Social Hideout of the Phantom Thieves - Joker Social

[ivanlerma]

I mean, there's not much of a reason to port the worse version of the game at this point... I know ATLUS has done just that with Catherine Classic on PC, but at least that was a couple months before Full Body came out and not a year and a half afterward.

I mean, it's not the worse. Though i can see why Royal seems a little better in some ways. I just feel more comfortable playing the original.

 

[Megadoomer]

Atlus is bringing a Persona game to the Switch!

Specifically, Persona 4 Arena: Ultimax.

If I had a nickel for every time that Atlus released a spin-off that serves as a direct sequel to a Persona game on the Switch without releasing the Persona game in question, I'd have two nickels. It isn't much, but it's weird that it's happened twice.

You'd think that, with the success of Persona 4 Golden on Steam, they'd bring that to the Switch, but maybe there's some sort of behind-the-scenes shenanigans.

 

[Robertman2]

Came back after years of being gone to say

Persona 5 Royal on Switch, finally!

 

[Tino]

Little late to the party but yep, it’s as real as it gets.

 

[Megadoomer]

Persona 5 Royal is out on the Switch! Looking forward to playing it when I can set aside the time; I haven't played Royal before, though I did play the original, and given how long it took me to beat that one, I'm going to need to find a lot of free time (which is easier said than done) to beat Royal.

 

[osby]

Persona 5 Royal is out on the Switch! Looking forward to playing it when I can set aside the time; I haven't played Royal before, though I did play the original, and given how long it took me to beat that one, I'm going to need to find a lot of free time (which is easier said than done) to beat Royal.

Good luck! I hope you have fun with it, Royal really improved 5 on my list of favorite Persona games, a lot of the changes made were big improvements.

Just keep in mind that you should advance the new Confidants whenever you can if you want to unlock most of the new content.

 

[Megadoomer]

Good luck! I hope you have fun with it, Royal really improved 5 on my list of favorite Persona games, a lot of the changes made were big improvements.

Just keep in mind that you should advance the new Confidants whenever you can if you want to unlock most of the new content.

Sounds good! Unfortunately, it seems like the Thieves' Guild feature (where you can see what choices others made at the same moment) can't be used unless you have a Nintendo Online subscription, so I'll be flying a bit more blind than I was when playing through the original.

Still, I'll try to focus on the social stats as much as I can; I wasn't able to advance Makoto's or Haru's personal storylines since the required stats were too low, and I'd like to do that this time around. (Though it didn't help that Haru's story was crammed into the end of the game originally; not sure if you have more time in Royal)

I'll also try to focus on the new Confidants. I'm not sure who there is aside from Kasumi, but I'm sure I'll figure it out quickly.

 

[Capybara Gaming]

Sounds good! Unfortunately, it seems like the Thieves' Guild feature (where you can see what choices others made at the same moment) can't be used unless you have a Nintendo Online subscription, so I'll be flying a bit more blind than I was when playing through the original.

Still, I'll try to focus on the social stats as much as I can; I wasn't able to advance Makoto's or Haru's personal storylines since the required stats were too low, and I'd like to do that this time around. (Though it didn't help that Haru's story was crammed into the end of the game originally; not sure if you have more time in Royal)

I'll also try to focus on the new Confidants. I'm not sure who there is aside from Kasumi, but I'm sure I'll figure it out quickly.

Without spoiling anything, three specific confidants have to be advanced to certain levels by a certain time to access the third semester of content.

 

[True Blue Warrior]

Hey guys, what’s new?

 

[ivanlerma]

Hey guys, what’s new?

Just Persona 5 Royal getting ported....instead of the original

atleast Persona 3 was lucky

 

[osby]

Just Persona 5 Royal getting ported....instead of the original

atleast Persona 3 was lucky

???

Isn't Royal the definitive version of Persona 5? That seems to me like it kinda got the better deal compared to P3, as while Portable is a perfectly acceptable way to play the game, misses some content that was in FES.

 

[ivanlerma]

???

Isn't Royal the definitive version of Persona 5? That seems to me like it kinda got the better deal compared to P3, as while Portable is a perfectly acceptable way to play the game, misses some content that was in FES.

i have a couple of problems with the game that keeps me from playing it

Plus, i mostly stick to the original versions of games to get the best experience.

 

[Megadoomer]

Now that Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden are out on the Switch, has anyone been playing them?

I've been zooming through Persona 3 Portable much faster than I expected - I heard that there were some downgrades that made it inferior to Persona 3 FES in the minds of some, but I don't mind the menu-like overworld, and the changes to Social Links are for the better in my eyes. (actually being able to form social links with male party members, for example, or making it so not all social links with people of the opposite gender automatically turn romantic - admittedly, I'm playing as the female protagonist, since by my understanding, playing as the male protagonist still has these issues)

I'm nearing the end of October - I'm not sure if the major event on October 4th was censored in Persona 3 Portable (I know that Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was censored, at least in Japan, since it was on a portable system) or if things changed because of something that I did (Shinjiro is comatose, when it seems like he should be dead; I did complete his social link beforehand, so maybe having the watch from that saved him). Admittedly, playing through the Persona games backwards has given me a bit of an unusual perspective on the series - characters are talking about how the final battle with the last major shadow is coming up, but the in-game calendar goes until March, and Persona games have several false endings in my experience where it acts like this is where everything wraps up only for that to not be the case.

I'm enjoying myself so far, though Persona 3 is showing its age in a few ways - the way to make it so you can control your party member's actions is a little obtuse and never properly explained in the game, as far as I can tell (I had to Google it), and unlike in Persona 5, most of the social links don't have a tangible benefit beyond boosting experience for a fused Persona. (the party member social links don't even level up their Personas once you finish them - that happens as a part of the story)

 

[osby]

Now that Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden are out on the Switch, has anyone been playing them?

I've been zooming through Persona 3 Portable much faster than I expected - I heard that there were some downgrades that made it inferior to Persona 3 FES in the minds of some, but I don't mind the menu-like overworld, and the changes to Social Links are for the better in my eyes. (actually being able to form social links with male party members, for example, or making it so not all social links with people of the opposite gender automatically turn romantic - admittedly, I'm playing as the female protagonist, since by my understanding, playing as the male protagonist still has these issues)

I'm nearing the end of October - I'm not sure if the major event on October 4th was censored in Persona 3 Portable (I know that Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was censored, at least in Japan, since it was on a portable system) or if things changed because of something that I did (Shinjiro is comatose, when it seems like he should be dead; I did complete his social link beforehand, so maybe having the watch from that saved him). Admittedly, playing through the Persona games backwards has given me a bit of an unusual perspective on the series - characters are talking about how the final battle with the last major shadow is coming up, but the in-game calendar goes until March, and Persona games have several false endings in my experience where it acts like this is where everything wraps up only for that to not be the case.

I'm enjoying myself so far, though Persona 3 is showing its age in a few ways - the way to make it so you can control your party member's actions is a little obtuse and never properly explained in the game, as far as I can tell (I had to Google it), and unlike in Persona 5, most of the social links don't have a tangible benefit beyond boosting experience for a fused Persona. (the party member social links don't even level up their Personas once you finish them - that happens as a part of the story)

I already played those and while having them on modern consoles would be nice, I'm too broke for it at the moment.

I'm glad you're liking P3, it's my favorite game in the series but the sequels improved its formula greatly and some of the story's best moments are in the final stretch. It might be a hard recommendation for some but I hope you see it through to the end.

 

[Megadoomer]

I already played those and while having them on modern consoles would be nice, I'm too broke for it at the moment.

I'm glad you're liking P3, it's my favorite game in the series but the sequels improved its formula greatly and some of the story's best moments are in the final stretch. It might be a hard recommendation for some but I hope you see it through to the end.

Sounds good! I think I might be in the final stretch - there are still three months left on the in-game calendar, but Ryoji's given a pretty clear deadline until the end of the world (New Year's Eve), and it's reached the point in a JRPG where a bunch of plucky teenagers are going to level up enough so they can punch a god in the face.

I'm concerned that it's going to be an extremely tight fit to finish the Empress social link, and I'm not sure how I'll be able to finish the Fortune social link or start Aigis's social link at this point, though I'm assuming the last two are story-related.

Also, I summoned Thanatos, and I might have overdone it with boosting his stats - both his strength and magic are at 99. (also, he has Megidolaon thanks to a skill card - I only used it once I duplicated it)

 

[osby]

Sounds good! I think I might be in the final stretch - there are still three months left on the in-game calendar, but Ryoji's given a pretty clear deadline until the end of the world (New Year's Eve), and it's reached the point in a JRPG where a bunch of plucky teenagers are going to level up enough so they can punch a god in the face.

I'm concerned that it's going to be an extremely tight fit to finish the Empress social link, and I'm not sure how I'll be able to finish the Fortune social link or start Aigis's social link at this point, though I'm assuming the last two are story-related.

Also, I summoned Thanatos, and I might have overdone it with boosting his stats - both his strength and magic are at 99. (also, he has Megidolaon thanks to a skill card - I only used it once I duplicated it)

You're pretty close to the end. Similar to P4 and P5, you don't get much to do after the final boss so keep that in mind.

Spoiler: Aeon and Fortune Social Links (mild spoilers)

You can't complete Fortune unless you use every opportunity to advance it when playing as the female protagonist. You still have to work for completing Aeon, though the game gives you quite some time to do it.

Thanatos is usually considered not a great Persona but you can't go with big numbers. I liked that you made him your big attacker.

 

[Megadoomer]

I'm nearing the end of Persona 4 Golden - I'm on the killer's dungeon. I'm liking the changes so far - unlike Persona 3, I played the original version beforehand, so I've got a better idea of what to expect and I know what's been added. (though it's been a while since I played Persona 4, so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details - I can't remember if gaining new skills by leveling up social links was in there originally or if it's new for Golden)

Also, I realize that Persona 5 Strikers was likely the non-RPG or dancing game spin-off that was made by a different company for Persona 5 like how Persona 4 Arena fit that description for Personas 3 and 4, but just for fun, I'm going to put together a roster for a hypothetical Persona 5 Arena. Persona 4 Arena's base game had 13 playable characters, so I'll go with a similar amount. (maybe 14 or 15; we'll see how it goes)

Spoiler

1. Joker
2. Morgana
3. Ryuji
4. Ann
5. Yusuke
6. Makoto
7. Haru

The Phantom Thieves from the original game - they all have to be in here if this is a Persona 5 spin-off. (I feel like Futaba's Persona could potentially work in combat if needed, but I haven't played Persona 5 Royal yet, so I want to do that first before including her in something like this)

8. Akechi
9. Kasumi

I thought about adding Zenkichi, since I wanted to acknowledge Strikers, but by my understanding, he outranks the regular police, which could present a problem plotwise, so if need be, he could be assigned to an important case. By my understanding, Persona 5 Royal establishes, or at least hints, that Akechi survived his apparent death in Persona 5, though he presumably wouldn't be on the protagonists' side.

The reason why I left out Zenkichi is because, much like Persona 4 Arena, we'll be bringing back some older characters who have been aged up a few years. (I'm pretty sure that while Persona 3 and 4 have a clear amount of time pass between them, Persona 5's timeline is more vague, though I think it's been at least five years) Many of them are affiliated with the police, so Zenkichi having the ability to override them would limit their role in the plot.

Sophia could be playable (some justification could be included for her to make a physical appearance), and I figure she'd have good interactions with the casts of the other Persona games since they're familiar with Aigis and Labrys, but she has plenty of design overlap with Kasumi, and I'm not sure how much space I'll have since I'm over halfway through the roster at this point.

10. Yu Narukami
11. Chie Satonaka
12. Naoto Shirogane

Naoto seems like she'd want to investigate these "Phantom Thieves", especially as their ability to use Personas becomes clearer through her research. (between Persona 5 and Strikers, they haven't exactly been subtle, and they've gone from impacting one city to places all across Japan) Chie's part of the police, or at least in training to become an officer, and while they might not be able to get the whole Investigation Team together on such short notice, they'd presumably try to bring their leader (Yu) in to help, at least.

13. Master Joker

You're probably saying "who?", and admittedly, I was only vaguely familiar with this guy and had to look him up on the Persona wiki. Still, one of the antagonists of Persona 2 went by the name "Joker", so if the Phantom Thieves are going to be framed for something that could lead to the Persona 4 cast getting involved, going with an antagonist who has the same pseudonym as the protagonist seems like it would help.

At the end of the game, Master Joker would be revealed to be a fragment of Nyarlathotep, the main villain of Persona 2 - he gains his power by spreading rumours and having them turn into reality (which ties in pretty nicely with the themes of Personas 4 and 5), and Persona 2 ends on the note that he could return, so maybe a small fragment makes its way into the world and is trying to spread chaos and confusion. Nyarlathotep could be a boss-exclusive character, either using his Joker-Nyarlathotep form from Persona 2 (pictured on the left) or an unused form that got artwork. (pictured on the right)

As he's a fragment, he's weak enough (relatively speaking) that he can be destroyed through combat. Admittedly, I haven't played Persona 2, so I don't know how well this could fit, but I didn't want to go with "here's my OC; do not steal".

If I can fit two more characters...

14. Mitsuru
15. Aigis

Akihiko's absence seems easy enough to explain (he's training in the mountains so nobody can contact him), and the Shadow Operatives would almost certainly get involved with anything Persona-related - I'm surprised they haven't showed up in Tokyo already. Persona 3 is where the series took off, so I figure it should get something, even if it kind of feels like the barest minimum.

The plot of the game is that Joker (once again) and the Phantom Thieves are framed for a crime that they didn't commit - MURDER! Naoto and Mitsuru were aware of the Phantom Thieves, but allowed them to continue operating because outside of that time with Haru's father, nobody was dying as a result of their actions, so Naoto and the Shadow Operatives figured that they were on the side of good.

Naoto and the Shadow Operatives manage to narrow down the location of the Phantom Thieves to Tokyo, as that's where the vast majority of the changes of heart took place in the first year that the thieves were around. Now Tokyo becomes a battleground between Persona users - the eight Phantom Thieves on one side, the Shadow Operatives and Investigation Team (or what few members they could gather on such short notice, anyway) on the other, Akechi as a wildcard who can help or hinder the Phantom Thieves, and the mysterious Master Joker who's pulling the strings for his own purposes.

EDIT: I recalled that Thorgi's Arcade did a video on a hypothetical Persona 5 Arena, and the rosters/premises are 80-90% the same. I know I saw the video before (that was likely where I heard of Persona 2's Joker), and I must have forgot.

 

[TMNTSSB4]

still thankful to Smash for showing me the ways of the Persona. The P5 section of the series is still my favorite one (Royal and Strikers specifically), but playing P3P was a great experience (storyline wise especially cause my god), while P4G was a calm relaxing journey in comparison.

 

[Megadoomer]

The Switch year in review is out, and my most-played games of 2023 definitely did not come as a surprise.

Did anyone else have a Persona game in their top 3?

 

[Rakesoldat]

Should we revive this thread or...?