Sunday, December 8, 2013

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 and 4 Social Link Comparison

Hey, guys and gals. Remember this? This rant was one of the largest I’ve done to date, and also definitely one of my favorites. Only problem is, since I wrote it, Persona 3 was rereleased with the option to play as a female protagonist, for whom about half the Social Links are different. Additionally, Persona 4 was rereleased with 2 additional Social Links. Well, I’ve always said I’d get around to updating this to properly reflect these new Social Link stories, and what better time than to do so than for my SMT Rant Year? There’s a lot of changes here to better reflect the differences between the Social Links for SMT3’s different protagonists, and the newer SMT4 Links, but in case you’re wondering, the Social Links with the most differences are The Magician, The Priestess, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, Fortune, Justice, The Star, The Moon, The Aeon, and The Hunger.

That isn’t to say I necessarily had too much to say on the differences (sometimes I just really don’t), or that they necessarily make a change in which game gets the points on accuracy and quality, but at least you’ll know which ones you can skip to if you’ve read this one before. On with the new and improved Social Link Comparison.

(Oh man, I’m gonna have so much to do when I have to update this for Persona 5...)



Many, many thanks to good lady Iris, who took time--a fair amount of it--out of her otherwise interesting life to look the original version of this over and make sure I didn't say anything particularly stupid or outright false in it. I salute you, Madame SMT Fanatic!

This is going to be a long one. Even by my standards. Fairly warned. And don't even bother with this one if you aren't familiar with the games; I'm writing it with the assumption that you'll know the characters and plots and so on.

So, I'll be brief, since there's a lot ahead. I thought it might be neat to compare the Social Links from SMT Persona 3 to those from 4, and see which one seems more meaningful and true to the Tarot card it embodies, and which one seems better overall just for its story-telling qualities. Before I go on, though, just a little disclaimer: I'm not an expert at Tarot Cards. I'm about as far from knowledgeable about them as you can get without just not knowing that they exist. Just about the entirety of my knowledge on their meaning for this rant is coming from what has been called "teh in-tar-netz," this site in particular, which, as far as I can tell, seems to be pretty straightforward, informative, and legitimate:

http://www.ata-tarot.com/resource/cards/

I've also relied a little on the Megami Tensei Wiki's information on what the different Arcana are intended to mean inside the game itself. Mostly, though, I used the other source. I’d rather compare these things to the meanings they’re supposed to have, not the potentially altered ones the game wants.

So, y'know, if there are any mistakes in here, they're totally someone else's fault. In fact, just assume that for everything I say, ever.

By the way, going forward, I'll be referring to the Persona 3 male main character by his semi-canon name Minato, the Persona 3 female main character by her semi-canon name Minako, and Persona 4's guy by his mostly-canon name Yu.

Also, one last note: I say Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, but I'm talking about the PSP version, which updated the main game slightly with better character development for Aigis, and has a different set of Social Links for a female protagonist. This makes it the more complete and "true" version, hence I use it as my Persona 3 basis. It's just a pain to keep typing SMTP3PSP all the time. I also won't be covering any of the changes to SMTP3 made by Persona 3 Portable's option of choosing a female main character instead of a male one, save for the changes in the Social Links.


THE FOOL
In SMTP3, The Fool is represented by SEES, the group of main characters that you control through the game. In SMTP4, it's the Investigation Team, which are...well, actually, the same thing as in SMTP3, the main characters.

Meaning
The Fool represents absolute potential, tabula rasa, zero, the essence of inspiration and creativity, a foundation upon which anything and everything can be built.

While this works for both games’ teams quite neatly, given that each group is on a journey of discovery throughout the game, I'd actually have to say that the SMTP4 team is a little more true to the idea of the Fool Arcana. While both groups' journeys involve discovery and growing to understand their world and its mysteries, the SMTP4 team is devoted specifically to finding Truth, to seeing things as they are. The SMTP4 team also has a stronger theme of self-discovery and self-awareness, coming to terms with all aspects of one's self, and from that understanding, growing as a person. Although there's character development for most individuals on each game's team, SMTP4 emphasizes it as a major theme and has it definitively linked to the progression of The Fool. So, the point for Arcana accuracy goes to SMTP4.

Worth
The contest of which story is better for The Fool is a fairly close one. On the one hand, SMTP4 had some decent characters, and they ALL got a fair amount of development and importance, which is more than you can say about multiple members of SMTP3's bunch (without counting other Social Links’ content, Koromaru once again proves that dogs will forever be shafted in RPGs for character depth, and did Akihiko have ANY story significance beyond introducing the conflict between Ken and Shinji?). Nonetheless, I'll have to give it to the SEES team over the Investigation Team. The Investigation Team may be more careful to have its members plot-significant, but overall their character depth doesn't usually wind up being all that strong nor developing too far beyond their 5 minutes of plot-time. The SEES bunch, on the other hand, have several characters whose development is very compelling, and emotionally gripping moments. The combined personal development of the entire SMTP4 team doesn't come close to the emotional strength of SMTP3's Aigis's personality and development alone, and Yukari, Junpei, Mitsuru, Shinji, and Ken all have interesting stories to contribute to the main plot after that. Round goes to SMTP3.


THE MAGICIAN
In SMTP3, The Magician is represented by Kenji, a classmate, for Minato, and Junpei, a teammate, for Minako. In SMTP4, it's Yosuke, a teammate.

Meaning
The number 1 is associated with The Magician, the first number of substance after The Fool's 0. Basically, The Magician symbolizes the act of creating, the will to make, the process of turning inspiration and creativity into something material, a conduit for the power of formless things such as talent and ideas.

As far as the accuracy of the games' Magician Social Links to the actual Arcana...it's a bit shaky in all cases, really. I guess I'd say that SMTP3 is truer to the card's meaning, with both Kenji and Junpei. Kenji focuses much of his time on trying to hook up with a teacher he has a crush on, while Junpei’s series of events are basically his growing connection to Minako making him reevaluate himself offscreen and motivating him to stop trying to avoid the serious parts of his life through evasive humor. Yosuke's focus is on his issues with being the son of the owner of mega-mall Junes. All of the Social Links’ stories here also have a focus on becoming strong friends with the respective main character, although that doesn't seem to really have much to do with the Magician. All of them are related to the number 1--Yosuke is the first person to join you, Junpei is the first character that Minato/Minako really befriends, and Kenji is, to my recollection, the first regular non-party-member friend you form a Social Link with.

Overall, I'd say SMTP3 wins on this one. Kenji's actions are sort of like creating action and decision out of the intangible idea of love...more notably, Junpei’s decision to take his studies more seriously, approach his duties at SEES more responsibly, and visit his alcoholic father, are similarly a case of creating action and decision out of inspiration, that inspiration being his admiration of the strength of character of Minako, an admiration that grows as their friendship deepens. That said, though, that’s still a bit of a stretch in interpreting The Magician’s meaning. Close enough that I’ll give SMTP3 the point, far enough that I do so reluctantly.

Worth
I do like Kenji's story for its showing someone able to accept life's disappointments and take comfort from the good things he found along the way to defeat (his friendship with Minato), and Junpei’s story wraps up pretty well despite seeming a bit disorganized early on and depending a little too much on revelations that Junpei has offscreen. But Yosuke's is, to me, a stronger example of finding friendship, and his problems and reactions to those problems are more interesting and deeper than either of SMTP3’s stories. SMTP4's better on this count.


THE PRIESTESS
In SMTP3, The Priestess is represented by Fuuka, a teammate and, for Minato, love interest. In SMTP4, it's Yukiko, also a teammate and love interest.

Meaning
The Priestess is basically the intangible potential that the Magician draws from to create. Mysteries, the subconscious, hidden knowledge, and the inner self are what The Priestess best represents. This is sort of regarded as a feminine trait, in that it is a counterpart to the "masculine" Magician.

And in the world of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 and 4, all of this translates into...cooking. Seriously, both Fuuka and Yukiko's Social Links have a large focus on them improving their cooking. It's such a goddamn big deal that it's all I actually remembered about them; I had to look up what the Social Links were SUPPOSED to show, which was A, Fuuka coming to understand her insecurities with Minato’s route, B, Fuuka coming to understand that just trying harder isn’t necessarily the way to succeed at things with Minako’s route, and C, Yukiko coming to accept and want her future place as manager of her family's inn. I mean, I remember them now that I've refreshed my memory, but until I did, all I remembered was the stupid fucking anime obsession with females improving their cooking. It’s so bad, that the instant they add a female protagonist to Persona 3, she’s gotta start cooking, too! Because she’s a woman! And they cook! Always! And honestly, none of this jives with the Priestess's meaning to me. I think maybe Persona interpreted the Priestess to be totally synonymous with femininity, and hence all the obligatory anime-girl-cooking nonsense. But you know, I’m gonna just refuse to give either game the point on this Social Link, because I really just don't see a proper connection to the Arcana in either Social Link.

Worth
I wasn't impressed with any of these Social Links, at all. I felt like the stupid cooking thing is supposed to heavily supplement or even replace any serious character development either girl gets. The romance aspect feels tacked on and cheap with each, too. In the end, I'll go with SMTP3 over 4 on this, as I feel that Fuuka's character was at least developed a little (very, very little) with Minato, while Yukiko's seems to reach a conclusion that comes out of nowhere and contradicts the Social Link's plot direction in general. But none of these is interesting or contains anything particularly deep or meaningful.


THE EMPRESS
In SMTP3, The Empress is represented by Mitsuru, a teammate and, for Minato, love interest. In SMTP4, it's Margaret, Igor's assistant.

Meaning
The Empress represents physical beauty and pleasure of the senses, along with motherhood. The creation of life, unconditional love, and protection from the world, along with appreciation for the world's resources and pleasures (often seen as abundance, prosperity, and sexuality), are tied in with it.

Mitsuru's Social Link...doesn't really seem to add up for me on this matter. Unless learning to enjoy cheap burgers and ramen counts as finding an appreciation for the sensations of the world. In fact, the Social Link seems actually almost counter-intuitive to the Tarot's meaning, since Mitsuru's stepping down from her high class tastes and lifestyle would seem to be a step AWAY from greater appreciation for the material, as well as, in Minato’s version, her throwing her future social status into jeopardy for love, which is her choosing a mental and spiritual need over assured personal prosperity. And I don't think there's anything there that particularly symbolizes motherhood or its qualities.

In Margaret's case, it's still kind of fuzzy how she's meant to symbolize the Empress, but it's not quite as bad. The way you advance Margaret's Social Link is by creating certain Personae--creating life, sort of, which IS a motherhood thing. Granted, it's Yu doing it instead of Margaret, but it's at least still there. Kind of. So I guess Persona 4 gets this round, although neither one is a particularly strong representation of the Arcana.

Worth
Mitsuru's Social Link is the clear winner on this one. Margaret's Social Link has little dialogue, development, or deeper meaning worth note, while Mitsuru's is a fairly nice and, with Minato, romantic little story of self-respect, seeing value in people, and love winning out over social expectations. Mitsuru's character is developed nicely in it, and there are some moments where it's touching and heartwarming, but without being sappy. Persona 3's Empress Social Link is a far better story to experience.


THE EMPEROR
In SMTP3, The Emperor is represented by Hidetoshi, member of the Student Council and head of the Disciplinary Committee at the school. In SMTP4, it's Kanji, a teammate.

Meaning
The Emperor symbolizes the mind's power to shape the world through words and writing, using law and order to create and maintain structure, emphasizing wise and unemotional logic as the basis for his laws. Government, rules and regulations, and fatherhood are symbols of The Emperor. The games also put an emphasis on The Emperor's desire to control one's surroundings.

With Hidetoshi, the connection between his Social Link's events and The Emperor's meanings is fairly obvious--he's out to enforce the law as he tries to find out who broke the rules at the school, and he believes that the world needs more strict rules, that it's still too chaotic and needs more forceful order. Of course, the end of the Social Link for Hidetoshi kind of steps away from this, by having him show some appreciation for the emotion of friendship that he now shares with Minato/Minako, but overall everything matches up, and by the end, Hidetoshi has decided to try to change the world to something better by educating future generations as a teacher, which relates to a part of this Arcana's take on fatherhood.

Kanji's Social Link, on the other hand, doesn't seem to add up much to me. It's mostly about him trying to come to terms with how to be a true man, while still accepting his interests and hobbies, which are more feminine--sewing and such. You can only connect this to what The Emperor represents with extremely vague logic, if at all. At best, I could say that Persona 4's writers were mistaking the symbol of manhood for The Emperor as reflecting all aspects of being a man and the question of what is and isn't masculine, and so the whole Social Link is misguided in its efforts. Realistically, though, I just don't think they were really trying to significantly tie Kanji to The Emperor, rather just slapping an Arcana on him that kinda-sorta-maybe fit him at a very brief first glance. Round goes to Persona 3.

Worth
I rather like both stories here. If I have to choose, though, I'll go with Hidetoshi's Social Link as being the stronger story. Granted, Kanji's coming to accept himself as a whole, accepting that he can be a masculine person while still enjoying feminine hobbies, and that just because he likes certain things and finds female behavior off-putting, it doesn't mean he's gay, is pretty cool, and the game does have good execution overall. Still, I can't help but like Hidetoshi's story. Not only do I feel that the general execution and atmosphere of the Social Link is slightly better than Kanji's, but I also feel it's more...epic, in a way, I suppose. While the journey to self-understanding that Kanji goes through is interesting and moderately unique, Hidetoshi's coming to view the world and people in a new, better way, speaks more to me, and seems just as insightful an example of personal growth as Kanji's Social Link's conclusion. It's close, though, and perhaps it's just my preference for Persona 3's theme of finding a better way to look at the world over Persona 4's theme of looking within for the truth about yourself. It might even be as selfish a reaction as my having much the same idea on how to improve society as a whole that Hidetoshi does--proper education of the future generations. Nonetheless, my gut says, one way or another, to go with Hidetoshi.


THE HIEROPHANT
In SMTP3, The Hierophant is represented by Bunkichi and Mitsuko, the old couple who run a bookstore. In SMTP4, it's Dojima, a local detective and uncle to Yu.

Meaning
The Hierophant's easier to verbally define than most of these so far. Basically, this Arcana represents belief, faith, religion, all that jazz. Spiritual leaders, personal beliefs and faith, teachers and mentors, and submission to group feeling and ideas are all tied to it, as is the idea of secret and forbidden knowledge. Basically, it represents the fundamentals of organized religion, while not necessarily having to be linked to any organized religion as a whole.

And...neither game's Social Link have anything to do with it, really. I mean, the legacy of a teacher who was Bunkichi and Mitsuko's son is somewhat related, but not in a significant way. And Persona 4's link, which is all about Dojima's trying to come to terms with single parenthood and find an acceptable balance between professional and personal lives, is...just totally unrelated. I know I already copped out with a tie back on Priestess, but screw it, I just don’t see enough of a connection in either game to award a point.

Worth
Tough call, really. Their irrelevance to the Arcana aside, both Social Links are good stories. Persona 3's tale of an old couple still feeling the pain of losing their son to a car accident many years before and concern for the precious symbols of his life that he left behind is good. The ending to it, which involves Bunkichi and Mitsuko coming to realize that the legacy of education that their son left behind would be better realized by an expansion to the school than simply letting his tree stand untouched, is very good. On the other hand, the story of Dojima struggling to balance his duties as a detective and a father while slowly coming to understand why he juggles them to begin with is compelling, too, and the character development it provides to Dojima, who is an important part of the game's proper plot, is important and well-done. In the end, I'll give the point to Persona 4. The Hierophant link in Persona 3 might have a slightly better story to me, and its execution of its plot is much better, but Persona 4's character development for Dojima just manages to outweigh it for me.


THE LOVERS
In SMTP3, The Lovers is represented by Yukari, a teammate and, for Minato, love interest. In SMTP4, it's Rise, also a teammate and love interest.

Meaning
The Lovers represents mental and emotional unity and harmony between two people. This can, but definitely does not have to, be represented through romantic love and sexuality. The ability to do great things together that could not be done alone, and become more fully complete people through complementing one another, is symbolized the this card. The Lovers also often implies difficult ethical dilemmas involving having to choose the best of two options which are both good.

As far as how the Social Links relate to this...well, Persona 3 gives us a small, somewhat unconvincing romance on Minato’s side, so I guess it kind of portrays the Arcana in the most surface-level way of interpretation. I mean, there's romance, even if there really isn't any indication of that mental and emotional unity between Minato and Yukari that the card is supposed to be all about. Unless you count the bit that Yukari mentions about them being similar due to lack of family life, but that's really only mentioned at the beginning, and it's neither significantly touched upon nor indicated to actually be true, so...doesn't count.

On Minako’s side...eh. She and Yukari bond as friends to a certain degree, and I’d actually say their friendship is developed and portrayed in a better, more genuine way than Yukari and Minato’s romance, but it’s nonetheless not really anywhere close to the sort of harmony and unity that The Lovers is meant to represent. Their friendship doesn’t seem particularly stronger or like it has more oneness than many of Minako’s other friendships.

Rise's case is far more in tune with the Arcana's meaning. While there's the option (read: strong encouragement) of romance, the Social Link really lives up to its Tarot symbol in showing Rise finding emotional unity and understanding with her two personas (in the normal sense of the word, not the game sense). While I think The Lovers is meant to show separate individuals coming into a spiritual bond with one another, Rise's personal journey to accepting her pop star self as part of her whole instead of rejecting it blindly does constitute, to me, coming into an emotional harmony worthy of representing The Lovers. Persona 4's the definite winner here.

Worth
While Yukari's little romance with the male protagonist is alright, I guess, it's not particularly notable. The same is true of her friendship with the female protagonist. Although a neat character in general, most of Yukari's solid character development occurs during the game's plot proper, and not in her Social Link. Rise, on the other hand, hasn't got too much character development in Persona 4's main story beyond her introduction, but her Social Link uses that introductory development as a foundation and builds from there, creating a tie to the game's central plot that benefits the Social Link. In addition, Rise's conflict and resolution over her past as a pop idol and coming to terms with all parts of who she is presents a better Social Link plot than Yukari's anyway. I'd even say that the romance aspect is better in Persona 4--Yu's helpful guidance and reassurance to Rise makes her falling for him seem far more realistic and emotionally satisfying than Yukari's just sort of gliding toward love for Minato. SMTP4's The Lovers Social Link is the better story all around.


THE CHARIOT
In SMTP3, The Chariot is represented by Kazushi, a classmate, for Minato, and Rio, a classmate, for Minako. In SMTP4, it's Chie, a teammate and love interest.

Meaning
The Chariot is meant to show discipline. It represents taking one's emotions and, instead of simply ignoring them as The Emperor does, focusing them, harnessing them as power to drive one's efforts. The Persona games, though, take the view that The Chariot symbolizes things like conquest and victory--they basically see the card as symbolizing a traditional result of emotional discipline and control, rather than the focus itself (according to the SMT Wiki, that is).

Persona 3's Social Link for The Chariot on Minato’s side does work pretty well for the actual Arcana's meaning, though--Kazushi uses his emotions, his wish to inspire his cousin, to push himself toward greatness and victory for the majority of the Link, making it clear that he's honing his feelings to keep him going. It kind of loses points here in that Kazushi says in the ending that he was just fooling himself and that it was foolish pride rather than the noble emotions he had claimed inspired him, but overall, the connection's definitely there.

On Minako’s side, I...guess it kind of works, since it’s only when Rio accepts and acts on her feelings of love for Kenji and friendship for her teammates that she becomes a better leader, so you could say that it’s her using and harnessing her emotions for a constructive purpose, except...well, I don’t think that’s accurate. With Rio, I’d say it’s more a case of her becoming a better player and leader because she accepts her emotional side without letting it become obstructive to her goals. But keeping one’s emotions from being a stumbling block isn’t the same as channeling them into your efforts, so I don’t think Rio’s a very accurate representation of The Chariot’s true meaning (and even less for the Persona view of the arcana’s meaning).

Chie in Persona 4, though, is a bit more true to the overall idea of The Chariot than either Persona 3 story, with her Social Link focusing from start to finish on directing her desire to protect others to activities and a lifestyle to help her achieve that emotional need. Since at the end she affirms her emotional drive further by planning her future around it, rather than denouncing it as Kazushi seems to, I'll give the point for Meaning to Persona 4.

Worth
While there's nothing wrong with Chie's story, it doesn't feel like there's really much going on in it--little about Chie changes, and the nature of the inner conflict she's overcoming is vague. I must also mention that, while it doesn't seem to come out of nowhere like Yukiko's did, the potential romance of this Social Link feels empty and contrived. I also can’t say I find much of interest in Rio’s journey of self, either--there’s nothing especially wrong with it, but no part of it stands out or seems particularly interesting or wise. Kazushi has a story that involves better development and stronger ideas in general, to me, so Persona 3 wins this one by virtue of Kazushi.


STRENGTH
In SMTP3, Strength is represented by Yuko, a classmate and love interest, for Minato, and by Koromaru, a teammate, for Minako. In SMTP4, it's Kou or Daisuke, depending on which team you choose to join. Both are classmates.

Meaning
Strength is like a combination of The Emperor and The Chariot. Like The Chariot, Strength acknowledges emotional power, but like The Emperor, Strength does not submit to emotions. Rather, Strength conquers emotions and rises above them--not quite using them to fuel ambitions like The Chariot, yet not quite denouncing them like The Emperor, either. Courage and patience are qualities associated with Strength--they represent a recognition of emotion (fear and desire respectively), but also an overcoming of those emotions (courage pushes past fear to decide one's actions, and patience controls desire to wait for something). Mind over matter, will over instinct, that sort of thing.

Persona 3's Social Link on Minato’s side...well, I guess it KIND of relates to Strength. Through helping a bunch of kids get fast enough to win a race, Yuko finds inspiration and a goal to set for herself, whereas before she was lazy and unmotivated. That's sort of like Strength's meaning of overcoming emotions--if you count sloth as an emotion, I suppose. But it's really more like The Chariot, I feel--Yuko's finding emotional inspiration in helping the kids, and is turning that inspiration into a focus on her new goal.

I’d say the story on Minako’s side of SMTP3 is a better representation of Strength. The process of getting Koromaru to open up to and fully trust the protagonist involves a certain patient approach, not trying to push the dog and recognizing that his love for his original master will not disappear, nor be replaced, even as he grows to care for his new friends. The patience of Minako in not pushing Koromaru emotionally also helps him to trust her enough, overcome his fear enough, to be comfortable in letting her see his scar, which sort of relates to the idea of overcoming negative emotions, which Strength, as I mentioned, is all about.

As far as Persona 4 goes, well, with Kou, there's...really nothing there. I guess if you want to really stretch, his coming to terms with his place in his family and with his friends could be rising above his fears, but...I feel like that's just trying too hard to relate the Social Link to the Arcana. Really, I just don't think there's any particular connection between Strength and Kou's story than roundabout generalities.

With Daisuke, though, the connection is more clearly there. Daisuke's Social Link plot is about him conquering his inner fears and rising above them to enjoy life regardless of its risks, which definitely ties in with Strength's theme of courage and overcoming emotions. So, by virtue of Daisuke, Persona 4 wins the round.

Worth
Yuko's story is nice enough, and I do appreciate Koromaru finally getting some proper character development, and his story has a decent level of emotional depth. That said, though, I feel that both Kou and Daisuke's stories are much more heartfelt, and that they sell the fears, conflicts, and personal victories of each of them much more effectively. Persona 4's got this one.


THE HERMIT
In SMTP3, The Hermit is represented by Maya, an online friend, for Minato, and Saori, a classmate, for Minako. In SMTP4, it's a greedy fox that grants wishes and has magical healing powers...no, really.

Meaning
The Hermit's about searching within for wisdom and understanding. Isolating oneself from the world to find inner truth is what this Arcana is all about, associating itself with solitude and introspection, but in a soul-searching way. Finally, The Hermit can symbolize a mentor of sorts, but one who doesn't teach or guide so much as simply serve as an example of wisdom, thus still inspiring do-it-yourself soul-searching.

Of course, when the whole idea of a Social Link involves interaction with others to show these stories and wisdoms...well, I have sympathy for Atlus in trying to set up circumstances where these 2 opposite methods could work together. They do their best in 2 out of 3 of their scenarios, though. In SMTP3 with Minato, they have the Social Link be a person that Minato meets online in an MMORPG, which kind of sets up a sense of solitude to their interactions, and in SMTP4, the fox can't talk or anything, so again, there's a barrier against the social aspect.

I don’t mention SMTP3’s Minako side because the entire thing is about Saori’s standing with the rest of the school and involves a ton of interaction with others--you have to stretch way too far to see any part of the Social Link, even her stint as a social pariah, as anything close to the isolation The Hermit is supposed to embody. Yes, yes, you can talk about how she’s closed off her true self from the world and that makes her like a hermit and blah blah blah, but in the end that makes her no more true to The Hermit than several other characters in the game, and every part of her actions, conflict, and rising above said conflict are related to other people.

Still, Persona 3's Maya DOES interact with Minato throughout the Link and develops as a person thanks to him--even if she seems to come to a lot of her conclusions largely by herself with his interactions only playing a small part in it, you can say that about MOST of the game's interactions since Minato doesn't actually talk a whole lot, so overall, this one really just can't count. Yet at the same time, Persona 4's fox really isn't any more accurate a representation. The fox uses Yu to grant people's wishes so that they'll make monetary offerings to the fox's shrine, until finally the shrine becomes prosperous and people begin to regularly donate to it. The problem with this is that, while the fox can't really communicate with Yu, he's still relying on Yu to do everything, just as the people whose wishes need to be granted by and large rely on Yu to get them what they need. This Link actually seems to be MORE focused on social cooperation, extending beyond the standard case of Yu helping the Link's representative, to Yu helping half the town's residents, and those people in turn helping the fox. Hate to do another cop-out, but I can't seriously give either game a point for accuracy this round.

Worth
While I wouldn't call Maya’s story amazing, it is decent, Maya is convincing as a character, and it does have an enjoyable end. Saori’s story is alright overall, but kinda feels by-the-numbers, and is way, way too similar to the Justice Social Link--Saori’s crippling passivity and Chihiro’s crippling shyness are almost interchangeable, their conflicts are, ultimately, very similar, their resolutions are very close...Saori’s a more appealing person, a little, and they do hastily shove in some background and depth for her right at the game’s very end, but that’s really not enough to make her seem substantially different from Chihiro, and as you’ll see below, I’m no fan of the Chihiro Social Link story. And, sad though I am to say it, since I'm somewhat fond of foxes, Persona 4's Hermit Social Link doesn't really have anything of note about it, nor any lesson to teach. Persona 3's is better, by virtue of Maya.


FORTUNE
Also known as The Wheel of Fortune. In SMTP3, Fortune is represented by Keisuke, a classmate, for Minato, and Ryoji, a classmate and secretly the incarnation of Death (no, really), for Minako. In SMTP4, it's Naoto, a teammate and love interest.

Meaning
Fortune is basically the Tarot representation of Fate in all its inexorable, unstoppable glory. It's the alignment of events to bring about what must be, and whether or not you can understand it--and you probably can't--you definitely can't deny it.

Persona 3's Social Link on Minato’s side is a very good representation of this Arcana--although at a glance, Keisuke's dilemma between becoming an artist or a doctor seems totally unrelated to Fortune, a longer look will reveal that it's not the content of the Social Link that's so important, but the events. Keisuke's destiny is clearly to become a doctor, and the acts of random chance that occur in this Link are suspiciously many and suspiciously timed to push him into that destiny. Every time Keisuke seems to come to a serious internal dilemma about what path to choose, each time he comes to the center of his personal crossroads, there's suddenly a coincidence that screams, "BE A DOCTOR, STUPID!" right at him. The Link perfectly shows its Arcana inspiration in this regard.

In the case of Minako, it’s still a pretty decent example of Fortune. Even as Minako and Ryoji become close, Ryoji is unconsciously tormented because some part of him knows this cannot last, knows without understanding that it is his fate to become the herald of the world’s destruction and that this life as Ryoji is just an illusion, no matter how wonderful it may be. Additionally, Ryoji feels an inexorable pull toward Minako (even if I feel it’s safe to say that his feelings of love for her are at least mostly his own, rather than the result of destiny), because he is fated to be connected to her in all his forms. It’s not as subtle and perfect a connection to the Arcana as Keisuke’s was, but it definitely works well.

SMTP4, on the other hand...I don't see much of a connection. I mean, I guess I can see Naoto's coming to terms with being a woman as symbolic of accepting an unchangeable fate, but I feel like that's kind of reaching...and either way, Persona 3's Social Links are just better matches in this case.

Worth
I'll have to go with Persona 3 for this one, and this time, both sides of it win out. Yeah, Naoto's story isn't bad, but at the same time, there just doesn't seem to be a lot of emotional impact to it, either, and the trip from Emotional State A to Emotional State B is somewhat vague at times. I watch it all play out, and by the end, I'm not entirely sure how we've gotten where we are. Keisuke's emotional evolution is much clearer, and seems like a stronger story overall...plus, Keisuke's story has no cheap, awkward, unnatural-feeling romance clumsily pasted on.

Ryoji’s Social Link could use a little more development of a personal bond between he and Minako before he confesses his love, but it nonetheless feels genuine, and ties extremely well to Ryoji’s role and actions in the main plot, giving it all the more emotional power at its conclusion. My only real complaint about it is that Ryoji says at one point that he would have felt the same about the protagonist whether she was a girl or a guy, so...why is he only available as a Social Link for Minako? Atlus has no problem having a Social Link either way for Aigis, who also loves the protagonist regardless of gender, so why not Ryoji? Giving him this extra screentime and connection to the protagonist improves the game. Bah, it’s just more of the stupid homosexual double-standard in RPGs (and everything else): it’s fine to support homosexuality for women, but Althena forbid we actually see homosexual men once in a while.

Anyway, my gripes aside, Persona 3’s Fortune Social Links both win out over Persona 4’s in terms of story quality.


JUSTICE
In SMTP3, Justice is represented by Chihiro, a classmate and love interest, for Minato, and Ken, a teammate and love interest, for Minako. In SMTP4, it's Nanako, Yu's young cousin.

Meaning
Justice is pretty much as you'd expect. It's the concept that one's actions receive the appropriate reward or punishment, sooner or later, that they deserve. It's cause-and-effect and Karma, which is more or less like a moral, fateful cause-and-effect anyway.

Persona 3's Social Links for Justice don't really match up to this, though. But I guess Chihiro’s story does count technically, since it shows justice being served to a teacher who carelessly used school funds (he (presumably) gets reported) and to Chihiro, who's a rule-abiding person who was falsely suspected of stealing the money (she gets to get over being fucktardedly shy and also Minato sexes her up). Still, it's not a great representation, because the main focus of the Social Link is on Chihiro's being idiotically shy and then becoming just a tiny bit self-confident. There's no doubt that this personal advancement is the main part and driving force of the Link, and it really doesn't have much of anything to do with the concepts of Justice. Nor, of course, does the development of Ken’s schoolboy crush on Minako, unless you see his gaining someone to hold and live for as a just, karmic reward to help balance losing his mother previously, but that’s...really reaching.

Of course, neither does Persona 4's Social Link have anything to do with the arcana...besides just that Nanako becomes happier and more self-assured because she deserves to be for being a good person, there's absolutely no tie to Justice for her. Now, later in the game, her fate relies on the decisions Yu makes, so you COULD say that she suffers or benefits from his actions, which IS a proper display of Justice...but those events are inextricably part of the plot; they have no tie to the Social Link's subplot. So I can't count them. Thus, even if Persona 3 only has a slight connection to Justice, it's still the victor on this one by virtue of Chihiro.

Worth
Before Persona 3’s addition of Ken, there was absolutely no comparison here--you might as well ask me if I liked Mass Effect or Quest 64 better. Chihiro is a painfully bland, wholly uninteresting character whose shyness is laughably over-exaggerated--I was about as shy as it got back in high school myself, and even I would have spoken up for myself if I was being accused of THEFT. To describe her as "cliche" would be to assume an unfair level of unoriginal, boring tedium in other cliched characters. Nanako's Social Link is already one of the best in either game, both being emotionally engrossing and starring a very likable character...to compare her to Chihiro's story of "Incredibly Boring, Passive Anime Stereotype Girl Who is an Easily Cowed-into-Submission Wet Rag Becomes Equally Boring, Slightly Less Passive Anime Stereotype Who Now Clumsily Tries to be Assertive in a Way That is Embarrassing Just to Watch" isn't even fair.

Now, of course, Persona 3 also has Ken’s story to vie for this spot, and it’s a bit more of an even match. Ken’s Social Link had more potential than it tried to capitalize on (the beginning makes you think it will be largely about his missing his mother and moving past that, and the ending seems like that was supposed to be a part of it, but little to nothing is ever said or developed on this subject, which is a shame because it really would’ve improved Ken’s character), but it’s still a good story of his being unsure of how fast he’s supposed to be growing from a kid to an adult, and if you can put aside the slight creepiness of the 17-year-old Minako returning the 11-year-old Ken’s romantic feelings, it’s actually a pretty touching love story, too. I mean, it’s sweet, it’s cute, it seems realistic, and let’s face it, it’s not the first or worst time this sort of thing’s happened in an RPG (I’m reminded with more than a little disgust of how La Pucelle Tactics’s Homard, a full-grown adult man, was obviously attracted to, and got together with, Eclair, age 13).

Still, I think Persona 4 nonetheless wins this one. No matter how cute Ken’s feelings may be, as I said, Nanako’s Social Link is one of the best of both games, a great and gripping story and development of her character. But it’s at least no longer such an easy decision for me.


THE HANGED MAN
In SMTP3, The Hanged Man is represented by Maiko, a young girl. In SMTP4, it's Naoki, a classmate.

Meaning
This Arcana encourages the search of knowledge and wisdom within, rather than from the outside world. Where The Hermit only encourages isolation from others, this one prescribes isolation from the world itself to find truth and understanding. More than just this, however, The Hanged Man also represents the necessity of personal sacrifice--that in order to attain something truly worthwhile, one must make a sacrifice, give up something in return. It could be time, comfort, possessions, health, hopes and dreams, anything--it could even be just ignoring your impulses and going against what you want to do. But in the end, what you gain WILL be worth it.

So how's this all fit into the Social Links? Well, it works out very well with Persona 3--Maiko comes to terms with her parents' divorce and comes to realize that her parents do still love her, but to get to this happy conclusion, she has to give up on her (futile) hopes to keep the divorce from happening--yet since her greatest concerns about it were whether they still loved her, sacrificing what she THOUGHT she wanted (them not getting divorced) brings her what she REALLY needed (to know that they still love her). In fact, Persona 3 even gives a second dose of relevance after that--Maiko has to choose which parent to live with. She chooses her mother because she feels her mother will need her help and presence more, while her dad is more self-sufficient, but her mother will be moving away, meaning that Maiko won't see Minato again. She's making the sacrifice of being able to play with her friend because she knows her mother needs her more--again, giving something up for something more important.

Persona 4 does a reasonable job with it, showing Naoki reaching the point he wants to where he can finally continue with his life, but having to let the anguish he's been burying inside him out, feeling the emotional pain and gaining the ability to move on from it. Persona 4 also kind of works with the idea of isolating yourself from the world to gain wisdom--he's emotionally detached from the world for a while, after all, and that state is a step toward coming to terms with his sister's death. Still, he wouldn't have gotten any further than that if he hadn't had outside help, so, I don't know if it can really count. In the end, while both Links do provide a good representation of their Arcana, Persona 3 does it better.

Worth
While Maiko's story is pretty good (although some of the "right" answers for Minato/Minako to give I REALLY don't agree with, and its finale at the game’s end is unnecessarily weird for Minako), Naoki's story of accepting his sister's death and moving forward with life is exceptionally well-written and moving. Of all the Persona 4 Social Links, it's easily my favorite. So, it's the winner here.


DEATH
In SMTP3, Death is represented by Pharos, a little boy that only Minato/Minako can see who is secretly the incarnation of Death itself (no, really...er, again). In SMTP4, it's Hisano, an old woman.

Meaning
The Death Arcana is a symbol of great, inevitable change and/or transformation. This generally is in the form of the end of something, but in a transitional way--the end that the Arcana is associated with isn't final or intrinsically destructive, but rather an end of one thing to make way for the beginning of another.

For Persona 3...well, at first, I didn't see too much accuracy. I mean, just throwing the actual concept of Death in to be your Death Arcana's representation doesn't make it an accurate portrayal of the card by itself, and I get the feeling that was Atlus's plan. And the final change that Pharos talks of during the Social Link and later is the advance guard for DOES get averted, so the idea of the change that the Death card symbolizes being unavoidable isn't accurately portrayed.* On the other hand, there are a couple times in the events involving Pharos that do qualify--the end of the Social Link proper has Pharos leaving for good, ending his time with Minato in order to begin a new role--which is the transformation that the Death Arcana describes perfectly. A similar transformation happens later on with Pharos again, too, which again has him undergoing a transformation to end one "life" and begin a new one. But what really convinced me that this Social Link was, indeed, more than just lazily saying "Here's Death, it symbolizes Death, now go away" was the insight of my buddy and most consistent reader, Ecclesiastes. It was as follows:

"I think Atlus was going for something very specific and meaningful when they joined the Arcana and the concept of Death itself. In terms of both the Arcana and the physical/spiritual state/process of Death, the generally negative connotation comes from a fear of the unknown, and the dread of leaving the familiar. With that understanding, the writers apparently felt that the Arcana and the metaphysical process were too closely related in relation to P3's story to not push them together. Poor Pharos just had way too much ground to cover in his minimalistic S. Link, in my opinion. That's where Ryoji comes in to fill the gaps.

"As Pharos, he's remarkably curious towards change. In terms of Death, he was an interested outsider; Death and dying were meaningless to him in the direct sense, because he is isolated and unchanging, but he was still intensely curious towards Minato's and SEES' mission, because he has no idea what the future holds.

"As Ryoji, he becomes his own entity, one who develops friendships and truly lives. He also comes to know exactly what the future holds for him, and it means a breaking away from those he's come to love, and the life he's lived so far(the same reasons anyone would fear Death). Yet his destiny is to leave his friends and become this Death, as certainly as people will someday die. It's not ignorant fear on his part, but a sad realization.

"Yet at the same time, he understands it well enough to accept it, and simply wait for it to come. He's in tune with the Arcana's understanding of Death moreso than anyone else, because he knows Death better than anyone, presumably being a witness to its very birth and finality. The fact that he's essentially the harbinger of the Fall(the final Death) wasn't just a case of "lazy" symbolism. I felt they played with his dual nature quite well, or at least well enough."

What can I say? The man's more convincing and insightful than I am, and how.

Persona 4, on the other hand, seems to more or less only try to connect to the Arcana by involving Death in the Link's events a lot, which by itself doesn't mean anything. There really isn't much of a transformation or a transition from an ending to a beginning in Hisano's story, save, I suppose, her ending her consuming grief at the end of the Link and accepting herself and her actions--but it really isn't especially transitional in nature. She's putting aspects of her past to rest, but it's not really with the intent of beginning anew, so it's just not a proper portrayal of the Death card. Persona 3's the clear winner here.

Worth
As long as we count the events that happen as a direct result of the Social Link, Pharos's story is fairly decent and original. But Hisano's Social Link is very moving, fairly original on its own, and quite interesting. Persona 4's got the better story on this one.


TEMPERANCE
In SMTP3, Temperance is represented by Bebe, a foreign exchange student. In SMTP4, it's Eri, a newly married stepmother.

Meaning
Temperance is the direct result of the Death Arcana--once the great change that Death symbolizes has passed, reconstruction and re-balancing occurs, which is what Temperance is all about--building and rebuilding and finding/creating balance, usually in the sense of improving on an old template. Finding balance and harmony, both internally and with others, are big parts of Temperance--making peace with yourself, accepting others' flaws with their virtues, compromise and cooperation, that sort of thing.

So, let's see how Bebe and Eri measure up to this. Bebe, I feel, does live up to Temperance, but I admit that the point is debatable. Basically, I feel that he symbolizes the process of rebuilding and bettering that Temperance does after Death--when his aunt, who was the main financial reason he could stay in Japan, passes away, Bebe finds he has to leave Japan because his uncle won't take her place in paying for him to be there. He must use the foundation for his presence in Japan before his aunt's passing--his love for the country--to convince his uncle to let him return, and to do so, he further immerses himself in admiration and participation in Japanese culture by creating a kimono. So in a sense, he's rebuilding his reason to be in Japan to be even better--he hopes that his love for Japan will once again allow him to be there, but this time he's offering hard proof of his cultural adulation. Also, in his part of the ending, Bebe decides to stay in his home country of France for a time, because he cares for his lonely uncle, and decides he'd rather be in Japan of his own ability rather than mooching off of others--which is, essentially, a balanced compromise, another aspect of Temperance. So I do think it works well--although I also admit that it's just a little far away enough from obvious that one could say that I'm reading too much into it. Still, my rant, my interpretation.

Eri, on the other hand...actually, Eri works pretty well for it, too. Her story's theme of coming to terms with her sudden stepmotherhood involves compromises made by both her and her son Yuuta, learning to be able to give and take, and to express themselves to each other, in order to find the balance they need to be a family. Despite that, however, I'm going to give it to Persona 3, because it's got both the compromising aspect, and the rebuilding idea.

Worth
Tough call on this. I like each Social Link here--both stories are interesting and well-written. Bebe's tale winds up being more moving to me, but Eri's story of coming to embrace her role as a stepmother and bettering herself as a person because of it is refreshingly different and original, and the execution of that idea's done very well. I guess I'll have to go with Persona 4's Eri, as it's got both creativity and great writing skill, but it's a tough choice.


THE DEVIL
In SMTP3, The Devil is represented by Tanaka, a company president. In SMTP4, it's Sayoko, a hospital nurse.

Meaning
The Devil is honestly pretty straightforward--it's the bad side of you, the negativity within, the evil and icky bits of your personality that you don't want to admit are there but affect your actions and deeds every day. Like the Death Arcana, The Devil isn't representative of or represented by the theological figure it's named after. What it IS symbolic of, though, is the inner weakness and darkness that can consume you, and will if you allow it, taking over your life.**

Actually, I almost regret that I'm not doing this rant on each game's integration of each Tarot card into its main plot, because trying to figure out which game's events have The Devil's integration better would be a lot of fun...but that can wait for another time; right now we're just going over the Social Links. Well, Persona 3's got a strong Link here: Tanaka's been almost completely consumed by the lust for wealth and success that, from listening to his stories of his childhood, started to eat away at him when he was still young, showing the cancerous shadow within him in its strongest stage, when almost everything he does is meant to feed his personal evil's needs. Definitely fits the bill. And while I know the Arcana isn't necessarily supposed to mean the Devil himself, Tanaka is EXTREMELY caught up in the power of falsehood, using lies and deceit so commonly and so dependently that he himself no longer seems able to tell the difference between being honest and lying--and the Devil is, after all, perhaps above all other things, the Lord of Lies. But, I suppose we won't count that part as technically accurate, cuz the card's not supposed to literally mean the Devil. I guess.

Anyway, looking at Persona 4, we've got a pretty good representation here, too. Sayoko's feelings of loneliness over the fact that all her patients eventually leave her behind have come to dictate how she behaves at her job and bury the reason she became a nurse, to save people, deep enough within her that she doesn't even remember it any more.

Overall, though, I'm going to give this one to Persona 3. Sayoko's a good representation, but she eventually pulls herself up from her fallen state to remember why she's a nurse, and regains control over her life, while with Tanaka we only get a mere hint that he is still capable of mastering his inner darkness (his charity donation, which might not count if what he said about his reason for giving it is true--but then, when does he ever speak the truth?). Although the natural advice The Devil gives in a Tarot reading is that one needs to swiftly resolve one's internal discords before they become all-consuming, I don't think the Arcana is, in itself, meant to have any sort of recovery associated with it, so Tanaka's tiny glimmer of hope is more accurate than Sayoko's total revival.

Worth
For the exact same reason Persona 3 is a more accurate depiction, Persona 4 is a better story. While the story of Tanaka is interesting if you give it enough thought, Sayoko's story gives us the same tale of one who lets her fears and vices overcome her, but continues the story to give us resolution. With Sayoko, you see that Yu's presence in her life has truly changed her for the better and given her life back to her, while with Tanaka, the best you get is a tiny hope that Minato has put Tanaka on the long road to self-recovery...but you can't really know. Persona 4's got the stronger story here.


THE TOWER
In SMTP3, The Tower is represented by Mutatsu, a Buddhist monk. In SMTP4, it's Shu, a young student.

Meaning
The Tower is forced wisdom; it's understanding and knowledge that comes to you whether you want it or not, and destroys previous beliefs and perceptions in the process. Your beliefs and understanding are never so infallible and secure that they can't be destroyed by a higher wisdom that proves them wrong.

Persona 3 does an adequate job with this--Mutatsu's pessimistic views on life and protests against having relationships with other people are beliefs that are gradually broken as he comes to realize that he truly does want to be with those dear to him, and that his egotistical self-reassurances that living alone is better were only hiding his true feelings. All of this comes as a result of Minato/Minako's presence--a boy or girl who Mutatsu can't get to go away and leave him alone, regardless of repeatedly telling the kid not to come back. Thus you have both a greater wisdom overcoming previously held beliefs, and doing so without the holder of said beliefs having any say in the matter, since Minato/Minako's returning presence can't be staved off.

With Persona 4, you pretty much get an equally accurate depiction of The Tower. Shu holds several beliefs about his need to be the number 1 student in his classes and that his mother's love and pride in him is conditional on his continuing to excel. Eventually, he's so desperate to maintain his position that he cheats, and is caught and suspended for it. He then finds that his perceptions on the importance of placing first and his mother's love for him were wrong, and revises his ideas about academic success and family. Pretty clear-cut example of the old understanding being toppled by the new wisdom.

It's actually a really close call to make here, since, despite their considerably different details, each Social Link portrays The Tower with the exact same accuracy. In that light, I have to go with Persona 3, because it also included the detail of having the new wisdom be forceful (Minato/Minako won't go away just because he/she's told to). With Persona 4, Shu learns his lesson as a result of his own misguided actions, and while they're the likely result of his flawed philosophy, they don't strike me as especially inevitable. Even if you count Yu as the determining factor the way Minato/Minako was (and I don't; Yu seems to not have much of a role here until after the climactic test), it still doesn't relate to the Arcana as well, because Yu's presence could have been removed at any time--Shu himself says in the beginning that he'll drop Yu as a tutor if he's not satisfied. So, for getting the part about forceful wisdom right, Persona 3 edges ahead.

Worth
I liked Persona 4's story here just fine, but Persona 3's better to me. The pacing's better, for one--up until the very end of Shu's tale, his major issues aren't addressed very strongly or at length; it seems like everything comes out right in the last couple scenes, while Mutatsu's development is more even. I also prefer the originality of Mutatsu's character and situation--a smoking, booze-gulping Buddhist monk who's lost his faith in connecting with others (which, for his religion, would, I think, qualify as having lost his faith entirely) who worked too hard and lost his wife and son because of it. Pretty neat. And lastly, Minato/Minako's place in the Persona 3 Tower events seems to actually have significance. Even if he/she doesn't say much very often, you can see the effects of Minato/Minako's presence slowly changing Mutatsu, while in Persona 4, as I said, Yu seems more like an observer than anything else up until the end. He certainly earns his keep as Shu's friend and guide to better things then, yes, but up until then, he seems unimportant overall. So, Persona 3's version is a better story to me.


THE STAR
In SMTP3, The Star is represented by Mamoru, a rival athlete, for Minato, and Akihiko, a teammate and love interest, for Minako. In SMTP4, it's Teddie, a teammate and fucking annoying waste of programming code.

Meaning
The Star is the light of hope and faith, a guide to the right path in the dark times of one's life. By "faith," it doesn't necessarily mean religion, but faith in the more basic sense of the word...one's trust can be placed in a deity or system of belief, but it can also be in oneself, another, a lovely intangible, or whatever else can provide one with inspiration and guidance. The Star doesn't provide an end result to dilemmas or journeys, but it does represent the beginning of the right path to resolution.

Honestly, none of these Social Links seems to be very in tune with this. I mean, I guess you can say that Teddie finds the path to self-discovery thanks to his friends, but there's no really strong indication of their guidance or of faith of one kind or another being a part of it...it all just sort of comes together. Not to mention, he definitely does find resolution on who he is, so the path goes beyond the boundaries that The Star is supposed to cover. Akihiko’s no more accurate--he, too, finds a fairly definite resolution to his problems, and while he says that it’s all thanks to Minako’s guidance, it all feels much more like he came to several conclusions on his own, offscreen, after a lot of dilly-dallying with nothing during the actual events of the Social Link. He kind of has great faith in the ability of strength to protect the ones he loves, but that’s a real stretch, and it’s not even a particularly strong part of the story anyway.

Mamoru's not too much better on this. I guess you can say that he finds a new path to his dreams of becoming an athlete that will allow him to first provide for his family with a job, or perhaps that providing for his family IS the better path he should take, but that's a somewhat shaky connection to the Arcana, and it still doesn't really involve faith in any significant capacity that I can see. Still, I'll give it to Persona 3, because none of the Social Links seems to have a clear connection to The Star, but Persona 3, at least, implies the idea that this is a beginning step to Mamoru's future, rather than an end to a journey for answers as Teddie's is.

Worth
Let me attempt to be objective for a moment. Akihiko’s story, while probably the most character development he’s ever had, is mostly boring, poorly paced, and only has a few parts that have any actual, meaningful character development for him. Mamoru's story is decent. Teddie's story is less interesting and the scenes that make it up are less coordinated and focused on progressing to the Social Link's conclusion. The conclusion for Mamoru's is much more satisfying than for Teddie's, or Akihiko’s. So, I can say that I honestly would still pick Persona 3's Star Social Link over Persona 4's, even if we didn't factor in the fact that I goddamn hate Teddie (objective moment is done with). Oh my GOD what an annoying asshole he is. There are times when I really wonder if my decision to put Navi on my list of Most Annoying RPG Characters instead of Teddie was the right decision--can her persistent screeching truly be less appealing than hearing this stupid, worthless stuffed animal prattle on about scoring with girls? I'm not always sure. Every time Teddie hits on a female--and that happens a LOT; Persona 4's creators seem to have had the mistaken idea that a joke that isn't funny once might get better 3 dozen times later--I want to hit him in his goddamn face with a crowbar and then tear his stomach out with a garden trowel. Persona 3 wins the point for worth, by virtue of Mamoru, and by virtue of not having fucking Teddie.


THE MOON
In SMTP3, The Moon is represented by Nozomi, a classmate, for Minato, and Shinjiro, a teammate and love interest, for Minako. In SMTP4, it's Ai, a classmate and love interest.

Meaning
Illusions, mirages, deceptions...The Moon is the Arcana of false appearances. For better or worse, what you see isn't what you get.

Nozomi works well enough with this idea--he give the appearance of being a food-obsessed glutton, but it turns out that his monstrous appetite is a way of running away from memories of his dead brother and thoughts of his own self-worth. His enjoyment's an illusion; he eats to escape only. It's only after he realizes this about himself that he begins to truly enjoy the food he eats. He also runs a small scam cult, which appears to be promising salvation but really is just about making some quick cash. Thus, the Social Link has the chubby little Scientologist showing us false appearances twice over.

Shinjiro’s Social Link is also a good example of The Moon, showing us that much of Shinji’s apathetic exterior hides a young man who worries over the health and well being of his comrades, showing us that much of Shinji’s regular behavior is not necessarily the truth about him. Additionally, he tries until the very end of the Link to keep Minako at an emotional distance, claiming that a person as lowly as he isn’t what she wants/needs--so essentially, he’s trying (albeit somewhat poorly) to hide his true feelings for her. This Social Link shows us what a deception Shinjiro puts forth for the sake of others.

Nonetheless, I have to choose Persona 4's Ai as the most accurate depiction of The Moon Arcana. First of all, her story is equally about the idea of appearances being deceiving...Ai has become so caught up in superficial things like appearance and what's popular and supposedly likable, that she's forgotten who she really is, and has to have Yu's caring patience remind her that it's what lies beneath the surface that matters. She also briefly has an ill-fated crush on a classmate because she's mistaken the idea of wanting to be in love for actually being in love--which is, in a way, another case of being tricked by an illusion, this time the illusion of being in love with love rather than in love with the person. So she's got the theme twice over just as strongly as Nozomi.

But the very way you, the player, go through Ai's Social Link is actually a THIRD connection to The Moon's idea--halfway through, you get the option to become romantically involved with Ai, but if you choose this, then later on she'll break up with Yu because she realizes that it's just another false appearance, not true love, and she doesn't want to hurt him by pretending. But if Yu initially rejects her, knowing that she doesn't really know what she wants at that moment, the Link continues with the 2 of them becoming closer friends and Ai gradually coming to understand herself while her feelings for Yu become something real, so that by the end, she gives Yu a true confession of love. Whether or not you have Yu accept it is irrelevant--the important thing is that the Social Link ITSELF is giving you, halfway through, a false offer of romance, an illusion, that you have to be too wise to fall for. Heck, there's even a little reference at the end of Ai's Link where she says that from now on, she'll depend on the faces of people who care about her to determine how good a person she is--just as the moon reflects light, so will they reflect her worth, which is just one more tie to The Moon's symbolism. Now THAT'S going all out to portray the Tarot card's meaning!

Worth
Nozomi's Social Link's story is decent enough, if a bit hard to follow at times, and pretty weird. Shinji’s and Ai's stories are just better in every way, though. Shinji’s Social Link shows us an interesting and surprising look into Shinji’s character, really expanding it and giving him far more depth and appeal. There are several really good parts to it, too. I like how Shinji approaches cooking--unlike the cliched cooking crap we got back with Fuuka in The Priestess’s Social Link, the cooking in Shinji’s actually serves a clear and interesting purpose for him, that being that it showcases his affections for his teammates in a way that he’s not comfortable outright expressing. At first, his interest in his team’s nutrition shows us his concern for his friends, and later, the dinner he puts together for them is his way of trying to make sure that they have a happy memory for the difficult times ahead. Speaking of which, the dinner scene is really great, reminding me greatly of the Citadel DLC for Mass Effect 3--it’s showing everyone together, as friends and comrades, in a fun, heartwarming, and fulfilling manner. The romance with Shinji kinda feels tacked on (like most of them in these games), but at any rate, Shinji’s Social Link is quite good.

Yet, I still have to give Ai the win here. The pacing and flow of her story is good, her character's depth is surprising but logical, her dilemma and self-understanding are realistic and interesting. I even like the romance part of Ai's Social Link (the real one, I mean, not the bait-and-switch one), which is more than I can say for any other romantic interest in that game--even Rise's was only passable to me. But with Ai, you have a story where Yu is not only there to help her find herself and become connected to her, but one where he knows her well enough and cares about her enough not to let her rush into something with him, but rather wait until she understands him enough that her love is genuine before being together with him. Even her Social Link's conclusion at the end of the game is the best of the romantic ones for Persona 4--rather than just hoping they can someday begin their relationship anew because Yu's going away like Yukiko slightly implies, or just not really mentioning it at all like Rise and Chie, or even seeming to imply that it might be over like Yumi (Sun Link; see below), Ai is willing to work to maintain her relationship with Yu, saying she's patient and ready for a long-distance relationship, and talking of visiting him on Spring Break.*** Everything about Ai's Social Link is great, so Persona 4 wins on this one.


THE SUN
In SMTP3, The Sun is represented by Akinari, a young man. In SMTP4, it's Ayane or Yumi, depending on which club you join. Both are classmates.

Meaning
The Sun has a few meanings and symbols. It represents light and life coming back after a period of darkness, as well as the idea that no matter how bad things are, the sun will rise with the morning--life will go on. Naturally, this also makes unshakable reliability another thing this card symbolizes. In fact, The Sun can have quite a few meanings--coming joy, happiness, vitality, stability, prosperity, and especially success and completion. Regardless of what the meaning happens to be in any reading, though, it's pretty much always a positive symbol, and most is most strongly associated with a successful, positive conclusion to one thing that heralds the beginning of another.

Which means...that most of the Social Links in these games would work just fine for The Sun. I mean, most of them conclude with a positive note that's the successful end of a journey of self-discovery, in one way or another, with this new understanding of self clearly being the starting point of a new part of life for the Social Links' characters. Persona 4's Ayane and Yumi work fine for The Sun, neither better nor worse than I'd expect from any Social Link--I kind of feel like their stories might have been tossed into The Sun's category just because the developers had the ideas for each but didn't really have another Arcana to classify them under. Persona 3's Sun Social Link is, I think, maybe a slightly more focused representation of The Sun, but that could be personal interpretation more than unbiased observation--I feel like the joy and success of Akinari finding meaning for his life after his long period of pain and confusion is a stronger story of personal success and joy than Ayane's or Yumi's. So I will give Persona 3 the win for this one, but I'll do so while admitting that it's debatable.

Worth
Ayane's story is bland, sugar-coated crap that reminds me of Persona 3's Saori and, worse still, Chihiro--Ayane's actually a bit more annoying and cliched, but her ambitions are considerably nobler, so it evens out for me. Of course, the romance aspect is silly and unbelievable...and honestly, also a little bit disturbing, given that Ayane looks and acts like she's 10. Yumi's Social Link is good, creating a reasonably distinctive character and a nicely touching story of her reconciling with her father before losing him, and in doing so finding a part of herself that she had denied for a long time. Her romance is almost okay, too, in that it seems like it could actually happen--but the game literally crams every significant aspect of it into the very last few minutes of the entire Social Link's run, so it's a wash to me.

All of that said, though...I was just being polite by even mentioning my thoughts on Yumi and Ayane's tales here. The winner is Persona 3. The winner is and always will be Persona 3, for everything, forever, because of this Social Link. Akinari's Social Link in this game is...incredible. Persona 3's Sun Link is, without any doubt in my mind, one of the most incredible pieces of storytelling that I have ever seen in any RPG (and by logical extension, any video game) I've ever played. It's the best part of a game that's already excellent, and truly a work of emotional art. I’ve seen it half a dozen times now, and each and every time it’s brought tears, and lots of’em, to my eyes. To not cry when watching this, you’d pretty much have to be an inanimate object. It's utterly amazing, plain and simple.


JUDGMENT
In SMTP3, Judgment is represented by SEES, during their final mission to save the world. In SMTP4, it's the Investigative Team, as they finally deduce their foe's identity and defeat him.

Meaning
Death and The Tower represented the end of something old to make way for something new--the way all of creation in life works, essentially, changing one thing into another. Judgment represents the physically impossible--rebirth and creation without destruction. Judgment is tied with spiritual rebirth, karma--but not like Justice was, where it was physical results for one's actions, but spiritual results, where your actions determine what you'll do from now on and how your spirit will develop--a clean slate, cleansing, and acknowledging past actions and beliefs, good or bad, as you go into the future (but not being hindered by them). And, naturally, the concept of Judgment Day, found in many religions, is tied strongly to the Judgment Arcana.

I won't say Persona 3's Judgment Social Link is inaccurate per say, as the climb through the final part of Tartarus can be seen as the SEES team going forward with the strength and lessons they've learned on their journey towards their final destiny, where they'll face off against an actual Judgement Day. But Persona 4's far better here--Judgment's Social Link is started at the final part of the game, as was Persona 3's, but the "judgment" it makes on the Investigative Team is an act in progress--it takes Yu and company's spiritual strength and clarity to drive the Link forward to its end, and if their spirits are not wise and strong enough to make their decisions just, the end result is the Bad Ending. Persona 4's just a better depiction here.

Worth
No contest. Persona 3's Judgment Social Link is basically just the trek through the final parts of the main dungeon. While you can have some fun considering the spiritual ramifications of it, you can do the same for Persona 4's Judgment Link, AND actually listen to dialogue as the game's plot continues during the Link's course. One is a story, one isn't. Not a hard choice.


THE AEON: In SMTP3, The Aeon is represented by Aigis, a teammate and love interest. In SMTP4, it’s Marie, Igor’s other assistant, a love interest, and secretly a piece of the main villain Izanami, sort of.

Meaning
The site I was using for meanings had nothing for The Aeon, so I've taken this from a few online sources. The Aeon is an Arcana that replaces Judgment in some Tarot decks. Like Judgment, it's a symbol of spiritual judgment, but in a more spiritually complete way. It's the end of The Fool's journey, the point at which one looks back on all that one has thought, experienced, learned, believed, gained, lost, understood, and become. It's the summation of one's journey, and one is left to look at that journey and accept its results. The Aeon also identifies with the general act of looking at a full cycle from afar or above and finding meaning in it--things like contemplating the circle of life.

In this regard, Aigis's Social Link is particularly fascinating, because in one way it's the complete opposite of what The Aeon is meant to show, and yet in a deeper way, is an exquisitely accurate representation. As a robot only now discovering emotions and humanity, Aigis doesn't really have the connection to the journey of the game's characters that The Aeon looks over--she is not a part of the experience, knowledge, and wisdom gained from the journey as a whole. Yet The Aeon prescribes seeing the entirety of a journey or a cycle from a higher perspective, elevating oneself above it to gain understanding from seeing its entirety--and is that not exactly what Aigis is doing? From her perspective as an observer who is unable to take part in many aspects of being human, she can, and does, see the big picture with extraordinary clarity. In her Social Link, she not only examines the cycle of life and death, she also determines and describes the way to find meaning, happiness, and contentment with one's limited time alive--by finding others and forging emotional bonds to them, by touching others' lives as well as one is able. She's basically summing up the game's theme and meaning right here and now--that it's our connections to others that make our lives truly worthwhile. Since she's observing the point of the entire game, she is, of course, looking from a higher perspective on the entire journey and seeing its purpose, just as The Aeon is meant to. Her Social Link even works in a small element of judgment--if it's your bonds to others that make your life worthwhile, then it's your decisions and actions that will bring meaning or emptiness to your life, because it's how you act that will determine how deeply you're connected to others.

Marie’s story is similar in some ways to Aigis’s. She, too, is separated from the other characters of the game, having no memories and thus no humanity, as well as not being entirely human to begin with. With this perspective of an outsider, we once again experience her commentary and perspective often summarizing the game’s main themes and meaning. However, while Aigis muses over these concepts and explores them, Marie doesn’t seem to be doing anything beyond observation. I also don’t really see a connection to the themes of the cycle of life, or spiritual judgment. Lastly, the major overall theme of Persona 4’s journey is undeniably tied with the idea of a pursuit of truth, both personal and interpersonal, yet Marie’s Social Link seems content with her settling on the memories she has now rather than continuing to try to recover her past--it’s kind of just dropped. True, the “truth” of who she is can be argued to be her present alone, but the exploration into who one truly is over who one wants to be is a kinda big part of Persona 4, so it doesn’t jive well when the character most meant to promote the understanding and wisdoms of the game’s journey is doing the exact opposite. Overall, Persona 4’s Marie definitely has a connection to the meaning of The Aeon, but Persona 3’s Aigis far better embodies the Arcana.

Worth
If we don't count Persona 3's Social Link for The Sun (which is really in a league of its own anyway), The Aeon is my favorite Social Link in the game. Not only do we get a great summary of the game's wisdom and meaning through the words of Aigis that still somehow manages not to be blunt, but we also get a great, very touching story of Aigis struggling with her growing humanity and its being trapped within a mechanical body, along with her attempt to understand life and its inescapable finite nature. I also particularly love the romantic aspect of the Social Link--Aigis's feelings of devotion and love are well-established early on, and the whole thing is very touching, particularly the last few parts of the Social Link. In fact, even if I'm not counting the parts of the main game, particularly in the ending, depicting Aigis's love for Minato/Minako that aren't direct parts of the Social Link, she's still easily the one I believe loves him/her the most. This Link is great from start to finish. Marie’s story isn’t bad, aside from another superfluously tacked-on romance, and I do like it and think it has worth, but it truly just pales in comparison to the Social Link for Aigis. Persona 3 wins this one.


THE JESTER AND HUNGER
In SMTP3, there is no Social Link for either The Jester or Hunger. In SMTP4, The Jester and Hunger are both represented by Adachi, the main villain.

Meaning
Also known as Lust and Passion, the Hunger Arcana replaces Strength in some Tarot decks. I’m going on a few different sources for the meaning of this one. Basically, Hunger is similar to Strength in that it represents mastery of one’s passions, one’s animal side, but unlike Strength, which uses higher thought emotions to subdue instincts and desires, Hunger’s mastery of them is not meant to subdue them, but to be able to fully partake in them, to indulge in them without being lost in them. Energy, vitality, a joy of life, and the ability to use these things are embodied by Hunger, but so too is the potential for abuse of power and loss of control--being a practicing master of one’s animal desires, and servant to them, are always dangerously close.

Now, from what I can tell (and I’m not an expert; these are just the basic research results of Google, Wikipedia, and a few online Tarot interpretation sites), The Jester is just another name for The Fool, not an actual replacement for it. The only difference in meaning that I’ve found is SMTP4’s own interpretation of its meaning (as told by the SMT Wiki, at any rate), which is that The Jester is like The Fool in having ignorance, spontaneity, and freedom, but in a suppressed way, a person for whom these aspects misguide him/her and make him/her have difficulties working with others.

Adachi’s Social Link fits both Arcana pretty darned well, I think. At first, it’s listed as The Jester, and it fits the bill--Adachi’s penchant for goofing off, slacking, and cutting corners works well with The Jester’s theme. He doesn’t feel motivated to do his job well, he doesn’t want to be bothered by the old lady who’s taken a shine to him because talking to her is a pain (even though he seems to like her deep down), he advises Nanako to take the quick and easy way out of her homework...all these carefree tendencies of ignorance and careless free spirit align exactly with The Jester as described above. Hell, this doesn’t actually make a difference to the Arcana’s meaning, but the guy’s even whimsical and silly, the way you’d expect an actual jester to be. It’s also quite interesting that the only way you can keep Adachi’s Social Link as The Jester instead of it turning to Hunger is to pursue the bad ending in which Yu knowingly covers for Adachi and helps him to avoid being caught for his crimes. Essentially, Yu’s decision to do this is a betrayal of the very essence of the theme of Persona 4, him discarding all the actions of his friends and himself in pursuit of the truth in favor of perpetuating a horrible falsehood, of embracing the lie. No wonder it’s in this way that The Jester’s Social Link is continued and completed--it is the lesser, the corrupted version of The Fool. The Fool, the pursuer of truth that Yu until this moment most embodied, is no more. There is only The Jester as the story ends in failure.

As for the Hunger card, well, uh, duh. Once this Social Link turns into Hunger, it’s become inextricably ingrained in the main plot of the game, so it’s fair to use said main plot for material, and...well, c’mon, Adachi the villain is basically everything that Hunger’s meant to be; do I really have to explain it? He’s a psychopath who gets his kicks from murder, and abuses his position as a police officer to avoid capture and help him set up new attempts. And he’s too far gone in his twisted ways to be reasoned with, so much that it’s a mildly humorous annoyance to him when Yu tries--no longer able to escape the dark impulses that he abuses for their power. Yep, he fits Hunger, alright.

Worth
Well, it’s not like it has any competition, but Adachi’s Social Link is pretty darned cool, as well as creepy. Seeing him early in it is a bit enlightening when one views it with the knowledge of what Adachi truly is, giving a little better understanding of his character (the main plot doesn’t do enough on this point, so it’s very welcome). The later parts are great stuff--on the one hand, the ending where you become his accomplice is dark and creepy, about as bad a Bad Ending there could be. That scene in the police station is chilling. On the other hand, the true path for the later parts is also great stuff--Yu’s solo confrontation with Adachi is a very good scene, and gives us a better familiarity with his true, twisted self that truly shows just how beyond normality he really is. Good stuff, all throughout.


THE UNIVERSE AND THE WORLD
Although The Universe and The World do show up in SMTP3 and 4, respectively, as the culmination of all Social Links together, neither has a Social Link of their own.


FINAL TALLY:

Meaning: Persona 3: 13. Persona 4: 8. SMT Persona 3 is the better game for its Social Links depicting the Tarot Arcana.

Worth: Persona 3: 10. Persona 4: 12. SMT Persona 4 is the better game for its Social Links as far as the overall worth of them as stories and means of character development.

Gotta admit, I was surprised by this as I wrote it and did the tally...originally I had expected SMTP4 to have greater accuracy, but for SMTP3 to have better stories in general. Turns out, though, that I underestimated SMTP3's representation of the Tarot cards, and SMTP4's plots. Although I almost feel like SMTP3’s Sun Social Link ought to count several times over, just for how excellent it is. Regardless, though, this proves one thing: the SMT team at Atlus are RIDICULOUSLY thoughtful and dedicated regarding their games' meaning, symbolism, and general writing quality.


And there we have it. Good. GOD. This is easily the longest, most comprehensive rant I've ever done, and with all the writing, contemplating, watching both games' Social Links all over again, and researching Tarot cards I did for this...I hesitate to wonder how many hours I've given to this one rant. I really hope at least a few people made it to the end here, and although I try to avoid whining for feedback in most cases, I'd really appreciate it if anyone who's gotten this far was to comment and let me know what you thought.

And now, I am beat. See you all one more time for the Annual Summary rant, and then it’s off to 2014 for us all.











* I'm aware that I'm taking into consideration events involving Pharos that go outside of the strict confines of the Social Link, and that I've previously said I'd avoid doing that for other characters. The reason here is that all the later events for Pharos in the plot proper happen after and BECAUSE OF the Social Link's events. If a later plot event occurs as a direct result of a Social Link, it's only fair to take it into consideration, I think.

** Actually, certain (very sound and reasonable) interpretations of the mythological Devil pretty much say he does the same thing--it's not him that forces evil on you, but rather your own evils that bring you to him. So in a certain respect, you COULD say the Arcana is meant to directly show the theological Devil. But I guess that's probably a huge can of spiritual worms I shouldn't open up here, huh?

*** To be fair, Naoto also makes mention of attempting to keep things going by visiting Yu after he's moved away. But as I mentioned before, her potential romance in the Fortune Social Link is really bad.

16 comments:

  1. Wow I have to say you really worked hard to reasearch all of this I'm impressed.

    However, there are somethings I want to address and some things I think about some of the social links. (Mostly in Persona 4 since you got the meanings in Persona 3 down)

    Magician
    This maybe a strech but I think why Yosuke really fits as this is because of him eventually seeing the real potential of the town he lives in thus the tallent part of the card meaning. (This comes full circle in P3P when the game introduces Rio, Kenji's childhood friend and the same age, is in love with him and Kenji is oblivious.)

    Priestess
    Yukiko's decision isn't really so abrupt in her social link you can see that she really is doubting her decion to leave and thus untapped wisdom.

    The Emperor
    This one was a bit cleaver, you see Kanji is being bound by the rules of society that dictates what he should be, then at the end of the SLink Kanji makes his own rules for himself.

    Justice
    The persona series almost never uses the traditional use of the Justice card (the exception is in Persona 2) The meaning it uses is to analyze one life and change it for the better. This definaly aplies to both girls.

    Any ways once again this is not ment to criticize you but just to clearafy somethings and hope you do the same for P3P and P4 the golden which has Marie the Aeon of that game. I do want to hear you take on the new SLinks

    Source:http://www.gamefaqs.com/psp/924580-shin-megami-tensei-persona/faqs/58094

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  2. Your Magician interpretation does seem a little stretch, but I do suppose I can that as pretty possible. The Priestess idea seems like it's grasping at straws, though. As for the Emperor, if that's true then it's almost counter what the Tarot is supposed to represent, since law of the land, the rules of society you mention, ARE integral aspects of the Emperor and obedience to them is just as important as following whatever personal rules he creates for himself As for Justice, well, that's nice and all, but why go with a non-traditional definition for it to begin with? In addition, don't almost ALL the Social Links fit with that idea, then? I mean, almost all the individuals in these Social Links have better lives by the end of the Link's events, and most of them have done so using self-analysis in some way. What a terrible way to approach this Arcana; it basically removes anything and everything that could be at all unique about it, giving it a role that could be filled by practically ANY of these stories. If that's really true, then, and I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever said this, Atlus really, really dropped the ball.

    At any rate, thanks very much for the comment. With a rant that took me this long to make, it means something extra to know that someone took the time to read it all and consider it. As for the new versions of SMTP3 and SMTP4...ehhhhhh...yeah, I'm gonna redo this rant at some point to accommodate these new Social Links. Don't know when it'll be, but it's coming at some point. I'll see if I can remember to do it within the year.

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    1. Your welcome!(I honestly did not think you would reply)

      Anyway after some reserch I have to ammend the Justice tarot, I gave a way too watered down version

      Basically Upright Justice also represents Truth, Acountabillity and being cool-level headed.

      So a Reverse Justice would mean being untruthfull, not beining cool and leveled headed in making dicions and most importantly blambing others.

      Theres also the notion that change can be uncomfortable.

      I also for got about Ken who fits the tradional and non-traditional approach

      I do look forward to the redo rant (and rember all of the p3p SLinks are on Youtube and P4p is coming to America during OCT)

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    2. Oh, to be sure, I'll be using Youtube to see the new ones. Never pay twice for the same game, that's my motto. Fuck SquareEnix and their torrential shitstorm of remakes, and...well...scolding goes to Atlus for doing the same with the SMT Personas (because generally Atlus seems to have pretty good integrity).

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    3. A bit of an update but it seems there is a second new Social link in Persona 4 the Golden The Pierrot Arcana / Lust Arcana

      Yep and it belongs to Adachi

      And apparntly it also possible to change the ending slightly if you max it (though this might make the True ending impossible to get if you do this maybe.)

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    4. A Social Link with Adachi? Could be interesting. Lord knows he really could use the character development.

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  3. Hurray for Update! and now for my notes

    I'm surprised that you didn't include the "rank 11" party member slink persona event which isn't really a rank 11 but finishing the social link is a requirement to watch the scenes which are pretty good in both worth and meaning. Yukiko doesn't talk about Cooking at all and Naoto in particular gives a really good speech about cycles. It also kind combines judgment and there own arcana because they are all reflecting on the journey that thought they finished. If you want to search is up just search up "Persona 4 Golden 3rd tier"

    Also surprised Marie's dungeon event and pre-izanami event weren't talk about since once again it is part of the social link.

    It's also a shame that Marie does reflect upon her journey but though Poems that doesn't have anything to do with her social link (except them briefly in the dungeon)

    As a side note most devil arcana are business men as we have Reiji and Toro and Tanaka

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  4. Also a little more information about upcoming Persona games

    Persona Q: Involves time travel and alternate universes which isn't something new we have Mitsuru's grandpa researching a time manipulation device and the entirety of Persona 2 is this. Also Persona 4 arena 2 does involve time-space manipulating fog.

    Persona 4 Dancing all night: Is actually canon where Rise becomes and idol again but her idol friends are missing due to a rumor. Now if rumors are also not new due to Persona 2 where all of the town you play in are cursed to have all rumors become reality.

    Finally Persona 5's main theme is of slavery to society and breaking free from those bindings

    So we have Persona 1: Changing
    Persona 2: No real central theme
    Persona 3: Death
    Persona 4: Truth
    Persona 5: Laws of society

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    1. I don't like how much the SMT Persona sub-series is starting to resemble the Final Fantasy 7 sub-series with these superfluous side-stories...

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    2. If it helps Persona Q is said to be the resolution to the Persona 3/4 story line not too mention Arena and Arena 2 being most likely the overarching story line of the entire franchise

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    3. It doesn't, really. The Arena nonsense shouldn't have been made to begin with. It reminds me of the most recent My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episode, Daring Don't--despite having good qualities and perhaps being enjoyable when all is said and done, it is ultimately damaging to the setting, lore, and overall material of the series, bringing problems that shall sit more heavily than the virtues.

      Well, I suppose I'll just have to hope that Atlus won't turn Persona into as big a clusterfuck shit-show as SquareEnix did with FF7. But I do feel concerned.

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  5. "Finally Persona 5's main theme is of slavery to society and breaking free from those bindings"

    Great, because I totally wanted to play P4 again. Or am I just bitter at Truth being a terrible self-summary of P4's many ideas, some of which manage to escape my disappointment? That, or I just don't like P4 as a story, and should refrain from being Mr. Scrooge. I need to shore up my negative energies for the upcoming family viewings of Elf, after all.


    Great rant, for the second time. I have a minor thing to suggest about Mitsuru being the motherly character of the party, arguably reinforced by there not being a fatherly figure a la Emperor, but it'd be a remarkably minor point of contention, thanks to it relying on inferrences, and because this is a Social Link rant, not a storyline rant. Derp.

    Word of Wisdom: Don't work at FedEx during the holiday season. Seriously.

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    1. I find SMT Persona 4's overall story to be a lot more likable when I try very hard not to compare it to SMT Persona 3, myself. If you can just manage to look at it for its own virtues alone, or at least as JUST an SMT--which is the fair way to look at it, I'd say--then it seems much better, at least to me. SMTP3 is just a damn hard act to follow.

      Yeah, that's more of a story-related concept, though it obviously does dip into the Social Link aspect of her being The Empress. Good thought, though, one I hadn't really considered and which is very neat to think about. That's the reason I'm never going to go further than the Social Links with analyzing SMTP3--it's way, WAY too much deep material for me to properly handle; everything I even give the game a good thinking about, let alone watching, I realize some new ingenious intricacy like that.

      And dude, I think the real Word of Wisdom is not to work ANYWHERE during the holiday season. This time of year is just a nightmare, period. I feel for you, though.

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    2. Hey stupid face! My emails to you are getting delivery failure status. That's not cool. I needed a reminder of what RPGs you own/have played.

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    3. Say what? That ain't cool, especially since I'm not one of those people with 15k unread messages aging in a barrel. If the email I'm about to send you doesn't go through or you still can't reply, what was the failure message?


      What I was going to post on the next 8th: You're absolutely right. I just wish there was less of a disconnect between the story and Social Links at times, because you get instances where there may as well be two Mitsurus or whoever.

      I've tried hard to cut P4 some slack. But when you package such a significant character as Teddie in so many sparkles, so much NOISE, and have so many empty periods of "comedy" that end up making characters nigh-unlikable. In life, I'm a sarcastic ass. I'm good at it and love it. But I still don't grab at people's money, throw them into shallow rivers, insist on making terrible food. P4 remains a good game, but one that runs proudly on questionable humor and a vague Truthiness concept that is processed with the grace, subtlety, and comprehension of a contemporary Square Enix game. Yeah, I fucking said it. But you know what, part of the problem is likely that P3 and P4 are the only SMT games I've played.

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    4. It's very difficult to deny most of what you say about SMTP4, particularly when you bring up Teddie, but come on, man, I think it explores its theme of seeking truth significantly better than a SquareEnix title. I mean for God's sake we're talking SquareEnix. At any rate, though, you need to play more SMTs.

      I've shot you another email.

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