#with a max of 4 each in a playthrough

[danielnelsen]

ok so at this point maybe im deliberately taking the piss with my party size

[ddwcaph-game]

Hello everyone!

As I mentioned earlier, I'll be sharing more information about the new EXP/NP mechanic! Hopefully this should tide you all over while you wait for the next update. 😊

What's the new mechanic about?

Before I begin, let me preface this by saying that I plan to keep DDWCaPH! character-focused and NOT a stats-focused game. In fact, I've designed the new mechanics to be as simple and as unobtrusive to the story as possible, with the side effect of making some of the current traits/souvenirs with overloaded effects simpler.

The old EXP System

Alright, so the EXP system has always been kind of an afterthought (since leveling up from 12 to 13 takes very long). It feels like gaining EXP has no point at all, especially when you get more bonuses from acquiring traits and discovering trinkets.

With the introduction of NP, I tried to solve this by increasing your Max NP whenever you earn a certain amount of EXP. I still wasn't satisfied, but now that there's an NP mechanic, I was finally able to think of a solution to that, along with another problem I had: How do I introduce the special interactions from Ancestry/Heritage Traits without being too jarring? It would be weird if Dragon MC can suddenly just fly, and it would also be weird if they always knew they could.

I didn't go with a traditional leveling up system at first, since I wanted to keep the age = level thing, until I realized that it doesn't have to be MC leveling up, it could be the locket instead!

Introducing: Locket Upgrades!

Starting the next update, earning EXP will now level up your locket! Leveling up increases your Max NP, and gives you 1 Locket Upgrade point to spend.

Since I don't want it to be distracting, you can only spend the upgrade points at the end of every chapter. I'm also including a chapter summary in the next update (instead of just the end-of-playthrough summary), so that felt like a natural, non-disruptive place to put the Locket Upgrade menu. I might change it so that you can upgrade whenever in the VN version, but that's how it'll be for now.

What kind of upgrades can I get?

The Locket Upgrades are divided into 4 categories:

Stat Upgrades

Narrativium Upgrades

Relationship Upgrades

Special Upgrades

Here's a preview of what the upgrade menu looks like:

Most upgrades can be upgraded up to ten times. So if something says +2%, the maximum would be +20%. However, to encourage spreading out your points and not just dump all of them into Knowledge, the upgrades will have level restrictions.

The 2nd upgrade is unlocked at Level 5, the 3rd upgrade at Level 10, while the 10th upgrade is unlocked at Level 100. This will most likely change, but you'll be able to reach Level 20 at around 90,000 EXP, while Level 100 can be reached around 1,300,000 EXP (the original EXP required to level up from 12 to 13).

The first four stat upgrades (the Rubescent ones) will have a different name according to your locket's gem, and your locket shape will determine whether you get Heartful Innocence or Starful Sophistication (I'm only showing both for demo purposes).

I didn't want it to be overwhelming, so some of the upgrades are locked until you finish certain chapters, when they become relevant.

I tried to add a variety of upgrades for each playstyle, so even if you don't spend any NP, you can still benefit from the upgrades.

Special Upgrades

The Special Upgrades category is way too long to show here, so here's a list of all the upgrades instead. All of the genre-exclusive upgrades are only unlocked once you finish Volume 1 (you get upgrades for both your favorite genres), but most of them are one-time upgrades (that cost 5 upgrade points to unlock).

Here's where you unlock the special interactions. I've always planned Fairytale MC to be able to talk to animals, but now I can avoid the "jarring" problem: now you need to unlock "Aesop's Wisdom" to be able to do so. This also has the bonus of making the progression feel more "earned", rather than MC being able to automatically talk to animals just because you picked Fairytales as your fave genre.

Some of the special upgrades are just stat bonuses, but that allows me more freedom to spread out the effects of the more complicated traits/trinkets. Most souvenirs now have less/weaker effects at the beginning (which helps avoid the problem of overwhelming the reader during the prologue), but you will be able to upgrade them later to be much more powerful. This delayed upgrade means I can add more fun effects to the souvenirs without worrying about "this is way too powerful for the first chapter".

The upgraded Ancestry traits (the "+" versions) that you get when you choose fantasy are now called Legacy Traits, and is now locked behind the "Daddy's Legacy" upgrade. Meanwhile, all sources of Enhanced Senses are now temporary. Enhanced Senses was way too polarizing (you also had no idea which traits grant it), so now everyone has the option to unlock it permanently after Volume 1.

Closing Thoughts

I've always loved coming up with game mechanics ever since I was very little, which is how the idea of MC pretending to be in an RPG came to be. I'm not spoiling what the other upgrades do for now, but I guess you can always peek at the code later. I did have a lot of fun brainstorming the upgrade effects and the upgrade names. You can tell I got some of them from TV Tropes.😄

That said, I hope this makes you more excited for the next update! Most of this has been coded already (minus the parts you can't unlock yet), so you don't need to worry about that. I really think tying the story and game mechanics this way will make the overall game experience much better.

Let me know what you guys think! I'd also love to know what kind of upgrades you'd want to focus on (or if you have any speculations about what effects the other upgrades do)!

[storytellerwhims]

NEVER GET BORED LEGACY CHALLENGE BASE GAME VERSION!!👩🏼‍🌾🩵💚

Introduction:

This is the Never Get Bored Legacy Challenge, a ten-generation legacy that is meant to make you “never get bored” of your sims again! Each generation has some form of drama that you will have to decide what happens next. To make you obsessed with the Sims 4 again!!

Requirements:

This legacy challenge has a few different versions. This is the base game version. 

Rules:

-You can play on any lifespan you want. I recommend Normal or Long!

-Complete all the goals for each generation. Dress your sims in the colors for that specific gen.

- No cheating money unless it’s at the beginning to start the challenge. No cheating skills, career etc. this is a challenge!

-No adjusting or changing the legacy challenge!

-If you share it please use the hashtag #sims4nevergetboredlegacy and tag me @storytellerwhims 

-Have fun, enjoy the legacy challenge! 

Before You Play:

This legacy challenge has realistic fiction elements that may be uncomfortable or triggering. For some people this legacy challenge is meant for people sixteen and older!

Gen.1 Farmer Who Falls In Love Struggles and Has an Affair👩🏻‍🌾❤️‍🔥

Lifestage: Young Adult

Traits: Vegetarian, Non-Committal and Loves the Outdoors

Aspiration: Freelance Botanist

Colors: Light Blue and Green

Career: Self Employed

Goals:

-Live in Willow Creek in a Rundown Cottage

-Max the Gardening Skill

-Grow a Healthy Garden

-Complete the Freelance Botanist Aspiration

-Make money selling your produce

-Marry a Nature Lover sim and have at least two children.

-Neglect your farm after having children.

-Have an affair with a rich sim to save your farm. 

-Decide to stay married and move in the rich sim. To take all their riches or divorce your spouse. Remarry and have all the riches.

Gen.2 Cheerful Chef Blows Bubbles and Quits their Job to Flip Waffles🫧🧇

Lifestage: Young Adult 

Traits: Foodie, Cheerful and Erratic 

Aspiration: Master Chef

Colors: Brown and Orange

Career: Culinary

Goals: 

-Move to any Base Game world 

-Max the Cooking and Baking Skills

-Reach Level 4 of the Culinary Career then quit.

-Have Dinner Parties sharing your food with friends.

-Have woohoo with your Party Animal friend after a night at the bar. (Have the friend have the Party Animal Aspiration)

-Get pregnant by your Party Animal Friend.

-You decide what happens next, tell the friend you're pregnant or not!

Gen.3 Style Influencer That is Famous for Sleeping with a Celebrity👗⭐❤️‍🔥

Lifestage: Young Adult

Traits: Self Assured, Romantic and Creative

Aspiration: Successful Lineage

Colors: Hot Pink and Purple

Career: Style Influencer

Goals:

-Move to any base game world and live in a filthy home.

-Join the Style Influencer career and reach level 8 in the career.

-Do odd jobs to make money on the side.

-Max Painting Skill and Reach Level Five in the Charisma Skill.

-Have a Fling with a Popular Well Known Townie

-Marry a Snob Sim and have at least two children.

-Meet up again with your Popular Townie hookup. Decide if things stay friendly or get spicy once again!

Gen.4 Inadequate Athlete Loses Confidence and Becomes a Teacher🥊🍎

Lifestage: Young Adult 

Traits: Mean, Snob and Gloomy

Aspiration: Body Builder

Colors: Red and Blue

Career: Athletic

Goals:

-Have a bad relationship with your family.

-Move out to any world you want.

-Join the Athletic Career and Reach Level 6 of the career. Then quit Join the Writer Career and Reach Level 5 of the career.

-Reach Level 8 in the Fitness Skill and Reach Level 5 in the Writing Skill.

-Workout at the Gym Twice a Week boxing.

-Have a workout room in your house.

-Meet a Coworker in the Writer Career Date them and have a baby with them.

-Have at least one child

-Break up with your partner

-Decide to try to be a good parent..or not the choice is yours!

_____________________________________________________

More generations are coming! I'm in the process of adapting each gen to be base came compatible.💖

Watch my playthrough of this legacy challenge on my YouTube Channel! If you enjoy my content remember to like, comment and subscribe for more!!🥰

[kaffeinated365]

Eeveelution Legacy Challenge

*Repost with pictures for each generation for better accessibility*

I will be doing a playthrough on my YouTube, starting with a more in-depth look at my Simveelutions.

This legacy challenge is a combination of by my long-time love for Pokémon, and my newer love for The Sims 4. Inspired by other legacy challenges like Not So Berry and Magical Bloodline, every generation has color suggestions and specific goals. I also wanted to add more occult gameplay, so let me know if you’d like an occult-free version.

As a bonus challenge, the 10th generation is all about creativity with plenty of free reign!

I really loved putting this whole thing together, and hope you enjoy playing it just as much <3

Rules:

-There are optional color suggestions as a starting point for creating your own "Simveelutions™".

-Limit cheats/debug for resetting objects, making a starter home, etc., not for collections or occult items like Moonpetal and Mermadic Kelp

-Decide how to pick your heir (firstborn, patriarch/matriarch, etc.). If the heir dies, any siblings you moved out must be good friends with the parent before moving back in.

-Normal lifespan recommended.

-Randomize infant traits.

-Child and teen aspirations are optional to finish.

-Complete each adult aspiration listed.

-Max out career in either branch unless a specific one is listed.

-Complete at least 3 collections before the 10th generation dies.

-Live in 5+ worlds across all generations.

-Feel free to swap out anything for packs you don't have, just pick something similar and make the challenges match.

Have fun!

@ts4challengehub @ts4challengecollection @sims4challenges

[oakdll]

things i desperately want for persona 6

- Femc

I know this is not an unpopular opinion, but I don’t even need a full femc route. It would be nice, but I think it would probably take up too much budget. All I want is a girl model of the protagonist that you can choose and some pronoun changes. It would be so easy to do, I’m begging for this

- Let people be gay

If they are doing a femc route like that, there will probably be romance options for male social links, so just keep that for the boy protagonist route. You literally don’t have to change anything except maybe a few voice lines, but you could also have the VA’s only use gender neutral pronouns. Just let you date every social link (as long as they aren’t like your dad or teacher or something) regardless of their gender.

- Keep the rewind feature from Reload

This is self explanatory, it’s maybe the single best quality of life feature in any Persona game, I NEED it for P6.

- Keep the palace system for the dungeons

The order of Persona games was me playing P5R, then P4G, then P3R. Going from P5’s palaces to the mediocre dungeons in P4 was super jarring. Tartarus in P3R is definitely an improvement, and I might even like it more than Mementos, but palaces are by far the best addition to the Persona series ever. Having unique levels for each arc was a stroke of genius, and if they don’t carry it over to P6 it will almost certainly be underwhelming compared to P5. I do like the randomly generated dungeons, but I think they work best as accompaniment to palaces. Something like Mementos would be great for P6 in accompaniment to Palaces.

- Have a better spawning method for The Reaper

I like to farm The Reaper a lot, and especially in P4, it was TORTURE. Having to open 21 chests and then requiring the 22nd to randomly spawn an enemy just to fight The Reaper was awful. Even the time based ones in P5 and P3 are not perfect. Literally just anything but the tedium of P4. Requiring RNG was awful, you could spend 20 minutes opening chests just to not get an enemy chest on the 22nd and have to restart.

- Have a post game

Sometimes I want to play Persona but I don’t want to have to start a 100 hour new playthrough. Persona genuinely has a great combat system, and I would love to be able to explore Mementos or rematch bosses after beating the game. Maybe bring back the Thieves Den (or something similar) but allow you to re-enter palaces and Mementos after getting the true ending. Something like being able to rematch bosses in the Mushroom Kingdom from Super Mario Odyssey. Maybe also bring the album thing on the couch in Persona 4 back. If you don’t remember, if you went to sit on your reading couch, you could view all of your maxed social links and replay each rank. You could even go to the social links you didn’t romance and see what their romance path was like, or vice versa. It was super cool!

- Keep confidant perks

Having the ranks of non-party member social links grant perks is one of my favorite additions to P5. It can really help incentivize you to prioritize them and go for all max social links. I think the main flaw with Persona 5 was that Atlus underestimates how powerful the perks would be. That’s why the game was so easy, not because of the gameplay, but because Atlus couldn’t balance some players having unlocked broken confidant perks and others having not. It would be difficult, but they need to be able to balance the perks more. Definitely keep them, but don’t let people just blitz through palaces if they have Ryuji’s confidant at rank 7.

- Bring over a rebalanced version of Ryuji’s instakill

Speaking of Ryuji’s rank 7 confidant ability, I want it to come back. It is by far the most broken ability in P5, but it also made grinding SO much more bearable. That said, it needs a rebalance. Make it so it doesn’t work in palaces, only P6’s version of mementos. Make it much harder to get than rank 7, maybe a late game social link’s rank 10 ability. It would still be a broken ability, but it is an ingenious solution to fixing tedious late game grinding. More games should have versions of this ability.

- Keep the completionist difficulty of P5R

I think Persona 5 Royal has the best balance in terms of how difficult it should be to max out all of your social links on a first playthrough. I got all achievements on my first playthrough, but not 100% on social links. I was rank 5 in Strength and rank 9 in Lovers. It was very close, but it had just the right amount of generosity. I think if someone tries hard, they should be able to 100% it on a first playthrough.

- Make it so hanging out with Velvet Room attendants doesn’t take up time

Unless it’s a social link like Marie, I think having it take up time just prevents people from actually doing it. With how valuable time is in Persona, wasting time slots on hanging out with a non-social link character isn’t super viable. In P5R, I almost never hung out with The Twins because it took up a time slot when it didn’t need to. In P3R, I always hang out with Elizabeth because you don’t need to take up a precious time slot to do it. Please keep this!!

- Keep the story based character progression

In P5, most of the character progression happens through confidants. Obviously confidants should have character progression, but it also means that without doing those confidants, the characters are super stagnant. In P3R, almost all of the characters develop over the course of the game without requiring you to do their social link. Junpei develops a bond with Chidori, Yukari has personal drama with Mitsuru, etc. In P5, the only time this happened was Morgana leaving the Phantom Thieves, which is by far the worst part of the game. If they can write the story to be more similar to P3, I think it would be an improvement.

- Battle mechanics

I think Theurgy (or something similar) should be brought over to Persona 6. Theurgy in Reload was very unbalanced, being able to charge Theurgy's before big battles and end it in 1 turn was way too broken. I think Theurgy's should only be able to be charged and used in the span of one battle. You wouldn't be able to pre-charge your Theurgy and Armageddon all the bosses away, as all of your charge would go away after finishing a battle. This way it can only really be used if the battle goes on for a while, making it feel more like an ultimate attack and less like a win condition.

I also want Baton Passes and Technicals to be brought over as well. It can have different names and slightly different functions, but I think they are great mechanics, they just need some balance. Baton Passes and Technicals are also super broken in P5R, especially with merciless difficulty making them do 1.5x damage. Baton Passes were absolutely overpowered. I think this might be a pretty severe nerf, but I think the best solution might be limiting Baton Passes to only work once in a row. Having Baton Pass chains where you hit a weakness, Baton Pass to an ally to hit another weakness, and keep chaining it to shred every battle was unreasonable.

- Have a good challenge difficulty

Persona games (Mostly P5R and P3R) are far too easy. I actually like having the option to make them easy, safe difficulty is a genuinely good addition to the game, however merciless leaves a lot to be desired. I think P4G's option to freely change difficulty settings was pretty perfect, but even then I think having an even more challenging difficulty would be nice for veterans. Give the option to have a TRUELY merciless difficulty, something like Terraria's for the worthy seed, or CHIMPS difficulty in Bloons TD6. I always view those modes as some of the best challenge difficulties in gaming history. They have a perfect amount of challenge for veterans, and having something of similar difficulty in P6 would be amazing. I’m thinking like super boss level difficulty for every boss fight, obviously scaled to the player level though. I want to have to prepare in advance instead of just grinding slightly and shredding every boss.

- STOP ADDING FUCKING PEDOPHILES TO THESE GAMES

KAMOSHIDA WAS GOOD BECAUSE HE WAS ACTUALLY A VILLAIN, YOU DIDN'T NEED TO MAKE KAWAKAMI, UEHARA, AND MS. TORIUMI PEDOPHILES TOO PLEASE STOP LETTING THE MC DATE THEIR TEACHER

[wardencommander-surana]

DA2 play guide

i've had a different experience of this game every time i've played it so these are the tactics i've tried so far that have worked best - maybe my fifth playthrough i'll figure it out. this isn't as logical as the DAO walkthrough this is more suggestions/reminders for while you play

again, qualifications to make this: - autistic - played DA2 4 times - on console so i have to work really hard to avoid bugs

my DA2 mindset (which i feel is an important disclaimer): - prioritize relationships (i'm a friendship person but this could also work for rivalry) - you WILL need approval guides/the wiki - i try to do all marked quests but i don't put a lot of effort into unmarked quests (even the gifts i know i'm sorry) - DLCs are done in act 3 - i TRY to wait until endgame but last time i did them after doing all the side quests but i still had to trigger the story quest

the prologue obviously needs no explanation. if you take the time to run around the gallows at the beginning, you get some interesting foreshadowing but there's nothing really necessary iirc

general: - instead of clearing each section of the map at a time, i do full questlines all the way through. i DO run around and trigger whatever quests i can - stop by gamlen's house/the estate after main & secondary quests. friends visit your dog and you have a storage chest for while you collect new things, the markets are nearby, and you can adjust your party every time you leave - check every single shop after story beats to look for armor upgrades/backpack upgrades - prioritizing relationships: choose one or two companions whose relationship you want to focus on and take them through those full questlines. you may have to do some finagling with your party composition in between. if i start act 2 with at least 3 "Questioning Beliefs" quest triggered, i'm so happy

act 1: - prioritizing relationships: pick up all companions first. if you're trying to max out your sibling, definitely check their approval guide and prioritize accordingly (i think some dialogue options while picking up Anders give you like 15 rivalry with Carver right off the bat) - prioritizing relationships: bring Isabela to quests that will give her consistent friendship or rivalry points for reasons. don't finish act 1 with her in the middle if you can - after doing companion-focused quests, do any of the non-story leftovers you have - when doing Bait & Switch, make sure you pick up the String of Pearls from Danarius's manor - this will make it a lot easier for you to earn 50 gold while still upgrading your equipment/restocking potions - bring Fenris to meet the Arishok - i completely clear my inventory before going to the deep roads

act 2: - prioritizing relationships: if Isabela isn't already maxed out, make her your priority. if you can't get her to 100%, at least try to tip the scale into friend or rival and get her Questioning Beliefs quest before proceeding too far in the story - prioritizing relationships: if Fenris is still in the middle, now's the time to focus on pushing him one way or the other - since the first thing you do in act 2 is go look for your estate, i do that then go visit all my companions by myself. idk it just makes sense to me to do that after the time jump - this is the only act with a "time"-sensitive quest that fucks with my method. you may want to intentionally leave Kirkwall with Fenris (& whatever party comp works for your playthrough) instead of bringing him with you to do a quest that takes you out of the city maps - not giving Merrill the Arulin'Holm will REVERSE any friendship above 15 into a rivalry and add an additional 15 rival points UNLESS you maxed out her friendship beforehand so you can get like 75 rival points for this - choose your party for "Night Terrors" carefully!!! - personally, i finish "All That Remains" when i'm about halfway done with secondary quests, then finish the Qun stuff. i like the drama of Hawke having to try and move on with life until it all falls to shit again like "holy crap my mom just died can we try and keep it together for a second" - bring Fenris to square up with Arishok (just in case)

act 3: - prioritizing relationships: make sure you get Fenris's Questioning Beliefs - prioritizing relationships: if you have been focusing on this primarily, everyone should be maxed out at this point (except if you're trying to be friends with Carver - i haven't figured out how to do that on console yet) - this act is mostly companion quests and they're the most time-consuming, so i knock those out first. order depends on whoever still needs friend/rival points but i'll usually save "Justice" for as close to the end as possible (as an Andersmancer, he's usually already maxed out anyway) - if you haven't done them already, do whatever quests get you the Champion armor (Bone Pit dragon, On The Loose, Best Served Cold are the armor, boots, and hood but i can't remember the rest) - don't forget to talk to Gamlen/do his quest!!! - the secondary quests (pro-templar/pro-mage tasks) are basically the main quests so this act goes by really quickly - after i have most of the Champion armor i'll do the DLCs - chantry go boom

[inkameswetrust]

What’s ur opinion on the btr wii game ?

𝐁𝐓𝐑: 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐘/𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇

This response to your ask is an honest review of both Dance Party and Backstage Pass. I know you only asked for my opinion on Dance Party, but I do not own a copy of that game. I do, however, own a copy of Backstage Pass. There's significantly less information about it online in comparison to Dance Party which is why I've watched Dance Party playthroughs in lieu of not owning a physical copy of the game. Hope you enjoy my yapology!

I've never played, but I've seen playthroughs of it on YouTube. I have the DS version and the 8-bit audio of them announcing the song titles in the song selection cracks me up every time. I actually had to bust out the game and play it again to make this review because I'd only played it once ever. I imagine it'd be somewhat more entertaining and easier to play on the Wii considering I don't have a DS stylus.

Neither game is particularly visually appealing or complex because...

Just look at them. 💀 Absolute dogshit graphics.

AND LOOK AT HOW WHITEWASHED CARLOS IS IN DANCE PARTY. HE'S THE WHITEST ONE OF THEM ALL. Despite having far less to offer in terms of gameplay, level difficulty, rendering/display, and song selection, I'd say Backstage Rush looks significantly more visually appealing in comparison.

They probably would've entertained me at least a smidge if I had them as a kid, but I bought Backstage Rush on Amazon two years ago for under $20. Though I have seen listings of Dance Party AND Backstage Rush on some sites for under $10. I've read on Reddit that some people have purchased Backstage Rush in person at bookstores, thrift shops, and other small business for $5. Can't say I necessarily blame people for that.

There are only five or six moves max in Dance Party and they're not even on beat a lot of the time, so the most difficult aspect of the game (in my opinion) is matching the game's rhythm over the actual rhythm of the song because they are NOT in sync. The tempos of the songs don't even differ from one another all that much. Backstage Rush, while not having any moves to execute because it's more of a rhythm game than a dance game, isn't in sync with the original music either, but there are no varying levels of difficulty. Each song has their own level of difficulty varying from 1-4 bars of difficulty.

Big Time Rush: Dance Party/Backstage Rush clearly did not take a lot of time to make. The Family Feud Wii game looks significantly better than this and has far more entertaining gameplay. In fact, the BTR games seem like games Poofesure would play for shits and giggles. Also, Big Time Rush: Dance Party only has 17 tracks and Big Time Rush: Backstage has only 4, so you could likely complete either game in under a day.

Game Mill Entertainment games are objectively laughable though because it's obvious that they were made solely for the sake of being cash grabs because of the popular characters/figures involved rather than the actual substance or gameplay. And let me tell ya, it fucking worked because I was one of the suckers who bought it. Why did I buy it? Literally only because it was affiliated with Big Time Rush. That was the only reason. The only reason I still have it is purely for the novelty.

In conclusion, I think both games are utter shit. But the audio and graphics crack me up, so I still choose to indulge every now and again. Hope this answered your question!

[pebblesandpotatos]

Playing Hogwarts Legacy for the 3rd time and here's how I think the LU boys would play.

(Spoilers-? Sorta? Nothing really detailed anyway)

Houses are based on what I think they'd pick if they didn't know their house, NOT what house I necessarily think they are in!

Time:

He would just randomly choose a house without much thought. Probably end up with either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Would have the most straightforward playthrough but would absolutely be a little shit to some of the NPCs. Malon does take over and spends hours designing his room of requirement. He learns the killing curse and will use it cause it's quick and effective. Picks the 'bad' ending just to mess with everyone.

Wars:

Gryffindor. He spends an insane amount of time creating his character and keeping him stylish for every occasion. When he finally actually starts playing, he gets to a spider and instantly quits the game. Twi tells him about the arachnophobia mode so he does try again and it's still difficult cause he KNOWS they're still spiders but he does eventually get through it. But any quests that involves having to face more means that NPC better pay up or he just flat out refuses to do it. He does end up learning crucio just so he can use it on the spiders he does encounter. Choose the 'good' ending.

*Me. I am Wars. That was my first playthrough but a different house*

Twilight:

Hufflepuff. His sole focus on the game is to collect a pair of every creature. He didn't finish the game for the longest time because he simply got too distracted caring for the creatures and just didn't continue the storyline. Wild convinces him to learn at least one of the curses but he will never use it. Choose the 'good' ending when he does eventually finish the game.

Sky:

Hufflepuff. His character's feet never touched the ground. He flies everywhere just for the view, especially once he unlocks a hippogriff. He would also really enjoy finding all of the astronomy tables. He doesn't learn any of the curses and will pick the 'good' ending.

Legend:

Either Slytherin or Ravenclaw. He is the one trying to 100% the game. Determined to find every trial/cave/table, you name it. He's finding the best clothing and powering it up while also keeping his character looking good. He is making NPCs compensate him for side quests (unless no one is watching, then he'll just do it to be nice). He does learn the curses but he doesn't use them unless his character is about to die. Everyone is surprised he picks the 'good' ending.

Hyrule:

Hufflepuff. His character has been aimlessly wandering around the woods for so long he has no idea what he's even supposed to be doing anymore. If he's not crawling around in a cave he is in the room of requirements tending to his copious amount of plants. He does end up learning 1 or 2 of the curses and shockingly does use them often. He accidentally picks the 'bad' ending but justifies it to help the world.

Wild:

Gryffindor. Similar to Hyrule, his character is either in a cave or in the room of requirements making potions. All of his clothing is upgraded to the max and his character looks absolutely ridiculous. But his stats are top notch and that's all that matters to him. He ends up learning some if not all the curses as a back up plan and uses them in difficult battles. Intentionally picks the 'bad' ending thinking it'll give him cool powers. Is disappointed when it doesn't.

Four:

Ravenclaw. He is constantly keeping you on your toes by changing how he plays. One minute he is simply exploring and trying to complete all the Merlin trials. Helping out the NPCs with no hesitation. The next he is learning all the curses just to see if he can use them on other students. You have no idea which ending he is going to choose until he gets there and frankly neither does he. He will have 4 playthroughs though to see the different house quests and also so each color can have their own playthrough.

Wind:

Gryffindor. The kid is an absolute menace. He is running around trying to find as much treasure as he can get his grubby little hands on. Whether it's caves, raiding enemy hideouts, or making every NPC pay for his help. He absolutely learns all 3 curses and picked the 'bad' ending to have the power all to himself.

[sharoo]

How to Get the Shadow Mantle

This entire questline is tied to the S rank rooms, meaning the first step to all of this is keep a savefile spare if you feel you will mess up. The guide below is a compilation of my own findings and existing guides.

If you are like me and didn't know abt this quest before starting a playthrough, you can open your chapter 2 playthrough, likely saved last at castle town, and speedrun to chapter 3. It takes like 20 minutes if you're skipping dialogue.

Round one

If you're good at dodging and at the food serving minigame, you should manage easily. Try to get around 1500 points with Susie's pulling ability (farm the two cactus fields, each gives 45 points every time t's cleared and Susie automatically goes to pull them) to get good ranking and boost your total score.

If you are like me and suck at the food serving minigame, make sure to grind out ~ 3000 points and get ready to engage in Pippins capitalism. After round one, should you be below S rank, go south of the green room and find the pippins offering you an S room pass for 1500 points. Buy it, and head there.

I am also told you can get there by messing everything up so royally you get a Z rank but I cannot confirm that at the present.

Game 1

Talk to Ramb, go inside the room, interact with the console. It'll tell you you've got no controller. head out of the room to grab the spare controller and start playing.

Your objective is to find the sword in the room in the south eastern part of the map, then kill everything that moves until you reach lvl 3 which lets you cut down the cactuses. After that, head to the snowy area, kill everything until you're max level, allowing you to cut down trees. Start cutting down palm trees and switching screens until you find the Ice Key chest.

Proceed to round two afterwards.

Round two

In the dungeon with the bombs Susie blows up you can get 2 secret objectives met to earn you a lot of points.

Go south from that room to a cordoned off room with weird spiky creatures emerging from the ground. Take photos of them, especially the red one. It's one extra photograph you can get.

In the same ruins, in the room left of the entrance, there's moss on the wall. perpetuate the cycle.

Other than that you just have to do a good job with collecting money (when you play as Susie, pull as many flowers as you can, they give 20 points each and you can farm them by switching screens), beating the enemies and doing well with the rhythm minigame. be sure to keep a save file jic you need a do-over because i am uncertain if the S rank room Pippins will be there again. Otherwise ready the 1500 points.

Game 2

Like previously, look for a sword, then kill everything that moves until you get a high enough level to cut down weeds in the pond area. Head up the waterfall into the dungeon. Kill everything, ignore the enemies that take no damage (that's in a moment).

You'll eventually stumble upon a white robed figure. They'll accompany you when you exit and can be made to fire a frost attack across the room, insta-freezing enemies and letting you solve pressure plate puzzles. When you reach the labyrinth, keep eye on the mage - they'll only follow you if you head the right way.

Eventually you'll get the Bunker Key.

The game should end and you should now proceed with round 3 of the game.

Game 3

After going through the third round plus backstage, and arriving at the empty green room, you have free access to the S rank room. Head inside, talk to Ramb, and plug in.

You'll be in Tenna's town accompanied by Susie and Ralsei. Idr if you already have a sword or not.

You'll need to kill your teammates to be able to clear the ropes blocking passage.

Follow Tenna, kill him after he stops talking.

Enter the final dungeon and kill everything in sight until you exit into the field with the bunker. Kris will struggle against you but you can open the door. Inside waits the boss.

A zelda-like bossfight with 4 stages total will initiate. If you die, don't worry, you'll be reset to the same room at the entrance to the fight.

Stage 1

The boss will either start with four directional bombs or a 6 way bullet. Do not be close to them if they do 6 way bullet because you will get hit. the boss will float in a sidways 8 pattern and you can get used to dodging this one after a few times.

four directional bombs are easier and you'll get more opportunity to hit the boss during it.

Stage 2

The boss summons strange cat like entities that move towards you like pacman ghosts, but this stage is a blessing in disguise - the cats drop HP restoring candy, so feel free to farm this stage if you're low. know that your sword can pick up consumables if you swing it.

This is also when the boss begins bouncing around as a fireball. Something crucial for this fight - you can and should be hitting it when it's flying by as a fireball. Keep to the lowest row of the map and you should dodge easily enough.

Stage 3

Stage three is stage one on steroids. More plentiful bombs (4 instead of 3, and quicker) and the 6 way bullet now fires its own bomb. the Cats can also appear here to be used for replenishing health but this is where the fights speeds up. Eventually you'll wittle this one down to trigger the last stage.

Stage 4

First, head to the outer rim of the arena because the boss will summon a counter clockwise spiral of fire you have to dodge around, alongside one or two bombs. From then on, a continuous fire attack begins, faster and with 2 additional fireballs. Remember: hit the enemy when they pass you by and dodge carefully.

This took me ~ 12 tries but it's such a quick bossfight i wouldn't have put it past maybe 30 minutes tops to beat, maybe more if you're nimbler. Then all that's left to do is get your reward and ponder the Implication of everything you've just witness.

Have fun :D

[the-trinket-witch]

Oh I've been waaaaiting. In on Tidus's route on day ONE. Probably gonna mess up a couple playthroughs on the others bc he keeps distracting me.

But! I also plan to play through on Lázaro's at least once!!

For This Prompt

Preface: I would say in my own TWST Otome, it’s gonna be like, Persona 5 in terms of Turn-based combat, but more like the Bethesda Fallout series where certain actions either earn or lose favor with a specific character (actions only counting towards the 4 in your party not including you)

Tidus: You’ll prob find him either in the botanical garden or Monstro Lounge

+ asking ‘lore’ questions (questions not immediately advancing dialogue)

+ offering health items outside of combat

+ asking about him or his home (10 randomized facts about him before advancing, can only be done 1x a day)

+ having him in your party during events outside of Sage Island (GloMas/Playful Land/White Rabbit/Al’ab Nariya/Tamashina-mina/etc)

- choosing ‘snarky’ dialogue options

- low scores in Monstro Lounge-related games (rhythmics and battles)

- (SECRET) Having Tidus in your party during Azul’s Overblot battle

- leaving party members to heal via overnight rest instead of healing items (Tidus must be in the party)

There really isn’t so much a ‘bad’ ending, as he just will not show up as often in the rotation of choosable options for the day.

Progress through milestones, and max out Affection, and you’ll get the cutscene where you both get to spend the evening watching the sunset; he’ll ask what your plans are, either after you both graduate or you find a way home. If you say you’d decide to stay in Twisted Wonderland upon hearing of a way home, he’ll ask if you would be pursuing higher education. Whether you do or not, he’ll ask if you’ll both be able to keep in contact with each other, even if it’s long-distance. Either you can, or can try, either way is satisfactory to him.

For Laz: Can be found either in the Club Room on Thursdays, Ignihyde, or The Quad.

­+ ‘Positive’ interactions with Ortho (including having either Ortho/Idia in your party)

+ Choosing him for rhythmic events (Port Fest, Nightmare Before Christmas, Fairy Gala, etc)

+ accepting invitations to music events he’s attending (this closes your ‘day’ from anymore activity, rolling it over to the next)

- Low Rhythmic scores (if he is in your party)

- offering the ‘sausage’ health item

- letting either Ortho or Idia faint in battle (only affects if he is also in the party)

Building up his stats will eventually trigger a mini event, where you both attend a karaoke night he’s been wanting to attend down in Porttown. Going with him gives some flavor options with different dialogue, but it ends with a Rhythmic for ‘Un Poco Loco’. Getting >A grade will cut to you both walking back to campus, exchanging dialogue, where he’ll eventually ask-should you happen to stay in Twisted Wonderland-if you wouldn’t mind a bit of travel after graduating. Prying will reveal he’s trying to ask if you’d come with him on tour, one day. You can agree, to which the cutscene ends with him letting out a cheer for The Seven and everybody to hear. Or you can decline, but assure that he’s got a place to stay once he comes back/needs a place to crash.

@daisyneptune (Tagging you cause you asked for a Laz Route as well UvU)

Taglist:

@ceruleancattail @squidwen @thecosmicjackalope @vaporvipermedia @writing-heiress

@oya-oya-okay @k-looking-glass-house @thehollowwriter @rainesol @cyn-write

@heartscrypt @br3adtoasty @jackiecronefield @ruggiethethuggie

@hoboyherewego @achy-boo @oreoskys @oseathepebble @oathofoaks

@tunabesimpin @hamstergal @fumikomiyasaki @valse-a-mille-temps

@hallowed-delights @kimikitti @cyanide-latte @thetwstwildcard @atwstedstory

@comingyourlugubriousness @ice-cweam-sod4 @twst-the-night-away @nammanarin @scint1llat3

@tixdixl @prince-kallisto @candiedchiliarch

[felixcloud6288]

Had another Dokapon session with @nemesis-is-my-middle-name and there was an insane series of events at one point.

We got to the Tower of Rabble and they managed to find and fight Rico Sr. During the fight, I used a Down on Nemesis, and then one of the CPUs forced a blackmail on them, then Rico Sr killed Nemesis only for them to revive with a Revival (And if you use a revival while under the effects of Down, you only recover 1/4 max health).

Then when Nemesis was one hit away from killing Rico Sr, I activated a Mystery out of desperation and it caused ALL PLAYERS TO RANDOMLY SWITCH PLACES WITH EACH OTHER!!!! Nemesis got warped to a different continent, the blackmail killed them, and they respawned back in the final continent. I meanwhile got warped to Rico Sr and got one-shotted like the Dokapon Failson I've been this whole playthrough.

My machinations resulted in both of our deaths.

Meanwhile, one of the CPU players had been trying to enter the final continent for a long while. It got killed in the cave passage twice, and even the random warp didn't help because it swapped locations with the other CPU which was in the caves. At one point, it managed to get through the caves only to roll a 0 on its next turn and be forced back in.

Nemesis decided to hunt one of the CPUs because it was five levels higher than them, succeeded and then forced a 600,000 G debt on it. I later decided to hunt the same CPU since it was 17 levels higher than me and I was 300,000 G in debt. The first time I attacked it, it decided to fight a monster and died. The second time I tried to fight it, I used a Down on it and it immediately died to the same monster again.

I had a charm potion which Nemesis then stole and used on one of my towns. On the next week, I got another charm potion from an item space and took back the town they took from me. On the weekly rankings, there's a single bump on Nemesis's value from when they took and lost that town. I have an exact same dip from that.

I also made two attempts to fight Rico Sr and both attempts ended with me getting killed right before I reached him.

[dalekofchaos]

I don't get the Chloe erasure in Double Exposure

To me, I understand wanting to show a Max Caulfield in her own game without being dependent on Chloe. If that's the case, you should have made sure to say "these gameplays are from a playthrough that chose save the bay" because I've been bitching about not showing what Max's life is like in the Post-Bay ending since LIS 2.(although an easier fix would've been to have Max and Chloe if you saved Chloe or Max and Warren if you saved the Bay in LIS 2 instead of fucking David)

However, I don't understand the marketing tactic of having Chloe's existence being almost non-existent in DE. Chloe is the very emotional core of LIS. Her and Max is what drove the first game's story. Chloe and Rachel drove BTS.

Now I imagine we're only getting Chloe's presence in texts, journal entries or phone calls. But to me that's really dumb. Imagine having an iconic dynamic like Max and Chloe and deciding we're going to act like that doesn't exist and force completely new characters on us instead of characters from Arcadia Bay.

Now to me there are two theories on why Chloe isn't in Vermont with Max

My personal theory. They're taking a break from each other to find themselves. Max chooses to continue to pursue their dreams and Chloe learns to better herself as a person like going to therapy, getting her education and getting a job to be a better person for Max.

The rumored and leaked bullshit break up theory. It's potentially leaked that they broke up and I hate it. Like yes, let's sacrifice an entire town and killing thousands of people, including Chloe's mother and all of Max's friends, only for Max and Chloe to break up. How the fuck is that "respecting the ending"

It also doesn't help that Ashly is a union VA and it feels like once again SE is fucking over the fans by having Rhianna potentially voicing Chloe. I'm sorry, I love Rhianna, but she does not work as an older Chloe, she worked for the BTS era Chloe only. and I cannot imagine Hannah being okay with working with anyone but Ashly as Chloe.

It's evidently clear this was supposed to be a completely different game with a different character entirely, but the D9 expose came out and SE course corrected to save D9's asses and had Max be the main character. For whatever reason they want to distance the player from seeing Chloe. I get the logic of suspense and the wait is worth the reward, but it seems to me they are alienating the audience as a giant fuck you and that is a terrible marketing strategy.

I really don't want to make this comparison because thinking of those vile Clementine comics makes me physically ill, but taking Max away from Chloe(Bae) and Warren and Kate(Bay) is like taking Clementine away from AJ, Louis and Violet.

I have a lot of reasons to boycott this game 1 2 3 4, but the lack of Chloe or characters from Arcadia for the save the Bay scenario is a large part and I really don't like the direction of this game.

To me the only way this game will be worth it is if it ends with Max saving Rachel in the end to quite literally save everyone and it ends with Max, Chloe and Rachel driving off into the rainbow sunset.

[zibiscusloon]

Because it's impossible to choose one, rate and order the cameos/easter eggs you loved most in the movie

I’m gonna go with some of my favorites off the top of my head! There were so many across the whole movie and I loved each and every one, lol

(Note this is in no specific order!)

1. Chica’s fucking Magic Rainbow

My friend Axe ( @gayfrogsarecool ) caught this lil easter egg while we were watching the movie and it managed to flood back so many memories. So.. many… memories…. (All of yelling at a rude ass rainbow-)

I’m probably in a minority of people who loved Fnaf World during its initial release, so I really wasn’t thinking there’d be a World reference! It was really sweet to see!

2. Balloon Boy (lil bastard-)

I can’t believe I’m admitting that this lil shit is the only animatronic who managed to succeed on every single fucking jumpscare. He got me each time— There was no excuse for them to work every time! He was literally just standing there! But noooooo, Freddy biting Max in half only gave me a brief pause of “Oh.” But the batterie thief himself is the one who made me jump from my seat- what the fuck-

3. Sparky the Dog! (And Sparky’s Diner!)

Every single fan who has been around since Fnaf 1 knows who Sparky the Dog is! The original hoax character. I remember when I was little and I’d be up watching theories trying to debunk whether or not he was a real character! A fan character was a big surprise and seeing that he even has an in universe diner themed around him made me feel like a kid again! (Only this kid now gets confirmation of a Canon Sparky-)

(Also Imma just say his movie design is adorable I love him sm-)

4. Carl & The Cupcake

Noticed this one out more recently! So during the whole segment where Max & her friends are picked off one by one by the gang I learned that the dude that the Cupcake straight up mauls happens to be named “Carl”! I have no idea if it was intentional or not but it could be a nod to The Cupcake’s fanon name!

5. The Ella springlock suit

So Ella on her own was a rather eerie and intriguing concept from the books (Saying this as someone who is still really iffy with how the whole “Charlie is a Robot” concept was handled)

But seeing her as her own animatronic in the movie really managed to bring up her creep factor! She just looks so ragged and forgotten, she looks like a creepy af porcelain doll (and I love that-). Makes me wonder if we’ll ever see animatronic Ella up and running (probably not but it’d be cool none the less!)

6. Cory & Matpat!

Coryxkenshin has always been a comfort channel for me! I always found his content genuinely nice, genuine, and I have a habit of going back to plenty of his old game playthroughs when I’m feeling down. Man also got jumped by BB- you and me both pal-

When I tell you the cackling I had from the whole “That’s just a theory” line, cheeky son of a- (also I now hc Ness as the Hurricane local menace who is a constant thorn in William’s side cause he keeps breaking into the Pizzaria on the weekends looking for evidence and shit from the MCI)

7. And Of course..

I mean did they really expect to have this as the end credits song and for me to not loudly sing it? Childhood in song form-

[kafus]

you ever think about how every pokemon is essentially a mini time capsule? each pokemon lists the name of the trainer who caught it, the ball it was caught in, the location and time/date of obtaining, and a nickname if it has one. each move on its moveset was either left on by its owner or chosen by someone. the most modern pokemon games show if a pokemon was hyper trained and there is a whole ev training graph - visual indicators of that pokemon being interacted with and used. a well loved pokemon may be a high level or even have ribbons, literal trophies given for completing tasks like beating the pokemon league or winning contests…

this is my oldest pokemon that i still own and wasn’t lost to the sands of time. my first level 100 from one of my various leafgreen playthroughs circa ~2006/2007 when i decided to try beating the entire game (save for HMs) with one pokemon. by the time i beat the game, charizard was in his level 80s, so i went ahead and finished getting him to 100 through pure grinding. as a child i liked naming myself Pikachu or Raichu and he has four ribbons - the ribbons for beating the kanto and sinnoh leagues, the effort ribbon for having maxed out EVs, and the legend ribbon for defeating red in HGSS. i have no memory of using him in gen 4 due to dissociative amnesia wiping most of that period of my life and yet i have record of my childhood self transferring him and playing with him. a record of happiness and peace amidst a traumatic and tumultuous part of my life.

there are many more pokemon who have been around since the early 2000s from the GBA games who are now on switch and still carry the name and data of the child who caught it so many years ago. some of those pokemon are old enough to be legal adults. each pokemon when caught is a snapshot of a point in time and each pokemon if used carries so many arbitrary numbers and values that visually indicate childhood memories, good times hanging out with others, or just being an adult and decompressing in your room with a console. when traded, it’s the same but for a friend, a family member, or even just a cool internet stranger - both their memories and your memory of trading with them.

this is one of my favorite parts of pokemon and one i don’t think this series could work without. my pokemon collection is kind of like a pseudo diary of goodness in my life and my interactions with other people and that’s cherished by me

[missmisdemeanor]

happy wincest wednesday lana!!

this one i specifically want to know from you. what kinds of characters are sam and dean building for themselves in bg3 (class, race, background, etc,)?

EEEEEEEE! okay okay okay let me think

dean on his first playthrough is dismissing it as geek shit, playing a human fighter, and then getting so invested he starts a new playthrough as a barbarian or paladin. probably also human. background i’m thinking folk hero, because it’s the closest to hunter he can get. i’m leading towards paladin not just because of devotion, but because it’s a charisma build. on paper it seems like he would make a bard for that as well, but he thinks they’re just musicians. bonus: dean is romancing shadowheart.

sammy’s going all-in, dark urge. probably plays as the base sorcerer for it (it defaults to storm). the background for that is automatically the haunted one. i feel like he’d play a stockier build, like a body type 4 half-elf. sorry kings i think you’d both go human-adjacent. bonus: he’s romancing lae’zel. also i think he’d play the durge rejection/redemption path and it would be very cathartic for him.

also also, as they play more, they both become min-maxing shits. their multiplayer honour mode game goes to absolute hell and they get super genuinely pissed at each other for a day or two.

[oakdll]

i finished persona 4 golden !!!

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 4 GOLDEN AHEAD

It’s lowkey insane that they made the final villain a gas station employee, but it was super cool. I really love the story, almost as much as P5R, although the gameplay was definitely worse for me.

Obviously there are differences because of the release dates, but there were a lot of quality of life issues and inconsistencies. The last 5 dungeons or so felt comically easy, none of them took me more than 2 hours, especially with Marie and Izanami’s dungeons which took me less than an hour each, even with exploring every floor to the max.

The lack of Safe Rooms really hurts the level design here. You basically have to do every palace in one session (at least I did because I don’t like Goho-M’s). Being able to have save points before different sections in each P5 Palace was a stroke of genius, and returning to P4 where every floor is basically identical is just boring. I like how each floor is randomly generated, but it also really takes away from the individuality of each dungeon. Pretty much every dungeon has the same random layout, the only differences are the visuals and occasional conditions like with Adachi not allowing you to fight shadows in one of his floors. Compared to P5, the lack of puzzles and insight into the characters really hurts. In P5, the design of each palace gave you insight into its rulers psyche. In P4, you really only get the occasional confrontation with the character and some dialogue at the start of each floor.

There were also WAY too many chances to mess up your ending. There isn’t anything really wrong with having a lot of endings, but having so many points where you can accidentally get a bad ending because you picked an option that wasn’t obviously wrong was ridiculous. I had heard there were a lot of chances to get a bad ending if you aren’t careful, so I used a spoiler free guide. Having to pick like 7 of the right answers in a row to get a good ending is insane.

If I wasn’t spoiled on Adachi before playing, I never would have guessed it. That is good for the story, but having to deduce it yourself is a bit too much to ask of the player. I think P5 did good with prompting you to save your game before game changing events happen. A mix of that and confirming with the player when they are going off-course from the true ending makes the game relatively simple to play through with no guide. with P4, you basically have to look up a guide for the true ending. Having to say “no” when prompted to leave Inaba to get the true ending is insane, if I didn’t know beforehand I would have messed up my entire playthrough. It makes no sense unless you know the story beforehand, especially when no other Persona game asks you to do something like that.

The game is also shockingly bigoted, which goes entirely against the themes of the Persona series and the game itself. Ironically, in a game about pursuing the truth, the made Naoto deny his truth of being trans. They wrote such good queer characters and then came to entirely the wrong conclusion and ruined it all. I still think if you can look past the homophobia and transphobia, the game has phenomenal writing, but it gets really uncomfortable at times.

The nostalgic feeling Inaba gives off and the PS2 graphics really help the vibe of this game. It feels so much warmer than P5, and I am ALWAYS a sucker for a murder mystery. The fog is such a good visual element to the game, and I have a strange obsession with electrical poles, so having those be a frequent set piece is awesome.

The characters are so wonderful, I really wish I had more time to max out all of the social links here, but I think I would have had to skip out on helping Nanako with her homework and I would never do that to her. Nanako and Kanji are both some of my all time favorite Persona characters, they are both so sweet and I would do anything for them. Marie is also one of my favorites, I have no idea why anybody could hate her. Yukiko is amazing, Chie is a lot of fun, and Yosuke is hilarious. Teddie is a freak but I love him but I HATE his blue eyes, Rise is super nice, and Naoto is so cool. The Investigation Team is debatably better than the Phantom Thieves as a main cast, but they are so close for me. The main characters are all just great.

As for social links, I think P5 still has it beat here. The social link cast in P4 is still good, but there aren’t any benefits like in P5 and some of the characters here I REALLY don’t like. Sayoko is an outright pedophile. With Kawakami at least if you don’t choose to romance her in-game she isn’t as much of a creep, while Sayoko actively sexually harasses a high schooler. I also did not like Eri, I didn’t get to spend much time with her but she really could have treated her kid better. I know she’s struggling but she would lash out leave her kid at daycare because he was having more fun there than at home. Naoki was cool, I barely got to spend any time with him but from what I did see he was nice and seeing the grieving process of one of Adachi’s victims was super interesting. For the club social links, I chose Kou and Ayane. Kou was great, one of my favorites but I ended up prioritizing party members and couldn’t max him out. Ayane was nice, I like her arc but her voice acting really ruined a lot of the social link for me. Ai was also nice, but I couldn’t spend too much time with her and I didn’t like her romance subplot. I actually liked Shu a surprising amount, he was one of the few I maxed out because I had extra time in the evenings and I really liked how his arc ended. Hisano was one I really missed out on, I only got to rank 3 with her and from what I saw she was one of the most interesting in the game. Dojima is one of the best social links in all of Persona. He is very similar to Sojiro, but he’s a lot darker. There’s a lot more drama with him than with Sojiro, both of them are amazing, and Dojima’s relationship with Nanako is so sweet. Nanako as well might be my favorite Persona character. She is the sweetest thing ever, and I would do anything for her. Marie’s social link was also great, but I really didn’t like Margaret’s. I don’t like any Persona social link that requires you to go on quests. I didn’t like the Strength confidant in P5, and I don’t like Margaret or the Fox in P4. The fox is better by default because he’s a fox, but neither are super interesting to me.

The music is phenomenal because it’s a Persona game, but the P4 OST might be my single favorite Persona soundtrack. Pursuing My True Self, Signs of Love, Heartbeat Heartbreak, Heaven, Alone, Your Affection, Like a Dream Come True, Youthful Lunch, Reach Out to the Truth, Time to Make History, and Omen are some of my favorites. The only Persona game soundtrack to compare with P4 is P5, Whims of Fate, Beneath the Mask, Alleycat, Our Light, When Mother Was There, Price, and Butterfly Kiss are also up there. P4 is more nostalgic for me, so I think it might take the edge for me.

The story of P4 is also much more complex and interesting than P5. If it weren’t for Maruki’s palace being so good, I would say that P4 definitively has the better story. Adachi being the antagonist was such a phenomenal twist, and I loved him so much up to that point that it hurt even more. His social link is a phenomenal addition, I can’t imagine the game without it. Having so many endings is partially a result of flawed game design, but also the depth in the story. It really feels like an investigation team solving a mystery. Pushing further and further towards the truth throughout every suspect, from Kubo to Namatame to Adachi, and even Izanami if that counts, the game really accomplishes its goal. I haven’t done the accomplice ending, but I might do another playthrough to get it after I finish P3R.

P4G is a really great game, I think it’s a bit more flawed than P5R, but it’s still phenomenal and it’s not like P5 has no flaws either. P4 really excels with the story and I think the primary issues with it are just a byproduct of being over 10 years old at this point.