4593 réponses à ce sujet

[Ozzy]

Maybe her slight sadism is a holdover from the days when she was apparently meant to be the killer in P4, haha. 

[CrazyRah]

"Junpei-kun. If you can't take a hint, you should shut your mouth. Don't even breathe."

 

"But I'll die!"

 

Yukiko is dark. That's why she's best P4 girl.

 

Ah Yukiko 

 

That's one of many reasons why I love her

[Ozzy]

TIL that Troy Baker is a pretty great singer. 

 

 

Can Eikichi make a cameo in P5 alongside his band and sing? Can Troy Baker come back to voice him? Can P5 come to me soon? 

[Ozzy]

Got my hands on Q and it took some getting used to but it's all good now. Currently on the second floor of the Date Cafe thingio. While some voice changes took some getting used to, Naoto's is the only one that doesn't really sit right with me. It's just too nasally and doesn't do weird things to me like the original did. Oh well, at least the P4 saga is pretty much at a close. 

 

Oh, and now I see what you guys were talking about when it comes to Teddie. Dude is awful. Doesn't help that they repeat the 'scream' of his so damn much. Now I have to take to him in my party for a quest. 

[TheChris92]

I should continue on my quest to Reap the Reaper, though I might skip that for now until I actually get the quest to do it. Otherwise it'll feel like a whole lot of effort for nothing. Will switch between Fire Emblem and Q now then.

[TheChris92]

TIL that Troy Baker is a pretty great singer. 

 

 

Can Eikichi make a cameo in P5 alongside his band and sing? Can Troy Baker come back to voice him? Can P5 come to me soon? 

He's been doing a lot of music collab stuff with Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill Composer) in the music bizz, think they did a band together, which is pretty cool. Anyway, I'm actually liking his singing stuff a lot. Unlike Jared Leto, I'd say Baker's music work is excellent along with the acting.. I think his music might be even better.

[Ozzy]

He's been doing a lot of music collab stuff with Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill Composer) in the music bizz, think they did a band together, which is pretty cool. Anyway, I'm actually liking his singing stuff a lot. Unlike Jared Leto, I'd say Baker's music work is excellent along with the acting.. I think his music might be even better.

 

That's pretty cool. I'll definitely have to look it because I am rather fond Yamaoka's work, from his general atmospheric pieces to most of his tracks with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. 

 

About Baker though, according to an interview I just watched, he actually got into Voice Acting as a byproduct of his music career. It was a chance occurrence and that's pretty neat. I can listen to the dude talk on and on, haha. 

 

Eh, I can't really comment about Leto since I haven't seen him act but I was fond of some of the earlier 30 Seconds To Mars stuff. 

 

I like how Teddie is in his early 30s while everyone is in their high 40s going into level 50 on my playthrough right now. The hate for Teddie is real. I was actually wishing someone would cut his head off yesterday because of something he said in the 4th labyrinth. I don't want to hear his mouth or read his dialogue for longer than I have to.

 

I know nuance is generally gone from most of the P3/P4 cast as they're essentially flanderised but it's dialled up to 11 with Teddie. I still prefer him to Ken tho, lol. 

[TheChris92]

Eh, I can't really comment about Leto since I haven't seen him act but I was fond of some of the earlier 30 Seconds To Mars stuff.

Let me know and I'll share some of the most extraordinary films with him at his peek. 
 

I know nuance is generally gone from most of the P3/P4 cast as they're essentially flanderised but it's dialled up to 11 with Teddie. I still prefer him to Ken tho, lol.

Good man. One will also notice that Marie is even more useless in this game. Now she's basically just there, because she has to be.. I guess?

[saMoorai]

TIL that Troy Baker is a pretty great singer. 

 

 

Can Eikichi make a cameo in P5 alongside his band and sing? Can Troy Baker come back to voice him? Can P5 come to me soon? 

I really wish the Persona 2 team would be in more of the crossover stuff. If Katsuya and Tatsuya aren't Shadow Operatives, I'mma be Buttmad.

[TheChris92]

I really wish the Persona 2 team would be in more of the crossover stuff. If Katsuya and Tatsuya aren't Shadow Operatives, I'mma be Buttmad.

The people who worked on Persona 2 are no longer with Atlus -- Out of respect, for the previous employees, they've chosen not to include the characters with the exception of Igor and the Velvet Room. A writer from Eternal Punishment returned briefly to write a new scenario for the PSP remake but that's all. In other words, none of the Persona 2 characters are Shadow Operatives.

[TheChris92]

Liked for The Wire.

[TheChris92]

Part of the reason why I liked Persona 3 a lot. The goal, for a long while, was "reach the top of Tarturus." That gave LOADS of room for me to bond with my friends and do my social links whilst also improving on the gameplay and a whole bunch of other stuff to boot.
 
I'd compare the structure of PE3's narrative to ME2... but that'd incite some hostility. However, when I mean structure, I mean structure. Nothing else other than the way it's paced and progressed. Nothing more, and nothing less.

I'll take the liberty to shuffle my responses to your points into one specific quote, specifically the one in regards to Persona 3, since I somewhat consider myself a veteran in regards to discussion around the game.

But most, importantly, because its mechanics are centric to whole concept of 'Game time' that've dabble into.

 

I'd argue that the overall structure of Persona 3 is different from most RPGs because it sets a balance between how we perceive progression of time (when we are playing). A remarkably similar example to ME1 could be FFVII. Fire up a new game of Final Fantasy VII, and once you gain control of Cloud, do nothing for ten minutes straight. What happens? Nothing. Once the game grants you control of the character (Cloud), then you're allowed to stand around on the train platform, and do bugger all for minutes, heck hours until your console explodes out of exhaustion.. Nothing will change. The above example was provided because the sense of urgency from the game's plot is somewhat similar to that of ME1.

 

Now, if you can, fire up a new game of Sonic the Hedgehog, and once you gain control of Sonic, follow the same procedure as you've done with the former. What happens then? 

Well, Sonic will suffer a massive cardiac arrest, because he can only gain nourishment through some sort of strange addiction to run faster than 10 Bugatti Veyron's put together,  and thus he'll die instantly, that’s what happens. As you can see, unlike the former, the game won't wait around for you to start playing the game. So, why the difference?

A simple answer could be that they are just different games, thus ultimately they are set up differently, but time is always key. Final Fantasy VII is a plot heavy role playing game, while Sonic is more about arcade style platforming. In many ways, ME1 adheres to the first camp, because it's an RPG so ultimately taking the reigns of the player would somewhat limit agency, freedom to do whatever you want.. that's a shared trait amongst RPGs. My impression of course, by the Witcher, is that Geralt's constant running back and forth between guy A and B at the beginning of the first game was obtuse in regards to what his actual goals involve. I don't think the Witcher is any better or even necessarily worse than most RPGs -- Geralt and Shepard can both stand in a corner somewhere for 10 minutes without any thing happening, because ultimately the narrative is driven by the player, there are few examples of games like Majora's Mask, where time plays out like a different beast and suddenly becomes plot-centric. FFVII and the other examples are more narrative driven vehicles, while Sonic is mostly about gameplay. For this reason, both spectrums handle time wildly differently. In fact, I'd say it's easier to establish that both games represent the different schools of time-passage in-game, which I'll try to set up.

One school is where time is progressed solely by the player. This is where Final Fantasy VII and most western RPGs falls in the above example. Despite the fact that hours or years of real time are passing, no time passes for Cloud unless the player progresses time by choosing to advance the story. There is one noticeable difference in a game like the Witcher though and that is its day & night cycle, which can ultimately affect the functions and availability of certain side quests; Although, it won't affect time itself... much like Shepard you can still stand in a corner somewhere, picking your nose, and bugger all will occur. Time is recorded and measured in plot events- time will advance if Geralt searches for clues about the Salamander, if Shepard goes to Noveria, if Cloud defeats the two ShinRa soldiers and talks to AVALANCHE deeper in the Mako Reactor, but if Cloud just mills about on the platform, no time passes. Cloud can even perform actions which, in reality, would require the passage of time- like moving around- but without progressing the plot, Cloud cannot move forward in time. Much like in the Witcher and other RPGs, the day night cycle can continuously go round and round, but never truly progress forward - the progression of time is dependent on the progression of the plot. It's fair to say that JRPGs typically depend on player-progressive time models. Strategy RPGs, turn based games (even, arguably, games as simple as chess, in which “time” doesn’t advance until a player has moved his or her piece), and non time sensitive adventure games also typically depend on player input for the advancement of in-game time.

I'm obviously going to go a bit off-subject with all of this, but I promise it's relevant to what we talked about in regards to urgency and especially with Persona 3's model.

The second school of time is the one the progresses automatically, or is progressed by the AI. This is where Sonic the Hedgehog falls in the above example. For Sonic, one second of in-game time will pass for every one second of real time that passes. Failing to pass the goal line within ten minutes of real time results in a lose state. The automatic passage of time is also the reason Sonic will drown if he spends too much time underwater, or why he will steadily lose rings in Super Sonic mode. Games that are dependent on player skill or dexterity tend to have automatic or computer determined time progression. Platformers, first person shooters, time sensitive puzzle games (Tetris), and fighting games all tend to use an automatic or computer dependent time progression model. These games tend to- but don’t always- use the passage of “too much” time as a loss state. Sonic failing to reach the goal of an act in under 10 minutes results in a Time Over, spending more than two hours exploring the Spencer Mansion will result in a D rank, which is warranted as an automatic loss, allowing time to pass without player input in Tetris results in an inevitable loss, etc.

It should be noted, which I also pointed out in regards to the Witcher, is that not every game can be neatly dumped into one of these two categories. Games in which progression of time is linked to progression of the plot can contain time-sensitive elements.
Silent Hill and Resident Evil both wobble in the middle -- Ultimately the town itself, the areas you explore (backtracking) won't change unless you advance the plot by going to the next unexplored area, where something might happen. Stand in an empty room for a few minutes and nothing will change, nothing -- Stand in a room with zombie, however, it'll advance towards you (as if time is indeed ticking) and you'll die.

Persona 3 is different in all of this, and I don't think its model can be compared to Mass Effect 2 either, as ME2 seemingly leans towards the play progressive-state. In fact, ME2's story is also wallowed in a sense of urgency; You have to hurry and gather troops before the next human colony is hit, but ultimately that same human colony won't be threatened by a Collector attack until you as the player choose to progress the game by recruiting at least two party members, or so.

Persona 3 is closer to Resident Evil or Silent Hill in this regard, where time is neatly balanced between at the mercy of the AI, or the player's agency.

Minato Arisato (as he's been dubbed) attends his high school classes Monday through Saturday, with Sunday off. On any given weekday, he'll attend classes during the morning and afternoon, and will have leisure hours after school and in the evening. At various points through the year, he gets time off, and will not have to attend class on weekdays. At midnight, the Dark Hour hits, and the player can choose to explore Tartarus.. the key word being "choose". It's layered in the overall thematic implications of the franchise, but also this game's specific central aspect, namely Death but also in regards to the Velvet Room and the Wild Card. The main character has signed a contract, where he swears to take full responsibility for his own actions. The choice is layered out to you but you can always refuse, the only larger consequence is that you'll be less prepared when the big events finally come around. If the player chooses to explore Tartarus, the next day begins when the player returns to the dorm- otherwise, the player advances to the next day by going to bed.

Here’s where it starts getting a little wibbly wobbly. Persona 3 is split between what I like to call “Iwatodai Time” (that is the city of the game's setting) and “Tartarus Time”.

During Iwatodai Time, the progression of time is player dependent, and is largely represented by calendar dates. Time is passed in classes by listening to (or sleeping through) lectures, and lectures only progress if the player presses the confirm button to advance the text box. During the character’s leisure hours, time is progressed by selecting an activity to engage in- spending time with a classmate, whiling the hours away in a restaurant or arcade, etc. Selecting one of these activities will automatically advance time one major increment- from “afternoon” to “evening”, for example. If you choose to leave your main character standing ramrod stiff in his homeroom after class, time will never progress- progression of time is dependent on the player’s decision to advance it. Ending a day is also dependent on the player’s choice to go to bed, and advances the game one calendar day.



If you, however, make the choice of exploring the ominous tower during the Dark Hour, the game suddenly switches to what we'll label as Tartarus Time, in which the progression of time is automatic, and is represented by hours rather than days. All of this has been subtlety laid out for the player to determine in two major ways. First, the arrival of the Dark Hour is heralded by the appearance on screen of a giant clock (seen above), which strikes midnight before it crumbles. This is meant to illustrate how the automatic progression of time has been broken, and now it's moving on its own accord, whereas collapsing of the clock indicates the destruction of the previous model of player-dependent time progression. Second, the entrance to Tartarus proper is through a door embeddedin a massive clock. The clock represents the thematic “minimizing” of time- from Iwatodai’s days to Tartarus’ hours- and symbolizes that unlike in Iwatodai, in Tartarus every minute counts. Time is no longer measured by human standards; A few subtle examples suggest that time moves differently in Tartarus. Obviously, the Dark Hour is not meant to be interpreted as a period where time comes to a halt, but rather it shifts.

Other examples suggest that Tartarus’ time is measured in minutes and hours instead of days and months like Iwatodai Time. For example, in the opening cinematic, the main character is staring at a large clock when he experiences the Dark Hour for the first time, and the transition from Iwatodai Time to Tartarus Time is marked with a shot of the character’s MP3 player, which measures time in mere minutes and seconds. The FMV introducing Tartarus also reveals that the structure itself is covered in several large and sometimes irregularly shaped clocks, although it can be difficult to make out since the scene is so green. Shinegori Soejima’s concept art clearly depicts Tartarus as being decorated with at least thirteen massive clocks. You can also get a taste of the two time streams colliding if you go on a date with Elizabeth. The Velvet Room is governed by Tartarus Time, as its giant clock looming over Igor’s desk seems to say as much, but most importantly, Elizabeth can actually leave the Velvet Room to explore Iwatodai. Choosing to go on a date with Elizabeth will not advance time, even though selecting an activity is how time is advanced during Iwatodai Time (like say spending time with one of the female SEES members). Elizabeth is governed by Tartarus Time, so her progression of time is automatic- just because the player has selected an activity, and in so doing has explicitly decided to advance time, that doesn’t mean anything to her. So, you get to engage in an activity without progressing time, thanks to the presence of Elizabeth. It should also be noted how there don't seem to be many people present during these activities, except for the player and Elizabeth herself.In retrospect, however, established in the Arena games that time has no meaning in the Velvet Room, so at certain events where Igor will point out how "You shouldn't worry, as you are fast asleep in the real world" is meant to suggest as such.

It's not all there is to it, right? Because if that's the case then the player could coast through Persona 3 and never surrender control of time to the computer. By choosing never to explore Tartarus, the player could choose when he or she damn well wanted to progress to the next calendar day, and would never experience the dangers of Tartarus, and everything would be fine forever. As I sort of implied previously, that's not the kind of game Persona 3 is though (as I'm sure you know now as well).

Because the way with how Persona 3's narrative structure is build around the concept of a Calendar and a Year-long period is not so easily taken apart as such. There are still factors of major plot events coming into play, in the midst of your ordinary hours of spending time with friends or doing activities. As a result, let us label them as "Ordinary time" and "Plot time". They can be thought of as plot-dependent metatimes that are activated upon reaching certain points of the narrative. The majority of the game is spent in Ordinary Time, which can be broadly described as those periods of the game during which interaction with the Dark Hour is totally optional. Sometimes, though, the Dark Hour comes whether you want it or not.

This is something you'll experience as early as the start of the game, and pretty frequently too. You'll be treated to a few cutscenes, specifically some that involve your dorm mates spying on your character as he rests during the Dark Hour. Whenever the ominous figure Pharos shows up to have a jaw session, Plot Time is temporarily activated. Most spectacularly, though, Plot Time is activated during the regularly occurring missions, which fall on full moons during the first two thirds or so of the game. You'll always have a notebook in the form of the Calendar telling you when the next Full Moon is gonna occur. It should also be noted that Plot Time doesn’t even necessitate a non consensual trip to the Dark Hour, either. Sometimes you’re merely whisked away somewhere against your will and without your approval- visiting various characters in the hospital throughout the game, or being told that your character is going to take the day to rest before an important mission. Your character even sleeps through an entire day towards the end of the game.

In the midst of the ordinary, what we've called "Ordinary time" the progression of time is dependant on you, as a player. During Tartarus Time or when Plot Time kicks in, control of the progression of time is taken over by the computer. That’s all well and good, but what does it add up to?


"No one can escape time. It deliver us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes."

Well it all adds up to the central thematic factor of the game that I've mentioned. Death -- Although Persona 3's narrative is conveyed around the fundamental relationship its characters has with death, the mechanics are about time, but the two are capable of commenting on and reinforcing one another. As Pharos aptly puts it in the quote above -- Our days on this earth are measured by time,how long, how we choose to make of that time, that is up to us, it's all part of the contract the character choose to sign. But while that's said, we are interested in how time also factors into the mechanical department of the game. Here is where that’s going to take shape.

As it's been established, the characters in this game are all share a particularly mindset of loneliness, empty and void, where it is usually Death that fills that void. It has as much to do with the feeling of dying as it is with the feeling of loss, to lose something, but also the feeling that something is missing, and of course the despair that follows along. It all factors into Death in its own way. The main character’s parents are deceased, and an embodiment of Death was lying dormant in his body most of his life. Yukari is struggling with the death of her father. Junpei doesn't have his mother, her circumstances are unclear, and his father is a drunk who is incapable of taking care of either him or himself -- During the game, Junpei also has to deal with the death of Chidori. Akihiko feels guilt over the death of his sister, Mitsuru’s father dies during the game, Ken’s mother, Koromaru’s old master, etc. Every character’s arc is somehow linked to death, be it either through conveying their backstory or influencing their growth as characters. Fuuka being a particularly relevant example -- Her story isn't as much revolved around the literal understanding of death, as it is about 'Gaining something precious then losing it again' -- This relates to that inevitable feeling we'll all eventually have to either live through. Eventually, we have to say goodbye to the things we love. The lesson is to learn the value of the things we love, learn to realize how it, be it either an object or a person, helped us grow and say goodbye when that time comes.
Aigis' growth also factors into that same inevitability, the inevitable loss of the protagonist peers greatly on her heart, thus the quest is to accept that it happened and learn how one may grow from it.

Now this all interesting, but the crux of these arcs is the lack of control over death, the loss of agency in the face of death. Yukari was only a child when her father died, and the memory of her father is manipulated (in the form of the modified audio recording the chairman uses to trick the group into killing the Major Arcana Shadows), robbing her of her control over that grieving process. Akihiko’s single minded obsession with training is how he copes with his perceived “lack of strength” that prevented him from saving his sister. Shinjiro is seeking punishment for his accidental murder of Ken’s mother, and Ken is happy to give it to him. The characters are not only informed by death, but the lack of control they felt or feel in the face of death. This will also become important in the next bit here.

Time and death are interchangeably connected. Nevertheless, Persona 3 makes efforts to deliberately conflate time and death, to collapse the two of them into one thematic entity, in order to punctuate its point to its audience. At the arrival of the Dark Hour, people without the Potential are Transmogrified, taking the form of coffins, creating a bridge between the passage of time and the arrival of death. Ken attempts to kill Shinji on the anniversary of his mother’s death, creating a thematic link between that specific time and that specific death. Ryoji forces SEES to come to a decision, as to whether they are going to kill him to save themselves the pain of knowing.. that they are going to die by the end of the year -- This thematically links the end of the year, the end of a distinct period of time, and the end of a life. Most interestingly, the game mechanically links time to death in Tartarus, where spending too much time on any given floor will cause the Reaper to appear and, in all likelihood, kill you. So, if the game has gone to this much effort to make sure that time and death are thematically linked, what then can we extrapolate about the game’s use of two disparate time progression models?

In may ways, Persona 3's control over time equals the amount of control over death. During Iwatodai Time, the player is safe, and there are no monsters to threaten them here, so by refusing to visit Tartarus, they are consequently safe. But death comes for us all. By entering Tartarus, the player surrenders control of time to the AI, and in so doing loses his or her control over death. Similarly, during Plot Time, control over death is stolen away from the player. By allowing the player control over time and death a certain percentage of the time, it heightens the lack of control experienced by the player during Tartarus and Plot Time. When it matters most- when the gameplay or narrative are at fever pitch- Persona 3 wants you to know damn well that you do not have control over death. It makes the player feel the helplessness of the characters. By stealing agency away from the player when it matters most, it makes the player, like the characters, aware of his or her lack of control in the face of death.
I think established internet animator icon, Egoraptor, put it best in one of his Sequelitis videos in regards to Mega-Man “you don’t have to empathize with a character on a screen, the feeling happens directly to you".

So, as we understand it, the game's mechanics(concerned with time) and narrative (concerned with death) both compliment each other in such a way as to make the sensation of death personal to the player, allowing him or her to experience that fear and that loss of control personally, as opposed to through simply empathizing with the characters. How much more intimate can this game get with its player? How else does Persona 3 invite its player to really emotionally participate in the struggle against time and death? Wellthere is one more thing.


So far we can conclude time and death are, as presented by Persona 3, one and the same. Time brings us all to the same end. The journey of the Fool must always meet Death. Death is representative of the end of time. In what other ways do the game make that pointclear?

The thing we've called "Tartarus time" is meant to present time as being “measured in hours and minutes”, but here's the thing -- We're never granted any specific calculation, or device, to determine those hours/minutes of time. Similarly, during the day we’re never told what time it is during the day, we just know it is Day at that specific time; We're granted blocky descriptors like “morning” or “evening.” For these reasons, I’m positing that the smallest unit of time in Persona 3 is a day. The game starts in April, takes place over several months, and the narrative ends in March of the next year. A major plot-important moment in the game takes place on New Year’s Eve. So, our basic units of time in Persona 3 are a day, a month, and a year.


We know for a fact that every single ending of a day worth counting in the game is met with the arrival of the Dark Hour. During the Dark Hour, ordinary people are Transmogrified into the shape of coffins, meant to signify the arrival of death. This links the end of the day with death. The end of the month- or near enough- is followed through with the arrival of a full moon and a plot-important mission. These missions take place during the Dark Hour, already associated with death. Furthermore, the month-end missions concern battles against much more powerful shadows, lamp-shading the likelihood of defeat, danger, for the player and the death of the character, resulting in a loss state. The end of the month, then, is even more intensely linked with death than the end of the day. Near the end of the year, and consequently, the game, the character Ryoji asks the mains characters (and the player) to decide whether or not they will kill him. Refusing to kill him, will expand the game's playtime further, it marks the passage into the final leg of the game, and heralds the impending arrival of Nyx, who will bring with her the End of Everything. Whether the player chooses to kill Ryoji or not, the end of the year is linked even more closely with death than the end of the month. Depending on how the player makes the decision on New Year’s Eve, the end of the year can even effectively mark the End of the World, and the death of all life on Earth. So, in Persona 3, the endings of distinct units of time are characterized by symbolic links to death.

Again, however, there is one amplitude of time, that transcends the length of a year, Iwatodai Time, Tartarus Time, Ordinary and Plot, and which is neither governed by the player-determined-time-progression or even automatically by the AI. The strongest measurement is the length of the game it self and how its duration is measured in real time. The end of the game, then, is linked symbolically to the death of the hero, and is thematically representative of the death of the player.


That's not even something I've made up through interpretation, it is fundamentally linked to what Director Katsura Hashino talked about, in regards to the game's tone in the Official Artworks Book. “The game doesn’t actually state in any clear terms that the Hero dies at the end of the game, but it is safe to say that his story is over and done. However, the player is not dead. So, by playing the game, the player is sort of experiencing death by proxy.” Note that even now, when he is clarifying some of the thematic elements of the game, Hashino doesn’t explicate whether the main character actually died- instead, he allows that the end of the game is symbolic of the death of the main character, in the way that endings have been linked to deaths all throughout the game. Although, with the existence of The Answer, well the answer is much more clear, but the overall meaning behind his words actually still holds. In a lot of ways, this connective relationship between main character and player feels very post-modern, akin to that of Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 2, but that's a discussion for another time.


Thinking about it, Hashino's words grants a lot of clarity in regards to what the game really wants the player to feel -- It was to imbue a sensation of fear over the inevitable arrival of death, which was accomplished through a narrative that subtlety conveys the subject, through its characters, its setting, its pacing, in conjunction with time focused mechanics. He continues, “It is my hope that by playing this game and realizing the true inevitability of death, the player will take a moment to think about life and death in the real world after turning the game off". It's no secret that I really admire the P-studio for their accomplishments with the Persona games, and I applaud Hashino for succeeding in making me want to think about everything the game wanted to talk about.

Whenever you boot up the game, the main character's fate has already been decided. The end is written into the beginning. The day ends with the Dark Hour. The year ends with the apocalypse near on the horizon. The game ends with the death of the Hero and the proxy death of the player. Alright then.

Although, thinking about what I mentioned just now; The end of a day is met with the Dark Hour and the end of that is met with the beginning of a new day. At the end of the year, the members of SEES have reached the decision to fight, and suddenly a new sudden sense of determination, weaves through all of them (the title of the track, Living with Determination becomes appropriate) -- their resolve is strengthened and they become the Nyx Annihilation Squad. And like Hashino said, although the character has died (at least symbolically), the player lives on. In fact, the P3’s hero lives on in many ways. The Social Links you've spent the entire game making, they didn’t just have a mechanical significance. Sure, the ideal of making friends will always bolster your self-esteem and confidence in yourself, to survive the challenges of high school, but if you stand back and allow yourself to appreciate the full picture, they were worth so much more. If we follow through on the game’s logic that the end of the game represents the end of the character’s life, then that one year he spent with us, the player, represents his entire life. This is only made more apparent through the symbolic meaning of the Arcana, the journey of the Fool ending with the World Arcana (finding the answer). You know the saying in how one finding the answer to life can only be answered when it ends? Well there's a lot of logic to that. Perhaps one could factor that into Persona 3 as well -- The real Answer we are looking for in life is that we decided to live. The Social Links, his friends; They were what made it possible for him to get through his life. The connections the main character- and the player- made with the various S-Links didn’t just provide strength for his various Personas- that unbreakable bond granted the Hero a kind of immortality. He lives on through the people he touched, through his actions. Hashino says it best himself- “By cultivating Social Links, the Hero gets to hold on to the fact that even if he dies, he’s left his mark on the world. The various relationships he shared with the other characters take root and act like evidence that he did exist. Maybe the reassurance that you’re leaving some kind of legacy behind makes the thought of death easier to accept.”

To conclude: Persona 3 is a game that utilizes its mechanics and its narrative in tandem to communicate something very visceral, very important to the player. High school is literally hell. You have absolutely no control over the flow of time. You are powerless in the face of the inevitability of death. And yet, with good and many friends, you can survive your greatest hardships. Your friends will give you strength. Your friends will make life worth living. And if you play your cards right, through your friends, you can even survive death and transcend it. We all have to remember that we are mortal.

I apologize for not being able to answer all your points, in fact I'm pretty sure this was meant to convey my own impression of ME1's handling of time, but I think the sense of urgency and handling of time in that game is relevant to what I wrote here. That's up to you decide though. Mentioning of Persona 3 will do this though.

[Dominus]

Think I'm going to Copy, Paste, and read at home for this one. A Pre-Emptive thanks for the read, though.

[TheChris92]

Think I'm going to Copy, Paste, and read at home for this one. A Pre-Emptive thanks for the read, though.

I even put on the Edogawa avatar, just for the occasion. Now, I just need to proof-read it through, hah.

[TheChris92]

Dammit Chris.

 

If you have the time to do that then WHERE'S MY BEBOP ANALYSIS?!?!

 

I'll get on that. I got something else written up in regards to another Wantanabe anime I've been watching. After that I'll watch my favorite episode of Bebop and probably write some thoughts on it as a prelude to the big thing.

[SlottsMachine]

DAMN!!!

[TheChris92]

A lot to read up there. And why did I only just realize that Tartarus is lowkey the hyperbolic time chamber?

 

Hah!

 

Bonus info: The Reaper is a ****. (Specifically in Q)

[Milan92]

I'm currently farming the Reaper in P4G 

 

Yukiko's Castle ftw!

[TheChris92]

I'm currently farming the Reaper in P4G 

 

Yukiko's Castle ftw!

On easy mode, I presume?

 

In retrospect, he's not that hard to beat in Persona 4 Golden in general, since the game is relatively easier in terms of overall difficulty, partially due to the inbalance in terms of XP and money grind you can get from the Golden Hands which essentially throws any challenge out of the window.

Margaret, however, usually always bring a true challenge on most difficulties.

 

In Persona Q & Persona 3 he is no joke. Even with Yoshitsune in Q, he's not easy to overcome due to his obnoxius usage of Tentarafoo, Power Charge, Deathbound & Mamudoon.. he'll also bind any usage of spells or physical attacks should you not have resistances towards them. Luckily i granted Naoto with Helel to resist spell binds so I can still keep up on the healing.

[TheChris92]

Incidentally.

 

 

Not long now

 

Atlus Live Stream on February 4th. (Oh, this brings back memories of P5's first announcement where I sat up the whole night and waited for it)

 

30 Hours of Content (Dance All Night Release date? Presumably Persona 5 news etc)

 

Atlus' very own Professional Troll Lady