Part 37: 5/23: Goddammit Game, You Made Euclid Cry

Part 36: 5/23: Goddammit Game, You Made Euclid Cry

Music: A Woman



The dev team is devious enough to hide a stationary Shadow in one of the bathrooms, ready to pounce if you run in. This isn’t important, I just thought it was really dumb.



And behind this door is…

Music: A Woman (Another Version)




An MC Escher hellscape! I don’t see what the big deal with this style is, you guys. I can draw things bad, too.

Shit… What the hell is up with this place!?
There’s so much gold…! It’s hurting my eyes...
The distortion is especially bad here… It’s barely holding up. Plus, it’s not even on our map…
So we must ascertain the truth through our eyes alone...



We run into more Shadows here. These Koppa Tengu are still weak to Ice.



We head into the mysterious blue gateway.



It seems even the paths beyond these apertures are distorted in the same way as this room...



Warping again, we come to an area with two paintings.



It’s probably some kind of illusion. We’re in a Palace, after all. Well, I guess the painting itself might be correct though.
You say “correct,” but aren’t they all counterfeit? Although maybe the real one’s here too...
I wonder… Either way, the fact that this is here might mean it’s connected to this space in some way.



Attempting to bypass the paintings…



...puts us right back at the start. Because everything has to be a gimmick.

It seems this is a trick after all… He would not let us proceed that easily...



So, we inspect the paintings.

Isn’t that a fake? I mean, this is Madarame’s Palace...
There is an obvious difference if you look closely. It shouldn’t be too difficult to tell them apart.
Yeah, maybe it’s obvious for you… What do you think, Joker?

So, here we have to correctly identify the true Sayuri… from memory. I really hope you were paying attention to what color she was wearing one of the two times we saw it prior, because otherwise you’re screwed!



Unfortunately, this is a fake. The real “Sayuri” has vibrant crimson garments.

What? Oh, uh… I knew that! Just showing off the penalty for failure for the LP! Yeah, let’s go with that!

O-Oh, right… Now that you mention it...

By the way, that penalty is...



...A Shadow shows up! Fun!



This Makami loves to cast Mafrei (multi-target Nuclear) and Double Fangs and is weak to Electricity. We make sure to pick one up for later.



>It’s the real thing.
That is correct. It seems you have quite the eye for detail, Joker.

He says, after I fucked it up once and chose the only other option.

For real… That’s amazin’...
The vibrant crimson clothes, her beautiful hair, the sublime balance between subject and background… This may only be an illusion, but it is without a doubt a spitting image of the true “Sayuri.”

If you know what it looks like so goddamn exactly why am I doing this instead of you!?




The painting turns into a light that shoots into the doorway. We enter it.



Seeing past the false image has opened a path to the truth… Hm, this golden place filled with counterfeit work is a prime example of the alchemy of Madarame’s brain. And here, just as in reality, he entraps those who cannot see through his lying facade...
You might be right… No wonder the distortion is so strong here.
Hey, so… what does that mean?
I think it means finding the real “Sayuri” should break through the distortion and open a path.
So do we just gotta check all of ‘em?
Why would we do that…? Let’s just look for the real one… assuming we can differentiate it.



From here, we can see all four paintings. Can you spot the correct one? I’ll give you a hint: It’s the third one. Thankfully, this is more spot-the-difference (the tree branch is missing) than rote memorization, because all the counterfeits here are the same.

Yes, this is the true “Sayuri.” It may be an illusion, but there can be no mistaking its allure. Nicely done, Joker.




And in the next hall, we see yet more obvious fakes. I say “obvious” because, well...



...the developers couldn’t be bothered to add new fakes, so all these are just repeats of the old forgeries. As such, they can be dismissed outright. However...




...with the last two, they get tricky. You’ll probably get it in a few seconds because I’ve helpfully screenshotted them both (and they’re both onscreen at the same time here), but in my first playthrough I was reduced to outright guessing, and even in this run it took me a number of minutes before I spotted the difference. I was looking at the kanji in the corner, at the fog patterns, at the budding flowers on the tree branch… It’s pretty embarrassing in retrospect.

If you somehow can’t figure it out: her hair is wrong in the first one. It’s supposed to go over her shoulder.



The light from the painting shoots off far below us.

Huh…? Where the shit did it fly off to!?



We have seen all of the false images. Something must have changed somewhere...

Walking into the nearby gateway will send us back to the start, but now a new gate is open.



Just be careful, OK? The distortion is growing much stronger the deeper we go...

From here, it’s just a straight shot back to the comparatively more “normal” museum.

Music: A Woman




Then is the Treasure behind him?
It’s kinda hard to tell from here. Let’s get a close look!

Music: Disquiet (This song plays for almost the entire rest of the Palace outside of battle)



Doesn’t it look a bit hazy?
For the time being. Once we send the card and make Madarame aware it’ll be stolen, it’ll materialize like “Yoohoo!”
I wonder what form it will take...
Who knows? Bet it’s something like a self-portrait.
The source of what distorted Madarame’s reality this much...



Hmm… We know where the Treasure is, but I’m not sure that we’ve necessarily secured the route...
Huh? Why’s that?
You must be talking about the infrared lasers surrounding it.
That, and the outer perimeter is swarming with guards. Forcing our way through will be difficult.
So we’ll need to find a way to steal it too… This is tougher than it was with Kamoshida…
We just have to make one final push. Let’s check this floor…!



We find the control room further in.





Nothing happens.

Huh? Nothing happened...



The heck? There was no point in even comin’ here then…!
Hm,. It seems disabling the infrared lasers is not within the realm of possibility for us...
Let’s try the other ones too.




I-I am not sure! It seems we have lost power… The backup generators should bring it up again in no time!



Hm… Could this also be…? Hey, someone!
Tch, it came back on pretty damn fast...
Yes, and the infrared lasers remained active even during the power outage.
So we’ll only be able to turn the power off in there for a few seconds...
Wait a second… Aren’t those guards that just ran out headed this way!? What else should we try? We might be in trouble if we don’t hurry...




All right!
Now there are more places we can explore...



Crap, we got company!



The encounter, while not quite a boss or a miniboss, consists of three Makami who like to spam Mafrei and Double Fangs and actually managed to kill me once (but there’s a safe room nearby, so whatever). It’s more annoying than difficult.



All we really managed to do was open the shutters…
On top of that, we can only turn the lights off briefly, while the lasers remain unaffected.
Oh well… Guess we just gotta go see what’s past those shutters.



Yet another unopened chest. Sigh.



A lot of the encounters on the way up this winding hall that circles the main room consist of Shiki-Ouji, better known as “that fucker who blocks Physical.” He still likes to pull the same old tricks, hitting you with Rage, boosting his Attack, and using Gun attacks, but now we have to deal with our dwindling SP resources on top of it all. Suffice it to say I ran from at least one of these encounters.



No, it is most likely where all the mechanisms in the exhibition hall are controlled from. Given the number of hanging works, it would make sense to have a room dedicated to controlling them.
The observational skills of an artist are out of this world...




Oh, look! There aren’t any lasers above it!
This is quite a large hole in their security… but what do we do? Jump down to retrieve it?

Not if you don’t want your legs to snap like twigs.

We wouldn’t be able to get out if we did that though. Look up.



The controls should probably be around here somewhere. Let’s find them!



Music: Tokyo Emergency




Hm, this could be useful...
Do you plan on descending on that hook? Would they not spot you the moment you were lowered down?
No… Not necessarily. There’s something I can do to make sure that doesn’t happen.



Exactly! That’s our Joker!
Oh right… We were able to turn the lights off over in that other control room!
Only for a few seconds though. There would not be enough time to make it all the way here.
That’s why we’re going to split up the tasks and work together to pull off this heist! One person will shut the power off here, one person will lower the crane, and I’ll grab the Treasure!
You sure that’s gonna work? Seems to me like they’d realize what’s going on at some point.

Smart thought, Ryuji, but basically, no one else has a better idea, so fuck it!

Sometimes bold moves have the greatest payout. Unless someone has a better idea?



Well said, Joker! You understand what being a phantom thief really means!

I’m actually not totally sure on what being a phantom thief really means. That archetype isn’t that much of a thing over here.

All right, it’s settled. Our infiltration route is secured!
You gotta be kiddin’ me…

It amuses me that Ryuji is the only one with any objection to the genius plan of “let’s tie the cat to a rope and lower it like it’s fucking Looney Tunes.”

Now then, it’s time for the calling card!

Music: A Woman



>Return to the real world
Well, I’m still kinda worried… but we gotta do this.
I cannot even begin to fathom what Madarame’s Treasure may be…
Either way, we’ll steal it for sure. Oh, and you all did great today!



We finally secured out route to the Treasure! All we need to do now is send the calling card.
You’re right… And once we send it, the heist is the only thing left… We have to succeed… I’ll let you decide when we do it, Joker. Let’s make sure we’re ready before then!

Music: Beneath the Mask



All right, it’s finally time! Now all we gotta do is decide when we’re gonna do it.
Shouldn’t we talk to Yusuke about that first?
Uhhh, why?
I mean, Madarame was his teacher.



Yeah, this problem’s bigger than just the three of us.
Anyway, how about we all meet up at the hideout?
Yup, sounds good.
OK. Lemme know when you want to meet and I’ll tell Yusuke.




This would have been handy in the Palace. Oh well.



With the recent economic slump, many companies are limiting their number of new hires. Popular companies are overwhelmed with applications, accepting applicants at very low rates.
In their suits, everyone all looks the same. It must be tough to look for a job.

I can just feel the cat getting smug that it doesn’t have to work.