And here we are, the last part of this criminally self-indulgent, overlong rant! To any brave, foolish reader who's made it this far, take heed, you're almost at the end! By certain extremely lax definitions of the term "almost," at least. Let's finish this thing up!
17. THE STAR
In SMTP3, The Star is represented by Mamoru, a rival athlete, for Makoto, and Akihiko, a teammate and love interest, for Kotone. In SMTP4, it's Teddie, a teammate and fucking annoying waste of programming code. In SMTP5, it’s Hifumi, a shogi player and love interest.
Meaning
The Star is the light of hope, healing, and faith, a guide to the right path in the dark times of one's life (typically the fall represented by The Tower). 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. Renewal, optimism, inspiration...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 Persona 3 or 4’s 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 Kotone’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. Meanwhile, Mamoru's not too much better than Akihiko. 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.
Persona 5 is more on-point with the Arcana. While there’re some mitigating details, much of what Hifumi’s story boils down to is the matter of faith--she starts with a false faith in herself, her faith is broken when she discovers that her successes have been the result of her mother’s bribing Hifumi’s opponents to take a dive, her mother’s done so out of a plan to use shogi as a springboard for turning Hifumi into a model partly because the mother doesn’t have faith that Hifumi could find acceptable success as a competitive shogi player, and the resolution of this story involves Hifumi accepting the blow to her ego, assessing herself and what she wants, and coming back to start over as a competitive shogi player because she has faith that she CAN reach the top through her own earnest abilities and training. While The Star doesn’t necessarily relate to a case of having one’s faith broken or reshaped as the truth of its origins is revealed (that seems much more like a Tower thing), there’s still plenty of ways this Social Link ties to the Arcana on that level. Additionally, Hifumi’s faith at the end of the Link in her ability to earn her way to the future she wants is a case of her now treading the right path, the other major part of The Star.
Verdict: Easy win for Persona 5.
Worth
Persona 3: 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, so we’ll go with Mamoru as Persona 3’s representative. Mamoru’s story about a talented athlete learning how to prioritize the well-being of his family and mature into a responsible young man who values those around him more than his own ambitions and lives with the realities of his life instead of blaming them for what he can’t have, is a simple, straightforward, good one. It doesn’t stand out compared to some of Persona 3’s others, but it’s a worthwhile experience, and Makoto and Mamoru’s parting as buddies as Mamoru leaves to take a new job is satisfying.
SCORE: 2 (Akihiko’s would have been 1)
Persona 4: Objectively speaking, Teddie’s story is pretty dull, and the scenes that make it up are uncoordinated and often don’t feel focused on progressing to the Link’s conclusion, a conclusion which is really only at all emotionally significant because it’s piggybacking off the main story’s events with Nanako’s near-death experience. I guarantee you that if it weren’t intrinsically linked to the powerful scenes involving Nanako, the conclusion of Teddie’s supposed story of self-discovery would have little impact whatever
That’s me being objective. Subjectively speaking, I goddamn hate Teddie. Oh my GOD what an annoying asshole he is. Every time Teddie hits on a female--and that happens a LOT, because Persona 4’s writers seem to be under the impression that humor works the same as Stockholm Syndrome; just because you hate (what can only generously be called) a joke the first time, that doesn’t mean you won’t love it eventually if you’re forced to endure it over and over again with no escape--I want to beat him with a crowbar and tear his stomach out with a garden trowel. Persona 5’s Akechi may be a loathsome, stupid loser, but at least he was polite enough to be a villain and die; Teddie we’re stuck with for the whole goddamn game and beyond!
Honestly, I’d love to actually penalize Persona 4 for Teddie’s existence. Just deduct 5 points from House Persona-dor like I’m a shitty teacher in an equally shitty wizarding school book series, by reason of how absolutely infuriating this fucking bear is. But for the sake of objectivity, we’ll stick to a good old 0 for this boring, scattered nothingburger of a Link.
SCORE: 0
Persona 5: This story works better without the romance subplot, which frankly seems pretty spontaneous and disconnected from the Link’s events as a whole, so I’m judging by the platonic version.
I can’t say that I felt a strong personal connection to or emotional response from Hifumi’s story, but it’s still a good one that builds a character of real strength out of what was before a mere facade of it, and Ren serves as both a good sounding board and a good influence for her. There’s some inspiration in Hifumi’s ability to pick herself up from the knowledge that everything she prided herself upon was a sham, still insist on following the same dream in spite of having to start over, and refuse to follow the easy route to success that her mother had laid out for her at the cost of her integrity. She’s a cool lady, and her story is a good one.
SCORE: 2
Tiebreaker: I find myself feeling more strongly and sympathetically for Mamoru, although I do think Hifumi and her story both quite admirable. It’s close, but I’d say Persona 3 is just a tiny bit better than Persona 5 here.
18. THE MOON
In SMTP3, The Moon is represented by Nozomi, a classmate, for Makoto, and Shinjiro, a teammate and love interest, for Kotone. In SMTP4, it's Ai, a classmate and love interest. In SMTP5, it’s Mishima, a classmate and administrator of the Phan-site.
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 gives 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 is 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, meaning 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 Kotone 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.
Mishima’s got some deception going on, too. He runs the Phan-site and points the Phantom Thieves toward promising targets, acting as a selfless ally to heroes of justice...but the reality of the situation is, he’s using his position as site admin to boost his sense of self-importance, and even trying to use the Phantom Thieves to settle some personal grudges. In fairness, this deception is also layered, because Mishima’s also deluding himself into believing that he deserves to be a big shot for helping the Phantom Thieves, and fooling himself into thinking that he’s still acting justly--even if he does know deep down that his attitude about being the Phan-site administrator is wrong, on the conscious level he’s convinced himself that he’s not in the wrong, so you’ve got a few different examples of The Moon’s illusions happening, if admittedly not as strong a case either time as Nozomi’s was with his double-dose.
With that said, none of’em have anything on SMTP4’s take on The Moon. First of all, Ai’s story is equally about the idea of appearances being deceiving as anything Nozomi, Shinji, or Mishima can put forth...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 the others do.
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. Ai gradually comes 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!
Verdict: Too easy an answer. Persona 4’s portrayal of The Moon is not only perfectly orchestrated, it’s bordering on brilliant. This may very well be the best-crafted Social Link of the series in terms of accuracy to its Arcana. If by the end of this tally there happens to be a tie for which game is best at capturing the Tarot’s meaning, then Ai is absolutely going to be used as the tie-breaker.
Worth
Persona 3: Nozomi's Social Link's story is decent enough, but it’s a bit hard to follow at times, and pretty weird. Shinji’s is better in every way, so he’ll be Persona 3’s representative.
Shinji shows us an interesting and surprising look into his character in this Link, 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 expressing in more traditional ways. 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.
SCORE: 3 (Nozomi’s would have been 1)
Persona 4: This story works better with the romance subplot (the real one, not the false early one), so I’m judging by the romantic version.
It’s a real tribute to the moving emotional power of Naoki’s Link for The Hanged Man that Ai’s not the absolute best side story that SMTP4 has to offer. 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. Her development is substantial, clear, and a good collaboration between Yu’s being a positive guide to her improvement and own capacity to be a better person. And while I respect the decoy choice for a romance early in the Link being a creative way to portray The Moon’s theme of deception, it’s an equally clever move by the writers to emphasize the story of Ai’s growth and entrap those who care only for their own gratification rather than considering the real purpose and best interests of Ai and her story. Though to be clear, even as a wrong choice, choosing to court Ai too early still leads to a very interesting variation of her Social Link’s tale that has great merit as a character piece. Honestly, if the true romance with her wasn’t legitimately great, I’d probably actually advocate for the bait-and-switch, just because it’s a great and on-point version of her character story.
But the true romance with Ai IS great, which is more than I can say for any other romantic interest in the game--even Rise's was only passable. 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 and cares about her enough not to let her rush into something with him, instead waiting until she understands him enough that her love is genuine before letting them be together. That’s honestly really touching, and makes it feel so much more real a thing when it does happen. 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 fully over like Yumi, 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.* Just as Yu cared genuinely enough for Ai to wait until she was emotionally ready to have something real with him, so too does Ai care genuinely enough for Yu that she won’t let circumstance end what they have and fully plans to put in the work to keep him.
Anyway, enough blathering. Ai’s Social Link is great, and mad respect to the writers who put it together.
SCORE: 4
Persona 5: Look, Mishima is already basically a walking punchline for parasocial hangers-on and simping chat mods during the main story of the game, and his Social Link isn’t doing him any favors in this department. It’s not a bad story, he’s not a bad character, there’s some decent things to take from it, but this is not gonna be the Social Link that stays with you once it wraps up.
SCORE: 1
19. 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 and love interests. In SMTP5, it’s Toranosuke, a politician.
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 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, but your mileage may vary.
With that said, Toranosuke in Persona 5 does feel more specifically tailored to the meaning of this Arcana. After the scandal of his younger days, his political career has gone through the period of darkness that precedes The Sun, and this pre-existing darkness, rather than the conflict of the Link coming up during the Link’s course, makes it feel far more like it was consciously designed with The Sun’s ideas in mind. The story of the Social Link is that of the infamous, washed-up “No-Good Tora” finally reclaiming his relevance in the political landscape, a wiser, but no less passionate, man, thanks to his dogged persistence and the faith of his assistant. It’s a strong story that believes the good times can return even after long, wearying disaster just as the sun comes to shine a new day, and the fact that Toranosuke keeps his integrity and regains political standing without having to compromise his ethics likewise connects to The Sun’s theme of unshakeable reliability. Even the way the Link ends is also a good match to The Sun--you see Toranosuke at the beginning of his second chance at politics, the perfect point of a successful conclusion to his struggle back to significance and good standing, which heralds a promising, bright beginning to his new journey to success.
Verdict: SMTP5 takes the win here, and with little competition. The story of No-Good Tora’s perseverance and second chance is a great fit to The Sun.
Worth
Persona 3: Akinari's Social Link in this game is...amazing. Persona 3's Sun Link is, without any doubt in my mind, one of the most incredible pieces of soulful, emotive, and philosophical writing that I have ever seen in any RPG (and by logical extension, any video game (and by further logical extension, anything else)). 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.
SCORE: 5
Persona 4: Both stories work better without the romance subplots, so I’m judging by the platonic versions.
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. The fact that Ayane looks and acts like she's 10 years old does not ingratiate her to me, either.
So what about Yumi, then? Well, 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. It’s not a stand-out story, but it’s good nonetheless.
SCORE: 2 (Ayane’s would have been 0)
Persona 5: Toranosuke’s Social Link doesn’t play on the heart the way that Yumi and Akinari’s stories aim to, but it’s a satisfying and interesting tale of both persistence and moral steadfastness being rewarded with a renewed opportunity, and Tora himself is a likable character for his commitment to succeeding for the right reasons this time. It’s gratifying at the end to see Ren and Tora part ways, each knowing that the other is a comrade in fighting to change minds and hearts to make the world better.
SCORE: 2
20. JUDGMENT
In SMTP3, Judgment is represented by SEES after they’ve rebranded to the Nyx Annihilation Team, during their final mission to save the world. In SMTP4, it's the Investigation Team, as they finally deduce their foe's identity and defeat him. In SMTP5, it’s Sae, the prosecutor, and Makoto’s sister.
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). The Fool is at the end of his journey, looking back, and reviewing that which he has done and learned, where he went right and wrong, whether it was worth it and what to take from the experience for the next adventure. 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 that’s only a light touch to representing Judgment, and it’s easily outdone by Persona 4. Judgment's Social Link is started at the final part SMTP4, as was Persona 3's, but the "judgment" it makes on the Investigation 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.
With that said, Persona 3 and 4’s Judgment Links put together still haven’t got a prayer against Persona 5’s. Sae’s Social Link progresses as she interrogates Ren about his actions as a Phantom Thief and begins to understand the truth of his heroism and the danger she, he, and everyone is truly in. By consequence, this means that Sae is having Ren review the course of his journey, explain his actions and intentions to be judged by both himself and a(n ostensibly) higher power. And since the Phantom Thieves’ plan and livelihoods hinge on convincing Sae of their justice and making her understand where she’s gone astray, her review of Ren’s journey isn’t just a clever narrative device; their journey to this pivotal point being judged favorably is vitally important, the entire purpose of Ren’s undergoing this interrogative review of the story his story.
And it’s not just the fact that Ren and his higher power going over all he has done is a spot-on representation of Judgment’s incorporation of its namesake. This Social Link’s conclusion leads into, indeed was always all done for the sake of, exactly the kind of rebirth that the Arcana symbolizes. By winning Sae’s trust, changing her heart through talking and faith and effort, the Phantom Thieves create the crucial climax in which Akechi kills a cognitive duplicate of Ren instead of the real thing, and Ren is presumed dead by his enemies as he escapes. Judgment found him worthy, and so the leader of the Phantom Thieves is reborn without dying--the impossible creation from nothing, rebirth without sacrifice, that this Arcana is defined by.
Verdict: No question whatsoever that Persona 5 wins this round. I daresay that this is easily the best example of Arcana accuracy in the game!
Worth
Persona 3: This is really just a pile of nothing. This entire Social Link is just some random stops as the team progresses up the final floors of Tartarus, with a few lines from Fuuka letting them know how far they’ve progressed to their goal. It’s basically just the heroes climbing stairs, and if I wanted that, I could go watch Cloud, Tifa, and Barret infiltrate Shinra HQ the hard way and get better commentary along the way.
SCORE: 0
Persona 4: In and of itself, this Social Link’s collection of scenes are kinda scattered, but it’s more meant to be resuming the telling of the game’s main plot now that The Fool’s part is done, so I guess the best thing to do is to simply judge it based on the overall events of Persona 4’s late plot and main finale (not counting that extraneous nonsense with Izanami that the game dredged up out of nowhere for no good reason). Well, while the last leg of the game’s story has much better pacing, the benefit of Adachi’s villainous presence, and overall more intelligence to the Investigation Team’s thoughts and actions, it’s still not quite enough of an improvement on the overall story of Persona 4 to earn it any better a score than The Fool did. But hey, at least it’s something; that’s more than Persona 3 can claim for its Judgment.
SCORE: 1
Persona 5: This one’s a bit tricky to judge. As with the previous games, this Social Link, as a part of Sae’s interrogation, is essentially telling the overall story of Persona 5. But unlike the others, it’s doing so WHILE The Fool (and The Magician) are also still doing this, and, for that matter, Judgment surprisingly actually wraps up way before either of those do. So I guess it’s more that this Social Link is covering a specific window of the events of Persona 5’s main plot to tell the story of Ren convincing Sae of his cause, and revealing Akechi as the true perpetrator of the mental shutdowns. The Link scenes themselves aren’t particularly impressive, but they’re culminations representing portions of Persona 5’s overall plot, and I do like the fact that Makoto’s faith that her sister could be saved through reason rather than force is vindicated. Still, this is more a(n admittedly sizable) snapshot of a specific angle of the game’s story more than a representation of Persona 5 as a whole the way The Fool is, so...I’ll judge it favorably, but I’m not going to give the same full credit for how great Persona 5 is as a whole a second time.
SCORE: 3
0-A + 11-A. THE JESTER + HUNGER
There is no representation of The Jester or The Hunger in SMTP3. In SMTP4, they’re Adachi, the main villain. There is no representation of The Jester or The Hunger in SMTP5.
Meaning
The main sources I’ve used for meanings had nothing for The Hunger or The Jester, so I've taken this from a few online sources. Also known as Lust and Passion, the Hunger Arcana replaces Strength in some Tarot decks. 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. In some ways, it’s a warning like The Devil, only where The Devil warns of losing oneself to problems and vices that are relatively unique to humans (temptation, addiction, depression, etc), The Hunger warns of losing oneself to more basic, animal passions and wants.
Now, from what I can tell (and I’m no expert), 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 it (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. I haven’t found enough credible information elsewhere to validate or disregard this interpretation, so we’re running with it.
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.
Verdict: I mean, there’s no actual competition, but even still, Adachi definitely fits each of this Arcana combo very, very well.
Worth
Persona 3: NA
Persona 4: 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.
SCORE: 3
Persona 5: NA
1-A. THE COUNCILLOR
There is no representation of The Councillor in SMTP3. There is no representation of The Councillor in SMTP4. In SMTP5, it’s Dr. Maruki, a counselor and antagonist.
Meaning
The main sources I’ve used for meanings had nothing for The Councillor, so I've taken this from a few online sources...but I’ll be honest, from their similarities, I get the feeling that they’re all just going by the description that Persona 5 itself puts forth for this Arcana, so if anyone has any better information, I’d love to know it. Going by what I have, though...also known as The Consultant, this Arcana replaces The Magician in some Tarot decks. Like The Magician, The Councillor is represented by skill and the will to create, but far more in a psychological and social manner than the more general manner that The Magician usually denotes. Accomplishment and creative endeavors through persuasion, diplomacy, choice, and mental well-being are what The Councillor is all about--if The Magician is the talent, capability, and creativity that will see The Fool through his journey in a literal sense, then The Councillor is the sound mind, attitude, and creativity that will see him through his journey. The Magician would be a player solving quests through clever tools and skills, while The Councillor would be a player solving them through wisdom and persuasion checks. If that makes any sense.
Obviously Dr. Maruki and his Social Link are very relevant representations of the ideas of this Arcana. Even not taking his character and actions in the post-game into account, everything the man is about is one’s mental state, how your emotional state and pain affect your ability to function and actualize the world you want, and using communication with Ren to further his own research into the ability to reshape others’ cognition for their benefit. It also works on a higher level, too, because the results of what Maruki learns in this Social Link become the foundation for his efforts to change the world in the third semester adventure--so this Social Link is serving as the foundational, creative stuff from which Maruki builds all his efforts, which is just what the first Arcana is meant to be, the “1”, the basic unit building block that everything is later formed from.
Verdict: There’s no competition anyway, but Dr. Maruki’s story certainly earns its point for a strong, on-point representation of The Councillor Arcana.
Worth
Persona 3: NA
Persona 4: NA
Persona 5: lol “councilor” =/= “counselor” instant fail git gud smt
Stupid joking aside, the biggest problem this Social Link has is that its primary purpose is to be the preamble to Dr. Maruki’s true story, the true confrontation and conflict involving him, later in the game. As a result, not a lot actually happens here, and Maruki as an emotional being and nuanced character is only hinted at; the resolution and indeed even nature of his conflict are to be explored long after the events contained within this Social Link.
Still, even if it only amounts to a start of a story, it’s nonetheless somehow very likable. It may amount mostly just to talks and exchanging theories, but they’re interesting and likable talks, and Maruki is similarly an interesting and likable guy. There’s wisdom and knowledge to be had as he describes simple but compelling psychology concepts, and it’s easy to feel and take to heart his sad frustration that psychological and emotional pain, and treating it, are so overlooked and even dismissed by society. Even if it doesn’t get resolved within the Link’s parameters, learning the story of Maruki’s ex-girlfriend, understanding her as the reason he’s so determined to learn how to save others from trauma and intuiting that he’s carrying pain of his own from that incident that he hasn’t come to terms with, is compelling drama. Also, even if the fact that it’s meant to be a prologue to Maruki becoming the game’s last villain does inhibit it as a story in its own right, it’s worth giving this Link some credit for the fact that it DOES do a good job in setting the stage for his flawed but well-meaning actions later, showing us how he’s unknowingly grasping for the methods of the Phantom Thieves as a way to take the world’s pain away, and doing so in a way that doesn’t really give away the conflict that’s yet to come.
Lastly, I think the thing that most impressed me here was that Dr. Maruki really feels genuine. RPG villains with a bad plan to change the world are a dime a dozen and almost always boil down to a case of an idiot throwing a tantrum while choosing an absurdly exaggerated and immoral “solution” to a problem that doesn’t really exist...but Dr. Maruki is legit, and you can tell. He isn’t just telling himself some self-important fairy tale about wanting to better the world in order to justify atrocities--the guy genuinely wants to make the world better for people, all people (and while this is outside the purview of the Link, his method for doing so may be flawed, but it is benign and kind; he’s a villain for philosophical reasons, not ethical ones). And while I’m no expert in the field, he speaks and feels, to me, very much like an actual counselor, not just some writer’s imagining of one. He seems to genuinely understand matters of cognition and emotion, as a professional. And I like that; there aren’t many characters and even fewer villains who feel like what a real person in their circumstances would be like.
So yeah. It’s not a terrific story as a whole, but Persona 5’s Social Link for The Councillor is still pretty good for what it is.
SCORE: 2
20-A. 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. There is no representation of The Aeon in SMTP5.
Meaning
The main sources I’ve used 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, or the repetition of trends in human history, which we can step back and think critically as though we were outsiders instead of participants.
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.
Verdict: Overall, Persona 4’s Marie definitely has a connection to the meaning of The Aeon, but it's not a very good one. Persona 3’s Aigis far better embodies the Arcana, so she gets the point.
Worth
Persona 3: This story works better with the romance subplot, so I’m judging by the romantic version.
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 and elegant summary of the game's wisdom and meaning through the words of Aigis, but we also get a wonderful, 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 depicting Aigis's love for Makoto/Kotone that aren't direct components 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.
SCORE: 4
Persona 4: This story works better without the romance subplot, so I’m judging by the platonic version.
Beyond clearly being tacked-on after the fact, Marie’s story is not bad. She’s a bit annoying for a while, but eventually you start feeling for her a bit as she struggles with making sense of her lack of memories and figuring out where this leaves her as a person in her own right, and her conclusion of defining herself by the memories she can make now rather than by the ones she can’t recover is a decent ending. On the other hand, I still can’t help but feel that the game was a better product without her, and even if I do like her Social Link, it never does quite shake that feeling like she’s only there because someone at Atlus has a thing for striped thigh socks, not because anyone on the writing team legitimately believed she belonged in the game. I dunno. It’s fine enough, I guess.
SCORE: 1
Persona 5: NA
?. FAITH
There is no representation of Faith in SMTP3. There is no representation of Faith in SMTP4. In SMTP5, it’s Yoshizawa, a teammate and love interest.
Meaning
As with the other alternative Arcanas, my main sources have no information on Faith, so I’ve taken this from a few online sources (a very few; Faith seems to be a card from a version of the Tarot deck that’s been largely lost to time so there’s not a lot to be found about it). Faith is pretty straightforward: it’s about faith. Faith, belief, trust, and all the facets thereof--faith in religion, sure, that’s an example, but an equally valid representation of Faith would be trust in science, or belief in others. And just as much in outer concepts and others, Faith is also about oneself, representing self-confidence, self-assurance, the expectation that you can persevere and succeed...and the manner in which such self-belief manifests into real, positive results. My guess is that it might have been used as an alternative to The Star, or perhaps The Hierophant, but who can say?
Persona 5 does a good job with this concept. Ren’s involvement in the first half of the Link is to the goal of helping “Kasumi” regain her self-confidence during what she thinks is a slump, and the second half of her story is based on Sumire discovering how to be comfortable with herself on her own terms, and finding belief in her ability to succeed not by simply emulating her sister’s example, but through her own signature strengths. There are moments in both halves of the story which encourage her to trust her instincts over anything else, and Ren’s participation is largely to encourage her with the knowledge that he believes in Sumire to succeed at her goals. There’s also the fact that this Social Link begins with Sumire falsely believing herself to be Kasumi, and the empty self-confidence she gains from it is contrasted to the true self-belief she attains in its later stages when she accepts herself and embraces her real potential.
Verdict: Granted, there’s no competition, but all the same, Persona 5 earns its win here as it shows Faith on multiple levels.
Worth
Persona 3: NA
Persona 4: NA
Persona 5: Structure-wise, this is a cleverly-crafted Social Link. The first half of it has lots of foreshadowing to build up to the revelation that “Kasumi” is actually Sumire living the lie of being her sister, and unlike Akechi’s betrayal, it’s subtle enough that you likely won’t see it coming. Some of the lines she says, like “Don’t let go of things you like, okay?” and “The more I thought about it, the more...empty I felt. Like I wasn’t even me anymore,” are very clever hints; well-done on that matter, Atlus!
Content-wise, it’s...more complicated. On the surface, yeah, this is a pretty good story of Sumire giving up on her delusions of being as great as she had perceived her sister to be, and finding the confidence and drive to be great in her own right. It’s also a decent tale of her finding a way to come to terms with her sister’s death...although after you’ve seen Naoki’s emotionally overpowering grappling with his sister’s death in Persona 4, this seems like barely an afterthought. But it’s a decently-paced, reasonable story of Sumire’s coming into her own that feels good to see to its conclusion.
The problem is...it’s supposed to be a story about Sumire being able to stand on her own, as herself, for her own sake, but she is leaning on Ren’s support and observation as too much of a crutch. I get that part of her motivation to excel as herself is to have someone who she wants to see and appreciate the real her, and that’s quite fine and healthy. But the extreme to which Sumire seems to be leaning on this need to have Ren’s eyes on her and to impress him and make him proud makes her story feel imbalanced. She’s always yapping about how knowing he’s there watching and cheering her on is what’s motivating her and making her better, while the idea that she should find herself and succeed for her own sake is only mentioned a little. This woman is the physical embodiment of “Notice me, Senpai;” it feels like she’s doing everything far more for Ren than for herself, and in a story that’s supposed to be all about coming into her own and succeeding on her own terms, that doesn’t work. It’s not even good just in general--while a Social Link’s story should involve the protagonist as an important influence in its events (except, theoretically, for The Hermit), the protagonist should not be an absolute linchpin without whom everything would and will come crashing down. These should be stories of emotional cooperation, not crippling codependency. The observation and approval of Ren is the mortar that Sumire has laid between the bricks of her growth and new self-confidence; she feels, by the end of this Social Link, like she’s only truly learned how to be held up by another, rather than how to stand on her own.
It’s also why the love interest angle of this Social Link is so frustrating to me. This is the 1 and ONLY time in the ENTIRETY of Persona 5 where the romance in a Social Link actually makes sense, because Sumire outright confesses an interest in Ren and has behaved almost from the start in a way that very much lines up with having a crush on him, and Ren has even had a couple of opportunities to express sentiments to her that imply an interest, too. Even if I don’t really see a lot of lasting chemistry between their personalities, this SHOULD be the best Social Link in terms of its romantic component...but the same problem is present here as with the rest of it: Sumire is just too fixated with Ren. While I think it’s possible to portray an obsessive love that still feels right and genuine (my favorite couple in Fire Emblem 14 was Camilla and Corrin, you may recall), as a general rule, the person you love should be someone whose support and affection lifts you to a greater state, NOT someone you’ve used to fill missing pieces of yourself just so you can stand at all, a relationship that you outright can’t function without. I dunno, I might be reading way too much into it (big surprise), but this love story just feels like it’s built on unhealthy codependency that leaves an emotional power imbalance that can’t be reconciled.
At any rate, I have a lot of issues with how this Social Link’s story goes down, and I see a lot of its method as defeating its own purpose. But while this makes Sumire’s story here a weak one overall, it still has moments of positivity that feel genuine, and it’s not an outright strike against Persona 5 as a whole, so...
SCORE: 1
21 + 21-A. THE WORLD + THE UNIVERSE
Although The World does show up in SMTP3 - 5, and The Universe does show up in SMTP3, each as the culmination of all Social Links together, neither has a Social Link of their own in any of the games.
FINAL TALLY
Alright, let’s see which Shin Megami Tensei: Persona best used its Social Links to represent their associated Arcana, and which told the best stories through them!
Meaning
SMTP3: 10
SMTP4: 6
SMTP5: 9
Persona 3 is the best game in terms of its Social Links accurately depicting the Tarot.
Worth
SMTP3: 51
SMTP4: 47
SMTP5: 45
Persona 3 is the best game in terms of overall quality of its Social Links’ storytelling.
Unsurprising results, truth be told. Persona 3 is a truly terrific RPG, and 1 of its best qualities is its Social Links, both for their fresh and compelling personal stories, and how well the game incorporates its major theme of the Tarot. And even though Persona 4 (though still a good RPG) is absolute leagues behind its brethren overall, it’s not a surprise to me that it beat out Persona 5 in terms of Social Link quality, either--Persona 5 is the best game in the series thus far, but in a reversal of Persona 3, all of SMTP5’s best qualities are attached to its overall narrative and main story, rather than its Social Links. I was genuinely surprised while playing 5 to find that I enjoyed its Social Links, but was never truly engrossed or greatly moved by them. Still, it’s not like there’s a drastic gap here; all the games did well as a whole, and they each have their shining moments of accuracy and excellence. This narrow a spread of points shows that the SMT team at Atlus are RIDICULOUSLY thoughtful and dedicated regarding their games' meaning, symbolism, and general writing quality.
...when not just reducing half of the human race's identity to kitchen inmates churning out bento boxes, that is.
Lastly, just for shits and giggles:
Best Portrayal of Arcana
1. Ai (Persona 4; The Moon)
2. Sae (Persona 5; Judgment)
3. Hifumi (Persona 5; The Star)
4. Adachi (Persona 4; The Jester + Hunger)
5. Keisuke (Persona 3; Fortune)
Best Story
1. Akinari (Persona 3; The Sun) (Score: 5)
2. Naoki (Persona 4; The Hanged Man) (Score: 4)
3. Ai (Persona 4; The Moon) (Score: 4)
4. Aigis (Persona 3; The Aeon) (Score: 4)
5. Nanako (Persona 4; Justice) (Score: 4)
And there we have it. Good. GOD. This was easily the longest, most comprehensive rant I've ever done, and that was the FIRST time I did it, back when it only compared Personas 3 and 4, to say nothing of the work I’ve put into this new version. With all the writing, contemplating, watching the 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.
One last huge thanks to Ecclesiastes for reading this whole damn thing over to make sure it wasn't complete bollocks before I committed to it! You're a damn fine gent, sir.
As is now tradition, I’ll be taking June off to recoup after the busiest part of the year at my job, but I’m sure that this rant’ll tide you over in the meantime. See all y’all come July!
* 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 pretty bad.
