Persona 3 Portable 04 - May 1

[surgeworks]

Alternate Title: The Second of Many

Last time, we finished up Thebel and took Theodore out to explore.

Yukari remarks that it’s getting warmer out, and that the number of Apathy Syndrome cases hasn’t gone down, and that they need to be ready if a big shadow were to come at them again.

Junpei says after class that Akihiko’s at the hospital getting a checkup, and pats himself on the back for being dependable enough for Akihiko to need him to get something. Yukari checks him by saying it was just because Junpei doesn’t have things to do after school, but she’s only playing around. She asks what Akihiko had him bring, and it was the class roster for 2-E. Yukari says she’ll go with him, and we get offered along, Junpei feeling a tad diminished.

Over at the hospital, it’s not Akihiko at the bed. It’s a guy in heavy clothing and a beanie with a face like a thug (!!!).



Junpei’s a little put off. Akihiko walks in, asking what all of us are doing here, then says he’s just here for a checkup. The stranger asks him if that’s ‘all he needed’, referring to him as Aki (!!!). He clicks his teeth and says he doesn’t have time for this. He starts to walk out, but stops to look at us, and seems like he’s about to ask us something before thinking better of it and stalking off.

Junpei asks who that was, and Akihiko says he’s a friend from school, ‘sort of’. According to him, he knows a few people suffering from Apathy Syndrome, so Akihiko was asking him about it. He then asks for the roster from Junpei, and then Junpei and Yukari ask about his arm and his choosing of boxing as his club activity, and Akihiko says he just wanted to learn how to fight. He then lets slip about not wanting to feel powerless, and then calls it a game, where he competes against himself in his drive to get stronger. Whatever you say, man. We leave.

That night, Yukari wonders if she’s supposed to have seen the stranger from today around school if he’s really a friend, and we do the horror game at the arcade. One of the Lost wanders around outside our dorm.

May 2^nd arrives. We overhear that next week is Golden Week, and that on Sundays a shopping channel comes on TV that we can order from. After class, a girl waxes fanatic about Akihiko-senpai, and sadly remarks that he’s ‘off-limits to the girls’. Oh, if only! Sadly, it’s the other way around.

After class, we go to Bookworms’. Bunkichi says Mitsuko just left for Gekkoukan. We stick around, and when she comes back, she’s frantic. He hands us both some Cylon tea, and he says that it seems the rumor was true: the persimmon tree memorializing their son is going to be cut down. They’re uneasy, and want us to keep an ear out for anything to do with the tree. Feeling their trust in us, we rank up to 4.

We get back to the dorm, and Junpei says he asked some folks if they wanted to hang over Golden Week, but he canceled because the only ones interested were all guys.

WISTLH: 04

The first of a few instances of Junpei being a dick like that. Junpei, I love you, but I hope your ‘friends’ ditch you for that. Mitsuru reminds us that midterms are approaching. We get pine resin from Yukari, take it to Theo (who tells us that either Elizabeth or Margaret made him eat several platefuls of soybean powder, which he is reminded of) for a special bow for Yukari, then do the quiz game at the arcade instead of studying.

That night, we get the clock cut-in for the Dark Hour.

CREEPY BOY IS BACK ON OUR BED AGAIN.

He informs us that there will be a full moon in a week. That’s important, you see.

Calm Down There, Edgelord: 09

That one does get a point, because the full moon isn’t emphasized in this game for any real reason except “full moons are spookier”. It is important though, because as the boy says, a ‘new ordeal’ is coming our way along with it. We ask him more about it, and he confirms that we have the ‘greatest challenges’ (aka bosses) coming on full moons. He then leaves, saying he’ll be back when it’s over.

5/3 arrives, and Golden Week with it. Akihiko gives us advice about shadows, Mitsuru asks us if we’re doing well without him, and Junpei laments that he’s bored and doesn’t have anything to do during Golden Week.

WISTLH: 05

*Raised eyebrow* Maybe if you hadn’t said no to perfectly good options because there weren’t girls involved, you’d have something to do.

Before we do things for the day, we visit the shrine. There’s options there to pray to increase your Academics, or draw a fortune to give a boost to a Social Link (but not as much as if you’d visited them). Both of these take time though, and I have plans. Rather, I give my Dia skill card to the Inari at its shrine. In doing that, he’ll keep it for five days to make a copy, and then give them both back to us.

That's...tedious. I'll pass.

We visit Bunkichi and Mitsuko. Bunkichi apologizes for bothering us about the persimmon tree, and we make a terrible “pun” to lighten the mood. He mentions that his son was a teacher at Gekkoukan, and that he planted that tree on graduation day with the students of his first class. Mitsuko mourns that the tree is going to bear fruit soon, and asks why they have to cut it down now. We console them, and our Social Link ranks up to 5. Bunkichi gives us crab bread on our way out.

That evening, Ikutsuki is around and remarks that his weekend will be spent analyzing data, so his only companion will be a robot. I narrow my eyes at that particular line. Mitsuru remarks that Tartarus seems to have an unstable formation today and that there may be more accidents than usual. Sounds like the perfect time to train!

We obtain what we’re needing for Theo’s request, which is a Beetle Shell, and get 12,000 yen. Yukari levels up, and we also fuse Personas for the Temperence, Hanged Man, and Hermit Arcanas since we’ll need those soon, too. We also run into a Wealth Hand, and kill it for a Wealth Coin.

5/4 arrives, and we become tired. We buy a Mad Bull from the hallway vending machine, then go out and play the photo game at the arcade. Junpei tells us about turn orders, and we do more arcade photos. We’re still tired on 5/5.

We spend all day and night at the arcade again, this time on horror games. Mitsuru informs us about the Request Help help, and Junpei avoids studying.

On 5/6, we’ve become sick. On our way to school, we hear of another Social Link: an elementary school kid at Naganaki Shrine that looks lonely. Ms. Ounishi asks what we call water without much calcium or magnesium, and the answer is soft water, getting us a Charm increase. We go to Edogawa to taste his cold medicine and get our Courage increase, then go to the shrine—the girl there is named Maiko.



She’ll play with us, but she’s hungry. Unable to help her, we leave and go back to the Home Ec room at school to initiate our Temperence Link with Bebe. We can read the note on the door thanks to our high Academics, and it turns out there’s a fashion club running Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

We go in. Bebe’s in there, looking quite fancy, and turns out he’s been needing some friends since coming to Japan, and we can fill that role nicely. Bam, Temperence Link! Before he leaves, he asks us how ‘farewell’ is said in Japanese—the answer is ‘mata ne’.

We get back to the dorm. Junpei jokes about Tartarus’ levels, Akihiko jokes about going to his club even while not fully healed, and we go play the quiz game at the arcade.

We’re still sick on 5/7. Junpei offers to take us out, and this time we can accept. First, we go to Edogawa, which levels our Courage from Ordinary to Determined, and then talk to Junpei to initiate the rank-up.

He takes us out to Chagall Cafe. Apparently, he’s never been before. He mentions that ‘guys can’t really come to places like this with each other’, and while I’m not salty enough to award that any sort of point, it does make me bitter. We ask him where guy friends go, and he mentions karaoke, the burger joint, the manga cafe…he admits that that sounds lame out loud. He says that he likes the coffee, and waxes about how the owner is probably very refined and precise about making it. In response, we say he has good taste.

He asks what we got, and we say hot cocoa. According to him, that’s a 'girly drink', but he’s smiling about it. Eventually, the subject turns to romance. Junpei is frustratingly uninterested in us, (damn this cockblocking game) but makes for an excellent wingman as he discusses our prospects with Akihiko. He actually calls himself our Cupid. We say we might give it a try then, and he takes note of the phrasing. Social Link ranks up to 3!

When we get to the dorm, everyone talks about weapons (including Yukari for like the fifth time), and Mitsuru alone remembers it’s been a month since we moved in, and asks how we’ve adjusted--doin' great, thanks for asking. We go to the photo game at the arcade, and our Charm levels up from Ingenue to Unique.

We recover by 5/8.

In class, that bitch Ms. Toriumi walks up and says we’re “obligated to join a school committee” (man, but Japanese schools must be hell...). Shock of shocks, we’re given the option to say we don’t want to, but it just pisses her off. There’s the health committee and the library committee, but it doesn’t really matter, the Link is the same.

The Link this time is Saori Hasegawa, a doormat of a girl who’s obedient, allowing, and non-confrontational to a fault. She’s older than us, but still a junior since she took time off abroad. We agree to not be formal around her, which she’s understandably tired of. We get along, and thus our Hermit Link begins.

We get back to the dorm, and Mitsuru and Akihiko remark that it’s been a month not just since I moved in, but since the attack on the dorm by the Big Shadow, and the number of Apathy Syndrome cases has only risen. Junpei talks about Rush mode. We save, then play a horror game at the arcade.

It’s 5/9. Tonight’s a full moon, and Creepy Boy said to watch out for those.

Akihiko meets us outside the school gates, and asks us if we’ve been training, then says he’ll be able to join us soon. The game takes us straight back to the dorm and into the Dark Hour.

In the command room, Mitsuru is alone working a terminal. Akihiko walks in, asking if she’s still ‘at it’, and she’s keeping an eye out. He says he thought she couldn’t scan outside of Tartarus (?), and Mitsuru confirms that she can’t do much of that, and wonders if her Persona, Penthesilea, has reached its limits as intel. She remarks on our power, and they chat. However! A reading comes up, and Mitsuru’s alarmed to find that it’s too big. Yep! Another Big Shadow.

Akihiko gets all ‘I love fighting, see me smirk’ on us, before going to wake everyone up. Yukari and Junpei are ready for anything, and Mitsuru informs them that this particular Big Shadow is outside of Tartarus. It’s imperative we take it out, since even if most people aren’t aware the Dark Hour exists, there will be panic if half the city is fine one instant and destroyed the next.

Akihiko wants to go, but Mitsuru checks him—she’s sending the three of us alone. Akihiko reaffirms that we’re in charge, and Junpei complains about that. The seniors try to ignore him, but he continues to complain that we’re the leader when he’s the guy in the group.

WISTLH: 06

Sexism like that is not conducive to making me attached to a character. Mitsuru checks him, too, and gets a tad pissed off. Junpei swears up and down that he’s not looking down on us, but the implication that he thinks men should be in charge is still there.

The Shadow is at the train station, so that’s where we’re headed. Yukari and Junpei discuss the full moon once we arrive. Mitsuru drives up in a working motorcycle, shocking the rest of us (although we really shouldn’t be), and she says that the Shadow is inside the monorail, not far off. We’ll need to walk on the tracks, which makes Junpei rightfully nervous, but Mitsuru says electronic equipment doesn’t work in the Dark Hour, just hand-waving that her bike is 'special' when he points that out.

Note how it’s never addressed what happens if a monorail is running when the Dark Hour hits. You’re telling me all vehicles in Japan just happen to be stopped at midnight? Not a single one runs? Because otherwise, they’d crash if their circuitry failed. People would die. This should be a nightly occurrence—mass death and destruction. Nope. That’s just sort of overlooked.

Ill Logic: 02

Been a while since we’ve seen that one.

We arrive at the monorail a little later. We don’t see anything, but Mitsuru is sure it’s in there, so she tells us to be careful and stay together. Yukari’s apprehensive, but Junpei’s excited. She walks up onto the steps, tells him not to perv, and he is a perv. Wavered on giving that a point, but I’ll relent for now. Yukari suggests burying Junpei here and leaving him behind.

We get inside the last car, and the door slams shut behind us. Mitsuru rings in, and we inform her that we’re trapped. She says the Shadow must know we’re here. We’re then given control. When we talk to him, Junpei says ‘I-It’s so quiet...”. So you can understand how odd that is, imagine him saying that while the very loud, energetic, and psychotic-sounding rap song Deep Breath Deep Breath plays.

There are coffins in each car, as if to remind us that, oh yeah, that happens.

DEATH IS INEVITABLE: 13

A couple carriages up, Junpei mentions how there aren’t any shadows around. Yukari again remarks that it’s ‘so quiet it’s creepy’ while synthesizers play and women yodel. Surprise! An enemy shadow drops down from the ceiling! But...it doesn’t attack. It wanders back into the next car up.

Ignorant of how strange this behavior is and not dealing with anything Mitsuru, Yukari or ourselves say to the effect of not chasing it, Junpei charges ahead like an idiot, saying he’ll beat the Shadow all by himself.

Ill Logic: 03

Because Junpei is deliberately ignoring logic. He also cites that if we don’t go after it, we’ll lose it, despite the fact that the monorail doors sealed and there’s nowhere for it to go. I did not give him a WISTLH point, because this sort of brazen brash-headedness, while annoying, I can believe from an excitable, gloryhound teenager given power. Before we can chase him, we’re surprised by two new shadows behind us.

They go down easily enough, but supply some good experience. We’re only given a moment to confer with Mitsuru before more are on us, though. We beat them quickly enough and chase after Junpei. Yukari’s put off, wondering if something is wrong with him and if we said something to upset him.

We do find Junpei a couple of cars later, surrounded by shadows, and we help him, even though he says he doesn’t need any, to his irritation. Before we can say much, there’s a rumble. The monorail’s started to move. There can only be one culprit, and even Yukari has to be a smartass when Mitsuru chimes in to say so.

We’re on a time limit now—if we don’t stop the train, it’ll crash into another one. The Big Shadow is in the front car, according to her, but more shadows pop up to stop us. We actually are on an in-game time limit here, unfortunately, which I guess was done to prevent people from abusing this level for grinding.

Yukari notes that we’re gaining speed as we carve our way through shadows. The Big Shadow, when we meet it, turns out to be an oddity if ever we’ve seen one. You thought the arm creature was bad? The front of the train is occupied by a fifteen-foot-tall woman, half-black and half-white, with her legs spread, and “B” and “J” printed on her bare breasts. She’s wearing a mask and her long hair seems to have crept into the train’s metal like roots or something of that nature.

We’ve got about six and a half minutes to beat her, so this may be a bit of a challenge. Or not, since she’s pathetically easy. I stalled for most of my time, trying to get her to summon some shadows for experience. We get a lot of it, and a diamond, for our trouble. Junpei levels up and gets Rakukaja.

That, by the way, was the Priestess. Yes, the Full Moon Shadows are the Arcana in this game. Why?

Uhh, no reason, really.

No, seriously. I don’t think we ever get an explanation for why the giant shadow bosses we fight have decided to take forms representing the Arcana. But they do!

And if that was the Priestess, that makes the one we killed in early April the Magician. The one Akihiko and Mitsuru fought offscreen while we were doing that must’ve been the Fool.

So, a point for each beaten Full Moon Shadow….

Arcana Believe It: 04

A point for each one to come…

Arcana Believe It: 15

And a point for this being the case at all, unexplained as it is.

Arcana Believe It: 16

...But the monorail is still moving! We have to stop it manually! Which we frantically do, deciding to pull a lever...which works! Junpei asks if we’re okay, and we’re given two options.

> “That was a breeze.”
> “I was so scared.”

Neither of these is the case (okay, so it was a breeze, but no one who just had to stop a train from crashing at the last second should be saying that), but we’d also like to avoid tapping what seems to be a mild case of compensation with Junpei. The guy actually gets shaken and looks for a handkerchief we can cry on. Aww.

Our work done and no one dead, we decide to go get some food. Our Fool Social Link levels up. Rank 3 comes with some exciting news—there’s now follow-up attacks like in P4. However, this time they’re double-team ones, just not using Personas.

Back at the command room, Akihiko picks up and is informed of our success. Mitsuru ominously asks him and Ikutsuki if this all means ‘it’ has begun. I—you know what? You know what?! You are like three inches away from a new ‘making sure not to be explicit or explain anything to preserve dramatic tension’ count. If I was sure there were enough ahead of here to warrant it, I’d put it in right now! I still might!

Mitsuru is hard on herself for only being tech support. She’ll come into her own soon enough. Oh, and Ikutsuki biked here.

Our mission complete, we go to bed. Though it’s a bit early, this is a good place to end this entry on. We'll pick it up later.

Counts:

• DEATH IS INEVITABLE – 13
• Calm Down There, Edgelord – 9
• Villainous Cancer – N/A
• Romantic Plot Cancer – N/A
• Ill Logic – 3
• Arcana Believe It – 16
• Bad Game Design – 12
• WISTLH – 6
• Aigis I’m Stuck With You – N/A