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Chapter 73: 7/4: The Only Change That Matters (New)
Music: Beneath the Mask -Rain (Instrumental Version)
Buckle up, folks. We’re headed back to Mementos, and this one’s gonna be a doozy.
First, we need to confirm our requests.
Let me check our intel… We’ll start with this one first… Apparently the Phantom Thieves inspired a larceny group that steals from shops in Shibuya. On top of that, it seems their leader has been physically abusing his younger brother. We can’t let these people go around tarnishing the Phantom Thieves name.
I must agree, even more so if we are being asked for help. Let us put a stop to this madness.
I’m for doing this too! We need to trigger a change of heart in them.
There are still more. This intel is on a cowardly kid who carries out atrocities using bullies under his control. He’s the one behind that guy Takanashi whose heart we changed before as well. Anyway, it seems like he’s been blackmailing people with videos they don’t want made public.
Sure thing. Let’s break that bastard.
It seems tough, but I think we can accomplish this if you say we can!
There are still more. This intel is on a sadistic student. It sounds like she’s been treating a particular male student as a slave against his will. For example, she’ll give him degrading orders, or berate him in public…
So she’s acting like a dominatrix to a guy who doesn’t want that… That’s horrible. I think we’ll need to whip her heart instead, okay?
Very well. I will go along with this.
There are still more. This intel is on a heinous convenience store manager. Not only does he steal money from the register, but he gets away by blaming his part-timers for it. He probably just does whatever he wants because he owns the store.
Let’s take him down. Even though he owns the place, it’s damn clear what’s right and what’s wrong.
Very well. I will go along with this.
You said that last time, Yusuke.
There are still more. This intel is on a man who’s been abusing his girlfriend. This man named Uchimura has assaulted her countless times. That fortune teller even predicted she’d be badly hurt if left alone. Those fortunes often come true…
Uhhhh….
Yo, ixnay on the fortune stuff, you sound like a lunatic.
Fortunes aside… we can’t let this guy use violence against her! I don’t want her getting hurt. We should change his heart.
I agree. It’s only natural for us to change the heart of a person like that.
Huh? Oh, you’re here too, Makoto. You freaked me out, you’ve been so quiet this whole time.
Okay, it looks like we’re all ready to do this! I already left the calling card at our target’s home.
What? I thought Mishima was responsible for these calling cards.
There are still more. This intel is on an elderly man who’s been harassing people at Harmony Alley in Kichijoji. He snatches people’s orders, picks fights, and causes a scene by claiming he got hit and demanding money…
Man, the list goes on, huh? Sounds like he ain’t nothin’ but a nuisance.
I haven’t actually seen him do anything, but people really seem to be fed up with him. And the more people complain about him, the happier the old man gets.
So his purpose in life is to harm others… His behavior will probably continue to decline if we don’t intervene. I’d say changing his heart is the right course of action.
One more thing. Sounds like he gets severe joint pain on rainy days.
Well, what a coincidence! It’s raining today!
I wonder why he doesn’t just stay at home and behave himself if it’s really that bad…
So he still goes out and hurts people despite all the joint pain…? That’s intense. Okay, let’s change his heart so that he can relax already!
I posted the calling card in Harmony Alley. I’m sure the old man’s seen it by now! No objections, right? Mm… we’re good to go if you’re okay with it. That’s a unanimous decision! Okay, all that’s left now is to take down the target in Mementos!
Jeez, that was a lot. I seriously filled 10% of the post character limit on just what I’ve transcribed so far.
Music: Mementos
Really? It seems the same to—Hold up. It looks like the Nav’s reactin’ to something…
What’s this?
It sounds like we can go further down now. It’s because we made Madarame’s Palace disappear, right?
Most likely… I think.
You seem rather uncertain. How far does this… Mementos run, anyway?
Uhhh… *pause* It’s huge…! Extremely.
You’re always so vague when it comes to the important stuff.
We’ve been over this, dude. The cat talks a big game, but he doesn’t actually understand any of this. At least, not any more than the rest of us.
You’ve got some nerve, you two!
There, there…
I don’t fully understand, but Mementos and the Palaces are related to each other, correct? Then all we must do is continue changing the hearts of evildoers to ascertain its full expanse. I don’t believe there’s a need to quarrel over it.
Oh… Come to think of it, it’s raining today. That might have an effect on Mementos…
That means today’s our chance to get ahead!
Well, I don’t think we can expect the rain to have that much of an impact…
Guess we’ll just have to explore and find out. Let’s go!
Before we do anything else, we’ll head into the Velvet Room.
Music: Aria of the Soul
We never took on that Level 20 Trial Battle, so let’s give it a shot. Though, honestly, I think this is the last one I did in my personal playthrough of this game. I’ll try to keep up more in the future.
So, we need to defeat the enemies in 28 actions while making heavy use of Nuclear and letting Fox get as many finishing blows as possible. We already have Fox and Queen in our party, and Joker has an accessory that lets him use Frei equipped, so we should be good already.
Our rewards are a Silver Lump we can sell for a tidy profit, a Dodge Ice skill card, and finally a Heat Wave Belt, which is an accessory that lets whoever has it equipped use the skill Heat Wave. Let’s give this a shot.
Music: Prison Labor
Oh, right. This is our first battle since getting these Confidant abilities, so we’re going to get a tutorial on them, naturally. Shadow Calculus is completely useless in special battles, though. It shows no information on skills or the (non-existent) item drops whatsoever. Though on the subject of the analysis screen, the game just outright tells you what affinities the Shadows will have, which is nice. Party switching is more useful in theory I suppose, but until we get Togo System and can swap on anyone’s turn, it’s more of a burden to throw Joker’s turn away.
Anyway, the fight. I’m not going to post a video of it because, spoiler alert, I don’t succeed at getting the top prize, but I’ll recap my tactics anyway. There are, as you might expect, quite a few enemies weak to Nuclear here (and only one weak to Ice, meaning we have to be smarter about getting those Fox takedowns by Baton Passing to him and letting a Rising Slash rip). There’s going to be a lot of Baton Passing. A good strategy here is to let Queen knock a Nuke-weak enemy down with Mafrei to maximize the number of x4 Nuke attacks and then just Mafrei again to double up.
Thanks to Fox managing to kill two of the first round’s enemies himself, we end it with a respectable 7,204 score with plenty of time left to make up the rest. Unfortunately, we kill the second round too quickly and Fox doesn’t land any takedowns, leaving us with 10,156 at the end of Round 2. The bonus for finishing within 28 turns is 15k, so we need to get at least 20k by the end to get the top prize for 35k. Part of the problem, honestly, is that I’m using Skull… at all outside of hitting weaknesses, because he has no way to inflict Nuclear. He can maybe Shock an enemy and get someone else a Nuke Technical that way, but it’s just thinning the remaining health of the enemies for very little point return.
When it’s just the last enemy in Round 3, a Take-Minakata, I switch Joker’s Persona to Leanan Sidhe and knock it down with Psio, then Baton Pass to Fox for a 506 damage Rising Slash. That’s enough to get my final score to…
Ehhh.
We can do better.
Not very much better, apparently! One more go!
Nice! First try!
If you want to see the successful attempt, here it is.
All right, let’s head into Mementos proper then.
Music: Mementos
We choose to start from the very first floor and head downward from there because we never collected the two stamps in the first area.
With that out of the way, we can work through our requests.
christ I have so many lockpicks
Ooh, a Hiranya. I’m a bit low on status cure items at the moment, so that’s handy.
After killing a Shadow with Insta-kill, the door to the Velvet Room suddenly appears glowing red, disappearing just as quickly…
Oh, it just means that the Fusion Alarm is active again. Neat.
Music: Desire
That’s the first thing out of his mouth… But it seems like this is the old guy who’s making trouble in Kichijoji!
Nice, I can tell you’re annoyed even with your masks on! That shows how interested you are in me, Heiji Ono, right? Riiight?
…He’s certainly disturbed. Let’s end this, Joker!
Yes, yes, get mad! Look at me, Heiji Ono!
Music: Keeper of Lust
Ow… My body aches! It always hurts like this when it’s raining… but for the sake of causing trouble, I can ignore the pain!
This, if it wasn’t clear, is the reason I ended up delaying this Mementos visit. They so conspicuously mentioned that he gets aches on rainy days that I figured I might as well save fighting him for one. And, wouldn’t you know it…
He has to sit every second turn out because of his debilitating joint pain. Yikes.
And Fox takes him out with a follow-up attack.
Queen learns Energy Shower.
Music: Sunset Bridge
Whenever I’d do something stupid, my family would worry about me. My son usually treats me like I’m worthless, but he would care for me in those times… It felt so good that I started seeking that kind of affection everywhere. I ended up causing so much trouble…
An unfortunate consequence of isolation…
*sniff* I’ve caused so much trouble… How am I supposed to live like this?
You speak with some brutal honesty, kid… But you’re right. I’ll start by making up for what I did.
I’m certain that’s what your family wishes as well. And from now on, instead of taking it out on others, you should communicate your needs directly to your family. Tell them that you’re “lonely” before it’s too late.
…… Yeah, I’ll do that…
We’ve resolved one (1) request… so time to take a break and head to the Velvet Room!
Music: Aria of the Soul
The first thing we’re going to do is create a Godsent Dress from Phoenix. This is a very slight improvement over the non-alarm version of this armor, which has 5 less defense and only gives Magic +4.
The next thing we’re going to do is fuse Setanta from Archangel and Nigi Mitama.
If anyone dares bring you trouble, I’ll gladly choke them to death.
Kinky.
Setanta is the given name of Cu Chulainn, a younger version of the Irish mythological figure who has not yet obtained the name Cu Chulainn by killing Culann’s guard dog in self-defence.
Giant Slice is a good skill, but we don’t have a lot of Gun skills so I still consider this a worthwhile trade.
Then we replace Diarama with Charge.
Next up, Naga from Shiki-Ouji and Rakshasa.
If two of the Personas involved in a fusion have the same Trait, the game will generate a new possible Trait for the recipient Persona to keep the options at 3.
Ah nuts, the guillotine stopped. You know what that means!
I will become your new mask and free your heart from the chains that keep its power in check…
Take-Minakata is one of the sons of Okuninushi who had his arms cut off my Take-Mikazuchi after a big sumo match. Then he ran away and married the goddess Yasakatome, becoming the guardian god of Suwa. Sure, whatever.
You’ll have to take your leave while the equipment undergoes maintenance.
…And I forgot to fuse the alarm result Persona again. Shit. We’ll do that next time, I swear!
We need to head back into the Velvet Room for a second real quick.
See, we actually have the required Persona for the current Strength request! I didn’t plan this out, it just happened by amazing coincidence! At least, that’s how I vaguely remember it happening, I recorded this almost four months ago. …Four months ago? Christ, I’m going slow.
Heh… Not bad. That’s another one done.
Strength Rank 5: Part 75
This list really is quite magnificent. The tasks are designed to push your strength further and unlock your true potential.
What do you think about their difficulty, Inmate?
Honestly, they’re pretty tough and the only way I can really figure them out is trial-and-error. Please make them easier.
Yep, exactly, they’re perfect!
Oh well. We should give him the next one. Let’s see here…
Wait, wh-what!? I’ve seen this writing before…
The penmanship?
Yeah… I can’t remember where I’ve seen it…
This is your handwriting, actually. It says to “compliment the inmate after he completes his next task—but firmly, like you practiced.”
Not that! Those are my notes!
My, it seems you’ve enjoyed the inmate more than you let on…
Stop fucking with me! I obviously mean the handwriting for the tasks!
To be honest, I also feel I’ve seen this handwriting before… and I get a sense of déjà vu just looking at this list. What purpose does this list serve?
Isn’t it to train the inmate? Rehabilitation and what-not.
But that is our master’s goal. If he did not write this list, then what are these tasks for?
There must be some reason we’re doing this. It can’t *just* be mindless busywork for the inmate. Though, that would be pretty funny. If we’re right, the purpose will reveal itself once he completes the whole list, so let’s just wait for now.
…I suppose you have a point. Hearing something logical from you is like a cool rush of air amidst the sweltering heat of summer.
You don’t need to say that!
Now then, let us reward you for successfully completing our task. We will now grant you access to the Special Treatment.
We hereby permit you to create Personas you wouldn’t normally be able to handle! But the catch is, you’ll still have to pay the price for it!
Make sure you use this to the fullest so your rehabilitation comes to fruition. Do not disappoint us.
I feel like my bond with Caroline and Justine is growing deeper…
So, this one’s a surprise. They moved Special Treatment down to Rank 5 from Rank 10, meaning we can fuse above our level that much sooner. It’s still going to cost an arm and a leg, but hey, it’s really handy.
Please note that the next privilege we provide for you will be quite powerful indeed. Therefore, we will require that you complete three tasks before you can receive it.
*chuckle* All right, here’s task number one!
You need only speak with us once you obtain it. We will be able to tell.
See if you can live up to our expectations!
Okay, let’s roll.
Music: Mementos
Uhhh… Which one was this guy again?
The double bully.
Right, right.
Music: Desire
Raaaaaar I’m gonna blackmail people into bullying nerds and there’s nothing you can do about it!
This dude will never get to make good on his threat to vore us, because he goes down like a chump.
Music: Sunset Bridge
Not terribly difficult, this guy.
I’m sowwyyyyy…
Christ, there’s still four more of these to go, huh?
And… this one?
The sadist girl.
Thanks. Wasn’t she like a dominatrix or something?
Yeah, sure, if you wanna get weird about it.
Music: Desire
Raaaar I’m incredibly sadistic and controlling!
Music: Keeper of Lust
Here it comes!
Let’s go!
Looks like Queen’s going to knock some sense into Shimizu.
Video: Queen and Skull’s Showtime (Watch this)
We never saw the normal version of this one, so here it is.
Time to get a little crazy!
Stay focused!
Gah, sorry!
Hyaaah!
Go for it!
Haaaaa… ATATATATATATATATA!!!
Hyaaaa!
Skull runs up and hands Queen a… soda?
Thanks, ma’am!
Queen then crushes the can in sync with the Shadow erupting into black goo. Ooze? Gooze.
Yikes!
As if I need it.
Not quite sure what that last bit was about, honestly? I think it’s supposed to be, like, Skull bringing Queen a refreshment after all that strenuous exercise killing the Shadow, and her crushing the can to show she’s still in top form, but it doesn’t quite scan. Still, one of my favorite Showtimes. I’m really glad we got the one where she goes full Kenshiro because the lines can be slightly different and she doesn’t always do the ATATATATATA.
Music: Sunset Bridge
I secretly liked him, but I heard this “tsundere” thing was in vogue so I started just bullying him! It’s weird, I realize now!
Music: Mementos
This is because more people believe in us now, right?
That has to be it. Now then, let’s get in there!
Woo, let’s go down to the next block!
Music: Mementos – Upper Layer (Listen to this)
Holy shit, they fixed Mementos. That’s right kids, Royal actually made it so that more than one track plays for the entirety of Mementos! There’s actually a good handful now, varying depending on how deep you go. It works more like Tartarus now, which if I was saying that about anything else would be a massive problem, but here it’s fine! Hooray!
Anyway, we’re not actually going to hear this track very much, because I’m 2/3 of the way to the character limit with about 90 images worth of commentary to go, so I’m gonna need to blitz through the rest of this. Also because, you know, even improved Mementos is still Mementos and there’s just not a lot to say about most of this!
Looks like it’ll be a new area from here on. I’m starting to understand how this place works…
Yes… It is quite a marvel to find the subway system down here.
Uh, Earth to Yusuke! It’s always been like that.
Codenames, goddammit!
Uhhh…
It’s the shop manager who was stealing and blackmailing his subordinates.
Music: Desire
I loooooooove embezzlement!
Your racket is honestly a little small-time to be called “embezzlement,” you’re just, like, stealing from the register. Also, you’re drawing a lot of attention to yourself by involving your employees. Sloppy work all around.
I’ll show you!
I’ll give you three guesses how this goes for this dude.
Music: Sunset Bridge
What? No. Of course not, you idiot. You were blackmailing people.
4 down, two to go. Man, these are blending together…
Music: Mementos – Upper Layer
New area, new stamps.
The last floor had seven areas, but the one before that only had two, right?
I suppose it varies, depending on the location…
Guess that means it ain’t easy to tell how much of a floor we got left to cover, huh?
That’s right. We won’t know how many areas are on a floor until we make it to the end. But judging by the vibe I’m getting from the Shadows… this floor isn’t any smaller than the last.
Sweet, a Jose floor.
Hey mister, is that a crystal you’ve got there? Lemme see it!
And then put that there… Nice!
Here you go, mister. Let me know if you find any others like it, okay? Learning about warped cognitions also teaches me about humans.
We’ll get to what this thing does in a moment.
A new area of Mementos opened up, so I went around and gathered more stuff to trade. Hopefully I got something you like, mister.
Music: Have a Short Rest
From his current selection, we’ll take one each (the maximum he’ll let us buy of those in a single visit) of the transmutation items Model Gun and Black Robe. We still have about seventy flowers left after that, so we’ll need to spend the rest before we leave. I’ll save up just in case I want something bigger, though.
We’re also going to put one point into Item Rewards Up, increasing the multiplier from x3 to x4.
Music: Mementos – Upper Layer
So, the Ring of Gluttony is kind of absurd. The Crystal of Gluttony’s original skill, Marakukaja, has been replaced by Vault Guardian, which has a passive effect of straight-up repelling one non-Almighty attack for the entire party. This effect is applied automatically at the start of battle. I’m not the biggest fan of the Tetrakarn/Makarakarn family of Repel skills, but even I can see that this thing is kinda ridiculous, even if you can’t reapply the effect. Vault Guardian, for what it’s worth, can also apply the Marakukaja effect, and for 4 SP less than that skill normally costs.
Open another locked chest, get an Exorcism Water.
Are we still doing “Phrasing”?
Fox learns a new skill. In Persona 5 vanilla, this was Mind Slice, which inflicted Confuse, but they replaced it with Dormin Rush, which inflicts Sleep.
Ryuji, this is the guy who was going to put his girlfriend in the hospital.
I remember this one!
Music: Desire
Shit! I’m out of money! Because I am a cartoon villain, I will respond to this with domestic violence!
Hey, uh… don’t beat your girlfriend.
Huh? Where do you get off, lecturing me!? Don’t you know how hard I work? She loves it, anyway!
He literally says “Beating her is a right that only I have! I’ll have you know that she loves it too!” in the script here, because this game… is not subtle.
Uh yeah, I’m sure, dude.
Again: Not subtle.
Mona learns Garula, which we slot in to replace Dia.
Music: Sunset Bridge
I’m superior! I’m the ultimate lifeform!
This is one of the only Shadows in the game to show zero remorse. It’s an interesting perspective that some people are just so twisted that they don’t even understand what they’re doing is wrong, but… it’s also pretty concerning! What’s the effect of the change of heart actually going to be here?
And now we’re skipping straight to the last one.
Music: Desire
I started doing recreational breaking and entering because I hate my brother so much!
What? I don’t understand your story at all, the motivation here seems a little thin. You have like, a pamphlet or something properly explaining your deal?
Why, yes! Please buy my overpriced backstory explanation on Blu-ray so you can witness the riveting tale of a guy with an extremely melodramatic inferiority complex!
Will it help me understand any of this?
Not in any way that matters!
I did not terribly care for THE DAY BREAKERS.
Huh? Oh, right, this guy summons help.
Gonna be honest with you guys, none of the combat in this update required anything of me. I might as well have literally fallen asleep holding the controller and been pressing random buttons every twenty minutes due to unconscious contractions in the muscles of my hands.
Music: Sunset Bridge
Did my brother… send you to do this?
What? Uh, I think? I don’t actually remember the details, we got this one a while ago.
He does care about me… Take this key and give it to him. Tell him to get rid of the stuff in the chest in my room. Burn it if he wants.
Uggghhh, more errands…
God, even the reward for this one is just a useless bullshit tie-in to the OVA.
I’ll sneak it into his brother’s house.
What? Is his first reaction when finding a strange key to stick it in every lock in his home? Is his life Dark Souls?
Music: Mementos – Upper Layer
I’ve been wondering, is there a possibility that we will find our own Shadows within Mementos?
That’s not possible. Our Shadows are always by our sides, remember?
Oh, right… Our Personas…
Acknowledging, facing, and becoming able to wield your own Shadow is what makes you a Persona-user. That’s why we can’t have Palaces. It’s also why our Shadows can’t exist in other people’s Palaces.
Uh, but we saw Panther’s Shadow over in Kamoshida’s Palace.
Hey, that thing was NOT mine!
That was just a cognition formed by Kamoshida’s mind. It was nothing like Panther’s actual Shadow.
So wielding a Persona involves acknowledging one’s Shadow… Considering that fact, Joker’s abiity to control multiple Personas is truly special.
Right? That just proves my judgment of him was correct!
Uh, you were real surprised too when it happened…
That’s just a neat little side conversation I wanted to show off, even if I’m rapidly running out of space in this update.
Another locked chest, this one with a Snuff Soul.
Our goal may be close.
Another fusion alarm, nice.
Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.
Unfortunately, upon reaching the final floor of this block of Mementos, we’re missing a stamp. This bodes poorly for future blocks, because you know that the number of stamps per block is only going to increase.
Hm? Is it not opening?
I guess we’ll need to get more of the public to accept us…
So that means we’re still not so popular, huh…?
Oh… Is that a surprise?
Yes, perhaps somewhat…
She was askin’ me!
Thankfully, when we return to the previous floor, we find not only the final stamp, but Jose as well. This time, we buy the Black Kotagana, an Ambergris MA, and all the Blank Cards we can afford. Which is seven.
We also use our whopping ten stamps to boost the parameters of Mementos. Still almost certainly going to save the EXP scaling for as late as I can because I don’t want to break the level curve.
Well, that’s all we needed to do today in Mementos. But before we go, we should really take care of that fusion alarm.
Music: Aria of the Soul
The first thing we fuse will be Sudama from Obariyon and Anzu.
I’ll be your mask, man! I’m gonna stop skulking around!
Sudama are mischevious mountain and river spirits from Japanese folklore that dwell in old trees and rocks. They’re not evil, nor do they cause trouble, so I’m kind of left wondering how they got labeled “mischevious,” but whatever.
Looks like Snap and Lucky Punch are about to change. I’ll allow it.
Ooh, Double Shot and Miracle Punch are both straight upgrades over Snap and Lucky Punch. Nice work.
Next up, we’re going to make Fuu-Ki from the Sudama we just fused and Take-Minakata. Now, we’re fusing an alarm result Persona, so this should get wild.
Guillotine stopped again…
Here comes the chainsaw…
Oh! Izanagi Picaro! …Oh. Izanagi Picaro. When I had already promised myself I wouldn’t use any of the DLC Personas because they’re all fucking busted. Dammit.
Anyway, Izanagi is a creator deity in Japanese mythology. He and his sister-wife (that is the literal term Wikipedia is using here, goddammit ancient cultural oral traditions, be less creepy) Izanami are in the middle of something of a tiff at the moment, mostly because Izanami is dead, so Izanami is killing 1000 people and Izanagi is giving birth to 1500 more every day. You probably recognize Izanagi and this design in particular because it’s the Persona 4 protagonist’s starting Persona in that game. I don’t know what the relevance of “Picaro” is, I think it’s just a recolor to pad out the DLC while being a reference to the word “picaresque.”
I don’t know what people were talking about, this doesn’t seem that wei—
Oh. For the record, I did not choose to make that happen, it happened on its own.
Now, if you look at these skills, you might notice they seem very… intentional. This skill list is clearly designed to maximize a specific skill interaction. That’s what happens when you fuse an alarm result Persona. The resulting accident (YOU WERE AN ACCIDENT!!!) gets all of its skills replaced with a new “build.” I don’t know if each potential accident has one specific “build” it can change to, but this one is designed around inflicting the Shock status ailment as often as possible, then capitalizing on that with a Nuclear Technical. Even its Trait, which increases the chance of inflicting Shock to downed foes, contributes to this.
Gee, you think?
Well… it’s complicated, Caroline? It’s not not useful, it’s actually kind of so ridiculously useful in a way I wasn’t ready for that I really can’t use it or I’ll fuck with the balance. You understand.
Well, we have to fix all the equipment now, so get outta here! Go!
Music: Mementos
Well, that’s gonna do it for this update, then. I honestly cannot believe I fit all this into one post.