[HitokiriNate85]

DDS 1 and 2 are about 25 hours each. Persona 3 and 4 are well over 80 hours each. Nocturne is 40-50 depending on whether you do the Amala dungeon and other optional stuff.

I just started P3. Oh god. What have I done. 80 hrs. when you do everything, I hope? That's a frightening number for someone who doesn't usually dig RPGs.

1) Yes, characters get tired to keep you from continuously grinding. They can fight longer at higher levels. 2) You can do S-Links whenever you feel, really. There are guides out there to maxing all of them in a single playthrough, but it's better to worry about that on a New Game+, especially if it's your first time playing. 3) Can't remember levels for dates, sorry on that one. 4) Background music does change, but VERY late in the game. All of the new BGM are amazing, much better than the start. My opinion, of course.

Thanks for the info. Man, I really wish a couple of the tracks would change after just 10 hrs. There are a lot of cool tracks, though. I especially like the guitar tracks in some of the songs.

[randomkid]

Okay, here's Revelations: Persona soundtrack love-in Part 2! If I can't do a game playthrough right now a soundtrack walkthrough will have to suffice heh. Last time in Part 1 we discussed the two most underrated composers on the soundtrack, now lets get into the real meat of things with Kenichi Tsuchiya, my favorite and the heart of the game's OST. He composed the two major leitmotifs for the two major quests (Kandori and Snow Queen) and a heap of other central music. Also he's the king of slap bass.

The sign of a good character theme is when you can extrapolate from instrument choice and melody to personality. Here Tsuchiya is the man, no one does it better this side of Uematsu. I hear these songs and I've got a perfect picture in my mind of each cast member. It's what I think of when I think of "videogame music" ha, here are my personal favorites, I could listen to these endlessly.

Mary/Maki: Cheerful, just a hint of melancholy in the notes, love that slap bass.
Yuki: Starts a bit slow, but soon we learn that Yuki's cool but determined.
Alana: The song tells me she's brassy, energetic, fun.
Chris/Reiji: Dangerous, exciting, a bad-ass delinquent.
Elly/Ellen: Classy, elegant, confident.

Then we've got the incredible battle music.

Battle: YEAH! A battle theme that never gets old. I love how the concluding drums always seem to hit JUST right no matter when the battle ends.
Midboss Battle: Awakening Legend: Even better, this is what people who love to call music EPIC are talking about right? Serious "some shit is about to go down" music.
Boss Theme: This is prog-rock right? I don't listen to prog-rock so I am just guessing. Whatever, I love this.

And some miscellaneous awesomeness:

Snow Queen Ending: Why is this song not up??? I guess I have to link to the credits then. Timestamped right before that sweet bass starts, and then the "chorus" hits at 4:30 and I start swooning. I still can't believe North Americans were deprived of this!
City 2, City 1 Post Disaster, Both of these songs sound very "Shin Megami Tensei" to me, without even ever having heard a single song from SMT1&2. A grim, very 90s sort of cyberpunk sound for traversal, it's fantastic.

I could keep the Tsuchiya love going but I should give a shout out to Meguro. I mentioned before that he got his start with this OST. Mostly he composed cool interstitial cutscene music (and also three of the endings!) but you can already see the first funky signs of the guy we all love. Really though he deserves a special shout out for the Velvet Room theme, appearing here for the first time. I loved it before hundreds of hours of fusion led me to merely like it.

[Setre]

So I own Devil Survivor, Devil Survivor 2, Strange Journey, Persona, Persona 2: Innocent Sin, Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4, and Devil Survivor Overclocked. Out of all of those I’ve only beaten P3P and came really close to beating Devil Survivor. Which of these games should I go back and play (besides Persona 4 as I plan to play The Golden)?

I’d also like to add that while I’ve played every one of these games for at least 5 + hours, and P3P for 60 +, I still don’t quite understand the demon fusing. Which of these would be best game to really dig in and learn the mechanics so that I can go back and really enjoy the rest of these games?

[cj_iwakura]

The lack of that OST is the only thing keeping PersonaSP from perfection.

IMO, Nocturne, Raidou 1, or P3 are good fusion starter games.

In that order.


Also, both Persona 2s use that same loop effect at the end of battle BGM.

[cj_iwakura]

There's a (very) few number of songs from PersonaSP I did like:

Hypnos Tower (Remixed from the original. Dat flute!)

Pandora~Last Battle~
Great shred.

School Days

The last two embody everything I love about Meguro.

[evilhomer]

Seeing this thread has motivated me to finally finish Nocturne after all these years.

A problem I've had is I've started playing the game again after a while and spent too much time trying to figure out what I was doing with my party and skills etc. and never made much progress. This time I'm just going to brute force my way through the final dungeon and try to remember things as I go along. I may have some problems (that game over screen sure is pretty though) but I really want to get through this and maybe start a new game afterwards.

[Hecatonchires Custom]

I was so close to finishing Overclocked and my 3DS refuses to turn on. Awesome.

[Koroviev]

So I own Devil Survivor, Devil Survivor 2, Strange Journey, Persona, Persona 2: Innocent Sin, Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4, and Devil Survivor Overclocked. Out of all of those I’ve only beaten P3P and came really close to beating Devil Survivor. Which of these games should I go back and play (besides Persona 4 as I plan to play The Golden)? I’d also like to add that while I’ve played every one of these games for at least 5 + hours, and P3P for 60 +, I still don’t quite understand the demon fusing. Which of these would be best game to really dig in and learn the mechanics so that I can go back and really enjoy the rest of these games?

Devil Survivor 2 :)

[Aeana]

Well, good news. My old TV card works with the recent DScaler update that lets it work on Windows 7 x64. So I should be able to play DDS 1 and 2 and take screenshots and stuff. I wish I'd tried to get this working for Raidou 1 before. Oh well.

[onemic]

Devil Survivor 2 :)

Why do I keep hearing the the term demon fusing being used everywhere in this thread? what is it, and why does it seem like it's some complex thing that requires knowledge of multiple Tensei games to understand?

[Aeana]

Why do I keep hearing the the term demon fusing being used everywhere in this thread? what is it, and why does it seem like it's some complex thing that requires knowledge of multiple Tensei games to understand?

You can fuse demons together to form new demons with inherited abilities. There are rules for inheritance and which demon results from the fusion, but it's not super complex and there's no reason why you have to play multiple games to understand it.

[Hecatonchires Custom]

You can fuse demons together to form new demons with inherited abilities. There are rules for inheritance and which demon results from the fusion, but it's not super complex and there's no reason why you have to play multiple games to understand it.

Well you pretty much need a guide to know which race you'll end up with so basically newcomers can perceive that fusion is somewhat random and easy to screw yourself over with.

[Aeana]

Well you pretty much need a guide to know which race you'll end up with so basically newcomers can perceive that fusion is somewhat random and easy to screw yourself over with.

Well, for that matter, the rules change with each game, so playing others certainly doesn't really help with that either.

[Koroviev]

Why do I keep hearing the the term demon fusing being used everywhere in this thread? what is it, and why does it seem like it's some complex thing that requires knowledge of multiple Tensei games to understand?

As Aeana said, it's not that complicated, but does vary from game-to-game. I think the Devil Survivor games are a good introduction to the whole demon fusing concept, as it's very central in that series. I was able to take advantage of it when I played Persona 3, but I didn't understand it as well at the time.

[Tiktaalik]

Well you pretty much need a guide to know which race you'll end up with so basically newcomers can perceive that fusion is somewhat random and easy to screw yourself over with.

I haven't played some of the earlier ones, but I think Strange Journey outright explains what the fusion will result in? Although perhaps there is a dice roll for random skill mutation?

[evilhomer]

Yaaaa just beat Nocturne!

I was prepared for the final boss with the pierce ability so even though it took a while it wasn't all too difficult.

Visually a fantastic game, I do love the style of it. I may wait a bit to start a new game, I've beaten this and Persona 3 (for a second time) this year but I was thinking I should start a new game of Persona 4 to celebrate this anniversary.

[jorgeton]

I just started P3. Oh god. What have I done. 80 hrs. when you do everything, I hope? That's a frightening number for someone who doesn't usually dig RPGs.

Nope, 80 hrs for a standard playthrough. Doing everything probably adds in another 20 or so. But once you get into the game, you forget all about the time and just enjoy the ride. And there is nothing wrong in playing for a while and then putting it down and coming back to it later. It took me over a year to beat P3, I would get into it, then move on to a different game, then pick it back up later.

So I got to the boss of Day 3 in Devil Survivor 2. Wtf. That fucker is tough. And annoying. Sigh. And my team was doing so well!

[Finalow]

Well, good news. My old TV card works with the recent DScaler update that lets it work on Windows 7 x64. So I should be able to play DDS 1 and 2 and take screenshots and stuff. I wish I'd tried to get this working for Raidou 1 before. Oh well.

great, looking forward to see it.

[Cactus]

Maybe I'm misremembering, but I don't think either of my playthroughs of P3 were 80+ hours. I don't even think I passed 55-60 hours. I'd have to double check, though.

[HitokiriNate85]

Nope, 80 hrs for a standard playthrough. Doing everything probably adds in another 20 or so. But once you get into the game, you forget all about the time and just enjoy the ride. And there is nothing wrong in playing for a while and then putting it down and coming back to it later. It took me over a year to beat P3, I would get into it, then move on to a different game, then pick it back up later.

I am intimidated, haha. I hope the game really sucks me in, then.

Maybe I'm misremembering, but I don't think either of my playthroughs of P3 were 80+ hours. I don't even think I passed 55-60 hours. I'd have to double check, though.

This would be a much better amount of time.

[Aeana]

It really depends on a lot of factors. You can easily get through Persona 3 on a first playthrough within 50 hours, but that will most likely mean you'll miss most of the social links and you wouldn't have spent a lot of time fusing personas. The time inflation happens naturally if you get into the systems, but it's not a given that the game will take you 80+ hours.

[matthewd49]

in nocturne, is there something i can get for my main character to resist instant death? i had played like an hour without saving only to die to instant death :( i'm not too mad though since it's all in good fun and the game play is really addicting :)

[NichM]

in nocturne, is there something i can get for my main character to resist instant death? i had played like an hour without saving only to die to instant death :( i'm not too mad though since it's all in good fun and the game play is really addicting :)

I think there are some magatamas later on that grant Dark or Light protection.

[Aeana]

I decided to do Devil Survivor Overclocked first, then I'll do DDS after. Coming right off of SMT2, I'm catching a few things I don't think I noticed before.

[SatelliteOfLove]

in nocturne, is there something i can get for my main character to resist instant death? i had played like an hour without saving only to die to instant death :( i'm not too mad though since it's all in good fun and the game play is really addicting :)

Magatamas appear that grant protection and teach Resist/Null when demons start slinging Mudo and Hama. Learn them and keep them learned before the russian roulette gets you.

[perfect free]

I have to say, while I don't spend a lot of time fusing demons, I've always loved the look of fusion charts, especially Strange Journey's. Dat pixel font. (click picture to enlarge)

Anyone else with me on this?

[Aeana]

I really appreciate the fonts used in Strange Journey. Atlus USA has really come a long way in that respect from the beginning of the generation, and I really appreciate it. I really hope they pay as much attention to it with the upcoming 3DS games.

[cj_iwakura]

Yeah, SJ had a great font.


I'll start Overclocked as soon as I get it, just waiting on the package from a seller here. :(

[perfect free]

Mastema’s task (bring him a Megami-type and Wilder-type demon) seems cleverly designed to get me to think about multi-step fusions... or to whip out SJ’s manual, which includes a handy fusion chart. (I’d rather not consult FAQs on my first play through a game, but if the manual gives me information I will happily use it.) A few Pixie summons later, I’ve got two handsome specimens to present to my angel benefactor:



Mastema is all set to begin the fusion and create the crystal, when suddenly--



Zelenin shows up--alone. (How is she evading all the demons?) She and Mastema recognize each other; they talk about her lack of a demon posse, and Mastema makes a comment about her “unique spiritual sense” possibly playing a role in her choice to go solo. Though Z does mention she still has the summoning program.



Us humans have to close our eyes while angelic miracles are at work. When we open them, the demons are gone and a shimmering object has taken their place. I’m all set to call it “the pointy crystal,” but Mastema seems to prefer the name “Shibboleth.” We are bidden to go wield the Po--the Shibboleth against Horkos... but not before Mastema gives Zelenin a gift.



Demons may be a no go, but looks like Z has no problem with angels doing her bidding. (I make a mental note to make fun of both her *and* Jimenez because *my* demons can totally speak proper English... most of them.)

Zelenin suggests I take the Shibboleth back to Irving. He crafts a plasma cannon out of it! Nice! Alright, let’s get back to the Elve and make bacon outta Horkos!



He keeps using that word. I do not think it means what he thinks it means.

Mastema shows up to watch and tries to goad me into firing the cannon one more time to completely gib Horkos. Jimenez is not impressed; he lobs a major diss at Mastema and attempts to finish the job himself with conventional weaponry... it doesn’t work.



Jimenez beats himself up for letting his ego take over instead of just using the cannon. If only he was stronger! Hmm, that’s an awfully familiar line. No time to mope, though--Zelenin has a lock on the fleeing Horkos, so we’ve gotta hustle. After we catch up, Horkos knocks Z around a bit before we all grudgingly agree to work as a team. Jimenez has to get the last word, though:



Christ, J, I liked you better when you weren’t going all Final Fantasy on my ass. Anyway, they’ve given me an opening... bombs away! The attacks wound Horkos further, but he somehow manages to run away again. (How is he so nimble when he’s fused with a giant lump of metal?) Oh, but it looks like he dropped something...



I take the forma back to the lab. Now I can unlock more doors! Of course, that’s not good enough for Horkos. He is behind both a) a locked door AND b) a hidden passageway that I walk by about three times before figuring out what I’m missing. Buuut I find him, eventually. He’s not happy.



Well that sounds reasonable. I fire the Horkos Buster again... and he runs away for the eighteenth goddamn time. He’s not far, though. Zelenin takes this opportunity to lecture Jimenez on the potency of divine power AND boss me around about getting to Horkos’ coordinates. I’ll let it go this time since I think everyone’s getting a little testy from all this back-and-forth nonsense.



Alright, now hold still while I shove this plasma beam up your rectum!



THANK you. (Not that I've seen the last of him... he's vowed his revenge.) Well, the Elve is obviously in pretty bad shape, and there are evidently no survivors on board after all. But the ship’s radio is working. Maybe it’ll let us contact Earth! And on board the Elve is something else...




Jimenez is about ready to crap a rainbow... but it IS nice to see somebody happy around here. Well, let’s get back to the Red Sprite and fire up the radio.



It works! Arthur fills the project bureau in on the situation and the casualties we’ve sustained. The bureau, meanwhile, says demons are also starting to invade Earth. The Schwarzwelt has also gotten a teensy bit bigger since we entered it...



Crapola. AND the bureau says we’re SOL with regard to outside help. About the only thing it can do is help to pinpoint our location, which admittedly might prove rather useful.

While Arthur works on the technical details, I decide to hit the break room. Oh... who’s this?



Odd name. Whoever she is, she doesn’t stick around long. Something’s coming toward the ship.



Shit! Arthur powers up the Red Sprite’s armor, and it's thankfully enough to repel Horkos. But it now falls to me to chase him down and hopefully take him out once and for all. I’ll leave that for next time.

[Nils]

Started Nocturne. Just got past the Matador. Was surprisingly very easy, but I think I just had an excellent setup for that fight. Three members couldn't get hit by force attacks so that shut him down quite eaily.

[Nils]

Made it to Thor...with two demons weak to thunder. That didn't go so well. He also kept dodging my Tornado, which I have force boosted, so I lost a lot of potential damage and turns.

[Jucksalbe]

Finally found some time for DDS again. I went through "Coordinate 136". That took me a while, actually this one post consists of three separate days I played just to beat this one dungeon. So, let's get started:



On the way back we discover that Sera wasn't all too safe at our own base. Everyone blames Cielo and he is imprisoned. The rest of the party goes off to a castle where she is supposedly held.



This looks quite different from all the bland bases we visited so far.



Meanwhile Cielo wants to help, too. With the help of the mysterious kitty cat, he can flee his prison and won't be seen again until the end of this post. The whole scene reminded me of a certain scene in a Pratchett book.



Yep, this looks quite different. Finally, a change of scenery was desperately needed. In every new area of this dungeon you get to hear a part of some kind of fairy tale through a speaker. It's about a princess (who looks somewhat familiar) and two supposedly "good" and "evil" princes.



Also, in every area there is some kind of puzzle that is explained to you by Tinkerbell up there. First off: find the picture of the "good" prince and avoid the pictures of the "evil" prince. Only problem is you won't be able to tell who's who without getting very close to the pictures.



Whenever you get too close to the wrong picture, you fall down into the cellar which means a loooong way back to the entrance of the dungeon. And you will be mocked by skeletons.



And in the cellar you can meet the Black Ooze. That stupid slime-wannabe almost killed me twice.



You can actually get trapped here. When you go through the door, there's a picture of the evil prince in front of you and the door behind you will be gone. Which means: Another round through the cellar.



At least on the way I got my revenge against the Black Ooze.



I hate when this happens. Is there any advantage at all to the human form? Is it worth it to keep the ammunition up to date?



Found him! To be honest, it's not that hard to tell them apart. Basically you have to avoid every corner with a picture until there's a single picture you can't avoid.



Now that I found the prince I can go to the next floor. There are two yellow walls on the way that you can't break down....yet.



Mid-boss time! It's the HipHop Brothers! But really, who wants to listen to them? Just select "No" and get the fight started. And they transform into.....



...a Jack Frost and whatever the jack-'o-lantern is called. Cute. Mostly a very easy fight, but the Jack Frost tends to cast Meidarama nonstop when he's low on HP. That means you have to deal more than 200 HP damage per round to defeat him.



Next random fight right after the boss fight: five Jack Frosts....but of course they don't have as much HP.



Time for a new puzzle. Here you have to flip mirrors to guide a light from the princess to the good prince.




There are three different rooms. It gets harder every time, but you never have too many choices, so it's actually quite easy. The good thing is there are no random encounters in puzzle rooms.




Next puzzle: You have to move a bunch of platforms along a set of rails to get the good prince to face the evil prince. There's not much to do, basically you just flip a switch and then ride with the prince. But if you're as dumb as I was this is going to take long. Each time you take a wrong platform you have to walk through a long corridor to get back to the puzzle room. On top of that random encounters now hold some nasty monsters. I was even dumb enough to overlook the switch, so I had to do at least one corridor twice.



The last transmission is a bit broken, so you get the idea the story might not go the way it was supposed to. This is also the last puzzle room, but on first glance you don't even know what to do and there's no Tinkerbell around.



But there's always a way.



So this puzzle is a combination of the last two. You have to move around platforms that have mirrors on them to guide the light towards the door. There aren't many possibilities to what you can do, so this one is very straightforward. But there's also a special chest tucked away in a corner, so don't forget that.



The chest contains the Yellow Key.



So, I thought, since I had to heal anyway and there were some yellow barriers before, I'd teleport back to the entrance, heal, and destory those barriers on my way back up. Because all the puzzles are already solved this is not a long way to go. Only problem was, I actually died twice from random battles and had to do it all over again. Let's say I wasn't pleased. :)



Back to the last staircase....a long, long staircase, but nothing special happens anymore.



So we finally found Sera. But then there's some blackmailing going on and...



...you get the chance to fight Heat. I politely declined, but I don't know if this actually makes a difference.



Then there's lots of falling and catching....



...and we get to fight a boss.



The boss actually consists of two parts, head and body. As far as I could tell, the body's weak against fire and the head is weak against force. I had both, so this fight was actually very easy. If you defeat the body first, the head actually stands up and fights you alone...nice.



And that's it. Woa, that took a long time.
Sorry, for the even worse image quality compared to last time I posted, but I decided to capture the screens from the video I recorded instead of taking the screenshots as I play. It's much more comfortable this way.

[perfect free]

I hate when this happens. Is there any advantage at all to the human form? Is it worth it to keep the ammunition up to date?

You get status-inflicting bullets at some point, plus each character's gun has different attack characteristics. (I know Serph's has a high crit rate, and some characters can hit all enemies at once, etc.) I don't remember how powerful the attacks actually are relative to your demon form, though, and obviously as a human you're pretty vulnerable.

[Finalow]

You get status-inflicting bullets at some point, plus each character's gun has different attack characteristics. (I know Serph's has a high crit rate, and some characters can hit all enemies at once, etc.) I don't remember how powerful the attacks actually are relative to your demon form, though, and obviously as a human you're pretty vulnerable.

it sucks to be in human form, in DDS 2 some mobs/bosses have a weakness to guns but it still sucks and it's not worth it (not even with the ring I might say), also in DDS 1 just don't use it since I don't remember anything weak to guns.

[Nils]

Good Prince/Bad Prince part has such a good pay-off.

[SatelliteOfLove]

Still one of my favorite dungeons of all time.

[cj_iwakura]

Yeah, that dungeon on a replay solidified why I love DDS.

I wonder f that portrait of Sera is available high-res anywhere. Did DDS ever get an artbook?

[perfect free]

I emerge from the Red Sprite and almost immediately get an energy reading. Is it Horkos?



Yup! He runs away (as expected), but he’s not looking too good. And he drops a hoof, which, once I take it to the lab, inexplicably allows me to phase shift... basically opening yet more areas that were previously closed off to me. Sounds good, I’ll take it!

Two hours of un-screenshotted dungeon crawling later, I reach Horkos’ newest hiding place. He launches into a tirade about humans and their relentless overproduction that’s ruining the world.



Look, asshole, I do not need to hear this from you right now. Know what else we humans are good at? Blowing shit up, that’s what.



Maybe I’ll start with you. I aim the cannon, squeeze the trigger, and--



Wha--OMGHAX! MALO! Horkos roars something about eating us, then the Red Sprite, then the earth to compensate for humanity’s imbalance. Yeah, not on my watch, buddy. Can we get to the actual boss fight now?



He’s weak to electricity! Apparently he can also be paralyzed, although he doesn’t seem to ever actually skip any turns. Unfortunately, that pig-dragon hide of his is pretty tough, and my physical attacks don’t do much even with Tarukaja to help out. Horkos, for his part, can summon a Katakirauwa to help him, cancel all my buffs with Dekaja, or just take a huge bite out of a party member, healing himself in the process. Eventually he starts doing something called Air Dive, which does massive damage to my whole party. It takes a few Chakra Drops since I only have one electric demon, and I come very close to wiping out, but I pull through.




Yeah yeah, flow will disappear. Whatever, big guy.



Uh, thanks for the stomach acid? Ooh, and a Rosetta! I’m pretty sure I need that!

Back on the Red Sprite, Arthur is hopeful (well, as much as an AI can be “hopeful”) that upon traveling to the next sector, we’ll be able to find an escape route from the Schwarzwelt. Apparently we’re supposed to keep an eye out for something called a “Vanishing Point.” The term gives Zelenin pause for some reason...



Meanwhile, Jimenez and I kick back and reminisce about the girl in white that, apparently, only I saw. Bugaboo (who has been revived and seems none the worse for wear) doesn’t know much either.




Uh oh. It’s time for another Zelecture™ on demon summoning. I expect Jimenez to fly off the handle, but he actually just seems rueful that Zelenin doesn’t see things his way.



He brings up an interesting question about the summoning program, though. I wonder if it really will get taken away once we make it back to Earth. If there are demons invading there, too, who knows what kind of measures we’ll need to take? Well, there’ll be time to think about that later. Time to head on to Sector D!

[Fuu]

Decided to resize the screens a bit so the post doesn't get so big. I didn't have much time to play this week (+ recent Pocket Planes addiction), but I'll try to advance more this weekend.



At Peace Dinner, Kozy is nowhere to be found. She went to meet Cuss High guys by herself in order to get the scoop on them spreading the disease rumor that cursed Sisters. Sounds dangerous, I have to commend her journalistic courage.



Eikichi continues to make fun of fat people to feel better about himself.



The Zodiac club is a place with very classy music. There I meet Anna Yoshizaka, she's the girl Noriko from Sisters looks up to. Noriko is trying to convince her to go back to the track team but failing at it.



Yukino lays down the law and Anna leaves, she's not here for this. Some Cuss High students also get bothered by the real talk.



Eikichi tries to talk back at them. They don't have any fucks to give because they have a new leader now.



This happened too fast so the group gets suspicious that it also has to do with Joker (what doesn't these days, really). The Cuss High student informs us that he knows of no Kozy, but a Hanakouji went to see the leader. This makes Eikichi freak out and scram inside by himself.





Too late.



Sounds like a dungeon! The area is huge and very red, with interesting paintings and big clocks. Because Eikichi went in alone I have to go through the place with one less member. Not optimal, but also not really a problem because most of the enemies are the same from Sisters. I also quickly make enough cash for the strongest weapons available at Shiraishi Ramen, making my previous mid-tier purchases at Time Clock a waste of money. No biggie. I also stopped stepping on every floor tile because that got old fast.



No idea what this is about but hopefully I'll be able to get some easily.



I see something that looks like vomit or urine on the floor, which clashes with the cleanliness of the place. I accidentally step on it (twice) and holy crap, it takes quite a bit of HP. Mental note to avoid traps better in the future.



Nice wish, not sure if it's worth all the trouble though. People were summoned here for a gathering by having papers appearing inside their purses and lunch boxes. Creepy.



Whoa!



Oh, she's one of those…



Yukino feels a mystical connection and keeps being the most knowledgeable member.



Mask problem solved! Thankfully I didn't have to knock anyone out.



The smokin' hot party consist of Eikichi having the living daylights beaten out of him by some masked guys.



The leader is Hiroki Sugimoto, a dude with a grudge who's hell bent on making Eikichi suffer. He covers his bases and quickly forbids Eikichi of summoning his persona.



Eikichi doesn't care much about Kozy until he finally knows her true identity. She tries to stop the reveal and explains she didn't want him to know because she was too embarrassed. The way he kept calling her fatty certainly didn't help things.



Things get even more dramatic when Hiroki cuts Kozy's face. Lisa can't hold back much longer. However, Yukino suggests we should not interfere because this is Eikichi's problem and this is the thug life. I decide to follow her advice and see how it unfolds.



Hiroki was seeking revenge because Eikichi pantsed him in middle school. These things can be traumatizing.



Hiroki gets out of control and starts cutting Eikichi like a madman.



He also shines a little... did I just miss a boss fight by not intervening? :(



Eikichi punches Hiroki a bit, the tide turns and everyone bails out.



He reflects on what happened and decides he doesn't want to be the boss anymore.



Yukino lays down the law again.



Yukino and Maya ask about the curse rumor and the gathering. The plot thickens and we get our next clue.



Next stop, Cuss High!

[HitokiriNate85]

Some Persona 3 questions.

Mitsuru keeps telling me to check out the command room computer, but the only thing I can do in their is watch one video. Am I doing something wrong?

Are there social events that you can just flat out miss, or will they always continue to pop up based on what day it is?

The build up to meeting Fuuka has been really slow. I'm at the point where a girl who I'm guessing was her showed up unconscious at the school. Every time I talk to someone they mention her. Am I supposed to be doing something to advance her plot, or is it just time sensitive and the build up is slow? I'm guessing the later.

I don't really have a clue what I'm doing with persona fusing. Good thing I'm playing on easy.

Also, demon Hulk Hogan was awesome.

[Psxphile]

He also shines a little... did I just miss a boss fight by not intervening? :(

Yeah. But the choice you made is "correct" and when paired with other "correct" choices throughout the game it'll unlock some new Personae later on.

Some Persona 3 questions. Mitsuru keeps telling me to check out the command room computer, but the only thing I can do in their is watch one video. Am I doing something wrong?

She (and other characters) will occasionally remind you to check the monitors for new footage. The videos will always be there, you won't miss anything by not checking for awhile and let them pile up. Sometimes the footage is updated but a character won't say anything it until a week/month later. No pressure.

The build up to meeting Fuuka has been really slow. I'm at the point where a girl who I'm guessing was her showed up unconscious at the school. Every time I talk to someone they mention her. Am I supposed to be doing something to advance her plot, or is it just time sensitive and the build up is slow? I'm guessing the later.

Latter, yeah. It's mandatory so you'll get there soon.

[cj_iwakura]

The official IS localization would be perfect if not for 'Masked Circle' over 'Masquerade'.

The rest is great though.

[MechaX]

I'm pretty saddened that nobody is playing what I still consider to be my favorite Shin Megami Tensei title, spin-off or other-wise; Persona 2 Eternal Punishment! Instead of Tatsuya Suou seen in Innocent Sin, it stars this (silent), positive thinking heroine.


(Interestingly, the writers were considering to make her a speaking protagonist as opposed to a silent protagonist in the PSP version, but they decided against it).

Yeah, the battle system is definitely a lot slower than P3/P4, but I still find it quicker than P1's PSP version even with animations off (sounds crazy, but I did have a lot of load-time issues when playing P1 PSP on a UMD). This is the odd-man's out in the Persona series simply because it features (mostly) adults and handles kinda what kinds of issues those in the mid-20s would face (the age where some really consider the starting years of adulthood, since you would be out of college, more likely to have your own place, own job, etc, etc). Rumors also come true in this setting too, so that's... problematic.

Gameplay-wise, I will admit that the game can be slightly tedious in terms of ranking up Personae in order to make them more powerful; they rank up by how many times you use them, and this amount can be absurdly high. It also doesn't help that most of the FAQs on the game, while detailed, are stuck in the PSX-era RPG guide mindset of "grind until your heart stops" with strange decisions like "Rank up this persona to the maximum only to discard it immediately in the next dungeon." This shit even takes a long-time on the PSX Emulator's frameskip option. But in all, it's still a fun experience. So... let's get started.

Since Fuu is still going through IS, I'll try to keep the IS spoilers to a minimum. Luckily, EP is pretty good about not completely spoiling IS until later in the game. In fact, the game only really starts picking off where IS left off a bit after the halfway/two-thirds through the game. Unfortunately, the game kinda opens with a spoiler red-herring (which is actually extremely misleading, so don't jump to conclusions!)


A boy envisions multiple cryptic memory flashes. A woman's voice says "Please... don't forget about me..."


The boy in the red biker jacket decides to visit this Shrine. The boy doesn't say too much, and only sulks off silently.


Meanwhile, the scene cuts to this old man and a group of subordinates. He decides to hold a Japanese-style ritual for someone he refers to as "Gozen."


But enough of that; we immediately cut to the main character of this story, Maya Amano! Maya is a publisher at Kismet Publications, in which they seem to cover not so much current events, but seemingly "popular" stories that you would see in most internet blogs these days. Yuki(ino) is also her partner. Yuki was also a persona user in Persona 1 (mostly featured in the Snow Queen quest, the quest that was actually cut from the original PSX title). Yuki was also the only persona out of that cast that I really liked, but unfortunately, she doesn't have a great role in Eternal Punishment as opposed to her heavy involvement in Innocent Sin. Maya also gets this weird letter and gets a call from her boss.


And our editor in chief manages to simultaneously question Maya's competence as a journalist, take away her time off on the same day it was given, and give us plot exposition on the Joker murders going on, and send us off to our first actual plot-point. She tells us to interview some students at Seven Sister's High School since the most recent Joker murder victim was a student there. Oh yeah, she also forces Maya to huff it alone by taking Yuki off the scoop for literally no other reason but to be mean to Maya.


This is why I love Yuki. She also tells us that a "Serizawa" is looking for Maya. So down to the lobby we go...


We get introduced to Maya's best friend, Ulala Serizawa. They apparently went to high school together and are current roommates. Ulala still seems to be under the pretense that Maya has time off after work to apparently go to a party, but she decides to tag along to help Maya in her last minute assignment. She also name-drops a "Deja Vu Boy" who Maya bumped into recently that made her feel... off.


At Seven Sisters, we get Ms. Smith, another Persona 1 reference, and this detective with some pretty wicked sideburns. This stylish cop is Katsuya Suou and apparently has a younger brother, Tatsuya Suou, who attends Seven Sisters. Tatsuya happens to be a truant, so this doesn't really please Katsuya. Regardless, Ms. Smith gives Maya free reign to wander the school and interview students at her leisure.


Ms. Smith also explains exactly how the Joker Curse works. Some student NPCs also fill in some of the gaps by nothing that every Joker victim is not so much killed in conventional ways, but is usually torn to shreds. This student just flat out says the Joker uses demons. Odd.


In the courtyard, this evil-looking principal is ridiculing the Number #1 suspect for the recent Joker murder; Anna. Most people at the school speculate that Anna called the Joker to get revenge on a student that hit her with a bike recently. Anna sustained injuries that made it so she couldn't participate in her track team. When considering that Anna was a track star... well, you get the picture.



Harding says some more stuff, calling both Anna and her sister, Noriko, useless, and leaves. Quality teaching, this right here. Anna also immediately notices that Maya is a reporter (somehow) and also walks off. But before she completely leaves the scene...


Not... something you want to say near a reporter. But let's talk to some more people around here...


This Maya only really had much of a role in Innocent Sin. But I thought it would be interesting to note. Anyway, off to find the Principal and interview him/have Ulala yell at him for his treatment of Anna.


And... the Principal is already dead. This scene was actually slightly humorous since everyone came in one by one with a variant of "Oh hey principal, I have been meaning to ask you... Holy shit he's dead!" The party tries to leave, because the Joker couldn't have gone too far...


In the hall, we run into a dog demon that's not supposed to be there and the Joker shows himself. This... costume is pretty quite budget-priced, but is still genuinely scary to me. Joker apparently knows Maya as well.


Joker even tosses Maya two pink guns so she could seemingly defend herself, or for other reasons entirely. Katsuya... still doesn't quite have a grasp on the situation that the Joker is commanding demons. In turn, Joker summons and sics more demons on us. It seems absolutely hopeless, but...


The personae for the three end up saving them. Not pictured is Ulala's persona, Calista (a dominatrix-looking female), and Katsuya's persona, Helios (a cat with a suit and bow-tie). Joker is amused, but still decides to end us (I think he casts megido on the party, but I was too slow in getting a screenshot).

That's it for now. I forgot that a lot can happen in the events in this game and I actually tried to cut out as many screenshots as possible for expediency.

[Fuu]

Yeah. But the choice you made is "correct" and when paired with other "correct" choices throughout the game it'll unlock some new Personae later on

Ah good to know, thanks. I should probably check a guide to see which ones I should pick from now on but that would take a bit of the fun away to me. Going with my instincts!

[Finalow]

everyone should play P2 EP after P2 IS.

[Jucksalbe]

I'm pretty saddened that nobody is playing what I still consider to be my favorite Shin Megami Tensei title, spin-off or other-wise; Persona 2 Eternal Punishment!

Maybe people are waiting for Atlus USA to finally announce the PSP remake. In my case, I try to play the Persona games in order, but Persona 1 isn't really making it easy for me.

[randomkid]

Yeah I just realized that P4 Vita won't be out until late October here, I hope that doesn't mean they push Eternal Punishment back into 2013 or something. I need to play it soooooon, been waiting forever it feels like. Also need for it to be spaced out from Soul Hackers heh.

[Aeana]

I kinda feel like Eternal Punishment might actually be in real danger of not being released. Atlus USA would never want to skip any Megaten stuff, but it might not be worth it sales-wise to release EP on PSP that late.

[Jucksalbe]

I kinda feel like Eternal Punishment might actually be in real danger of not being released. Atlus USA would never want to skip any Megaten stuff, but it might not be worth it sales-wise to release EP on PSP that late.

I don't know. They just released a PSP game and one is coming soon. And both games will very likely sell a lot less than EP. I think EP would be fine, if they'd release it at the end of this year. But they'd really have to make sure that it's compatible with the Vita at launch.
It might just be that they have to much stuff already announced. I'd at least give them time until after Growlanser is released.

[NichM]

The official IS localization would be perfect if not for 'Masked Circle' over 'Masquerade'. The rest is great though.

The name is supposed to be (spoilers for later in the game) something that a bunch of 8-year-old kids came up with that's reminiscent of tokusatsu shows like the Featherman masks they all wore. "Masquerade" doesn't quite fit that bill as much as "Masked Circle." There is more to localization decisions than "what did the fan translation do," you realize.