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Persona 5 Social-Link/Confidant discussion |OT| Laughing Banana is Makoto's husbando

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Likely a way to try and prevent himself from standing out too much as the delinquent new guy during his year

excellent reference
 

TrueBlue

Member
One thing I would like to see is a little more Confidant/S-Link integration into the main story. I understand and appreciate the rationale behind it, but I feel the fact that they exist in almost completely separate vacuuns leads to some weird moments.

Two examples where the separation made itself apparent stuck out to me, I'll spoiler both - though if you've cleared Palace 5, it shouldn't be an issue.

During the Hawaii trip, Ann asks the MC what kind of girls he's in to - though I had already romanced her up to that point. It would have been nice if there was a dialogue option reflecting this, or to have Ann ask in a more "wink wink nudge nudge" way.

Then there's a scene in Yusuke's Confidant where he enlists the help of the group to help him out of his slump. Yet despite Haru and especially Futaba being party members, only MC, Ann and Ryuji are present.

This isn't so much a critique as it is an inherent aspect of the current system. It would be nice to see events be more reactive to the MC's social decisions and their progress in the main story.

Granted, this would take a lot of work to cover a lot of options - particularly if you go the harem route. It'd be interesting to see if they attempt to overhaul this particular system in Persona 6.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
One thing I would like to see is a little more Confidant/S-Link integration into the main story. I understand and appreciate the rationale behind it, but I feel the fact that they exist in almost completely separate vacuuns leads to some weird moments.

Two examples where the separation made itself apparent stuck out to me, I'll spoiler both - though if you've cleared Palace 5, it shouldn't be an issue.

During the Hawaii trip, Ann asks the MC what kind of girls he's in to - though I had already romanced her up to that point. It would have been nice if there was a dialogue option reflecting this, or to have Ann ask in a more "wink wink nudge nudge" way.

Then there's a scene in Yusuke's Confidant where he enlists the help of the group to help him out of his slump. Yet despite Haru and especially Futaba being party members, only MC, Ann and Ryuji are present.

This isn't so much a critique as it is an inherent aspect of the current system. It would be nice to see events be more reactive to the MC's social decisions and their progress in the main story.

Granted, this would take a lot of work to cover a lot of options - particularly if you go the harem route. It'd be interesting to see if they attempt to overhaul this particular system in Persona 6.

Persona 4 Golden already made steps towards that, with the group acknowledging your thing with a girl in various scenes (like in the firework festival or the snowstorm event)

It's unfortunate that instead of improving upon that, they decided to regress back...

Anyways...

NICE AVATAR DUDE <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
 

TrueBlue

Member
Persona 4 Golden already made steps towards that, with the group acknowledging your thing with a girl in various scenes (like in the firework festival or the snowstorm event)

It's unfortunate that instead of improving upon that, they decided to regress back...

I see. Persona 5 is weird for me in the sense that, despite it being my first in the series, I feel there are various facets of it that could use a rework in the next game. It almost feels too comfortable in its current structure, even when it's to the detriment of the player.

I understand why, mind. Persona 5 is utterly absorbing - and would be my current GOTY if Zelda didn't exist.

NICE AVATAR DUDE <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Heh, thanks. I have a piece of fanart that was posted 20ish pages back as my phone background too :lol

I do wish Haru was introduced a tad earlier. I've only just developed my social stats enough to start her Confidant chain, and I've just cleared Palace 7.

At the very least, it's made my romance choice for a NG+ very easy...
 

Gbraga

Member
I think I need a Kawakami poster, or a nendoroid.

Maybe a picture of her in my wallet? Hmmm, I guess I could do that.

Hawaii was incredible. That smile, man... :')
 

RalchAC

Member
One thing I would like to see is a little more Confidant/S-Link integration into the main story. I understand and appreciate the rationale behind it, but I feel the fact that they exist in almost completely separate vacuuns leads to some weird moments.

Two examples where the separation made itself apparent stuck out to me, I'll spoiler both - though if you've cleared Palace 5, it shouldn't be an issue.

During the Hawaii trip, Ann asks the MC what kind of girls he's in to - though I had already romanced her up to that point. It would have been nice if there was a dialogue option reflecting this, or to have Ann ask in a more "wink wink nudge nudge" way.

Then there's a scene in Yusuke's Confidant where he enlists the help of the group to help him out of his slump. Yet despite Haru and especially Futaba being party members, only MC, Ann and Ryuji are present.

This isn't so much a critique as it is an inherent aspect of the current system. It would be nice to see events be more reactive to the MC's social decisions and their progress in the main story.

Granted, this would take a lot of work to cover a lot of options - particularly if you go the harem route. It'd be interesting to see if they attempt to overhaul this particular system in Persona 6.

I didn't find the scene you mention weird. Those were the characters that went through his arc, so it kind of makes sense that he'll call them.

But yeah. There were some little scenes that were really cool, like when you see in the end of the game
different Confidants at the Metaverse staying "awake"
or how at the very end
they try to save them for juvie
. There were a few other little story details that worked really well, like how in November
they start sending you messages asking if you are well,
since they know you're a PT.

The game could have cut some overexposition to include more of those lines :p

Great avatar too.

Persona 4 Golden already made steps towards that, with the group acknowledging your thing with a girl in various scenes (like in the firework festival or the snowstorm event)

It's unfortunate that instead of improving upon that, they decided to regress back...

Anyways...

NICE AVATAR DUDE <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I romanced Chie in P4G and I remember that she'd be pissed off rather often when Rise went all out with the flirting. Did it happen when you dated other girls or would Chie be pissed off regardless of who you romance?

It was a little detail, but it worked. Wouldn't have worked out in P5 though, since nobody goes all out like her.
 

Zafir

Member
I romanced Chie in P4G and I remember that she'd be pissed off rather often when Rise went all out with the flirting. Did it happen when you dated other girls or would Chie be pissed off regardless of who you romance?

It was a little detail, but it worked. Wouldn't have worked out in P5 though, since nobody goes all out like her.

I didn't romance Chie, and she was still always the one commenting on Rise's flirting. So I'm not sure that was based off romances.
 

TrueBlue

Member
I didn't find the scene you mention weird. Those were the characters that went through his arc, so it kind of makes sense that he'll call them.

But yeah. There were some little scenes that were really cool, like when you see in the end of the game
different Confidants at the Metaverse staying "awake"
or how at the very end
they try to save them for juvie
. There were a few other little story details that worked really well, like how in November
they start sending you messages asking if you are well,
since they know you're a PT.

The game could have cut some overexposition to include more of those lines :p

Great avatar too.

Yusuke spoilers:

Weird was probably the wrong term. In truth both scenes were fine as is, but it did highlight how separated the social aspect was from the main narrative, which I think is a shame. It would have been amusing to see Futaba try and probably fail in giving art advice.

On your overexposition point though - I feel the game as a whole needs tightening up, from the repetitive dialogue to some of the more fatty Palaces.

EDIT: I'm getting a fair bit of avatar praise today :p
 
Okay, so finally cleared Haru's Confidant route, and I have to say,
kudos on a honest and decent representation of an older businessman who, as far as we (Joker and Haru) are concerned was tied up with her father. To 180 her entire problem with a conversation felt pretty good, as I often find in stories like hers; where she is so immobile and indecisive over who to trust, that she does nothing - so her actually taking the guts to speak to up works out in every single metric for her.

Also... yeah she's just great all around. Love them veggies.
 

epmode

Member
Finished this over the weekend. I somehow managed to max each confidant on the very last day without a guide!

Anyway, I loved the game. Easily one of my favorite JRPGs ever. If I had to compare it to the past two games, however, I definitely prefer P4. It has a better cast, a better setting and a better story. I really love the low-key feel of P4, with the rural town and the comparatively low stakes of the murder mystery. The TV world is a great hook too.
 
Okay, so finally cleared Haru's Confidant route, and I have to say,
kudos on a honest and decent representation of an older businessman who, as far as we (Joker and Haru) are concerned was tied up with her father. To 180 her entire problem with a conversation felt pretty good, as I often find in stories like hers; where she is so immobile and indecisive over who to trust, that she does nothing - so her actually taking the guts to speak to up works out in every single metric for her.

Also... yeah she's just great all around. Love them veggies.
Takakura turning out to be a good guy was a really good twist overall.
Really went against all expectations. He had a few bad misconceptions, but he straightened them out nicely.
 

Cess007

Member
I ran into the Get Smoked kid in Akibahra... but how to trigger his social link...?

It's memento related.
You need to get a Memento mission (Winners Don't Use Cheats) about a guy cheating in the local Arcade; the story will take you to the kid
 

HeelPower

Member
Not sure calling housekeeping service takes more guts than downing(in one gulp) an unknown drug in a shady medical practice.

LMAO P-Team.
 

LotusHD

Banned
This will break people on this thread :p

Kotaku: Persona 5 Confidants, Ranked

Makoto: I would give my life for Makoto and her supernatural motorcycle.

Makoto at #1, I am shocked I tell you, shocked. ;D

#2 is also Takemi (LOL at that video), so yea, this is list is pretty much perfe-
14. Mishima: Do not spend time with this dork unless you absolutely have to.

15. Ohya: Ohya is a bad person and an even worse journalist. Of all the characters I would want to go drinking with in this game, she is bottom of the list.

16. Ryuji: Get the fuck out of here, Ryuji. Everything you touch turns to ash.


Damn, they really put Ryuji under both Ohya and Mishima...

EDIT: On point with how messy Ann's S-Link was. They savaged the fuck out of Haru. And good for Hifumi on ranking so high.
 

Quonny

Member
They're clearly mostly ranking them based on who they most enjoyed spending time with, not their confidant abilities.

Then why is Ryuji at the bottom, who, even if you don't like character, has probably the best story of all the confidants? Ann, who not only is a boring character, but has a bad, one-note story, is 9?

Even at the top they say they're NOT judging it solely on who they like.

Bad list is bad.
 

Cess007

Member
Damn, they really put Ryuji under both Ohya and Mishima...

Wow, that's some strong Ryuji hate.

I don't understand the hate for Ryuji. Yes, he can be annoying on how hot-blooded he is, specially
in the scene when the teams finally find out they were played by the enemy and he starts screaming
. But he even called you later and apologized for his outburst. Can't hate him at all.
 

LotusHD

Banned
Then why is Ryuji at the bottom, who, even if you don't like character, has probably the best story of all the confidants? Ann, who not only is a boring character, but has a bad, one-note story, is 9?

Even at the top they say they're NOT judging it solely on who they like.

Bad list is bad.

1. I said "mostly"
2. I didn't say anything about who has the best story, and that's subjective as hell anyways
3. "Bad list is bad" is also subjective (But yes, I too am not pleased at Ryuji's placement, though I get it...)
 

Ferrio

Banned
I'm really bitter that I have 3 social links undone at the end of the game, more so that two of them (Ryuji & Iwai) were at 9 stars.
 

Cess007

Member
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Sojiro looks so out of place lol

That reminds me, what's up with that pose? Ryuji walks/stands the same way? It's an actual thing or just an artist gag?

Mhm



Screw Ohya, and I didn't hate anyone else's, but there were confidants I did not bother with. I regret not spending time with Yusuke.

Yusuku S. Link is nice (or as far as I've got) I really need to spend more time with him, if nothing else, 'cause it's eccentricity is always hilarious
 
I liked Ohya's overall, but it's a super slow arc and they seem to have gone out of their way to make her unlikeable at the start. I guess it sorta works as a commentary on the perils of being an investigative reporter in the current client (you get assigned to write pointless click bait about some stupid fad when you have a real story to be covering and then people give you shit for being both a bad journalist and wanting to drown your sorrows).

Bashing Yoshida AND Ohya? This person is a monster who also didn't pay attention to the ending.
Without Ohya, Joker would still be in juvie.

That scene only happens if you max her Link, otherwise the implication is that it's
Ann , I think. Makato mentions Shiho-san in the phone call that sounds like thats what they were talking about.
Several of those links sound like he left off partway through honestly.
 

TrueBlue

Member
Ohya isn't so much bad as she is uninteresting - at least when compared to most of the other Confidants. There's nothing really offensive about her, but nothing really stands out either.

I'm actually a little frustrated I'm so close to maxing her link while Futaba and Haru have made comparatively little headway. Sucks man.
 
That scene only happens if you max her Link, otherwise the implication is that it's
Ann , I think. Makato mentions Shiho-san in the phone call that sounds like thats what they were talking about.
Several of those links sound like he left off partway through honestly.

I reject this reality.
The only scoops Ann will ever get are from Ben and Jerry.
 

PK Gaming

Member
This will break people on this thread :p

Kotaku: Persona 5 Confidants, Ranked

The list is pretty basic. I love Makoto, but there's no way she's #1, especially if her Confidant storyline is taken into account. Takemi is way too high, Yoshida and Haru being that low is fucking criminal, and Mishima might be the biggest goober alive but at least his Confidant is dynamic and gives him good character development. Not even going to comment on Ryuji being at the very bottom.
 

MoonFrog

Member
LUKE PLUNKETT I WILL FIGHT YOU

YOSHIDA IS A PRECIOUS FLOWER AND I WON'T HAVE ANYONE SAY OTHERWISE

More seriously, I'm actually hard-pressed to think of a confidant I actually dislike.

The game is pretty smooth in pretty much every way. A lot of really good stuff. A lot of really polished stuff. And not much bad stuff at all.

I do think it has some rough edges and that other Persona games out compete it in certain ways or at certain moments but...it is such a strong product overall.

Throw in the much stronger combat and dungeons and actually having demon conversations, and I think it is the better game than 3 or 4.

And I think this general analysis holds to the confidants too. There are some strong highs but even the ones that don't quite do all they could or don't do much at all tend to be competent and at least middle-of-the-road, whereas I definitely had s links I hated in 3 and 4.

I think it does have the best confidants, overall, at least.

...

Also, yeah Yoshida was really low on that list.

Trying to think who'd I'd put near the bottom...

My thoughts (this isn't a ranked list, so the order isn't saying anything):

-Ryuji is not my favorite best friend character and his issues and arc were not as interesting to me as Yosuke's definitely and probably Junpei's. If you want to consider him as a chariot instead, maybe I like him more than Chie? I feel his leg story is worse than the leg story in P3, but it is sort of sidelined to the whole anger issues and trying to move past/atone for what he did to his team. There's a good story there, imo. And then he has really fun dialogue choices and good dialogue rewards.

-Ann was amusing and had good dialogue choices, but it lacked the central focus and plot of, say, Ryuji's, which is amusing in a very similar way while also being more focused and about something. I have mixed feelings about that social link.

-Yusuke starts off as mostly anime fluff; it was amusing stuff but I think his confidant takes a while to shine. I like the confidant when it brings it back to Madarame and his artist bloc starts being dealt with in more human and less absurd lights. I feel the human quotient to Akihiko's and Kanji's ridiculous anime characters was much more always there than with Yusuke.

-Makoto's link has two of my favorite conversations in the game, her 4 and 7. It is also very well situated in the main narrative. I also like a lot of the little details, like telling her I loved her at Crossroads. And I do get why the host story happens and what it is saying about Makoto (and it fits) but...too few of her conversations turn back to an exploration of Makoto and the game seems to bank too much on you getting her, when from reactions I've seen here, the conversations can fall quite flat. Partly, I think that is expectations missing reality but I also think the link could've been better utilized to have heart-to-hearts with Makoto and to highlight the romantic dynamic that the post link dating scenes confirm.

-Futaba's link accomplishes pretty much exactly what it sets out to do and she also benefits from having Sojiro's link also be about her after a certain point. As I've said, I think it is a bit awkward as a romance because of the dependency dynamic, but Futaba gets to be cute and funny, gets to explore real issues in her past that I could identify with as someone who was a young kid hated for being smarter than any other kid in the room. She's a refreshing take on loneliness, social ineptness, and intelligence.

-Haru was late game and rushed so maybe I just didn't give it enough attention, but even reading why people like her, I just think Haru isn't for me and the new fiance to an heiress storyline wasn't even my thing with Mitsuru, who I liked a lot, so...she'd probably be near the bottom of my list, even after going back over it. But I can see that being unfair.

-Sojiro's link is working to fill in the big shoes of the Dojima link and I think it does a great job in its own way. I do wish that the game had taken Shido/Sojiro/Wakaba farther, but that is mostly on the main narrative--not the Sojiro link. Discovering Sojiro the softie with rough edges and a tragic past is a rewarding experience and bonding over cooking and making coffee is great.

-Tae's link had the amusing shady doctor/guinea pig routine and I enjoyed the hospital drama and her reject story. It was great seeing her find joy again in becoming the local doctor and shed her self-reinforcement of "the plague."

-Mishima annoys me, but he's a well done character. His link is good but I don't like him :p.

-I like Yoshida's personality. There is something very appealing about the reformed politician who routinely loses but is so into justice, truth, and good discourse. The drama surrounding him later in the link with the two opposing political factions is also interesting to me and it was amusing/heartening to see him escape it and gain respect and gain a path to success.

-Kawakami's link amused me at times, made me uncomfortable at others and I was glad to oversee her moving on and actually trying to be a good teacher at the end, because she was a pretty awful teacher up to and including her relationship with you.

-Iwai is a very good link. He's got amusing reaction and music note responses that set up an interesting dynamic. And then he's tragically wrong headed about his son, his past, the Yakuza, etc. in a very touching way. At the same time you want him to turn around some things in his head and you get good options for doing so in the text (even music notes at times).

-Ohya I have never really cracked her dialogue and so I had to do a lot of gap conversations with her and so much of them is drunken filler. Her reporter story is decently interesting on the surface, put I never felt pulled into it.

-Chihaya is much like Ohya for me in this last respect. Interesting story premise but it never really pulled me in.

-I liked Hifumi's link as well and she traversed some interesting territory of gender, shogi, idols, duty to parents, and nerdy passion.

-Shinya...I feel like he has quite well-developed social link. He's an unlikable kid at first and you can't really tell him off for it without being punished for a while, but...he comes around after going over the deep end and then his relationship to his mother brings everything into focus.

I think that's the non-automatic and non-twins social links?
 
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