One of the funniest parts of NG+ in a Persona game, after the sheer glee of starting with ¥10 million and all the endgame weapons and armor from the first run, is doing the first dungeon with a couple of the level-99 Personae.

"My God! Kamoshida turned into some kind of horrific tongue monster with hundreds of hit points! How are we supposed to—"

"BY THE MYRIAD TRUTHS!"

"—oh."

--G.
OK, I didn't quite oneshot him, but even so, do not fuck with Izanagi-no-Ōkami
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Unleashing hellfire on early bosses. Always one of the highlights of any NG+.

Matrix Dragon, J. Random Nutter

Can confirm, one of my very favorite parts of any NG+. ^_^

------
Authors of our fates
Orchestrate our fall from grace
Poorest players on the stage
Our defiance drives us straight to the edge

Well can I recall the times I'd NG+ Chronotrigger...

Using Luminare on Gato in the circus -may- be a touch overdramatic, but I mean, nobody -else- around to spend that MP on so why not? Heck, I think Chrono one-shots bosses until at least after the first round in ~60M BCE.

Ōkami's NG+ is relatively tame, since it takes away all the Brush Techniques (to preserve story progression) and the top-tier weapons (Solar Flare is explicitly tied to acquiring all the basic Brush Techniques, and I guess they take the other two for parity's sake). On the other hand, the fourth-tier weapons are still pretty potent for the early game, and (if you found the 99 scattered Stray Beads) the String of Beads is only available in NG+. The String of Beads is essentially cheat mode as an equippable item: infinite health, infinite ink (mana), and all weapon damage multiplied by ten.

Wait a second.

At one point Caroline and Justine demand that you take them to the movies, and when you come out, they start talking about how the movie was in 3D and asking how the glasses work.

But...

They only have one eye apiece. 3D effects relying on stereo vision cannot possibly work for them.

--G.
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Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

I haven't played P5, but I know a spoiler.

Eyes are the mirror of the soul. And there's a cause for stereo glasses to work for them

LAST EDITED ON Nov-12-23 AT 02:57 PM (EST)
 
>I haven't played P5, but I know a spoiler.
>
>Eyes are the mirror of the soul. And there's a cause for stereo
>glasses to work for them

I thought of that, but couldn't quite decide whether I thought the writers were going for something quite that mystical, given that the scene takes place in the real world. Probably so, though, upon reflection. There are plenty of other touches like that scattered around the game.

Still, it's a little bit of a stretch, since for the effect to work even then, they'd have to be looking at the screen at exactly the same angle. I'm a little disappointed that they didn't show the characters in the actual theater, as they do in the other scenes where Joker goes to the movies with someone. The twins being the twins, I'm a little curious whether they sat in separate seats.

(Also, I expected Caroline to be in a little more of a huff about Joker having paid the child ticket price to get them in, because obviously he'd have had to. :)

--G.
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I promised myself I would explore other romance options in this playthrough, but Makoto's awakening scene is so damn cool, I just... there will never be a better "and that, kids, is how I met your mother" story than that, even if they technically had known each other for a while before it happened. :)

--G.
She shatters a tile floor with her footsteps, man.

"Niijima-senpai, I think now might be a good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Joker. I'm always angry."
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But what about Futaba?

LAST EDITED ON Nov-13-23 AT 04:35 PM (EST)
 
>But what about Futaba?

I know it's written into the game as a possible option, but I dunno, the idea seems kind of wrong. Not only is she such a classic little-sister type, it seems to me like she'll need at least a couple years to get her shit together socially to the point where such a thing wouldn't feel a bit predatory. Besides, Sojiro specifically asks you not to.

--G.
Also, isn't she like... not even old enough to be in high school? Even younger than Yoshizawa, who already seems a little too young for Joker if you ask me...
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That said, I do love the scene where Protag just sort of casually cleans Futaba's room while she's gweeping, and she doesn't noticed until she's done.

--G.
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Makoto's awakening is -amazing-, easily my favorite. Best girl, like I said. XD

Part of me wants to see her drive that bike in the real world like she's on a mission, just to watch the cops do huge double-takes.

------
Authors of our fates
Orchestrate our fall from grace
Poorest players on the stage
Our defiance drives us straight to the edge

LAST EDITED ON Nov-12-23 AT 03:25 PM (EST)
 
Upon reflection, I'm a little puzzled that the screen graphics are coy about when P5R is set, since it can be dated exactly by its own content. At one point the TV news mentions Rise Kujikawa from P4, and the person speaking says she's 21. That scene happens after her birthday, which we know from P4 is in early June, so P5 must be set in 2016, the same year the original version came out in Japan.

Also, and tangentially related, I finally figured out how to decorate Joker's room, so now I have the poster from Rise's new single on his wall. He never gets an opportunity to say so, but I choose to believe he is a massive fan, and that Akechi prefers Kanamin like the Philistine cur he is.

--G.
look, I know Rise and Kanami aren't really rivals any more by that point, but the joke was right there, OK?
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Ya know, upon reflection, it occurs to me that Sae Niijima may not be as sharp as people think she is. During her extensive interrogation of Joker, she touches on every single interpersonal relationship he's ever had since moving to Tokyo, no matter how trivial and unrelated to the activities of the Phantom Thieves, so she's obviously very well-informed about his activities...

... but it never once occurs to her to ask him how a random exile from some podunk town--who, at best, very intermittently works a string of nowhere jobs, for at least three of which he doesn't actually get paid--happened to have nearly ten million yen on his person when he was apprehended. :)

--G.
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Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

LAST EDITED ON Nov-16-23 AT 01:24 AM (EST)
 
"Okay, you got me. ... I'm a time traveler."
"what."
"I swear it's true, by all the gods I have on speed dial."
"what."

That sounds like Sae, despite being pretty savvy in other ways, doesn't have a visceral understanding of how much money people typically carry around. Is she from a wealthy family?

>That sounds like Sae, despite being pretty savvy in other ways,
>doesn't have a visceral understanding of how much money people
>typically carry around. Is she from a wealthy family?

I don't think so, no. Her father was a police officer, and I don't think her mother ever gets mentioned. Her apartment is quite fancy, but I think that's because she's a fairly-high-level, presumably well-paid government official, not from old family money.

Rather, I think her indifference to the vast amount of cash* Joker had on him is just an artifact of the way RPGs are almost always silly about money and inventory in general. It's sort of like how there are only coins in the Elder Scrolls universe, but your character can be carrying around what would work out to a couple of tons of gold in his pockets, along with 44 weapons, three or four complete suits of armor, enough magic potions to flood a small village, and an entire wine and cheese cellar. :)

--G.
* and it must be cash, because most of it came from monster drops, and they're hardly going to stand there making bank card transfers before they die
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>I don't think so, no. Her father was a police officer, and I don't
>think her mother ever gets mentioned. Her apartment is quite fancy,
>but I think that's because she's a fairly-high-level, presumably
>well-paid government official, not from old family money.

I'd been meaning to mention this since you said you're a fan of P3P in general and Kotone in particular, but a fan-artist did a series of pics of the Niijima Family with Kotone and Akihiko as Sae and Makoto's parents. Like this one:

>Rather, I think her indifference to the vast amount of cash* Joker had
>on him is just an artifact of the way RPGs are almost always silly
>about money and inventory in general. It's sort of like how there are
>only coins in the Elder Scrolls universe, but your character can be
>carrying around what would work out to a couple of tons of gold in his
>pockets, along with 44 weapons, three or four complete suits of armor,
>enough magic potions to flood a small village, and an entire wine and
>cheese cellar. :)

To be fair, at least most of the items you pic up in Skyrim made sense: Gear for selling, potions for healing, and food to cram down your throat raw because who really spends time cooking? Then came Fallout 4 and it's "Oh cool, fans! And toasters! Jackpot!"

Bethesda: Raising Generations of Kleptomaniacs Since 1994.

>I'd been meaning to mention this since you said you're a fan of P3P in
>general and Kotone in particular, but a fan-artist did a series of
>pics of the Niijima Family with Kotone and Akihiko as Sae and Makoto's
>parents.

I have two objections to this. One is that the timing doesn't work, and the other is that Akihiko?!!?!! :)

>To be fair, at least most of the items you pic up in Skyrim
>made sense: Gear for selling, potions for healing, and food to cram
>down your throat raw because who really spends time cooking?

Scarfing down entire cheese wheels in the middle of combat is the only way forward.

>Then
>came Fallout 4 and it's "Oh cool, fans! And toasters!
>Jackpot!"

Milspec duct tape four-pack, rock onnnnnn

--G.
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>I have two objections to this. One is that the timing doesn't work,
>and the other is that Akihiko?!!?!! :)

The answers are "When has that ever mattered to fans?" and "Yes":

>Scarfing down entire cheese wheels in the middle of combat is the only
>way forward.

Indeed, who levels Alchemy when they can carry enough cheese to drown the enemy in fondue?

>Milspec duct tape four-pack, rock onnnnnn

Lvl 1 Player: "What's this 'ballistic fiber' all about?"

Lvl 40 Player & a couple Railroad quests: "Why yes, I am wearing a postman's uniform that doubles as combat armor, why do you ask?"

>>I have two objections to this. One is that the timing doesn't work,
>>and the other is that Akihiko?!!?!! :)
>
>The answers are "When has that ever mattered to fans?" and "Yes":

I guess Joker's just lucky Sae didn't call Aunt Aigis for backup.

--G.
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>enough cheese to drown
>the enemy in fondue?
>

That brings a much more disturbing meaning to, "Cheese for everyone!"

Peter Eng
--
"I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six wheels of cheese, or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself..."

"Astounding. I hadn't the slightest idea that such a grand operation was taking place within me."
—Sae Niijima

--G.
that's what she said
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I take back part of what I said before. Once we're past the (very long) part of the game in which she's being intensely annoying, I find I rather like Sae. It's too bad she's not one of the several adult ladies Joker can have inappropriate relationships with, if only for the facepalm it would inevitably draw from Makoto. ;)

--G.
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Also, upon reflection, it's kind of funny that what the Bad Cops were pretending to worry about at the beginning ("we don't know his methods!") actually happened. They didn't really think Joker would somehow manage to talk Prosecutor Niijima onto his side in the time allotted (or that it would matter either way, come to that), but... he did. :)

"For the love of all that is holy, woman. Stop. Hitting. The table."

--G.
I mean, when you consider the size of the headache Joker must have by that point...
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>Also, upon reflection, it's kind of funny that what the Bad Cops were
>pretending to worry about at the beginning ("we don't know his
>methods!") actually happened. They didn't really think Joker
>would somehow manage to talk Prosecutor Niijima onto his side in the
>time allotted (or that it would matter either way, come to that),
>but... he did. :)

Ironically, I don't think it would have been possible if her own superiors hadn't been so obviously hinky by that point. If they had just sidelined her from the start, instead of using and then trying to gaslight her, they'd have been much better off.

They fell into their own trap by underestimating her.

------
Authors of our fates
Orchestrate our fall from grace
Poorest players on the stage
Our defiance drives us straight to the edge

Man, I don't feel like doing Shido's palace again. Can't we just assassinate him? I mean, everyone in the country thinks we're killers anyway. Why disappoint them?

--G.
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