#p5r has ruined me

[afterthelambs]

Happy hot girl summer to everyone except him

[akechi-stole-my-heart]

joker repeatedly deleting the metaverse app after having a legitimately supernatural experience thanks to it is so real. he sees his creepy alternate self set on fire and smiling at him from across a city street and is immediately like. nope. fuck this shit i'm out

[velvet-gloom]

My first playthrough of P5R had me max out Makoto’s romance literally the day before stealing Sae’s heart and now I’m just imagining what that whole experience must have been like for them

They confess their feelings after growing closer and then have just enough time for a night together before doing their most dangerous heist, both knowing that if things go wrong, they’ll never see each other again. Makoto can’t stop worrying about all the shit the police are doing to Ren, and more than anyone she’s afraid when she sees the news about his apparent suicide. Then she finally gets to see him for the first time since his fakeout death and they have this quick moment where they realize “oh shit, we didn’t tell anyone else we’re together and now just feels like a really bad time to casually mention that” so she can’t even tackle him with a hug and yell at him for how much he scared her. They have to wait for an actual chance to be alone before they can even properly process everything they’ve been through from the perspective of them as a couple, and the first time they get that chance it’s just them crying together and hugging each other so tight it almost hurts.

It’s probably around that point that Ren realizes that he’s not used to having someone genuinely worry for him like that, ESPECIALLY after Shido ruined his life and he got dumped in a new city. He has this moment of “oh my god this girl cares about me more than I even knew was possible and I would do anything she asked if I could get her to stop crying.” He starts apologizing and saying that he doesn’t deserve her and she immediately fires back that she doesn’t deserve him, and then that turns into them each saying how amazing they think the other is and the crying turns into laughing. Then they laugh even harder when they realize they still need to figure out how to tell everyone else

[oakdll]

i finished persona 4 golden !!!

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 4 GOLDEN AHEAD

It’s lowkey insane that they made the final villain a gas station employee, but it was super cool. I really love the story, almost as much as P5R, although the gameplay was definitely worse for me.

Obviously there are differences because of the release dates, but there were a lot of quality of life issues and inconsistencies. The last 5 dungeons or so felt comically easy, none of them took me more than 2 hours, especially with Marie and Izanami’s dungeons which took me less than an hour each, even with exploring every floor to the max.

The lack of Safe Rooms really hurts the level design here. You basically have to do every palace in one session (at least I did because I don’t like Goho-M’s). Being able to have save points before different sections in each P5 Palace was a stroke of genius, and returning to P4 where every floor is basically identical is just boring. I like how each floor is randomly generated, but it also really takes away from the individuality of each dungeon. Pretty much every dungeon has the same random layout, the only differences are the visuals and occasional conditions like with Adachi not allowing you to fight shadows in one of his floors. Compared to P5, the lack of puzzles and insight into the characters really hurts. In P5, the design of each palace gave you insight into its rulers psyche. In P4, you really only get the occasional confrontation with the character and some dialogue at the start of each floor.

There were also WAY too many chances to mess up your ending. There isn’t anything really wrong with having a lot of endings, but having so many points where you can accidentally get a bad ending because you picked an option that wasn’t obviously wrong was ridiculous. I had heard there were a lot of chances to get a bad ending if you aren’t careful, so I used a spoiler free guide. Having to pick like 7 of the right answers in a row to get a good ending is insane.

If I wasn’t spoiled on Adachi before playing, I never would have guessed it. That is good for the story, but having to deduce it yourself is a bit too much to ask of the player. I think P5 did good with prompting you to save your game before game changing events happen. A mix of that and confirming with the player when they are going off-course from the true ending makes the game relatively simple to play through with no guide. with P4, you basically have to look up a guide for the true ending. Having to say “no” when prompted to leave Inaba to get the true ending is insane, if I didn’t know beforehand I would have messed up my entire playthrough. It makes no sense unless you know the story beforehand, especially when no other Persona game asks you to do something like that.

The game is also shockingly bigoted, which goes entirely against the themes of the Persona series and the game itself. Ironically, in a game about pursuing the truth, the made Naoto deny his truth of being trans. They wrote such good queer characters and then came to entirely the wrong conclusion and ruined it all. I still think if you can look past the homophobia and transphobia, the game has phenomenal writing, but it gets really uncomfortable at times.

The nostalgic feeling Inaba gives off and the PS2 graphics really help the vibe of this game. It feels so much warmer than P5, and I am ALWAYS a sucker for a murder mystery. The fog is such a good visual element to the game, and I have a strange obsession with electrical poles, so having those be a frequent set piece is awesome.

The characters are so wonderful, I really wish I had more time to max out all of the social links here, but I think I would have had to skip out on helping Nanako with her homework and I would never do that to her. Nanako and Kanji are both some of my all time favorite Persona characters, they are both so sweet and I would do anything for them. Marie is also one of my favorites, I have no idea why anybody could hate her. Yukiko is amazing, Chie is a lot of fun, and Yosuke is hilarious. Teddie is a freak but I love him but I HATE his blue eyes, Rise is super nice, and Naoto is so cool. The Investigation Team is debatably better than the Phantom Thieves as a main cast, but they are so close for me. The main characters are all just great.

As for social links, I think P5 still has it beat here. The social link cast in P4 is still good, but there aren’t any benefits like in P5 and some of the characters here I REALLY don’t like. Sayoko is an outright pedophile. With Kawakami at least if you don’t choose to romance her in-game she isn’t as much of a creep, while Sayoko actively sexually harasses a high schooler. I also did not like Eri, I didn’t get to spend much time with her but she really could have treated her kid better. I know she’s struggling but she would lash out leave her kid at daycare because he was having more fun there than at home. Naoki was cool, I barely got to spend any time with him but from what I did see he was nice and seeing the grieving process of one of Adachi’s victims was super interesting. For the club social links, I chose Kou and Ayane. Kou was great, one of my favorites but I ended up prioritizing party members and couldn’t max him out. Ayane was nice, I like her arc but her voice acting really ruined a lot of the social link for me. Ai was also nice, but I couldn’t spend too much time with her and I didn’t like her romance subplot. I actually liked Shu a surprising amount, he was one of the few I maxed out because I had extra time in the evenings and I really liked how his arc ended. Hisano was one I really missed out on, I only got to rank 3 with her and from what I saw she was one of the most interesting in the game. Dojima is one of the best social links in all of Persona. He is very similar to Sojiro, but he’s a lot darker. There’s a lot more drama with him than with Sojiro, both of them are amazing, and Dojima’s relationship with Nanako is so sweet. Nanako as well might be my favorite Persona character. She is the sweetest thing ever, and I would do anything for her. Marie’s social link was also great, but I really didn’t like Margaret’s. I don’t like any Persona social link that requires you to go on quests. I didn’t like the Strength confidant in P5, and I don’t like Margaret or the Fox in P4. The fox is better by default because he’s a fox, but neither are super interesting to me.

The music is phenomenal because it’s a Persona game, but the P4 OST might be my single favorite Persona soundtrack. Pursuing My True Self, Signs of Love, Heartbeat Heartbreak, Heaven, Alone, Your Affection, Like a Dream Come True, Youthful Lunch, Reach Out to the Truth, Time to Make History, and Omen are some of my favorites. The only Persona game soundtrack to compare with P4 is P5, Whims of Fate, Beneath the Mask, Alleycat, Our Light, When Mother Was There, Price, and Butterfly Kiss are also up there. P4 is more nostalgic for me, so I think it might take the edge for me.

The story of P4 is also much more complex and interesting than P5. If it weren’t for Maruki’s palace being so good, I would say that P4 definitively has the better story. Adachi being the antagonist was such a phenomenal twist, and I loved him so much up to that point that it hurt even more. His social link is a phenomenal addition, I can’t imagine the game without it. Having so many endings is partially a result of flawed game design, but also the depth in the story. It really feels like an investigation team solving a mystery. Pushing further and further towards the truth throughout every suspect, from Kubo to Namatame to Adachi, and even Izanami if that counts, the game really accomplishes its goal. I haven’t done the accomplice ending, but I might do another playthrough to get it after I finish P3R.

P4G is a really great game, I think it’s a bit more flawed than P5R, but it’s still phenomenal and it’s not like P5 has no flaws either. P4 really excels with the story and I think the primary issues with it are just a byproduct of being over 10 years old at this point.

[styxisms]

General:

Muse Name: Takeba Yukari Age: 17 (verse dependent) Race: human Weapon/Arcana: Archery / Lovers Faceclaim: tba

Personality:

Positive Traits: Loyal, kind, caring, smart, compassionate Negative traits: Abrasive, emotional, pessimistic, traumatized Skills: Archery, makeup, fashion, cooking (decent), healing Likes: watching tv / movies, fashion, makeup, archery, Dislikes: Men (most of them), perverts, relying on others. Summary: Yukari can be aloof and abrasive. She struggles to trust and engage with men due to her past. She hates looking weak and vulnerable. She doesn't like asking for help. She has a tendency to lash out when she gets emotional. But aside from that, Yukari is a kind girl who tries to take care of others and protect them. She is popular in school and cares a little too much about how others see her.

History: Yukari was only 6 years old when her life was changed forever. That was when her beloved father died in an accident at work. An accident that everyone blamed him for. The company he worked for shifted the blame entirely to him, ruining his family's reputation as well as leaving his wife and daughter without income or a beloved family member. Yukari remembers her father fondly. However, that carefree life was over.

After the accident, Yukari's mother sought solace and support in the arms of any man that would take her. Moving around due to the poor reputation of their family, Yukari was always picked on an pitied at school. Her deadbeat mother barely paid her any mind so long as she had the affections of a man to keep her warm at night. She ran away from her pain, ignoring her daughter who had just lost her father.

Eventually, Yukari got away from her mother and her reputation. Going to the school on the very same island her father worked at. There, she would be able to find answers to what happened. The school was owned by the company after all. And her dream got closer to being a reality when she woke up in the nightmarish Dark Hour. Awakening to the power of a Persona, Yukari knew it all had something to do with her father.... She just had to be brave and find the truth.

Verses:

i won't be a casualty- main verse. takes place during p3

this is me trying - post game. (au where the answer doesn't happen - leads into p5r verse)

Important!!!

I do not really fw the answer or any spin offs. I do not like the way Yukari is handled in almost any post-p3 material. Everything after the end of the game is hc only.

MUSE TAG

[raven]

obviously metaphor has to stick the landing i probably have at least 25 hours left but im thinking reallyyyy hard if its gonna replace p5r on my backloggd top 5. it has very very few of the issues p5r has but p5r is special + ruined my brain forever + introduced me to one of my best friends + the issues make it so potent in the imagination. metaphor refantazio is one of the best gaming experiences ive had in a while but it's actually GOOD.

[rontra]

persona enjoyer alert!!!! i’m so glad to hear that someone i already follow is also into it. i haven’t played p3 yet so this is my first go of it but i’m really enjoying it so far. what’s this game like from the perspective of someone who played one of the other versions?

HIIIII god i'm so excited for you...imagine getting to play p3 for the first time...<333

i'm so glad you're enjoying it thus far...!!! 🥰 it's my beloved game. WELL all of my thoughts on Reload are obviously extremely skewed due to my pure attachment to this game's story and characters, so i can't give a very "objective" comment on... anything... but i'm not finishing this replay of p5 any time soon to put it that wayDBHFJKM

basically what it's like is., its everything to me. heart

i'm nowhere near done with P3R yet obviously (i keep putting it down to rest my wrists or draw stuff hahsahbd) but so far it's been such a treat for me. i'm very happy 🥺

to ME, persona 3 is (and will probably always be) The Peak... nd the remaster is running more or less the same script (i think it's based on p3p's script??? i forgor 💀) just with, yknow, new graphics and voicework and stuff. so it's hard to really complain about it when it's more or less been "persona 3 running on the persona 5 engine" 😭

like that sure is My Game! with extra Unreal Engine Motion Blur (<- LOL)

it's hitting all the beats in the order it should what more can i ask for. the music has been remixed a bit (as always huh) but it's still recognizably homey to me. like even if i keep getting thrown off by changes like "new lotus juice verse about going to bed early" (Iwatodai Dorm) i'm still just vibing along lmao. i cheered out loud when i heard Deep Breath Deep Breath

SO FAR my "complaints" have been pure, yknow, "unreasonable superfan nitpicking", so they aren't actually worthy of being called reasonable critique. it's all shit like "they rearranged the order of shots when remaking this cutscene, and the original sequence was stronger...TO ME"

STUFF THAT NO NEW PLAYER WOULD BE THINKING ABOUT...

and of course neutered Tactics is a no-no. i'm gonna be huffy about that forever but c'est la vie, it's what the franchise has settled on... but as a Certified P3 Tactics Gamer i'm basically obligated to be a lil miffed about this Post-Tactics World we live in. and like cmon man you introduced baton pass but my AI teammates can't even see it...even though the "recommended move" scan logic CAN....!!!

^^^ but this one is ALSO at its core a complaint that new players won't have comparison context for (because the Tactics in P3R is not the Tactics we once had). and . also many newbies will never even rub up against it if they prefer Direct Command to begin with (which lots of people do) so like. who cares . it doesn't ruin the game for me i just dearly miss the Epic Highs And Lows Of P3 Tactics HAHBDS

on the upside, adding more content for party members who didn't have SLinks in the original is Very Good. i'm really very much enjoying those new scenes and it's needed badly. sweet treats for diesel...❤ AND TARTARUS LOOKS SO GOOD HOUAHHH

AND that UI...so shiny.... ough... no i lovie. i really do

like at the end of the day i admittedly could never love P4, and while i did really enjoy P5 (and P5R) it was always "but it's no P3". so asking me for my thoughts on P3R is mostly incoherent nodding and pointing bc its very much My Game reincarnated. i'm glad all my friends have an easier way to play it all gussied up and shiny now so i can finally foist my old rpg upon them... 🥰

peace and love on tatsumi port island.

[precipikitten]

okay while im thinking about p5r third semester, it really reminds me of the book The Lathe of Heaven, but goes about a similar hypothetical in an extremely different way which i love and i wanna talk about it.

In that book the main character, George, takes drugs to prevent deep sleep because his dreams uncontrollably change the past and world around him, and he's the only one who remembers the previous realities. He gets arrested for abuse of this medication and sent to a sleep researcher and psychiatrist called Dr. Haber, who slowly gets convinced of this power and starts remembering the previous realities too. Though initially trying to get George to take control of his power so he won't be afraid to sleep anymore, Haber starts trying to induce dreams of a better world in George's sessions.

Now immediately there's obvious parallels: A psychiatrist who discovers reality can be altered and immediately thinks to leap headfirst into using this ability to improve the lives of ordinary people without their knowledge. The humble soon-to-be god of a new utilitarian world. But here's where these stories start to differ.

Haber tries to suggest a dream of "peace on earth" which results in a reality where humanity is peaceful because they're united against the threat of an alien invasion on the moon. George tries to get a lawyer so he won't have to continue seeing Haber, but she suggests a dream of "the aliens being off the moon" which results in a reality where the aliens have invaded Earth. Haber then suggests a dream where "racism doesn't exist" which results in a reality where everyone has grey skin, and the lawyer, Heather, never existed because her mixed race was such a big part of her personal identity. By the end of the book Haber has figured out how to dream changes to reality for himself, so he doesn't need George anymore. George is able to stop him from ruining reality further, but by the end they're living in a reality comprised of random elements from all the others.

William Haber is a man who tries to play god and fails, his fault primarily lies in thinking that making sweeping changes to all of reality for the sake of a utilitarian utopia can be done by one man and involve decisions made on a dime. We're against him primarily because he only cares about intentions, not consequences: he keeps making things worse and worse because he doesn't know when to stop.

On the flip side, Takuto Maruki is a man who tries to play god and succeeds. Everyone does live in a happier world made specifically for them, there are no huge Butterfly Effect results of his changes that accidentally make things worse, and people are happy because of his actions. But we're still against him. He's easier to sympathize with, sure, but he's still a dictator over reality. He's still erasing experiences incredibly valuable to people's identities for the sake of a world where people get to live contentedly, where nobody has to work for change. Were his ideals taken to their extreme he'd remove more and more free will, and depending on how you look at it he might've ended up creating a eugenicist's society or something to that effect. He's only different from Yaldabaoth in method and intention.

Where The Lathe of Heaven asks "What would happen if a human tried to continue playing god after everything went wrong?", Royal's third semester asks "What would happen if a human tried to play god and everything went right?" and they're both such intriguing questions and explorations of a similar theme, imo.

[arcplaysgames]

Grinding a bunch of confidants. Loving Haru, I think she'll wind up being a good Empress once I see her ending.

Futaba's arc is done and her ultimate persona is A Dark Planet Lit By No Sun, I see.

Oh wait no its a Tron Sphere. I can feel the Daft Punk bass thumping from this thing.

I dunno what to say about Futaba except she is a textbook Hermit. The Hermit is all about the pursuit of knowledge to the neglect of all other things. It can be someone taking a spiritual retreat to find their inner quiet. It can also be a haxxor girl recluse learning to be a programming supergenius.

The important part of the Hermit is the duration. At its best, the Hermit takes a long break from society and returns to share the knowledge they discovered in their solitude. At worse, the Hermit is sequestered too long and loses that connection to society.

Futaba's journey to relearn how to interact with people and to be in public spaces is an extremely good Hermit arc. She has the hidden knowledge she left the world for but her path back is clear in front of her.

Ten out of ten! Like, just... textbook execution.

PICTURED ABOVE: Reverie trying to get Akechi to attack him in public.

Took Yusuke on a date and he asked Reverie to keep guiding him through new experiences, and somehow the game still doesn't let you mack on him. Fucking unfair.

And then, finally, after dodging me for weeks.

It's Maruki's final day here, and he's doing everything but a villainous striptease for our amusement.

It's okay to escape your problem, oh Maruki. Bro. Oh, you are going to be such a problem very soon.

I do love this performance though because the lines in the script are some red fucking flags, but the VA doesn't lean in at all and maintains the soft, earnest kindness the entire time. I'm hyped for Maruki to, idk, wrap a golden lasso around Mementos and ruin everyone's lives with his batshit savior complex.

GREATEST SCREENSHOT IN THE FUCKING GAME. THIS MOMENT IS WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMISSION. THIS MOMENT IS WORTH PUTTING UP WITH RYUJI IN HAWAII.

(i say worth the price, P5R was a gift, thank you cardiganism)

At this point, it's a running gag that every SLink ends with the person revealing they know Reverie is a Thief.

This is the first time that's felt dangerous.

I'm actually impressed with the game's restraint for not changing the BGM to something a little tense, because I sure felt fucking tense when he said this.

Maruki, you are so intensely fucking dangerous.

...... oh that's subtle

Okay, did you try your hypothesis out on your ex-fiance? Because that'd be severely fucked if you did that, homes.

Can't wait to see the degree to which you absolutely fuck everything up. Sincerely: go wild, man, do some damage. I bet it'll be spectacular. You are what ethics boards have nightmares about.

Back in the MSQ, its time to send Sae the calling card. Makoto volunteers to get it to Sae.

AND THEN

RIGHT AFTER AKECHI LEAVES

okay so we're double crossing the double-crosser. fabulous.

Is Joker going to be the one to do it because Akechi might take that as an overture of love at this point.

And the fuse is lit.

Akechi, you are a stone cold bitch and I hope it stings when your ass hits the curb.

NOW I MUST SLEEP BUT TOMORROW: finally figuring out what the FUCK is going ON.

Love it when a framing device comes apart.

[thesoundofmadness]

Cognitive Thieves? *grabs comfy blanket* you've intrigued me, friend. Tell me more.

ASLFKJSDFFG OH BOY MOTHER FUCKER YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU JUST UNLEASHED. strap the fuck in bc this is gonna be Long

Spoilers for P5R Third Semester btw.

Okay so the cognitive thieves are my idea of what Joker's Palace could be. I'm thinking the palace can act as a recap of the story before the ending. ya know, to make the ending hit a bit harder.

The palace is the very last, yet longest, palace in the game. I'm not sure exactly when it formed. It's not very hard, especially compared to the Momentos palace, it's just super long. The real world equivlent is Leblanc, of course. The reason Joker formed a palace is... complicated. There's multiple reasons.

A big part of it is the trauma he's endured throughout the game. Having to deal with getting your entire life uprooted, people talking shit about you at school, and just being Not Like The Others is rough.

One of the reasons it formed is imposter syndrome. Joker has spent the whole game learning how to wear a mask, changing himself in order to help others help him. The mask of a concerned friend, a loyal lover, a vigilant hero who doesn't know how to quit... He's lost his sense of identity and doesn't know who he is. He feels like a massive liar for it.

Another reason is, well, he just doesn't want to leave. His probation is almost over. He likes being a phantom thief and loves his friends. He's finally found a place to belong and simply doesn't want to lose it.

Another reason is.... resentment. He's pissed off at, unforuntely, everyone. He's pissed at Shido for ruining his life, pissed at his peers at school for talkin' shit, but most of all.... he's pissed with his friends. He's upset that no one has come to help him despite him doing all he can for them. He doesn't want to be angry at people who don't deserve it, especially not those who mean so much to him.

He's also grieving over Akechi's death. He feels awful he wasn't able to save Akechi. If Akechi accepted his help, he could have become another Phantom Thief and be welcome in their found family. He feels like it's his fault that Akechi is dead.

Joker couldn't handle all of this. So he just pushed it aside, almost forgetting about it entirely. This self neglect resulted in his palace being formed.

After Maruki's palace, Joker gradually stops coming home, and eventually outright disappears all together. He wanted to deal with the palace himself, not wanting to push the burden on his friends.

In order to avoid them, he told everyone he was doing something else whenever they asked to hang. He told Sojiro he was going with Ryuji, he was with Ann, he told Ann he was with Yusuke, etc. He even went as far as telling non-thief confidants lies.

One morning, Morgana wakes up and sees Joker just, gone. He asks Futaba and Sojiro where he might be, only for them to have conflicting awnsers. They bring the team together and it seems he's lied to all of them.

They decide to go out looking for him. Futaba takes a look at the MetaNav, only to see that there's a new palace. Immeditately she calls everyone.

After some fucking around, they say the right keywords and, oh no. the palace belongs to their dear leader. They instantly decide they have to tackle this palace and save their friend. The deadline is two weeks.

From this point on, you can't play as Joker. Instead, you have to choose a "temporary" leader from one of the remaining thieves. The only one you can't choose is Futaba, because navigation. Each character has their own "leader skill" that can be used in the palace. The game defaults to whoever has the highest confiant rank (in the case everyone is maxed, it's whoever you maxed first)

You still have all the money, items, and confidant skills from before. However, you can't fuse personas (bc only joker and akechi can wield multiple personas), or raise confidant levels.

The palace itself is a mix between a theater and a circus, and it's big enough to span over the entire city. It's filled to the brim with puzzles, illusions, and shadows of all kinds. It's EXTREMELY unstable.

You won't ever actually see Shadow Joker until the boss fight. He uses illusion to shield himself. He'll show up as spotlights, a disembodied voice through a speaker, and maybe even various figures from previous palaces.

The palace has 4 areas, each area resembling a different palace from before. First Area is Kamoshida's palace, 2nd is a mix of Madarame's and Futaba's palace, Third area is Kaneshiro's and Okumura, and the 4th is Shido's and Maruki's.

Each area has a different Cognitive Phantom Thief that acts as a mini-boss. The more you've leveled your teammates up, the stronger their cognitive counter part.

Cognitive Ann, Makoto, Haru, Futaba, and Sumire's fights will be different depending on if you romanced them or not.

Joker genuinely doesn't want to hurt his friends. He loves them more than anything. The cognitive thieves goal ISN'T to kill you, they just want to Kick You the Fuck Out. However, Joker's anger is likely to shine through. If you don't take them out quickly enough, they may use a few one-shot moves and kill you instantly.

The only cognitive thief who won't try to kick you out is Cognitive Morgana. Cognitive Morgana genuinely wants to help you save Joker. He will heal you completely and give you hints if you ask. Though, he tends to give misinformation.

Your goal with the cognitive thieves is to take their masks and return them to Cognitive Morgana. If you do, Cognitive Morgana will open the backstage door.

Im thinking theme for this palace is a distorted version of Last Surprise.

I'm not TOO sure on the initial meeting with Shadow Joker after the phantom thieves enter the palace. I have a few ideas but none of them are concrete.

I also have an idea on the Shido portion of this.

If you wanna hear those lmk

[saelik]

The p5r brain rot is so strong that I couldn’t even enjoy RWBY’s episode, usually seeing Penny and Pyrrha would have made me sob but I only began to cry when I realized Torchwick is voiced by Billy Kametz and I had to stop every time the curious cat talked, this game has ruined my life

[koipalm]

ah the marukiverse. i also wish there were thousands of fics about it; i can never get enough. i, a non-shipper, have read shuake centric marukiverse fics just for the psychological horror/guilt/betrayal. that's the good stuff 8) also, i wish i were good at writing, bc i've had this idea in my head for ages of ren getting regular nightmares abt the marukiverse and having to ground himself with reminders of the true reality when he wakes up. also also: therapy is definitely ruined for him now <3

GOD RIGHT LIKE. 3rd semester is eeeendlessly interesting to me especially the role that it plays in the overall story of p5r. i reallt cant get over just how depth atlus added to joker GHHFFFF AAAND THA FACKING THERAPY THING..... DOOONTTTT EVEN GET ME STARTED. ITS SO INTERESTING. ITS SO INTERESTING. i also want to see some kind of 3rd semester where joker has to in some way WORK with maruki.... i think it would be so so agonizing for him with having to work with this person hellbent on taking away choice and also who is still trying to get him onto his side as they go along.... akira and marukis relationship is so DAMN interesting but so so so so sad because i DO believe that maruki cared and wanted the best for akira but again. the kid is 17 at best and you are traumatizing him. get away from her get a JOBBB

[texeoghea]

in the interest of differentiating more for myself and the ppl who keep following me for my insane out of context doodles

SURVIVAL AU (tagged #survival au): mine. basic premise is akechi is resurrected by an outside force after the events of persona 5 royal, to fill a similar role to what he does in the game. he is warned of this by a separate force that is also a pawn in the game, and with that knowledge, aims to take control of his life and destroy the concept of fate, freeing himself and possibly future wild cards from being forced into the cosmic battle between Philemon and Chaos. takes place in Ireland, and has multiple parts. the first part takes place concurrently to Persona 5 Strikers, the second part involving Sumire happens 2 years after P5R. later parts skip in decade intervals. ik ik his death was warranted he was doomed by the narrative etc i just think goro akechi as a character would also out of spite refuse to die the way he did if given the chance to take it back, because he would want to die on his own terms and not under the influence or control of another, whether that be a person or a god. especially if its a god even. and kurusu got to kill a god akechi deserves to do that too its only fair. i do have plans to script and eventually turn this idea into a comic, because i've made a LOT of ocs and lore for it and i think about it often. the rough draft of the first 3 chapters were on ao3, but i deleted that because i ended up scrapping those parts entirely

Aisling originates in this AU, and arguably has a large role, but she was mostly made for a Persona thing that's more original, which i'm making with my friends. Celeste is also an OC from a different verse that i reformatted for the friend oc persona bash. if youre interested in her you'll Probably find more of her in her other, original tag, #astriferous harmonia celestica, from my pokemon AU, Destinations.

MONKEY'S PAW AU (tagged #monkeys paw au): created by me and @oatchi. basically akechi realizes that he's in a time loop (mimicking the nature of P5 as a video game/save resets) and gains the ability to remember previous loops from Yaldabaoth. he then proceeds to reset time A Lot to try and 1. escape the time loop 2. get revenge on shido 3. ruin akira kurusu's life. ive made like 4 posts for this and theyre all incredibly disjointed due to the nature of time loops but i figure if im gonna post some i might as well give people Something. its me and callies little sandbox tho i cant even promise how much more will get posted we are here to have fun

[rivalsforlife]

akechi comparisons to adachi are hilarious as someone who’s played both games (haven’t finished p5r though) bc like. maybe i’m just biased (akechi pfp) but akechi has like. waves hands. i can See what happened to you and why you became the way you were. and then adachi is just like “i had no time for friends as a kid so i became an incel” like. tbh akechi despite being an objectively worse person as a killer is just more sympathetic. also yeah the handling of naoto and kanji is uh. it sure is something

yeah I was gonna wait to answer this until I finished adachi's whole thing but clearly that's not happening for a little while still sdfgdsfgh (<- probably severely underleveled and has also learned you need to put this battle off for a long time or it will literally skip weeks in the game) so I might not have all the proper knowledge going into this answer.

but yeah akechi has a higher kill count I GUESS but he makes up for it by being a very fun character. since you said you haven't finished p5r I won't go into it more than that (and it's been a while since I watched a full p5r playthrough, my friend just streamed some of the later parts recently which is what got me back into this). and I'm not feeling super thoughtful anyways. but I did get very invested in "angry and hurt kid ruins his life (and kills people) trying to get revenge against his biological father" (to... vastly oversimplify things) that I'm not feeling for "I killed a woman because she rejected me... and then a high school girl because she rejected me..." which is about as far in to adachi's whole thing that I am now. like I said in my other post I didn't do the social link and I'm assuming there's more to learn about him once I beat his dungeon whenever that is. but that's where my head's at right now.

I guess it's easy to make comparisons based on "detective named a__chi who starts off seeming like your friend but he killed people" which I guess is where the idea came from but so far the way I'm reacting to their characters is completely different and that's way less me dealing with who's worse in terms of criminal actions and way more "several things about akechi appeal to me as far as his character and role in the story goes that adachi doesn't have". like I can excuse mass murder but I draw the line at forcing yourself on a teenager

[danidoesathing]

Top five favorite video games?

oooh why must you make me chose

Slay the Princess

its everything. its a horror game. its a love story. its a comedy. its got jonathan sims voicing literally every other character besides the Princess. it's about the endless cycle of death and life. its about the interchangeability of violence and passion. it's about love persisting in all its forms. its monsterfucker4monterfucker and monster4monster. its about a bird man and the voices in his head. play slay the princess right now

2. Legend of Zelda; Twilight Princess

TWILIGHT PRINCESS MY BELOVED...admittedly im biased because its a game i grew up with but i played it religiously and explored about every inch of that tp hyrule i could. origin of a lot of my favorite tropes (big glowy god deities, reluctant allies to near codependent friendship, shadow worlds that arent evil, etc). loved whatever the hell was happening between midna and zelda. pubby link <3

3. Persona 5 Royal

ah the persona series my belothved. p5r is so good i love the characters i love the dynamics i love the arcs i love the gameplay i love the art style. sumire was adorable i love her and her parallels with joker and goro. goro getting more a finale to his arc and time to explore his character outside of the detective prince identity. royal trio you will always be famous to me. Hereward and Raoul and Celestine. it'd be a perfect game if not for the. the Problems. good lord the Problems. this game is the reason i started writing tbh

4. Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

very few games have actually made me cry, let alone cry multiple times but GOD. zelda and link's relationship here has me in a puddle on the floor like no other incarnation has ever got me in. THE DEDICATION!!! THE UNCONDTIONALY LOVE!!!! never gonna be over the contrast between the utter isolation and loneliness of botw to this one be so much more full of people but also so much warmer. something about link carrying the whole weight of the world on his shoulders all the time and pouring so much of himself into saving it in every incarnation of himself out of love. and then having that love be reciprocated with each of the sages. the scene of them coming to his side just as such a stark reminder that no you're not alone and no one is gonna let you be alone!! you are always gonna have that love in your life!!! crying wailing. i love this game

5. Splatoon 3

its so so so fun. the characters are great and so silly. the music unironically fucks so hard and the fact i have favorite bands is certainly saying something. the world building is insanely fucking detailed. fr the amount of lore for the silly squid is wild especially with how fucking DARK it gets. not in like the "oh its so dark if you think about it!!!!" but in like the world is 12,000 years after the extinction of humanity and it's remains are see in every aspect of the world, from cultures and traditions to actual ruins being made into the basis of their civilization. two of the three main villains are literally remnants of a humanity's bygone age refusing to accept change and trying to revert the world back to the way it was, even if its futile. there were canonical wars and a full blown genocide in the background the octo expansion. nobody doing it like splatoon lore writers. wild fucking game series but i love it so much.

[semi-imaginary-place]

P5 feels a lot like kh3 where it feels like the devs purposefully released the game without it's final arc so that they could charge 30-60$ in an updated version that has that final arc.

Base p5 just kinda feels like the story isn't over. Royal wasn't the only way to do it, and in same ways Strikers fills that gap. But you can see it in the arcana too, in base p5 Joker never reaches the end of his journey the World arcana, he stops at Judgement. Joker doesn't feel like he's teached his conclusion which could have been a good setup for a full sequel actually. It's also comes with some of the other writing problems of p5 like how the phantom thieves never grapple with or really face the consequences of play judge jury and executioner unilaterally brain ashing people based on what they think in best, royal doesn't satisfyingly address this either once again defaulting to it's ok because pt are the "good guys" , but at least royal does something.

I hate it yaldy really feels so dropped in there. The whole last arc doesn't really feel like a goodbye the way this sort of ending should be it's like oh welp the game is over. Which is a shame because the concept of fighting the god of control/authoritarianism is pretty good for what p5 is trying to go for thematically . Except that p5 bungles it's themes, trips over them, over simplifies it to adults suck kids rule, skips over the moral quandary of forcing people to act a certain way because the player characters are "the good guys" who can do no wrong. For a game claiming to be about social rebellion there there is startlingly no social rebellion. The characters don't really break any social constructs from work culture to academic culture, to the education system, gender roles, heteronormativity, Japan's xenophobia and asssimulation culture. Hell the game doesn't touch on minorities at all. But I'm off topic back to end game. They really could have done more with yaldy which is yeah what royal does and Maruki feels like such a more satisfying antagonist because of the build up, personal connection, and personal stakes. In terms of arcana Judgement is gaining knowledge of one's self granting the power of judgement. But World is full circle it is a full understanding of ones place in the universe and the self actualization that comes with it. This is why p3's protag is the Universe/World arcana. And p5 base game doesn't really get there while royal gives it that little bit of closure.

P5's not a bad game, it's fun to play. P5 weakness is it's writing and I just happen to be someone who prioritizes writing and thematic cohesion. So p5's problems are the exact problems that especially bother me. The first and last palace of p5r are good and everything else feels like filler. Fun to play though, getting to run around Tokyo is great I don't dislike any of the social links. Although I find some of the stories to be contrived like how each one needs a change of heart, they all follow the same plot of someone ruining someone else's life so joker fixes it for them, feels kinda same-y. I like the party members. Combat is great, they brought back demon negotiations.

Original comment and replies: https://www.reddit.com/r/PERSoNA/comments/1ckatgy/comment/l2m9ln5/