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[FluxWaveZ]

Am I the only one who thought the opening for 1 on consoles was awesome?

Pretty much the only thing I liked out of it is that it let me do this.

Some of the colors looked off and some of the animation looked real weird. I think the main problem I had with it was the main theme, which was way too slow and boring for a fighting game intro. Even its arcade intro had more upbeat music.

A more dynamic theme will bring with it a more dynamic intro, and I hope P4A2's is a sign of what's to come.

 

[SloaneRisette]

I think it's even weirder that he's got Rise in a bikini

Spoiler

Obviously a fake, but the culprit's seriously got some unresolved sexual fantasies

I swear that wasn't me in that Teddie costume

Spoiler

I figured the joke would come sooner or later, might as well make it myself

 

[CorvoSol]

So some random ramblings on the protagonist of P4G and how I played him as I went.

Spoiler

Since I gave him a completely American name, without really considering how entrenched in Japan this game is (which is not to say the appeal is not universal), I played Yu as if her were a Japanese-American, and "out of town" meant "The God Blessed United States of Imperial America." So I decided to make choices for Yu as if he were an American, although if the game had been set in America, Yu's behavior would've been more typical of my Brazilian friends. What this basically means is that I always thought "does this make Yu stick out or fit in?" and then chose what made him stick out. I played him as the world's biggest joker and smooth-talker, completely unafraid to say whatever the hell he wanted to. I don't really think it typical of a Japanese kid to turn to his teacher and say "You callin' me a loser?" but if Yu was from America, he wouldn't think twice about disrespecting his teacher on his first day. Stuff like that. From a story telling standpoint, I don't have much of a grasp on Yu yet, but I'm hoping P4TAS will grant me that perspective. As far as I could tell, he winds up in the school a fairly isolated dude who has a pretty penny's worth of negative traits going on (since his personality meter says he's basically an unintelligent, uncouth, insensitive, craven guy.) Which makes sense why Izanami and Izanagi would invite him. Izanami because she saw in him all the negative traits for which she despised humanity and Izanagi, and Izanagi because he related to Yu's negative qualities (several of which caused him to look back at his wife and see her ugliness). They also establish parallels between him, Namatame and Adachi. They also had these negative traits, but where Namatame despaired and Adachi felt only impotent rage, Yu had some manner of hope, and Igor's guidance to form Social Links to make him strong enough to buck Izanami.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

So your protagonist was Charlie Tunoku.

 

[Acid08]

So your protagonist was Charlie Tunoku.

Shhhhhh you're not allowed to say that name in here.

 

[buddha0991]

Shhhhhh you're not allowed to say that name in here.

Charles Tuna Can

 

[Gazoinks]

So some random ramblings on the protagonist of P4G and how I played him as I went.

Spoiler

Since I gave him a completely American name, without really considering how entrenched in Japan this game is (which is not to say the appeal is not universal), I played Yu as if her were a Japanese-American, and "out of town" meant "The God Blessed United States of Imperial America." So I decided to make choices for Yu as if he were an American, although if the game had been set in America, Yu's behavior would've been more typical of my Brazilian friends. What this basically means is that I always thought "does this make Yu stick out or fit in?" and then chose what made him stick out. I played him as the world's biggest joker and smooth-talker, completely unafraid to say whatever the hell he wanted to. I don't really think it typical of a Japanese kid to turn to his teacher and say "You callin' me a loser?" but if Yu was from America, he wouldn't think twice about disrespecting his teacher on his first day. Stuff like that. From a story telling standpoint, I don't have much of a grasp on Yu yet, but I'm hoping P4TAS will grant me that perspective. As far as I could tell, he winds up in the school a fairly isolated dude who has a pretty penny's worth of negative traits going on (since his personality meter says he's basically an unintelligent, uncouth, insensitive, craven guy.) Which makes sense why Izanami and Izanagi would invite him. Izanami because she saw in him all the negative traits for which she despised humanity and Izanagi, and Izanagi because he related to Yu's negative qualities (several of which caused him to look back at his wife and see her ugliness). They also establish parallels between him, Namatame and Adachi. They also had these negative traits, but where Namatame despaired and Adachi felt only impotent rage, Yu had some manner of hope, and Igor's guidance to form Social Links to make him strong enough to buck Izanami.

Huh, I'm impressed that you put this much thought into the character. Honestly, I just gave him a Japanese name and played him more or less as myself. It's cool seeing people's different interpretations of characters like this. I thought the anime did a pretty good job with him, all things considered. One of the better aspects of it.

 

[ScraftyDevil]

So your protagonist was Charlie Tunoku.

He was no Groose Booster, that's for sure.

On the topic of protag names; what's everyone going to name their P5 protag (assuming there's no female option as per usual)?

I'm probably going to think up an actual Japanese name this time instead of just using my blatantly British-North-American name. Maybe I'll just name him Junpei Iori for lulz.

 

[buddha0991]

Charles Tuna Can is no Spudd Love.

 

[Squire]

So your protagonist was Charlie Tunoku.

The canon name.

 

[CrazyTank940]

Teddie so damn swag.

He's moving in on what Smed neglected for that darn fish

#huehue

Yeah, the P4A2 arcade opening is great. I love it. Hope the console's opening isn't as bad as the first.

And there goes the whole budget in the intro. 2muchhair

Am I the only one who thought the opening for 1 on consoles was awesome?

I liked that intro too

Spoiler

one of these gifs MAY have been replaced

 

[Makoto Yuki]

He was no Groose Booster, that's for sure.

On the topic of protag names; what's everyone going to name their P5 protag (assuming there's no female option as per usual)?

Cloud Strife

Spoiler

Really hope they give a default option this time

 

[hipsterpants]

Yukari is the way to go Corvo, probably the best written romance link in both P3/P4. Mitsuru is just wacky "I'm rich how do I act like a normal person" shenanigans, that and getting max knowledge is a lot more annoying than max charm.

It takes a good while before you can even date Mitsuru though, so you could probably do both without any issue if you are consistently raising your knowledge. That's what I did.

 

[Acid08]

He was no Groose Booster, that's for sure.

On the topic of protag names; what's everyone going to name their P5 protag (assuming there's no female option as per usual)?

I'm probably going to think up an actual Japanese name this time instead of just using my blatantly British-North-American name. Maybe I'll just name him Junpei Iori for lulz.

First name is always Xan. Shortened version of Xanacks, the name I used to use for MMOs.
And Mitsuru's slink has one of the best slink moments in the game:

Spoiler

dealing with her garbage fiance.

 

[Gazoinks]

He was no Groose Booster, that's for sure.

On the topic of protag names; what's everyone going to name their P5 protag (assuming there's no female option as per usual)?

I'm probably going to think up an actual Japanese name this time instead of just using my blatantly British-North-American name. Maybe I'll just name him Junpei Iori for lulz.

Honestly, I just go to the internet and find a Japanese name I think sounds good because I'm boring.
P3: Naoki Ueda
P4: Kazuya Sato
Soul Hackers: Kasura "Kaz" Honda
etc.

I'll also often just use the canon name. Because again, boring.

 

[buddha0991]

Honestly, I just go to the internet and find a Japanese name I think sounds good because I'm boring.
P3: Naoki Ueda
P4: Kazuya Sato
Soul Hackers: Kasura "Kaz" Honda
etc.

I'll also often just use the canon name. Because again, boring.

SMT characters: Mike Rojas
Soul Hackers: Mike Rojas/Spooky Hacker now
Persona 1: Potato McBallin
Persona 3:

Spoiler

Jesus McBlue

Persona 4: SpuddLuv


corvo, if you play as the male in P3P, female slinks are romance only, no friend zone for you.

 

[ScraftyDevil]

Oh man I'm totally naming my P5 protag Satoru Iwata in the hopes that every dialogue choice includes "Please understand."

 

[CorvoSol]

So your protagonist was Charlie Tunoku.

I don't know who that is, but I figured that "Yu is from another country" was a much better explanation for why every. single. woman. he met wanted in his pants than "Yu is from a city!" 'Cuz I've been that guy from another country and that shit works, man.

Huh, I'm impressed that you put this much thought into the character. Honestly, I just gave him a Japanese name and played him more or less as myself. It's cool seeing people's different interpretations of characters like this. I thought the anime did a pretty good job with him, all things considered. One of the better aspects of it.

Spoiler

Some of it is retroactive, as the idea evolved over the course of the game, but I liked it. It also makes his departure at the end more meaningful. Partially because I'm unsure how "small towns vs big cities" works in Japan. 'Cuz in America the small town is like, 40 minutes from the big city. In Brazil a small town can be hella isolated, though. But the idea was that "He's going to another country" felt more impactful than "He's going back to the big city." As to why mom and pop sent him to Japan if they were leaving America, I can only assume that Mom's Japanese and Pop's American and Pop got stationed in Iraq (It's 2011! also doubles as an explanation of how Pop knows Mom in spite of the cultural barrier) and Mom got to go but decided that rather than drag Yu into the Middle East, she's going to send him to live with her kid bro so Yu can have at least a high school experience, even if it IS a decidedly foreign one.

 

[SloaneRisette]

So your protagonist was Charlie Tunoku.

The real canon name.

 

[Makoto Yuki]

I don't know who that is, but I figured that "Yu is from another country" was a much better explanation for why every. single. woman. he met wanted in his pants than "Yu is from a city!" 'Cuz I've been that guy from another country and that shit works, man.

It's Giantbomb's protag name.

 

[CorvoSol]

Yukari is the way to go Corvo, probably the best written romance link in both P3/P4. Mitsuru is just wacky "I'm rich how do I act like a normal person" shenanigans, that and getting max knowledge is a lot more annoying than max charm.

It takes a good while before you can even date Mitsuru though, so you could probably do both without any issue if you are consistently raising your knowledge. That's what I did.

Wait, I can romance both of them? Can't I only pick one? Hold on, let's back the bus up here a bit.

HOW DO SOCIAL LINKS WORK IN P3P, AND WHAT ARE KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM AND THE ONES IN P4?

It's Giantbomb's protag name.

Ah. Gotcha.

 

[buddha0991]

Wait, I can romance both of them? Can't I only pick one? Hold on, let's back the bus up here a bit.

HOW DO SOCIAL LINKS WORK IN P3P, AND WHAT ARE KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM AND THE ONES IN P4?



Ah. Gotcha.

The male MC can only romance slink girls, no friend path. Also, the male team mates of his in SEES have no slink, only the girls. He gets male slinks from people not on his team.

 

[Makoto Yuki]

Wait, I can romance both of them? Can't I only pick one? Hold on, let's back the bus up here a bit.

Romance'em all romeo, just don't leave any of them alone for too long, they will get suspicious.

 

[CorvoSol]

The male MC can only romance slink girls, no friend path. Also, the male team mates of his in SEES have no slink, only the girls. He gets male slinks from people not on his team.

Still only one romance you can fully realize, right? And

Spoiler

does maxing SLinks out play into the ending the way that P4's did, where your SLink friends cheer you on?

 

[buddha0991]

Still only one romance you can fully realize, right? And

Spoiler

does maxing SLinks out play into the ending the way that P4's did, where your SLink friends cheer you on?

You can max everyone, but unlike P4, you can reverse slinks in p3, and eventually just break them. So you need to actually balance your female slinks carefully so one does not get jealous and reverse. Also, angering any slink, male or female, can lead to a Reverse slink.

 

[Acid08]

Wait, I can romance both of them? Can't I only pick one? Hold on, let's back the bus up here a bit.

HOW DO SOCIAL LINKS WORK IN P3P, AND WHAT ARE KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM AND THE ONES IN P4?



Ah. Gotcha.

Your teammates Personas don't upgrade when you rank 10 an s.link, it's all tied to story events.

 

[Meia]

Wait, I can romance both of them? Can't I only pick one? Hold on, let's back the bus up here a bit.

HOW DO SOCIAL LINKS WORK IN P3P, AND WHAT ARE KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM AND THE ONES IN P4?

This is a good question. In Persona 3 Fes, there was never a choice in terms of romantic or not, every female Slink person you wound up being intimate with(though you can only choose one for christmas). You had to do elaborate things to not have any links reverse(something really rare in P4), such as not crossing over the threshold of intimacy with two female social links at the same time, etc.


In the female route of P3P, any male slink was give a choice, much like you have in 4. I have no earthly idea if the male route was changed to be the same way in P3P...

 

[CrazyTank940]

HOW DO SOCIAL LINKS WORK IN P3P, AND WHAT ARE KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM AND THE ONES IN P4?

No friendships, female S Links can only be in dating terms. None of the male S.E.E.S. members get links as Makoto Yuki/Whatever you wish to name the male protagonist (Female can form a S Link with Junpei for the magician, Male gets Kenji, for example). Male protagonist can't work on more than one female S Link seriously at the same time, unlike P4. They don't like that. A few S Links will require one of your three main stats (intelligence/bravery/charm) to be maxed out as a requirement. I haven't played as the female protagonist yet so I'm not sure if there's any other key differences. Also, beware of reversing the social links, it happens more here than in 4.

 

[Makoto Yuki]

I thought this was a shampoo commercial for a second.

 

[hipsterpants]

Yea, there are no party member S-links in P3. Character development and them getting an "evolved" persona is based upon the main story. The other thing you need to know is that each female S-link has a point where you aren't supposed to see other girls. I forgot exactly how the system works, but it's not like P4 where you can get away with dating all the girls at the same time. It can be pretty inconvenient.

Also know that maxing all the S-links is impossible unless you very strictly follow an online guide. It's been a while since played P4 so I can't remember if it's in the same, but a huge number of links in P3 are directly connected to each other, meaning that you have to level up one to get access to other ones. An example would be the sports club S-link, where you need to get it to like level 9 or something I think in order to unlock a different one.

 

[Meia]

In terms of social link rules, if you don't hang out with someone for 90 days I think it was the link automatically reverses, and a reversed link eventually breaks. It takes a bit of time to fix a broken link, so yeah. BTW, this time limit gets halfed I think it was if you spend time with another female. Let's say for the sake of this you're social linking with both Yukari and Mitsuru at the same time. You hang out with Mitsuru yesterday, then you start a link with Yukari today. You have 90 days before Mitsuru reverse. You hang out with Yukari, you now have 45 days. If you are romantically linked with both at the same time, you can have an altercation scene that immediately reverses both links. In other words, max one before you do much with the other. If Yukari becomes intimate at rank 7 and Mitsuru at rank 8, you can also stop advancing one of the links to finish the other first, then finish the second(this is how the max social link guide does it).

 

[buddha0991]

Now its easy to see why some people portray Makoto/Minato/McBlue as someone who is calculated and uses his friends

 

[SloaneRisette]

Now its easy to see why some people portray Makoto/Minato/McBlue as someone who is calculated and uses his friends

You have to if you don't want to deal with those reversed S. Links.

HE IS USING THEM FOR THEIR OWN GOOD

 

[Meia]

Now its easy to see why some people portray Makoto/Minato/McBlue as someone who is calculated and uses his friends

I personally don't think any of these canonically don't have the protags leave anyone non-max ranked, so all of them are like that. Only difference is Minato's usually boils down to telling people what they want to hear, while Yu's is usually telling them what they need to hear.


Of course, it's also a matter of personal growth. Since persona growth is tied into the storyline events of 3, Minato can look more selfish as a result, while Yu's actions seem more symbiotic.

 

[hipsterpants]

The female reversing S-links shouldn't be that big of a deal though, they are separated enough in time and stat requirements that it is pretty difficult to get it to happen.

 

[Squire]

Oh man I'm totally naming my P5 protag Satoru Iwata in the hopes that every dialogue choice includes "Please understand."

I'm actually worried I won't be able to come up with a name that tops that, but that's probably because I've yet to see the MC.

The real canon name.

Great minds, Smed.

 

[PK Gaming]

So some random ramblings on the protagonist of P4G and how I played him as I went.

Spoiler

Since I gave him a completely American name, without really considering how entrenched in Japan this game is (which is not to say the appeal is not universal), I played Yu as if her were a Japanese-American, and "out of town" meant "The God Blessed United States of Imperial America." So I decided to make choices for Yu as if he were an American, although if the game had been set in America, Yu's behavior would've been more typical of my Brazilian friends. What this basically means is that I always thought "does this make Yu stick out or fit in?" and then chose what made him stick out. I played him as the world's biggest joker and smooth-talker, completely unafraid to say whatever the hell he wanted to. I don't really think it typical of a Japanese kid to turn to his teacher and say "You callin' me a loser?" but if Yu was from America, he wouldn't think twice about disrespecting his teacher on his first day. Stuff like that. From a story telling standpoint, I don't have much of a grasp on Yu yet, but I'm hoping P4TAS will grant me that perspective. As far as I could tell, he winds up in the school a fairly isolated dude who has a pretty penny's worth of negative traits going on (since his personality meter says he's basically an unintelligent, uncouth, insensitive, craven guy.) Which makes sense why Izanami and Izanagi would invite him. Izanami because she saw in him all the negative traits for which she despised humanity and Izanagi, and Izanagi because he related to Yu's negative qualities (several of which caused him to look back at his wife and see her ugliness). They also establish parallels between him, Namatame and Adachi. They also had these negative traits, but where Namatame despaired and Adachi felt only impotent rage, Yu had some manner of hope, and Igor's guidance to form Social Links to make him strong enough to buck Izanami.

Interesting, I went in the complete opposite direction.

I used his anime/official name, and made him a quiet, stoic, mature and calm character. Someone who's reactionary and polite basically. On my first playthrough, I stuck with that persona for the entire game. I was delighted to note that it ended up working in my favor during most of my social links. One of the best examples of this was during Nanako's S.link, where she asks you "why do criminals do bad things." I picked "I don't know" and got tons of points and a poignant scene to boot. I also got to give Yosuke the bro hug.

When joke responses were available, I always, always, always picked them.Given the large volume of joke answers, I like to think that having a sense of humor is a canon part of his character. I considered my incarnation of Yu a "people person." Someone who actually feels better around other people, hence his inclination towards befriending random people. I didn't like giving smart-ass responses, and i'm very glad that they weren't prevalent like in P3.

So, his anime incarnation basically. (The brotagonist)

 

[hipsterpants]

Now its easy to see why some people portray Makoto/Minato/McBlue as someone who is calculated and uses his friends

Well he was damn good at it since do not unspoiler this Corvo

Spoiler

they completely fall apart with him gone

I personally don't think any of these canonically don't have the protags leave anyone non-max ranked, so all of them are like that. Only difference is Minato's usually boils down to telling people what they want to hear, while Yu's is usually telling them what they need to hear.


Of course, it's also a matter of personal growth. Since persona growth is tied into the storyline events of 3, Minato can look more selfish as a result, while Yu's actions seem more symbiotic.

I think again seriously don't unspoiler this

Spoiler

P3 kind of violates this though. I'm pretty sure the only romance S-link that can be considered to be maxed can be Yukari's, if The Answer is any indication.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

I think again seriously don't unspoiler this

Spoiler

P3 kind of violates this though. I'm pretty sure the only romance S-link that can be considered to be maxed can be Yukari's, if The Answer is any indication.

Spoiler

Or Aigis.

In any case, speaking about Social Links and canon is always real silly.

 

[Meia]

Well he was damn good at it since do not unspoiler this Corvo

Spoiler

they completely fall apart with him gone

I think again seriously don't unspoiler this

Spoiler

P3 kind of violates this though. I'm pretty sure the only romance S-link that can be considered to be maxed can be Yukari's, if The Answer is any indication.

Nah, in terms of (ZOMG TEH P3 SPOILZ)

Spoiler

The Answer both Yukari and Aigis have to pretty much be canon. Have little doubt when Arena 2 comes out this will be further cemented as the truth. Yukari's decent back into what she was only really makes sense with a romantic link with Makoto. Yukari's whole thing was how the people she loves dies so she keeps people from getting closer to her, so for her to lose Makoto after being linked, it makes her attitude make a fuckton more sense in the Answer.

 

[PK Gaming]

Uh guys, Social Links don't reverse from dating other girls or ignoring anyone for more than X amount of days in P3P. The game says so, but its just leftover text.

They DO reverse when you do something stupid (ie: try to steal a kiss from Chihiro) and there's a scripted reversal in the Moon S.link, but there's no consequence for dating multiple girls or neglecting your s.link pals for a certain time period.

 

[hipsterpants]

I completely forgot

Spoiler

about Aigis. I didn't even touch her S-Link back when I first played through FES because I was too focused on Mitsuru. If I ever get the will to go back to my current playthrough (right before Yukari's S-link becomes available), I'll definitely give it a shot.

And about blue haired dude saying what people want to hear

Spoiler

considering he was supposed to lead a dysfunctional band of kids + a dog all with traumatic pasts, I'd say his actions were perfectly justified. Yu and his crew are all supposed to be bffs, so he's probably going to seem a lot nicer.

 

[Jintor]

Wait... was P3 secretly the real scoobie doo team all along

 

[Immaculate]

goddamn now I'm depressed after finishing p3 i thought

Spoiler

he was just asleep until someone explained it to me ;_; ;_;

 

[buddha0991]

goddamn now I'm depressed after finishing p3 i thought

Spoiler

he was just asleep until someone explained it to me ;_; ;_;

Did you play The Answer?

 

[SloaneRisette]

I'm not gonna lie.

After how everything turned out at the end of P3 (spoilers, obviously)

Spoiler

with everyone forgetting and what-not

I was INCREDIBLY incensed and hadn't been more mad at a video game since Mass Effect 3 until I witnessed the whole thing.

And then sadness ;_;

 

[Acid08]

Koromaru is the realest bro. All he says is "arf" and he's still cooler than Yosuke.

 

[Immaculate]

Did you play The Answer?

gonna YouTube it

 

[buddha0991]

gonna YouTube it

Some people hate it, I like it more than The Journey!

 

[Acid08]

Some people hate it, I like it more than The Journey!

Depends on your tolerance for FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT I guess.