#persona 5 x translation

[dream-meister-translations]

PERSONA 5 : THE PHANTOM X

PERSONA 5 : THE PHANTOM X BETA - PART 6

━

As Wonder leaves the classroom, he is greeted by the girl with pigtails. 

TOMOKO NOGE : Ah...It seems I keep running into you today.

TOMOKO NOGE : Arai rushed off to the cafeteria. She said if she didn't get the sandwich she wanted, it would sell out fast. This kind of thing always reminds me of when we were still athletes....

WONDER : When you were still athletes?

TOMOKO NOGE : Yeah, Arai and I used to play baseball together. But...For some reason, she gave up on it. Since then, she hasn't been quite the same. She's been a lot more cheerful lately, though. It puts my mind at ease.

TOMOKO NOGE : Ah~ Maybe it's because you're sitting next to her in class?

WONDER : I think it's all thanks to you, Tomoko.

TOMOKO NOGE : That's not true...All I can do is be there for her when she needs me...Ah! Sorry! I've said too much. Are you heading to get lunch too? Where do you usually eat?

WONDER : On the rooftop.

TOMOKO NOGE : If you're going to the rooftop, just take those stairs right over there. Haha, are you the type who enjoys eating food alone, Wonder? We have someone like that in our class as well. Anyway, I need to go find Arai, see you later!

With that, Tomoko fixes her glasses and walks away.

-

When Wonder arrives on the rooftop he is met by a guy who is eating a cup of noodles on a bench. The guy has spiked blue hair and looks like a delinquent. When the guy spots Wonder he leaves. 

WONDER : (What he was eating smells good...)

WONDER : (Where's Ruferu...)

Ruferu flies down from the sky and perches on the railing.

RUFERU : I'm here! As agreed, it is time I answer your questions. About that place you saw yesterday, that is what we call the Metaverse and those monsters are what we call Shadows. What I have to say is tough to understand. You ready?

WONDER : I'm ready.

-

Ruferu and Wonder are now seated on the bench talking. 

RUFERU : Well then, first things first, about the Metaverse. It's a space that materializes from the collective unconscious of humanity. If you consider the real world the "surface," then you can consider the Metaverse a deeper "inner" world existing on parallel lines. 

RUFERU : You can think of it as a cognitive world where human consciousnesses are all mixed together.

WONDER : Cognitive world?

RUFERU : It's how people perceive the real world. Maybe that's easier to understand? The Metaverse is a dark, twisted version of our own. This means that the current humans living in Tokyo cannot perceive any hope from the world. 

RUFERU : As for why that is, you already understand, correct?

WONDER : Because human desires have been taken away?

RUFERU : Precisely! You're quite clever. Then I'll continue. 

RUFERU : In the other world, there are entities called Shadows. There are two types of these. The first type was those enemies that attacked us without warning. Those guys aren't human. They're more like monsters triggered by desires.

RUFERU : The second type is different...Those shadows are a second side to a human in the real world. Symbols of their dark and twisted hearts. It's the embodiment of desires hidden in a human's heart. In other words, "another self." 

WONDER : Could it be...

RUFERU : You should already understand. After all, you already awakened your Shadow as a Persona. 

RUFERU : But not everyone has the same ability you have. They can't all control their inner selves. If for some reason desires become twisted, their Shadow will lose control...Even in the real world, they will harm others without hesitation.

RUFERU : In conclusion, when someone's Shadow loses control it is considered the mastermind who exploits desires in the other world. At least that's my speculation. 

WONDER : Is that really what's happening...?

RUFERU : Indeed. It may be difficult to wrap your head around, but it's the truth. What's even worse is that when a human's Shadow loses control, the monstrous Shadows are also effected. They will continue to drain the desires from the real world until there are none left. 

WONDER : (.........)

RUFERU : I don't know everything yet. That's why we need to explore and understand that other world in detail. Although it's a bit soon, let's change the topic to work. 

WONDER : Work?

RUFERU : Yup! I have high hopes for you! I'm hoping that you'll work with me and become a Phantom Thief. As for what you will be stealing, you've already figured that out, haven't you? 

WONDER : This is all too sudden...

RUFERU : Opportunities always come suddenly~ But, I get it. It's a lot to take in at once. Let's leave it at that for now. I'll explain more once you find the target. It will be more efficient that way. I'll be waiting for you in Shibuya after school. 

RUFERU : To steal back what humanity has lost....That is the Phantom Thief's goal. I'll give you some guidance along the way. See ya later.

WONDER : I didn't say I'd help! 

RUFERU : Oh!? Don't you suddenly go backing out on me! I finally set up a cool pose to take off...Ah, whatever, we can talk about it later!

With that, Ruferu flies away. 

WONDER : (..........)

WONDER : (The Metaverse and Shadows....To steal back what was lost...A Phantom Thief...? Ugh...Lunch break is almost over, I'd better hurry to the cafeteria!)

-

As Wonder is rushing down the staircase, he suddenly bumps into Arai, sending him and his phone flying. Arai, noticing his phone is flying across the hallway, leaps to catch it before it breaks. Then she stands up and brushes her skirt while Wonder is still laying on the ground, blushing and rubbing the back of her head.

MOTOHA ARAI : Sorry about that, Wonder, I was lost in thought and didn't notice you were there. Ah, actually, it was you I was thinking about....

WONDER : Yeah...I'm sorry, too.

MOTOHA ARAI : Ah...Right! Almost forgot. You dropped this! I caught it in time so it shouldn't be damaged or anything. 

She hands Wonder's phone to him.

MOTOHA ARAI : Huh!? That icon...

Riko Tanemura approaches with a hand on her hip, glaring at them. 

RIKO TANEMURA : Please refrain from performing diving catches in the hallways. 

MOTOHA ARAI : Ah...Sorry, Riko senpai. It's just that Wonder almost dropped his phone...

RIKO TANEMURA : It seems you still have the ability to win the Best Nine award to this day.

MOTOHA ARAI : That was years ago...

RIKO TANEMURA : Oh you...

She looks at Wonder. 

RIKO TANEMURA : You're the one from before...

WONDER : Thank you again.

RIKO TANEMURA : I just did what I had to do. By the way, you seem different from before. No, maybe it's just my imagination. Anyway, it's almost time for fifth period. Don't be late, both of you. 

WONDER : (...I seem different now....She's right...It feels like I can take the initiative now...Is it because my desires have no longer been stolen...?)

MOTOHA ARAI : You okay? You've been zoning out for a sec. Fifth period is in the science lab, right? We'd better hurry up! 

WONDER : (I guess I'll have to just give up on eating lunch today...)

-

After the final class of the day, Wonder stands to his feet and leaves the classroom, thinking to himself,

WONDER : (That's right, Ruferu said he'd wait for me in Shibuya...)

Behind him, Arai pulls out her cellphone. 

MOTOHA ARAI : Wonder has the same icon on his phone...No matter how many times I delete this darn thing...I asked around school, but nobody knows what it is. Why does Wonder have it on his phone?

MOTOHA ARAI : The way he disappeared and reappeared yesterday...How does he do it?

Tomoko approaches Arai and she puts her phone away.

MOTOHA ARAI : Hey, Tomoko, isn't there a club activity today?

TOMOKO NOGE : The club room is under repair, so it got cancelled. It's been a while since we walked home together, how about it? 

MOTOHA ARAI : Sure, let's do it! 

[corvus-detritus]

.... Mona (And Cattle) 🥺 Little guys... They could never make me hate you 🙏

[p5x-theories]

Here's the Version 3.0.1 trailer shown in the livestream yesterday, with English subtitles added by me!

[ebenvonak]

To every persona 5X player who downloaded/is thinking of downloading the English translation mod to their pc!!:

Do not download it. It's a virus idk if the creator is aware (tbh they probably are lol) but I had my computer fixed a bit ago and the person who had fixed it told me I had a virus from a program called "english translator persona 5 x". If your computer freezes then I can say it's from the mod. As soon as your computer freezes the creator of the mod can look into your computer and take your personal information. I got p5x without the mod and it didn't freeze even once. I suggest waiting for the official global release and not download this mod.

[indecisive-v]

forgive me, i've really gone down the p5x rabbit hole now

[lopjh]

P5X Tomoko Noge/Moko Gameplay Details

Role: Support

---------------

Stats (Level 1):

Health: 207

Attack: 60

Defense: 48

Speed: 101

Persona Trait (Awareness Level 0):

The Gift of the Forest:

At the beginning of her turn, Tomoko gains a number of [Green Leaves] corresponding to the number of enemies on the field. Each [Green Leaf] increases Effect Hit Rate of the party by 13%, with a Max of 3 Stacks. Every 3 [Green Leaf] Tomoko gets, will give her a [Ye Ming Minor] state, which powers up her skills.

-----------

Awareness Levels:

When "Hymm of the Leaf Flute" is used, every [Green Leaf] consumed increases the target's Effect Hit Rate by (20% Tomoko's Effect Hit Rate), for 1 round.

Skill Levels of "Melody of Thought" and "Good Night Song" are increased by 2 Levels.

After "Hymm of the Leaf Flute" is used, gain 1 [Green Leaf].

Skill Levels of "Hymm of the Leaf Flute" and "Combat Skills" are increased by 2 Levels.

After using Highlight, increases damage received by enemies by an additional 25% for 1 round.

After an enemy is affected by Tomoko's Sleep effect, the next damage it receives will be increased by 30%.

---------

Active Skills:

Melody of Thought(Level 1): Deals (48% Attack Power) Psi damage to all enemies, and increases damage to enemies suffering mental abnormalities by 50%. Gain 1 [Green Leaf]. [20 SP]

Good Night Song(Level 1): Inflicts (32% Chance) Sleep on a foe for 1 round. When using this skill, if Tomoko has [Ye Ming Minor], the probability of sleep increases by 48%. [20 SP]

Hymm of the Leaf Flute(Level 1): Increases damage caused by an ally by 15%, and consume all [Green Leaves] on Tomoko. Each [Green Leaf] consumed increases the damage by an additional (0.23% for every 10% of Tomoko's Effect Hit Rate; Max: 4.5%) [22 SP]

HIGHLIGHT(Level 1): Inflicts (51.2% Chance) Sleep on all enemies for 2 turns and increases damage they receive by 10.9% for 1 turn.

Passive Skills:

Fantasy(Level 1): Increases the damage mentally abnormal enemies receive by 8%.

Pursue(Level 1): When using "Hymm of the Leaf Flute", if there are 3 [Green Leaves] on Tomoko, there is a fixed 33% chance to to dispel a random negative on the target.

----------

Weapons(Base Level/Transformation):

Double Dagger (2 Star):

Health: 82

Attack: 24

Defense: 19

Attack increased by 11.3%.

Ode to the Double Blade (3 Star):

Health: 98

Attack: 28

Defense: 23

When inflicting Sleep, Effect Hit Rate is increased by 27.1%

Shadow Dance Double Crown (4 Star):

Health: 131

Attack: 38

Defense: 30

Attack increased by 12.0%. After inflicting Sleep, the defense of the sleeping enemy is reduced by 10.8% for 1 round.

Dream Weaver (5 Star):

Health: 164

Attack: 48

Defense: 38

Effect Hit Rate increased by 36.0%. When [Green Leaf] is consumed, the target ally's Attack will be increased by 26.0% for 2 rounds. When [Ye Ming Minor] is consumed, the Attack of all allies will be increased by 38.0% for 1 round.

----------

Analysis

Tomoko is in a weird place, being an alright Support, but with a niche in increasing the Effect Hit Rate of allies. For the allies, that do care about getting effects inflicted on allies, this can greatly help consistentcy, however, they are also giving up much more pottentially useful support such as Bui's much better Attack buffs and Critical Hit rate boosts, or Leo's Shields. She can still be very useful, she's just a bit more niche than Leo or Bui, who's niches are much more generally useful and applicable to most characters in a way that helps push damage or protecting benchmark, which will be seen as more important and trackable than consistency.

Good Teams to use Kotomo in are:

Kotomo - Riddle - Haru:

A very powerful Mono-Psi team. Kotomo helps Haru inflict her [Special Treatment] on foes, which sets up her gameplan to deal major enemies to foes with her Firearm. She also sets up Sleep, which will further increases Haru's damage due to the foe having a mental abnormality. Riddle's effect resistance debuffs on foe's makes Kotomo and Haru work extremely well together, with Kotomo's Attack buffs and Riddles wide variety of debuffs lets Haru shine. Probably one of her best teams.

Kotomo - Riddle - Closer:

Kotomo buffs up Closer with Attack and Effect Hit increases, while Riddle applys many debuffs on the enemy, including Effect Resistance . This allows her to get off consistently strong damage with her [Conductive] spreading to many foes. May prove frail without a dedicated tank to help them out, or a healer.

[gomaan]

Chinese New Year Commemorative Greeting Video by Chinese Dubbing Voice Actors

Protagonist / Wonder:

Thank you for your help last year. Hello, everyone. I am Su Shanqing, the Chinese voice actor of Wonder, the main character of P5X. It's almost Chinese New Year. I would like to wish you a Happy New Year and all the best.

Ruferu / Cattle:

Ho-ho! I've been waiting for you. Good day to you all, leader of the Phantom Thieves. I am your guide to another world. ---- This is Hong Haitian, the Chinese voice actor of Rufel. It will soon be New Year's Day. I hope all the leaders can spend their days in good health and joy in the New Year. I look forward to seeing you again in the world of P5X. Then I will guide you then, ho-ho-ho!

Lee Yaoling / Rin:

"The sound of firecrackers heralds the end of the year, and the spring breeze brings warmth to the tussu wine." *This is a quote from the poem "New Year's Day" by Wang Anshi, a poet in the Song Dynasty. New Year's Day! New Year's Day!!! I can't wait to go home… Hmmm… I think Lee Yaoling actually thinks this too. Hello everyone, I am a fellow thief leader and a Chinese exchange student; Li Yaolin's Chinese voice actor, Xiao Lian Xiao! It's almost the New Year and I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you "teachers" a very Happy New Year! Let's go home soon and see each other again. Eh? As to why he (Wonder?) is a teacher… Now let's wait for P5X to release the rest!

Motoha Arai / Closer:

(Stretching… ￣▽￣ What? "It's your turn"…? How are you doing lately? There may be some difficulties, but don't panic, let's stay positive! Hello, leaders of the Phantom Thieves! I am one of you leaders' fellow, I am Zhu Quecheng, the Chinese voice actress of Motoha Arai. A new year is about to begin. A red-hot, blazing, lively New Year is coming! I wish all the leaders happiness and laughter every day.

Shun Kanou / Soy:

Hey, is there anything you want to eat today? It's a special occasion, let me handle the cooking. Hello, thief leader. I am Liu Yuxuan, the Chinese voice actor of Shun Kanou. It's almost the Chinese New Year. I hope all of you leaders will eat well and sleep well to welcome the New Year. I am waiting to see you all in the world of P5X!

◆主人公（ワンダー） 【日本語訳】 昨年はお世話になりました。 こんにちは、みなさん。 私はP5Xの主人公ワンダーの中国語声優、スー・シャンチン（苏尚卿）です。 もうすぐ旧正月ですね。 新年あけましておめでとうございます、そしてご多���をお祈り申し上げます。

【中国語の原文】 去年承蒙关照 Hello 各位好 我是P5X主人公Wonder的中文配音演员苏尚卿 临近农历新年 在此恭祝各位新年快乐,万事如意

◆ルフェル 【日本語訳】 ホホー！ずっと待っていたぞ。 皆の者御機嫌よう、怪盗団リーダー。（※プレイヤーの事） ワシはお前の異世界への案内人だ———— ルフェルの中国語声優の洪海天です。 もうすぐ元旦になりますね。 新年もリーダーの皆様が元気で楽しく毎日を過ごせることを願っています。 P5X の世界でまたお会いできることを楽しみにしています。 ではその時はワシが案内しよう、ホッホゥ！！

【中国語の原文】 嚯嚯,吾已经等你好久了 各位队长大家好 我是各位的异世界向导——— 路菲尔的中文声优洪海天 马上就到新年啦 希望各位队长新的一年健康、幸福、天天开心 期待我们早日在P5X的世界中相见哦 届时吾会指引你的,嚯嚯

◆李瑶铃（リー・ヤオリン） 【日本語訳】 「爆竹の音が年末を告げ、春風がトゥス酒に暖かさをもたらします」 ※宋の時代の詩人、王安石の詩「元日」の引用。 お正月～お正月～早く帰りたいですね… ふふふ、李瑶铃（リー・ヤオリン）も実はこう思ってそうですね。 みなさんこんにちは、 私は怪盗団リーダー皆さんの仲間の中国人留学生、 李瑶铃（リー・ヤオリン）の中国語声優の小连杀で～す！ もうすぐ新年ですね、この場を借りて「先生」の皆様のご多幸をお祈り申し上げます。 早く帰って、再会しましょう。 え? なぜ彼（ワンダーの事？）が教師なのかというと… あとはP5Xで公開されるのを待ちましょう！

【中国語の原文】 爆竹声中一岁除,春风送暖入屠苏 新年新年,好想回家啊…… 哈哈哈,这应该是李瑶铃的心里话吧 各位好 我是P5X中的各位队长的中国留学生朋友 李瑶铃的中文声优小连杀~ 新春将至,我借此机会祝愿各位“老师”们 早早回家,团团圆圆 嗯?至于为什么是老师呀…… 那就等着在P5X里再揭晓咯

◆新井素羽 【日本語訳】 (ストレッチ中… ￣▽￣ え？「あなたの番だよ」？ 最近調子はどう？ 大変なことがあるかもしれないけど慌てないで、前向きにいこう！ 怪盗団のリーダーたちこんにちは！私はリーダーたちの仲間、 新井素羽の中国語声優の朱雀橙です。 新しい年がもうすぐ始まりますね。 赤々と燃えるような賑やかな新年がやってきます！ 私は、すべてのリーダーが毎日幸せで、笑いが絶えないことを願っています。

【中国語の原文】 (伸懒腰中…… ￣▽￣ 嗯?是你啊……. 最近过得怎么样 遇到麻烦别苦恼,开心一点嘛 队长好!我是各位队长的队友、好兄弟 新井素羽的中文声优朱雀橙 新的一年马上就要���啦 在这红红火火的新春即将到来之际 我,在此祝愿各位队长天天开心,笑不离口

◆加納駿 【日本語訳】 なあ、今日何か食べたいもんはあるか？ 特別な日だからな、料理なら俺に任せてくれ。 こんにちは、怪盗団のリーダー、私は加納駿の中国語声優の刘雨轩です。 もうすぐ春節ですね。 リーダーの皆さんには、よく食べてよく眠って新年を迎えていただきたいと思います。 P5Xの世界で皆さんにお会いできるのを待っています！

【中国語の原文】 哟,今天有没有什么想吃的 特别的日子嘛,反正没事,让我来下厨吧 Hello 队长好,我是加纳骏的中文声优刘雨轩 新春佳节即将到来 在此希望各位队长新年里吃的饱饱,睡的好好 我会在P5X的世界里等着和各位见面哦

[ennaakat]

First look at Yaoling's character art with some brief info about her:

Born in Sichuan, China. She's now a college freshman in Japan.

She's an outgoing and generous person who is carefree and also sometimes childish.

Her Persona is Meng Po

[larranciaa]

[davekat-sucks]

Joker x Futaba is better then Davekat

(Persona 5 not DCs joker)

Ren/Akira (Joker) x Futaba aka Lotus Pair (蓮双) is better than Davekat.

[semprelibera]

Because most of their terms are untranslatable in languages with grammatical gender, which the majority of the world speaks, and because I have noticed that monolingual Anglophones tend to associate feminine and masculine qualities to inanimate objects in ways that people who speak (not necessarily natively) gendered languages would never do.

Neo-pronous/NB ideology literally wouldn't exist if most native English speaker weren't monolingual

[dream-meister-translations]

PERSONA 5 : THE PHANTOM X

PERSONA 5 : THE PHANTOM X BETA - PART 5

━

Wonder approaches Merope who is examining a Rise Kujikawa poster hanging up in the station. 

WONDER : (It's Merope...)

MEROPE : The power of the "Persona" should allow one to enter the Velvet Room through this poster...Let me give it a try.

With an elegant swipe of her hair, she turns the poster into a blue doorway and walks straight through the wall into what we can presume is the Velvet Room. Wonder is watching the whole thing transpire. Scratching his head with confusion.

WONDER : (What was that just now...? Ugh. I don't have time to think about it, I'm gonna be late for school...)

-

[The following is a description of a scene cut from the Beta version of the game ]

Above ground, on a crowded platform, Wonder boards the train. He brushes shoulders with a man dressed in a business suit, who nods politely. However, when his gaze lingers on a woman, his expression suddenly becomes unsettling.

-

Wonder is standing in the tram, there are three school girls seated on the bench in front of him. One with pigtails and two others whispering to each other. 

GOSSIPING FEMALE STUDENT 1 : Look at that boy over there...

GOSSIPING FEMALE STUDENT 2 : Oh! He's so handsome!

WONDER : (Are they talking about me...? This is a little embarrassing...)

GOSSIPING FEMALE STUDENT 1 : It must be him...He's wearing the school uniform~ 

GOSSIPING FEMALE STUDENT 2 : I didn't expect to see Ichinami-senpai this early in the morning~ 

The camera pans over to a mature looking male who is reclining against the tram and reading a book. 

GOSSIPING FEMALE STUDENT 1 : Quiet down! Causing a commotion won't be good, it might catch his attention. 

GOSSIPING FEMALE STUDENT 2 : You're right, I wouldn't wanna make him think I'm a creepy stalker or something!

WONDER : (Doesn't seem like they're talking about me...)

STATION ANNOUNCEMENT : Now arriving at Shimokitazawa Station.

WONDER : (Time to get off...)

-

Wonder is standing in line waiting to leave the station and there are two older men with glasses standing behind him.

WONDER : (Ugh...I can't find my tram pass...)

MAN IN SUIT : What the hell is taking so long?

CONCERNED MAN : If I'm late again, it will count as missing a day of work and my boss will be angry...

He gets out of line and searches for his pass. After a few minutes, he is standing with knuckles to chin, deep in thought. The girl with pigtails from earlier approaches him.

WONDER : (I still can't find it anywhere...)

SOFT-SPOKEN GIRL : Excuse me...I found this monthly tram pass on the tram, did you perhaps drop it?

WONDER : (It's my pass!)

SOFT-SPOKEN GIRL : It is yours right? I could have sworn it fell out of your bag...

WONDER : Yeah, it's mine. Thank you.

SOFT-SPOKEN GIRL : Great! Here you go. I'll be on my way then...

-

Wonder makes his way from the station to Kokatsu Academy, heading inside the building.

-

[The following is a description of a scene cut from the Beta version of the game ]

A woman is walking, while looking at her phone, when suddenly a man collides with her. The woman, enduring pain and fear, is quick to flinch back and move away. In a rage, the man follows after the woman. She is screaming and so are the other women around. 

-

Wonder, now inside his classroom, is sitting at his desk droning away, looking bored while Kumi Katayama teaches. 

KUMI KATAYAMA : Alright, let us begin math class. Hm...Why does everyone look so drowsy? 

KUMI KATAYAMA : I suggest we start with a warm-up for our brains. Wonder, how about you answer this one?

KUMI KATAYAMA : In Japan, there is such a thing as "becoming a delinquent" or "going awry." This ideology originates from a certain creature. What is that creature? 

WONDER : A crow.

KUMI KATAYAMA : Unfortunately, the correct answer is a clam. Most people don't understand why this is. Even I was confused at first. 

KUMI KATAYAMA : Typically a clam has two shells that fit together perfectly. This ideology is derived from the concept of a clam whose shells don't fit. It's as if they've "gone awry." Just like those unruly delinquents. 

KUMI KATAYAMA : It seems like none of you are interested... Very well, open your textbooks and let us continue from where we left off last week...

-

The bell for the last class of the morning rings. 

Students are leaving the classroom, but Wonder and Arai are still sitting in their seats. Arai turns in her chair to face Wonder. 

UNSHAVEN MALE STUDENT : Ugh...I'm so bored during class that I start thinking about what to eat for lunch, but I'm not even hungry...

PLUMP FEMALE STUDENT : Why do we still have classes in the afternoon? Ugh...I want to lose weight but it's so hard to stick with it...

MOTOHA ARAI : I saw what happened yesterday. That was crazy! 

WONDER : What do you mean?

MOTOHA ARAI : You were THERE, surely you know what I'm talking about? That lunatic on the bicycle was crashing into everyone on the tram. Thankfully the station staff arrived in time, so no one was seriously injured. But the culprit had disappeared. Do you think he was a "Phantom"? 

WONDER : A Phantom?

MOTOHA ARAI : It's a term they use on a website called "Mogami." Have you heard of it?

WONDER : Mogami?

MOTOHA ARAI : It's a website that posts footage of troublemakers captured by security cameras all around Tokyo. 

MOTOHA ARAI : The person running the website is called "The Wretched God." Of course, that's not his real name. The website is filled to the brim with terms I don't quite understand. 

MOTOHA ARAI : To be honest, I just check it to pass the time. I don't know much else. But, everyone seems to be talking about "Mogami" lately. I heard the number of visitors to the website has tripled in only a few days. It's more than some B-list celebrity fan bases. 

MOTOHA ARAI : Take a look. 

She shows Wonder her phone, on the screen is the front page of the website that says "Mogami." He examines it closely.

MOTOHA ARAI : Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about. I have something I need to ask you, Wonder. Yesterday, how did you suddenly appear in Shibuya...? You disappeared from the train and then...

SOFT-SPOKEN GIRL : Arai~

The girl with pigtails from the tram approaches the two of them. She seems in a cheerful mood. 

SOFT-SPOKEN GIRL : Oh, you're the guy from this morning...So you and Arai are in the same class, huh? Are you two discussing something private?

MOTOHA ARAI : Ah, never mind. It's nothing important...

SOFT-SPOKEN GIRL : Don't we have plans to go to lunch together, Arai?

MOTOHA ARAI : R-Right. Let's go! Just forget I said anything strange! 

With that, Arai grabs her phone and heads off with the soft-spoken girl, but not before Wonder catches a glimpse of the apps on her phone. The same app that keeps re-downloading itself onto his phone is on her phone too.

WONDER : (That app is...)

Suddenly, Ruferu flies up to the window holding a note in his beak that says "Go to the rooftop for lunch." 

WONDER : (Huh...The note says "Go to the rooftop for lunch." Looks like Ruferu will be waiting for me there...)

[mamthew]

Some thoughts on Metaphor: ReFantazio. I avoid spoilers for the most part.

It’s maybe impossible to overstate how much I love Persona 5. It’s my favorite game of all time, and directly started me down the path to being a radical. It’s got some flaws – many of which were fixed in its rerelease, Persona 5: Royal – but it’s such a fantastic package in terms of story, gameplay, art design, music, and thematic resonance that it’s hard to fault it for them. I’ve played and enjoyed subsequent P5 material, but none of them are nearly as devoted to a political message as the original, meaning that even though they’re all good, they ultimately fall short of what I love about the initial game.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a 2024 RPG by a good number of the folks who made Persona 5, and you can immediately tell. It has a very similar art style, uses many of the same sound effects, has a similar battle system, and is built around the calendar/social links/social stats system that the Persona series is known for. It is essentially a Persona game, but set in a fantasy world rather than contemporary Japan, and without Persona’s emphasis on Jungian psychology and the tarot. It’s also thoughtfully political, but in a way that’s maybe less engrossing and blisteringly relevant than Persona 5. That said, what it does have to say is worth engaging with, as it uses its more traditional fantasy setting to comment on the ideological underpinnings of RPGs as a genre and games more broadly, as both an artistic medium and an industry.

In many ways, Metaphor is “Persona does Final Fantasy.” It’s clearly an homage to Final Fantasy at its core. It may have Persona 5’s battle system, but it’s got FFV’s job system, and it’s reworked the “one more” mechanic to feel more like the Brave/Default system from Bravely Default, or the Conditional Turn-Based system from Final Fantasy X. The job system is especially interesting. There are 14 basic jobs, with each job having 1-3 class change upgrades that unlock at specific Social Link levels with the job’s corresponding character. Every party member can use any job, but have very individualized stat spreads that make certain jobs more viable than others. For example, Strohl starts with the Warrior job, which hits hard and doesn’t do much else. He could use the Mage job, but his physical attack is like double his magic attack, so that would probably be a waste of his massive attack stat. That said, some players might opt to train him through Mage anyway, because at level 20, Mage gets a skill that increases MP by 15%, which they could equip to Warrior so he can use more of his big hits that spend MP. I, on the other hand, trained him in Pugilist, which has powerful physical moves that spend HP instead of MP. It’s a bit more risk/reward, but Strohl has considerably more HP to spend. And that’s one of the seven party members, each of which has their own unique stat spread.

That customizability is fun and rewarding, but limited by the use of a Persona calendar system. I’m less inclined to experiment and try training characters in weird directions when I only have ten in-game days to reach the end of the current dungeon and only have about an in-game year to reach the end of the game. Due to the FOMO brought on by the time constraints, I spent about eight hours just mindlessly bashing enemies in old dungeons in order to unlock all the jobs, which was pretty decidedly unfun, and I ultimately only got to play around with maybe half the fully upgraded jobs in the end. Persona’s time-management (which often translates to some occasionally brutal resource management in dungeons) has always ratcheted up the games’ tension and forced a level of deliberateness in decision-making. That works fine in Persona, but dampens the freedom of choice I associate with job systems. The calendar generally feels like a weird thing to keep. On one hand, the narrative and mechanics have been built around it, but on the other, part of what I enjoy about the calendar in Persona is the mundanity of it. The changing of the seasons, interspersed with real-world holidays, as experienced by a protagonist who is attending high school and therefore at the mercy of the calendar, all help to complement the familiar contemporary setting of a Persona game. In Metaphor, there are no seasons or holidays, the weeks have five days instead of seven, and the one-year cutoff for the action is arbitrarily enforced by a spell rather than by familiar societal norms, so the days tend to blend together. This calendar has all of the anxiety of Persona’s system with none of the novelty, and that’s not a great place to be in.

That said, what Metaphor loses in variety from the calendar it gains from its much larger world and its travel mechanics. Each chapter of Metaphor is set in a different city, and the characters must travel to each city using their gauntlet-runner, a land-based version of the classic Final Fantasy airship complete with a pilot who’s clearly Atlus’s take on a Cid. Each city has several dungeons, landmarks, and surrounding towns that the party can travel to and explore as side-jaunts to juggle as options within the time-management system. Some of these can take several in-game days to reach, but traveling has its own activities that raise social stats, craft items, or even develop social links with party members. In Persona 5, many of the side activities had their own unique content but wasted precious days to do, and travel-time feels like a way to alleviate some of that sense of waste, by limiting you to just “bedroom activities” like reading books, cooking, tending to plants, doing laundry, cleaning the floor, bathing, or inviting party members to hang out. You have to go to the extra dungeon either way, so you’re stuck on the gauntlet-runner either way, so you might as well raid the pantry, use the shower for a small Exp bonus, cook some fermented meat with Hulkenberg, do some laundry with Heismay, and then read a fantasy novel while you’re there. Much of the traveling system feels like an iteration on the central premise of Persona 5: Strikers, allowing the characters to go on a road trip and see a bunch of cities but without the dearth of things to do outside of dungeons from which Strikers suffered.

Metaphor is in most ways an improvement on Persona 5. It’s a much bigger game, with a more strategic battle system and prettier visuals. That said, its dungeons are generally a bit less interesting. They’re more straightforward, without the verticality that made especially Persona 5: Royal’s dungeons shine. They’re also less colorful, less surreal and – I guess a bit ironically – less metaphorical. That makes sense, since all the dungeons are actual locations within the game’s world and must therefore follow the world’s logic, but it’s weird infiltrating a giant fantasy airship and being struck by how much duller it is than Persona 5’s Diet building – a real-world place known for being boring. The music, too, is less interesting than Persona 5’s. It’s still technically solid, and there are certainly some bangers, but because the soundtrack is aping Final Fantasy in genre and instrument choices, it’s much less engaging than the acid-jazz of Persona 5. Metaphor also has less to do than Persona 5 or especially Royal. The game doesn't require that you grind up relationship points with social links, which cuts out a lot of the frustration of the social link system, but also means that there's no reason to take characters on dates or to the movies or to play darts. The world feels less varied because the activities are much more clearly laid out by which social stat they increase.

Both this game and P5 are punching way higher than their weight class in terms of budget and team size. They’re both essentially AA games that have been catapulted into the AAA space, and both are a generation or more behind in terms of actual graphical power. Both games made up for that discrepancy with stylish artistic flair, and while that papering over succeeds in both games, the stylizing of Metaphor feels less relevant to the game than with Persona 5. Persona 5’s intentional use of color and effects make it feel both pulpy and like agitprop material, which are two of its major artistic influences. Metaphor’s stylings, however, mostly make it feel like Persona 5, which clashes a bit with its more classical fantasy setting. I’ve seen a number of people complain about the game’s graphics being outdated, and I think the fact that it retreads so much stylistic ground is why the unimpressive graphics are more noticeable this time around, even though it’s much better graphically than any previous Atlus entry. The game’s reuse of many Persona sound effects aggravate this issue. Those sound effects feel punchy and contemporary, and work great in the context for which they were created: a game that turns rpg genre conventions on their heads by using a contemporary setting. Here, in a game that’s purposely leaning into more classic genre conventions, they instead feel lazy and out of place. The game clearly had great sound designers; there are plenty of new sound effects as well as the old. I wish they’d had those sound designers replace the reused sound effects as well. The game's localization, however, does set it apart from Persona 5. Metaphor is another JRPG to outsource its localization and English voice work to the UK, rather than the states. Most of the characters are voiced by UK voice actors, and they all do an outstanding job. Honestly, the weakest link voice-wise is the protagonist's voice, which was clearly directed to try to be fairly flat and unaffected. Still, I'm just so happy to have a voiced protagonist that I didn't mind all that much.

Metaphor opens by posing a question to the player: does a story have the power to change the world? I figured when I started the game that this question was referring to Persona 5, and the difficulties of creating a story with a specific, clear political message and having to deal with its audience agreeing with the message and longing for that change but not working to bring it about – or even worse, a chunk of its audience refusing to acknowledge it as political at all. While Metaphor was clearly inspired by that initial tension, it addresses a much broader question than that: why do video games – works in a medium that tends toward fairly radical political theming – seem to attract audiences that refuse to engage with their theming? Much of the game’s use of Final Fantasy elements is in service to this question, since Final Fantasy is sorta the seminal RPG. The game’s antagonist, whose name is frustratingly spelled Louis and pronounced Luis, represents in some ways the ideological underpinnings of Final Fantasy and is even designed to look like the FF1 Warrior of light, with long flowing white hair and curved horns. The main plot of the game involves a powerful spell that forces the kingdom to hold a democratic election. When the king is assassinated, his voice thunders down from the sky that the crown will go to whomever the most citizens believe in their hearts should be the next king in about a year’s time. The protagonist enters the race because he opposes the two frontrunners – Louis and the head of the very racist Sanctist church.

The protagonist often reads from a utopian novel and communes with the novel’s imprisoned author, a man named More, probably because he represents the demand that society improve and offer us more. The novel discusses the workings of an idealized version of our contemporary liberal democratic system, and all the party members fight in some way to try to realize that system. The novel itself was banned and all its copies burned, while More was arrested and sentenced to exile for writing it. While both the protagonist and Louis love the book, they had vastly different takeaways from it. The protagonist and his party see the book as calling for a society built around caring for its citizens, protecting and providing for those without the means to protect or provide for themselves. Louis, on the other hand, sees the book as calling for a society built on “true equality,” where all are forced to fend for themselves and only the strong survive. In both cases, the circumstances of one’s birth theoretically don’t matter, and leadership isn’t decided by a bloodline, which makes both visions look preferable to the world of the game: a heavily racially stratified monarchic theocracy. With the crown up for grabs, both characters have the opportunity to try to realize their visions of this utopian system, if they can convince the populace to back them.

This conflict is, deliberately, the conflict at the center of liberal democracy: is our system meant to be more individualistic or more collectivistic? Does the “liberal” mean that individuals must fend for themselves without a societal support structure? Does the “democracy” mean that the strongest must sacrifice the fruits of their advantages to provide for those without the same advantages? That the game takes the side of the whole over the part is unsurprising, given that it was made by the folks who made Persona 5. And hey, that’s the side I agree with more, so no skin off my back. But, using liberal democracy as the basis for its core theming makes Metaphor feel considerably less radical than Persona 5 did. Most of the oppressor/oppressed relationships in Metaphor are ones for which we have answers, which stands in stark contrast to the real-world-inspired conflicts in Persona 5, and when the characters look to the utopia of the novel for a solution, they’re looking to the answers we already have. And as Persona 5 already told us, those answers are insufficient.

That said, what feels backwards about the game’s theming becomes more interesting when we consider it instead as a metacommentary on the politics of RPGs. Louis, the villain who looks like the Ur-FF Protagonist, is an individualist to the extreme. His vision for a perfect world is one where all compete to live and only the strongest survive. That’s barbaric to most folks whose brains haven’t been poisoned by weird sectarian internet communities, but it’s also pretty much how RPGs operate: you keep fighting guys who are weaker than you to make yourself stronger until you’re the strongest, and then your character uses that strength to change the world the way they want. This is – crucially – also how this RPG operates. The protagonist might oppose Louis’s vision, but he still has to do so on Louis’s terms. It turns out that the conflict at the heart of liberal democracy is also the conflict at the heart of many power fantasies: we imagine ourselves being strong enough to make the world fairer, but in doing so, we engage with an individualistic framing. When looking at the metaphor of Metaphor, we can think of the protagonist as the story of a game and Louis as the narrative told through its mechanics; ultimately, what a story says is still constrained by what the game does. So the question of whether a story has the power to change the world is complicated by the introduction of the constraints placed upon a story by its medium. Why didn’t Persona 5 change the world? Metaphor implies it’s because its audience is primed to see its brand of power fantasy as apolitical – not even about the world to begin with.

I think increasingly often about a time I got into an argument with the admin of a Persona 5 Facebook meme page. He’d posted a meme complaining about people’s need to inject politics into Persona 5, an otherwise apolitical game. I found this absurd. The game in which you infiltrate the Japanese Diet building to stop a fascist from stealing an election is apolitical? The game where the personification of humanity’s tendency toward rebellion leads the party into battle to destroy the god of wealth at the center of a panopticon? It was beyond comprehension. But an art form that constrains most of its narratives to center around accruing power through conflict in order to elevate oneself as an individual has maybe inevitably attracted an audience that’s allergic to the idea that fiction can and usually does say something about the real world. And when I say “allergic,” I don’t simply mean “unwilling.” We’ve crossed into a political moment where the arbitrarily-defined level of “woke” in a piece of media determines whether a chunk of people will deign to engage with it at all, but based on my googling, Persona 5 is hilariously considered “not woke” (though Royal is simultaneously both “woke” and “anti-woke,” the remake of Persona 3 is too “woke” to bear, and Metaphor ReFantazio is under scrutiny but they seem to be leaning toward “not woke”). So the line in the sand is whether or not a game comments on the real world, but that line is drawn by people with shockingly low media literacy.

One element of the story that confused me clicked into place once I considered this angle. The game’s world is plagued by huge and brutal monsters called “humans.” In the game's world, the word “human” refers only to these monsters, while the sentient denizens of the game’s world call themselves “people,” or refer to themselves by their fantasy races. It’s bizarre to hear characters talk about “humans” and mean big weird giants that massacre towns and aren’t recognizably human at all. But when we consider this through the lens of a metacommentary on games, this choice comes to make sense. In an RPG, the player is a human roaming through a world of non-humans. They’re infinitely stronger than everyone around them, and in the end, only the human’s decisions matter. Everything exists to placate the human, and if the human refuses to engage with a story on its terms, then that pretty much destroys everything the story is trying to do. Those characters who exist solely to make the human feel something become fodder, to be ground up and discarded by the human. If we look at the relationship between art and audience from the perspective of the art, the audience becomes something like a kaiju, applying its own warped reading to the text, forcing it to submit to that reading. A story only gets to change the world if it first wins that battle with the human, and humans are getting increasingly combative. Obviously, there’s story reasons for the word choice that I won’t spoil here, but they align pretty nicely with my reading.

I really enjoyed Metaphor. It took me 110 hours, and I managed to complete all the social links, beat the extra boss, and unlock every class with the protagonist. A run that doesn't do those things probably could finish it in like 85-90 hours. Either way, it's shorter than Persona 5. I still prefer Persona 5; its politics are much sharper, obviously, but it also has a much bolder and more unique style. But anyone who really enjoys Persona or old-school Final Fantasies should give Metaphor a shot, since it's a pretty fascinating merging of the two, and it uses those associations to comment on the video game medium, the purpose of art in fomenting societal reform, and the shortcomings of liberal democracy. And if you haven't played either, it's a long, complex, standalone RPG in a new ip, which makes for a pretty good jumping-on point to Persona, from which it takes many of its mechanics.

[p5x-theories]

I got this interaction between Messa and Riddle in the Thieves Den when I first visited it today, and I thought others might enjoy it too, so I went ahead and translated it!

[ebenvonak]

Quick update!!!

This person replied (shout out to them) I do believe that the mod is safe now but please still be careful. Apologies for spreading all this information I got genuinely just scared. and sorry for calling someone shady without knowing the context. Please do still stay safe and make sure you know what you download especially if you're having the freezing issue as I mentioned. Computers can't handle being restarted that much just because of it freezing and it can really do stuff to your computer if you're not careful. I sincerely apologize for my claims however.

To every persona 5X player who downloaded/is thinking of downloading the English translation mod to their pc!!:

Do not download it. It's a virus idk if the creator is aware (tbh they probably are lol) but I had my computer fixed a bit ago and the person who had fixed it told me I had a virus from a program called "english translator persona 5 x". If your computer freezes then I can say it's from the mod. As soon as your computer freezes the creator of the mod can look into your computer and take your personal information. I got p5x without the mod and it didn't freeze even once. I suggest waiting for the official global release and not download this mod.

[citrusici]

Ao3 tag game!

THANKS @ragecndybars FOR THE TAG I APPRECIATE IT

*cracks knuckles* lets do this

How many works do you have on AO3?

24 works! I would have never expected to have that many 5 years ago, hahaha

What's your total AO3 word count?

186,291! oh wow, almost 200k!! (unsurprisingly PT minato takes up over a third of that LMAO)

How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

10 fandoms! I'm counting Persona 3, 4, and 5 and separate, but I'm grouping all the Zelda fandoms together since it's all Linked Universe fic.

Here's the breakdown!

The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms (6)

Persona 5 (5)

Persona 3 (5)

SPY x FAMILY (Anime) (3)

Wizard101 (Video Game) (3)

SPY x FAMILY (Manga) (3)

Runescape (Video Games) (3)

Pirate101 (Video Game) (3)

Persona 4 (2)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom (2)

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga (1)

Star Wars - All Media Types (1)

The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors (1)

Top five fics by kudos:

The Ghost of Mementos/Stygian Ringlet (Persona3/5) - to the surprise of absolutely no one, since this is currently my longest fic. I'm very happy with Stygian Ringlet being the top because I love my boys :)

True Crime Special on the Midnight Channel (Persona 4/5) - my Ren has a TV Dungeon fic! also very proud of the dungeon concept for this one, I really need to finish the last two chapters

Dark Clouds on the Horizon (Linked Universe/TOTK) - I feel like this one got a lot of momentum partially because it was directly in the wake of TOTK's release, but I'm happy with how it turned out :)

Strangers Are Just Friends You Haven't Met (Persona 3/SPY x FAMILY) - this was a collab series with mewrose and a few others in the marigolds discord! we were throwing ideas at the wall to see what stuck and I really had a lot of fun with Shinjiro-related prompts, because I LOVE him and hitting him with the isekai baseball bat into a universe with Anya brings me great joy

Salt Tears and Raindrops (Linked Universe/TOTK) - directly related to Dark Clouds, and I'm glad people enjoyed good ol' fashioned angst >:) (I do need to post more of my wips, I do have a couple more roleswap AU wips that I want to post)

Do you respond to comments?

Yes! I almost always do because I really appreciate them and its my way of saying thanks for the comment! If I don't comment it's because I lost track of it or because I can't think of a response.

What's the fic with the angstiest ending you've ever written?

Probably Salt Tears and Raindrops. I was in a Mood and decided to go for the tried-and-true method of putting fictional characters I like through the emotional wringer. That's how I got the rough draft for this fic :)

Do you write crossovers?

*looks at my persona fics and recent LU fics*

...I think it's safe to say most of my fics these days fall under crossovers lmao

Have you ever gotten hate on a fic?

I wouldn't say I have? One or two comments that came off as rude, but no actual hate, thankfully. If I did, I forgot about it. I've been blessed by wonderfully nice readers <3

Do you write smut?

Nope. I don't read it, so I wouldn't know how to write it anyway.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of? I sure hope not.

I have seen a couple short fics slightly imitate Ghost of Mementos though, which I thought was really sweet that they liked it enough to inspire their own writing.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, but I'd definitely be open to it!

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

RYOMINA. Hands down. I love them so much, I am so mentally unwell about these two

What’s a WIP that you want to finish, but don’t think you ever will?

My two Runescape fics, Whispers in the Temple and Welcome to the Jungle. I absolutely loved going hogwild with rewriting old quests in Runescape, but I psyched myself out of Welcome to the Jungle because I got overly anxious about accidentally doing bad representation.

(in hindsight, it probably wouldn't have been as big a deal as I thought; it's hard to make it worse considering how bad Legend's Quest was with the british-african stereotypes. that quest DID NOT age well.)

I also want to finish Snake in the Grass; that was my first attempt at a genuine mystery plot and I really liked playing with Warriors in that fic in the context of the gang trying to figure out who the heck is trying to murder him.

What are your writing strengths?

I feel like I'm pretty good at dialogue! I try to make sure it matches the character's speech patterns and personality. Really well-written dialogue can tell you who's speaking without actually telling who it is. (For example, the way I write them: Minato speaks as few words as possible and has very little filter with his observations when he does share them, and Shinjiro is pretty rough around the edges, with shortened words and the occasional swear. Warriors is good with words and wit, but he has a certain military-esque directness and doesn't dance around the topic.)

I do try hard to keep the plot clear and understandable over everything else, so probably that as well.

Also, now that I think about it, maybe fight sequences? I don't do them much, but I do enjoy the challenge of making a clear sequence of what happens in a fight and trying to make it understandable. Fight sequences are easy to skip or gloss over, but I think of them like their own miniature plot. What happens? What surprises are there? What are their movesets? How do they get the upper hand? (and of course, what looks cool as fuck)

What are your writing weaknesses?

Time management. I tend to over-proofread since I beta my own work, and often I'll go back to tweak stuff if I had additional thoughts to add to it, or extra insight. Lately, it takes longer to write chapters than I'd like.

Also, dialogue-heavy scenes often get very chaotic in my WIPs because of the way I rough out fics. I'll throw together a bunch of dialogue bits I think would be cool to include, and sometimes they'll clash or get really messy, especially if there's lots of characters (looking at the latest two chapters of Stygian Ringlet)

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fics?

I think it's cool! It adds flavor to fics. If it's more than one short phrase though, or if it's story important, then I do prefer that there is a translation in the author's notes. I haven't done any non-English dialogue in fics, save for one memorable adventure into trying to figure out how Latin grammar structure works for a character that didn't speak English.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Wizard101 and Pirate101. I was obsessed with those two for YEARS. I really, really liked pirate stories in high school, and having a cast of crewmates that accompany you throughout the game really inspired me to write my first fic featuring my OC. (I was also into One Piece at the time, but I never wrote for it.)

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written so far?

Stygian Ringlet. It's really dear to my heart. I have poured so much love and effort into that fic, and the reception on it has completely blown me away.

THANKS FOR THE TAG!! Uhhhmmm for tags I'm going to go with @skyward-floored, @catreginae and @breannasfluff (but only if you want to!! no obligation of course)

and of course any other writers that want to do it as well!! go forth