Part 33: 07/07/09: In the Shadow of a Loving Moon

Alright, so today is a Full Moon. I guess this is gonna be a long one...

An Unpleasant Premonition



Better than ever.
Wow, you're amazing!
We're going to have a quick meeting tonight about the operation.
So, please return to the dorm immediately after school.



> You should return to the dorm and prepare yourself.

Unlike last time, we don't get a chance today to spend time on anything more low-key and relaxing beforehand.

Dark Hour Scouting

The Voice Someone Calls



...Just a moment...
I found it! I sense a strong presence!
Hey, we were right!
Or so it would seem.
It's located in Iwatodai... inside a building on Shirakawa Boulevard.
Hmm, Shirakawa Boulevard...



In pairs...
...Oh, I get it.

Lucia gets despawned at this point, since her job's done.



I've heard about it, but...
That's where all THOSE hotels are. That explains a lot!
You've heard about 'em, right Fuuka? Where people go to... you know...



The rooms are a bit fancier, that's all.
Aw man, that's it?
I don't know about this... Maybe I shouldn't go...
You're just like a little kid, Yuka-tan...
Wh-Whatever!
Fine. Let's go.



I think given the context, you might wanna pick better words...

So, who's gonna take the lead?
I don't see any reason to change leaders now.
And Yamagishi, I want you to handle support during the operation.
I'll do my best!
Alright, then I'll let you decide on the rest of the team. Let's do this.

End



Alright, now we get to pick our team for the operation for the first time. Yukari's forced herself into the party right out the gate, though...



And, like promised, she can't be removed. At least we can still change her gear now and give her that a Thunder Charm.



But, please be careful.

As you'd expect, of course, Ikutsuki's just here for like moral support. Which is fine, really.



Anyway, Akihiko gets to go back on the bench for tonight. He's sort of used to it, but he's not got an injury to blame this time!



But there's no time to dwell on that. Let's begin the operation!

A Deep Mentality



And we're just, like, immediately teleported to the first floor of the hotel. Sure, okay. Definitely can't complain about that.



We can find Room 101 immediately, but alas we can't put anything in there. It's also the only room on the first floor...



But, well, we can't go in any room really. There's nothing at all on the second floor, and the third floor is mostly empty as well.



The very visibly striking Hierophant's Chamber, between the chimes and the curtains and the golden door, is the only thing of note at all right now. So, we'll head on in, then...

That Which Comes From The Darkness



As the Fool continues his journey, he is over time exposed to beliefs and cultural traditions. Throughout his education, he meets the Hierophant - the wisened Papal figure who understands the knowledge and mysteries and can interpret them accordingly.

Well, let's get this over with!

V. Arcana Hierophant
no portable video of this fight right now for, uh, reasons. its definitely not because i cant be arsed right now, honest

Master of Shadow



A clear religious figure, wearing clerical vestements, the Arcana Hierophant is the representation of the Reversed Hierophant. The misuse of knowledge and religion to trick people and gain followers...



...In this case, representations of those ill-gotten followers are just part of his design. The stick-figure creatures are this representation and are not separate targets.



Anyway, uh, the Hierophant is definitely the hardest of the Full Moon fights we've had to contend with so far. A very high bar to cross, I'm sure. He's not exactly the most varied of folks to deal with, though.



He really likes Zionga, of course, but he can't kill anyone with a single use of it. Even Yukari survives (albeit only just), though that's not really a good situation to be in.



Oh, and he can just pelt everyone with Elec for good measure.



Yukari being forced in, and so kind of a liability here, is why I grabbed a Thunder Charm for her, yes.



He's very reminiscent of the Priestess, appropriately enough, in that his only real resistance is that he repels Elec. Not like this is something that's going to come up with this party but hey.



When it's a safe prospect, he'll use those cardboard cutout dudes to make basic Strike attacks. This is usually on a One More for, well, sensible reasons and so he can capitalise on someone (Yukari) being downed.



In that situation, it does real damage and is a bit of a nuisance but not really a real threat. It's not like it comes up much after all.



If he's not doing that, he can do whatever but he mainly ues Prophecy of Ruin.



An appropriately titled skill with a pretty simple, but effective, animation that...



Well, it's multi-target Fear. Much like when the Empress tried Fear, it's not because he can capitalise on it in a nasty way.



...But it's multi-target and Luck is his best stat, so it can just shut-down your entire party entirely at random and thats just plain obnoxious. Especially when you remember that you take more damage AND are more likely to be critted.



If there are any buffs in play, at all, he can also just use Dekaja. It's not super-common with just the one but it becomes more and more likely the more there are.



He can also use Sukunda, and uh... that's it as far as debuffs go. Weird choice, really.



Finally, he can be a gigantic rudeboy and just use Swift Strike.



...Which since he only ever did it to me while Fear was in play, means that its a massive ol' death sentence rather than a very mean move. Even though he only has 14 Strength.



Anyway, the strategy for this guy is dead simple. Auto-Tarukaja means we have a damage boost on Makoto out the gate. Rakunda gives that to everyone and boosts Makoto's damage further. Notable skill Getsu-Ei, which already has 120 base power, is kinda really good this early for obvious reasons I would hope.



But between the Tarukaja and Rakunda it averages 200dmg a hit (presuming its 10% base crit rate doesn't happen). The Hierophant has 1500HP, so this adds up quickly. The other 3 can add a little over 200 if they all attack, so it doesn't take too long.



...Especially if someone manages to slip in a lucky crit since an AoA adds another ~350 damage easy.



So, the Hierophant still isn't exactly super-difficult but he can be a bit rude. His stats aren't super great at 14 Strength, 16 Magic, 16 Endurance, 15 Agility and 18 Luck but at least he's not super-boring unlike the rest of the Full Moon Shadows up 'til now.



But he still gives an Absurd Amount of EXP, and thanks to Fuuka getting a new skill, we CAN now see if buffs/debuffs are active and what they are. It's a default feature in later games (including Portable) but it's not a big deal really.

End

A Deep Mentality



You succeeded once again.
I'll be waiting outside for you.

Kinda weird that it didn't just cutscene us out of the building after the fight, but whatever. We can just walk out ourselves, I guess.



> A strong force seems to be holding it shut.



It's not the same one you defeated!
But... Where is it hiding?

Well, let's take a look around I guess. I feel like another Shadow would be very apparent, but whatever.



Time to look around the room a bit, to see what stands out. The bed was pretty obvious as a focal point, but the Hierophant was there so the other Shadow couldn't really be.



So, I guess we'll just go around clockwise then. There's not much over here though.



...Not here. But I would argue that having giant windows that let you see into the bathroom is itself pretty unusual!



This isn't remotely unusual, though. We are in the Dark Hour after all.



And the Shadow isn't hiding in the crapper. Well, that just leaves one thing...



Hm?
Is it just me, or is there something strange about this mirror?

Well, it doesn't seem to reflect us...



Oh and there was a screenflash so I'm going with "yes?"

Under A Loving Moon

Silence



Welp, we're back in the land of animated cutscenes...



...for a shower scene. Great. I'm sure this is what everyone wanted.



And, yeah, this is pretty much the entire reason Yukari gets forced into the party for this one. It's really dumb.



Thankfully, it's short.

The Voice Someone Calls



> You hear the shower running in the bathroom...

> You don't remember why you are here...

(Where was I?)

> It feels like you had something important to do...



> A strange voice rings inside your head...



Something about this sure doesn't seem like Orpheus...

Voice: Enjoy the moment... That which cannot be felt is merely a dream... The present is all we have.

(That's not true...)

Voice: The future is but a fantasy, memory a fabrication...



(I can't give in...)

Voice: Pleasure is what you truly want. You stand before the doorway to bliss. You cannot deny you instincts... Embrace your desire...

(Now's not the time...)



> You have regained control of your thoughts...

> The shower in the bathroom has been turned off.



*gasp*







Glad to see that Yukari's back to normal as well. Though, uh, it really could've been in a better circumstance.



Can you two hear me?
What's going on?
I'm sorry I couldn't contact you sooner...
The Shadow was interfering with your thoughts...
And you all got seperated...
The enemy is still in the same room. Please regroup and hurry there.
...Did you hear that, Yukari?
...Uh, sorry... Yeah... I heard you.
Um... Did something happen?
No! Nothing!



If you tell anyone... I won't ever speak to you again.

End

A Deep Mentality



Its power is blanketing the whole building.
I'm pretty sure it's in that one room you were in before...
But, it somehow sealed the door, so I don't think you'll be able to get in.
I'll try to find out if there's a way to break the seal...
Please join the others. They're on the floor above you.

We do get control back here, but there's nothing else that happens when we only have the pair so...



I didn't know there was another Shadow...
Anyway, you okay?
How about you guys?
W-We're fine! Nothing happened!



They're giving off the same energy as the Shadow!
Maybe the seal will vanish if you break the mirrors...
I remember this one mirror we saw on the 3rd floor was different from the others...
When I stood in front of it, I felt kinda strange...

Alright, so we just need to go around and break mirrors, huh?



Well, there isn't one in the room on the first floor so we'll start with Room 201 I guess. It's right there and all.



Naturally, there's a mirror right in here so we'll just give this a bit of a break.



It just... cracks, like immediately. A bit disappointing, but whatever.



But then we get this and shunted back downstairs.



So, it's not actually ALL mirrors. We can still break wrong mirrors, get sent back here and Fuuka'll give us more hints to it. But, really, it's not that difficult.



So, we'll go back to the second floor and try to find a mirror we are meant to break this time around.

But, hey, there's smaller Shadows hanging around now that we beat the Hierophant.



...Unfortunately, they're all massively outdated at this point.



Well, the mirror in Room 205 sure looks different. It's yellow and doesn't have our reflection in it. Mainly it's the creepy yellow that gives it away though.



That and the black gunk it oozes once broken. Can't say that helps either.



There's only one mirror to break on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The one up on 3rd is in Room 304...



And with that, we can head on back to the Hierophant's Chamber. Nice and easy.

That Which Comes From The Darkness



As the Fool matures along his journey, he comes across two new challenges different to that which he has faced in the past. His natural maturity leads to a powerful urge for sex with another. He realises that he desires a relationship... his journey leads him to attempt to become one of a pair of Lovers.

Naturally, then, the Lovers card mostly primarily represents love and relationships. It also more generally can be attraction in all forms; a representation that something will cross your path. Whether it be a person, a new idea, a life-changing event...

I had to come to this disgusting place! Now. you're gonna pay!

VI. Arcana Lovers
you probably cottoned onto why i skipped the portable versions of these by now, but since we'll CLEARLY be spending more time at this event in the future, it just made more sense to stagger 'em for once.

Master of Shadow



At first glance, the Lovers seems to be a pretty overly literal representation of their Arcana. But, remember the pattern; they have to be the Reversed Lovers. They already tipped a forced pairing with their antics seperating people before...



And looking at them clearer, it's easy to see why they split the way they did. They have no strong basis for their choices and instead focuses on the biological sex and nothing more. There is no true union to make a complete whole.



It's not super-apparent in most angles, but you can clearly see that inside their heart-shaped cage-like body, they contain the astronomical symbols for Mars and Venus. These are traditionally used to represent men and women, respectively. That's how you can tell that they made their choices on the most spurious of reasoning.

Anyway, how are the Lovers in a fight? Well, resistance-wise you can see that they're very boring and have no apparent strengths or weaknesses.



...In terms of actual attacks, the have Maragion of all things. It's kinda clever if you think about it, and it would disincentive using Mitsuru (since this is one you CAN avoid) if it happened with any degree of frequency.



As you would expect, their main assault is primarily ailment based. Pulinpa's not really the first one that comes to mind though, huh? Lovers have 19 Luck so it's not too bad an idea in theory.



...Life Drain is a weird-ass move for them to use. It deals 35 damage and heals them for the same amount. It's just so rare, it happened once in half an hour of trying to get them to use all of their skills.

Oh, and they do also have Spirit Drain but that didn't happen at all and is even more irrelevant from their perspective.



This is a bit more like it, though! They can use Holy Arrow to be clever. Pierce damage AND Charm wrapped up in one.



The damage isn't a big deal, but the Charm is a major problem. Obviously.



It's a bigger problem in this fight in particular than most others, though. Especially because the AI has a dumb secret.



Yukari has Charmdi. She also has a few Dis-Charms in her personal inventory. The AI when told to heal prioritises HP over everything else. It does this in some weird nonsense situations as well.



Like this one. It seems "reasonable" since Makoto is at about half-HP but Yukari is casting Dia here on Junpei.



Yes. Really. If someone gets Charmed, its better to have Makoto heal it, even though that's a giant waste. If Makoto gets Charmed, then better hope Yukari is feeling co-operative to heal it otherwise that's effectively just a straight up game over.

Why?



Because Lovers has a nasty Almighty skill called Heartbreaker.



It's pretty hard-hitting across the board regardless, but it deals 150% damage to anyone Charmed. It doesn't get used all the time, of course, but its very frequent.



Oh and naturally Lovers also have Marin Karin just for extra odds at proccing Charm.



Really, though, losing this fight is some really bad luck and nothing else. We'll deal with it the same way we dealt with the Hierophant but with the added bonus of Lovers not having Dekaja. They have 1500HP, 15 Strength, 16 Magic, 17 Endurance, 15 Agility and 19 Luck for quick reference.

The Voice Someone Calls



Thanks for your help. The enemy was sly, but you did well.
I did what I could.
And you too, for withstanding the enemy's mental assault.
Alright, let's call it a night.





About that thing you mentioned the other day...



Fuuka nods.

Cool, tell me later.
Alright! We should head back, too.





I didn't do much, really.
Yeah, whatever...
Who cares, anyway...?

I'm gonna guess you do right now, since you brought it up?

Hey, why do you have to be like that? Don't tell me you're jealous.



Shut up!
What's up HIS butt?



Silence



> It seems like the trust between you all has grown...

> You learned a new tactic!



Pretty much exactly what it sounds like, really. Just focus exclusively on blitzing something down, though it doesn't really focus on anything other than direct damage. Includng knock downs, even. There is a bit more of a focus on buffing than Assign Target, though.



But, wait, what's this?



That was quite a show.



Their fighting style is positively fascinating...
And it seems they've gained new recruits, too.





Yes... That's an excellent idea.
Considering that he shares our fate, it would be prudent to seek his opinion.





> You expect that there will be fewer victims for a while.

> But, you are too exhausted to think about it now.

> You decide to rest as soon as you get back to the dorm...