#nebroyale

[nebulaleaf]

gunning to finish royal today before my pc eats shit again and i gotta say as someone who has just hit the 2/2 scene... I don't like the interpretation of Akechi being some feral angry gremlin during 3rd sem. the anger is deffos there don't get me wrong, but he feels way more... Tired and diluted. Kinda like a guy who's watching everything go down from within his own body but has no impact on it.

he has quiet flares of ire when maruki is pissing him off, or when he thinks akira is going to go back on his decision, but even then it's drenched in exhaustion. it's almost jarring how quiet he seems.

[nebulaleaf]

[about ops tags] -> joker also gets to stay in tokyo in the bad end, something he seems to Really Want given that the dialogue options for that bit are all "I want to stay forever." (especially when the previous set of options for the last scene are trying to point out something is wrong with reality. sure he could've given up on waking from the reality entirely by that point, hence the blind agreeance in both options but. [shrug] he still seems slightly conscious of the fact something is Off by the final cutscene.) Also the other thing he gets out of it is the general happiness of his friends; in a perfect world joker would immediately veto even the thought of taking the deal because he knows this isn't what they really want / isn't what's right for them given their confidant lines and what he knows about them, but after everything that has happened can you blame his hesitance? I know objectively his "Is this really right?" dialogue before the final choice is just so the game can tell you a) THIS IS A BIG CHOICE ! AN ACTUALLY IMPORTANT ONE WITH BEARING ON THE PLOT b) make you think about it more, but I can so see him doubting himself after being alone and seeing that physical reminder of how happy they'd be without X. (though on one hand for the 2/2 scene I don't know if that actually makes sense as by that point-- assuming you maxed them all-- they've apologized and BLUNTLY STATED that they refuse to stay in this reality and that they're not okay with it. which might not erase all of joker's doubts, but i think would definitely deal a blow to them given how much he trusts and loves his friends. and then on the other, maruki has been drilling bullshit in his head and he literally watched all his friends die agonizing deaths a week ago. i can pardon the fucked up mental state that would lead to "actually maybe this IS better,")

okay now onto replying to the reblog -> "bad ending not make sense on 2/2 because why would they change their minds just because Joker did"

I don't think they're agreeing with joker; akechi clearly doesn't and I think if he bothered to tell any of the thieves what happened, they would side with akechi 100%. however i don't think it's a stretch to say if maruki can rewrite akechi to permanently be his detective prince self, then making the thieves fall back into their blind acceptance of his reality would be easy. i genuinely don't think maruki cares about anyone's Actual acceptance of his reality except for joker's opinion and even then if you disagree, he fights tooth and nail to get you to change, or puts you to sleep for not making a decision in time.

also to the joker is punished for being selfish crowd;

the phantom thieves consistently apologise for staying in maruki's false reality and not listening to joker. repeatedly. if anything, they're punished for being selfish!!!!

[nebulaleaf]

ohya romance event is bad but these lines are really amusing to me

[nebulaleaf]

i cant believe these two shots come from the same game and are meant to convey the same ending vibes

[nebulaleaf]

honestly. i know royals devs were like "either end of royal could be canon. reality is what you wish" but i earnestly think akira would never make the deal with maruki. it just seems so ooc for someone like him with such a strong will. i think hesitation would ve there; yes the akechi reveal would catch him off guard, but ultimately... he wouldnt betray everything he'd worked towards in freeing himself only to be locked up again

[nebulaleaf]

what party member do y'all use the least?

for me i think yusuke takes number 1. i use him a lot around madarame's palace but after that he gets kinda benched... ryuji and ann are simply too good and I like reserving my 4th slot for someone with varied healing until haru joins.

[nebulaleaf]

[nebulaleaf]

fought maruki. it was probably only easy cause i was over levelled but the fight itself was so anti climactic even disregarding that. the cutscenes themselves. the dialogue. whatever. ALL OF ROYAL all of 3rd sem had been building.... TO THAT? SERIOUSLY? DURING PART OF THE FIGHT I STARTED LAUGHING DUE TO HOW COMICAL THE ANIMATIONS WERE AND JUST THE GENERAL SITUATION . HELP! HELP!! ROYAL IS FUCKING DOGSHIT AHAHAHAHAAHA

the fist fight was pretty good and all of akiras animations in general were stellar but i cant even have this compliment because its undercut but the tonal whiplash of maruki going AUAUAUAAUGGHH and shrill yelling out of nowhere. o get he's upset but it just. cutting from his soft spokeness immediately to that is not the move. all im asking is a gradual voice raise before getting into it because the sudden cut!!! 😭 the sudden cut!!!! aaaa ahahahahahahah!!!!! im gonna scream!

[nebulaleaf]

😭😭😭GODDAMN. MY FIRST BATTLE IN MEMENTOS

[nebulaleaf]

doing my rounds because NPCs have new dialogue and this guy directly addresses akira, but i've been noticing a lot of them saying things like "giving in" or "accepting this happiness" or "is this the right choice?" as if akira's *meant* to hear it. maruki subconsciously influencing the public to push akira into making the 'right' choice 😭oof

[nebulaleaf]

ugh man i had thoughts to write about marukis palace but i forgot so many of them. im not sure where to place it in my tier list tbh... aesthetically its pretty good and the puzzles are mildly fun. stairways are irirtating but its not a huge issue.

i enjoy the tapes. i know its kind of feeding you plot without a good reason for it, but ive always been a fan of the "rewatching memories" or mind tape tropes. new enemy design is fan fuckign tastic. fafnir or whatever has to be my favourite. chunky guy i love him. uhh the music is pretty good too but i like the theme during the final stretch a lot less.

gotta say though my mouth was just hung open during the entire sumire councilling session scene. the fact that he thought any of that was remotely okay and even smiled about it. we love a guy with something massively wrong with him.

will say though the professor scene sucked. does it mean to imply that wakaba actually WASNT a great cognitive psience researcher and was essentially shidos pawn for his bullshit practices (ie. a good scientist but not as great as maruki) because like. on god FUCK you royal

[nebulaleaf]

goodbye persona 5 royal. after 121 hours (140 on my switch profile) i got 69% of thieves den achievements, 99% in the compendium, and took 910 switch screenshots (third sem having a recording block really cucked me fr.) I think I did as much as i possibly could. despite my gripes this was my most fulfilling playthrough i've ever done of P5. i have a lot of bad things to say about royal but i really did have so much fun with it. getting excited over the new moves with the grappling hook (guessing where the cutscene would be and having fun being technical with chains de hook), making more strategic personas with fusion alarms, using all that extra time p5r gives as efficiently as possible. I loved maruki's confidant even if it ended in a kind of mediocre palace. he's just a fun guy who's so naturally inserted into the story it feels like he Should've always been there (except for the end). though its a shame because of how his confidant is structured in terms of topics, you cant easily insert it into p5 (its basically just a huge foreshadowing/ general set-up for the themes of 3rd sem). akechi's though... akechi's confidant and the addition of kichioji was WONDERFUL and i'd have killed for it in vanilla. im so glad for it. its such a fun place to explore and i love all the new npcs; penguin sniper was fun to play (though i hate playing with akechi, esp because its useless to) and jazzjin's gameplay elements were REAL FUN TO MAKE BUSTED ASS TEAMMATES WITH. no more what-ifs is also... a good song. i think i might even add it to my personal faves playlist. i'll have to sit down and listen to the ost when i don't have a headache. anyway there's probably a lot more good things i can say, but my head is kind of muddled rn lol. that post-game feeling fr.

ahh, but even when it comes down to the bad, like kasumi-- groaning every time she came on screen was fun in its own way too; whether it was laughing at the hilarity of it or coming to tumblr and grumbling about it with whoever was following along with my posts that day. honestly i just wish they tried a little harder with her and we got to know *sumire* instead of kasumi a little more. reading the interview where the devs admitted to her just being a marketing ploy and how they treated her as such really is crushing. its kind of a reflection of royal as a whole in a way to me. care *was* put in; i can see the heart behind a lot of this, but it's more focused on being flashy and appealing to those who missed the first wave of p5dom; or trying to draw back in those who have already played. which... is the point of a video game definitive edition, but kind of ironic when presented against the morals p5 seems to stand for. (or tries to, anyway. corporate meddling and cultural norms... this is still a video game that needs to sell.) i know i shouldn't treat silly anime game #685 that lets you date a maid-teacher as an 'art form' but i always felt p5 had a pretty solid and profound message. so to see royal trample p5 vanilla and then dance around wearing its skin is... certainly something. i know they're technically the same game, so royal has those messages too, but they get all tied up in the new stuff that royal brings forth (and doesn't deliver on. lmao. lol) on top of the already shaky at times writing p5 came with. i guess what im just trying to say is that royal's content is good... but it's being too much. and that just makes me really, really sad. despite all that, royal still kind of rekindled my love for p5 that was already present. every new playthrough for me lets me look deeper into what i like or neat details i missed; seriously i always find something new when i come back to this game. but this was especially true in royal. i found myself noticing when the tiniest detail was changed and it was always fun to compare them, even if it devolved into a tangent. i really only am disappointed like this just because I love persona 5 as a whole *so much*. its everything to me, so i want it to be the best it can be, yknow? anyway, thanks persona 5 royal. you've been a journey in multiple ways. try as i might, i won't forget you.

[nebulaleaf]

on the topic of akeshu; 2/2 is such an overhyped akeshu scene

like its a very important moment in the plot AND in the relationship between akira and akechi but its also just... not all that? maybe i picked the wrong dialogue (i might go back to see Akechi's response to Its Not Trivial!) but it didnt Feel like this grandiose and big moment.

in the bad end. akira caves and akechi just expresses disappointment; too tired or fed up to even get overly mad at you

in the good end. akira doesn't fold and solidifies his bond with akechi. and again, dont get me wrong, this is a very solid moment for them both and i quite enjoy akechi making akira say his intentions twice for confirmation (even if that is essentially just for gameplay reasons) but it feels like a pretty bow on top. a decorative thing. this interaction has the same vibes as a curt and firm handshake.

not some grand revelation or declaration, but simply a natural conclusion. nothing *special* or important even if the reason FOR the scene is so very, very, earth-shatteringly important.

[nebulaleaf]

i dont hate royal i just hate the fact that this is considered the best edition of the game. god. fuck. i cannot convey my disappointment. every time i see p5's credits for vanilla's end it always brings me to tears but staring at this grey ass musty credits sequence with god knows what playing in the bg... i just feel empty and disappointed. i wanted this game to be good; and it is! but it also feels like it managed to trample over every single one of my most beloved moments from p5 to make room for setups that never PAY OFF or if they do; its in a such a half assed way that has me begging for them to have just focused on making strikers a unique experience during royal's development period. honestly marukis confidant is good and i love its skills but its not worth playing royal for. 3rd sem isn't worth playing royal for. kasumi isnt worth playing royal for.

Akechi's confidant........ okay thats a little worth but. my point still stands !!!!! the QOL to the battle system is good and dandy but all unique elements of royal arent worth shit.

[nebulaleaf]

also can we talked about the fucked up shadows in maruki's palace. why does it hit me with the jawww

[nebulaleaf]

also again for all my griping on royal i truly do still love persona 5. its such a wonderful game and has utterly changed my life i think. blah blah it has its flaws what game doesnt but uaghh. awaaaugh. i love it so earnestly and with my whole heart. no game will ever compare to it, not because it's peak perfect, but because its a fundamental piece of me now and always :]