Part 102: 9/6: Mementos Sucks

Part 99: 9/6: Mementos Sucks

Really sorry this update’s so late, folks. I’ve been a bit busy as of late, and looking at what this update entailed… can you blame me?

Music: Beneath the Mask (Instrumental Version)



We’ve been putting this off for far too long, and now we reap what we sow. It’s not just a Mementos update, but by far the longest one yet. May God have mercy on our souls.



We’ll start with this one first… This intel is on an atrocious land speculator. He’s trying to threaten the old couple who manage the theater in Yongen to make them move out. If we don’t do something, things will probably get even worse.
So he’s trying to do this because they declined his offer. We cannot allow such a horrible method to succeed.
Very well. I will go along with this.
There are still more. Next is… This intel is on a malicious cheating gamer. Apparently he’s been cheating at the arcades to show off recently. It’s been nothing but an annoyance to the other customers though.
Let’s change that immature jerk’s heart fast. We’ll show him that a real man fights fair and square.
Very well. I will go along with this.

...Really? No objections? Makoto? This dude is cheating at a video game, he’s a minor annoyance at absolute worst. Fine, whatever.

There are still more. Next is… This intel is on a harassing boss. He steals the achievements of his underlings without doing any work himself, all for his own profit. Apparently many of the workers have quit because they couldn’t handle his spiteful nature.
Using his position of power for wrongdoing? Such a horrible boss must repent for what he’s done.
Let us beat that rubbish mentality into submission.
There are still more. Next is… This intel is on a dangerous assailant who’s shown up in Shibuya recently. He only targets the weak. Many have already fallen victim to him.
Seriously? The hell are the police doin’ about this? Guess we gotta be the ones who punish this dude.
Let us beat that rubbish mentality into submission.

You don’t need to chime in on every single one, Yusuke, especially if you don’t have that much to say.

There are still more. Next is… This intel is on a college student who is abusing animals to relieve stress. Apparently a lot of cats have died by his hand…
How can someone even do that!? I don’t believe this.
I could never forgive a human like that. This will be revenge. There are still more. Next is… This is about that doctor in Yongen-Jaya, Takemi. She’s in a real pinch right now. An old boss of hers, Oyamada, is trying to crush her clinic to save himself.
This is the doctor in Yongen? Shit…
This guy is hiding some serious medical mistakes. It turns out he’s quite the criminal.
All right, we gotta operate on that dude’s rotten heart then!
OK, it looks like we’re all ready to do this! We already told Mishima, so the forum post is up and running. There are still more. Next is… This intel is on the couple related to Kawakami’s former student. They are quite the foul pair of people. They’re using the incident where that child died to try and extort money from Kawakami.
What…? Threatening her is bad enough by itself, but using a deceased child to do it… That’s just too much. We have to do this.
Mm-hm. I’ll show off my skills in front of Lady Ann.

Well, at least none of the others had to find out about Kawakami’s side job.

OK, it looks like we’re all ready to do this! We already told Mishima, so the forum post is up and running. There are still more. Next is… This intel is on the stage mother who mistreats her daughter, the shogi player Hifumi Togo. She controls every aspect of Hifumi’s career, and has thus ruined her daughter’s shogi life. She forced Hifumi to become an idol against her wishes and even plans to fix her upcoming shogi match.
She’s treating her daughter like some kind of tool. We have to release Hifumi from that state.
Very well. I will go along with this.
OK, it looks like we’re all ready to do this! We already told Mishima, so the forum post is up and running. No objections, right? Mm… we’re good to go if you’re OK with it. That’s a unanimous decision! OK, all that’s left now is to take down the target in Mementos!



Ominous.

Yo, how many targets we got? 8 of em, yeah? Let’s do this.

Eight targets. Kill me.



Music: Mementos



It’s coming from below!




Music: Suspicion



It’s gotten even bigger.
This happened because we stole another Treasure… right?
I feel like it’s gonna keep gettin’ bigger and bigger.
I don’t think Mementos’s territorial expansion is caused by us stealing a Treasure. I bet it’s things like the number of searches for “Phantom Thieves,” the ranking of trending words… And the access counter on Mishima’s website and stuff. Even now, it’s slowly expanding.
The more we become the topic of conversation, the more Mementos spreads…?
*nods*
Maybe it’s the other way around…
Whaddya mean?
We’re the ones expanding it… Or perhaps, Mementos grants further passage as we become more prevalent in the general public’s cognition.
Like… gettin’ free admission for bein’ popular?
That’s rather well-put.
For real? That’s amazin’! Actually, you’re amazin’, Futaba! How’d you figure that out?
Piece of cake.
I didn’t know at all… What have I been doing…?

Music: Mementos





First things first, let’s get fusin’.

Music: Aria of the Soul



We’re going after our next Strength request, a Lachesis with Tetraja. The simplest way there is through fusing another Ame-no-Uzume using Principality and Lamia. You may remember that Ame-no-Uzume was the target of a previous request, which is why we’re not going to be registering this version in the Compendium/Inmate Registry (in case we want to make completing this Confidant easier in New Game Plus, because the Inmate Registry carries over). We could also try to just Gallows our Clotho, which also knows Tetraja and we’re going to be getting rid of this visit anyway, but I prefer to do these requests the traditional way (and don’t really want to deal with random skill selection).




Next up, Lachesis from Ame-no-Uzume and Isis.



The thread of fate is measured by my hand… I am the mask which determines your future…

Lachesis is another of the Moirae Sisters, or sisters of fate, from Greek mythology. She was the one who apportioned how much thread of life each mortal received. She was also the one who was said to choose each person’s destiny after measuring their thread.




Finally, Jatayu from Lamia and Suzaku.



I will gladly sacrifice my body to help you. If it brings you glory, a new mask I shall become.

Jatayu is a valiant bird from Hindu and Malay legend. From what I’m reading here, it attempted to rescue its old friend Rama’s wife Sita from the devil-king Ravana (and lost) in the Hindu epic Ramayana, as well as defeat its uncle, the giant bird Garuda, in the Malay story Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (it lost there too). I’m not sure how I feel about having a twelfth of my soul dedicated to the Southeast Asian Bird of Jobbing, but this Persona will come in handy soon anyway.

If you’re wondering what skills I gave this Persona, it was Mafrei, Ominous Words, and Marin Karin.



Now, as mentioned earlier, this Clotho is old and busted. Lachesis is the new hotness. Sorry, girl, we traded up for your sister. It also occurs to me that we haven’t shown off the Electric Chair yet, and Invigorate 1 is a decent skill, so let’s do this.







Yikes.



And all that was left is a smoking item. This game’s fusion animations are fucking gnarly, I tell you what. Also in relation to Clotho, here’s what she looked like in the ever-understated God of War 2 (NSFW)! Sometimes I look back on that series and go, man, that was mid-2000s as fuck. What in the hell were we thinking? New one looks cool though, I guess.



Looks like you’re getting the hang of this. Well, that’s another assignment done…



No difficult questions, Justine. Just give him his assignment.
Understood.
Huh…? What’s with you? You’re not usually this cooperative.
I have no intention of abandoning my duty… but I would like to know the truth of this situation. After all, we possess a mysterious list which seems to have foretold the current state of affairs… Who wrote it? Why do I recognize the penmanship? Why does observing growth feel nostalgic? And beyond that… what was the true intent of its creator?
I thought I said no difficult questions…
To be honest though… I have arrived at a hypothesis.
What!? You know the answer…?
We manage the inmate’s power via several arcana, which symbolize the mystic nature of this world. In truth, the encounter we share with him is represented by the Strength arcana. Strength represents great power, a mighty will, and the awakening of the unknown…
Sounds about right.
Caroline… In our interactions, has the inmate been the only one to have had something awaken within him?



Perhaps… therein lies the answer.
Wh-What’s that supposed to mean!? Ughhh, dammit! Why do I feel so weird…!?



I’m sure whatever you’re discussing is important and all, but I really don’t give a shit about any of it and it doesn’t really seem to have much to do with me.

Sh-Shut it, Inmate! Can’t you see we’re in the middle of something!? And we already told you, there’re three tasks you’ve gotta do before you get your next reward! Although… this next task is gonna be the eighth one. There aren’t too many left on the list. You’ve come this far, Inmate. I hope you see it through.
If you do so… the answer will surely become clear.
And, uh… You’re more than just some random shmuck to us now…

Aww.

You’re the only one who can find the answer we’re looking for. You got that, Inmate!?
I feel like my bond with Caroline and Justine is growing deeper...



OK, next! You’ve only gotta bring us one more Persona before you get another reward!



We would like you to harbor within you.
You got that? A Hecatoncheires that knows Masukunda!

Well then, we’ve got eight fucking targets to take down today, so let’s jump right in.



Those two look pretty sure of themselves. Real smug lookin’.
So they’re blackmailing that teacher, Kawakami, by using that incident where their child died.
But Ms. Kawakami did nothing wrong, right? We have to help her!
Are you ready? Let’s go.

Seems like we’re starting right off with the worst of the bunch.

Music: Desire



FUCK YOU, PAY ME

Clothes, handbags, makeup… There’s too many things I want!
Hm? You’re Kawakami’s students…? Did you come to bring me money? That incompetent teacher is so worthless! She should be grateful to be a source of income for me!



Shut up! Kawakami got in my way! I was going to use what happened to my son to get back at people! I’m not gonna lose… I won’t lose to elitists like you!



Music: Keeper of Lust




This fight isn’t terribly difficult, but the reason there’s no video is just because I decided to try some confusion money farming… which only one of them is vulnerable to. Mr. Takase will throw money away no problem, but the Mrs. is a different story, and I waste a lot of time and SP before I decided to just look it up and confirm she wasn’t susceptible. It ends up working out great for me anyway, though: Mr. Takase was throwing out anywhere between 18-30 thousand yen every time it happened. This isn’t an ideal fight to farm money from, especially because they can use Masukukaja to lower your odds of hitting them with Confusion, but while he only threw away money a handful of times, it was still more than worth it.

In terms of what attacks they use, it’s really just basic medium Ice and Electric spells from the wife and husband respectively, some Physical attacks from Mr. Takase, and the occasional Bufudyne (Heavy Ice damage) from Mrs. Takase. As evidenced by these guys being the first targets we come across (though there’s one we missed and are going to have to loop back around for at the end), they’re pretty weak by virtue of the fact that we could theoretically have gone through Kawakami’s Confidant and reached them a month or two earlier in the story.



This fight takes… a lot of turns, so we get a few opportunities for Futaba’s new skill, Moral Support, to activate.




Her current rank lets her apply party-wide buffs at random points in the battle, something Rise could also do in Persona 4 Golden. These include:

• Party Attack up
  
• Party Defense up
  
• Party Agility up (in previous games this was known as Hit/Evasion to signify that it represented both your hit and evasion rates, but in the future I’ll just refer to this as Agility because it’s simpler, even though one of the Persona stats is also Agility and that might get a bit confusing)
  
• Party HP recovery (generally moderate)
  

Now, there’s also one more, which Rise didn’t have. While I still think the absence of one specific skill from Rise’s toolkit means Futaba isn’t quite as broken as her, well...



Full-party Heat Riser is pretty goddamn fucked (Heat Riser is a skill that boosts all three parameters of Attack, Defense, and Agility at once. In Persona 4 Golden, Chie’s ultimate skill Dragon Hustle, which cost more than half her SP even at level 99, also let her apply a full-party Heat Riser. As you can imagine, this is stupid broken and can easily turn the tide of a fight). Reminder that Futaba learned Moral Support at Rank 1 of her Confidant, which was mandatory. As we rank Futaba up, we’ll unlock more functions of Moral Support that are also amazing, including one that’s somehow even better than this one, if you can believe that.

Outside of things relevant to systems that aren’t in Persona 4 like being surrounded or Mementos mapping, full-party Heat Riser is the only thing Futaba can do that Rise couldn’t. Still, incredible.




Music: Sunset Bridge



Name brands… Esthetic appointments… Without them, people will laugh...



We’re terrible human beings. Our son, Taiki, and his real parents were different… His parents were both high level elites at big name corporations. Always looking at us coldly… That’s why I let our son experience what it’s like to be forced to grovel!
It felt nice to see him gradually break down from working so much…

I guess there’s actual confirmation that the Takases totally worked Taiki for profit the same way they’re working Kawakami, yikes. What horrible fucking people.



I guess this is why everyone’s looked down on us… I’m not sure now if his birth parents really looked down on us...
I was happy as long as I was with Toshio, but I forgot all about it. I became obsessed with money…
Taiki really was a good kid…



It seems the Takase couple had a change of heart. I should call Kawakami and meet her in my room...



I’m just now realizing how weird it is that two different people have the exact same distortion, to the point where they appear together in Mementos and have their changes of heart linked. It’s not bad, just… interesting.



That Envy Chain we got is a new weapon for Ann, which despite its garbage Attack rating, has a high chance of inflicting Despair. We’re not really using Ann’s melee attack with any real frequency, so equipping it’s not a major loss, especially for such a debilitating status ailment.

Next up, Tsuboi, the cat abuser.



He seems a little irritated.
I heard he was abusin’ animals just to take his anger out on them.
I can’t let him get away with something like that!
You guys, don’t go easy on him!

Music: Desire



Maybe they die when I use ‘em to blow off steam, but the shelter was gonna kill ‘em, anyway. In fact, I bet those cats are happy to be so useful to humans!
What a poor excuse for a human being! I could never forgive someone like you!
Why don’t you complain to the irresponsible people taking their pets to the pound, huh? Well, who cares. You guys are superheroes, right? Then hurry up and destroy this rotten society!
We’ll take your twisted desires, but first I’ll show you the pain you caused those poor animals!
Huh? Wait, are you some kind of cat monster?



Let’s do it, Joker! I’ll show you the wrath of cats!

Music: Keeper of Lust

Shadow Tsuboi



Humans and cats are a prime example. Now, who is stronger: me or the Phantom Thieves!?



Okay, so the first thing Tsuboi will do is increase everyone’s ailment susceptibility using Stagnant Air.




Then he’ll use Flash Bomb to make people dizzy. He might also try to instant-kill someone with Mudo.



This guy’s pretty simple to deal wit--oh goddammit

ANYWAY (thank god the game lets you restart from the beginning of the last boss or miniboss)

Music: Sunset Bridge




That’s a good idea. Perhaps then, he’ll understand what those animals had to endure.
I-I’m sorry! Wh-What should I do?
Remember the awful things you did to those cats. Doesn’t it make you feel horrible?
*sob* I’ve done something terrible. I’m even less than an animal. I’m worthless trash...
I won’t tell you to give up your life. But you will spend the rest of your life in guilt.






And our reward is yet another Despair weapon, though this one actually does some damage in expense for not having quite as high an application rate.

Music: Mementos



We have so many goddamn lockpicks




Seems useful.




Mementos Scan doesn’t activate as often as you’d like (which is pretty much always), but it’s still good to be able to skip a floor.

Next target, Naguri, the punk assaulting people.



He’s got a crazy look in his eyes.
He’s been known to attack indiscriminately. I suppose he really has lost his sanity...
If we don’t make him have a change of heart, I won’t feel safe walking around in public.
We have to do this.

Music: Desire



Oh, geez, he’s the annoying type...
So, uh, can I help you? You didn’t come to pick a fight with me, did you? That can’t be.
Stop playin’ dumb, you crazy criminal.
I’m doing the world a service. We’ve got an overpopulation problem with too many old people. Just think of this as my own personal brand of justice. Anyways, it doesn’t involve you punks!



Urgh, let’s take him down, Joker!

Music: Keeper of Lust



You’ll regret picking a fight with me. I’m going to beat you to a pulp!

Naguri has a huge health pool, but also takes an absurd amount of damage more than normal enemies. My first attack, a medium Psy spell, did 455 damage to him. Rakunda + Bufula broke 1k. He’ll use Tarukaja, but even with that, his only move worth worrying about is Swift Strike. It’s a really easy fight.

Music: Sunset Bridge



“Sorry” won’t cut it. You attacked and hurt a lot of people, you know?
I… What can I do…?



Tell the police everything.
Turn myself in… I guess there’s no other way. I’ve been doing something truly horrible. I need to be punished for it…



Oh shit, a Charge skill card. Charge (and its equivalent for magic skills, Concentrate) boosts the power of the next Physical skill you use by 2.5 times. Rakunda plus Tarukaja plus Charge equals some Fist of the North Star, exploding a dude with your pinky shit.

We were fortunate to have caught him before anyone died. We should be quite grateful for that fact.



All right, next is Kishi, the credit-stealing boss.



God, he looks pigheaded…
This guy abused his position at work, right? Harassin’ the people under him and all that.
It’s people like him who create awful workplace environments…
Let’s talk to him.

Music: Desire



Stealing credit from your subordinates is one of the worst things you can do as a superior.

And you’d know, Fox!

That’s my way of management. It’s efficient—I give the orders, and my underlings do all the work. It’s a pretty easy job. As long as the numbers go up, that idiot president won’t say anything. If my underlings have a problem, they should just get promoted. But since I evaluate them...
How did someone like you ever get promoted? If I were the president, you’d be fired!
Shut up, kids! Your reasoning doesn’t apply in the real world! If you don’t get it, I’ll teach you a lesson as your high and mighty ruler!



Let’s go!

Music: Keeper of Lust



Your coming here happened by circumstance, but the results that follow—they’ll favor me!

Kishi will use Brain Shake to inflict Brainwash, but has a rather small HP pool and doesn’t seem to have many more tricks than that… until he casts Diarahan to fully heal himself. He’s weak to Bless skills, though, so we can take advantage of that to take him down before he drags this out too long.



From that fight Ann learns Maragion, a multi-target medium Fire spell, which we slot in to replace the strictly inferior Maragi.

Music: Sunset Bridge




You’re right. That vicious cycle should have stopped with me. What have I done to my precious subordinates? I made them take responsibility for my mistakes, sent them far away, messed up their lives… It’s all my fault… All mine…
How do you intend to take responsibility for all this?
I’ll read some business books. I’ll try to do what I can to become an ideal boss…
I want you to think carefully about what kind of boss you’d like to work for. Figure it out.



An amusement park guidebook!? Even if you abused your subordinates, I guess your kids were real important to you…

It’s nice to occasionally see a motive for distortion that isn’t “AAARGH I’M EVIL!”



Hang on, everybody… we’re halfway done… hooray.

Music: Mementos



Maybe this means we’re close to our goal?

Stunning insight, cat.

On the very next floor, we come to the end of this block, as well as Jochi, the man trying to evict the theater owners in Yongen.



Judging from the smirk on his face, it looks like he’s scheming something awful.

No, that’s me. Sorry, guys.

I heard he was threatenin’ this old couple, tryin’ to kick them out of their own movie theater.
If we leave him alone, he may resort to violence.
We can’t let that happen! Let’s go!

Music: Desire



It seems like you’re trying to use force to get people to leave their property?
Land development is important. Getting rid of stubborn people in my way is part of the job. I’m not just playing around, like you kids are doing!
We’re quite serious. We can’t let those who cause problems for others to go unpunished. That includes people like you, who use bullying tactics to get what they want.
You’re just pissy-smelling kids acting big. You should’ve stopped playing hero back in preschool!



Music: Keeper of Lust



Weak to Electricity, likes to use annoying Physical moves. Doesn’t really have a lot else in its kit. The thing about Mementos bosses is that the ones that don’t kick the shit out of you don’t really have that much going for them.

Music: Sunset Bridge



Please, isn’t there some way I can have the movie theater?



Yeah, know when to give up.
Oh, er, I’m sorry. I’ll give up. So please, forgive me...
I hope you’ll consider the feelings of those who get things take from them from now on.
I-I got it… I’ll be honest with my superiors. I’ll tell them that no one has any interest in leaving Yongen…
Not just Yongen! You better make up for the awful things you’ve done elsewhere, too!

Uh, wait a second. He said he was gonna get fired if he didn’t get his bosses this property, right? Doesn’t that just mean they’ll send someone else? Even worse, doesn’t that mean they’re going to keep doing this elsewhere? Hello? Nobody cares? All right.



This is some form of book, likely one that unlocks a new hangout.



I really didn't think I'd go so far over the character limit when I started this update. I didn't even really think I would get near it. Welp, just another thing I'm wrong about! The rest is in the next post!