Hidetoshi the goat!!! I love the concept of the old couple's SL, but I don't like how sudden the resolution is even if the scene is good overall and the events before then are very comforting (especially with how few good adults are in P3, even fewer than P5 actually). I think Kaz's SL could've been a lot better if he faced a major consequence of some kind around the halfway point, like he gets socially embarrassed a lot but that's kinda it. Maybe they were worried about gameplay-story segregation where if he had to take a break to recover for a bit the player could still hang out with him right away, but they could've added an event where he doesn't do any training Idk Chihiro's SL made me really uncomfortable in Reload ngl, I liked the idea and think the execution is mostly good (especially since it's not like her anxiety is totally gone by the end) but her crushing on the protagonist being a major reason for her improvement and anger about the situation... :( Keisuke is BORING!!! Ngl I would've liked seeing more of Chihiro's hometown, like maybe instead of the SL being her as a scamming victim/perpetrator someone from her past tries bringing her back or following her or something. It probably wouldn't fit the game's themes too easily but I think that's the most interesting part of her character despite it only being relevant in like one event Kou and Daisuke's SLs having such a realistic portrayal of male friendship is crazy. As someone with an adopted sister I also really appreciated Kou's specifically Naoki's SL is so good. I still remember the events where you take him to where the body was found, and when he talks about realizing Saki was gone when he realized she still hasn't eaten his deserts. I think the game could've made it clearer how you start it since I feel like most people miss it or start it too late, but it taking as long as it does to get going makes sense and is good Takemi is cool but held back by the general Mementos structure imo ERI IS THE MOST DISAPPOINTING SL IN THE SERIES. I loved the idea of a functionally single mother with a husband who doesn't really care for her and who now has a child who she feels so bad for to the extent that they both make incorrect assumptions about each other, forming self-fulfilling prophecies that worsen their relationship. Those parts are handled well (though I do think the husband should've been focused on a little more), but you have the P3 syndrome of her coming around to her development really late and thanking the protagonist when the best dialogue options involve feeding into her bad choices. The biggest thing I remember is her talking about her then belief in fate she got from a TV show I think. It was an interesting way of mentioning pitfalls of religion and spirituality the rest of the game doesn't cover, but it only ever comes up in one SL before she recalls it and how wrong she was later. SAD! She also has one of the most Christian character designs ever lmao I don't like a lot of anime tropes in general which is why I'm skipping over a lot but with Sayoko I think the flirting mostly works too (not that you can actually smash her and have it cut to black though...) and the idea of her SL is also good (I've said that like 50x). A lot of healthcare professionals are taken for granted and it's nice that they tried to talk about the separation pains that they can feel, especially through The Devil card, but Idk, I guess it lacks a certain spice? I have no idea how else to put it, I just don't think it lands and it really is that simple + I barely remember it Ohya could've been the best SL in the series but she's so lame. Mutatsu sounds like he'd be one of the lamest but he was cool and the ending was actually... good? Mamoru surprised be so much on my Reload run oh my GOD. So good and emotional You're delulu for Nozomi sorry. The idea was really good but his backstory doesn't come up until it's too late imo B for Ai is fair because there are basically two versions and only the platonic route (the one you're lowkey supposed to do) is good. The focus on envy and how bullying is often the perpetuation of a cycle that people don't fully realize they're buying into was really respectfully handled and perfectly fits P4 messages. If you do the false lovers route and manage to complete the SL despite it breaking then the resolution completely falls flat. Mishima is pretty good but I hate how many dialogue options let you bully him, like why does Joker hate him that much LMAO Akinari obvious SSS Yumi's SL is SO FUNNY. For the last time the idea isn't bad but you following her to the hospital is one of the corniest things in the entire Persona series and that's saying a lot. I remember telling one of my non-Atlus fan friends (so one of my friends) about it and couldn't stop laughing. Also her confession scene is guaranteed to deal insane psychic damage. I watched a video a while ago that the other Sun SL is more meaningful for a Japanese audience but I found it really forgettable so I can't say much more about it. Yoshida and Sae W. We need more Judgement characters immediately
Agreed on most of this! I think a lot of links in P3 especially do resolve too quickly (Nozomi could've gone lower, just found him kinda entertaining despite being a shithead lol); and many across P3 and 4 probably didn't need to be 10 ranks but they were still testing the waters with these systems. P5 tells its confidant stories more evenly across the 10 ranks (even though the quality varies) but I feel like this exact formula is getting a bit stale. Hoping P6 and even Metaphor do something to shake things up in the social sim department.
I liked your analysis of the characters, but what you said about Akanari stuck out to me. His final link is a bit confusing but I'd like to share my own personal reasoning as to why it was done that way, instead of Makoto just picking up the book (which he does get). Death is something that is HEAVILY explored in the game. Literally and metaphorically. The choice presented to the protagonist by Ryuji is "either die now or die later. It all happens the same. Suddenly." And I think that's really what Akanari's SL was trying to do. His death, despite the fact that we've known about it for months, is shocking. It hurts. Badly. So seeing him disappear before our eyes is trying to emulate what it's like losing someone normally. They're here, and then they're not. Another key part of the game is self-realization. Accepting all parts of yourself as you, and not shoving the bad off to the side for later. And that's exactly what Akanari does throughout his link. When we first meet him, he is angry at the world. He's complaining about his illness and going "Why me? My mom doesn't have this, but I do! It's not fair!" and he slowly starts to realize that he needs to make the best of what time he has left, and since he likes reading, he tries to write a story. Throughout this process, he discovers himself and accepts the fact that, yes, he is dying. Yes, it's unfair. Yes to everything, but he's still alive right now. So he needs to make the most of it. This part is just my personal theory: in the final social link, we are not talking to Akanari. He's already passed away at the hospital, but he's there in spirit. After giving Makoto the journal, his time on Earth has officially come to its end. Everything is finished, and he's free to go. That's why he suddenly disappears. He was never there in the first place. But his spirit was.
I like this interpretation, viewing his sudden disappearance as more symbolic than literal makes it a lot more impactful than if they presented the link as being postmortem from the get go.
@@CobraCodex He was definitely alive up to rank 9 of his social link but then dies in between rank 9 to 10, they hint at this by having him not cough or display any sign of pain from his sickness within the last rank. It was meant to be interpreted that the last rank is his soul fulfilling the last of his worldly deeds
Hidetoshi the goat!!! I love the concept of the old couple's SL, but I don't like how sudden the resolution is even if the scene is good overall and the events before then are very comforting (especially with how few good adults are in P3, even fewer than P5 actually).
I think Kaz's SL could've been a lot better if he faced a major consequence of some kind around the halfway point, like he gets socially embarrassed a lot but that's kinda it. Maybe they were worried about gameplay-story segregation where if he had to take a break to recover for a bit the player could still hang out with him right away, but they could've added an event where he doesn't do any training Idk
Chihiro's SL made me really uncomfortable in Reload ngl, I liked the idea and think the execution is mostly good (especially since it's not like her anxiety is totally gone by the end) but her crushing on the protagonist being a major reason for her improvement and anger about the situation... :(
Keisuke is BORING!!! Ngl I would've liked seeing more of Chihiro's hometown, like maybe instead of the SL being her as a scamming victim/perpetrator someone from her past tries bringing her back or following her or something. It probably wouldn't fit the game's themes too easily but I think that's the most interesting part of her character despite it only being relevant in like one event
Kou and Daisuke's SLs having such a realistic portrayal of male friendship is crazy. As someone with an adopted sister I also really appreciated Kou's specifically
Naoki's SL is so good. I still remember the events where you take him to where the body was found, and when he talks about realizing Saki was gone when he realized she still hasn't eaten his deserts. I think the game could've made it clearer how you start it since I feel like most people miss it or start it too late, but it taking as long as it does to get going makes sense and is good
Takemi is cool but held back by the general Mementos structure imo
ERI IS THE MOST DISAPPOINTING SL IN THE SERIES. I loved the idea of a functionally single mother with a husband who doesn't really care for her and who now has a child who she feels so bad for to the extent that they both make incorrect assumptions about each other, forming self-fulfilling prophecies that worsen their relationship. Those parts are handled well (though I do think the husband should've been focused on a little more), but you have the P3 syndrome of her coming around to her development really late and thanking the protagonist when the best dialogue options involve feeding into her bad choices. The biggest thing I remember is her talking about her then belief in fate she got from a TV show I think. It was an interesting way of mentioning pitfalls of religion and spirituality the rest of the game doesn't cover, but it only ever comes up in one SL before she recalls it and how wrong she was later. SAD! She also has one of the most Christian character designs ever lmao
I don't like a lot of anime tropes in general which is why I'm skipping over a lot but with Sayoko I think the flirting mostly works too (not that you can actually smash her and have it cut to black though...) and the idea of her SL is also good (I've said that like 50x). A lot of healthcare professionals are taken for granted and it's nice that they tried to talk about the separation pains that they can feel, especially through The Devil card, but Idk, I guess it lacks a certain spice? I have no idea how else to put it, I just don't think it lands and it really is that simple + I barely remember it
Ohya could've been the best SL in the series but she's so lame. Mutatsu sounds like he'd be one of the lamest but he was cool and the ending was actually... good?
Mamoru surprised be so much on my Reload run oh my GOD. So good and emotional
You're delulu for Nozomi sorry. The idea was really good but his backstory doesn't come up until it's too late imo
B for Ai is fair because there are basically two versions and only the platonic route (the one you're lowkey supposed to do) is good. The focus on envy and how bullying is often the perpetuation of a cycle that people don't fully realize they're buying into was really respectfully handled and perfectly fits P4 messages. If you do the false lovers route and manage to complete the SL despite it breaking then the resolution completely falls flat.
Mishima is pretty good but I hate how many dialogue options let you bully him, like why does Joker hate him that much LMAO
Akinari obvious SSS
Yumi's SL is SO FUNNY. For the last time the idea isn't bad but you following her to the hospital is one of the corniest things in the entire Persona series and that's saying a lot. I remember telling one of my non-Atlus fan friends (so one of my friends) about it and couldn't stop laughing. Also her confession scene is guaranteed to deal insane psychic damage. I watched a video a while ago that the other Sun SL is more meaningful for a Japanese audience but I found it really forgettable so I can't say much more about it.
Yoshida and Sae W. We need more Judgement characters immediately
Agreed on most of this! I think a lot of links in P3 especially do resolve too quickly (Nozomi could've gone lower, just found him kinda entertaining despite being a shithead lol); and many across P3 and 4 probably didn't need to be 10 ranks but they were still testing the waters with these systems.
P5 tells its confidant stories more evenly across the 10 ranks (even though the quality varies) but I feel like this exact formula is getting a bit stale. Hoping P6 and even Metaphor do something to shake things up in the social sim department.
I liked your analysis of the characters, but what you said about Akanari stuck out to me. His final link is a bit confusing but I'd like to share my own personal reasoning as to why it was done that way, instead of Makoto just picking up the book (which he does get).
Death is something that is HEAVILY explored in the game. Literally and metaphorically. The choice presented to the protagonist by Ryuji is "either die now or die later. It all happens the same. Suddenly." And I think that's really what Akanari's SL was trying to do. His death, despite the fact that we've known about it for months, is shocking. It hurts. Badly. So seeing him disappear before our eyes is trying to emulate what it's like losing someone normally. They're here, and then they're not.
Another key part of the game is self-realization. Accepting all parts of yourself as you, and not shoving the bad off to the side for later. And that's exactly what Akanari does throughout his link. When we first meet him, he is angry at the world. He's complaining about his illness and going "Why me? My mom doesn't have this, but I do! It's not fair!" and he slowly starts to realize that he needs to make the best of what time he has left, and since he likes reading, he tries to write a story. Throughout this process, he discovers himself and accepts the fact that, yes, he is dying. Yes, it's unfair. Yes to everything, but he's still alive right now. So he needs to make the most of it.
This part is just my personal theory: in the final social link, we are not talking to Akanari. He's already passed away at the hospital, but he's there in spirit. After giving Makoto the journal, his time on Earth has officially come to its end. Everything is finished, and he's free to go. That's why he suddenly disappears. He was never there in the first place. But his spirit was.
I like this interpretation, viewing his sudden disappearance as more symbolic than literal makes it a lot more impactful than if they presented the link as being postmortem from the get go.
@@CobraCodex He was definitely alive up to rank 9 of his social link but then dies in between rank 9 to 10, they hint at this by having him not cough or display any sign of pain from his sickness within the last rank. It was meant to be interpreted that the last rank is his soul fulfilling the last of his worldly deeds