Hello everybody, and welcome to episode two twenty six of GameSpot After Dark Hour,
your number one podcast for all persona sichos. I am your host this
week, John Luke the Fool Psycheke joined by Michael the Chariot High Am,
Hey, that's what. Did you look up the arkana and see which one
matched up with me? Or is that just because of Chia's chariot? No?
I I thought. I thought about it, and I was like,
what one would Michael be? And I was like, I think you'd be
the chariot. Thank you. We're also joined by Jess the Empress cogswell.
Wow, wow, I'm so flattered. And we're joined by Jake the Magician
Decker the Magician. All right, I'll take it all right. Well,
actually, in the context of Persona three, you're kind of the worst,
yeah, Kenji the dude wants to smash the one, the dude who's who's
ready to throw it all away. It sucks, okay, all right,
But in P three P for the female route, it's so you're kind of
the best too, you know what I'm saying. Yone. We're joining and
buy an all star crew this week to talk about a little game called Persona
three reloaded, and I mean you just wonder president reload not reloaded. Oh,
you're right, Yeah, that's that's the matrix, isn't it. Oh?
Man, I'm already sucking this up. Yeah. We're joined by an
all star cast to talk about this. We have a Jess who reviewed the
game for Game Spot give it a nine out of ten. We're also joined
by Michael Hyam who reviewed it for I g N BOO nine out of ten.
Uh. They were joined by Jake, who didn't review it but has
been playing it. Jake, I'm very curious on your perspective because you're a
Persona three first timer. Correct a little bit. I've played. I've played
four Golden, I've done five to five Royal, I've done Strikers. Although
I've been around the block. You're I think a lot of people this is
going to be their first four eight a Persona three. So that's perspective I'm
excited to hear about. H Yeah, what's your Game Spot after Dark review
score? I haven't finished it, so I don't know. You got to
finish it, Bud. I'm I'm in October fifty hours forty five hours in
or so I'm getting there, hoping to finish it this weekend, so before
after October fourth, after October fourth. Okay, so I've seen that.
Yeah, okay, I have your thoughts on that, but I don't think
I can talk about it here because yeah, I'm actually not at that point
yet. Is it different? That's all I want to know. Oh,
okay, I still know what happens then, all right, yeah, yeah,
yeah. However, there's extra context leading up to it. Oh,
there's based on some of the hangouts. There's a lot of extra stuff in
the game that I thought was really cool. I was like, because I've
been watching Georgia play it, it's her first time, and and like there
were scenes I was just like, what's that in the original game? Like,
no, I don't think it was, And like, I think some
of that stuff's pretty cool personally, I like don't know how to talk about
it without spoilers. But there was like the one scene where you get to
like interact with a certain character. Uh, what I think you said that
interact with this character? I mean maybe if you're I don't know, I
don't know how you feel about this character. Maybe maybe that's how you reacted.
Oh my god, Okay, Yeah, No, I was just saying
that, like, uh they they they're adding more scenes to certain characters that
I was like, okay, like that's cool. Uh And and for me,
I'm just like, oh, they're like this is it feels like they're
what I trying to say, like it I feel like every character is kind
of getting more moments that like humanizes or like adds to their their motivations in
a way that like, like not that it was needed necessarily because I think
the original Base three so strong, but like it some some of this stuff
feels a little like substantial in ways that are maybe not immediately apparent, but
like as a whole picture, I think it just adds more. That's one
of the Yeah, that's one of the biggest things that I that really I
think justify Reload in many there are many things that that this remake does incredibly
well, but one of the things I think is most important to me is
the texture that it adds to a lot of it's the male party members because
they didn't have social links in fest or male portable route. They did with
the female route and P three P, which I thought was great, but
because back in the day they're like, no, hanging out with your bros.
You can't do that. That's kind of give you, will give you
Kenji the Magician and yeah, I fucking hang out with this. Yeah,
I know, dude's a fucking clown. I'd rather chill a joom peay.
But so in reload, they give you they're not social links, but they
are social events, uh I would call them. And these pop up every
now and then and they basically play out like social links. And so you
get these really sweet scenes with Aki Eco and June Pey, with ken and
Coramo too, and this adds a lot, It adds a lot more depth
to those characters that I that wasn't there previously. And I really appreciate that
because you get insight into some of the things going on in their life and
so. And one of the things that I noticed is that those those social
scenes with the with the male characters are freshly written for Reload, and they're
really well written. They're like, they're they're very touching, and they're they're
well acted, and they do add a lot of texture at the game.
In contrast, when you go through the normal social links, you can tell
that there's a there's a big difference in quality. It's shocking. I was
kind of shocked that they how much they didn't change the translate original social docuse.
I like, I've played that game enough times that like certain lines are
burning in my brain. I was like, wow, like this is like
the script is almost completely unchanged, for better or for worse. Speaking of
Kenji, his final social link, I found incomprehensible. I did not understand
what the teacher was saying in that context, and I had to ask someone
who'd played it a bunch to fill me in. And then I was like,
Okay, I guess that makes sense. But this feels like a direct
translation, not a not not not localized. I suppose. I do want
to say, though, we're kind of like getting into it, and I
would like to like hear Michael sim up his review just some of her review.
Do you have the two biggest Yeah, viewers, that's good, that's
a good idea. Just why don't you go first? Since your team game
spot in this case? Yeah? Yeah, I mean so I gave it
a nine out of ten. I think that I don't know. I guess
I guess what I ended up kind of saying is that it is the best
way to play Persona three story and to experience that story, and I definitely
stand by that. I think it's overall fantastic. The there's not really a
lot in terms of the plot points that are changed. It is basically a
direct, you know, remake. It's not doing the Final Fantasy seven treatment
where it's doing this whole little spinoff thing it is, or even something like
Royal or Golden right, Like, it's not elevating it in that way at
least, But I think that there's enough there that justifies, you know,
buying this version, playing this version. I think the game is beautiful.
The music is fantastic, you know. I know a lot of people were
nervous about that because it really does have a very like beloved soundtrack, and
I think that they absolutely did justice to it, and the new tracks are
amazing. Michael Yo, So I Justin and I share a lot of the
same views. It turns out, it turns out we share the same brain
cell. But yes, it's corny anime. Just hey, whoa, whoa,
whoa, don't put that on me. But also yes, my review
was it got pretty personal because P three is probably the one that hits me
the hardest. And has for many many years in a way, P three
have been my comfort game. I've replayed it like four times all the way
through, and there's just something comforting. Even though as as like dark and
unsettling as P three may be, there's something about it that I feel a
sense of comfort in that in that in that world, even though bad shit
is happening all the time. I think I was allowed to do with the
core cast and sees I just I love them dearly and I identify with all
of them on some level, and this is this is by far my favorite
persona cast. So going into this, there are a couple of things that
really stood out to me, and one of them is the voice acting.
And I dedicate like a whole section of my review to really talk about the
voice acting, because this is an all new cast and from even from my
preview, I was utter impressed with how they were one able to recapture the
same spirit of the original characters, but to make them their own, so
everyone sounds so familiar, yet you can tell that this is a new,
enthusiastic take on all of these characters. Because like this this game was originally
recorded, like oh they already made, they made this game in like two
thousand and six, two thousand and seven, so all these years later,
it feels like voice acting has a new standard, And not say that they
were bad back in the day, it's just things were different. So now
with with these new voice actors having fresh takes, fresh perspectives on characters that
I already knew and loved, fantastic across the board. Yukari is Heather gonzalez'z
Yukari's absolutely incredible. Don Bennett is I guess, absolutely incredible. Ahan Trasab
for Akihiko, Like he's probably the most different, noticeably different from Liam O'Brien
from back in the day, but it's still very much Aqui Hiko as I
know him, and Mitsuru sounds so close to the original act. And I
think my favorite is is you know Robinson as June Pey June Pay, Like
he he puts his puts a thousand percent into June Pay and he has some
incredible moments. That dude is so goofy, but he has so much heart
and it really comes through in the voice acting. So that was like one
of the biggest things for reals man, Like, oh my god, that's
one of the major things stid out to me, including the music. As
just had mentioned, a lot of the new songs are really you've when you
listened closely to them, it feels like a celebration of Persona three, And
it feels like they really understood what made that soundtrack so special with using the
like similar instruments, similar melodies and harmonies, and also the way that the
songs are written, like I said, with the lyrics calling back to so
much about Persona three, that was one of the big ones. But also,
as I said, like this is a very personal experience for me,
and so when I talked about the story and aspect in my review, I
talked a lot about myself and that I've play this game four times. I
know what happens. The story doesn't hasn't changed really at all, like Jess
said, but my perspective on it has changed a lot since the last time
I touched this game, and so it was it was it was pretty wild
to like play through this game and have a completely different experience with it.
So because a lot of this game has to do with like accepting death and
like learning how to move on from loss and how to internalize that, and
like making the most of the time that you have left, even though if
you when you know something's about to come to an end, you can at
least, you know, spend that time wisely. And that's a lot a
lot of what the story is about. And so instead of like feeling like
this intense sadness, as I say in my review, it's rather when something
when someone goes through something tragic in this game, it's more like, Oh,
I know what they're going through. I know, I understand how they
feel. And for me, looking at these kids, like back then I
would play these play this game and see these characters go through things like,
Oh, I guess that's how someone would handle that sort of situation. Now
when I play it, I'm like, oh, no, that is how
people do handle these situations. So there's there's a bit more of a like
a realistic attachment to what happens in Persona three for me, because I know
what this shit is like now, and I think I made the experience like
so much more powerful And it is just so wild to me that a lot
of this coincided with the launch, with the release of Reload, and it's
like Persona three meant so much to me already, but now it has like
become it is now my favorite Persona period like five Royal lad Reload. Yeah.
So yeah, And like in the IGN review, you can slot there's
a thing where it's like, hey, here's other reviewers rankings of all the
personas, and I was like, I'm gonna put Reload as number one and
Royal number two. I still think Royal is the like the better game,
but in terms like my favorites, three, Reload is one thousand percent of
my favorite Persona. So and there's a bunch of gameplay stuff we can talk
about, Like all that stuff is very important. It matters, but I
think when at the end of the day, what you come to Persona for,
what you're gonna remember most about it is the story that it tells and
the characters it builds up to tell that story. So and all that stuff
is fantastic front to back. That was something about your review that I really
really did admire is just how personal you because it was similar to me,
and you know, I played this game and in the last like year,
it was you know, not this past uh October, but the October before,
like I lost one of my best friends. And then also you know,
like I recently became a mom, right, and so I feel like
when you have a kid, your sense of mortality just like skyrockets. You
know, it's you really are faced with the fact that, like, you
know, one like this thing that you brought into the world will one day
not be here, and one day you won't be here, and one day
your parents and so like it. It's really strange. And part of that
is just all the great female hormones that you know, go crazy whenever you're
pregnant and you know, even for the years following. But like, yeah,
it's something that really hits so hard, and so playing this kind of
with with those two things in mind, I almost kind of avoided going into
it too much in my review because I was like, I'm it's a really
emotional game, and it's really it's really sad, but it's really empowering also
because it does make you I don't know, you know. The way that
they approach it is very much you only have this life, and you know,
you can be sad about the fact that it's going to end, you
can be sad when you lose somebody, or you can do your best to
make the most of every day. Or celebrate the people that you you know
that you have lost, or to keep living for them, or to make
the world a better place for the people who come after you. So it's
like it's a very empowering story at the same time. Yeah, I mentioned
that I call it timeless, and I think that's like the best way to
sum it up, because again, like this is the same core story from
two thousand and six, and boy is it as relevant as ever today.
And it's a testament to how sharply that main story is put together from back
then when like with the things they wanted to say about appreciating life and dealing
with tragedy, that they really understood it back then, and like that will
stand the test of time if they got it right the first time, and
they really did. And so it's really funny to have played this game.
I can play it into twenty seventeen, so it's not that long ago.
But back then I was like, Wow, this is the story. Hits
really hard, and then like seven was it seven? Yeah, seven years
later, have a completely different perspective on it, and it hits just as
hard for completely different reasons. Yeah, And I don't think many stories like
video games are otherwise can I'm sure. I mean there's a lot of stories
out there that do that well, specifically at games, I don't think I
don't know of many games that can do that. So yeah, I think
that's what makes it stand out more than four and five. As much as
I love those games that I think four's perspective on identity has been outdated very
fast. To me, I still love that game, but going back to
that was really tough. I commend them kind of for being that bold back
in two thousand and eight with P. Four, but that stuff has not
aged twelve. Five. I think stands at test of time for sure,
because of what has to say about social justice and like the New Age and
individualism and things like that. But P. Three is more concerned with the
big picture things like philosophical. I messaged Jess and I was like, you
quoted the Iliad in your review, and I was like, that is the
perfect way they did so, Bougie when you say it, no, no,
no, no, that shit was fire. Because I read that,
I'm like, hey, I recognized that quote and I was like, oh
right. And then all the Greek mythology that is surrounded in Persona three makes
so much more sense when you think of P three story as like a Greek
tragedy, and that's kind of what it is. It's Yeah, she's just
beautiful. I think, I think to touch on the story too, one
thing that I really like about it is it just feels more unified than four
and five in terms of I mean we talked a little bit about it yesterday
teaching Luke, but how it feels less segmented right like with five, It's
like, Okay, now you're going to this palace, then this palace.
It's going to focus on this character for this part. But everything kind of
fits together, and part of that is, you know, you're constantly returning
to Tartaris. But I think the way the characters also interact, I feel
like it kind of it builds off each other throughout the whole story, at
least up until October, which is where I'm at. I think it's kind
of been like one of my larger takeaways from it, or like one thing
I've really enjoyed is like a change of pace from four Golden in five and
five Royal. I think June Pey is like the perfect example of that as
a character like June Pay's the the equivalent of June Pey in like four is
Yosk, and five it's Reugi and Yosk. I mean, I fucking hate
Yosk, but I think part of the reason why Yosk struggles in that game
is because like his like quote character arc happens so early in that game,
and then he feels like he doesn't really evolve as much throughout the rest of
that game. And I'd say Reugi, who I do like, but I
think he kind of has the same problem where it feels like, ah,
like Regis story happens, and then after that it's like, well, we
got other people to deal with, where like June pay you see his character
like evolve throughout the entire game and stuff has like constantly happened to him,
and he and you're watching him like struggle and like self evaluate and then like
have these like highs and lows and like because of that, like as a
character, he sticks with you because you're you're kind of seeing him through this
whole journey versus Yeah, like you said, Jake kind of more like uh
almost episodic in nature is maybe kind of like the way I feel like almost
FOURIGN and five operate where this game doesn't feel that way like at all,
and and and because of that, it still feels very unique in the Persona
series, despite being like the first one in the in the context of a
social calendars. In the context of a social calendar, I know, I
always this is gonna beat your ass in the comments if you say that,
dude, trust me, trust me, like I am that person. Everyone's
always like Persona three. You know, it's like, oh, it's like
a dude this first, or it's like it's the it's you know, like
it's it's so uh intense and greedy and I'm just like an edgy or and
I'm just like you motherfuckers haven't played Persona two? Tell you like, yeah,
Persona two is wild. But I think the reason why I think a
lot of us say that about three is because three feels so real. It
feels a little bit more. It's so relatable that I feel like I internalize
the dark ship that happens in three a lot more closer than I do with
the things that happen in Eternal Punishment. And sure, yeah, Hitler doesn't
show up in this one, for example, like he doesn't always forget about
that, But no, I yeah, because because I think like two necessarily
two two definitely has some like real powerful things, but it's much more it's
more Shouldntgammi tense I would say, in the sense that it gets real into
like you know, supernatural elements in a way that where three obviously is supernatural,
but I think like it's, yeah, like the dark things happen three
are are much more like they're much more, much more grounded. Yes,
reality, it feels exactly, Yeah, so was well, Yeah, one
of the things you mentioned, like the like the the unification of the party
members and how they're constantly evolving throughout the thing. The other thing too,
in revisiting this game was that because they're always involved at every point and have
something, they have a reason to be there. One thing that stood out
to me also and remembering, is that there's a lot of tension in the
party, like these aren't like these aren't friends from the start and they're like,
yo, with the power of friendship, we're going to overcome Tartars in
the dark Hour and shit, like they're constantly having drama in that party throughout
the whole story, and that feels very real and like the reasons why Jess
mentions this so perfectly in her review about like specifically the tension between Yukari and
Mitsuru is that that drama between them feels very real, Like it's it feels
like something that would play out within a group of people who aren't necessarily friends,
but they have to work together, and then what comes out of at
the other end is so much more powerful then friends. From the start,
it's like they actually had something to work out with each other, and so
all the reasons, the reasons why those characters are in that group are is
so much more, so much stronger than I think other persona games, not
to say like those games didn't Like I love Phantom Thieves, the Investigation Team.
They're they're cool, especially the Phanto theiees, but like the reason why
they're all brought together, I think it's like the strongest P three has,
like the strongest backing of its lore to give you reasons to buy into the
story and the character group as a whole. I agree, because it's like
everyone has their own individual reason to join at the beginning, and like you
said, they're not necessarily connected by friendship, but then like by the end
they are, so it almost feels it feels more natural that all these people
like have like the hardship they have faced and they've come together versus like,
ah, we saved you from the dungeon. You wanna you wanna you want
to just like join up on our part, which, like again, like
I do think the friendship in those other games is real, but yeah,
I agree with that. I even think, like the I was thinking about
this, like I think there's just like certain thematic elements to the game and
the gameplay that like this game did first that makes so much sense, Like
the the school in this game is so much more of the focus than it
is in four and five. Just by being in four and five, especially
five, I remember like the you kind of I feel like you barely go
to the school after like the first arc or like it's like there, but
it like it doesn't have the presence it does where like three, like the
school is kind of the anchor to the whole game because it's like you're doing
the school during the day, but also Tartaris is the school in it,
like so you're there at night. So I feel like the school is like
this like unifying location that like binds the whole game and the way with the
calendar, Like there's it everything about this game and the way it uses the
calendar system despite being I guess like simpler and that there's not as much to
do in five like to me, like thematically, I think it fits a
lot better, especially when you start to get into like kind of the themes
of like running out of time and what are you going to do with that
time? Like at the end of the game, when when when the kind
of you hit that end game and you see the countdown like on like how
much days you have left on the calendar, Like it kind of hits where
you're just like, oh no, getting too deep into well one thing that
I really love too kind of going off that and like the tie to the
school and even to the community I think is really really important in this game
because you know, without going into like deep spoilered territory, right like towards
the end of the game, like the relationships that you form with you know,
your friends and with the people around you. You know, the close
relationships that you form kind of come back to like you're reminded of them,
right, You're reminded of like your reason for or everything that you've done and
the reason for this fight. And so I think that that really drives home
this point of you know, life is about the relationships that you have.
It's about the kindness that you extend to other people. It's about who you're
there for, and it's and who's there for you. And the fact that
you know school is a big part of that. The fact that you know
the people at the book shop that you can go see are are a part
of that. Or you know, I don't know I or Hayasa right,
who's not even at your school, but he's a rival teammate and I love
that guy. But it really feels, more so than the other persona games,
that you are a part of this community and that you I don't know
there there is some semblance of you're not just like this chosen one, right,
You're also someone who's trying to live a life and be a person.
And that's another thing that I really love about this game too, is I
feel like so and and of course like you are still like a chosen one
right in this game, but it feels like the protagonist is always at the
center of everything, right, Like if there's an argument, there's somehow the
protagonist is involved in that or or whatever. And in this game, it
feels like so much is happening outside of you that is also important, you
know, like the upper classmen like Shinji, Mitsuu and Aki Oh my god,
what is his name? I was gonna say, but that is a
different character. Yeah, So the uh, their their relationship and and kind
of their history is really important, and it's something that you're not really a
part of, and I guess you get looped into it somewhat, but that
is their dynamic and that is their friendship, and you get the feeling that
they really are your upper classmen peers who you know, have like this whole
other thing going on and who are really planning for their future. And it's
even kind of like that with Yukari and Mitsuu, right like they go through
they have their whole like own thing going on and these like really powerful moments
where you especially don't get that with female characters a lot, especially in a
game that came out in the early two thousands, where you know the reason
why these you know, women are arguing or who or they go through hard
times or they they kind of butt heads, has nothing to do with them
liking the same guy or being jealous of one another's It's just there's a lot
more depth to it, and that's something that is not usually explored, and
it's definitely not resolved in a way where each one of them is telling the
other that they want to help make them better or they want to help be
there for them and they or they know they're capable of great things and they're
you know, It's like that's not a dynamic that you usually see. This
world feels so much more real because of the relationships in the game. That
was definitely something I noticed replaying this game that I never really think about about,
how, like you said, you're because the main character isn't the central
focal point the way maybe they are, like Joker definitely is. In like
five, for example, you have scenes where other characters are talking that you're
not involved in it all, And I was thinking about it, and I
was like, I don't know if that really happens in four and five where
you have scenes where like your other characters are like interacting with each other where
you're not there, like you know, and because of that, it makes
these characters, yeah, like it feels like they have like relationships and personalities
outside of like revolving around you in a weird way good you know where it's
like like I'm just like I did like on and how do you ever talk
to each other and five at all? Like you know, like maybe,
but like you never saw that and like this this feels more like like you
said, yeah, it's like ever everyone's kind of got their own thing going
on and you're just you're just like a You're also there, like you know,
you're not quite You're important, but you're not the central focus. Damn
uh change the subject a little, but I would say three all so has
my favorite party member of all time. Uh oh law the best boy.
Oh. I had no idea that a dog joins your party in this game,
and when it happened, I lost my mind. I was so excited.
It was it was the top ten moments of all time in these games.
I was so stoked. And he's in my party every single time.
Don't do anything without Corn tomorrow. Always take him for walks. I love
it, like watching TV shows with him. How he like barks at the
TV and jumps around. I'm like, man, this is this is so
good. Georgia had had a similar reaction because she knew about Cornmru, but
she thought he was just gonna be like, oh, like you summon him
or he'll be like a support character. And she's like, wait, he's
like a full party memer. I was like, yeah, she's like,
all right, who the fuck about dropping because I gotta I gotta get this
boy in there. Oh and he's like legitimately one of the most like useful
party members too, because he does dark damage and he does fire damage,
and he's pretty strong like on the attack too, and he's fast. Yeah
he's yeah, that's the fastest. That's a very positive change they made off
the original because he was kind of not like awful, but but I do
think like not as impactful in the original game because they the dark and light
spells were only instant kills, and because they have now carried over the damage
stuff from five like him and like, uh like can like both feel like
way more way more effective and useful. And and then also they added the
whole system where you can actually now like boost older characters, uh up level,
which is really good because like dude, like Base Base three, Uh,
there would be characters that like, I think like June pay as much
as off Jumpey is a character I think like in my squad, Dude,
I drop that little so quick and like never he never never went back to
him, which is a shame because he's actually like one of the strongest characters
in the end game, well, especially like in this version too, with
like the theragy system and stuff too, like you can get the the bonus
that further increases his KRIT rate and stuff. And I would cycle. I
usually always had Yukari and my party I and obviously you have to have yourself,
but yeah, I mean I, and I guess I generally had to
just because her buffs are so good. But I would cycle between korramru,
Akihito and uh gin Pay a lot, because all of them are like really
can really pack a punch. All of them can, especially gin Pe when
he gets like all of his KRIT stuff up, and if you give him
an accessory with like the KRIT boost on there too, he'll do a krit
like every few hits and it's wild. Yeah, yeah, that's a that's
the thing too, is like not only do I like love every character equally,
but they are also all very useful in battle in some way, even
Ken Like yeah, like yeah, it's it's really wild, how like I
should Yeah, yeah, I mean, well that was his choice. That's
on him, it is, but yeah, it makes it really hard to
choose who my party members are, Like, dude, I want everybody to
be involved at some point. It doesn't help too that whenever you tell them
to like sit out, they're always so dejected, and I'm like, I'm
sorry, I would take all of you if I could change the rules.
I don't know. Yeah, it's uh yeah, it's I always I always
say, is too, like anyone who can like who does like a tier
list or ranking of the best characters in Persona three, Like, there's no
list that would be wrong, like everybody, like any order would work for
me because everyone's like equally as dope as as each other. And I can't
say the same about pretty much any other RPG. Maybe I don't know this.
Maybe yaks are like a dragon. I love everyone in that party equally.
That's pretty that's a pretty close one there. But otherwise, like especially
for Persona, like, there are some people I do not like and P
four yea, y'all motherfucker's stink. I know y'all smell bad. But also
and in five there's like there's characters who I like, but I don't necessarily
want to spend that much time with. I don't know, it's a but
yeah, it's A three is just all around best And like the I think
a lot of the combat changes feed into that too, with like the ergy
attacks were like really fucking cool man, a stroke of brilliance, like it's
real good. Yeah, there's yeah, there's some real cool ship like Matterus
is so badass, Yukari's is great. Just like how everyone is able to
a little bit of a little bit more of their personality show in combat,
and it's not just like having the cut in like breakthrough when when you hit
a weakness like that shit looks cool as fun, but on top of really
good in this game, I like, I do think that literally all it's
so hard becau because there's so many visual changes that it's easy to just be
like visually upgraded and it looks phenomenal, but like there are just so many
little things where it's like like they change a little, uh, you know,
sprites on the side where when you get you know, paralyzed or whatever,
they and those have a little bit of personality and the theogy moves have
so much personality, and you know, the breakouts whenever you do get the
weaknesses have so much personality, and I don't know, it's it it really
it does feel very I don't know, they're they're definitely progressing right like Alice's
as a as a as a developer, especially with this game, it feels
like they really hit something true. I mean, they're all special, but
like hit something with Persona five and they were like, oh, like we
can really make this stylish, Like we can really hone into this, and
they're just going all out. And even with Persona three, you see that
they're keeping that identity but really just amping it up and it looks so cool.
Everything they're doing looks great. I think one of the things as well
Jess was how like it doesn't feel like it's necessarily aping five though. It
feels like they have found their own specific style for this that kind of leans
on like the overt stylistic ideas of five, but it feels very much its
own, which I appreciate because I mean, obviously, you know, the
color change helps a lot, like the fact that it's primarily blue, but
I think it's all just so slick and amazing looking. Yeah. I think
one small thing that I was halfway through the game. I'm like, back
in the older games, when they summon their persona, they would you would
see the full animation of them pulling out the gun and shooting themselves, And
I was like, oh, when I do cast a spell, they're already
like, they already have their gun pointed to the head. Then I noticed,
like in the side menu, inside of the menu of spells, that's
where they do the animation, so you still see them flipping the gun around
and pointing it to their head in that silhouett of your menu of spells,
And I was like, oh, that's such a nice touch. So good.
Ah yeah, the menu still, like Persona always has like the coolest
fucking menus ever since five came out, And like the touches that they did
for this was also like feed into that, Hey, we're using a lot
of the same style principles as five, but this still is very distinctly from
three. So yeah, it just fronts of back. I feel like they
really nailed it. I completely agree. Yeah, And I think that something
that I really wanted to bring up to. And this is another one of
those things where you know, kind of like my own emotional response to it.
This is something that I could have like dug into, but I feel
like it would have taken up so much of the review because I have so
much to say. Is I feel like Atlas is not only just evolving stylistically,
but just in the way that certain topics are discussed and relationships and kind
of being more mindful of certain things. And you know, one of them
being getting rid of the very transphobic scene at the beach, which was such
a relief when that happened. You know, they find out that like one
of the beach goers there that they're trying to flirt with is presumably a man
or you know, at least has you know what I mean. But and
they react disgusted and they run away, and it's it's treated as like this
joke, and obviously like that's something that is was more like likely to happen
in video games from the early two thousands that we definitely know better and we
know that's shitty now. And also, I mean the relationship with the women
like that sucked in the original persona three. The fact that you could not
yeah, you can't max out a relationship with a girl unless you essentially like
sleep with it. It's eluded that something happens. It's like the room goes
dark type thing, and like that's the only way that you could max out
these relationships. You had to be in a romantic, you know, committed
relationship to them. So unless you just wanted to not get like the final
link of of all of these social links and be able to you know,
fuse the ultimate persona and stuff like that, you had to just be you
know, a scumbag dude who's just with you know, six different women at
the same time. And I don't know, I've always like I've definitely had
my fair share of talking I don't know, I don't want to say I'm
talking down, but like just speaking my mind about certain things that Atlas does
in their games and in certain like commentary, whether it's in Catherine or I've
talked about Persona five and stuff too, certain things that I agree with or
disagree with. But I do respect immensely their studio just because I think that
they're one of the one of the studios that actually tries like they try to
say something. They try to always have like this this ultimately I think good
hearted and positive message and they're trying to I don't know, further converse,
even if they don't always go about it the right way, or even if
they make these stupid, you know, little comments that they think are maybe
you can laugh off or whatever that are really not so funny once you look
at them further. But I don't know, I think that those little changes
are not so little. They end up being pretty pretty substantial and pretty meaningful
to a lot of people, and it feels, I don't know, I
guess, very affirming as someone who does care about that stuff and who writes
about that stuff and who you know, people can can get pretty pissy about
it on the internet and be like, oh, like I can't believe they
took away the vagina bones if you know, you know, yeah, but
I don't know. Yeah, it was. It was just great to see
that. It's just it feels very especially as a woman, right like the
social link getting to ten thing without having to be with six different women feels
very humanizing as a woman. So yeah, yeah, it's another thing too.
It's I mean, thinking about the series as a whole, it's like,
past five it's been kind of this passing of a torch where like new
people are in charge of of Persona of the series, and so I think
you see that a lot in Tactica, you see a little bit of in
Royal, and then you see some of that in three reload as well.
It's where you know hash, you know, and like the old guard have
moved on to something else and now. And I've said this a lot,
is that for Persona to stay relevant, they need newer, fresh, fresh
people, younger people telling these kinds of stories. If Persona's always going to
be about coming of age tales or what it's like to be a young adult
in the world and navigating injustices and things like that, I don't need old
men to keep telling that story from their perspective, Yeah, and so tell
it like they've they've done. Yeah, they've done. They've done great work
with three, four and five in the past, but it's time to move
on. And I think we're seeing a lot of that in these remakes and
these spinoffs. So it gives me hope that Persona six would take a lot
of that core ethos and say something or be something that can that is an
evolution of what we've seen in this past. In the same little bit o
G three at the time felt like it was something fresh and new compared to
like, what have you been doing? Right, It's like it is like
a weird like we'd full circle now where it's like, yeah, we're now,
We're now with the new team, and it makes me very excited to
see like what an eventually person of six could could be. Yeah, and
so even with like Shoji megro like retiring from at lists, I'm like,
oh, what about the soundtrack and like the new Composersashi Kitajo, who's done
a lot of the spin amazing phenomenal job, Like that fore gets it.
M yeah you said at the top of Michael. But like the new tracks
all bangers in my opinion, like real good ship, oh boy, like
I color your night that the night time. It's so good. It's it's
like and I think that this is my It's so funny because when I was
doing my review, I almost I gave it a nine out of ten.
One of the things that I, like, I guess docked it for you
could say, is like not having some newness. But I went back and
forth on that a lot because I was like, well, there's no new
like social link, it doesn't have the full like Persona Golden or you know,
Royal Treatment or whatever, to where it's like you're getting like this all
this new content, right, But I went back and forth so much because
I'm like, well, but if I think about it, that wasn't there,
and that wasn't there, and like those those hangouts weren't there, and
but it's so hard to tell sometimes because it all feels so natural. It
feels like it was always there and like that's the way it was intended to
be. Even the music has like has that quality too. It's so surreal
to I remember when Final Fantasy seven remake came out, right, like everybody
was talking about, oh my god, this is so cool because this is
how I imagine the characters, Like when I played that like Pixely, you
know, game from from ninety seven, like I always imagined in my head
though, like this is what Cloud looked like, and this is what Tifa
looked like. And I played Persona three and it was very much that feeling
of like it's hard to tell what music wasn't there and what like social interactions
weren't there originally because everything felt so right and how you envision it to be
that I really went back and forth on that one because I'm like, man,
but there were so many things. Yeah, and so you say the
color, you know, color your night and stuff, and it's like it
just feels like it always belonged. They did such a seamless job, even
with this like new guard of people working on this game. It's so seamless.
It's incredibly impressive to be able to do that. Yeah. Yeah,
a little touches like that. And I say in my review that it's a
bunch of small additions and changes that add up to a lot, because,
like I said, it is hard to tell. I went back and watched
like a playthrough a fes just to see like, oh, did was I
able to do that with Coramorrow back then? It's like okay, yes,
so that was there. But this hangout out on the steps that's new.
And then like when they changed the song to changing Seasons when you're at school,
I remember this song, How did it sound like back then? I'm
like, oh, it's the same, but so much different. Yeah,
something different about it, like even with the new singer I was, I
was. I feel like everyone is kind of hesitant to because you Mi Kawer
Moro was such an iconic voice, Like her voice is so distinct that when
I hear her voice, she is the voice of Persona three as much as
Lotus Juice is. So with Azumi Takahashi us the new singer, you know,
you're kind of like, oh, but can you can you like capture
the same spirit? Like how are you gonna fit in? You know,
after you know you spend seventy hours, eighty hours with this game, You're
like, she's part of the Persona family now. It's it's really wild like
how each singer is as much it feels like the singer of a Persona soundtrack
is like the narrator of that story because those songs are so are so impactful
and exist alongside what's happening in that story that it feels like they are telling
part of that storytelling. And I think especially with like Color Your Night,
if you when you listen to what that song is about, it's like,
dog, I was just like, I gotta like get to the activity before
I start tearing up when it gets to like the second verse. Whatever.
That shit is crazy man. And so like they lend their voice to the
soundtrack that you're just constantly listening to and you just associate with them with that,
and like, there's there's no way you think of Persona five without Lynn
Zanami. It was like the singer for that, and like the voice of
Chioko Hirata, who's the voice for Persona four. It's like, as soon
as I hear your voice, I'm like, no, that's Persona four,
and now it's I feel I feel like the same way with this with this
new singer and a. That's just part of how Reload is able to forge
its own identity, even when so much of it is based in the original
game. Yeah, I will say personally, I'm not in love with all
of the remixes. I think some of the some of them don't hit the
same as the original and I don't think that's the fault of like, you
know, like the new singer for example, Like I think it's a case
where it's just like, oh, you know, those original songs are so
ingrained in my brain and sometimes like ah, like you didn't really need to
change it. It could have stayed the same or or or even like you
know, I think they were written for a different singer in some cases.
So it's like, yeah, to be hard to like kind of put yourself
in there versus like we're the new stuff. It all sounds so natural and
flawless, and it's like, like, if anything, I think how much
they nailed the new stuff kind of made me almost want them to go even
harder and like almost completely redo the soundtrack, like I like, it would
be crazy. I think that would have caused a lot of friction because the
original person on three soundtrack is so hard. But I think they nailed it,
and I would have I would have almost preferred that now having heard the
new stuff, Yers, yeah, I guess. Yeah. When you put
it like that, I'm like, I would be yeah. Yeah. I
was gonna say some of Lotus Juices bars didn't hit for me a story because
I'm minding my biz, so mind your own biz. I'm like, what
are you saying at this point? Man? But wrap this up, dude,
dude, let me tell you tell you about high school. Me was
like, Yo, this is so fucking deep, man, Like, holy
shit, Like, let me tell you about Lotus Juice. Sometimes he is
not cooking, No, no, he is absolutely not. But other times
I'm like, holy shit, all right, this is great. It's pretty
good. It's really funny. I think that's one thing. I actually,
here's the y one beef with the soundtrack is the dorm bets. Yeah,
that's like the do the Man. Yeah, I don't like the dorm theme.
That's fair. That's fair. That is probably the weakest link. Actually,
I like it like it's the muffled voice, the missing the muffled voice
from the original. Yeah, completely agreed, Jake. I wanted to feel
like we've been talking the whole time. But I did say at the top
that you're kind of like the one person who never did play Persona three,
So I kind of wanted to get a little more of your perspective as someone
who's played like four and five and are now coming back to three with reload
here, Like, how do you feel? How are you feeling about it?
Yeah? I mean, like I said, I'm in October. I
won't go into the details what's happening, but I am really enjoying it.
That's all I want to do after work. I just want to sit down
play more Persona, keep playing it. Like I think that format in itself
is so good, that that structure of just playing day by day, there
are like, as much as I do love it, I think there are
like little things with how with how your schedule works that kind of irk me,
And I think it mostly just comes down to the fact that, like
there's things I want to do that I just don't have time to do,
or things that I didn't realize I should do until it was too late,
and I wish there's more emphasis on some of that stuff. For example,
a lot of like the c's hangout stuff, like I understand the importance of
them and I want to do them. However, it it is like hard
coded in my brain that I need to go for social links whenever I can
because I'm not gonna have time to do it, and because those a lot
of times every time the hangouts aren't social links, I definitely find myself deprioritizing
those, which I think is might be good to some extent, But then
some things happen and I'm like, man, I wish I had done more
of the hangouts because I think that could have answered some of these questions here.
And I think it just comes down to, like I wish some of
that stuff was just either it didn't waste time or just you had to see.
Like I said, I don't I get details be cause I don' want
to spoil things, but like there's one particular thing that I'm just like,
like I other people have been playing it, so I know what happens,
but I really wish I would have seen that, but I didn't because I
was like, oh, but that's not a social link. So I got
to do something that's a social link. Yeah, and I think the game
in a sense kind of does a good job of like most the hangouts are
in the evening and you don't have a lot of social links at night.
But even then, like I find myself at night just in lining like social
stats because I really want to talk to uh or I really want to like
start the social link with Mitsuru or Fuka or something like that. So there's
kind of like an imbalance there. I feel like that they really figured out
with five. Like with five, I wasn't able to do everything, especially
Royal, but I felt like I didn't feel like I was my time was
being cheated, if that makes sense. Yeah, I completely agree with you.
I'm so glad you brought that up because that was one of the things
like I addressed, you know, like quality of life changes that in some
some some were there and then some just war and you really felt it.
And that was one I was like, man, I by the time that
I get to, I don't know, December or something, so you still
have a few months left. It's like my stats are all max art or
maybe even November, it's like stats are all maxed out. And then in
the evening it's like or not evening, but I guess nighttime or no,
it is evening because it's after school and evening, so by evening I'm I'm
like, I don't really know what to do. And like sometimes it'll be
like I could go make coffee with you know, Ken or whatever and like
get the item that you get for that after you do the three to get
the ability or whatever. But yeah, there were a lot of times when
I was like, it would be so nice if other than you know,
the devil social link and uh, like the one with yeah Tanaka and uh
and then the one with the monk. Yeah, It's like, it'd be
so nice if some of these were moved to hear or if like on weekends
after you know, there's a couple that are specific to Sundays, but even
after doing those, like if you could move certain relationships on a weekend because
yeah, you just I'm not expecting to be able to do everything, but
I feel like you really are strapped in some regards. And I also feel
that, like by making the events with the male characters like June Pei and
Akihito and stuff like that, or even Cora Maru events. Sorry I don't
start barking. I don't know if you could hear it, but making them
events rather than making them social links just kind of inherently deprioritizes them, you
know. And it's like I knew to hang out with a certain character who
you can't hang out with later in the game because I was like, because
I've played the game before, I know. But if you're but if you're
going into the game and you don't know what's going to happen, like you're
maybe not going to hang out with that person, and then you're missing a
bunch of stuff because it does it doesn't seem like it's as important until it's
too late. And I don't know, maybe there's something thematic there about not
realizing what's important till it's late, so you could argue that, but at
the same time, God, it's like, yeah, I wish that someone
like June Pey had his own social link and he was the magician because his
stuff. I don't think you should miss it. I think it's fantastic.
Same thing with Akihito. I think that, like I said, it makes
certain things seem less important when they're not. So yeah, yeah, I
completely agree. Yeah, I think it is one of the weaker elements because
I remember that even the original three, that was kind of a weird issue
and imbalance, Like I remember, I think it was like the first time
I played it, I got to like December, and I like literally couldn't
do anything. I was just like sitting there, just like passing time.
Yeah, And I was like hoping they kind of would have addressed it more,
and I feel like they slightly did, but yeah, like I don't
know, maybe maybe like because I remember like four Golden added a thing where
like at night time you could like hang out with certain characters and like kind
of get their stats up a little bit, Like maybe they could have added
that. I don't know. I'm not a game designer, but I agree,
it's one of the few things. I'm just like, ah, I
kind of wish they improve that like a little bit. Yeah, it is
weird too, because like during the day I have after school, there's like
twelve people I can hang out with, and I've got all these options,
and I'm like, I don't know how I'm going to finish that. And
then at night it's like all right, no, no, what do I
do? Yeah? I well, and it doesn't help. Go ahead,
oh say it doesn't help too. That like I feel like, Okay,
correct me if I'm wrong, because maybe I'm just like I haven't played in
a long time, and I forget. But so in three, the social
links deteriorate a little bit. So if you blow people off, it's like
it'll be because it'll say something along the lines of like oh like I sense
that this bond could improve or whatever. But if you blow someone off like
three times in a row, that message goes away. So I think it
deteriorates a little bit, whereas I think in four and five doesn't really do
that. But yeah, I don't know. So that that was something that
was kind of frustrating too, is you know, like I would have six
different people who you know, oh, like they could all improve, and
then I would do a couple and I get around to other ones and then
it's like, oh, now, I just have to like hang out with
them because it's not ready to improve, or I have to go do like
one of the secondary things like the dating note thing that you can get from
the guy, where you think of a person and it makes the relationship improve
in the evening, which I ended up doing a lot because I didn't have
anything else to do in the evening. But yeah, so, I mean
that was kind of frustrating to you. I feel like there's just some tweaks
that could have been made to make it better. I wouldn't even mind it
if they would have gotten rid of some of the social links or changed things
around in order to put like the more important ones. And I don't know,
Yeah, there's there's some real there's some real stinkers there. I was
like, damn, I was saying that, like, I don't think like
the Gourmet King. I was like, I hate hanging out with this fucker,
but I hate that guy so much. And I was like, Okay,
I'm happy I did, because I don't think I would have ever expected
where this could have gone. Yeah, so one on Twitter said this.
I was saying to Jake the other day, I kind of agree with it.
Where they're like I don'h man, that's life. Sometimes you hang out
with someone and then it turns out like the fucking suck, and hey,
it's up to you to be like, I'm not gonna hang out with you
anymore, like you know, so it's like, hey, this is life.
Uh yeah. One of the things like I also talk a lot about
when talking to other people about as game is that P three is unintentionally really
funny, like you could say some funny ship. Oh yeah, there's some
situations that are like hilarious that here's here's this guy. You're playing this guy
who's just like basically through most of the social links are like, yo,
that's crazy. That's crazy. Bro. It's like, yo, I want
to I want to date my teacher and ship. What should I do?
It's like, I don't know. I don't think it's a good idea.
Or it could be like yeah, man, you're gonna crash and burn,
You're not gonna lie, and it's like and he'd be like, man,
fuck you, and that he does it anyway, comes back he's like,
man, thank you so much for being in my corner. And I was
like, I do shit, I didn't do ship. That is silver aligning
to that relationship though, is because I feel like you. It really does
feel like when you're watching one of your friends just do something so stupid and
you're like why, but it's like what are you gonna do? You're like,
I got I gotta little figure it out. I got them, you
know. Yeah. There's a scene that that character Kenji, which it isn't
part of the socials at all, that I thought was so much better than
all of his social links because he's just causing ship. He's just stirring things.
He's just stirring the pot. And I'm like, oh yeah, yeah,
like all you've been talking about is teacher this entire time, and you're
actually like funny here, and I was like, come on, that's what
I wanted to see. I will say to that point. Like some of
the voice acting makes it even funnier too, like, uh, you go,
I think the team manager. I thought her voice acting was her.
Her acting was so good. Some of the deliveries were just so funny and
like and otherwise, like I liked her social link, but I felt like
it was just kind of random where it was like I'm getting bullied, but
now I'm a this and now I need to study for school and now I'm
a coach and all this kind of stuff. But like I thought character and
her delivery on so many lines where it was like made it worth it.
Like I was excited for her as story even though I was kind of confused
as to where it was going. Yeah, oh man, yeah, there's
even even some ship like that. June Page is said as I think the
scary story thing that he does believe it or don't. Yeah, you know
what the flashlight like that scene was in the original something yeah about the delivery
this time. And some of the stuff that he says during study sessions.
Oh, study sessions are so fucking cool. I think some of the stuff
that he says is like really fucking hilarious. And the way they they clown
on him in a way that doesn't feel mean spirited, Like in the same
way that I think Reugi gets a lot of shit from the party members because
oh it's funny to pick on he's like the dumb ass of the crew,
right, June Pay is definitely the dumb ass of the crew. But the
way they clown on him is like it feels sincere in a way that like,
yeah, that's how I would clown on a friend that I actually like,
I don't I'm not, I don't hate them, but I'm just like,
yeah, messing around with It's like June Pey as like part of his
character is that he's just like so good at bouncing back that Like it's kind
of like, you know, like, ah, that's the guy you can
clown with because he's just gonna like be like, hey, fuck you and
then be like totally fine. Although that scene has been ruined by my internet
brain, if you know, you know, uh yeah, I was gonna
say the all the social links being fully voiced in this one, which I
think it's the first time a persona game has done that period, Like,
oh, I think that adds so much and like they definitely can't go back
on that. It was really cool getting to hear certain characters like how fully
voice lines were. Like I think in the original they'll just like talk in
their intro maybe or something, and that's kind of it. So like,
yeah, I thought that was cool. And guy, I know, Michael,
at the beginning, you were just talking about how like the boys cast
kills it and I just want to like completely agree with that, like you
said at the beginning, Like that's such a hard thing to nail, right,
Like, like when you have such an attachment, emotional attachment, like
characters, like you know, having having a new crew come back in,
like, it's really easy for that to go wrong. And I and I
think it's like such an immense achievement that like not only like like they nailed
it, they nailed it so hard. Yeah. Man. Uh. One
thing I'm like fifty to fifty on is so in the original, at least
in the original and Infests, there are anime cut scenes at at critical points
in the story. That and there are still some anime cut scenes in Reload,
but half of them are now rendered in engine, and I think they're
good. But when you look back and watch the anime cut scenes from the
original game, there is a certain there is a certain vibe that they capture
so fucking well. Yes, in those old anime cut Yeah, it's not
like the new scenes are like well done, like they're like, oh wow,
that that's that's a great version of that scene. But you can go
back and watch those anime cut scenes, that shit is crazy. Specifically,
the the uh when you get your persona the anime cut scene when you get
your persona in in Base three versus Reload, I was like, ah,
the Base one's so much cooler, and just like it it hits like something
about like the like when you like, uh bus bus orpheus apart and like
shows up like yeah, bus some wide open in that original game like that
was like I remember just being like whoa, what the fuck? And like
I watched it in this one and I was like, Eh, it was
okay, looks cool, looks all right, but like it didn't. Yeah,
it doesn't. It doesn't quite hit the same because like there's no yeah,
there's like a there's a there's like a nineties early two thousands anime vibe
to those scenes and in a way so ill when I talked about Serial Experiments
Lane like a couple of months, Yeah, it's it has that the anime
cutscenes have that dark, unsettling like experimental God, you're so right, Yeah,
dude, it's it's it's there. There are multiple anime cut scenes in
the original that are that are so deranged and so like out there that they
were fucking cooking back then. I'm sure there's like it, let's do something
crazy. Hell yeah, let's put that in the game, but when you
look back on it, like yo, Like, I love Fuka's persona awakening
in reloading. I think it's such a beautiful, beautiful scene, and I
actually do like it better in reload because I think it says more about her
character, but that the anime version of that can sick. Yeah, I
agree, Yeah, And I guess the last thing I want to say is,
like, of all the characters in P three, I think Fuka is
the one who's like, it's like most improved, proved. Yeah, I
mean, I think her voice actor in the original is like her and Ken
with the voice acting specifically, I think her like I guess too, I
felt like I was a little rougher in the first one. Well, it's
interesting because in the they like they played it very differently in the original,
where like the so in the Japanese, I guess just talks like fairly normally,
like her cadence isn't very weird. But and then in the original English
they decided to give her like a very like emotionless robotic voice. Yeah,
and then this one, I feel like they kind of went for a little
bit more of in between, where she still sounds like a little off,
but she sounds not quite as stilted as the original English, and I agree,
I think it's much better. It doesn't feel as awkward or weird.
It's a lot more balanced than this one. Because that is I was so
funny as I would frequently like watch YouTube, right, I would just like
google like walkthroughs or like full play throughs or whatever of the game when I
was playing, because I was like, oh, is that new? I
think it's new, and I would look and I would compare like certain things
that happen or even the voice acting, and and yeah, hers was one
that I was I was listening to him, like they definitely changed up how
it's delivered, and it sound better because it still gets across that like she
is not human, but it sounds more natural. Speaking of being I guess
and being unintentionally funny, having this robot girl go to school is still some
of the funniest fucking ship because there there are ways and like, hey,
we're gonna dress her up with like the uniform and like give her like stockings
so they don't see her robotic legs or whatever. We'll give her shoes.
Yeah, she doesn't have she doesn't have feet, so sometimes they give her
shoes. Sometimes they don't. But also sometimes people see her out and about
without like a uniform or human clothes, and no one really says anything.
It's really fucking funny. First introduced to the class teachers like a weapon of
mass destruction. It must be a mistake. And like your car is the
only one who's like yo yo yo yo yo, And I was like,
oh, why are you tripping god that everybody else is like she's hot.
I will say I always had a soft spot for I guess, but I
guess this time around, I love her so much amazing and like with Fuka,
like especially with her new voice actor, and so a lot of her
expressions, like Fuka occupies like the same brain space as like kirbyan rallet for
me soft on baby boy, Yeah, and it just makes me all around.
I just I just love these characters so much more now and I want
to give we'd all kneel before Mitsu, right, yeah, well, I
mean that's that's what they say. Literally, my hair was like a bit
more orange, it's faded. But but then I was playing and I was
like, oh, I need to go broke. So I was like,
oh, she i, I gotta yeah. Yeah, she she's definitely like
a girl that you see and you're like, I gotta to base my whole
personality around you to impress you. Like there's literally that girl in the school
who's like constantly like yo yo is like like she's so horny. It's hilarious.
I love that too, Like, oh my god, yeah, I
love that. It's a girl just out there just yearning fans and he's like
just doesn't understand it and everyone's so jealous. Dude, that guy is like
has no riz, but he's also like the coolest motherfucker exactly, and he
doesn't even know it. It's such a good cast. It's such a good
cast, like it really and like we already touched on like June Pay being
the best, but June Pay is the best. His character development is some
of the best in a side character in any persona game in my opinion.
And Yukari I actually I romanced her for the first time this time because I
usually do Matsuu, but and that was really cute. Yeah. Sweet,
Yeah, I think Yukari was always like canonically to me, like that's who
the main character is like closest with yeah, just because like she's your first
friend. But also I actually think her so I Like, I think,
out of all the female party members, like her social link is probably the
most, the most interesting. I like where it goes, Yeah, and
I think it says a lot more about her character where I think like Fuka
has this development but it doesn't feel as impactful, and like Pittsru goes through
this whole thing as well, but Yukari's feels like I have a deeper understanding
of where she's coming from because like she's she's like cheery and stuff, but
also she has like a dark side that doesn't really get explored until you're deeper
in the game, and then it gets explored in the social ink, like
oh shit, this is like pretty wild. But also like, yeah,
Yukari's like she's always been my favorite in the crew, like my personal favorite
because I connect with her the probably the most. But yeah, I think
in addition to her new voice acting, it's like, yeah, she's still
definitely my favorite of the bunch. I agree. Yeah, well damn I
could keep going forever. I mean I didn't even get to talk about Elizabeth
and how oh god, yeah, the only voice they kept from the OG
because you can't fucking do it better. Yeah, Elizabeth is we're talking about
funny. Elizabeth is like the funniest. She's funny. She's so funny and
like just her whole like just like the idea of her like wandering around trying
all this stuff, like ah my god, just I like the fighting or
whatever. And then the shrine she's just dumping money into. And oh that's
one thing they didn't do as well though, is in the original, if
you didn't click forward, she would just be dumping money into the fountain forever,
like she had like an infinite purse, and it would just you could
watch the money poor forever. They didn't do that in this one, and
I was like, oh, they fucked it up. Uh No, I
Elizabeth. I absolutly love she's She's one of my favorite Velvet Room characters.
And yeah, her voice is so funn need to me like every time,
like she calls you up to like say like a new Tartar's block is open
or there's people missing. Now I just let it play out. I like,
I want to hear the whole thing. It's the same lines every time.
But I'm just like her delivery is just so goofy to me. She's
like, good boy, like this people, you better go get them.
Yeah. Me and Georgia have this like joke where like every character has like
their deep personal thing that they're trying to do. We're like, oh,
what's the main protagonist like deep personal thing? And it's like, I'm just
trying to do all these requests for my my alien girlfriend. You know.
I like, hey, y'all got some like pine resident or you're like,
I don't know, like a oil and they're a charge lendonade like whatever she's
asking for. Like, actually, one thing I wanted to ask about,
uh, did you guys max out Kenji's social link or did you just drop
it? I haven't axed it out in this one. And that's I'm actually
clearly was a bug that was very strange before his tenth one. No,
I don't think so. What it was like, Hey babe, can't wait
to see you. There's like hearts in it. It's very strong. Yes,
I saw that. I did triple take. I was like, wait
a second, what damn you think he like mention to someone else? So
I the way that I took it is I was like, oh, like
maybe he's just being funny to his guy friends, like like, I don't
know, like that was the way that I took it. I feel like
I'm gonna like throw my husband under a bus. But it's just like whatever,
Like he has his one friend right who he jokes around and will be
like, hey, babe, what he answers? And so I thought maybe
like that was the joke, but it was so weird because I was like,
am I is this? Are they letting us be persona but the worst
one? Yes? I guess that's a real monkeys pap. She can be
gay now, but it's gonna be the worst character in the game. You
thought you'd get Akihito? No, absolutely not Kenji. All right, Well,
we've been going for a while. I think we're gonna have to call
this a podcast right here. To be fair, I don't really think we've
been playing much else. I don't know about y'all, but I know Suicide
Squad is the other hot game of this week. I have not touched that.
I don't know if I will touch it, to be honest, no
plans to. So sorry. If you're looking for hot Suicide Squad opinions,
you might have to go somewhere else for that, but that's okay because we're
here playing what I think will be I think we we'll probably stand the test
of time more than a suicide squad, just from what I've seen it.
There's always next week, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, nothing else
to play, hmm, nothing else, nothing else going on at all,
nothing else, nothing else at all anyway. So that has been it for
this week on Games After Dark. Michael, thank you so much for coming
by. I can always always love having you. Jess, thank you for
calling in as well. It's always lovely to have you on literally anytime.
Jake, I love this show. I sit next to you at work.
I don't know whatever, see you tomorrow, but I'll get text him right
after be like, hey, love your babe, like hardheart heart or experience
we can that is true. Actually, I'm so glad that you did bring
that up because, oh my god, Yeah that was wild. That was
a fever dream. I'm glad it was real. All right, everyone,
We'll catch y'all next week. Thanks for listening. Peace bye, Peace at Day