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StandardVC10 posted:I like the idea of the Answer, it's kind of neat to explore how everyone felt after the player character's sudden exit. The execution, though, is mixed at best. As a concept, it's not terrible as the idea for an Epilogue to the events of the Journey. It's just... how they went about it is terrible and makes me almost black out from sheer rage and disappointment. I do really, really like Metis' design, however. It's nice to see that the Anti-Shadow Units each had something resembling a unique appearance so as to help with the whole 'hey, you're an individual with a persona' that was supposedly in mind when they were built.
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Sep 17, 2018 02:25
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I liked the Answer for the most part. I think I had a few grumbles but overall I thought it was a good experience. It's been ages since I played it though.
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Sep 17, 2018 02:50
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I'm one of many who got roughly half-way through The Answer and then gave up, but I was definitely invested in the story.There's a lot of little things in it that I'm a fan of.
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Sep 17, 2018 04:45
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I've never played, or even seen, The Answer stuff myself. I'm actually pretty excited. The closest I've gotten to The Answer is a conversation that happens in Persona 4 Arena's Aigis story.
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Sep 17, 2018 13:22
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I started off on the wrong foot with the Answer because Metis got a lucky critical and managed to paste Aigis. Never really got into it after that. Shame really, it has some neat music and the story was interesting from what I read That time skip glitch is rad though
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Sep 17, 2018 16:48
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 While Aigis is out, we get a familiar scene as we're racing once again towards the Velvet Room...  The Poem For Everyone's Soul  Welcome to the Velvet Room. Ah... A very rare guest indeed...  *chuckle* It seems your destiny is very similar to mine. Um... Where am I...? Who are you...? Ah... forgive my manners. I forgot to introduce myself.  We reside in this Velvet Room. Pleased to meet you. This place exists between mind and matter... A room for those who have forged a contract...  When? How? What is Aigis' contract? In the Journey it was clear-cut: signing Pharos' book on entry was the main character choosing to take responsibility for his actions, and that he'd accepted it of his own free will. Aigis has no equivalent. Persona 4 had the Velvet Room come up before the contract (accepting Teddie's offer to help find the real killer), so we might get this resolved soon at least. From this moment forth, you are our guest in the Velvet Room. Wild card...? Until recently, a young man with the same talent was our guest here. You... know of him? The "answer to life"... The power you have gained is a means to obtain that answer. This answer... if I reach it... Would it mean my death...? This is a blatant lazy retcon to what the Journey was supposed to symbolise. It was very clearly meant to be a literal interpretation of the Fool's Journey of the tarot's Major Arcana. If you have close ties to people you call friends, remember this...  It was the same for that young man. And that is all I can tell you. ...... Well, I shouldn't keep you here any longer. The beginning of your ordeal awaits... ...I do like that this weird sensation triggers in the Velvet Room too. At least, conceptually. Considering the Velvet Room only exists inside the subconscious and isn't a real physical location, it makes sense pretty well and it's kinda clever. Unfortunately, it also kind of IS a real place that exists outside normal time-space so this shouldn't happen. Plus, y'know, as the HUD tells us, there is no real applicable date or time. Oops!  I am certain you will require our help in the future. Please, take this. It would be best if you came here of your own free will next time. Until then, farewell... Silence  So much has happened to me since that decision. If this power is a sign that I'm drawing closer to life... ...does it mean that the answer at the end of the journey is... death? I was surprised, at the time, to discover how little the possibility bothered me... Troubled  Oh...  Woof! Woof! Aigis! I...  You really scared us, collapsing like that. Yukari-san... I came cause Mitsuru-senpai called for me just in case, and I get caught up in this...? Give me a break.Remember when "character development" was a thing? Yeah, someone sure didn't.  I'm sorry to have worried you...  You may have noticed Aigis' different design before in the opening anime scene. And also her portrait during the brief narration bits. Didn't take Aigis herself long to notice either.  While I was fixing your body, I added some additional equipment. We found some strange things under the floor... There was no sign that you would wake up, so instead of waiting, we tried everything we could... I see.  That strange girl said, "If you want to protect Aigis, you should put that on her." As Mitsuru teased before, everyone's back now and Akihiko's been stuck on guard duty apparently. So has Ken, which is pretty fun to think about.  No worries here,though... She's been on her best behavior now. ...... I guess she wasn't lying after all. Anyway, she can't cause any trouble now. We have our Evokers this time.It does make sense that Metis beat everyone (but Aigis, sort of) on her initial appearance, since they were basically finding unarmed and all. Not gonna have that edge again.   Hey, quit with the silent treatment and say something. Mm... Huh...? Are you serious...? You were sleeping all this time!? Metis lifts her mask, like she did before, though without needing a loud noise to force it this time.  I-I... You look pretty comfy there... "I ain't afraid of no humans," huh?  ...Ah. Did you cooperate with them in order to help me? The reason I came here in the first place was to protect you. These restraints aren't necessary. I won't attack anymore. No one is going to believe you if you don't explain why. It's...  ...What? That doesn't even remotely begin to make sense. ......  Unsurprisingly, Aigis' portrait here is blocking Fuuka's "!" reaction wholesale. I don't know if she can be trusted, but I believe she has no intention of fighting us. Besides which, if she has the same parameters as I do, the chains will not hold her anyway.  Huh!? Then these friggin' nonstop shifts were for nothing...? First, tell me who you are and your purpose in being here. And as for my purpose... It's simply to save you, my only sister... ...from this hopeless situation. Hopeless situation...? Did... something happen while I was asleep? How long was I asleep, anyway...? Since our battle ended, I'd say about a day and a half has passed...  Tomorrow, and all the days after it, will also be March 31st. At this rate, it will last forever.   Skipped...? Do you mean what we felt at midnight? Then... Are you saying that the same day is repeating itself!?That's not skipping. That's a loop. If it was skipping, it would be March 31st... but the next year instead. Probably just a translation quirk, but it's telling that at face value they immediately botch the basic premise.   That makes two ways we're trapped here. No... But why? Abyss... of Time? It's difficult to explain... It may be easier to show you. I'll lead the way. Please follow me. H-Hey! Who elected you mayor!? Between Doors Y'know, this might just be me, but something about this looks familiar. This is the Abyss of Time. It's an uncharted area that probably spreads beneath this area like a tree's roots. How could something like this have appeared under the lounge...? At first, the Abyss of Time was a small thing. Then, without warning, it began to spread out, and formed a connection to your dorm.  It might be the product of some dangerous power, the way Tartarus was... Sheesh... Haven't we had enough of that kinda stuff by now? I'm not sure I can explain it, but the flow of time here is not normal. The reason why time is skipping and why you can't leave the dorm is most certainly due to that effect.   Eradicate it? How're we supposed to do that...? I've already tried the simplest, most direct way...  The Abyss of Time connected to this dorm, as if drawn to it... That, together with the way you can all perceive the time skips...   So that's why you attacked? In order to eliminate us...? What the hell!? We've never even heard of this place before! If there is another way, we can only find it by entering the Abyss.  So you want us to investigate it under the assumption that we'll have to fight? That's why I insisted on the extra equipment to protect Aigis. Wait... is this a joke? Are you seriously telling us to go back to the way things were when Tartarus was around!? Never mind that, how are we supposed to believe whatever you say and jump in there blind? If you have a better plan, let's hear it. First, the basement of your dorm, then the time skips, and now you can't reach the outside world... If we're stuck here for long enough, and we run out of food... Are we going to... starve to death!? Nooooooo!! If the current situation continues, your lives may all be in danger.  Naturally, we all want to survive. But you first appeared to us as an enemy. You must understand that we can't entrust our lives to you. I'm not even buying your reason for being here. You say you want to protect Aigis, but what's in it for you? For heaven's sake, she's my only sister! About that... Your claim doesn't fit the facts. You might have noticed some stuff Metis mentioned before was oddly, blatantly contradictory. Don't worry, you're not the only one!   You said this is uncharted territory, unconnected to the outside world. Am I correct? Th-That's... That's... I... Um... Well? We're waiting... Hope you've got a good answer. Cause if you're stringing us along, we're not gonna let you get away with it... Definitely nothing suspicious about this. Just dodging the questions and redirecting. No big deal. I thought I told you, there's no time to waste! Now follow me. Or are you going to give up so soon? Because if you are, you should have let me kill you in the first place! What did you just say!? It may be true that we have no choice but to enter here...  Huh...? Without... me?  Haha... you can't possibly... I-I know the most about the Abyss... You need me! A-And... Hey, you don't get to decide that! Fighting would put all of our lives at risk. If that's the way you think of my friends, I can't go with you. But... Awww, too bad. Have fun here all alone, mmmkay? ......!  ...Maybe we should finish her off now, so she can't backstab us. W-We don't have to go that far... ...sorry...  I'll listen to you from now on! I will... Please, don't leave me... ...... C'mon, it's... it's too late to get all weepy. But maybe it's true that all she wants really is to protect Aigis-san... ...Well, Senpai? Do we take her along or not? *sigh* Cause if this is our only choice, I just wanna hurry up and get it over with. Listen to me, everyone.  I've been thinking it over... And I believe Aigis should take command.  And if you, as leader approve... I have no issue with Metis accompanying us. Mitsuru-san... ...... If you wish to protect me, you must fight to protect us all. Hurting my friends will not be tolerated. Do you promise? Hmph. This better not come back to bite us in the rear end. Hey... Aigis.  I... really don't know. When I thought we might lose someone else, I became scared, and suddenly... Metis, was it...? Do you know anything about this? I just met her. How would I know?  ...... If we're going back into combat, this clothing won't do. Well, you and me are still Gekkoukan students until that magic degree comes in the mail. Sadly, we don't get to keep the rad casual winter fashion any longer. It was fun while it lasted, and it would've been nice to have but we gotta come up with some excuse to get everyone into their school uniforms, I guess. Of course.  Maybe I can learn something. All right, let's get back upstairs. I promise to listen to what you say, so...  I do appreciate that she looks a bit embarassed and ashamed to be asking this. Like she knows it sounds clunky and awful. Granted that's purely translation but still. ...... ...Go right ahead. Thank you... Sister!Metis runs upstairs.  > Until you find the reason for its presence, you will be unable to leave the dorm. > You must begin investigating at once... Now that we've finally finished the intro (yes, really) let's take a moment to talk about Metis real quick:  So, first off everyone available starts off at level 25. This isn't that big a deal, even if it makes less sense than most power reductions like this do. As for Metis herself, she's kind of a mix between Shinji and Aigis. She uses clubs/heavy blunt objects for her weapons, rather than anything built into her. She also has completely unique armor/boots that only she can equip, and has no overlap with Aigis either.  Psyche is a bit... disjointed, though (and only gets moreso later). She has no weaknesses or resistances, but she tries to be a bit of a generalist like Akihiko but even more general. Dekaja is theoretically nice but likely won't come up much, Garula is weirdly out of place with her garbage Magic but Fatal End is nice at least. Primarily focuses on Endurance like Aigis did before, so we have a new tank to make up for Aigis stepping into the main character role. Semi-notable is that now Metis does take up Shinji's slot in the character data. Anything you'd do to modify him now affects her; try and cheat him into the party here and you get Metis instead. Aigis being the main character means the same holds true there. Aigis' slot is unused so that doesn't affect anything. Does this matter? No, not really. Just mentioning it here while I remember. Oh and there probably won't be (m)any party composition votes for the Abyss of Time. Sorry! not sorry
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Sep 19, 2018 01:11
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quote:That's not skipping. That's a loop. If it was skipping, it would be March 31st... but the next year instead. Probably just a translation quirk, but it's telling that at face value they immediately botch the basic premise. I used to hear people say a record player was skipping when it repeated the same little piece of sound over and over, I think that's the meaning they're going for.
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Sep 19, 2018 01:40
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Disagree about Yukari forgetting character development, this is a natural place for her to be right now. I really like how she's not like blatantly bitchy but she's just very short with everyone and more impatient. I like Metis a lot too.
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Sep 19, 2018 11:05
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StandardVC10 posted:I used to hear people say a record player was skipping when it repeated the same little piece of sound over and over, I think that's the meaning they're going for. Yeah, that's how I understood it as well - a loop or skip fits here, really Aigis' geared up sprite looks kinda goofy to me, anyone else?
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Sep 19, 2018 14:12
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Dragonatrix posted:This is a blatant lazy retcon to what the Journey was supposed to symbolise. It was very clearly meant to be a literal interpretation of the Fool's Journey of the tarot's Major Arcana. and then they go gently caress this up entirely in the answer, no matter what interpretation you go with and a;lahsklvbasdlf
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Sep 19, 2018 15:26
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SoundwaveAU posted:Disagree about Yukari forgetting character development, this is a natural place for her to be right now. I really like how she's not like blatantly bitchy but she's just very short with everyone and more impatient. Yukari is actually the best part of The Answer. It's really nice to see character development not be directly proportional to likability in a jrpg
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Sep 19, 2018 22:58
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Agreed. The Answer is a good sequel, and Yukari is a big reason why.
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Sep 20, 2018 13:38
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Living With Determination -Iwatodai Dorm- Sadly, as promised we're immediately back to boring ol' school uniforms. Hopefully we'll be able to obtain some fashion stuff later at least.  I'll be supervising the investigation and assigning each of you your roles. For now, I'm going to concentrate on finding any documents similar to the ones we found in the basement.No, you're not missing anything here. Everytime it's come up, the stuff from the basement has been incredibly vague for no reason.  So, we're splitting up? ...Well, I suppose you are the only one who knows where to find that stuff. I'd also like a second team to handle another task... Someone has to look around to see if the Abyss of Time is connected to any other places than the dorm.  Hey, wouldn't Koromaru's nose make him perfect for a job like that? I mean, if there's food or anything out there, he'll sniff it out. Arf! That's right, boy! Me and Koromaru are gonna find an exit lickety-split! Very well. I leave it to you two. The main investigation will be up to the rest of you, with Aigis taking point. Aigis, I'm counting on you.Unfortunately, this does mean for the foreseeable future, we won't be able to use Junpei, Mitsuru or Koromaru at all. Definitely gonna be using Metis since she's new, which just leaves two of Yukari, Akihiko and Ken. For the time being I'll be going with Yukari and Akihiko since they're more useful at lower levels. I doubt anyone will mind much, though.  And, real quick before we head downstairs, the Velvet Room door's in the dorm now. It's off to the side a bit, but pretty easy to get to and find all things considered. Obviously we're not gonna use it right now, because we have nothing to do there.  When we head back into the Desert, this strange humanoid black Shadow-y thing heads towards a door at the far side and just phases through it.  But we don't have much time to mull it over right now. Between Doors Living up to its name, the Desert of Doors is a pretty big desert area with 7 doors in it right now. There's 3 to the left, 3 to the right and that one glowy one straight ahead.  Six of 'em can't be opened right now, though...  Which just leaves this one.  It just went in the door... right? Maybe it's... ...Oh, sorry about that. This seems to be the first door. I wonder what it's like inside... If we don't go in there... We can't do anything. This is our only choice. I'll give everything I have to support you in there, so... If you're ready... let's go! Interstice of Time   Huh!? Is this...!? This feeling... Be careful, everyone! It's the Shadows! I'm sensing multiple Shadows within! Everyone, please take battle positions! So, our first area in the Abyss of Time is Malebolge, the 8th circle of hell from Dante's Inferno. It's a much more straightforward naming scheme for this place, I guess. Rather noticable is that Malebolge's design is a mixture of Thebel (purely due to asset reuse) and the dorm. Anyway, since Aigis only has her guns for weapons we're pretty locked in to this ranged attack that has decent range and tracking. It's still not perfect since by the time things are on the edge of it is when they can spot you. ...And yes, that IS a Gold Shadow for our first possible encounter.  Needless to say, a Wealth Coin is ours from that and we can immediately see the stairs to the next floor. Although, calling them stairs is a bit generous when it looks more like a hell pit. Oddly appropriate, really. Mass Destruction -FES-  So, the first time we get a fight, Metis can tell us about her Orgia Mode which is actually useful. Since Aigis can't use hers anymore (and nothing of value is lost), it's not really fair to compare the two.  But I'm doing it anyway. Aigis' was hot garbage that was never worth using. Metis' is incredibly, unfairly good... for random encounters. It has an increased duration compared to before and all skills are free! Why would you not use it against most Shadows? It's still not super great for bosses, but that's more due to The Answer having terrible boss fight design.  Well, that's not really fair. See, The Answer decides to make all of its fights as annoying and tedious as possible. Doesn't matter if its a random trash mob or not. Spurious Books aren't the best example, since they're straight forward enough. Nothing fancy here.  Corrupt Towers are a better example, between resisting 3/5s of our possible attacks at this point, along with Akihiko's magic and draining Yukari's only real contribution. Being weak to Expel doesn't help as much as you'd think right now since only Ken has Hama and low level Ken is awful.  Insidious Maya makes a point to be as irritating as it can be. It has enough HP to not get insta-got by Metis, weak to Ice isn't easy at all to take advantage of (until like level 27 getting Ice at all is a pain), Pulinpa and Panic Boost is an annoying combo though it still never hits, Dia is obviously irritating and Re Patra is just blatantly useless... at everything except being obnoxious. Still not the worst of it, though.  Justice Sword is confused, I think. Wind weakness makes it relatively easy to drop, though nulling Slash and having Dodge Slash is bizarre. That this random sword has a Dodge passive isn't a great sign though...  And our final normal Shadow is the Wild Beast who has a tendency to come in packs of 4, and a single AOA can't kill them at this level. Great, fantastic. Tarukaja and Kill Rush is dangerous, and because Ken is our only (grind-free) source of instant death that's not as viable as it sounds.  I said final "normal" Shadow for a reason: red Shadows are back! And more annoying than ever!  Stoic Snakes always come in packs of 4 here and are awful to try and fight. Tentarafoo stops anything fun with Orgia Mode Fatal Ends, Spirit Drain serves to just be a resource hog and Mabufula is really genuinely dangerous at this level. Still gonna kill everything we come across on principle, but that's not the point.  While we're here, let's talk about the Shuffle Time differences too for good measure. There's no Rank 1 minor arcana cards in the Abyss of Time. Wands, Cups and Coins are the same as before but Swords are different now. In addition to weapons, they can give armor and even accessories. ...You've probably also noticed that Empusa is just casually available here too. Because The Answer is a straight dungeon-crawler, there's no real way to unlock stuff like that so she's just always there.  But hey, what's this? Orpheus is also in Shuffle Time which makes one thing very clear: There is no Compendium. Combine that with no fusion EXP, because no Social Links, and everything (except Orpheus) being straight up identical to how it was in the Journey and suddenly just playing the game becomes a loving grindy nightmare chore. Especially with Shuffle Time being the only way to get new Persona for fusion fodder and that being completely random. And also the level scale is wacked out; we started at level 25. Malebolge starts its Persona at level 11 and go up to... 30.  That means that money is pretty much useless, despite it still being super plentiful. No social stat costs, no Compendium (which means no exorbitant Hard mode prices) and no point in buying any items early on since they're available as very common drops AND regular items in the Abyss too. Not like we could buy anything even if we wanted to, though. Interstice of Time And that black shadow a moment ago... I have a bad feeling about this. Please use caution when proceeding.Eh, aside from being annoying, most fights still aren't really dangerous or anything. We'll be fine; they're just there to sap resources more than anything else right now.  There's plenty of stuff to get in the Abyss if you're lucky enough, but I'm not gonna go out of my way for anything. At least not right now, maybe later.  Just gonna give this to Akihiko since, why not? The name and description imply it's only wearable by the boys but nope.   Oh and Orpheus hits level 26 at some point and becomes useful. That's genuinely all we need to be able to potentially handle the boss fight. ...No, really, you can just straight up use Orpheus and nothing else through all of Malebolge and be fine.  Fuuka has very little to say for most floors, and on some she says nothing at all. We do at least get to see that shadow from before running away on the 7th floor.   I sensed something unusual run by just up ahead... I wonder what it was... It seems to have gone down to a lower floor. The seventh floor is a fixed floor, of course. It just has the save point you could see before, along with an Access Point - no terminal point for once. There's also the pit down to the 8th floor... That Which Comes From The Darkness  Look, that strange presence is there too! Sure enough, they're still around here too and just run off down a side path. We don't get much chance to follow though... ...Oh! The reaction vanished... Incoming Shadows! Please be careful! Strength Immortal Gigas; Strength Visceral Maya x3 Master of Shadow So, right out the gate let me just reiterate: I greatly dislike the fight design in The Answer. There are some good ideas... buried underneath some absurdly bad ones. Let's take a look at the Visceral Maya here for a second.  They're not much of a threat offensively, despite there being 3 of them.  They can use all three Physical elements, but that really doesn't matter much here.  They have 600HP each, are weak to Fire, resist Ice, Drain Elec and repel Slash and Strike. Except, whoops, that weakness is mitigated by Dodge Fire. This is going to be a trend and it's super irritating. You might be thinking "oh just use Pierce attacks for crits instead" or something. No dice, they have Sharp Student for good measure. It makes how quick fights go not a question of preparation and planning but pure RNG. Most boss fights are against 3 things (4 in this case, making it unique out of all the modern Persona games) and there's usually a weakness. And a Dodge skill for the same element. And almost every boss has Sharp Student. It takes a good idea, making it a question of whether or not you use an AOA against the large group, and then shoves it in a locker and steals its lunch money.  The Gigas isn't any better. He is at least actually dangerous what with also having Fatal End and a good Strength stat (29).  He has 800HP, is weak to Wind, resists Slash and Pierce, nulls Elec and repels Fire.  Really, once you drop the Gigas the fight is functionally over. He's the only thing approaching threatening, but is shut down pretty easily by Metis and/or Yukari. Provided they can hit him, I mean. The Steel Right Arm is vendor trash. Its only use is to be sold.  End Interstice of Time ...... Oh! There's a door up ahead... Aigis! Can you investigate? Don't worry, I'm certain that it's not dangerous. It'll just transport you somewhere else.Sure, we can do that in a second but first...  We have our requisite post-boss loot to grab. Nice to see that hasn't changed, at least.  And on the opposite side, where that Shadow disappeared, there's another pit leading further down.  Worry about that later, though; first we have a new door to check out.  There's no Terminal, but this is the equivalent anyway. A midway checkpoint that comes after a boss fight, rather than before. It's inconvenient and annoying but at least it's something. While we're here, I'm gonna swap Yukari out for Ken. No massive reason, but if the red Shadow works like it did before this might be prudent.  The Shadows seem different, too. Be careful...Especially since the second part of Malebolge has a new aesthetic, which makes it super obvious things're gonna be different. Even if Fuuka didn't say as much. This time it's a more blatant palette swap of part of Tartarus, being a darker blue version of Yabbashah. Kinda disappointingly boring in comparison, yeah. Mass Destruction -FES- First of, as expected, there's Stoic Snakes just hanging around like normal. But what's here that wasn't before?  Magic Hands are the most boringly simple and straight forward enemy to date, if I'm being honest. Agilao drops them easily enough and then an AOA finishes the job, no big deal. They often come in packs of 5 though, so its pretty SP intensive.  Vicious Ravens aren't as threatening or annoying as they seem. Mostly because by this point Orgia Mode Fatal End deals ~200+ damage without critting. If it DOES get a turn, Double Fangs gives it some real bite though.  In theory, the Sky Balance could be possibly dangerous... to Yukari... ~25% of the time. In practice, it never gets a turn because while Ice is still uncommon, Fire is all over the place.  And lastly, we have the Creation Relic who is genuinely annoying and dangerous and only weak to Curse. That's quite a tricky thing to deal with when our best shot at exploiting it right now is grinding. Yaaaaay.  Those resistances and Diarama make for a very time-consuming combination otherwise. And then on later floors they start coming in pairs. Interstice of Time During our trip down this half of Malebolge, we find some new armor for Metis. Its description tells you its make from ceramic, which makes it clear this is referring to porcelain that is finished and hasn't been glazed.  Not much else of note, really, because the dungeons are still random and kinda garbage. At least on the 12th floor, Fuuka lets us know we're nearly done but she doesn't know where it ends exactly.  In this half is when we can start to gems again. This time, they come as random drops still but you can also find them in briefcases throughout the Abyss:  It's not exactly common, but it's there. At least that's technically one less thing that requires grinding to get. Sort of.  The fifteenth floor's the end of Malebolge and it sure looks... different. Their Own Past  It seems like we've reached the first "goal." This place was bigger than I thought. How many more times we gotta do this? I don't know for sure. But judging by the Desert of Doors, I'm betting it's not going to be just once or twice.Judging by the Desert of Doors, it's going to be six. Six more times.  Ugh... I was afraid you'd say that.  Then all we can do is keep on going forward until the end... It's like Tartarus all over again. The two structures are very similar, in some ways. Not only that, we've got the friggin' Shadows wandering around... Geez... I never thought I'd have to see another one of those.  Another question that needs an answer... Though it's not like we can leave until we find out. *sigh* Hm...? What's wrong? Ohhh, nothing... It's just... After the hell we went through, we finally had some peace... I was determined to keep my eyes on the future, and not look back.  Yukari... Time doesn't flow normally here... It's no surprise you feel that way.   What's that supposed to mean...? Rather than answer this (and no-one even attempt to query how Metis knows this) she just walks towards the door and opens it. Silence  But weren't we just inside...? What's going on? Did we make it out somehow? I dunno... Something seems off... Isn't it kinda hot in here? Kurosawa-san... What're you doing out here on a weekday? Shouldn't you be in school? Oh, but it's spring break now... What's with those two in costume back there? Is there some sort of event going on...? Uh, no... It's, um... ...Well, I'll let it slide. I know you kids are a little different.   Geez... Could the June he mentioned be... June of last year? That's impossible... Are you saying this is the past? Hey, Aigis' Sister! Are the things here that interesting to you...? N-No, not at all. It's all everyday stuff, right? This is a "fountain," and that over there is a "store"... It's true that I sometimes come here to gaze at the fountain... R-Really? Then you feel the same-- Tell me, what is this place? ...We came here by passing through a door, remember?  Then... this really is last year!? How else can you explain the different time and season? But it seems you can't go just anywhere in the past... Only somewhere from your memories.  So, this implies to me that we're not actually going into the past. We're just going into a recreation based on our memories. I don't think that's just me.  The past...? Aw, man... It's lucky we found this place. We'll be able to get supplies here. We should be able to use what we can get here until the Abyss of Time disappears.  The doors may reflect your inner thoughts. ...... Well, one thing's a relief... At least we won't starve. A place where you can revisit days gone by... ...But thinking back on it, it wasn't only the astonishing nature of the place that surprised us... 
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Sep 21, 2018 07:51
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It's an interesting approach, knocking all the levels down to a level where it's annoying. Is it meant to be challenging? It's not quite NG+ either. Dragonatrix, do you think if you changed nothing else (enemies, enemy levels) there'd be a better starting level for the Answer than current?
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Sep 21, 2018 14:17
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not having a compendium is just so...arbitrary.
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Sep 21, 2018 17:38
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rannum posted:not having a compendium is just so...arbitrary. I'm betting it's to save disk space.
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Sep 21, 2018 19:53
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Blind Alley* This track doesn't really play here. Or anywhere. It's unused, but this is the best spot for it in my opinion.  So, now that we've got access to Paulownia Mall again we can go shopping for supplies. Hurray! There's a few differences to before (can't use the arcade, for example) but they're mostly self-evident.  The most noteworthy one out in the mall proper is that, as promised, we can't leave. Just get this strange barrier locking us in.  The shops are almost all identical to before, too. The way they operate is the same as in the Journey, so they'll update their stock based on Aigis' level. We CAN use the Antiques store, mercifully, but there's no weapon fusion this time around. That takes days to complete and we don't have that now, so the option is removed.  To "compensate" for the lack of date items, we get new stuff we can make in their stead. Stuff that's genuinely useful, even.  And some attack items as well. Can actually make the Magatamas this time around, and Megidolaon Gems too, which could come in handy later, maybe. Nothing else of note here, so we'll take the door back... Silence  Looks like this place is fully connected to the Abyss of Time now. Maybe it's because everyone was hoping to make frequent resupply trips. This will certainly make it easier to go back and forth. Hellooooo! We're kinda blocked back here!  Hey, hurry it up! There's more of us blocked back here.> You found a means of getting supplies, but you are still trapped in the dorm. > What awaits you even deeper inside the labyrinth...? Living With Determination -Iwatodai Dorm- Woof! Woof! Let's do this! Uh... But it was Aigis who ended up finding the supply route, not you. ...Note to self: Ignore Akihiko-senpai!So, now we have Junpei and Koromaru back. That's useful but not quite as great as it sounds, since they both are pretty dedicated single-target fighters and all.  They do at least join at level 31, so Koromaru gets the advantage of being the best character for instant death stuff for a bit. Mudoon is obtainable for us, sure, but it requires a lot of hassle and extra hoop jumping that makes it not worth it.  Needless to say, for our new glowing door we'll be taking them with us. And Metis fills the fourth slot because she's just that little bit more convenient thanks to Neo Orgia Mode. So it looks like Team What's Healing? is what we're using this time around. Interstice of Time So, our second are of the Abyss is... really kinda underwhelming at first.  Cocytus is pulling double-duty for its name scheme, it seems. It's fitting to P3's general trappings by being one of the rivers of the Underworld in Greek mythology, sure, but it's also appropriate to get immediately after Malebolge. In Dante's Inferno, Cocytus is the ninth circle of Hell although there it's more of a lake than a river. It would be difficult for this pattern to keep up, but it does give an interesting vibe of descending deeper into Hell. Visually, it's bland and sucks though. It's just Arqa but a different shade of purple. Boring. Mass Destruction -FES- So, what Shadows do we have in Cocytus? Well, Muttering Tiaras are very simple and come with an Ice weakness. Since we're now at a level where we can use Ice easily (thanks King Frost), they shouldn't get turns. Matarukaja is a pretty bad thing to see so early, but it's really not a big deal if they never get to use it.  Much more annoying is the Obsessed Cupid, who also has an Ice weakness. Marin Karin/Holy Arrow are bad enough but Charm Boost makes them just that tiny bit worse. Y'know, provided they get turns. Which mostly should never be happening at this point.  Laughing Table deciding that it wants to Repel Slash is a cruel joke, but not much else to say about it really. Fire is super common and we just got the two other characters who can burn things. Ice Break is kinda... inconsequential for the most part, 'cos we still don't have Mitsuru.  Venus Eagle brings us back to an Ice weakness and sort of falls in line with what we'd expect of one. Dodge Pierce here does not annoy me as much as it could, since she's otherwise Neutral. It's disincentives using Pierce stuff still, but there's no strange incentive to do so, so it's kinda moot.  Trance Twins are weak to Koromaru in like every way. Eerie Sound and Distress Boost is annoying in theory, but just kinda there in practice. If the other things are getting no turns, these guys are getting even less.  Okay, Tranquil Idol is potentially obnoxious and annoying. Mudo and its Boost aren't as bad as they could be, but it's just bad enough to be a bit annoying. Maragion and Fire Boost is more of a threat normally, but Junpei and Koromaru are immune so...  Elegant Mother on the other hand, drops the instant death for better elemental coverage. Her resistances are obnoxious (especially Drain Pierce!) and she can heal her already absurdly high HP pool. But she's weak to Mudoon and we just got Koromaru. She tried so hard and came so far, but in the end it didn't even matter.  Curse Dice are the final regular Shadow and boy that Makarakarn makes it a bit of a pain in the rear end. Except by now we're able to make Persona that are immune to the element they use, and everyone else (except Metis and Ken*) negates their own element anyway. So, uh, it tried I guess.  But that's the regulars. There's still the Red Shadow and boy howdy is this one a loving pain in the rear end.  The Avenger Knight is a rude boy who takes forever to kill, has end-game levels of hit points in the second area and is immune to instant death. Combine that with it being an actual, genuine threat (Mazionga + Elec Boost is bad enough without Swift Strike) and oh boy do we have something that is not worth fighting. Ever. Interstice of Time Shuffle Time stuff is upped a bit and can now include Rank 4 cards. Yay? It's not a great upgrade since 2 and 3 still hangout here a lot but it's nice all the same.  I don't know if this is just me being absurdly lucky so far, but I swear Gold Shadows are a lot more common in the Abyss than they were in Tartarus. I don't really go out of my way to check their spawn rates or anything though.  Nothing of real note until we hit the eighth floor and see that strange humanoid Shadow again. If this is like before, then that means... That Which Comes From The Darkness Oh, and over there...! Oh... it disappeared again. Well, just concentrate on the enemy before you for now! ...Incoming! Hanged Man Briliant Cyclops Master of Shadow So, the Cyclops has no weaknesses. It does, however, have Sharp Student (because of course it does). Rebellion isn't a great way around that, but it might help. Maybe.  The Cyclops itself is kinda simple, really. It uses Mabufula a lot and it may or may not have Ice Amp to go with it. The wiki says it does, but that really doesn't mean much.  When it's not doing that, it likes to use Kill Rush to do a decent chunk of Strike damage instead. That's also kinda dangerous.  The one other thing it can do is Summon in adds to make this take longer.  The Soul Dancers it brings in are just kinda... here to be annoying and get in the way, really. No skills or anything of note, so they're not really a threat. Ice weakness is pretty useful, since it means they can be knocked down and ignored.  We have good Ice access now and wouldn't you know it? At level 34, Metis gets Bufula too. Her build is REALLY confused, yes.  The one downside to this, though, is that because this fight takes a relatively long time (it's a boss fight in The Answer) she finally overheats.  This is just as bad as when Aigis does in the Journey, since it kills her defense for a few turns. Ironically, it's quicker AND more convenient to just let her drop and then revive her afterwards.  Oh and when he gets low on HP, the Cyclops adds Bufudyne to its repertoire just to try and actually kill you. It doesn't help.  The Brilliant Cyclops has 1200 HP, 41 Strength, 24 Magic, 30 Endurance, 24 Agility and 26 Luck. He resists Slash attacks and drains Ice, Elec and Wind. Only real options then are Strike, Pierce and Fire which is annoying but not as bad as it sounds. End Interstice of Time We'll just pick up our real post-battle item rewards, take the door back to the Desert for a quick free heal and then descend deeper into Cocytus...  Honestly, I really like the aesthetic the second section has.  It's basically just Tziah, but fallen into a state of disrepair and tha's really cool. It makes it look sort of like a tomb of sorts and it's not really just "the same but a slightly different color." It's still not quite as good as when Malebolge used the dorm for half of its design, but it's a step in the right direction.  Also we can find rad new upgrades including a Grenade Launcher for Aigis. Sorta hard to dislike that. Mass Destruction -FES- So, what Shadows do we have this time? Dancing Hand comes back and likes to use Ice and Panic. We're firmly in the point where random encounters stop getting to, like, do things so it's not really a big deal in practice though.  Maniacal Book sure looks to be a fair bit more irritating. Provoke is a bad idea for it to use, as we've seen before, but everything else could be a bit of an issue. Except weak to Mudo so...  Steel Gigas is a step more towards The Answer being The Answer again. Weak to Wind, has Dodge Wind, and strong Phys attacks to pretend to be threatening.  Heat Balance is Heat Balance. Dodge Elec would be bad but there's no other Elec weaknesses in Cocytus, and Wind is very common so we'll just use that instead. Slash resist is a bit odd, but it just serves to potentially hamper Koromaru more than anything else.  Dogmatic Tower is chock full of hefty resistances, including being Anti-Koromaru, but a Wind weakness is easily their undoing. We have no reason to not have Metis just use Orgia Mode in every random encounter and stuff that actively rewards that being more and more common is making it hard to genuinely consider them threats.  But the we get the Blue Sigil. Weak to Strike and with a ton of HP seems like perfect Metis fodder, and he is, but then you notice that he has Tetrakarn and Evade Strike. Tetrakarn doesn't really matter, since Metis will gladly just remove that and take a small amount of damage. Evade Strike is more annoying because it's Evade. It really just serves to delay the inevitable.  The Avenger Knight does not make his return at any point in this half of Cocytus, oddly. We have a different Red Shadow to contend with too...  ...And it's the lowest levelled Shadow in this half of Cocytus. There's 5 of these and the reason they're the Red fight is pretty apparent. A simple gimmick of "have all the dynes" would fit with how technically early this is for that, but the Cyclops had Bufudyne already so it's a bit too late. At least they tried? Interstice of Time Rank 5 cards are available now too, but they're super rare (this was the only one that happened at all) unfortunately. Just noting it as a thing, really.  Not really much else, because Persona 3 does not make for a very good full dungeon crawler (as you may have noticed forever ago). Fuuka chimes in on floor 13 to let us know we're nearly done.  Sure enough, we reach the end on the 15th floor just like with Malebolge. The previous door got us access to the mall, so let's see what we get this time... Silence Veteran Officer: Eh, you can go. Looks like a pretty routine accident.  Veteran Officer: Says here that your name's... Ken Amada, is that right? Ah, well, geez... Sorry about what happened to your mom. But she gave her life to save you from the collapse. ......Veteran Officer: Anyway, I gotta take your statement. You're a witness, after all. If I told you what happened... would you believe me?Veteran Officer: Of course I would! Helping people out is our job. My mom was... murdered.Veteran Officer: ...W-What?  I looked and saw this teenager, holding his head and yelling...Veteran Officer: Wait... you're saying he did it? But the whole house was crushed!  Exactly as expected, Ken saw Castor very clearly. It also explains why he's more vague with Shinji's description, really, because Castor would stick in his memory a lot stronger and cleaner. It roared, and my mom and my house were--!Veteran Officer: Oh, a monster, huh? Haha... There's no way that actually happened. Oh, uh... I shouldn't laugh... I know sometimes after a traumatic incident like this, people can--  I'm not lying! And I really saw it! We know it's a cover-up and all, but this guy also just said the whole house was crushed. Crushed. What...? A car crash...?Veteran Officer: We've already found the car and what's left of the driver. We just need an account of the accident now. That's a lie! You're making that up!Veteran Officer: I know that's what you think, but... it's true.  Veteran Officer: Be right there! Wait! I really saw it!  I can't trust any adults. So I'll find him myself... Their Own Past But the first door didn't disappear. It just opened up to a new place... Never mind that... That was... I thought of lots of ways to search for the culprit, but I couldn't manage any of them alone. I kept wondering why the culprit had special powers, and I didn't... I wonder if that's what led me to start experiencing the Dark Hour since that day... Ken...  ...I'm sorry for that. Hey, Metis! What was that about!? What was what about...? Oh, I see.  The Paulownia Mall one took place in June and was a random day in the month. In the middle of the school day. And that conversation that happened never took place. Aigis was at Yakushima until the end of July. This conclusion is based on absolutely nothing. That's not what I meant! Why did we see such a painful memory? Huh...? How would I know? It's your past. You'd better not be hiding anything. How would I benefit from that?  It's the same reason we found a place to get supplies, and why we were able to return directly back. Right now, you wish to erase the Abyss of Time as soon as possible and make it out alive, right? If so, then although what's inside the doors seems unrelated to our situation, we see it for a reason...  What did you say!? It's all right. What she's saying... might be true. Ken... Actually, I've been wondering about all of that lately...  We don't get that kind of passion by just going to school every day. Sanada-san, you've dedicated yourself to boxing again recently, right? Isn't that because... you don't want to lose the feeling you used to have? ...Of course, that could just be my own way of seeing it. ...... ...Maybe you're right. Maybe I do feel just like I did... Let's not talk like that.   Don't you remember our entire reason for risking everything? If we don't keep our eyes forward, it was all a waste of time. Yukari... ...Let's go. Silence > You decided to return to the lounge.
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Sep 24, 2018 00:41
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Hmm yeah, I can definitely see Yukari just being pissed at this situation. She really did want to move on with her life, but she's being forced to deal with this crap again.
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Sep 24, 2018 01:26
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"Based on nothing?" That's not entirely true. No one went to Powlonia Mall on that day, but I can believe they all went there at some point (And one day is very like another there). But Ken was the only person in the party who'd been in that police station.
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Sep 24, 2018 02:59
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 125. Caina Moved to the test-poster for page real estate reasons! Lotus Aura fucked around with this message at 00:00 on Oct 10, 2018 |
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Oct 1, 2018 07:56
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Oh, that's sweet that they're warming up to Metis 
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Oct 1, 2018 12:31
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You mentioned that getting your TP back by leaving is still a thing, but can people still get tired to go along with it? Or is having to run all the way back to the boss the only penalty?
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Oct 2, 2018 23:32
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ZevGun posted:You mentioned that getting your TP back by leaving is still a thing, but can people still get tired to go along with it? Or is having to run all the way back to the boss the only penalty? Since days don't actually pass in this mode, I don't think people can get Tired. Otherwise they couldn't get better
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Oct 2, 2018 23:39
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Have people had things to say in the dorms?
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Oct 2, 2018 23:54
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Yeah, Great/Tired/Sick are gone since there's no way for them to change. Great could downgrade into Tired, but like... that'd be an irreversible change, so it would be kinda bullshit. The moon tracker is also noticably missing, which means that even if 3/31 would be a Full or New Moon (I haven't checked honestly) it doesn't matter so Zan/Getsu-Ei lose access to their additional modifier which makes them kinda worthless if you decide to bother getting either for some reason. e; MightyPretenders posted:Have people had things to say in the dorms? Not really. It's just mini-recaps of the thing you just saw and a reminder of their elemental strengths/weaknesses.
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Oct 2, 2018 23:58
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The Answer seems like such a slog to play through. One friend who did play through it says it was like that for him because it's literally all combat all the time with no school sim to break it up.
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Oct 3, 2018 00:03
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Yukari posted:The Answer seems like such a slog to play through. One friend who did play through it says it was like that for him because it's literally all combat all the time with no school sim to break it up. everyone should've had a social link with Aegis but limited entirely within the dorm
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Oct 3, 2018 00:47
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 126. Antenora Moved to the test-poster for page real estate reasons! Lotus Aura fucked around with this message at 23:59 on Oct 9, 2018 |
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Oct 8, 2018 00:54
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quote:Yeah, so this random dog is obviously Koromaru. Sure, why not. He's the Best Dog, so of course he's around to comfort people down on their luck.
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Oct 8, 2018 02:54
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 127. Ptolomea It's the one dungeon crawl-y part of The Answer that I both don't have much to complain about AND some stuff that I genuinely unironically like about it.
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Oct 10, 2018 00:06
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quote:It's a bit of a step back in a way from the previous areas, as Ptolemy became its namesake by murdering invited guests and so Ptolomea is for those whom are traitors to guests. Hey, being a good host is important.  Also, hi there Mini Mitsuru. I think she's supposed to be even younger than Ken in that scene?
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Oct 10, 2018 00:20
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StandardVC10 posted:Hey, being a good host is important.
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Oct 10, 2018 06:33
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Hospitality is still a big deal in some places, particularly where the environment is harsh. For example, desert bedouins live in tents and make a point that they don't have doors, making it easy for travelers to step in and take refuge. With that said, the thing to keep in mind with Antenor and Ptolemy is that the Divine Comedy is basically a historical fanfic where Dante gets to put people he likes on a pedestal and damns everyone else to comically cruel fates in hell. The fact that he does this with people he personally knows makes it even more obvious. Also Junpei is low key one of the better characters in P3, but that isn't apparent until the answer and P3P, I'm glad for those scenes as otherwise his entire character is just Being Stupei is Suffering. GimmickMan fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Oct 11, 2018 |
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Oct 11, 2018 03:45
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StandardVC10 posted:Also, hi there Mini Mitsuru. I think she's supposed to be even younger than Ken in that scene? She is. That scene for her took place shortly after the Dark Hour first appeared ten years pre-Journey, making Mitsuru about 7 years old seeing as she's at least 17 at the start of P3. GimmickMan posted:Also Junpei is low key one of the better characters in P3, but that isn't apparent until the answer and P3P, I'm glad for those scenes as otherwise his entire character is just Being Stupei is Suffering. Agreed. I like Junpei best when he's not stuck as 'the dumb, pervy guy' for scenes.
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Oct 11, 2018 19:22
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 128. Judecca It's the penultimate area of the Abyss. Yep.
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Oct 15, 2018 01:11
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And another reminder that Ken and Yukari joined because it gave them the best chance to strike their enemies in SEES. It's amazing SEES could function at all. Yukari says she wants to move on with her life, and that's the logical thing. But that doesn't sound like a genuine want, more like she's settling for the only option she sees... And she's jealous that Aigis somehow got the Main Character position now. (This might be meta-commentary about how Aigis was supposed to be the secondary protagonist, but all the things that should have made her so were too late for the audience to care about. Whereas Yukari had a running plot of her own from the start which gave her the second protagonist position in anyone's eyes.)
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Oct 15, 2018 02:01
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Ptoloema being the only one of these dungeons that had any unique architecture put into it is weird. Also, man, the shadow running away is even duller than I remembered. (almost) the same scene every single time, even Fuuka's exclamations barely differ. It's like the only had the barest idea what they wanted to do with the Answer and even less of a clue what to put in between the story bits.
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Oct 15, 2018 03:04
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MightyPretenders posted:(This might be meta-commentary about how Aigis was supposed to be the secondary protagonist, but all the things that should have made her so were too late for the audience to care about. Whereas Yukari had a running plot of her own from the start which gave her the second protagonist position in anyone's eyes.) On the topic of Aigis being decided upon to be the game's dueteragonist by marketing and the design team, I feel like it's fair to say one of the reasons for doing so was so that she could serve as a foil for the protagonist and express the game's existentialist themes about what is "living" vs "non-living", yeah? That being said--if that was in fact the motive for doing so--it's really ironic, because even there Yukari exists as a more compelling foil for the protagonist. She's introduced to the player--whose avatar is explicitly a transfer student and a loner--as the most popular student and low-key celebrity of their new school. Therefore, as the player begins to socialize more and more throughout the game--gaining popularity and a general social network--a sense of empathy and shared status will be naturally and genuinely formed towards Yukari (...ideally at least, lol). With this in mind, I believe that this ongoing ludonarrative interaction is the reason many players elevate Yukari's intended narrative role up to "secondary protagonist" in their minds as opposed to Aegis--and in my opinion--the former is definitely far more engaging and of note than the latter, who only adds character to herself and grows beyond being what is essentially a thematic set-piece in like, the last month of the game. Honestly, I think Persona 3 is a super interesting game because all of its most praise-worthy and innovate narrative qualities mainly do so by being framed by and through the use of game mechanics, while--for the most part--its more traditional narrative elements are kind of whatever.
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Oct 15, 2018 03:30
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 129. Empyrean The final area of the Abyss and I think I mightve needed to use the test-poster regardless of the page because this gets a bit long with no good break point.
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Oct 17, 2018 02:16
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| # ? May 5, 2024 04:28 |
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I'm pretty sure you're putting way more thought into these Shadow movesets than anyone at Atlus did themselves.
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Oct 17, 2018 02:32
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