Weekly Gaming Blog · 5:16am Jun 17th, 2017
Welcome to my Weekly Gaming Blog!
This week's coverage: Persona 5.
WARNING: This blog contains Persona 5 plot spoilers for 8/23 through 9/14. Proceed with caution.
REMINDER: Although this blog contains heavy P5 plot spoilers, please be mindful of posting spoilers beyond that point in the comments. Please note where the blog's story summary leaves off, and mark any spoilers past that point. (Or better yet, don't leave spoilers past that point in the comments at all. 
)
Newly acquired games since last posting:
None
Candy Crush Progress
(Notes most recent level reached)
Candy Crush Saga: Level 650
Candy Crush Jelly Saga: Level 170
Candy Crush Soda Saga: Level 220
Persona 5
(Note: I named my protagonist Invisible Dick Kaito Hidari, so for simplicity's sake I will be referring to him as such (or as Joker) throughout. Additionally, I will be using the group name I gave the thieves in my game, Les Chatons, to refer to the party collectively. Also, and again for the sake of simplicity, I am omitting the narrative framing device of the interrogation from my recaps.)
Current Progress: 9/14 (Evening)
KAITO Lv. 35
Persona Compendium: 27%
Charm 4 | Proficiency 3 | Knowledge 3 | Guts 3 | Kindness 3
Confidants:
0. The Fool: rank 8
I. The Magician: rank 7
II. The High Priestess: rank 1
IV. The Emperor: rank 5
V. The Hierophant: rank 4
VI. The Lovers: rank 6
VII. The Chariot: rank 6
VIII. Justice: rank 3
IX. The Hermit: rank 1
X. The Wheel of Fortune: rank 2
XI. Strength: rank 1
XIII. Death: rank 9
XIV. Temperance: rank 3
XV. The Devil: rank 5
XVII. The Star: rank 2
XVIII. The Moon: rank 6
XIX. The Sun: MAXED
XX. Judgement: rank 4
Before I begin this session's recap of the story, I have to say something.
Persona 5 is a game full of missteps and bad decisions. One of the absolute worst missteps is the extremely long, virtually unbroken plotdump that begins with the defeat of Medjed and runs through the middle of September.
Three weeks pass in-game between Palaces. During those three weeks, there are two LONG events that are just...visual novel events and span several days each.
Slogging through these events is exhausting, because there's not really a lot you can do, gameplay-wise, during them.* Everything involving Ryuji during those events just makes them seem longer and more exhausting because Ryuji is such a fucking horrible character.
That...was not a good move on Atlus' part. 
There's a lot of other issues I have with P5. I'm going to be blunt: Atlus could've given us a better game than this for all the years we waited. When it's a good game, it's a DAMN good game, but when it's a frustrating mess, it's a VERY frustrating mess, and it's unfortunately a frustrating mess far more often than it should be. Add to that Atlus' terrible PR and the godawful localization which Atlus JP shoved down our throats...
Let's just say I'm not going to be in any hurry to do a New Cycle on this one. Not when I've got other games to play that aren't nearly this frustrating.
OK, now let's get back to it.
(*I mean, there's Confidants you can visit before Hawaii, there's shopping you can do, you can grind your social stats a bit, and you can go to Mementos (I think), but...the actual time you have for this stuff is limited during this period.)
Interlude: Getting To Know Your Futaba
Over the course of the week following the shutdown of Medjed, Les Chatons begin acclimating Futaba both to interacting with them and to spending more time outside of her room.
On the first day, Makoto, Yusuke, and Kaito go over to Sojiro's house and spend time in Futaba's room trying to engage her in conversation. Makoto's attempts at conversation are...awkward, but after Yusuke screws up Futaba's Phoenix Ranger Neo Featherman figures...
...Futaba gets mad, and then amazingly, has a long conversation with Yusuke about her geek interests. Seems getting her to geek out helps to bring her out of her shell.
On the second day, Futaba, Ryuji, Ann, and Kaito hang out in Kaito's room and manage to have a normal conversation. On the third day, Futaba helps out at Leblanc during service hours. On the fourth day, Ann and Makoto go swimsuit-shopping for the upcoming beach trip, and manage to get Futaba into a swimsuit. On the fifth day, Futaba has a meal at Leblanc with the boys.
The day before the beach trip, Kaito is working downstairs in Leblanc, with Futaba hanging out in the shop, when Akechi shows up. His namedropping of Niijima Sae puts Sojiro on edge; doubly so when he mentions Futaba's mother by name. Akechi laments that he's unwelcome everywhere, then lays down a sob story about how his unwed mother died when he was a baby and he's been passed from foster home to foster home all his life. I'd give a fuck if he wasn't an obnoxious little dipshit, but...he is, so I don't.
Akechi's complete lack of social skills and inability to realize when he's an unwelcome intruder makes for a tense day where he just keeps talking pleasantly and will not take the hint that he should just go the fuck away.
That night, Futaba suddenly calls Kaito outside. She went and bought some fireworks and wants to light them, after having heard about Kaito and the others' fireworks viewing getting rained out.
Finally, the day arrives: Les Chaton head to the beach. Upon seeing Ann in her bikini, Sock Emoji starts acting like a total perv. When Futaba first comes out, she has a towel wrapped around her head and is acting like a mummy. Makoto quickly disabuses her of this silliness and fixes her hair, and the gang get on with the business of beach bummin'. While the girls are off enjoying themselves on a banana boat, Sock Emoji throws a huge tantrum about how Ann never acknowledges how amazing he is.
(Probably because he's the exact opposite of amazing?)
Sock Emoji keeps whining and throwing a fit until he goads the guys into a "mission" to steal ladies' hearts at the beach.
*sigh*
Anyway, the guys strike out left, right, and sideways with every girl on the beach (of course), and in the end, Kaito and Sock Emoji get a repeat visit from the two queers from Shinjuku.
The girls haven't been having a much better time either--when the guys rejoin them, they're being pestered by a couple of guys who won't take a hint.
As the day winds down and the gang gets ready to head back, Futaba opens up about how much she loved her mother, how her death crushed her, all about her reading her mother's research into cognitive psience, and about how she knew the Phantom Thieves were the only chance she had of both curing her own heart and saving Sojiro from the extreme legal pressure bearing down on him. She also reveals that she believes her mother was killed by someone with the power to change hearts, who may have caused Wakaba to have a mental shutdown. Because of this, she has decided to join Les Chatons in the hopes that she will find answers about what happened to her mother, and perhaps even the men in black who may have killed her. After Futaba's story, the others decide it's time to give Futaba her Phantom Thief codename. After hearing a bunch of poor choices from the others, Futaba decides on her own codename: Oracle.
...wait, so she's Batgirl now?
Meanwhile, sinister people are making sinister plans...
As summer vacation draws to a close, Morgana wakes up in the dead of night from a nightmare about being a terrifying monster born from the depths of Mementos. (Hey look everyone, Morgana is Teddie 2.0! Who didn't see THAT coming?)
On the last day of summer vacation, Sojiro, Futaba, and Kaito go out for sushi. During the meal, Kaito has a moment's heart-to-heart with each of them as the other visits the restroom. That evening, Futaba asks Kaito to go with her to Akihabara. She decides to head there first and meet him; when Kaito arrives, he finds Futaba being questioned by a police officer. She apparently had a massive panic attack in public... Poor Futaba. ;_; Her social awkwardness quickly turns into endearing geekiness once Kaito agrees to become her "key item".
Aloha, Principal Kingpin
At the beginning of the new term, all anyone can talk about is the Phantom Thieves...and the upcoming school trip to Hawaii. (...WOW! Hawaii, seriously? That's way better than Kyoto or Okinawa! ...if you're a Japanese kid, I mean.) Meanwhile, Mishima has added a new feature to the Phan-Site where people can vote for targets who need a change of heart.
(Yeah, that's not gonna be used to air petty grievances or anything...)
After school, Les Chatons meet up in a ridiculously public place yet again to talk Phantom Thieves business. While discussing the possibility of going after the other Metaverse user, the notion of getting information out of Sae comes up, but Makoto is reluctant because she knows Sae will brush her off. Futaba gives Makoto a USB drive with her own special hacking tools on it to clone the hard drive of Sae's laptop in hopes of finding useful data.
Meanwhile, Principal Kingpin is in hot water because the news media has implicated the entire faculty of Shujin in the Kamoshida scandal. It's become a hot topic of gossip all over town...
Due to the scandal raising police scrutiny of the Shujin faculty, the third-years will be overseeing the school trip, with Makoto essentially in charge as Seitokai President. As everyone prepares for the coming class trip, Makoto seizes an opportunity to steal Sae's data from her laptop and gives it to Futaba. While everyone is praising Futaba, Morgana is growing jealous of her.
The trip arrives. At the airport, Kaito takes a group selfie with his friends. A very long flight later, they arrive in sunny, tropical Hawaii. It doesn't take long for the novelty of Hawaii to wear off, however, as the kids realize that they're doing the exact same thing in Hawaii as they did back home: chatting, reading the news on their phones, and eating at Big Bang Burger. While they're discussing this, Yusuke shows up--his school's class trip to Los Angeles got diverted due to a storm, and they wound up in Hawaii as a last-minute alternate choice.
The topic of Big Bang Burger raises the subject of Okumura Foods, a major international food corporation which has been the subject of much press and a lot of gossip lately. The president and CEO of the corporation, Kunikazu Okumura, is extremely high in the rankings on the Phan-Site poll. The subject of the Phantom Thieves' popularity also comes up: they appear to have a huge following outside of Japan as well.
Meanwhile, back in Japan, Sae's boss is on the phone with his boss, planning the elimination of a subordinate who has failed them...
While Les Chatons have an utterly miserable time in Hawaii, Principal Kingpin has a mental shutdown in the middle of a crosswalk, is hit by a vehicle, and dies. Sae suspects the Phantom Thieves to be responsible for his death...
I got stuck with the Ryuji event during the class trip. I'm not sure why unless it's because I answered his IMs more than Ann's or Yusuke's. I wish I'd gotten a better event, because the Hawaii trip was an absolutely disappointing waste of time.
The Next Mission Begins With A Big Bang...Burger
Les Chatons return from Hawaii to a lot of changes in the status quo. Principal Kingpin is dead, the popularity of the Phantom Thieves has reached feverish heights, and Akechi has begun backpedaling from his earlier statements on television to try to save face. The Thieves are completely freaked out by the way the public seems to be clinging to them for salvation, trusting the Phantom Thieves' justice and morals above the police and the government. What they've started has grown completely out of control, and they don't know how to deal with it.
Meanwhile, Futaba has finished going through the data from Sae's laptop, and breaks it down for the group: Sae has been investigating a string of incidents which all seem to benefit Kunikazu Okumura. As they discuss what to do with this information, dissention breaks out among the ranks. Some of the group are hesitant to plan a new mission right now, because the public is in a frenzy of Phantom Thieves mania and a very high-profile target such as Okumura will only make things crazier. Other members of the group want to strike now. During the heated exchanges, Morgana chews Sock Emoji out for being involved in Les Chatons for all the wrong reasons--he's let ideas of glory and fame and popularity with girls obsess him and has forgotten why they're doing all this in the first place. When nobody else really supports going after Okumura right now, and with tempers flaring, a resentful Morgana leaves, deciding to go it alone. Morgana attempts to infiltrate Okumura's Palace, but gets his ass handed to him and is rescued by a kind, unassuming third-year girl the boys met in Hawaii.
A day goes by, and Mona's disappearance begins to unnerve Les Chatons. Finally, when he fails to reappear by the next evening, a news report of a break-in at Okumura Foods spurs the Thieves to investigate Okumura's Palace, which they believe Mona may have attempted to infiltrate by himself.
Even as they plan their search and rescue mission, Mona is running around Okumura's Palace with another Phantom Thief...
À SUIVRE...
Thoughts:
- Futaba lighting fireworks is ADORABLE.
-- Actually, Futaba is adorable in general. Every second of every day of Futaba is adorable. Even when she's being creepy and stalking Kaito through his phone.
- *sigh* Why does EVERY Persona game have to have an event where the guys, left to their own devices, behave like total asshats? Worse yet, Persona 5 has TWO OF THEM...
- The only really good thing about the beach trip, in the end, was this.
- One thing I keep doing every time I play a new Persona game is waiting too damn long to initiate a Social Link I had access to much earlier. This time around, I waited until the end of August to start Star. -_- (This is especially bad because Star gives you a REALLY important ability right out of the gate...)
- "Are you a remora?" / "Maybe..." XD XD XD XD XD
-- Yes, I chose that option. I'm such a dick. XD XD XD XD XD
- I love how the loading and transition graphics change during the Hawaii trip.
-- That's the ONLY thing I love about the Hawaii trip. It's a pointless, boring snorefest, and if you get fucked by the game and forced to choose Ryuji for the free time event? You get the exact same event from the beach, only in Hawaii, and what the FUCK, Atlus?!
*reads post* So, I take it that things went kind of sideways during Persona 5's development. You have to wonder how and why this kind of thing happens.
Incidentally, I recently (as in, I got the package Monday) acquired Persona 3 FES and Persona 4. Currently playing through FES, and I couldn't help but think of the following: "We've replaced SEES' Evokers with normal handguns. Let's see if anybody notices." Kinda dark, I'll admit, but I'm shaking my head a bit at how Personas are summoned in that game.
Well, I got to spend time with Makoto in Hawaii, so I'm not complaining
It almost sounds like you're not enjoying Persona 5 at all. Hope that changes for you eventually.
I wish Persona wouldn't fall back on "guys being stupid" to fill time. Even with how stylish P5 is, it still feels like cliche JRPG in many ways. Doesn't help that some events have both Ryuji and Mishima for double the idiocy.
If/when there is another Persona game, I really hope they'll have ironed out their development speed problems considering the huge gap between P4 and P5. There's some trivia on cut story you can find on the net after you've finished the game.
Sorry to hear Persona 5 is so frustrating for you, Moth. It was like that for me too, but eventually my opinion did a shift to super positive, and I hope that the game mannages to turn into a more positive direction for you.
Anyway, a few lingering thoughts
-beach event was terrible. Honestly, I'd have preferred lobster hunting with Yusuke instead of asshat guys.
-in an interview, Persona 5's director said they intentionally made Hawaii a disappointing time. With everyone speaking Japanese, the sense of foreign newness was stripped away, with the focus on the Phantom Thieves, they were distracted by going on back home, I forget what he cited as his motivation, but I found it interesting. Doesn't alleviate that Hawaii was not fun to play through, but it's cool to know that design process.
-Stars ability is really useful, hopefully it'll make battles easier.
-just a tip, but I really recommend a guide for Okumuras palace as some of the puzzles are obtuse.