Part 103: 12/01/09 - 12/31/09: Lyapunov Exponent
So, it's that time again. Time for a brief - and in this case I do mean brief - detour into the world of Portable. December has the least changes by far, though January will more than make up for it...
Anyway, first off: Ken.
Warm Feeling
No video for this one, because Ken's only voiced at his rank 10 scene if you date him. Don't. Don't date Ken.
I'd remember things like what my mom would tell me...
...I think I was scared to remember those things. I couldn't handle that I'd never hear them again.> Ken looks off into the distance and smiles.
Kotone-san...
I never cared about myself or my own feelings... But, it's a little different now. I want to take care of the things I have right now. That's how I think when I'm with you. It slowly dawned on me... This may be what Shinjiro-san was trying to tell me. I-I want to give you this. ...Please, accept it.
That's the key to my house. I m-mean, my house is long gone. But I've been holding onto that key all this time.
I can't accept this. No, I really want you to have it.
I... I've started thinking about what it means to be "left behind."
I still think that my mother must've had regrets. She... She died, and left a kid behind, after all.
My mother left them for me. That key... is filled with those memories. I wanted to give it to you, because you reminded me of those times.> Ken speaks hesitantly, but you hear the sincerity in his voice.
I said that I want to be able... to protect the people closest to me. I want to be able to use my powers the right way. It's not just my Persona abilities...
...And I wish that those people will always be able to be happy. I'm... happy right now. Thank you... This is all because of everyone, but you most of all.> Ken nods reassuringly...
> He looks more like an adult than usual.
> His face is truly that of a fine young man.
> You sense a deep bond between yourself and Ken...
The Path Is Open
Melchizedek is the same here as in FES, disappointingly.
Warm Feeling
I want to help you and everyone else out more. I know I'm still unreliable, but I'm sure that there must be something that I can do too... So please, rely on me more.> You spent a long time talking with Ken about all sorts of things...
Silence
Since we don't have anime cutscenes, Ryoji and Aigis' battle plays out with... just dialogue and anime screenshots in the background. It's even dead silent musically outside of the small bit where Unavoidable Battle would play!
At least they did take the effort to draw a blurry model for Young Kotone.
Aigis even gets a new portrait for all of like 3 lines of dialogue at the end here. It's nice to see, even if it really doesn't get the damage she received across anywhere near as well.
When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars (Reincarnation) / Way of Life -Deep Inside My Mind-
After that we have the build up for exams! Since Portable modified links, this time period plays out a lot differently now... namely that we have a week of nothing. Yep. We have nothing we can do during the day except stat boosts or the shrine.
To get boosts for Mitsuru. And only Mitsuru. She's our only non-plot link at this point.
So, we'll be skipping all the way ahead to Christmas Eve then.
After School
The Paulownia Mall looks pretty fancy with all this stuff up. It does, huh? Today's a special day, after all.> Akihiko is a bit embarrassed...
Hey look, there are decorations over there, too. Let's go see.> You walk around and enjoy the lights with Akihiko.
I-I... I have a present for you.
The Music Box we get from Akihiko is way better than, like, everything else you can possibly get today. Across both possible versions.
I-I've never had to pick out something like this before... So... Ah, never mind.
Christmas never meant much to me. ...In fact, it was more painful than anything. The town might get all lit up, but "Santa" never visited me...
But this year... He gave me a gift, too.> You've shared a tender moment with Akihiko.
Warm Feeling
...... About that present I gave you... You can open it and put stuff inside. The saleswoman said it's for storing jewelry... ...... I think I'll give you something new to put in it every year... ...D-Don't make that face at me. ...... Can I move closer? What, are you cold? ...... Your ears are like ice... ...... You wanna come over to my room...?
So, uh, the Music Box is an infinite-use in combat item. It just restores 50 SP to one person, but since nothing costs more than that...
It's still not super great, or inherently gamebreaking or anything, but it's the best available item for sure.
There's only one new person in Tartarus this month. She's up on the 203rd floor...
And the reward isn't even all that great or anything either. 8 Diamonds is nice, don't get me wrong, but it's not as good as most other rewards have been.
Mistic
And our last adjustment for the month (yes, really) is on New Year's Eve itself. After we opt to left Ryoji live, just before we head on back downstairs...
Thank you... Goodbye... And... I'm sorry. I wish we could have had more time together... ...It was nice. I'm glad we met.
Thank you...> Ryoji is smiling.
> Ryoji slipped off a ring that was on his finger.
Could you... hold onto this? It's proof that I was "human," for however short a time.
If you held onto it for me, I... ...I think I'll be able to stand it.
> You feel a strong, solid bond with Ryoji...
The Path Is Open
Mistic
Norn's level 62, focused very heavily on Wind and has pretty good Magic to the detriment of her Endurance. She's basically the game going "what if the main character had a better Isis but without healing spells." She even drains Wind and is weak to Elec! Until level 69 when she absorbs Elec.
She'll be more important for having the unique upper-tier Wind spell, which she just starts with.
And then we go back downstairs, Ryoji tells us about the end of January, leaves, we get Max Fool and start Judgement.
I told you it was brief. December has a giant deadspot of free time because we just have Mitsuru to hang out with. There's really little to see this time around.