#finally finished reload recently

[robo-nonagon]

at an intersection, I heard a voice that sounded like yours

[avenoirn]

aigis

[loversrocktvgirl2]

my mini multiverse of madness…

New Friend (Bob Reynolds x Reader) part two  

word count: 1k

part 2 of ?

previous part: part one

masterlist

Bob decides to text you that night. After all, if he wants to form more friendships, he should probably reach out to you. So after a quick discussion with Yelena of what he should text you, he sends you a message. 

Hi, it’s Bob from book club :) 

“Okay, now you have to put the phone down and don’t check it until it dings,” Yelena plugs the phone back in.

“Why can’t I just wait?” Bob asks.

“Oh, Bob, we all do this. We stare at the phone and we reload the page, or we open and close the app or phone, and we wait and we wait for a reply that doesn’t come, and then we get sad and then—” Yelena is cut off by the phone dinging. Bob glances at the phone then back up at Yelena, who shrugs. You texted him back.

Hey Bob, good to hear from you!

“What…what do I say next?” Bob questions aloud. 

“Oh, c’mere,” Yelena picks up the phone, types a message, and sends. 

“Wha…? Yelena,” Bob complains. 

“It’s going to work,” Yelena assures with a nod. 

Bob picks up the phone to read the text that Yelena had sent from him to you. 

Yeah! Really liked book club so far. Have you read any other good books later?

Bob looks back up at Yelena. “How is this good?” Yelena shrugs. You respond a moment later. 

Totally! I just finished The Midnight Library. Kind of heartbreaking but hopeful, you know?

Bob stares at the message. “What do I say to that? I haven’t read that one.”

Yelena, arms crossed, suggests, “Say you haven’t read it, but you’d like to. Because you’d like to talk to her more. That’s how books work, right? Brains… talking.”

“…I guess?”

He types, deletes, retypes, and finally sends:

I haven’t read that one. Should I? I trust your taste.

Yelena whistles. “Smooth, Bob. You’re learning.”

The next text comes. 

Definitely! I have a copy if you want to borrow it :)

Bob reads that line four times.

“She wants to lend me a book,” he whispers. “That’s…a good sign, right?”

Yelena nods like it’s obvious. “Next step: hangout. Suggest a time. Offer snacks. Everyone likes snacks.”

He hesitates, then types:

That would be great. Maybe I could bring coffee or something and we could read together?

“I like it! Everybody loves coffee!” Yelena cheers. 

Alexei pokes his head in through the door. “Are we making coffee or…?”

“No, Dad, it’s six pm. No coffee. I’m helping Bob right now,” Yelena informs, and Alexei nods and leaves. 

Your text arrives a second later. 

I would love that!

“Good, good. Come up with a time and a place. Go to the bookstore, you know she goes to the bookstore,” Yelena suggests, leaning over Bob’s shoulder to read the text conversation and what he types as he types it. 

Bob nods, and begins wording his reply back to you.

Can we meet at the bookstore café?

A moment. Then your answer.

Yeah! Tomorrow afternoon good?

Bob grins. Definitely, yes. 

“I’m so proud of you, Bob!” Yelena cheers and wraps her arms around him, hugging him so tightly that Bob feels like he might just die. But it’s nice, coming from Yelena. She’s awesome. 

You two meet at a quiet corner table in the bookstore café the next afternoon. Bob shows up ten minutes early, already rereading the text thread like a study guide. He brings a small notebook, pens, and his phone—just in case.

When you arrive, he stands too quickly and knocks over a chair. But you laugh instead of flinching. That helps.

“It’s good to see you again!” you smile. You hand him the book. 

“Oh, thanks,” Bob replies softly, happy but really, really nervous. 

You sit, read, and talk a little between chapters. There’s a gentle peace about it. Bob doesn’t feel the Void tugging at the edges of his mind. Not here.

When you have to go home, you give him a side hug. After all, you’ve only recently met him. But it makes butterflies dance in Bob’s stomach. And it definitely doesn’t help that he’s got Can’t Touch This stuck in his head. Why are the butterflies dancing in sync…?

When he gets home, Bob finds Yelena already waiting with Alexei, both sipping tea suspiciously.

“I thought that was a British thing,” Bob says, putting his tote bag down on the ground next to him. 

“It’s a me thing now,” Yelena informs. 

“Oh, okay.”

“So…?” Yelena prods with an excited smile. 

“It was nice,” Bob nods, smiling a little. “It was nice.”

“Would you care to elaborate, share some more details with us maybe?” Alexei asks hopefully. 

Yelena cocks her head, then leans toward Alexei’s cup and smells it. “That’s not tea, that’s alcohol!”

“IT IS A LIQUID EITHER WAY.”

Bob laughs—a real laugh, full and warm, the kind that surprises even him. Yelena grins, victorious. Alexei shrugs and takes another sip of “tea.”

“I think we’re going to hang out again soon,” Bob admits, settling into the armchair. “She lent me a book. We read together. It was… really peaceful.”

“That’s so wholesome I could cry,” Yelena wipes an invisible tear, then immediately grabs Bob’s arm. “You like her, don’t you?”

Bob looks down at the cover of The Midnight Library. “I think I could,” he says honestly.

Alexei leans back in his chair. “Just don’t mess it up. Or bring shame to our coffee.”

Yelena rolls her eyes. “Ignore him. He once tried to impress a girl by deadlifting a vending machine.”

“It worked,” Alexei mutters.

Bob clutches the book closer to his chest, smiling softly to himself.

He doesn’t know exactly what this is—what it could become—but for once, the unknown doesn’t feel terrifying.

Bob feels now like he’s opening up a new chapter in his life, one that seems to involve reading a lot of chapters in books from you.

taglist

@spaceycat @vidanand @xo-cench @raikan624 @yeehawgiddyup13 @wpdarlingpan @puer-aurea

just thunderbolts/bob

@papitas-con-sal @yesshewrites1

[amethystfairy1]

Hii!! I recently started reading TTSBC and finished what was out in like two day because your writing is just ammmmmazzzinggg and I can't stop readingg!! I am literally only getting an ao3 act to comment and get notifications for it :p

Anywaysss I had some questions for the finallll-

Will there be a resolution in the final or will bedrock just show the director and Blackwell's stupidity splitting up the main ships (WHYYYYYY) with the bedrock initiative or will things be resolved? Cuz ima die if its not resolved 😭😭

Will you post a bedrock chapter everyday until May 1st? How many chapters r u planning on having?

Do u have a specific time each day when u r uploading the chapters?

Will we get a bedrock chapter with Pearl going back to the undercity? Will her and BigB reveal and go together?

Is cub stuck topside?

Why didn't Scar pick up Cubs call?

Will we get a check in with Doctho/ the fam in the undercity?

Will we get an update if Oli and Sausage made it to the undercity?

Not bedrock related but will we get more soup group? Especially gemmm?

WHYYYY? (I am a mess from how emotionally invested to TTSBC I am)

BTWWWW I absolutely love your work and am pretty much spending my entire day reloading ao3 and Tumblr because I'm addicted an this is my hyperfixation rn!! I LOVEEEE ur work!! ❤

And I know u prob can't answer most if my questions cuz spoilers and stuff but those r just my main really want to know questions rnnnnn :)

Im super exited to read today's chapter if there is one and hope I don't have an emotional crisis like the last 3 chapterssssss :p

😭😭😭 whyyyy my Zendagooooo and desert duooooo and flower husbands have been through enoughhhh 😭😭😭😭

And sorry for my reaaaally random quick rambles and bad grammarrrr

Now you KNOW I can't answer most of those XD

Things I can answer...Bedrock has two more chapters! The one that I just posted ten seconds ago, and tomorrows! I'm so honored TTSBC is your hyperfixation for the moment, yay!!! I hope you enjoy the rest of Bedrock and headed into Hermit-a-day May!!!

[digirainebow]

ok, so, big all encompassing digirainebow content post incoming <3

at the time of posting this, it has almost been 9 months since my last upload, lol and lmao. this has been for many reasons, all of them lifechanging, some unbelievably good and some very bad. i do have most of my next youtube video edited (persona 3 reload, part 2), but i haven't been able to work on it for a while now and i am not sure when i will have the time, means, or want to finish it, or make any more videos at all, since moving out on my own finally has shifted my priorities drastically. getting an apartment soon and paying for all my own amenities makes having a chunky PC more of a stress! another one of the biggest hiccups with this is choosing to switch mainly to livestreaming last year. twitch has recently decided to remove the highlights feature, which was everything to me because i am not a twitch partner. so i am currently having to back up all 300+ hours of persona 3 and etc. gaming footage to youtube, otherwise i would have nothing to make videos with. it sucks severely. and i never wanted to stay on twitch anyway, so this makes me want to switch to youtube live even more, if i do, in fact, return to live content. i really want to, but i have complex thoughts and feelings about burn out and social anxiety relating to being live that i am still sorting through. i think, if and when i go back to streaming, it will be for games that feel like big events, like persona 3 reload. i do not regret playing the other games i played on stream, but moving forward i think this will be a lot better for me in the long run. i will be updating my backloggd accordingly, but expect things like disco elysium, persona 5 tactica, more baldur's gate 3...long story games, things that really need to be documented in their entirety. everything else i will either make youtube videos for or play on my own time. at the very least i know now that i am not equipped to stream everything constantly.

thank you all for sticking by me <3 see you when i see you

[wageronancap]

Extremely lukewarm take: AI is neither a silver bullet solution to every problem to ever exist, nor is it the literal spawn of the antichrist -- it is a tool, and like all tools, can be used appropriately under the right conditions to great effect, or misused to great harm.

I've done some experiments with ChatGPT, and admittedly I've had a lot of fun. Detailed stories beyond the break.

I started with a statistical probability problem I knew how to describe but didn't know the math to calculate myself -- I'd just watched a number of engineering YouTube videos involving marble runs like Wintergaten, Engineezy, etc, and I wanted to know in a very limited, extremely controlled circumstance, how long could a device go before it "missed" -- before a ball that was supposed to be on a track, wasn't actually there because the reload mechanic is the random element. I gave ChatGPT a very involved prompt and regrettably I don't have it saved, but I was stupendously impressed with how it didn't need clarity from me -- it correctly interpreted the prompt, laid down some additional baseline assumptions, and then just did the math. Which honestly I expected -- computers are really good at counting. I was more pleased the AI had understood the prompt.

Later I asked to play a text-based version of XCOM 2 with the serial numbers filed off and then a Star Trek TNG-style bridge commander game. While the difficulty was too easy and it can lose track of a large cast of characters on occasion, it overall was very fun.

I also fed it a D&D 3.5 monster description and a fairly detailed character concept and it put meat on the bones (the finality of names is the bane of my existence as a worldbuilder); it even helped generate the leadership of a cult that serves the monster-character, and did so in the span of seconds -- it was able to take a concept and drum up roleplay-ready content on demand; content that would have taken me hours to develop by hand.

I recently used ChatGPT to test an item from the 2024 D&D release and immediately realized Chat's true strength for D&D as a balance tester. It is fabulously easy to import stat blocks (or homebrew non-OGL blocks) and just crunch a lot of trials to see the results.

Which led me to revisit an encounter I actually ran myself by hand some years ago -- a Warforged Titan against a Tyrannosaurus Rex. In my "canon" encounter, the tyrannosaurus went blow for blow for about four rounds before landing a critical hit and executing the titan -- a fucking epic brawl with an incredible finish on the fifth round.

I ran the same encounter with ChatGPT 100 times just now and realized just how anomalous my version of the encounter was:

Like, that's cool as fuck to be able to test, analyze, tweak, and retest without sinking a massive amount of time into playtesting, because the computer can play way faster than we fleshlings can -- and I can tune an encounter to give the feel I want it to impart to the players while still leaving room for players to innovate and surprise me as game master.

There are many things about my life I haven't dropped into the AI because it's not a counselor or therapist, it's not a financial advisor, it's not a friend -- it's a rock we put lightning into and taught to count, and it's really good at counting. It's even halfway decent at just helping make an entertaining story.

But it's not The Solution to Life The Universe And Everything.

[petorahs]

because i will protect him.

Persona 3 FES/Portable/Movie/Reload: Closing Thoughts.

When I first experienced Persona 3’s story last year, it was at a time that I was beginning to figure out my life. It broke down my walls and seized me by the heart, but it cradled it lovingly as well. It reaffirmed all the personal philosophies I held at the time - in other words, my values.

Going into it I only had a vague idea on what to expect. I’ve only recently played Persona 5 Royal the same February before that, so I knew instead of its themes of ‘rebellion’ it would be themed around ‘death’. Instead of fallen ‘stars’ like in P5, P3 would be based around the ‘moon’ and all its phases. What also convinced me to play P3 so soon after just finishing P5 was its main character- Makoto Yuki. He was voiced by Akira Ishida in the japanese version which I immediately caught on to… I had to see it for myself since I was in an Ishida phase at the time (lmao). I expected to love him as far as liking silent protagonists/player avatars would go.

What I didn’t expect, however, was how deeply I latched onto the characters and main character in particular. I think it’s the way the friendships are a bit complicated and none of SEES really like eachother at first but learn to care and help despite that. It’s the way its messages are written in a clear thesis. I’ve written about them before, but it’s the way the only thing Death ever yearned for is life. That life and death can’t exist without the other. It has life palpable everywhere in the game. 

And Makoto Yuki. It’s the way that Makoto Yuki symbolizes the apathy one experiences in life but learns to find so many things worth living for anyway. I wouldn’t say I related to him because I’ve always enjoyed life while he was content to throw it away, so it’s another thing: Pure unbridled affection. To me, he’s someone I would devote myself to. To me, he reminds me of my little brother a lot. Shy, introverted, deadpan. To me, he’s every beautiful thing in this world. He’s like the moon, pretty and distant. Deep and emotional. He’s also like sakura blossoms. Transient. But still, so, so beautiful and precious. He represents a life worth protecting no matter what.

It’s in Aigis. Someone who echoes my sentiments with Makoto so perfectly - I didn’t understand anything about life and thought it was all about being “optimal” and that it can be replicated, replaced, redone. But I know now that it’s so precious; that life is so precious. I never found Aigis latching Makoto to be out of place or particularly fanservicey. To me, it’s like a natural progression of both of their character arcs. She didn’t have anyone in her life before. As someone who struggles making deep relationships out of my own nature/how I was built, I understood it. She delivers one of my most favorite lines in media ever, that “philosophy” I held so dear - "You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life... Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of.”

And that’s literally it to me. There is no grand meaning behind it all. What matters to me is to hang out with my friends and family and be the kindest I can be to them. I want to be a light in their life, however small - kinda like how Makoto was to Aigis and all his other friends. I, too, would spend my whole life by his side just to follow in those footsteps. It’s pure and beautiful. An actual bond,

But then he dies. 

The thing about Persona 3 is that it never once romanticized death to me. Them shooting themselves in the head represents resolve, yes, but it’s always but gratuitous and framed in an unhinged way. Nyx Avatar, the final boss and actual symbol of Death in the game, has the face of a nightmare that made my heart drop when I first saw her. It knows that death is scary to everyone, so it represents that well. But it was clear what exactly it wanted to portray to its players: that despite death being scary, it’s not something to be feared. It can be peaceful, so long as you remember to live your life to the fullest. To quote my own post, “the meaning of life is hanging out with your friends on a mundane, sunny day during a graduation ceremony”. 

But that doesn’t stop the grief.

I can’t explain what it’s like to see my favorite character’s corpse rotting in real time. It’s actually horrifying. But the thing is - it wasn’t done without purpose. I accepted it, just like how I accepted everything about “The Answer” or, “Aigis’ Story” in JP. 

I quite literally put myself in the shoes of the one character who mirrored my own sentiments so clearly as she fought with the grief of losing the one person she swore to protect as he died in her lap. I was kinda crying the entire time. It’s so fucking real to me. The way that she reverted back to her “robotic state” but it was literally just her numbing herself to the pain. The way that Yukari had to escape by acting indifferent. The way that Junpei tries to act upbeat for everyone’s sake. Mitsuru’s quiet grief. Akihiko's respect. Ken and Koromaru's silent strength. But most of all, Aigis… and the way she’s so lost and confused. 

I lost so many family members in the recent years prior to playing P3. It’s never easy. Playing The Answer especially (and all of P3) put it all into perspective. I don’t know how, but all of these elements and plot beats in the game represented my feelings so perfectly.

Seeing its remake announced in June was actually serendipitous. I basically got to relive it quite recently. A year’s worth of nostalgia is still nostalgia. I loved a lot of the changes, and hated some others. 

But every time I experience Persona 3’s ending, I end up crying though. Unfailingly. And I’ve experienced it many times by now. Every time I think I’ve “gotten over it” I literally do not. Prior to P3 the only media that started making me cry was The Good Place’s ending. 

I think Reload’s was the worst. What they did with player proxy death in this one felt way more insanely real I think. Or Maybe it’s the sea. How Ryoji says in FeMC’s route and in Reload to Makoto how “the water is going on a journey, too. It must be having fun”, “The waters all converge to its source, like us.” Maybe it’s how the sea and moon are so intimately connected. Just like how life and death are. Maybe it’s the way that even nihilism represented by Strega isn’t actually wrong as framed by Reload, it’s just not the message this time around in this game. Or maybe it’s hearing the voices of everyone (social links) who loved him and was touched positively by him also echoing my thoughts. Maybe it’s the way that the ending felt way more personal when you choose to not romance any of SEES, especially Aigis. That platonic love goes beyond any of that and makes every act of devotion and speech about bonds feel actually real (despite how cheesy it seems!). 

All I can think about after playing it every time is that I will love the people in my life so, so hard from now on. So much that they wonder why. For a game about death, it sure does make me live my life more fully. 

It’s just… real. This game and all its themes was perfectly concocted. The moon, the sea, spring, rebirth, and the sakura blossoms. And you. It’s all so precious and beautiful. I want to remember and protect it, always. I want to live for it all.

[sirignatius]

My thoughts on Persona 3 Reload

I recently finished Persona 3 Reload and it has definitely been a journey. I wanted to sort out some of my personal experiences with the game and share a few details that stuck with me. Spoiler warning if you keep reading! I included some thoughts on certain parts of the game, including some clips of the ending cutscene, so keep that in mind if you haven’t finished it yet!

Persona is such a dear series to me. After finishing P4 and P5, P3 was the last one I needed to play to complete the modern Persona lineup. So, when Persona 3 Reload released on February 1st, I was really excited to play it, but I had to hold off since I was right in the middle of finishing my thesis.

March was just absolute chaos for me: I went through some personal hardships and, finally, turned in my master’s thesis. Easily one of the most stressful periods of my life. Thankfully, I had some incredible friends by my side, supporting me through every step, then and now. I honestly couldn’t have made it through without them.

In the meantime, I figured it’d be better to hold off on P3R for a bit, partly because of its heavy atmosphere and the darker themes, but also because I honestly wasn’t in the best mindset to enjoy it.

For the record, I’m just obsessed with the Persona OSTs, but I wanted to stay away from the new P3 soundtrack so I could experience it in-game. But of course, ONE song managed to sneak past my defenses and land in my playlist. On my way to work, Color Your Night came on for the first time, and honestly, my jaw just dropped.

To this day, I still think it’s a beautiful song! I listen to it almost daily, along with a bunch of other tracks from the game. I wasn’t expecting something so intimate yet so upbeat, and it totally blew me away. Thinking back, I honestly think it gave me that extra push to finish my thesis so I could finally start the game.

This is not meant to be a full game review, but as I played, I felt like P3R wanted to clearly distinguish itself from the original P3. Where the OG game had this edgy, darker vibe, P3R felt more like a celebration of life in comparison. I haven’t played the original, but I’ve listened a lot to its OST, and you can tell they tried to step away from that feeling while honoring Shoji Meguro’s masterpieces.

The interface design is just chef’s kiss. I'm obsessed with the pause menu. It feels like every time I hit pause, time just stops —a little break from all the stressful thoughts, like looking at the world through a calm water barrier. Can we take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous that menu is??

I love how the designers went all in for the water aesthetic: it’s in the menus, the color schemes, the little effects on the music tracks ( like that bubble sound at the start of Full Moon Full Life, 0:28 if you are wondering :] ). They really nailed it.

Then, there’s the endgame. It hits hard with the “take responsibility for your actions” thing, especially after December 31. Choosing to fight to the end completely changes the atmosphere—the color palette gets less saturated and the music takes a more nostalgic tone (Living with Determination, Memories of School, Memories of the City; I find that last one quite disturbing). It’s like the game is telling you that everything comes to an end. It wouldn’t be as impactful if it didn’t. I feel like these songs are the MC’s memories of all the places he’s been in the past year, knowing things will never be the same.

It’s especially heartbreaking on that last day when the MC talks to all their confidants, and they start sharing all the things they’re planning to do soon. Shoutout to Koromaru-san, the goodest boy of them all ;-;

And then, that final scene with Aigis absolutely destroyed me. I wasn’t ready. I like to think she’s using that moment to show us how she’s found her own purpose, and even though she feels sorrow for the MC, she’s learned how to keep going. It hit me so hard. The moment itself is sad, but the atmosphere feels so calm and gentle, like floating on a cloud. And then, after the cutscene, it’s over, and I’m left in tears—not just because it ended, but because of everything we, as the MC, left behind along the way.

And as the game closes, we get Memories of You. After years of listening to it out of context, I finally realized it was the ending theme all along! If you haven’t heard the English lyrics, please do—they’re beautiful, like a love letter from Aigis, saying she’ll be there to protect and remember you forever.

This ended up being a bit of a brain dump, so I hope it makes sense. Please feel free to share any thoughts you may have about the game if you feel like it! And thank you if you read all the way to the end! Truly, thank you so much.

Final shoutout to my dear friends for all the support they gave me through everything. I hope I can also protect them forever as well.

[sable-skies]

'Ello, 'ello!

Since thou recently had some Persona related posts on thy blog..

obligatory- which games have you played? Any ships? Do you have a favorite protagonist?

(Joker has won my heart personally- he is such a dramatic and EXTRA bitch)

!!! PERSONAAAAAA

I’ve been playing through Persona 3 Reload this year! I haven’t finished it yet but one day I’ll finally lock in and finish it. (I think my latest save is in early November? So I haven’t met Ryoji yet) I also need to do The Answer still.

Though my love of Persona started years ago when I finally got a PS4 and got Persona 5 (Vanilla)! Played up until the final boss and then just. Got burnt out and never finished it, especially when Royal came out. While I need to play Royal all the way through on my own, I have been watching my friend Vinny play it on PC (they named the protagonist Skibidi Sigma. It’s a gift that keeps on giving)

I haven’t played Persona 4 Golden yet but I have it on steam!

As for ships, there’s a good few I enjoy! For Persona 3 I actually really like the protagonist + Yukari, and that’s unfortunately the only one I can think of for now. For Persona 5, love me a good Shuake, Pegokita, and PegoHaru as well, but honestly I can be convinced to ship Joker with anybody (that’s appropriate age of course. Atlus please stop giving your teenage protagonist romance options who are full ass grown adults)

And while I think I love all the protagonists, Joker is definitely a favorite because he’s the first one I got to play as and learn about ❤️❤️ love the Jonkler

[derekscorner]

Reloaded Rambling: Persona 3

Broken Fulfillment

I finished Persona 3 Reloaded last night and ever since I've been torn between rambling about it and sobbing because the ending never fails to wound me.

I'm not exaggerating for narrative emphasis nor am I joking, I cried. I am a grown man and I cried just as much last night as I did when I beat Persona 3 Fes in the late 2000s to early 2010s.

I can not express in words to you just how much the ending hurts me nor can I express how much I love it. That's why I am broken but find fulfillment...which is as on point with the death theme as anything else.

I even delayed finishing the game because I could feel the emotions and tears welling up as soon as the final month started. I even took a moment to note how ironic it was that the color palette literally grows gray throughout the month.

As 'The Fall' draws near and apathy syndrome grows the very world itself begins to white out yet I feel the story the strongest as it does.

Every interaction with Aigis is emotional pain because I knew what was coming. As she grew as a person, understood love, and found a reason in life I knew that she was about to have that ripped from her.

It wasn't just her either. P3 already had a lot of little moments in the final month as the cast finds their resolve and as you finish what social links you've started, everyone is finding a resolution, they're preparing for a battle they believe they may not win.

In fact, Reload improved on this more with it's link episodes. Everyone playing in the park, Ken's silly combat and coffee practice, the movies with Koromaru, Akihiko and Yukari, everything.

Several of these mini stories wrap up toward the end and it's only when you know about P3's ending that you realize why.

Constant Improvement

I'd even argue that Persona 3 is one of the few stories to properly be remade in recent years. They only added small things to make the story better, updated gameplay, and just overall refined the package.

That's the kind of treatment a remake should be given rather than the laziness you see in movies today or the bait & switch SE pulled with FF7.

And it was only upon typing this that I realized that P3 has had this treatment from the start. P3 Fes only ever expanded the original hit game. Even though many fans didn't like 'The Answer' they at least loved everything added to the Journey.

P3 was then made a classic for a third time with P3 Portable. The PSP limited some things but it is loved for it's female MC and the story changes.

Persona 3 has always been given a positive treatment each time it's tackled and it's so rare.

That cycles back into Reload. We fans had to beg and complain for years but they tackled the remake with every bit of love that you could've hoped for.

The only things they did to earn ere was not including 'The Answer' or the FeMC and as of the time I type this 'The Answer' will at least be added as DLC.

I don't intend to downplay the feelings of those who strongly desired the FeMC either, I am playing through P3P so I get it, I just want to point out that having so few complaints about a remake is so rare.

I went on this whole side tangent to emphasize how impressed I was with the things added. The episodes, a few scenes, it made the feelings that P3Fes gives me just as potent years later.

I'm an indifferent man, I rarely feel emotion let alone genuinely show it, but for years one thing that always broke me was P3's story. To see it remade so well meant a lot to me.

Memento Mori

When I first played P3 I was actually looking for P4. A friend on a KH forum had suggested it as a fan but I couldn't find it on sale. P4 was at the height of its popularity so I couldn't find it at all.

Instead, I found P3 and bought it. My friend was a bit annoyed and said P4 was better but I played it anyway and by God it broke me.

At that time I had a depression problem. I have had one since 8th grade at that point in my life so P3's theme of death resonated with my core.

I had no spoilers for this story then, I thought we were defying fate like any other RPG and looking back I should've expected something. People died often in P3, even main cast, and the story put time into seeing the cast process that.

The single dungeon of the game is Tartarus but no, nothing clipped for me till that final scene.

That final scene caused a whirlwind of emotion to hit me because I could sense something was wrong and your MC only gets weaker as Aigis affirms her feelings and goal in life and the music doesn't stop.

Just when the other SEES remember and rush to find you they arrive only to find you gone. That.Fucking.Broke.Me.

The credits then has the audacity to play an upbeat song as the credits roll. That was it, you died and the entire game clicked in my brain.

The entire game just hits me all at once. The MC's persona is Orpheus, you literally climb through Tartarus towards Nyx, death itself, and you do not come out of it unscathed.

The characters each dealt with death and found a reason to keep living while Aigis found humanity, in those tears I understood that the games message.

Death is not avoidable, even for your MC. His miracle came at a cost, his ultimate persona is the Messiah for a reason but that's not what truly important.

It's the journey to that ending. The MC helped everyone he had a bond with find a reason to live, the games story is a positive one not a sad one.

I felt my brain rewire that day, aside from truly depressing events in my life, I have never truly been depressed again. Not permanently.

Even if I live a life like a hermit I'll never just give up on everything because this story broke me and rewired how I see things.

More importantly for this post, my initial breakdown of emotion always resurfaces when I play P3. I find myself attached to Aigis in particular due to her specific journey and her role in 'The Answer'.

So when I say this remake only added to the positive I meant it. (you probably thought I forgot about that and went on a seperate tangent didn't you~)

Every little scene new or expanded they put in this game makes it stronger. I did not want January to end but I was already a few days in and the game was breaking me.

Koromaru's new linked stories, Shinji, and Aigis in particular were wonderfully done. Everything just ties together in a way that I can't explain to you in a singular post.

These things I've stated not only apply to added content but old as well. A complaint you'll see at times is how some Persona social links seem to contradict the casts main story progression or how some are weaker than others.

Persona 3, any version of Persona 3, does not have that issue. Whether you personally like them all my vary but they are all remarkably consistent with the Death theme, the theme of finding new direction or meaning in life, or they're harmless at worst.

A key part of the reason why is because the Fool & Judgement Social Links are tied to main story progression. The whole reason linked episodes were added was because the main SEES cast have character growth alongside those two arcana as the story progresses.

In P3Fes or P3Portable you could have friend/romance with some SEES based on MC chosen but their actual growth as a character is tied to the story. They grow with you.

And what you do learn on those friend/romance links doesn't contradict with that main story progression. You won't have a situation like in P5 where Ryugi feels like two different people between his personal social link and the main story.

No game is flawless mind you, all I mean to say is that P3 meshes better with it's links and main story. All those lives you help along the way just hit harder during the finale for it.

You can feel like it meant something.

I can't wait for 'The Answer'

I have no decent transition here nor am I sure I conveyed my feelings/meaning as well as I had hoped above. So before these P3 images and OST make me cry again I'll talk about 'The Answer'.

If nothing else, I do hope I have explained how important the main story is to me and I hope that it makes sense to you that I do not consider P3 complete without this story addition.

It had issues in P3Fes, there is no way around that, but given how well they handled this remake I hope they can give 'The Answer' that same love.

Because it's very important to Aigis as a character as well as to the overall themes of life & death. If you have not seen the scenes of The Answer or played P3Fes yourself you may want to skip from here on out btw.

You still there? Good because I need anyone reading to understand that 'The Answer' is key. It's key because it's about grief.

Many of the main cast had to deal with loss and grief in the main story so people find their relapse odd here but you have to remember that no one death is the same. You do not just become okay with important people dying.

You can always fall back on your sadness and that's what happens here. Aigis literally loses the will to live and becomes more machine like, Yukari quite frankly becomes bitchy, and the overall crew is somber.

They thought they had won, your MC lived till graduation. They had their best and worst times with him and he died for reasons that they do not understand.

'The Answer' is quite literally that answer. They learn why he died, Aigis finds her own answer to life, and I wish I could elaborate more but I'm torn between telling you and just hoping you play it.

It's an epilogue and one that I feel P3 needs to have to feel right. It makes your MC's sacrifice feel more worth while to know the cast will use his memory to live better rather than fall back into grief.

It does my soul better to know that Aigis won't give up on life.

I'm spent

There's more I could've said but I'm quite frankly to emotional to add more. I struggled to even be coherent with this and I'm not sure I was.

I consider this the best Persona game yet and I'll always love 3 more than the others. I simply didn't feel attached to the scooby doo gang from P4 and I'm too old to care about the teen rebellion in P5...plus their mascot characters literally agitate me.

I hope you play this game or already have and I hope you're willing to give 'The Answer' a shot. Bye now~

[safeworksrender]

Recently finished another 100% Social Link playthrough of this game and took *a lot* of screenshots and clips along the way.

These are just some of the lines that resonated with me (though I don't just love the game for it's narrative. I think it's tremendous from a gameplay perspective as well, especially since Reload fixes all the gripes I had with the original on PS2):

Mutatsu's monologue about the idea of constantly working hard for a lifestyle that we'll barely get to experience really hit me on a personal level, and I'm sure it's something that a lot of "Nine to Five" or "paycheck-to-paycheck" workers can relate to as well. In a way, it doubles down into my belief that it's never about the destination and always about the journey (as corny as it may sound). Also, I just absolutely love this social link in general (I laughed out loud at Mutatsu's suggestion to have Makoto go bald)

Shinjiro confessing to Makoto that his life is pretty much nothing but a ticking time bomb is a very obvious foreshadowing of his eventual death on 10/4. Still, I also found it gut-wrenching because it finally made me realize that he probably didn't want to return to school as he knew he would never be able to fulfill the promise he made with Akihiko and Mitsuru during the early days of S.E.E.S. He was either going to die at the hands of Ken or Strega, or die from the side effects of the suppressants that he took

Akinari's perspective on what ultimately gives our lives meaning is very powerful and I feel like it's something that a lot of us younger folks can learn from. We live in a day and age where a lot of people don't consider their lives to be worthwhile unless they reach a certain amount of fame or wealth, but it's important to remember that life is and always has been about the little things that we get to experience along the way (at least that's what I believe)

Mitsuru telling Makoto that she needs him in her life just a couple of days before his death is obviously a real gut punch. But the reason I like this line a lot is because I think it perfectly encapsulates the fact that she isn't the stoic character that she is presented to be in the early to mid stages of the game. She ultimately just needed someone to see things from her perspective and lend her an ear to vent out her frustrations about her sheltered upbringing and lifestyle (which is implied just a few lines before this one, as she teases Makoto about the fact that she would not have anyone else to lean on when she needs to vent about her problems)

With all that said, I can write a whole essay about the many little things that I enjoyed so much about this game (and the idea is quite tempting), but I don't think any sane person would want or care to read that.

[killer-orca-cosplay]

To: STCOM Sealth Puget From: COMGEN Melissa Hazen Sealth, trothkin, the Skobel engineers have finally finished the fitting out of your machine. The upgrades are... substantial. Look them over. And then, if you would, join me and some others for a night out, quiaff? I wish to get to know you better. We will be fighting alongside each other, after all.

BattleMech Technical Readout Name/Model: Orca 'Sealth' OC-1Xb Designer: Frogblast Source(s): Custom Mordel.Net Units Technology: Inner Sphere (Mixed) Technology Rating: F Tonnage: 200 Role: Sniper Configuration: Superheavy Biped BattleMech Era/Year: Dark Age / 3150 Rules (Current): Experimental (Extinct) Rules (Era): Experimental Rules (Year): Experimental (Extinct) Total Cost: 107,450,500 C-Bills Battle Value: 4,435 Chassis: Skobel Endo-Composite Endo-Composite Power Plant: Skobel SH-4K 400 XL Walking Speed: 21.6 kph Maximum Speed: 32.4 kph Jump Jets: None Jump Capacity: None Armor: Skobel SH-FF Plate Ferro-Fibrous with CASE II Armament: 2 ExoStar Balefire (Clantech) ER PPCs (C) 1 Rheinmetall PzH 3050 Long Tom Artillery Cannon (C) 1 Baal Defense Hellstorm 40CX LRM 20 w/ Artemis V FCS (C) 1 ExoStar Pinnacle (Clantech) ER Large Laser (C) 1 Krupp Sturmfeuer Light Gauss Rifle 1 Baal Defense Quad-Aught 6400 SRM 6 w/ Artemis V FCS (C) 1 Baal Defense Inferno Shield 2000CX Laser Anti-Missile System (C) 1 Baal Defense Silverfang 120X Small X-Pulse Laser Manufacturer: Skobel MechWorks Primary Factory: Yakima Proving Grounds, Terra Communications: GarbleTalker X with Nova CEWS Targeting & Tracking: Nokia 33100 with Advanced Targeting Computer ================================================================================================ Equipment Mass Internal Structure: Endo-Composite (C) 30.00 Engine: 400 XL (C) 26.50 Walking MP: 2 Running MP: 3 Jumping MP: 0 Heat Sinks (Double): 20 40 10.00 Gyro: Superheavy 8.00 Cockpit: Superheavy 4.00 Armor Factor: 600 31.50 Type: Ferro-Fibrous (C) Internal Armor Structure Value Head: 4 12 Center Torso: 60 96 Center Torso (rear): 24 R/L Torso: 42 68 R/L Torso (rear): 16 R/L Arm: 33 66 R/L Leg: 42 84 ================================================================================================ Weapons and Ammo Location Critical Tonnage Nova CEWS (C) H 1 1.50 SRM 6 w/ Artemis V FCS (C) CT 1 1.50 Small X-Pulse Laser CT 1 1.00 Targeting Computer (C) CT 6 6.00 CASE II (C) RT 1 0.50 Communications Equipment (4 tons) (C) RT 2 4.00 ER PPC w/ Capacitor (C) RT 2 7.00 Laser Anti-Missile System (C) RT 1 1.00 Long Tom Artillery Cannon (Ammo 30) (C) RT 3 6.00 CASE II (C) LT 1 0.50 ER PPC w/ Capacitor (C) LT 2 7.00 LRM 20 w/ Artemis V FCS (C) LT 2 5.00 LRM 20 (Ammo 18) (C) LT 2 3.00 Light Gauss Rifle (Ammo 32) LT 1 2.00 SRM 6 (Ammo 30) Artemis V LT 1 2.00 Long Tom Artillery Cannon (C) RA 8 20.00 CASE II (C) LA 1 0.50 ER Large Laser w/ Insulator (C) LA 2 4.50 Light Gauss Rifle LA 3 12.00 Note: Equipped with RISC Heat Sink Override Kit ================================================================================================ Alpha Strike Statistics Point Value (PV): 94 TP: BM, SZ: 4, TMM: 0, MV: 4" Damage: (S) 4 / (M) 4 / (L) 3, OV: 4 Armor (A): 20, Structure (S): 10 Specials: AMS, ARTLTC-1, CASEII, ECM, IF1, LG, MHQ5, NOVA, OVL, PRB, RCN The OC-1Xb Orca 'Sealth' is subject to the following Design Quirks: Accurate Weapon (Long Tom Cannon) Combat Computer Distracting Fast Reload (Long Tom Cannon) Improved Cooling Jacket (ER Large Laser) Improved Communications Improved Sensors Improved Targeting (Long) Multi-Trac

A Long Tom attached to a Battlemech? Most intriguing...I do believe Tolkitai will get much use out of that.

It also pleases me to see the all important small laser for close-in support. If there is one thing I have learned, it is never to underestimate what one single laser in the right place can do. This steed will serve us well. My thanks. ...in truth I would not say no to a meal. I have been having the oddest craving for salmon sushi recently.

[barbwillbrb]

Finally finished my full playthrough of BG3. Here be my thoughts:

For context, I had been sitting on my first playthrough for a month, as I had 4 huge fights left that I was putting off and little else left (Orin, Ansur, House of Hope, and the last battle). I did start a second playthrough in the interim, getting that character to the Gauntlet of Shar, then decided to go back to finish my OG character. I finally finished the game a couple days ago and have been collecting my thoughts. Here are some resolutions from my playthrough and thoughts on the game/characters:

1. First, here is my first Tav— Quil, a nonbinary tiefling Bard with very high charisma. I adore the character creator, but have one gripe— why can’t we yeet the titties in the vanilla creator (I know there are mods)? I want no titties please.

2. I did not get the Volo eye during my first run; Quil knew a bad idea when they saw one (my second Tav, Rackal, not so much). Quil also didn’t fuck with the Necromancy of Thay.

3. Scratch and owlbear cub made it all the way to the end!

4. Fucked up Auntie Ethel’s quest and got Mayrina killed.

5. Minthara was killed (I only recently fully learned how non-lethal attacks work).

6. It was really hard for me to pick a romance; I spent a good hour loading/reloading the tiefling party to go through my options (everyone but Gale and Wyll were interested, as I was specifically playing a character who wasn’t openly flirting with anyone; I wanted to see what characters came to me first. That said, I had to keep pushing Lae’zel back because girl wanted me within moments of meeting). Karlach ended up stealing my heart; I adore her.

7. I also had Halsin join us. I don’t see a lot of talk about KarlachxTavxHalsin on here, and it kinda bums me out; I was sold on the polycule when KarlachxHalsin started flirting with each other.

8. As a high-charisma character, Act 2 was my favorite, especially when it came to Yurgir. I did not know you could talk your way out of that fight completely; I think I was as shocked as Astarion when it worked. I’ve never seen a game where you could just… talk people to death. It was amazing.

9. Speaking of Act 2, Ketheric Thorm’s introduction is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. It was perfect at conveying the magnanimity of the situation.

10. I got everyone’s happy endings I think. Wyll, Karlach and I went to Avernus and are kicking ass, Gale is a professor/crown destroyed, and Astarion did not ascend/spawn were spared (the Gur letter at the epilogue is AMAZING). Shadowheart turned away from Shar, but her parents died so she could be free; she has the owlbear cub though, so I think she’ll be okay.

11. I don’t understand the whole “Wyll can’t make a decision” discourse. I get the issue with the pact scene (I can’t remember if I had the option to let him choose, but we worked with Mizora), but people make it out like he doesn’t make any decisions about his future at all in the game. I was able to leave the Blade of Avernus/Duke decision to him, and he chose the Blade. He had some cool dialog about the decision as well.

12. The goddamn Orpheus vs. Emperor choice is about the dumbest thing ever. I feel like if you maintained an overall positive relationship with the Emperor and managed to pull Lae’zel away from Vlaakith, I think there should be an opportunity to break Orpheus free and convince him to join you WITHOUT the Emperor turning tail to the Netherbrain. You should be able to free Orpheus and then have another high persuasion check to get him to stand down/join you. I feel that given the severity of the current situation, Orpheus would accept joining forces if it meant no additional mindflayers be made. Just the fact the Emperor goes by, Orpheus gets freed, and someone has to become a mindflayer is just…. Frustrating at best.

13. I think that regardless if romanced or not, a Lae’zel with high/exceptional approval who turned from Vlaakith is in love with Tav. The emotion in her goodbye at the docks is so powerful.

14. Similarly, I think the same can be said for Shadowheart (if turned away from Shar/had high approval).

15. The Dribbles quest sucked, but worth it just to make Lucretious happy/have her say nice things to me.

16. The character that grew on me the most was Astarion. I honestly didn’t like him too much, but his growth over Acts 2 and 3 really changed my mind. Plus, when I met Yenna, he actually gave approval towards any means of helping her— I was SHOOK.

17. I think the Orin kidnapping would be more impactful if your love interest was taken instead (the angst/race against the clock would be amazing). I also think that if one of the tadpole crew gets taken, the fact that Orin doesn’t have one should tell someone something’s up.

18. My favorite companion is tied between Karlach and Lae’zel. Karlach is so optimistic/stands true to herself despite the bullshit she goes through, and Lae’zel character growth is spectacular.

19. My least favorite companion is Shadowheart, although she’s beginning to grow on me. It’s just that some of her offhand comments are so off-putting in a real hypocritical way. For example, the “I didn’t expect to feel empathy towards refugees” thing is really hard to ignore.

20. My favorite NPCs are, in no particular order, Ketheric Thorm, Rolan, Yurgir, Omeluum, Blurg, Lucretious, Barcus Wroot, Auntie Ethel and Mol.

21. My least favorite NPCs are Gortash (I think he is a great villain, but he’s the kind of manipulative, opportunistic evil that makes my skin crawl), Wulburn Bongle and honestly most of the creche. Also that lady who’s mean to the dogs, but I nuked her with fireball and don’t see her as much if an NPC.

22. WHY CAN’T I ADOPT THE FUCKING CATS?

[alexandrite-dragoness]

My Final Thoughts on Persona 3 Reload :)

Hello all! ^^

I just happened to finish Persona 3 Reload recently and wanted to give my own personal thoughts on it. Of course I won't go into many specific details and make this into an essay, so I'll just put in what I enjoyed, what I didn't like and what I'm looking forward to in a potential DLC.

Also on that note a good chunk of my thoughts will be regarding Strega (Jin and Takaya in particular), since they are personally my favorite villains from the game and I was looking forward to seeing any additional scenes they were given.

So let us begin (this does contain spoilers so be wary)

What I did Enjoy (or Absolutely Loved):

☑ Social Link Episodes (& the Full-On Voice Acting)

First off, I want to express my gratitude for Atlus in taking the time to apply some TLC to the less appreciated characters in P3. This is especially true for Shinjiro, who I felt was the least fleshed out among the rest of SEES (and, you know, for valid reasons). He did have more moments of his own specifically in Persona 3 Portable if you play as the female protagonist, but unfortunately that even had its limit. That also gave us a moment with Mitsuru to explain about her past with Shinjiro and Akihiko, giving us a bit of a flashback which I think is a neat touch! Strega also was given some decent amount of treatment in the remake as well, showing two (or was it three?) exclusive scenes with Jin and Takaya and lifting some of their mysterious past midway through the game rather than shoving all of it to the end (however I do my complaints regarding that still, but I digress).

The additional voice overs for the social links is an incredible touch, it made me even appreciate some of the characters even more (or even starting to like the ones I didn't care about before). Yuko after spending some time with her became one of my favorite SLs in the game, she has such a neat and endearing attitude in her voice and I dig it a lot! Hidetoshi came close to my second fave, when switching from a uptight attitude to some occasions a more softening/somber approach was when I started appreciating him a little more.

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☑ Additional Evening Activities (+Kitchen & Rooftop)

To be honest during my first and early experience in Persona 3 (FES) the evenings were a bit of a drag. There was no part-time jobs during that point (part-times didn't happen until P3P) and there were only two social links that appeared at night. So more often than not I'd be studying away at my desk or kill some time at the mall some other way (and I wasn't enjoying half the time).

Fortunately Reload (for the most part) fixed that issue by giving us the opportunity to hang out with our teammates in the dorm/lounge room in the evenings. This also added a new mechanic to give these team members a gauge/characteristic for battle. During those times too, even if they didn't raise their battle perk at the moment, they may either give you a useful item for battles or raise one of your social stats in the meanwhile.

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☑ QoL Additions (+Theurgy)

Trying to keep this part brief but I do enjoy the additional quality of life content they added to the same, some even adapted from P3P itself (this includes the part time jobs). As much as I enjoyed Theurgy and the perks it came with it, I was hoping they were going to do a "Showtime" gig with the team (having a Akihiko and Shinjiro duo attack would've been awesome ngl), but I'm pretty satisfied with what we have too. Also the fact they gave Fuuka abilities is all I ever wanted!! :D She's now more useful than ever, thank goodness.

Regarding outside-of-battle changes; one of them I noticed is how you were able to revive Chidori. Originally you had to talk to Junpei on four separate days on September just to convince him to visit her in the hospital. In Reload they completely changed it so you just had to buy the white flowers. It's a little more straight-forward and I actually enjoyed that change. One change I was indifferent on was Yukari's SL where, when reversing the arcana, they made the choice more obvious where you would say she is a girl rather than hugging her in hopes to make her feel better. While I wasn't the most thrilled on the change I can see why it was made.

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☑ More Strega >:)

Oh hell yeah!! I was super ecstatic when I saw the new scenes when I played through the game >:D not only was I ready to kick their ass again, but seeing what else is in store regarding their tasks and potential additional backstory.

We already know Chidori got enough screentime as is, so I was looking forward to seeing what Atlus has given to the male duo of the antagonizing group. A lot of them are the same, but some of the others definitely more focused on Takaya when he went to interact with the protagonist. Originally the protagonist never mingled with the villains (in fact it felt mostly ignored in every encountered they had), so when Takaya shows keen interest on the protagonist and how he wields multiple Personas, it gave Takaya his own moment of development as he tries to convince the protagonist to "not throw his gift away" and embrace the Dark Hour as is. Takaya already shows to have no interest or attachment with anyone (rip Jin), but the fact he did end up questioning himself whether or not he was feeling any attachment for the Wild Card, it was indeed a new look on how we see him as a villain.

ALSO BDJKVBJDS THEIR WHOLE FINAL BATTLES WERE WILD!! Jin stabbing himself with those enhancement drugs went raw, and Takaya having an unbelievable Thuergy attack surely took me by surprise!!! This is not without my own complaints for them, ofc...

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☑ T h e B u i l d - u p (& The Cinematic Experience overall)

When first jumping into the game it already gives a creepy-and-almost-horror vibe to the introduction of the game. You finally got off at your stop, making your way to the student dormitory only for the sky to turn green and the puddles of blood to appear all of the sudden. It's a real nice way to showing what the Dark Hour is, without telling you right away what (which makes it even more unnerving).

And then jumping to 3/5 being the final day of the game, the whole entire scene with you laying on Aigis's lap gives you time to get hit in the feels once the android gets to say what she finds in her meaning of life. Love that it was more of a cinematic experience, since I didn't have to click "X" to continue any sort of dialogue and therefore get to sit back and relax and watch everything happening. And the dialogue choices you choose... damn, the layout for that does a lot with the timing given too. I really enjoyed the ending a lot more than the original for sure, and seeing the cast running up the stairs to find you was such a great addition (That's how it went for the 2014 P3 movie as well).

Regarding the Social Links:

Another note I've taken is with the addition of voice acting, talking to everyone on the 4th day of March adds a lot more emotion to their dialogues, as you get to find out what some of them wanted to do with their life after school. The little details they added definitely adds a whole layer of accomplishment and knowing what you did to save the world was very much worth it, and being able to secure all your friends' futures. I love that emotional feeling when I went to talk all the SLs I maxed :')

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now unto...

My If's and But's:

⍉ The Voice Cast

I gotta admit: Since the start of my playthrough I wasn't a huge fan of few of the voice cast for certain characters (Akihiko and Ikutsuki were some of the big ones). Some of those however did grow on me, and I started to appreciate them more the farther I got into the game. Junpei and Mitsuru in my opinion were perfect on their own 👌 no complaints with them. Fuuka is also perfect, gives me Fluttershy vibes LOL. Yukari and Aigis took only a little time to get used to and I think they're almost perfect for their roles as well. Aleks Le as the protagonist was also a great choice!

Akihiko in particular took me a lot longer in getting used to- I've always thought Liam O Brian was perfect as the original VA for Akihiko. After some time getting used to it, he started to grow on me. Same for Takaya too, as I wasn't so sure what I thought of him at first but his evil laughs surely did him justice. Speaking of Justice- Ken also took some getting used to, since at first he didn't exactly sound like a kid to me at the start (there's a difference between sounding like a kid, or sounding like a woman trying to sound like a kid).

The ones I'm more 'eh' about is Ikutsuki and Jin. Ikutsuki sounds a bit too mature for my liking, as his lighthearted jokes doesn't match with his voice at all to me. And while Jin did sound like his snarky self in the Strega introduction and while facing off against SEES... he also has a shift of tone in other scenes?? It was a weird mix to me when I first notice it, I wasn't sure what that was about (could be me being very particular about it as a Jin fan myself). Best guess is he chooses to drop his act when he's around Takaya, revealing how he actually talks (also can we talk about the fact that Jin actually shows care for Chidori?? Like? This is amazing on so many levels??)

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⍉ Some Dialogue Changes

It was to be expected that the Reloaded script isn't going to be 1:1 ratio with the original (especially if it's a little outdated and out of touch), but I can't help but some difference in dialogue that I feel is odd or seen as unnecessary.

One of the first things I noticed is how much they toned down some of Yukari's dialogues in regards to her attitude. I get that some of her lines can come off as rude or maybe even uncalled for, but I feel like that adds a bit to her character. To only soften her up makes some of her conflicts with the other characters not as... compelling.

Another irk I had was when they have Akihiko say random outbursts of "What?" or "What was that?", which I don't recall hearing him say that many times- Huh? Oh, you thought I would be complaining about the protein mentions lol. Tho tbf the random 'protein' lines was indeed a bit much, but it wasn't as over the top as some hardcore fans put it as. It was tolerable, at worst, but it was the random 'what' lines he had that threw me off the most.

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⍉ No FeMC:

Now I'm not really down about the lack of FeMC in the game, since Reload is supposed to go off of the original games to start with. As much as I would love a female protagonist in Reload, I can live without one. Chances are, who knows, maybe there will be a potential DLC content with her in the future? Could be a long stretch.

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What I feel the Game Lacked (or no likey):

☒ The Iconic Animated Cutscene (Specifically: MC's Awakening)

Now this game isn't without some flaws, that's for sure!

When we got to the cutscene at the rooftop when Yukari and the protagonist were about to face the Magician Arcana boss, I thought the awakening scene would've been 2D animated- just how it was for the original (the P3 movie did this scene extremely well; in fact my favorite so far). While the cutscene we were given wasn't bad at all (I'm not trying to say it is), but I feel like giving that same scene the 2D Anime treatment would've looked a lot better! The animators could really push for some dynamic angles or animation movements that would've sold to be more epic than it being in 3D.

I would definitely understand if they wanted to balance out between doing two-dimensional and doing three-dimensional throughout the entire game, but in my personally bias the 2D animated scenes have a unique charm to their looks and I almost always prefer that over the typical in-game scenes (after all I did feel like there wasn't many 2D animated scenes throughout).

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☒ The Change of the Heart Items

Now this is more of a personal nitpick for me, playing FES as my first P3 game (techically I started Portable first, but then I fully switched over to FES), but I missed the original heart items I'd get by leveling up my Personas. From what I recall: The heart items you'd get would be accessories you'd give to your teammates that can indeed block certain elemental attacks. It was extremely useful to block certain weaknesses my team would have and it helped out pretty well. Speaking of, are they still in the game? Mhe, I may have to go through my NG+ to see if they do exist, cuz chances are I must've missed it.

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And now for my final nitpick...

☒ Lack of Jin/other Strega content (& his development in Reload)

Now personally, I like Jin.

Actually that's a lie: I love Jin! Both design-wise and as a character! So you can expect me to go off on why I believed Atlus wasted their potential to build his character up based on very little development he received from the games. First off: You only ever see him around Takaya 99% of the time (only time by himself is at the top of Tartarus, tho that's different given he's there for Takaya's wish). Second of all: Atlus really made it sound like they'd do Strega some good by giving them their much needed backstory that they lacked since the existence of P3. But instead, most of that effort went to Takaya, leaving Jin in the dust once more.

While I did feel I put my expectations a little too high for them to work with Jin on that matter, I believe it would've done some good if they chose to flesh him out as an actual character, starting by seeing him outside the Dark Hour and on his own typing away on his laptop or something...

And while I did mention already that Jin did show actual concern for Chidori in the game (that I'm very much happy about), I felt that quickly went away as soon as the two went to 'rescue' Chidori from the hospital (and Jin's "hurry up already" doesn't really help with that either). And when Chidori gave her life up for Junpei during that scene, Jin... didn't really show much reaction at all, which was very much a downer.

Meanwhile I also relaized they cut back on some of Jin's usual battle animations during the fight, which was extremely disappointing. So there was no backflips, no breakdancing out of a Knock Down, none of that. And he doesn't even toss his grenade in his walk cycle anymore (perhaps that was for the best if he's out in public). And after beating Jin at the top of Tartarus and leaving him behind with a bunch of Shadows that just appeared (now this is just me), they didn't even bother making an animation of him pulling out a grenade or whatever. Just a cut in at the team running off and hearing an explosion after that, leaving it to you to use your imagination how it went. I also realized Fuuka didn't turn her head to look at Jin before leaving off-screen, which is a shame too.

So yeah, tldr; real lack of effort put into Jin as he gets the short end of the stick like usual.

ʚїɞ

Conclusion: What I'm Looking Forward to...

Now with my praises and rants out of the way, I do have some hopes for any later content Atlus may give for Reload in the upcoming future. Specifically any DLCs they may make, since I feel it has been hinted at (or rumored?) there will be new content in the future.

One of my hopes is for The Answer DLC. Given we've already taken a look at the Senpai Trio's past already in Reload and Aigis, after losing her beloved leader, would be going through a rough patch of phase of existential crisis. And the original Answer had some problems, as it became somewhat controversial within the fandom (particularly with Yukari). At this point it would give Atlus a good opportunity to fix some of the issues within the game (especially regarding the bosses and battles, like jesus christ!) and flesh it out better. And after playing through the game and seeing subtle hints that Aigis would be given future development post-Journey, I have no doubt The Answer will come out in a timely manner.

My other hope (which is more of a self-indulgent request, but whatev), if possible, that after expressing my issues and concerns with villains already, Atlus may take up the opportunity to create an exclusive Strega DLC! For that to be happening can indeed be very unlikely (I know), but if there's ever a possibility that they can perhaps take inspiration or rip a page out of the Shadow Cry novel that is about Strega, it would definitely help flesh them out and show what their routines are like day-to-day. They can even make it a short and cheap type of content, I wouldn't care, I'll take whatever they would have!

On that note: Some more Strega merch would be nice...

Anyways, thanks to anyone who took the time to read this (this took me a couple hours to write up), and have a good rest of your day :)

[freyayuki]

Final Fantasy Record Keeper Vincent Valentine Updated Relics and Stats List

In the Final Fantasy Record Keeper (FFRK) mobile game, Final Fantasy VII is the realm where I have the most relics. That’s because FF7 is my fave realm in this game.

If there’s a Final Fantasy VII banner or if a Final Fantasy VII char is featured on a banner, I almost always pull on said banner.

This post is all about Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and all the Soul Breaks that I currently have for him as well as his current stats and such.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper End of Service Announcement

Unfortunately, Final Fantasy Record Keeper just recently announced that it was gonna end its service on September 29, 2022. I talk more about that in another post.

I really wish this didn’t have to happen. I don’t want FFRK to end, at least not anytime soon.

Anyway, I’m hoping to be able to finish as much of FFRK’s content as I can before everything ends on September 29, 2022. I talk more about that in another post.

I also want to take screenshots of a couple of stuff in the game before the end.

Vincent Valentine Relics List

Here’s a list of all the relics that I have for Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII (#ad) and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII:

Limit Break Overstrike (LBO), Galian Scratch

Chain Soul Break (CSB), Cerberus Soul

Synchro Arcane Soul Break 1 (SASB1), Bestial Claws

SASB2, Chaos Saber

Awakened Arcane Soul Break 1 (AASB1), Chthonian Blaze

AASB2, Galian Saber

Ultra Soul Break 1 (USB1), Lucrecia's Lament

USB2, Dirge of Cerberus

Glint+ Soul Break (G+), Munitions Reload

Glint Soul Break (G), Forsaken Power

Burst Soul Break 2 (BSB2), Flame Penalty

Default Soul Break, Head Shot

Legend Materia 1, Turk Among Turks

Legend Materia 2, Beast Within

Legend Materia Relic 1 (LMR1), Seeing Red

Missing 6 or 7 of Vincent’s Soul Breaks:

True Arcane Soul Break (TASB) or Arcane Dyad Soul Break (ADSB), Satan Slam

USB3, Marksman's Spite

BSB1, Galian Beast

Super Soul Break 1 (SSB1), Cerberus Shell

SSB2, Bestial Roar

Unique Soul Break, Chain Shot

LMR2, Beastly Aspect

Unfortunately, FFRK ended before I had the chance to take more screenshots of Vincent’s relics, stats, character profiles, and such.

Wasn’t able to take a screenshot of the Materia tab of his relics list, and now I can’t remember for sure if I have his LMR2 or not.

This one gives him fastcast 3 on battle start but I don’t think I’ve ever used this. Pretty sure I always have Vincent equipped with his LMR1 and his Legend Materia 2.

His LMR1 gives him a chance to dualcast fire-type abilities while Beast Within powers him up and restores his HP back to full when it drops to a low amount during battle.

I remember picking Vincent’s Glint+ Soul Break from the Final Fantasy Record Keeper Summer Sun Relic Draw Stamp Sheet Glint Soul Break or Legend Materia Relic select. I talk more about this in another post.

Vincent’s Glint+ is great because it instantly gives him 2 bars so I can have him cast his Chain or one of his BDL relics as soon as the battle starts or whenever I want him to.

Anyway, of the relics that I know for sure that I’m missing for Vincent, the only one that I can’t get from the The Record Lab by using Anima Lenses is his TASB.

Even his LMR2 is Lensable though I still can’t remember for sure if I already have this or not.

If the game was still ongoing, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have bothered to Lens this. Also wouldn’t bother Lensing the other relics that I’m missing for Vincent because they’re all outdated by now, and getting them would just be a waste of resources, especially if I’m not gonna use them anyway.

But with the news that FFRK was coming to an end, I wouldn’t have minded spending the Lenses needed to get these relics. After all, there was no more point in saving any of the resources and materials and such in this game.

Too bad Final Fantasy Record Keeper ended before I had the chance to get all of Vincent’s Lensable relics.

It’s also too bad that I never got his TASB. I’d been meaning to try pulling for it whenever it returned on a banner because it was the only relic that I’m missing for Vincent that I can’t Lens. But now I’ll never be able to get it since the game is over by now. Sigh.

Vincent Valentine Info

In Final Fantasy Record Keeper, Vincent Valentine is a hybrid DPS slash support who deals fire elemental damage.

As a hybrid char, Vincent can be made to deal either magical fire or physical fire damage depending on which stat of his is currently higher.

If his MAG stat is higher, then he’ll deal magical damage. If his ATK stat is higher, then he’ll deal physical damage.

Vincent has one of the best magical fire Chains in the game. He can equip the Machinist ability that has the chance to imperil the fire element. He has Soul Breaks that allow him to imperil fire.

Vincent deals pretty good damage while also supporting the party via his imperils and Chain.

Fire is my favorite and strongest element in Final Fantasy Record Keeper because that’s the element of Genesis Rhapsodos from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

Currently, Genesis is my absolute, most fave Final Fantasy char. He’s the reason why I’m playing Final Fantasy Record Keeper.

So I always try to bring Genesis to every fight, even the ones with enemies that resist fire and/or aren’t naturally weak to fire.

I’m always looking to improve my physical fire team. Genesis is my main DPS, of course, but I’m always on the lookout for secondary physical fire DPS and other chars who could help make my fire team the best it can possibly be.

When I got 2 BDL relics for Vincent, he became part of my phsysical fire elemental team as my secondary DPS who could also help imperil fire.

Vincent was also on my magical fire team since he can be a magical DPS too. His CSB is really good so he’s also my Chain holder for my magical fire team.

I remember getting Vincent’s Sync 2 on the Final Fantasy VII Inherited Blade banner.

This one has a bonus effect depending on how many Final Fantasy VII chars you have in your party, so it’s not necessarily better than Vincent’s Sync 1.

I’d bring Vincent’s Sync 2 if I’m taking a full Final Fantasy VII party to a fight but I’d opt for his Sync 1 if I only have 1 or 2 FF7 chars in my team.

If I could, I would have readily brought both Syncs. But the thing is each char can only equip 1 Sync at a time, which is really too bad. Vincent will be even better if I could use both of his Syncs on the same fight.

Anyway, Vincent’s AASB2 was also featured on the Final Fantasy VII Inherited Blade banner. Thankfully, I was also able to pull for this Soul Break. I talk more about my pulls on this banner in this post.

Vincent’s AASB2 is definitely better than his AASB1. But at least I don’t have to choose between the 2 because there’s no limit to the number of Awakenings each char can equip.

Getting more BDL relics for Vincent just made him even better and has really helped to cement his place on my fire team.

Got to use Vincent in a lot of fights. I remember that he was part of my team when I went to take on the physical and fire-weak version of White Odin or Argent Odin. This is a quest level 600 fight. I talk more about this fight in this post.

Vincent was also part of my team when I took on the magical and fire-weak version of Argent Odin. I talk more about that in this post.

When I got more of Sephiroth’s (from Final Fantasy VII) fire-type Soul Breaks, I started using Vincent less in my physical fire team. That’s because Sephiroth became my secondary DPS.

Sephi doesn’t really offer anything other than damage but the damage he deals is really good.

The fire imperils from Vincent are helpful and important but the thing is that I do always have Balthier (Ffamran mied Bunansa) from Final Fantasy XII as part of my physical fire team.

Balthier’s Chain Soul Break is one of the best physical fire Chains in FFRK. I’m really glad I have this relic because it really helps to boost the damage output of my fire chars.

As a result of having Balthier’s fire Chain, he’s always a part of my fire team alongside Genesis.

Balthier can equip the Machinist ability that has the chance to imperil fire. He also has a Legend Materia that gives him the chance to imperil fire. He even has an Ultra Soul Break that lowers the enemy’s resistance to the fire element by 2 levels.

So it’s not like I really need Vincent to imperil fire although having him around does mean that I can quickly max out an enemy’s resistance to the fire element.

The point is that between Sephiroth and Vincent, Sephi deals more damage so I started using him more and more as my secondary DPS, especially once I started getting more BDL relics for him.

Vincent is still part of my magical fire team since he’s still one of my top DPS for magical fire and his fire CSB is still one of the best magical fire Chains in the game.

If I can make it work, my physical fire team would usually be Genesis, Sephiroth, Vincent, and Balthier with the fifth char being a healer and buffer.

This slot was usually filled by either Lenna Charlotte Tycoon from Final Fantasy V, Elarra from Final Fantasy Record Keeper, or Aeris or Aerith Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII.

On really hard fights, this team will unfortunately not work though. I’d need to bring a support like Tyro from Final Fantasy Record Keeper instead of another damage dealer like Vincent.

An example was when I took on the physical-weak version of Snow Giant, the boss of the Labyrinth Nexus Season 2, Part 1 dungeon in the Labyrinth Dungeons. This quest is level 650. I talk more about this fight in this post.

Vincent is still part of my Final Fantasy VII realm team since said team has basically become a fire team too. This happened once I got more fire relics for Sephiroth and Barret Wallace from Final Fantasy VII.

I remember that I was able to clear the Final Fantasy VII Dragonking Dungeon quest level 630 fight with Genesis, Sephiroth, Vincent, Balthier, and Aerith.

Even managed to sub-30 this fight with the battle ending at 26.95 seconds. I talk more about that in this post.

Glad I got to use Vincent a lot in Final Fantasy Record Keeper. Wish I’d been able to get more of his relics and gotten to use him even more.

Vincent Valentine Hero Artifacts and Hero Ability

My Vincent is currently equipped with his Hero Artifacts:

Level 99 of 99 Death Penalty (VII)

Level 99 of 99 Vincent’s Bandana (VII-DoC)

Level 1 of 1 Vincent’s Boots (VII)

Both weapon and armor have been augmented up to Level 5 of 99.

Unfortunately, wasn’t able to double-check if I’d been able to get the best passives for all of Vincent’s Hero Artifacts. I think one or 2 of his Arts have the best passives.

Anyway, I also created Vincent’s Hero Ability. It’s a Machinist-type ability called Beast Flare. Vincent’s currently equipped with that and the Burnt Offering ability.

Vincent Valentine Stats

Vincent currently has the following stats:

ATK - 878

MAG - 895

ACC - 126

DEF - 448

RES - 538

EVA - 130

MND - 90

SPD - 182

Vincent Valentine Magia Crystals

Currently, Vincent has 489 Magia points. Unfortunately, wasn’t able to take a screenshot of his Magia Crystals list before the game ended.

But I’m positive that Vincent used to have 100 points in his Magic Magia Crystal and 100 in his Attack Magia Crystal. Then I reset his points so he didn’t have any in his Magic Magia Crystal anymore.

This was because Vincent has a higher magic stat when compared to his attack stat. Whenever I tried to gear Vincent to deal physical damage, he still ended up with a higher magical stat anyway.

This was back when Vincent was still a prominent part of my physical fire team and when my magical fire team wasn’t that good or fully built yet. So I wanted Vincent to deal more physical damage.

I don’t think I ever got to bring Vincent’s Magic Magia Crystal back to 100 points. Even without this though, Vincent still has a higher magic stat anyway. It’s kind of infuriating.

As for the rest of his Magia points, pretty sure 100 went to his Fire Magia Crystal. His HP Magia Crystal should have 100 points as well then the rest should be split between his DEF and RES Magia Crystals.

Vincent Valentine Crystal Water Points

Wasn’t able to take a screenshot but I’m pretty sure that my Vincent has max Crystal Waters for the following stats: ATK, MAG, HP, DEF, and RES.

Vincent Valentine Character Profile

Each char in Final Fantasy Record Keeper has a Character Profile. This has 2 tabs - Overview and Hero Record.

Unfortunately, wasn’t able to take screenshots of Vincent’s Overview and Hero Record.

But here’s some of what is listed under the Overview tab of Vincent’s Character Profile:

Vincent’s Role is listed as Offensive Magic, which isn’t entirely accurate since Vincent is a hybrid char so he could be a physical DPS too.

Under the Special Traits heading is the following text:

Proficient with a variety of weapons and armor, with a focus on guns and rods. Can use rare black magic abilities, buffing his Magic to deal heavy elemental magic damage.

The Hero Record tab of Vincent’s Character Profile has the following text:

A gunslinger who slept in a coffin in the Shinra Mansion for many years, Vincent is one of the few who knows Sephiroth's true origin. Vincent has been surgically altered, giving him eternal youth and the ability to change into a variety of beasts.

If Vincent had any costumes, it would have been listed in the Hero Record tab under the Wardrobe Records heading. Too bad Vincent doesn’t have any alt outfits in this game.

Ugh. I’m really annoyed that I wasn’t able to take more Vincent-related screenshots before Final Fantasy Record Keeper ended. Wish I’d been able to take more notes and info and such about all of this. Sigh.

It really sucks that the game is all over now. I really wish we could have gotten more time to play FFRK.

Conclusion

So what about you? What do you think about Vincent Valentine from Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII? Do you have a lot of Soul Breaks for him? What do you think about the fact that Final Fantasy Record Keeper is all over now? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below or by reblogging or replying to this post.

Notes:

screenshots are from my Final Fantasy Record Keeper game account

[three--rings]

So I finished Persona 3 Reload last night.

Great game. I think personally, my Persona games rankings are 5, 3, 4. I know that might be controversial. And it's not that I didn't like 4, but I connect a lot more to the characters of 5, and I really like the mood/themes of 3. 4 is fun and the story is good, but IDK.

Course it could just be because 3 is recent in my mind and I'd change my ranking if/when I replay 4. But I guess I'm just edgy and like the dark shit.

Obviously I can't compare Reload to the previous versions of 3, not having played them, but it was really great. The animations were super impressive and voice acting, mechanics, honestly just great across the board. I do wish we could have the female MC option, though. I'd love to replay with that.

Looking forward to the DLC in September.

Oh, so I'll share the theory I had for like the first half of playing: I was convinced MC/Makoto was a robot. Like after Aigis was introduced, I was like, OH he's SO a secret robot. Like, he's all unemotional and has this totally mysterious past where it seems like he just APPEARED coming into town. IDK it worked in my head.

Obviously I was wrong. But that would be a fun protagonist twist.

I romanced Mitsuru, mainly because she's just hot and my taste. Second runner up was Fuuka.

About the ending:

I sorta anticipated that he would die at the end. It made sense with the theme. And so in the final battle, when he sacrificed himself I was all, yup, I get it, cool. And I had seen some comments online that made me think I was correct about how it was gonna go.

And then he came back and I was like, okay I guess I was wrong?

But then everyone we talked to said "you're not looking good" and I was like "OH okay." And then I got to the actual end and was all "Did we just...die? It was kinda unclear."

But I did check and okay yeah. I mean it really only makes sense that he dies. I absolutely love the theme of death in this game and accepting death when it's unavoidable and finding meaning in it...

Anyway, I was going to replay BG3 next but Little Kitty Big City is on Gamepass, so I've already started that. I've been waiting like a year for it and it's so freaking cute.