I’ve been having the best journey I could possibly have with Persona 3 Reload. It has been a surge of story twists and side-stories to remember in the future. It’s a game that leaves a lasting impression on us, a rarity, a little gem, a precious treasure, a work of art, a pleasure through and through. I’m so glad I can play this now among many other good games. Atlus is on a spree and the year is only at the start. I believe I’ll be playing Atlus games for the remainder of 2024 but I’ll try to take some breaks with other games in between. Usually, I play one long game and one short game at the same time. When I finish a long game, I play another short game, and then start a new long-running game. However, this time, from all the games I’ve installed on pc or started on Switch, it’s always something in the order of 100+ hours.
When I wrote about Trails of Cold Steel, I thought “how am I going to play this now?” and I really, really want to, but I think it will have to wait a bit. I intend to play Soul Hackers 2 after finishing Persona 3 Reload. On the Switch I’m playing Shin Megami Tensei V and now we have the Vengeance variation coming. Should I finish my version or start the new one? Do I even have time and health for any of this? Why am I even thinking about this? Since my brain is glitching, I need to do two things. Enjoy the games that I’m currently playing and maybe read the internet a little less often. Being on top of things happening this year is exhausting. We already knew this would happen at the start of 2024 with jrpgs. I will buy the Switch games I want, and they will rest comfortably on my display until I have time to play them. And then a new console will come. There’s no point in being on top of things.
Persona 3 Reload deserves all the time I could put into it and after the events of the first part, where we all thought we would defeat the last Shadow and end the Dark Hour, there was a twist. We were betrayed by the one who guided our steps. It isn’t unheard of, but it hurts nonetheless. When I started Persona 3 Portable on the Switch just to take a peek and compare the character portraits (and I admit, it was also an excuse to hear Tara Platt as Mitsuru again) he showed up and I dreaded him. And what about all the cameras in our rooms? Are they only for my entertainment or was he also spying on us? Everyone seems to be oblivious to those, and I, as a silent character, have no will of my own.
Something bad happened to Mitsuru so she had to take a break to take care of her business at the Kirijo Group. Right after the conclusion of special events and interactions, a text box shows with a few words about what our character’s thinking in reaction to those events. After what happened to Mitsuru our main character showed his highschooler empathy by thinking that Mitsuru cried like a child. You know, as one does with the loss of a dear family member. One cries like a child. Throw in a tantrum for good measure while we’re at it. “I hope you put more effort in when you try romancing her,” I thought. All went well in the end, and our main character behaved more like himself, maturing along with his lover and friends, in the dawn of a catastrophic Fall.
The story with Elizabeth happened a bit before my romance with Mitsuru. I got an invitation that I decided to accept. After all, I wasn’t yet committed with anyone, all my social links were in friendly terms and Elizabeth had some curiosity about what one does in a gentleman’s room. I boldly accepted her request, only to hear that she cherished every moment with me, but she couldn’t abandon her important station. After the initial grief, I came to terms with it, that her help was invaluable to fight the Fall and abandoning ourselves to love would only mean said love would be very short living. She had her Master, and I had the contract I signed taking full responsibility for my actions. In P3P that contract gave me access to the Velvet Room. If there’s any relation between the contract, the Velvet Room and Pharos I’m none the wiser.
Speaking of, we got a new transfer student right at the end of the semester. It was strange to see Ryoji so grown up all of a sudden. At the time I didn’t know what to think, and my main character didn’t seem to notice the likeness of an old friend. Aigis reacted strongly against him and I, being as I am on Aigis side at all times, detested his honey voice and his advances on other girls and on myself. I know how much of a hunting ground a high school can be. Put Junpei and Ryoji in the same room and you see what’s the intended audience for this game. I bet Ryoji would have been a success on the beach setting, a setting so familiar to a person who had to witness it from the other side. It was there that Aigis came to us, and that event saved the setting for me, because everything else wasn’t from a world I would like to belong to, although unfortunately I still have to.
Elizabeth’s requests are almost fulfilled. Yesterday I accidentally killed the last boss inside the Monad door that fulfilled the last request she had in store for me before the 100th one, which is to kill the Reaper. I tried it once, but his damage output was too much for my tanking capabilities and for the buffs I had at the time. Once I learn how to trigger his arrival in Tartarus, I’ll bring a team that can deal with him. Having Personas with severe and massive magical damage is a game-changer, especially when they hit weaknesses and debuffed enemies. I love to use Concentrate, prepare a sequence of debuffs, and then finish enemies with my Satan. It doesn’t work every time but when it does it’s a sight to behold.
I made sure to give Junpei the white flowers for Chidori. I was reading a random guide about gifts and stumbled upon it by chance. The time window to give him the white flowers is short, but I had a save from before the tour to Kyoto. I reloaded it and gave him the flowers. After our tour, the flowers showed at her room when she was visited by the Strega. We still had to fight her, but I think she’s now transmogrified rather that dead. I’m still unsure if the flowers had any effect or if it’s something only featured in P3P. We didn’t kill Chidori. It was an unfortunate circumstance that made her lose her life-force. It was for a good reason, though, and it made for a beautiful part of the story. The post-event thoughts of our character matched the mood, and nobody cried like a child this time.
Then came the revelation of doom, but not before Aigis engaged on a solo mission after finally realizing who a certain mysterious individual was. After running through her long-term memories and connecting the dots (maybe with the invaluable help of Koromaru) she decided to deal with unfinished business from ten years ago by her lonesome. I appreciate the romantic nature of this enemy, the fragility of his docile appearance in contrast with his immense power. After all, death flirts with us during our entire lives. Whether we like it or not, our bodies will ultimately fall into its embrace. However, what I like even more is the machine protector, the one that goes to great lengths to save our lives and does so with stoic disposition. Aigis is one of the best characters in the game.
I’m happy to have her back. We had to wait a few weeks while she was under repairs. She came to us even better than before, more human and knowledgeable of human ways, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. From that convo at the command room between Ryoji and the rest of the group I sensed danger. My lack of sympathy for him remained even though he’s meaningful in relation to the Arcana he represents. “I’m here and I’m your friend, I love you but my arrival means you’re dead. Could you please kill me now in order to forget everything so that you can get killed later and live the remaining of your lives in blissful ignorance?” What about Aigis? I saw she didn’t forget, however she sided with Ryoji’s opinion about his annihilation. The protector would run out of something to protect, their purpose gone and mankind with them.
This is more or less where I’m at. In terms of social links there wasn’t anything substantial happening before and after the ultimate decision. I maxed more social links than I think I could, but after a certain point I had to prioritize. We had a free week at the start of January, so I used that time for dates during the day and exploring Tartarus at night. My new social link is upgraded but I don’t feel I’ll be able to fuse Messiah on this playthrough. I’m in unknown territory now. Nyx, the Mother of Shadows, is supposed to reveal herself at the top level of Tartarus, and I’ve already reached the point where I can’t proceed yet. Now it’s a waiting game. I see that I’ve still some months left in the game, so I believe that at the end of January I won’t be defeating the last boss. I haven’t started Aigis’ social link yet and some previous dialogue seemed to hint at some future interaction. I may be wrong. My heart may be taken but she’s still my protector so far.