.

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Eikichi broke the walkie-talkie, the shouting brick was made of glass.

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With this, I can understand how Maya's consistent optimism in bad moments can be annoying. I wouldn't be quite so cheery here myself.

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Well now I have to explore this air raid shelter and find that mirror or whatever it is I need to get out.

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But first, Yukino is the last to get hungry again.

And yes, no time for coffee indeed when we're stuck down in some underground tunnels with no easy way out. The only "coffee" you can get is a cup of diluted mud.

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This purple ooze is from appearance alone not good. It can inflict Poison on characters, but one misstep isn't guaranteed to inflict it. I twice stepped in the stuff, but only once got Poisoned, the first did absolutely nothing.

There is a lot of poison and red damage tiles here.

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I think I forgot to show Lisa's Contact options earlier, here they are.

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More treasures are scattered here, no weapons or armor, just items, money and cards. Aques is the basic Water spell, I get Dormina (single target sleep), and Kotoludi (single target Possession cure) as well.

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Tatsuya is to Yukino's left, just barely with his head visible. This what you get if you use the two for Contacting now that I made that one little dialogue choice.

And I realized, if two or three characters do have a functional relationship, using them together in Contacting will affect enemy emotions. As long as the duo has synergy, you can use double and triple Contact as much as you want, it only is forced into solo Contacting if you don't elicit a boost in emotions with a duo or trio. 

Tatsuya + Yukino in this case I think raised both Eager and Scared. Maxing these two emotions together applies the Fury ailment to the enemy and those of the same species, forcing them to perform only basic physical attacks.

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I go through the air raid shelter to the one door at the other end, and it looks like I ended up in the same room as where I started.

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Who forgot to remove the WWII corpses from the air raid shelter? Heck, who didn't let the people instead out? And where did the poison come from? They really need to hire a janitor here.

An air raid shelter with these kinds of zombies makes sense, the American firebombing of Tokyo was very thorough. And I don't know if Japan had the backyard bomb shelter craze the US experienced in the 50s. 

I'm just a little surprised to see the Zombie Soldier's quip, is Japan not sensitive about including this kind of historical rightist jingoism?

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Unusually for SMT, a Ma- spell, which indicates the spell targets all enemies usually, doesn't do that in Persona 2. Here, Ma- indicates it targets all enemies of a given species on the battlefield, both Zombie Schoolgirls here. This makes it better in the sense it means I can't accidentally hit anyone who would reflect, absorb, or null the spell. But otherwise, not targeting everyone makes this worse. The damage seems the same as a single target, and the SP cost is the same, so I can forget single target spells in this game unless they are of a stronger tier than the Ma- of the same element I have on hand.

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Eikichi's Rhadamanthus is the first Persona to hit Max Rank. I'll have to go to the Velvet Room to obtain a new Persona for him to level later. By the time I finish this dungeon, every has their default Persona at Max Rank. For everyone but Maia, Max Rank unlocks the 1st tier Ma- spell of their element, Maia gets a new single target instakill instead.

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Apparently, some chests in this game are traps, one of these trap chests stole MP from everyone. This other one triggered a forced encounter with a Tengu which I could not Contact or flee from.

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Can't see me? Look on the minimap. If I adjusted the camera angle, you'd see there was a very large hole in the wall here I was walking through. A "secret" passage the minimap won't show. There are a couple of these here, and they lead to a little treasure.

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Back in the starting room again. And Maya's optimism is starting to get a little grating. This dungeon is dark, dank, and repetitive.

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Turns out the secret isn't turning back after all. Well, it was worth a try. Forward over spaces my minimap shows that I've already walked with everything exactly the same and no new treasures!

 

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Well they're no longer like cats and dogs, they're getting better together.

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This Phaleg references Narcissus, I just happened to like that.

More importantly, Free Tarot Cards! 

It took me a little time to realize what's up with that and giving me the usual Cards of Phaleg's Arcana. It turns out I got this demon to max Happy first, which led to a Pact being formed. Upon encountering the demon again, maxing Eager will result in the Free Tarot bonus.

So from now on for Tarot farming, I want to figure out how to max Eager first, then max Happy, and then keep maxing Eager, maxing again Happy in case the demon somehow gets Angry maxed and I have to reform the Pact. In theory, this should make getting all the Tarots I want noticeably easier.

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This is pass 3, and still no mirror or anything in sight.

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Turns out the money grabber of a "fairy" is here. I appreciate the game isn't leaving me high and dry on getting healed, but I don't need her overpriced services. SP is still very plentiful.

And Eikichi falls for her mediocre looks and "nice" services, for your own sake, please don't Death Boss.

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This is how Maya gets when she is enraged? Could she please prove it somehow, like strangling someone by the neck, or punching me a way out of here?

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5 passes!

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If you looked back at the earlier picture outside of Trish's Spring, you'd see Maya and Lisa were at 1 HP. They got killed by these Zombie Soldiers, who deal 80-100 damage with Kamikaze, and they kill themselves as well as the name would denotate.

Apparently, being KO'ed in battle doesn't leave you dead after the battle is over like in most SMTs, it gives you a mercy point back. That is good for me, lacking Recarm and much in the way of revival items I recall.

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 Vulcanus had a Skill Mutation, adding Dia to its Skill lineup, without getting rid of anything the process, unlike SMT as it usually is. Dia isn't great, but it's nifty.

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AGREED! 6 trips through the same 1-2ish cavernous hallways is really Sisyphean. You reading this can't get the full sense of the tedium of this dungeon.

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YOU DROPPED IT DINGBAT! 

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I hope there was an insurance policy on it. I want every bit of that yen.

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More Maya Magnanimity. Or something less alliterative but accurate. She said this a while ago, and it's even more useless now. Knowing this is a video game however, something good has to happen sooner or later.

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So everyone takes nap in a tunnel, not knowing whether it is day or night above. Not knowing if there is a rumor that this is a hypobolic time chamber and they emerge outside at last in five hours, with Sumaru City now part of the country called the United Empire of Jokpan, consisting of Japan, America, China, and Belarus in the year 2313.

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A moment for sweet nothings with a guy who won't respond to your love. And Maya's positivity finally cracks for once, it's a mask in itself after all.

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That is one worn bunny plush, but it was shown in the new opening, has to have some significance.

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A smile and a blushing, both make me want to cringe, though much more so the blushing.

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I don't see the childish behavior of Joker, but Maya has her special powers to see it. And who will question her?

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Well that ends this conversation. And...

 

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Flashback! To Child Tatsuya and some unnamed but dapper boy.

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So this explains the lighter Tatsuya carries and the watch the old opening shows for a few moments.

The boy looks fine here, but Tatsuya's head is too big for his neck, and the eyes are off. Tatsuya is dress casually in contrast, another nitpick.

And both of these gifts are explicitly stated to have come from the boys' fathers. Again with that. Where will this go?

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Stranger Danger! Shout boys shout for help! Before the drunk guy here puts you in his own handcuffs!

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So the whole point to the creepy drunk dude is for a kid to be speaking dream mumbo jumbo they're too young to possibly IRL conceive of. Ehhhh...

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I'll actually agree with Lisa. But when did she move herself right there?

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I'm going to leave out Tatsuya's stupid-easy responses here, and just post Maya's followups.

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I think I should have savestated here for a little low grade humor. But the top option sounds harder than the game is wanting me to think it is. A perv would have to have the mirror unusually close to the ground for that to work. A perv would be best off eschewing the mirror due to how low your hand or mirror on foot or leg would have to be placed and just finding a highly polished and reflective floor you stare at females passing over. But because I'm not one, I'm not interested in figuring that out.

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So the exit was the door we came in, and all that was necessary was for Yukino to take a picture of where it once was.

That is it.

There was no way of getting this dungeon done sooner.

I had no choice but to pass through this boring place six times.

:facepalm:

Well, at least things are gradually getting harder in gameplay. Outside of the Kamikaze, enemies are dealing more substantial damage and they're taking more to kill. Things are still too easy for Hard, but I'm appreciative of any increase.

Section 4 will see me taking down this annoying student president who forced me into that awful dungeon. It won't be very long.

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Part 3 Section 4: When You're More Than a Little Mad

Spoiler

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Big Sis Yukino is so right, this dungeon only happened due to hastiness. At least it offered some good EXP? I'm wanting to find a positive in it.

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Too late pally!

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And as a reminder, this is our objective.

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Look, ceiling decorations, the festival that was being planned happened in the handful of hours we were toiling away in the turd mine.

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Nothing wrong with a little or a lot of crossdressing. Clothes do have gender, it's all a perception.

And the second student ending his last statement with an exclamation points makes it sound like he is looking forward to it too.

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Yeah yeah yeah, you say that now when we're back and can tear you to shreds.:dry: There are a bunch of students like this.

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I'd say it's less a matter of forgiving, and more I don't have time to waste on these goobers. There is some villainous masquerade plot in the works after all.

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Why'd I take a picture of Tatsuya using his Death Stare? Because I just wanted to point out he does have a VA that speaks in battle, using Death Stare led him to say "Look into my eyes", with a tone that was cool, alluring, and mildly threatening all at the same time, if little bland.

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Oh, of course it matters.

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l like this party banter.😀

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At least she is politely upfront with her crush, better that than overly shy or obsessive.

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Although what does determine what the magically affective wording of the rumor is? I'm overthinking it.

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More relationship changes I've noticed.

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Considering Tatsuya blushed, she is falling behind in the competition for his heart. Open more, and maybe you'll take the lead from her.

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Good question actually.

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This is his old behavior, well I never really saw it that much in force, so this is fine.

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There is bound to be tragic tale in there, somewhere. But yup, the surface first foes have to rancid garlic butter, before the plot takes on its full nuances.

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Unfortunately, I played through the school in one sitting, so I rushed and never found the ghost this guy is talking about. And for some reason, I can't reenter the school right after completing the story here FYI. Oh well, I can still get through this game. Probably many players missed this. Although how I did when I checked out every room I don't know.

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One layer on this mystery student is peeled back. Thanks student who is fading out of memory and existence!

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Maya's Jokey Sense isn't tingling, I'll bet she is right then.

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Resonance? Must be referring to that blue-white momentary flash everyone went through. That was what Hanya called the one back at the bike rack with Tatsuya alone a long time ago.

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This Shadowman recalls a "scorpion". We have a Lady Scorpio involved in the masking stuff back at Zodiac, remember? 

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If by "your manga", you mean the hentai you wrote, well I'd think you have a school filled with single young adult males desperate enough to want it. Everyone else would have likely used it as ripoff toilet paper, barring Lisa's Dad and the Sevens Janitor.

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Somehow I didn't notice the roof was accessible on my first run through this place. 

Maya being oblivious to love means she was being innocent with the stuff in the shelter, duly noted.

Now to the gymnasium at last where the masquerade was being held, I held off on going there of course.

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What wouldn't he want with a crowd of people?

And that lady in white and pink left of Maya's profile's head is a nurse, she fully healed me for free. A boss is bound to be coming up. Now let's raid the masquerade!

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Maya looks so strange with the mask on.

And look, it's a laser light show! Albeit the lights are coming from the mask-wearing students and concentrating into a single point. What point?

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Do you not see the lights and bluish flames?😵

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Massive forehead, square glasses, prim and proper jacket. Such. A. Dweeb. A blight of a dweeb unable to handle the power coming his way.

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So detached and cool, something is wrong with her.

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The gnat leaves through the exit, stage left. I leave through the way I came, but not before chatting around here.

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St. Hermelin is close enough its students could attend, Yukino's town must be near Sumaru. So much psychological trouble in so small a world.2709-Shin-Megami-Tensei-Persona-2-Innoce

Not being full Shadowman'ed still feels exhausting.

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Why do you know one word of Italian?

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Could it?

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So we have at least two Crystal Skull Macguffins? How many are there? Three? Four? A full Roy G. Biv of them? 

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Up on the rooftop click click click, is a nerd I have to blick blick blick.

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A warning like just like Lisa's before Hanya. I saved and I am ready.

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Another walkie-talkie. Every villain needs a calling card, and this one is the only thing which will make this brat the slightest tiniest drop of memorable.

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*Sigh* Why are you not cowering? You're about to be pulverized. Overcompetence over cowardice makes this less fun. Lisa is right, he has brain matter, but he's still stupid.

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Finally, the time for talk is over. Persona are out!

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Go Valentine's Day on him Eikichi!

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I try Contacting him because I saw I could. "No personality" describes this hunk of chewed up tofu quite well.

And Yasuo, why the heck are you fighting then? Death comes for us all, but the heck you chose to bring it on you while you're still a virgin. Farewell, I won't miss ya.

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I just use the old Towering Inferno Fusion Spell with Tatsuya, Eikichi and Lisa, it deals over 100 damage. Like Hanya, Yasuo is weak to Fire; he absorbs Water and Ice, and has additional weaknesses to whatever physical elements Eikichi, Maya, and Yukino have on their standard attacks. Yukino dealt about 30 damage per SP-free attack.

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A look at Yasuo's Persona, it's a bird it a bowtie. Not a Shax, but reminds me of that low ranking Ars Goetian demon as SMT usually depicts it.

Yasuo can:

  • Perform normal physical attacks, they don't deal much damage.
  • Cast Magaru, which hits all the heroes for upwards of 30+ Wind damage. Yasuo used this a lot.
  • Cast Bufula for a single, slightly stronger than Magaru hit of Ice damage. He used this once.
  • Cast Diarama on himself, heals for about 140 HP. He used this a few times.
  • Cast War Cry, which attempts to inflict the Fury ailment on all of characters. That makes the afflicted uncontrollable and they'll only attack enemies with basic physical attacks. Yasuo used this three times.

I thought I had more screenshots of the battle, but I didn't. Oh well.

Maya just used Media to heal off the damage when needed. Tatsuya-Eikichi-Lisa used Towering Inferno, and Yukino cast Agi.

This was until War Cry afflicted Tatsuya, Lisa, and Yukino. This stopped the Towering Infernos and reduced Tatsuya to dealing a mere 1 damage per hit with his normal attack, Lisa did barely any more, but Yukino deal some good damage that way.

I ignored the Fury though, I had bought only 5 Tranquilizers to cure it, and nobody had a spell to fix it. But after a while, I realized this ailment wasn't going to wear off on its own, so I had Maya and Eikichi tap into those Tranquilizers. But before I had even cured Yukino, Yasuo used War Cry again and reafflicted Tatsuya and Lisa.

I meant to continue onwards, but then this happened...

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🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Asura Asscave!

EVERYONE IS IN FURY!

Really game? You'll permanently take away everyone from my control for the rest of this fight? I don't have access to anything in equips that could have stopped this.

Well I'm going to lose. I can't heal, and if this guy spams Diarama, he'll heal himself for more than I can deal like this. Although rather than reset, I'll go down swinging, Eikichi and Yukino can still hurt him for some damage, and I guess Lisa and Maya aren't worthless either.

I mash Fight and then pound the fast forward key, I want to get my Game Over quickly.

 

 

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Apparently, a Game Over results in leveling up.😅

Turns out just slugging away at a dweeb is enough to put 'em in their place.

Only one levelup this time for Tatsuya, though Eikichi might have gotten two. So bosses aren't goldmines of EXP like SMTI & SH EXP after all.

 

Now to the battle's aftermath:

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A pacifist who lost by making everyone around him very bellicose, whilst blasting the winds at them. Sure.

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Ideal Energy? If ideals really were energy, anthropogenic climate change would have stopped in the late 60s and we'd be halfway to Sirius "the Dog Star" at faster-than-light speeds right now.

And if Eikichi and Lisa say something simultaneously like this, you can expect it might be

2709-Shin-Megami-Tensei-Persona-2-Innoce2709-Shin-Megami-Tensei-Persona-2-Innoce

...related to this ten-years ago mystery.

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I actually forgot Yukino used that lovely epithet. But I prefer it twerked, as I did above. 

And we're on the same page here. Despite meaning P1 maybe one too many times in random dialogue, I like Yukino, but I think she already has somebody.

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I think relying on supernatural powers and assistance to force your competitors into oblivion goes against high school election laws.

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So that Anna girl is, to little surprise after the gym encounter, an enemy. She is no prostitute, no drug dealer, she's an intelligent and powerful stealer of ideals working for Joker at the highest levels.

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Flame Heynard!

And he reveres Joker as the Exalted One. Wow that is lofty. 

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I failed to catch it, he instantly killed Yasuo in a pillar of flame. Not a peep from the powerless peon.

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"Oracle of Maia"? The same name as Maya's Persona, the eldest sister of the Pleiades. So the unsealing of the clock tower back at Sevens has pushed whatever prophecy this Oracle is peddling to fruition?

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Anna/Lady Scorpio runs off. I like personalized villains, so this situation with Anna and Yukino interests me.

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"Cursed One" and "witch sent to Purgatory", what is the meaning of these new nicknames? More mysteries appear, not yet to be answered.

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King Leo leaves us alone for now, for some odd reason. But Maya is really, really shaken.

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That sounds terrible. And it explains why Maya must have called Maia her "guardian angel", her protector for years against the stalking of King Leo.

And "pyromaniac" opens the door for another possible "10 years prior" arsonist suspect.

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"Ever since?" That was only minutes ago and it makes it sound like you've been contemplating this for days.

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The game automatically whisks me back to the gym.

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Part 3: Kasugayama Drama, Fin

 

Well that boss was unexpectedly cheap, but it was a little harder than the last. Progress towards real difficulty is better than not.

And the plot is starting to intensify with two of Persona League Champion Joker's Elite Four revealed. What other two zodiac are with him? What are their titles?

So much more to learn, I don't have an inkling of it.

Now I need to go and play more of the game. This is basically where I've stopped. But the little nudging ahead I have gone suggests we'll be going on a field trip into the Idolasphere!

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9 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

AGREED! 6 trips through the same 1-2ish cavernous hallways is really Sisyphean. You reading this can't get the full sense of the tedium of this dungeon.

I tried to watch a youtube lets play of this game before, and the tedium of this section is a big part of why I stopped watching.

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