#i still need to finish p4g. and start p5s

[chiricat]

wip dump since i’ve hit artblock for the first time in a while…

1. neon genesis evangelion x persona protags

2. persona kizunas (from prsk)

3. rise & airi swap places (with yu & shizuku supporting)

4. airiena sanrio collab

[detectiveseapancake]

I'll talk a bit about my experiences playing P4G so far, though be warned that I haven't finished the game yet. Spoilers under the cut for up until early November. Mostly talk about Kanji, Yosuke and Naoto.

I started playing this game on very hard and while p5 and, especially, p3 were challenging, I got to the Shadow Mitsuo fight and changed the difficulty to normal because it was both an absolute pain in the ass and lacked any and all appeal to me.

Friends of course warned me that the game has a ton of issues with homophobia and transphobia, but this was insane. The ridiculous back and forth is just off-putting. I think I personally had less gripes with Kanji's whole arc than most people, though I still see a ton of issues with it.

I truly believe that the shadow selves are an incredibly overdrawn version of your worst fears and that, since they are represented in a fantastical world where anything is possible, they are put to the extreme by the way they can be visualised in. They show how you view your "worst" parts deep down as opposed to how others view you, so they're made visible to other people how the original self sees them. It's something private nobody other than yourself would usually be able to see.

The same applies to Kanji of course. However you view him he's at the very least gender non-conforming and into men, and his shadow self revolves around all those parts. Did they go completely over the top with this? Yes. Is it all without merit? No. Kanji truly wishes for his attractions and self-expression to be accepted by other people and for him to be able to fully embrace who he is.

There are many ways to be into masculine people and men. Where heteronormative ideals are applied to the relationship between two men or masc people, the stereotype of a gay relationship is that one of the two is overly masculine and the other is overly feminine to imitate the "woman" in the relationship. I don't need to point out how it matters exactly fuckall how people present and identify themselves and how bigots use this to make fun of and discriminate against us either way. There are also many people out there who like to present themselves in a more masc/fem way, and that's as valid as any other gay relationship.

However, I think it is also important to note that some people try to appeal to this stereotype in order to cope with internalised homophobia. I think Kanji's shadow self deals with many of these aspects. He tackles questions of sexuality in his teenage years, where many people begin to explore it in a healthy way, but he is ostracised by the people around him for it and additionally has no one like him to turn to. He has many interests that are traditionally seen as feminine, that he views as feminine too, and ultimately this just combines into this hot mess that is his shadow self.

Atlus absolutely made a Choice by presenting him this way - that's what I mean by saying there's a bunch of shit wrong with it but it isn't without merit. The worst part really is how everyone around him treats him for it, most notably Yosuke. I think with Yosuke, it really fucking sucks! Because Yosuke is very much into men too and in complete denial over it. (I don't need to mention how frustrated I am that they took out his confession last second.)

Of course someone like him would feel grossed out upon being confronted with Shadow Kanji, because it also confronts him with his own attractions that he has been taught to find disgusting! But instead of making a narrative about how he comes to terms with this or by giving him some proper backlash, Kanji is continuously treated as a joke and Yosuke is used as a main vehicle for this. I am still playing Kanji's SL as of now, but I really hope they will continue the route of him accepting himself further, even in the face of adversity.

Next, I of course have to talk about Naoto. Looking back, I remember how many times I've been told about him and how people would portray his arc in such a vastly different light to what it is in reality. I've seen people here on tumblr as well as former friends tell me about how his narrative is about a poor girl charading as a boy in order to escape misogyny in a largely male-dominated field. It was described to me in grand detail how his struggles are absolutely not that of a transmasc because his focus is so greatly on wanting to be a girl but being treated like absolute shit over it. Him supposedly embracing his female self is therefore painted as a great act of revolution and courage.

I am so glad I am older and wiser now, to be honest. I wonder how many other young transmascs without proper support or self-reflection have fallen for this stupid narrative- but that's a question that answers itself. The narrative of "poor girl who thinks she is a boy but was actually misled by by her own silly feelings and other queer people" is one of the most used anti trans male rethorics out there.

And where do I even start with this? The fact that Naoto surrounded himself with typically seen as boyish toys since he was little? Or that his ideal vision of himself was a male detective? "Oh, but there were no novels about female detectives he could read!" What an absolute joke. You know very well how many people make female self-inserts or original characters for stories long before they're acquainted with the concept of fanfic.

Naoto's story also very much tackles the issue of how mistreated many children are by adults on a casual basis. But I think long before he is "revealed to be a girl", this struggle is much more emphasised. The gap between children and adults is not only a metaphor, but it also serves as one. The clear difference is that someday soon he will be an adult, but him being mistreated for being trans is not something that will change as easily.

Another friend has said this to me and I fully agree with it, Naoto as a narrative about sexism against women instead of a narrative about transness is just wholly ineffective. The people who are making the most misogynist comments towards him are all part of the Investigations Squad, but never shown by the people who are in his field of work.

I think the most baffling part really was how from the very beginning in his dungeon, the "Procedure" is the supposed threat against Naoto here. But this procedure is never once talked about. So his shadow self looks completely the same as his real self as opposed to looking more feminine (I mean, they even made a point of saying Rise's chest was far bigger in the shadow world as compared to her real self, so that clearly wasn't the obstacle here.) Shadow Naoto showcases Naoto's greatest fears and desires, and what does Shadow Naoto want? The "procedure." As comically as it is represented here, what else would it mean that gender-affirming surgery?

The real Naoto describes in great detail how he always admired male detectives, how that was his ideal vision of himself, but then he got hindered and ostracised by the adults in the work force. Shadow Naoto points out how cool of a name "Naoto" is, as opposed to cute! And I can't fucking believe the audacity- Yukiko asks him if he doesn't want to be a girl and if he wants to be a boy, if that's why he is dressing and behaving like this, and he nods! His damn! Head! Only for Yukiko, two sentences later, to say "Oh but you already know you don't truly want to be a guy, you want to be a girl" and then Naoto nods again.

The direct clash between these two statements compared to everything else about Naoto's character makes it so blatantly obvious. Atlus pointed a finger and went, look! This character wants to be a boy and behaves like a boy! He needs to be fixed, and we'll show you how.

Finally, after struggling so hard with the stupid Shadow Mitsuo boss I might have actually dropped the game or at least taken a break of many months if I hadn't turned down the difficulty. Sure, I could have kept grinding to make it work, but for me personally there was nothing interesting about Mitsuo. His dungeon and the boss sucked absolute ass with no fun to be had. It was a waste of my living hours and I regret even having tried. But I know better now.

I think the biggest reason I continued playing was because my friends said it's good/worth it and because Nanako. I think Nanako was the bigger one. I love Nanako so much and I would die for her. Doujima is fucking lucky that Nanako loves him otherwise I would have already killed him in a cold, bloody, autistic rage.

[invaders-gaming]

Been really thinking about the persona series I still need to finish golden and I don't remember if I started royal or not and then I also left a half played p3fes playthrough a couple years ago

I've played all the way through the og p4 and p5 I liked p4 better p5 kinda felt like a slog to get through at points and I'm kinda afraid of that happening with p5r

P4g was kind of feeling like it was stretched out too far I think I like the original better but again I haven't finished p4g yet

The persona series is really interesting to me I'd very much like to complete the 3rd game to have the big 3 all completed and then look into playing the first 2 games I am wondering if I should play through persona 3 portable instead of fes though plus there's reload now too

[i-just-wanna-be-called-sparkle]

Okay. Killer Teddie AU time. Full spoiler warning ahead for P4 and even a bit of P5. Full timeline of all events in order up ahead. Smaller details and ideas at the very end of it. Some of this might not make sense or have an explanation because, at the time, I hadn’t finished base game Persona 4 and had no idea of stuff like Izanami, Sagiris, and so on and so forth. Even now, I haven’t yet finished P4G. The next time I work on this AU will be after I’ve finished P4G and have a good grasp on everything to change what doesn’t make sense and add stuff that does. For now take what I’ve worked on thus far. Sorry if some of my explanations are a little wonky. Extremely fucking long post ahead, I’m seriously not joking around this time.

And, before I start, I’m not the only one who worked on the AU! This is a team project between me and my gf! I know it’s not much to say, but I want to give half of the credit to her rather than taking all of it for myself, cuz while a lot of these ideas came from me, a lot came from her, too.

So, let me explain why Teddie’s a killer in the first place. It starts when he’s still just a mindless Shadow, and he comes face to face with a group of Persona users that existed long before the investigation team, consisting of Tohru Adachi, Mayumi Yamano, and a lot of miscellaneous unnamed characters who may or may not be made into proper characters in the futures. Why this first group existed and consists of those characters is one of those things that hasn’t been fully thought through yet. But, one thing’s for sure, they love going into the TV world and just beating up Shadows for fun every once in a while. At this point in the story, Shadows aren’t necessarily hostile yet, so basically, Teddie witnesses a bunch of his own kind get slaughtered for no reason and, probably because he’s starting to grow some kind of consciousness at this point, goes buck wild and kills the whole group save for Tohru Adachi, who manages to escape. This is how Mayumi Yamano meets her demise and also, how Teddie grows a proper body - it isn’t that bear suit of his though, it’s a human body, most likely the result of humans being the only thing he was exposed to aside from Shadows in that world. From that point forward, a fiery hatred for humans begins to develop within him.

Y’know how Teddie’s real crafty, making those glasses for the Investigation Team to use to see better in the TV world? Well, after a while, he decides he’s tired of walking around bear naked and makes himself some clothes to wear. Those fingers aren’t dexterous for nothing. Not too long after he makes these clothes, Saki ends up in the TV world - for another reason that wasn’t thought through well enough yet, but it’s something like she has a Persona too. This AU is very generous with who gets Personas, I know, please bear with it for now. She ends up bumping into Teddie, the two interact, and because Saki’s a little bitch she finds Teddie to be quite strange, what with the way he talks and how he apparently “comes from the TV world,” and is very verbal about it - very rude about it, too. This first impression with a new human + Teddie’s already intensifying hatred for humans = Saki’s gruesome demise. “Are all humans like this?” Is what Teddie thinks. “Are they all cruel? Are they all mean?” Teddie now has a stronger hate for Humanity that only grows stronger and stronger the more he’s forced to sit in that quiet TV world and think and think and think and think about it.

And along with that hate for humanity, comes a hate for his current human form. So he crafts himself that bear suit of his, and wears it all the time - I believe he also makes it so whatever he bumps into next doesn’t think he’s weird sounding or weird speaking or weird… looking, which, I’ll describe now rather than at the end of the post. Teddie doesn’t look all that different, but the main changes are that his eye colour is now a duller, greyer shade of blue, he is overall even paler, and he is also a lot skinnier. No real reason for these design choices aside from self indulgence without going too overboard. Moving on from that, not too long after he makes the suit is when Chie and Yu and Yosuke go in for the first time. Teddie keeps on a facade of innocence and happiness for a “good first impression,” and nothing changes from then up until the appearance of Yosuke’s Shadow. Since a Shadow is the side of oneself that they don’t want to acknowledge or see, it’s chock full of bad traits and negative emotions - further solidifying Teddie’s belief that all humans are just awful, sinful, nasty creatures.

One thing that Isn’t well thought out at all, and something that I have no clue where to put on the timeline, is this whole deal between Teddie and Namatame. Basically, Teddie communicates with Namatame through the TV (can’t remember if he just talks through it, or sticks his head through), and convinces Namatame to start pushing people in not to save them, but for something along the lines of how he “secretly wants them to die.” Maybe it was because Namatame shares Teddie’s beliefs of humanity being repulsing, but it’s too vague a memory to make heads or tails of it. Don’t know how things would work out without it, though, so it’s sticking around as is for now.

Also, as of right now in the AU, the IT is completely unaware of Teddie’s human form hiding right under his bear form/bear suit. Good lord, I am already tired of typing this all out, this post is so long. Still got a long way to go, kind of.

Here’s another loose idea that hasn’t been fully thought about, and it’s when Teddie encounters his Shadow in Rise’s dungeon. My memories are a bit foggy on this one, but I’ll try my best to remember. So, his encounter with his Shadow stays largely the same, with maybe a couple of his Shadow’s lines being changed to represent how not only is he hiding originally being a Shadow from his teammates, but also how he’s hiding the fact that he’s the killer they’re trying to find - all of it is too vague for the IT to piece together, though. But also a thing that’s changed is his reaction to his Shadow is a LOT more aggressive, a slip up to show a small glance of his true personality - but again, the IT doesn’t think anything of it because, Teddie’s facing his Shadow here, of COURSE he’s going to act different when he’s coming face to face with a part of himself he wants to ignore. Eventually, he manages to accept his Shadow, but for one way or another, a second Shadow starts to develop within him. Maybe it’s because he only partially accepted his Shadow, maybe it’s because of something else - like he didn’t accept his Shadow for the right reason, I can’t remember. But it starts to develop. I remember wanting to give him a second persona akin to what Akechi has in p5 - one for lies, and one for truths, but this is one of those things that will either need to be completely cut out or heavily modified in my opinion.

Teddie kills more frequently in this AU. In between when he’s helping the IT rescue people from the TV world, he’s throwing in people on the night that it fogs up so the IT doesn’t have time to see people appear on the TV/doesn’t have time to go in and save them, resulting in their deaths. Teddie so far has only thrown in people who have been assholes or scum in his eyes, and these are the only people that end up dying in the TV world even with the advent of the IT. Teddie gets away with this by sneaking out at night sometimes and either witnessing these people do disgusting things, or overhearing about it. Two candidates/victims are the two girls from Yosuke’s social link (hopefully you know who I mean) and the bully/bullies from Chie’s social link. Though, for the two girls, I like the idea of it being AFTER Teddie comes to the real world for real and shows off his human form, and starts working at Junes. He’s “working overtime,” late at night, calls up those two girls and asks them to come to Junes to “help him stock shelves” - “I’ll make sure you and your friend get payed extra for it. I’ll take it out of Yosuke’s paycheck.” Next thing you know, they’ve been knocked out and thrown into the TV because they’re heartless assholes in his eyes.

Only way Teddie would get away with a killing like that, though, is through having an outfit to disguise himself from Junes’ security cameras - so, at some point in the timeline, that’s what he does. Repurposes his old clothes from the TV world into an outfit to disguise his identity, to let him keep killing, and he keeps it tucked away either somewhere in the real world or in the TV world. He probably does this before he “becomes human,” so that his clothes are kept secret from the IT team, and that whole “I’m like a newborn in here” scene can happen.

Also, just for clarification, that hate Teddie felt for Yosuke’s Shadow? And how it solidified his hatred for humanity yet further, and his belief that they are all scummy beings? This keeps happening for every single Shadow he sees. Chie’s, Yukiko’s, Kanji’s, etc.

Mitsuo Kubo is the only one thrown in by Teddie who doesn’t die, so that the plot can progress normally, but also because it probably went something like this. Teddie sneaks out late at night to find more disgusting humans to kill, to “purge the earth of such horrendous beings,” and comes across Mitsuo killing Morooka. A human? Committing murder? A human being slaughtering another human being? How sinful. How disgusting. How treacherous. Teddie has to deal with this immediately. So he throws Mitsuo into the TV world without waiting for the fog to settle first (it’s too dire of a situation to ignore, after all). He’s kind of hypocritical, thinking Mitsuo is a terrible person for committing murder (he is, though) and then going right ahead and throwing him in the TV, aiming to kill. He’s just cleansing the world, though - that’s how he sees it.

Also, I believe for most nights when he decides to sneak out, he’s wearing his disguise outfit, so that he doesn’t get caught if he’s in a situation like that where he kills someone on a whim - or just to avoid being caught when he’s out so late snooping around for more victims. Random fun fact by the way: the idea for this whole AU started from the fact that Teddie could use his knowledge of the TV world and how it works to easily get away with using it to commit crimes. Moving on now.

Another thing that doesn’t yet have a place in the timeline is this small thing. I like to think Teddie has a tendency to stay up later into the night because of his occasional nightly outings, and he doesn’t really have enough time to fix his sleep schedule - or he actually just CAN’T. But anyways, he’s keeping himself busy at night while he can’t sleep, maybe playing on an old console in Yosuke’s room, when Yosuke wakes up and starts talking to him until he also gets tired enough to fall back asleep. He says to Teddie that he’s worried about him. “You’ve got bags under your eyes, and you’re basically made of flesh and bone.” He says. Maybe Teddie’s skinny enough his ribs show a little. “This isn’t the first time you’ve stayed up this late, either. Like you’re restless about something.” Sometimes Teddie just paces around the room until he gets tired enough to pass out. “And, what time is it, like, 2:00 AM? I’m really worried about you, Ted.” And that really gets to Teddie. He starts to cry. Here he is, devoting his time to hating humanity, to killing humans, to putting on a happy go lucky, innocent facade around his “friends” to hide his true nature and keep himself emotionally distant from them - and poor Yosuke over here is oblivious to it all, worrying for his dear friend and roommate like this is all unnatural when it’s what he truly is on the inside. And for just a moment, Teddie feels truly bad, and he just keeps crying and crying and crying, probably while Yosuke holds him and tries to comfort him, until he exhausts himself, goes to sleep, and pushes it all out of his head the next morning. But on that night, he had let his guard drop, and he had let himself be vulnerable, and he had allowed himself to get a little closer to Yosuke - a little more attached to him than before. It was only a little, but it was enough to be concerning… it was “just a little” too much for comfort. He can’t let himself get close to that thing.

Oh no, I’m starting to lose focus. We’re nearing the end now. So, you know how Teddie makes that promise to Nanako, right? That he’ll stay in their world to play with her and such? He probably makes the same promise in this AU.

I say probably, because depending on wether he did or not leads to two separate endings, and I can’t decide on which I like more.

So, if he DOES make the promise, HE’S the one who pushes Nanako in. The reason? He’s getting too attached. He’s letting his guard down around a human, and that scares him. He’s getting emotionally attached and invested, and that scares him. He’s starting to care about something that he hates with all of his heart, and that scares him. So he pushes her into the TV, because he’s not allowed to do that, because all humans are evil - no exceptions. This results in Teddie being outed because, when Nanako dies in the hospital (don’t know how that happens yet without Namatame, plothole), he can’t handle the guilt anymore. It’s overwhelming him, suffocating him, drowning him. He falls to the floor, completely breaking down, screaming and sobbing about how it’s all his fault. Then, he either runs out of the room and throws himself into a TV after realizing he’d outed himself, or Yosuke throws him into a TV in a fit of rage and because he feels like Teddie betrayed his trust by pretending to act all innocent when he was the killer.

If he DOESN’T make the promise, or at least, doesn’t get attached, Namatame throws her into the TV and things play out the exact same until they get to the top of Heaven, where Teddie completely loses his shit at Namatame. Maybe he goes to beat the fuck out of him, maybe he’s screaming and shouting at him, in any case, he’s showing his raw personality now. That isn’t what outs him, though - it’s Namatame. “I recognize you.” He says, either through his voice or his appearance. “Why are you so mad at me? I’m doing what you told me to. I’m doing what you want.” Something along those lines. “What?” The IT reacts. “Teddie, is this true? Have you been lying to us?” And the only thing Teddie can do is freeze up, and run away, out of the dungeon - probably not without beating up Namatame a little more for outing him. “Fuck you.” It’s like an endless stream of insults and vulgar language pour from his mouth. “You’ve gone ahead and exposed me, you bitch. You little shit. I hate you. It’s all your fault.”

Now on to Teddie’s dungeon. This part is, uh… Pretty dark. General content warning for death ahead.

So, to contrast Nanako’s dungeon Heaven, Teddie’s dungeon is Hell. There are two concepts for this dungeon though - one is that it’s just conventional catholic/christian Hell, and the other was that it’s based off of/is the frozen over Hel in norse mythology. Because, Teddie has ice attacks, you know? But they’re both largely the same, if not visually. In the earlier floors, there are some objects strewn around like burnt and torn up images of Teddie and the IT, Teddie and Nanako, his bear suit, and maybe one or two other objects of some importance to him. The voices that are heard at the beginning of all the early floors consist of Teddie sobbing and dealing with his inner turmoil of hating humans but getting attached to the likes of Yosuke, Nanako, the IT overall, and the like. “They’re humans.” He thinks. “They’re humans, and all humans are awful. I hate all of them. But I love them. They’re different… They’re nice to me. I don’t deserve it.” “Maybe humanity isn’t so bad after all…” “*sobbing* I’m sorry, Nana-Chan…”

You know how earlier dungeons like Yukiko’s and Kanji’s have that floor in the middle of the dungeon where you encounter the Shadows and that weird title card thing appears? That exists in Teddie’s dungeon, and on the floor right before it, the voice at the beginning of the floor is just Teddie screaming hysterically, maybe even crying. Why? Well, when you go to that next floor…

There’s Teddie. Standing in front of the hanging corpses of Nanako and Yosuke, hesitantly reaching out to them like he can’t process what he’s looking at. And when the IT calls out to him from behind him, the way he looks at them is estranging. He looks terrified, he has to do a double take because one second he was staring at Yosuke’s corpse, then the next moment, he was looking at him, perfectly alive, with the IT. They try and reach out to him, but he’s like a spooked wild animal, and he runs away to the next floor.

The later floors are now decorated with Nanako and Yosuke’s corpses, possibly even the rest of the IT, and the voices now are just Teddie arguing with himself and screaming hysterically, like he’s going insane being in such a horrible place, like he’s becoming more and more deranged with every passing moment. “This is how it should be! All those heartless monsters DESERVE to die! They deserve to hang lifelessly this! But they don’t! I don’t want them to die! I don’t think like that! But I do! But I don’t! These guys are horrendous- no, they’re my friends! THEY’RE SCUM OF THE EARTH! NO, I DON’T THINK LIKE THAT!” And so on and so forth.

When they finally reach the last floor, the deepest floor, the final circle of Hell, they find Teddie there, deranged to the point of practically being a different person. That second Shadow that was developing within him now is toying with him, messing with his head, whispering things to him that make him clutch his head and beg for it all to stop. The IT can’t get through to him now, and he either snaps, gets hostile at them for being “heartless, monstrous, evil humans,” and forces them into a fight, or that Shadow ends up possessing him (either fully, or to a certain extent), and they have no choice but to fight him and knock some sense into him. In either case, he gains his second Persona - something that will most likely be similar to Magatsu-Izanagi, not sure yet - and also, for the sake of self indulgence, it’s like he can control wether or not he is more or less like a Shadow. AKA, goopy black forearms fitted with deadly sharp claws instead of fingers.

I can’t actually remember what EXACTLY happens after the battle, aside from Teddie Goes To Prison, but here’s another battle outcome I almost forgot about that I am DETERMINED to add into the final product. Remember at the beginning, when I specified that Adachi was the only member of the first group of Persona users to survive Teddie’s slaughter? Well, at some point, he overhears the IT talking about Teddie being the killer and the TV world’s existence and decides to butt in. “Can I come along too?” He asks. “I’m a Persona user, just like all of you. You’re talking about catching the culprit here, right? The same culprit who killed Mayumi in the beginning? The same culprit who probably almost got me, then?” Something along those lines. So, he goes in with them, and would you look at that - Teddie still hasn’t forgotten his face. So, in the case of “Teddie snapping and going all hostile on them,” it’s most likely because he sees Adachi mixed in with the IT and alllll of those emotions from so long ago come flooding back… combine that with his hysteria, and boom, you’ve got a raging Teddie hell bound on taking his revenge and getting some closure before he either goes to prison or dies trying not to.

And… I think that’s it. Only thing left to mention is that at some point, right before my hyperfixation ended, me and my gf were trying to figure out a way to implement an accomplice ending and a Teddie Arcana Change, but the end of my obsession came too early in the development of both of those, so there’s not much to say. Also, in this AU, I’m thinking of making Shadows hostile because of the first group of Persona users, like how Teddie hates all of humanity almost purely because of that group. Also, small detail, he’s wearing that disguise of his during the fight - dunno how he got it, but I do wanna add it in somehow, though. This post is also already long enough, so I should stop myself here.

Speaking of that, holy fuck, thanks to anyone who’s read this entire long ass messy post. Like that is just so awesome, I commend you for it. Seriously this post took actual hours just to write down, it’s way too long for any NORMAL person to read all the way through, heavy emphasis on normal (affectionate). Asks about this AU are welcomed and appreciated, if there are any. If not, seriously literally just the fact that anyone might be reading this message at all is enough to sustain me.

[tumbling-odyssey]

Games I played in 2020

Just felt like getting my thoughts out on all the games I played this year. I’ve been wanting to do something like this for years but I always let it pass me by. Well not this year! Fuck you laziness! 

I played the first half in 2019 but finished it in 2020 so I guess I'll count it. DQ11 was my intro to Dragon Quest and what a good starting point. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is one of the best traditional JRPGs on the market. Characters, story, combat, it all clicks in just the right way to make a flawless game... until the end credits roll that is. 

I have no idea what happened with the post game but by god does it dive off a cliff. It undermines everything you worked to do in the main plot. The characters act brain dead and it shamelessly reuses events from the main game. Please pick up and play DQ11 but for the love of god just stop when the credits roll.

Doom is a game I knew I'd like. The heavy metal ascetic and soundtrack were right up my alley, but I just never found the time. With Eternal on the way though and having found it on the cheap at a pawn shop I figured there was no time like the present. Needless to say but I was right. I loved everything about this game. The thrill of combat, the screech of the guitars, and the silent take no shit attitude of Doomguy. Make no mistake though, I SUCK at this game. I played on easy but still got my ass handed to me on the regular. But I don't care, I was having way to much fun.

I flipped my shit when this game got leaked at the tail end of 2019. Zero 3 is my all time favourite game. To celebrate this getting announced I went and 100% Zero 3 as I hadn't done it on my current cart, and Zero 3 was still the first thing I played when I got this collection! I love that game to death and I’m glad to have it on modern consoles again. As I was under a bit of time crunch with other games releasing soon I only played 2 other games in the collection Zero 4 and ZX Advent. Until the DS collection those and 3 were the only Zero/ZX games I had so I have a lot of nostalgia for them. 

Zero 4 hold ups better then I remember. Not as good as 3 but a damn solid game with tweaks I honestly wish hit the series before its end. I remember having issues with the stage design and ya it’s not perfect, but it’s far from as bad as I thought. For ZXA this was the first time I beat the game on normal difficulty. For some reason the ZX games have always given me more trouble than the Zero games, so finally beating one on normal was very exciting. Maybe I can now finally go and beat ZX for the first time...

The Mystery Dungeon series rising from the depth to punch all those unexpecting in the face was a very welcome surprise. I had a lot of hype going into this one as I have very fond memories of my time with Red Rescue Team and even more with Explorers of Darkness. And the game lived up to it! The remastered music is great and crazy nostalgic, the 3D models are well used and don't feel as stiff as they do in the core series, and the QOL changes are near perfect... So why did I drop this game like a rock once I finished the main quest? 

Anyone familiar with Mystery Dungeon will know that the post game is the real meat of it. The story is short and all the really cool shit comes in after it's done. But I just couldn't bring myself to put more time in after I finished said story mode. I'm definitely chocking that up to me just not being in the mood then an issue with the game. Here's hoping we get an Explorers DX sometime soon. That will fucking hook me for all it's got.

Second verse same as the first. I loved this game and sucked at it horribly. Out of all the games I've played this year Doom Eternal is the one I want to go back to the most. I was not the hugest fan of some of the changes made and retained a stance that I liked 2016 better. First person platforming has never been a fun experience in my opinion and Eternal did little to change that. And I know this a lukewarm take at best but fuck Marauders!. They are so unfun to fight and ruin the pace. The Marauder in the last mook wave took me so long I was worried I wouldn’t be able to finish the game. But the more I've seen of Eternal after my playthrough makes me think I was being far to harsh. I haven't played the DLC yet either. Mostly cuss I haven't heard great things about it. Gonna wait for the rest of it to come out to see if it's worth getting. Might just replay to whole game at that point to see if it clicks with me better.

This was my second favourite game of the year, and was going to take the top slot until a certain other game came out. Addressing the elephant in room right away, I hated the ending. But I was expecting something like that, I think we all were. I won't let the ending ruin the rest of the game though. Not gonna let 1 segment colour everything that came before it. We have to see how the later parts play out to truly see if this ending was trash or not anyway. 

It took Square over a decade but they finally got an action RPG battle system that works and feels good to play. This may be my favourite battle system in an RPG period honestly. All four characters are a blast and it only gets better the more time you spend with it. Figuring out the nuances of each character’s skills and how to combine them not only with the skills of the others but how to enhance them with the right Materia set. This makes fights thrilling and satisfying when you finally best whatever was giving you trouble. Tis was the best way to bring 7′s mechanics into the modern landscape while also fixing the BIGGEST issue the OG had. The fact every character feels the same aside from Limit Breaks. 

All this on top of graphics that just look fucking stunning, a few glitched out doors aside. Fuck I still feel blown away looking at the characters models (mostly Tifa) and see how god damn pretty everyone is. Also Tifa’s Chinese dress is gift from the Gods and I still haven’t picked my jaw up from the floor after I first saw it.

In my circle of the internet there was a lot of hype for this game. So much so that I ended up buying it to see what all the hubbub was about. I had never played a Streets of Rage game before and my only experience with beat'em ups was playing a LOT of Scott Pilgrim and last year's River City Girls. Turns out Streets of Rage plays quite a bit different and it kicked my ass! So sadly I had to switch to easy to make it through but I still had a fun time with it. 

I started playing mostly as Blaze but once Adam hit the scene oooooh fucking boy. I didn’t play anyone else. There's a deceptive amount of content in this game. You can unlock almost every character from the previous games and all of them rocking their original sprites and moves. If I had more of a connection with this series I'm sure I would have gone nuts on unlocking everything. I stopped after my one playthrough and I was happy with that. Always glad to support a long overdue franchise revival.

To properly talk about P5R I think I need to air a lot of my feelings on the original game and the importance it has to me. You see, prior to 2017 I barely played games, only sticking to specific franchises. AKA Pokemon and Mega Man/Mega Man like games. Until 2016 though I still bought a lot of games. Eating up Steam sales and deals I found at pawn shops. This lead to a Steam library and shelf filled with games I've never touched outside of maybe an hour or 2. So in 2016 when I took interest in the newly released Kirby Planet Robobot I made a deal with myself. I could get the game but I HAD to beat it.  And I did just that, gaining not just a new fav Kirby game but a new rule for game purchases. If I knew I wouldn't beat a game I was not aloud to buy it. Now what does ANY of this have to do with P5 you may ask? Well... almost everything.

 I was immediately interested in P5 when it hit the west in 2017. I loved the 20 or so hours I but into P3 years ago and really liked the P4 anime I had watched around the same time. So of course with all the hype around it I wanted to dive into the series full force with P5. But I knew myself. Putting over 100 hours into a game was beyond me and I had a weird relationship with home console games as I was predominately a handheld gamer. Add in the fact I didn't even have a PS4 and I was convinced P5 would be something I always wanted to play, but never would. So when I went to the mall with a few friends and they showed me that P5 had a PS3 version, I had a dilemma on my hands. I knew I wanted to play it and I now had a way to do so. But doing that would require me to change 2 HUGE hang ups I had with games. Would I being willing to waste 60 bucks with so much working against me? Apparently I was. I immediately started going to town on this game. Making sure I spent no less then 2 hours a day playing NO MATTER WHAT. Which may not seem like a lot but it was to me... at the time.. I also had just moved to my current house, so coming home from my still relatively new job and going straight into P5 was the first real routine I formed during this heavily transitional part of my life. 

I of course ended up loving P5 and put 200 hours into it. As such my outlook on gaming was forever changed. Console games were no longer out of reach and I knew I could handle playing monster length game. I started playing way more games then I ever did before and trying out generas I never thought I would play. P5 is the main reason for this and why I'm able to make a post like this. To actually touch on Royal though? It's unarguably the better version of the game and Atlus learned all the right lessons from P4G. The new characters are great and the added section at the end is possibly the best shit Atlus has ever written. I only wish Yoshizawa joined the party sooner so I could play as her more. 

The release of this really came out of nowhere huh? Wayforward announced it was being made mid way through 2019, then there was its weird half release on the Apple store... and then suddenly it was out! Very little fanfare for this one. Is that indicative of the games quality? Luckily no. Seven Sirens is a solid addition to the series and follows up Half Genies Hero nicely. The game goes back to Shantae's Metroidvania roots and makes a TON of improvements. 

Transformations are now instant instead of having to dance for them (don't worry dancing is still in the game) making the game feel more like Pirates Curse in its fast flow. They also added the Monster Cards which take heavy inspiration from Aria of Sorrow's Soul system. A feature I'm happy to see in any Metroidvania since Aria is one of my all time favourite games. Sadly though the game does not take the best advantage of these improvements. 

Over all the game feels kinda empty. The dungeons aren't super exciting to explore nor are they challenging in any way. And the plot is very repetitive, with each dungeon repeating the same beats. Really this game feels more like set up for a better game down the line. The mechanics are all here and Wayforward has a solid art style with the sprites from Half Genie Hero. Hopefully they capitalizes on this for Shantae 6 and we get the best game in the series.

While it may not have been the most thrilling game, Seven Sirens really put me into a Shantae mood. So much so that I went back to play the 2 games in the series I had never touched. This being the first game and Risky's Revenge. Shantae 1 really is a hidden gem in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, it's the definition of jank, but there's a lot of heart to this game. The sprites are great, the soundtrack is good, and the characters are funny... but it's still on the OG Gameboy and that's a massive hindrance for any game. I'm hard pressed to recommend this with how poorly its aged but I think it's better then it looks. 

Risky's Revenge on the other hand was a game that shocked me by how little it had to offer. I know this game went through a hellish development and what we got was far from what Wayforward planned to make, but it's hard to imagine a world where this was the technical BEST Shantae game. It's not a bad game by any stretch... just a boring one.

For the record my ranking of the games goes Pirates Curse>Half Genie Hero>Seven Sirens>Original>Risky’s Revenge

Sword and Shield are mediocre games at best. I know, real steaming hot take there. I managed to make my Sword playthrough a lot more fun by not spoiling myself on the new Pokemon designs for the first time since Gen 3. Either way, I enjoyed myself enough that I didn't mind playing more of it with these DLC campaigns. Plus I love the idea of Game Freak switching over to this method as apposed to making a third version, so I wanted to support it. 

Klara is a fucking top tier Poke Girl both in design and personality and is probably the highlight of Isle of Armour. GF actually went out of their way to give her multiple expressions to sell her toxic bitch personality and I love every minute of it. She sadly drifts into the background for the second half of the DLC’s story which hurts an already rough section even more. Not more then having to grind Kubfuu all the way to fucking level 70 though! That put a serious hamper on my motivation to finish the story but I pushed through anyway. Having to solo the tower with Kubfuu was at least a fun challenge though, as was the final fight with Mustard. Fuck the Diglett hunt though. Ain’t no one got time for that.

Crown Tundra may be my fav of the 2 though even if there isn't a character as good as Klara in it. The hunt for the legendaries was just pure adventure and I had a fucking blast doing it. The joy I felt when I figured out Registeel’s puzzle put a smile on my face unlike any Pokemon game since I was a kid. The whole Regi stuff was honestly a nice Nostalgia trip to my times with Emerald. The story around Calyrex was enjoyable, even if I still hate its design. Not revealing the horses before release was a good call to as it gave an honest surprise. Having to chase down the Galar forme Birds in the overworld is a great way to evolve the roaming legendaries idea and I hope GF sticks to this. Plus the Galar forme birds are some of the best legendary designs since Gen 5 and I love Chocodos way to fucking much. 

Here we are folks, my GotY. I love Panzer Paladin so fucking much. A combination of mechanics from Mega Man, Castlevania, and Blaster Master? Sign me the fuck up! This game is tailored made for me and I knew I had to play it once it started making the rounds on social media. I'll admit though, I was a bit worried when the the first full trailer dropped and showed the weapon mechanics. Breakable weapons that you have to sacrifice for checkpoints and power ups? I'm not sure about that.... Luckily I was being a complete moron and those mechanics are near perfect. 

I love the set up of each boss being a mythological creature from different cultures. They didn’t just pull the easy ones either. A lot of these things I learned of for the first time here. I love how Grit controls. Using the upward stab as a double jump and being able to pogo off enemies Shovel Knight style just felt great and satisfying. Flame was limited but it made her sections feel tense. She does more damage then you think she could at first glance. Also the only way to heal Grit being to use pods that only Flame could access was a cool idea. 

I am begging you Tribute Games, you have to make more Panzer Paladin games. Slap some new upgrades on Grit and expand what Flame can do and you have an even better sequel  on your hands. Also maybe not have so many 'gotcha' moments with enemy placement. That's really my only complaint about the game. Great music, great sprites, giant robots, unique premise, and a reference to Canadian legends. The ultimate self indulgent game for me.

It felt super out of left field for Curse of the Moon to be getting a sequel. The games fucking amazing but it was really just a tie in for the main Bloodstained product. Not something I expect to get a continuation. Either way I was pumped. If this was even half as good as the original then I was in for a great time. Which held true... cuss this legitimately is only half as good as Curse of the Moon. I still like the game, quite a lot actually. I mean how could I not with a fucking Corgi piloting a Death Train Mech. 

Something was just missing here that never made this click like the first game. Maybe it was the stage design, maybe the bosses, maybe the fact that it's a bit to long. I'm not sure. All I know is I couldn't bring myself to play all the modes like I did in the original. . Stopping part way in to the one where you can get the first games characters. I want to go back some day... I just don’t know when someday is.

This was an announcement I never saw coming. A Gundam Verses game coming to the west? That hasn't happened in the entire time I've been a Gundam fan. I had played a bit of Full Boost on my old roommates PS3 thanks to him having a Japanese account and I played Force on the Vita a few years ago. But to have the latest version fully translated with open servers? Holy hell that's a dream come true. 

Having the open betas every weekend leading up to launch was some much needed fun during this shit hole year. I had a lot of fun just fucking around with different suits and seeing what I could do with 'em. Absolutely trashing two Bael players as the Kapool is a memory I'll keep with me for a long time. Fucking danced on their graves. This gave me some new appreciation for suits like the Baund Doc and Hambrabi, the later becoming a lowkey fav as it was my main.

I've fallen off with the game in the last few months but I definitely want to go back. I hope to start learning the game and take parts in tourneys when cons aren’t death sentences anymore.

It felt like everything in my life was SCREAMING at me to start the Yakuza series. From 2 of my friends playing 0 recently, a youtuber I following live tweeting as he played through the WHOLE series back-to-back, and Yakuza 2 having a run at AGDQ 2020. Plus the constant pleas to play this series you get from following Little Kuriboh on Twitter. I finally broke and picked up 0 in the middle of August. Boooooooooy howdy did I not know what I was getting in to. And no I don't mean the content. I knew Yakuza was a series of wildly conflicting tones between the main story and side quests. What I mean is the length. I legit thought this was gonna be a 20-30 hour game. When i reached hour 30 of my playthrough and realized I wasn't even close to a conclusion, I think I knew I had bitten off more then I was planning. That misstep aside I ended up loving this game and want to play the rest of the series.... I just need to rest up first before I dive into Kiwami 1.

 Let's actually talk about the game for a moment here. Kiryu and Majima quickly clicked as likeable characters to me and I cared about their stories. Combat is fun and the multiple styles are all great.... though both the default styles take a while to get there. The mad rush I felt at the end was fantastic and the last bosses are a joy to fight. Only real complaint is the pacing of the side stories. I loved being able to just stumble into various different events while on route to the next plot objective. But this became less common as the game went on and side stories started getting more tucked away. Also hot take here, the host club mingame is more tedious then fun and I like Kiryu’s business stuff as I could do that in the background. I’m excited to dive into Kiwami and probably Kiwami 2 this year... Though I’m not sure when just yet.

Just gonna say it flat out, I think this is better the the 2018 game. The smaller scale helps in this style of game and Miles just naturally has a better move set then Peter. I'm not sure if they actually tightened up the combat system or if they just threw less bullshit enemies at you but fighting feels so much better in this one. Traversal is better too,  simply because they changed the button for tricks. In the original you have to hold down 2 face buttons to enter trick mode??? In hindsight that was such a bad call. 

Having both the heal and venom powers run off the same meter was a good idea. Making the choice between keeping yourself alive guaranteed or potentially ending a fight quicker/disposing of a problem enemy is super fun. The player having to make small choices like this during combat is what helps it not be brainless. I love all the different venom skills you get. While they all achieve the same thing in stunning opponents, how you achieve that goal is up to you. Do you want to just slug the bastard, throw 'em up in the air, tackle the shit out of them? The choice is yours. 

Only real big complaint is certain upgrades being NG+ locked. I know you want to encourage replays, but this is a shitty way to do it I feel. Also can we retire Rhino for the next game. Man has had 2 shitty boss fights now and I need a break. Between this and Spider-Verse, I'm honestly starting to like Miles as Spider-Man more then Peter.

I got this game more on a whim then anything. I was definitely interested when it was first announced for the west. Vanillaware's beautiful art style in a story about giant robots beating the shit out of Kaijus? Sign me the fuck uuuuuu-oh wait it's an RTS? I had never played an RTS's before, mainly due to the sheer concept stressing me out. So I let it fall to the wayside. The game started coming up again though towards the end of the year with GotY on everyone's minds.  This revived my interest, especially as what I HAD planned to be playing around that time was... well. Cyberpunk. Don't think I need to say much more. Also I had worried for nothing as the Real Time Strategy was not that Real Time. 

This game really lays on the analysis paralysis once you're out of the tutorial. Do you want to fight, do you want to do story, who's story do you want to do, what branch should you follow, how much should you play with this one character? It's very overwhelming at first. I decided to not go ham on just one character and swap around all the time. The twists in this game are equal parts exciting and infuriating. Learning something new always came with the caveat of more questions, or something you knew 'for sure' being disproven. Like when I learned 1 characters was actually 4 separate ones! Anyone that's played knows exactly what I'm talking about. 

Natsuno ended up being my fav and not just because of.... obvious reasons. BJ was cute if unfortunately named and her relationship with Mirua was my favourite in the game. Not that there was much competition except for maybe Ogata and Tomi. I ended up really liking the combat but I can see why RTS fans say it's the weakest part. It's far from complex and I had a winning strat by the third or so real fight. Aka spam turrets and have the Gen 1′s gank all the bosses.

One quick thing I want to share was how I beat the boss at the end of Area 2. The one where Inaba is singing. I had Hijiyama use the limit break skill to bum rush the boss right off the hop. I took out half its health in one hit but Hijiyama’s Sentinel was on death’s door. Only thing that saved him was sending in Amaguchi to blow up a bunch of missiles. Hijiyama took it out on his next attack but lost his Sentinel at the same time. It was a real clutch victory and crazy fucking anime. 

The best way to really describe Carrion is that it's a fantastic proof of concept. Can you make a game where you play as The Thing? Why yes, yes you can. Carrion just needed a bit more tweaking to really bring this concept home and be the A+ game I know it can be. As it is now the game is a bit empty. The level design is super samey and the lack of a map is fucking brutal at points. I know it would make no sense for a blob monster to have a map but somethings you just have to gameify for convenience. The level design must have done something right as even though I was completely lost I still moved from area to area properly. Hell by the time I actually looked up a map I had 1 more item to get and I learned I was one door away from beating the game. 

I love the idea of losing mass as you take damage and gaining more by eating people, but having abilities tied to size was a terrible idea. It just leads to tedium as I have to go and shed myself to the right size, do the puzzle, then of course I'm going to go back and rebuild myself to see if I can do the next segment at full power. Just make it so you can swap between abilities using the d-pad or something. I hope this game gets a sequel just so this sick ass concept can be fully realized.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

iirc the two parts of the P5 anime that are handled better than the rest are the conflict between Ryuji and Morgana in the Okumura arc and the stuff with Goro, but both of those come from hogging up all the screentime from the rest of the plot and characters, ('specially with Goro) and I think some of Goro's stuff is only in the anime so I don't think it counts as canon

Tbh fixing Ryu/Mona fight isn’t that hard (esp since the groundwork is already there), they already fight, just make it escalate, have it be both parties fault, have them see the errors of their ways and apologize. Can’t really say about Goro. On one hand, yay, great they developed him more (same positive about the P4GA anime with Marie, it was a very smart idea imo even if she hogged a lot of spotlight, I don’t remember if they ever did an episode where it was just Marie and the cast without Yu but I think that would’ve been a good idea....only thing I don’t like is the pushing of her feelings, I liked the OG’s anime approach where all the girls have a crush but nothing happens cause *insert thing* other than that P4GA is fine if you are aware it’s to explore P4G scenes and expand on Marie and sometimes Adachi). 

But....yeah it doesn’t help if it’s screwing other chars outta characterization/screentime (ESPECIALLY since the game already did that). I think I heard that some CoOps didn’t start or weren’t finished (dunno if that’s still true?) Like Goro needed help, but a lot of other characters needed help too (in terms of screen time and stuff)

But........then again, if it’s not canon to the games it really doesn’t matter, that’s the true source and...based on the games....tbh I don’t buy the friendship (let alone a relationship) between MC/Goro so....... 8U *drops that lovely bomb and will let it linger for a few months because I’ll post about that later when I’m extra salty and when I’ve finally gathered all my evidence I need for that post 030*

Regardless if that’s all they “did better” all while sacrificing other key elements, can’t really say it’s a win in my book. 

[prjctdiva]

persona anon: i actually chose to start with p4 but i’ll get to p5 soon. as for what i think of Him.... akechi seems sweet but i don’t know much about him yet! from what u post about him though im sure he’s Baby (despite what happens.)

OOOOOH THATS OKAY!!! I still need to finish p4g lol but I hope you enjoy it! You should definitely get p5r if you do, though. Much more fulfilling experience overall. AND GOD... Keep me updated because hes an Experience the first time BHAJNSD

[dreamer1084]

I have just finished PQ2. With 91% Persona collection and only one (or five) secret bosses left. I may complete them later.

Major Persona Q2 spoilers under cut.

1. Difficulty

I finish the whole game with Hard without changing the difficulty. It is kind of difficult even for an Etrian Odyssey series player like me. As the enemies get super high HP, the main strategy is to hit all the enemies with their weak point and try to go for an all-out attack. And the boost system in PQ2 is more important than PQ.

The instant kill from Neoto become a lot weaker than what she had in PQ(now she has Bless and Curse attack instead of Light and Dark). And the bosses hit us HARD (Like, full health Yusuke can be killed in one hit Fire Attack from the first boss)

If you get the free DLC Persona, the difficulty will get a lot lower even when you play it in Hard or Risky. 

But when your team become stronger and stronger, the bosses kind of become easier and easier... It would be better if you try to make some sub-Persona for normal enemies and some for the bosses. 

And there are some bugs with the fighting system....but they’re kind of convenient to me so I won’t complain.

2. Characters

Actually, since we have SO many characters in the game, some characters may not even talk much in the main story....but some of the others are out right get a lot of spot-light. (Most people talk about how Hamuko a.k.a P3P FemMC acts like the heroine in PQ2, when most of the P5 characters and other MCs somehow just not being in the center till the end.) And there is nearly no character development for most of the characters, The crossover element is not as important as in PQ. It’s more like since they want to leave, they choose to work together, and become super friendly once they join the team.

(Just like when you play a mobile game. You draw some characters, choose the characters you like to use them in the battle. They are teammate in your game ID but they may or may not know each other in their own story.) But the problems is solved in the special screening(特別上映), most of the character interactions are interesting. I especially like the one with Teddie joins  Haru to cheer up people, shares his secret junk foods to people who feel down. And the interactions between Yukiko and Yusuke are just super funny.

Though the script writer got some setting wrong here and there.(Like, Nanako is P4MC’s cousin not niece. And Hamuko should know Theo has a sister, sometime someone calls a character by their surname sometime call the same characher by their given name etc) I think those mistakes will be fixed in US Version if there is one. 

3. Main Story Line

Beware of all the spoilers...maybe not so much because I have some problem with communicating in English... But still enough to spoil some of the main parts especially near the end.

I won’t say the story is bad like most of the long comments in Amazon JP said. I think it’s quite interesting even with the first 3 labyrinths seem getting the same main idea. And the forth labyrinth summarizes them well. Most of the story focus on charging the movie endings and the character development for Hikari. When she finds her answer and decides to leave the theater which she used to evade her problems in society, I am happy with her.

But after that, the true boss shows herself. She states that she also ‘helps’ other people like Hikari to find a safe place for them to flee from their problems. And she agrees to let Hikari and all the character go because Hikari doesn’t need her shelter anymore. However, Hikari starts talking about friendship and courage and wants to help others leave their own theaters to face their problems, just like what she has been through, seems to ignore the fact that every person deals with different problems and they may not have friends to support themselves. It’s where the story becomes too “moralization” for some players. (Well, the first three labyrinths also mean to teach you something but they’re only Hikari’s problems so I happily accept them.) Hikari and the others use the ‘changed movies’ (with good endings not the hopeless endings other people keep watching) hoping others will understand. In the last minute of the boss fight, our characters are vanished and leave Hikari by herself. She keeps calling for help for some time, the MCs return and give one last attack to the boss......... So the NPCs in their theaters watch the whole thing and both decide they can do things like that too! So they start to leave. This is also a part of the story I feel very awkward.

Well, to conclude if the story line is good or bad, it depends on how do you take the moralization part of the story. If there was not any ‘Hikari please mind your own business’ thing, I think I would enjoy the story much better than now.

But overall I still think it’s not that bad... maybe just because I don’t have high standard towards everything.

Though it’s kind of sad that they leave so fast and just saying goodbye after the finally boss fight.....

4. Maps and Music

Maps become easier than in PQ, but the design still interesting. I like the scenery of last labyrinth very much. And each labyrinth has its own features. 

There are lots of icons for each labyrinth. But new icons only appear when necessary. We won’t get confuse. 

And the music. They’re good to match the atmosphere. Like the two BGM for the ‘out door part’ and the ‘laboratory part” of the Third Labyrinth. The loud and happily crooked sound in the 4th (the BGM become even crookeder for the last couple of floors). And the whisper sound in the 5th is just...super great.

We can also change the normal battle theme into some battle themes used in the previews main games. (Like P3, P3P, P3FES P4, P4G, P5, and the DLC PQ battle themes. By the way, they also make 4 new music for PQ2 original normal bottle theme.)

I just want to complain about the 4th floor on the 5th Labyrinth... Only an one way road provided near the downstairs. We can’t return once we got there...

Overall, the main story may not as good as PQ, but the fighting system is improved and I still enjoy the game very much. 

I don’t think there will be a PQ3...at least not until P6 comes out and it’s definitely not in 3DS any more. Maybe at that time we will get PS14 or something like that LOL

I just hope if they want to do more crossover apart from something like P5U , they could keep the battling system and improve the crossover element at least to PQ standard (I know they don’t want to do similar things in PQ one more time but I think it’s necessary.) 

Well...all of the characters forget what happened once they return home just like in PQ. But they still get to watch movies together. I am happy when Hamuko meet her own team...

And Ryuji had promised Hikari (at least twice if I remember right) they would watch her movie once they returned. So when the team finds the poster of high-school movie making competition, he becomes quiet for a moment, and suggests that they should go to watch it because it seems interesting. I love this little detail about him. (Well, at least we know that Hikari comes from a timeline similar to P5.)

(And I really like the fact the P4 characters love to pick on Akechi so much)

[kingjinxii]

The Persona Waifu Rant

Since so many of you can’t seem to get it through your thick skulls...

ALL ROMANCES IN ANY GAME ARE NOT CANON

(This includes Yukari, Rise, Marie, Makoto, Ann, Futaba, Maki, and, unfortunately, Jun.)

Let’s look at the details.

What is canon?

Canon is defined by anything as is confirmed to happen in a fictional universe. (For example, it’s canon the the Persona 4 Protagonist goes to Inaba, it’s canon that the Persona 5 Protagonist’s codename is Joker, it’s canon that the Persona 3 Protagonist, at the end of the game...well...uh...you know.)

In the universe of Persona, the games are considered canon. Nothing outside of the games is considered canon, and even then, canon begins to blur.

To put it on a timeline:

Persona 1, obviously, happened first, followed by Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Due to the destruction of the world in P2:IS, a new world is created, the world of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. That is followed by Persona 3: The Journey (aka the main campaign from Persona 3 FES), Persona 3: The Answer, Persona 4: Golden (with Persona Q in the middle), Persona 4 Arena, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Persona 4 Dancing All Night, and finally, Persona 5.

Simplified:

P1 - P2:IS

[Timeline Recreated]

P2:EP - P3:J - P3:A - P4G (PQ) - P4U - P4AU - P5

What is NOT canon?

Here’s a short list of things that are DEFINITELY not canon.

Anime adaptions

Manga adaptions

Manga anthologies

Stage shows

Word Of God

Essentially any work that is not the games themselves

Why are these things not canon? To put it simply, it’s because they were written and usually directed by someone else, and as such, they are largely ignored by the canon of the games. Adaptions are just that: interpretations of a work, of the way things could have gone. Now, some things from adaptions may become canon in later works (such as the Persona 4 Protagonist being named “Yu Narukami” like in the anime in Arena), but for the most part, you can cross those off the list.

Some of you may be calling me mad for insisting that only the games are canon. And, in a sense, you are right. There can be multiple canons.

For example, in one, Naoto grows her hair really long and gains a new Persona. In another, adults lose their Personas at a certain age. And in yet another, a protagonist gets together with a love interest.

But those are all interpretations of the same source canon (the games).

Heck, even a person on staff claiming that one character is the canon relationship does not mean that it is. That is one person’s opinion, and unless canon reflects that, it will stay one person’s headcanon.

Think of the anime adaptions, manga adaptions , and manga anthologies as legal fanfiction. Just because it happens in one author’s interpretation, doesn’t mean it happens in another.

And, when we get into the context of the games, the line is still blurry. And that’s where the problem with “canon waifus” starts.

Social Links Aren’t Canon.

This is a very controversial statement, but I feel it needs to be said. 

Why do I say this?

To put it in short, it’s because most of them are optional. If they’re optional, it means that they can be ignored, that you don’t have to pursue them. It’s all according to taste.

Of course there are ones that are canon: the ones driven by plot.

Plot-Driven Social Links By Game

[Note: P1 and P2 did not have social links.]

[Note 2: I am only including canonly completed Social Links. Social Links that are started by plot, but not finished by plot (or vice versa in the case of Tohru Adachi’s Social Link) are not included.]

[Note 3: The World/The Universe is not listed because they are not Social Links.]

Persona 3

S.E.E.S./Nyx Annihilation Team (The Fool and Judgement)

Pharos (Death)

Persona 4

The Investigation Team/The Seekers of Truth (The Fool and Judgement)

Teddie (The Star)

Persona 5 (A.K.A. Canon Confidants)

Igor (The Fool)

Morgana (The Magician)

Goro Akechi (Justice)

Sae Niijima (Judgement)

Now, there is evidence to suggest that the P3 and P4 Protagonists did complete other social links, as evidenced in The Answer and Arena but the difference is that none of the girls’ Social Links they were implied to have completed was acknowledged as romantic.

Rise still stays in the idol industry, Chie decides to become a police officer, Yukiko stays at the Inn, Marie finds out about her true self, but none of them are called Yu’s girlfriends.

Even in Eternal Punishment, while Tatsuya, the protagonist of Innocent Sin retains his memories, never reveals how he responded to Lisa’s feelings, whether it was to reciprocate, or turn her down in favor of someone else.

But let’s discuss one of the girls many people cite as the only “canon” romance...

The Answer and The Friendzone

Yukari Takeba is often cited as the only canon romance due to the existence and canonicity of Persona 3: The Answer.

For all of you who don’t know, The Answer was a short extension of Persona 3 in which you play as Aigis, who has inherited the power of the Wild Card from the protagonist after his death and must destroy a time loop trapping S.E.E.S. on March 31st.

This leads to them discovering the Abyss of Time and the only two exits.

One leads to the present.

The other leads to the past, before the protagonist sacrificed himself.

Only one can be opened.

Of course, the majority of S.E.E.S. agrees that the past should be left alone. Yukari, however, does not, for a single selfish reason.

She wants to see the protagonist again.

Many people cite this as being because she was dating the protagonist at the time of his death. But, I have watched the entirety of The Answer (as I have not played it myself) and I have found no mention of her and the protagonist ever dating.

Does she possibly have a crush on him? Absolutely. But crushes do not equal canon...

What qualifies as a canon relationship?

How many of you have played a Persona game, played through a girl’s social link while planning on dating another girl, only for, uh oh, her to confess to you.

Now, you have two options: reciprocate or don’t.

That option right there declares the romance non canon.

Let me explain my personal Two Points Of A Canon Relationship:

One character must be interested in the protagonist.

The protagonist must reciprocate without player prompting.

That means that there cannot be a choice in the matter. That character is who you must date. It’s quite a simple concept, yet every Persona love interest fails this test.

Now, many of you might point out that, in P3, you do not have a choice in dating a girl if you want to complete her Social Link.

For that answer, look back to my “Social Links Aren’t Canon” section. The player can simply choose not to enter their Social Link. There’s your choice.

Some of you might continue to insist that certain characters receive more attention than others in their games and may use that to argue their canonicity. But if it does not follow those two points, then it is not canon. A character could have the biggest crush on the protagonist, confess in every Rank Up event, and have twice as much screen time as everyone else, but if the protagonist doesn’t automatically say ‘yes’, then unfortunately, it’s not canon.

Persona 1 and Pandora

Let’s talk about a character like that: Maki Sonomura.

Here's a fun fact: Maki and the Persona 1 Protagonist do not necessarily end up together.

Now many of you may be shocked, and cite the cutscene at the end of Pandora’s battle, but there are a few things I want to point out.

The one confessing was Maki’s Shadow, not Maki herself

The protagonist himself did not respond to her kiss or her confession

Their friends did not once say anything about their relationship in the ending

Then some of you may point out that the epilogue stated that Maki was seen with a man who appeared to be her boyfriend...but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the protagonist is that said man.

In fact, I think his epilogue perfectly describes the point I am trying to make.

Why does this matter?

To put it bluntly, it doesn’t. I’m not saying you can’t ship any protagonist with anyone, I’m just saying that the wars over who is canon and who is not are utterly irrelevant. Not a single girl (or guy, in the case of Jun), is considered canon.

Of course, this does not mean you have to like all ships either, just respect that everyone has different tastes and leave it alone.

There are multiple canons.

There are people form all walks of life playing the game.

Everyone will have a favorite.

In other words, you can put down your pitchforks now.

Bonus: Resources for getting rid of your NOTP

For desktop Tumblr:

New XKit

Tumblr Savior

For mobile Tumblr:

Washboard (In Browser Only)

For Ao3:

Ao3rdr

[fenrirlives]

Final Opinions on Persona 5

Wanted to wait and complete NG+ before I sat down and wrote this (315+ hours baby), so my bad for taking so long. I’ll keep the spoilers to a minimum but when I get to my issues with the game, it’ll be hard to go in-depth without giving some stuff away, so I’ll put a read more right before there.

In short, this is, in all ways but two, the best Persona game yet. The game fully embraces the style and grace of the Phantom Thief concept, down to even it’s menus! The pace of combat and basic streamlining done make it the first Persona game were fights didn’t feel like a slog after a while for me.

Against my expectations, P5 also has my absolute favorite cast of characters, both party member and Confidant, out of the franchise, and they had to beat guys like Baofu, Ken, Saori, Margaret, and Rise to pull that off. This is the first game where there is no worst girl, and every social link type interaction is well written and enjoyable. I feel like the Justice Confidant could’ve been better, but for those of you who know how that goes, it’s obviously remake bait, just like P4G and the Hunger s.link. 

Each of the characters you meet all bring an interesting perspective to the theme of being robbed of your place in society, but not giving in to apathy and self interest. The Sun Confidant is no holds barred, my favorite character of the franchise, do to how it portrays this issue from a position the target audience are conditioned to ignore and ridicule at face value (in other words, a reflection of the mistreatment they receive). The fact that dungeon 4′s theme still makes me cry, along with the post final boss activities with some of your confidants is all you need to see how well these characters are written to inspire empathy in the player. In fact, I plan to do individual confidant breakdowns in the future because of how much I love this cast!

Spoilers start below but tl;dr for my grievances: All but two bosses in this game are trash, and anyone who thinks the calling card villains are good or interesting can fight me in the Kmart parking lot. I’m not even finished playing Tales of Berseria, and it’s still done a better job than P5 has of making good antagonists and moral conflicts.

I say this without a hint of hyperbole

Persona 5 has the worst antagonists in the whole franchise 

Whether you’re comparing them to the bosses that came before in the previous Persona games, or judging them on their own, all but two of the bosses your face are 1 dimensional, lazily designed, poorly executed, or some bastard combination of those 3. Boss 1 is just Shadow Chie but with a more bland and uncoordinated design. Boss 2 can be found in practically any rpg from 2000 and up. BOSS 3 IS A GIANT PIGGY BANK. 

I will give boss 4 credit for having more narrative weight, but her design is still lazy and uninspired, and as presumptuous as it is for me to say: I COULD’VE DESIGNED HER BETTER

Even if you don’t judge this game based on its extensive pedigree, there is no excuse for how terribly written these villains are, especially when the nature of Palaces gives plenty of opportunity to expand the characters and their hardly mentioned backstories. Some may say that this is to keep more attention on the victims, but a villain made of paper makes for thin opposition, and nothing is more snore inducing than a cast of tackily dressed despots who all give you the same “I am evil because I can be, and I’ll get away with it too because I am an adult and you’re a bunch of stupid kids” speech. You cannot give me these mustache twirling caricatures, and expect me to believe that our protagonists have overcome some great moral opposition in earnest, EXCEPT WITH ONE BOSS.

The only likable villain in this story is Goro, as he presents a sound moral argument for the party from day 1, and his big finale retroactively lends a lot of weight to the actions of Yaldabaoth at the end of the story. He’s not on the level of Tohru “Bitches and Whores” Adachi, but having him as a party member and ACTUALLY LEARNING ABOUT WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE BELIEVES IN MAKES HIM ACTUALLY INTERESTING AS A VILLAIN LATER ON! Who would’ve thunk it? The fact that I was desperately looking for a dialogue option to save him, as opposed to skipping past all his text like previous bosses, shows how well he was written. And I’ll say the moment of silence and sadness the Phantom Thieves feel after his demise was one I could believe, because in a way, this was their second failure in the game, and it truly stung to lose somebody they could’ve helped again. (if only the marketing for this game and various other meta elements didn’t make his guilt plain as day, it would’ve been perfect).

despite the lackluster antagonists and the damage they do to the story, I still think that Persona 5 did a majority of things right in the end, and without a doubt, this is the best Persona game to date. I plan to do another play-through in the future, and I’ll probably enjoy it even more than the first two! 

Oh yeah, Kawakami is best girl, Haru close second, with Chihaya and Takemi bringing up the rear, but again, EVERY GIRL IN THIS GAME IS GREAT

[preciousghouls]

Thoughts on Persona 5

I just finished the game at 82 hours, only because I went with Safe mode to focus on the plot. Truthfully speaking, I started regretted that halfway in when I defeated Shadows easily. Anyway, that's not what this post is about. I'm a jumbled mess after the game, so I'm listing out some things I feel. Of course, since it's a post about beating the game, spoilers ahead! The game, in whole, was great. The graphics and animation were amazing. I was already enthralled by P4s graphics, but P5 really did a good job. There were a lot of details and so many things to do that I missed out some fun on this first play through (I'm already starting on New Game+). Dungeons also take a much longer time too, which annoys the shit out of me at times, but new features like instant kill and hiding add to the fun in the challenge. Not to mention having Mementos, which also comes back to the Social Links and the key plot message. Real smart move there. Kinda sucks how I gotta waste a day for the targets if I want to rank up though. Still, loved the concept I saw in the artbook as well. But I was disappointed with the Social Links. It just didn't pack as much emotions as P3 or P4G. I only managed to get some arcanas to Max rank, and even among those were some I just went ahead with because others needed Guts/Charm etc. There wasn't many events either. The only thing was really the celebrations after each success, or stakeouts for information, and those weren't even very long. We didn't get winter celebration, Christmas celebration, or New Year's, etc... So many dates were skipped, and when MC could be given time to spend with confidants, he wasn't. If those days weren't wasted by "getting rest tonight", players could've accomplished many more things. I guess what I'm trying to say is the free time for this game is way too little with too many things to accomplish! This is coming from someone who completes Palaces infiltrations in one day unless there are obstacles that require cognition change in the real world. Also, while I love the Phantom outfits, it sucks that we can't buy outfits in game. In the first place, why do I need to pay extra for chara outfits when I already paid for the game which they should come with? Jfc. And hoo boy, don't get me started on that ending. The last mission was to change the hearts of society. Okay. It was all good till MC awakened his Trickster form, honest. I had no problems with where the plot was going. And then that was it. Mission accomplished, Mona's gone, y'all decide to have a party, disband, then MC's gonna turn himself in. I was expecting some closure about Shido/Akechi at least. See him in jail, hear someone confirm about Akechi! Dang I loved that boy. And the Phansite! Was that honestly all? After all the things we did, MC leaves just like that? That unholy final cutscene! Where are my babies going? How do they feel about everything? Why did they never sit down and talk about the whole Persona thing? Was P4G too high a hurdle to cross? Tl;dr Persona 5 Remastered when??

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Hi, I am a fan of the ann/akira ship. I read about your post on the scene you mentioned that got played down in the US version, been wondering, which scene did you mean and what did she say in the Japanese version?Thanks

Sorry for taking so long. ;w; Ok yeah I’m freaking salty, I dunno if this is the whole “too many cooks in one stew” or what but god, why is it so inconsistent. Ahem sorry I’ll explain what I mean by that below, ok, so like just so you know I haven’t finished the english version, but I looked up this one scene, cause I loved the gd scene and cause I couldn’t wait and …..wow they ruined it. Also this is like in the very end game so like spoilers below (now’s your time to look away, ok? good? alright) and yeah I’m gonna compare it to this one other similar scene cause favortism on AtlusUSA’s part, incompetence, or the too many cooks in a stew and they didn’t communicate (I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt and saying it’s the last one). (also, haha sorry for being uber angry in this post, I try not to be angry or negative in ANY posts but alnfdslknfa I CAN’T hold myself back)

Ok so after the MC returns from basically jail/holding-whatever there’s a scene where everyone like looks at him and greets him when he comes back:

Ok so this is from the MC’s POV, he walks in and sees everyone! Awwww. And then the camera pans to each person, starting with Mako and Futaba where they smile, then to Haru and Yusuke who smile and wave respectively (also everyone is letting out happy noises like “haaa! :D” or “aha! :D”), then Ryuji (only Ryu not him and Anne, just Ryu) who also smiles and is uber happy as well…and then there’s Anne….As you can see she’s facing away…

The camera zooms on her only. And then she stands up and turns to the MC dramatically and says:

Okaeri….Aka, “welcome back/home” in english….WELCOME MOTHERFUDGEMONKEYING HOME! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OH MY GOD. THIS FREAKING BLEW MY MIND. It’s small and simple? Yes. Yes it is. But IT’s the fact ANNE says it! I thought if anyone it’d be Ryuji (cause first friend) or Futaba (cause family dynamic, dating or not they’re still close)…BUT NO IT’S ANNE! ANNE GETS TO SAY THIS! IT JUST BLEW MY GD MIND! I won’t lie, this is also a very good book end thing considering she’s the first one he met (and their nice smile/interaction during that time too ;w;). “Okkkkk Silly, why is this a moment? Other than her being the only one who says anything in the cutscene and makes it semi dramatic?” Well dksalnf;andf if “welcome home” as in “oh my god this is your gd home and we’re your friends and we’re family” isn’t enough heartwarming in just that phrase I dunno what is (and ANNE is the one who says that). Usually you say this when someone has come home….like in a family, parents say it to kids, kids say it to parents, siblings say it to each other, parents (or you know…. a couple who lives together ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) *wink wink*) say it to each other etc… So like….there’s those undertones too (if you want to look at it like that, YOU DON’T HAVE TO but it’s there if you WANT), and before you call me out on that just wait a second haha AtlusUSA you shot themselves in the foot on this one and I’m coming for blood. (I’ll say this, and I’ll say this now, the fact that this happened to Anne is not why I’m upset, it’s what they did to the MC and the meaning behind this word and scene and it could’ve been ANY CHARACTER who could’ve said it and I would still be mad. Tbh I think this scene should’ve changed depending on who you romanced, with that person getting to say the phrase, but considering Anne can be such a bro sometimes I guess it’s ok cause of ambiguity….but yeah…It’s not cause of Anne but it’s a salty smack to Anne/MC shippers’ faces :/)

Ok so why am I the most livid of livid? You wanna know how they translated it?  You wanna know what she says in the english dub? DO YOU WANNA KNOW? I DON’T THINK YOU WANNA GD KNOW! FINE THIS IS WHAT SHE SAYS:

(yes that was my freaking reaction)

HAHA EXCUSE ME?!  “Hey there”….”HEY THERE?” GOD CHRIST ON A CRACK I WOULD’VE TAKEN “YOU’RE BACK!” IN LIKE A SUPER RELIEVED, ALMOST TEARY EYED VOICE ATLUSUSA! I WOULD’VE BEEN FINE WITH IT! NOT THIS LOAD OF MONKEY BUTT! ‘HEY THERE’ HAHAHAHAAAAAA I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY DID THAT…MOTHER OF…THEY COULD’VE FIT “WELCOME BACK/HOME” IN THE LIP MOVEMENTS! THEY SHOULD’VE USED “WELCOME HOME!” IT’S NOT JUST THE ANNE MOMENT (christ anyone could’ve said it and I’d still be miffed, Yusuke could’ve said it and I’d advocate for the ShuKita fans that this was BS), IT’S THE FACT THAT THIS SCENE LOST THE “THIS IS YOUR HOME” MOMENT FOR THE MC! LIKE WOW GOOD JOB ATLUSUSA! 

No really what were they thinking here? “Oh maybe the mouth movements-” NOPE! They did “welcome home/back” (or in Kanji’s case “it’s good to see you senpai”) in P4G bonus ending, which proves you can fit it into the mouth movements (among countless other animes that have done it too), SO WHAT THE HECK IS THIS? And same with the reverse, tadaima/I’m home, they did that in PQ’s P3 Side ending! The MC says that! THIS ISN’T NEW ATLUS WHY IS IT JUST “HEY THERE”?! It looses the gd impact. So yeah “played down” is a bit of an understatement imo. ;w;

“Ok Silly, you’re upset, I get it. But maybe they just wanted to mix things up for P5 instead?” Ha…haha….HAHAHAHAHAHAHA EFF NO THEY DID NOT! They did this earlier in the game, but from what I could tell AtlusUSA decided to get creative with it (even adding to the gd romantic aspect, which they robbed for Anne shippers), ohhhhh some of you might know what I’m talking about this one right here:

Original Japanese:

Goro: Welcome HomeMC: I’m backGoro: You’re back pretty late.

Ok, fairly normal. I mean it is a common phrase in japanese and it’s not solely tied to a romantic aspect. I think Goro might have been joking around since Goro himself doesn’t live there (but I can’t hear any comedic undertones in his voice so…yeah…I dunno, it just feels matter of fact).

Oh…but what does AtlusUSA do?

English Version:

Oh…wow….WOWIE ATLUSUSA! SO YOU CAN TRANSLATE IT AS “WELCOME HOME!”  YOU JUST DIDN’T WANT TO DO IT WHEN IT WAS EMOTIONALLY HEARTWARMING YOU JERKS! NOPE WE HAD TO MAKE A JOKE HERE! EVEN THO THERE (most likely) WASN’T REALLY ONE TO BEGIN WITH!

Like, no this is not ok. You can have the gd haha Goro scene I don’t care, just why’d you have to screw with the freaking heartwarming team moment???? WHY ATLUSUSA?Ugh….they should’ve delayed the game, there’s so much going on with this game’s translation (mostly some word salad and some inconsistencies or small problems….among other things), I think they should’ve delayed the game one more time, like the more I talk with other people I think this delay from Feb was mostly cause of the other games that were coming out at that time and wanted to avoid competition rather than fixing the script. I really think they needed to go over the script a few more times, we probs wouldn’t have gotten the game till summer/late spring but at least I wouldn’t be judging this game to hell and back (I also blame AtlusJP for not giving AtlusUSA the game earlier/more time like…..c’mon man you have so much dialogue in your game you couldn’t cut them some slack and give them the game, or at least script, early 2016 or late 2015?) I really hope that if they re-release an updated version of this game it includes them reworking the script, kinda like the one SAO game that had a horrible script on Vita but then they redid it for the PS4 release (then again they’d probs have to redub some things so maybe they won’t). I’m sorry but I’m just very upset, cause this is also ruining my enjoyment of the game even tho I don’t want it to…and it just really sucks….yeah….