Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, 4, and 5 Social Link Comparison, Part 1

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

And an even greater amount and magnitude of thanks to good sir Ecclesiastes, who I dragged along for my journey through Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 5, and who as such suffered the role of my sounding board for months on end, which has contributed incalculably to this rant’s completion.  Not to mention that he, too, has looked this entire huge honking thing over and to help me correct the stupider parts.  Even by his normal high standards of being the guy I bounce ideas and thoughts off of, he’s gone above and beyond as my buddy lately.  I likewise salute you, Sir Persona Expert!



Once upon a time, many years ago, I thought it might be neat to compare and contrast the Social Links from SMT Persona games.*  Which game has the most accuracy to the Tarot Arcana in its Social Links?  Which game has the best quality in its stories?  

So I wrote a rant that did just that, my longest rant, and 1 of my very favorites still.  It’s been 10 years since last I labored upon this, and in the time since, Persona 5 has been released, and then rereleased with new content, so...I reckon that it’s high time this rant receive its expected update, now that I’ve finally played SMTP5.

Now, I’m trying to be nice and brief in this introduction, given the size of the rant to come, but before we go forward, it bears laying a bit of ground work:


A: Just pitting SMTP3 and 4 against each other was already a work so sizable that it barely even fit into a single post.  So this time around, we’re splitting this sucker up into 3 parts, to be posted in succession over this month of May.  More sensible this way anyway;  this would be too much text for even my staunchest reader to chew without choking.


B: When I first wrote this rant, I knew virtually nothing about the Tarot, and selected a particular site for use as my main reference for the meanings of the Major Arcanas, and judging the Social Links based on those interpretations.  I was using my best judgment to figure out a source for the proper, “official” meanings of the cards.

What I didn’t understand at the time but have realized since is that there is no real “official” interpretation of the Major Arcana to begin with.  Trying to pin them down and define them concretely seems as impossible a task as doing so with the RPG genre.  Each Arcana has aspects that everyone agrees on, but also traits that vary from 1 expert’s perspective to another.  I’ve done some more reading off and on in the years since first writing this rant, and am much more knowledgeable about the Arcana now, but I still can’t pretend to anything better than a layman’s understanding, if even that.

What I’m trying to say here is, judging the Social Links on their accuracy to the Arcana is tricky, in many ways hopeless, and subjective to an absurd degree, because the very metric I’m using for the judgment differs from 1 practitioner, scholar, or charlatan to the next.  I’m going to describe the meanings of each Arcana as I’ve best been able to glean from multiple sources, both well-known and obscure, including Tarot.com, Astrology.com, the games’ own intended meanings as reported by the Megami Tensei Wiki, and my original main source, http://www.ata-tarot.com/resource/cards.  What you read as the result is the best interpretation I’ve got of each Arcana based on credibility, number of sources, and gut instinct for what fits best when viewing the Tarot as a way of telling life’s stories from beginning to end.

In other words, it’s all hogwash that I feel very earnestly about.  Which, indeed, might be the very most authentically Tarot thing about this whole rant.


C: As is usually the case with my rants, the protagonists of each game will be referred to by their best semi-canon names: Yu for Persona 4, Ren for Persona 5, and, with extreme reluctance, Makoto and Kotone for Persona 3.  Not sure what the hell Atlus was thinking when they changed Persona 3’s protagonist to the SAME FUCKING NAME as another huge story character in the same damn series, particularly when they ALREADY had a perfectly functional canonical name in Minato, but I guess my puny pedestrian mind just can’t grasp the glorious, brilliant design of the same geniuses who came up with Teddie and published Shin Megami Tensei 5.  So Makoto it is.  Ugh.


D: The format of this rant has changed a bit from its original iteration.  In an attempt to better give credit for good writing to each game where due, and make things easier on myself for future iterations of this rant (let’s not pretend that Persona 6 won’t happen eventually), each game will get a score for its Social Link for each Arcana, from 0 to 5, on its merits as a story.  To break these scores down:

0: Bad.  The presence of this Social Link actually lessens the game’s overall quality to at least a small degree.
1: Okay
2: Good
3: Great
4: Excellent.  1 of the best moments the game has to offer.
5: Real, Actual, Sublime Perfection.  This Social Link is 1 of the greatest moments in RPG history and could genuinely change your life.

In cases where a game has more than 1 Social Link per Arcana, the higher score will be that which it gets credit for.  Similarly, when a Social Link has an option between friendship and romance, the game gets credit for whichever is the better-crafted outcome.

So, at the end of the rant (at the end of this month), we’ll tally all the scores together, and determine which game has the highest overall quality to its Social Link stories over its full course.  I think that’s more fair and accurate in a 3-way competition than just seeing which game wins the most categories, as was the case when this was just Persona 3 vs. 4.  Of course, since this is still a case-by-case competition, whenever an Arcana has a tie between games’ Worth scores, I’ll also denote which one was the best.

With that said, judging on accuracy to the Arcana is a less nuanced matter, so that will remain a winner-take-all matter.  For each Arcana, whichever game’s Social Link best expresses the concept of the Tarot will be the only one to get credit, and at the end, we’ll just add up who won the most categories to declare the champion.


Alright.  Everyone good?  Then let’s get started.



0. 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.  In SMTP5, it’s the master of the Velvet Room.

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.  It’s the beginning of the journey.  It’s innocent, guileless excitement to embark on something new, with no idea of the heights and falls that this new venture entails.

This works quite neatly for all 3 titles.  In practice, The Fool’s steps of advancement are associated with landmarks in each game’s plot, which essentially means that this Social Link can be judged by the main story, which coincides with the fact that it’s represented by the main cast in SMTP3 and 4, and by Ren’s captor and benefactor in SMTP5.  Each team is on a journey of discovery, and the Velvet Room is the place in which all events begin, as well as the process of discovering and nurturing facets of one’s self.

Verdict: While each example of The Fool is a functional one, I’m going to say that the SMTP4 team is a little more true to the idea of the Fool Arcana than the others. All 3 journeys may involve discovery, growing to understand their world and its mysteries, and personal development, but the Investigation Team is devoted specifically to finding Truth, to seeing things as they are. The SMTP4 team’s members also have 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.  Now, to be sure, there’s a lot of that in SEES, and as long as you give The Fool broad range over the whole of the plot rather than just the person(s) representing it, you can also say that SMTP5’s story has plenty of appropriate material, too.  But Persona 4 emphasizes these ideas of seeking personal truth and growth as its most substantial theme, and has moments of such advancement definitively linked to the progression of The Fool.  Finally, while events rope the protagonists of SMTP3 and 5 into bigger stories, Persona 4’s Investigation Team is founded specifically with the express desire of pursuing a defined goal; The Fool may not know all he’s in for, but he DOES intentionally embark on his journey.  Thus, the point for Arcana accuracy goes to SMT Persona 4.

Worth
Judging the worth of The Fool is tricky, because it’s clearly meant to use the beats of the main plot itself as its narrative, so I guess I have to make my determinations based not only on the actual characters representing it, but also the story as a whole, at least inasmuch as is covered within the 10 ranks of The Fool (in each game, The Fool is finished advancing prior to the game’s actual end).

Persona 3: SMTP3’s cast is a good one overall.  It has weak links like Akihiko and Koromaru, and some of the instances in which it tries to give depth to a character fall a bit flat (like Ken’s whole deal with Shinjiro, and Fuuka in general), but party members like Mitsuru and Yukari are solid, and Aigis is an excellent character, if admittedly more for her own Social Link’s contents than those of the main story itself.

As far as the story goes...I love Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3’s heavy, emotional, thoughtful, earnest entreaty to help us understand what makes life meaningful and aid us in facing our existential fears.  There are many reasons I’ve given the game a high position in my list of the Greatest RPGs of all time, and its powerful story is definitely 1 of them.  With that said...it’s in the latest parts of the game’s tale that its meaning and beauty fully coalesce and transform it as a whole into great art, and until that point, I have to admit, a lot of its main plot was pretty middling!  Never bad, mind you, but, well, The Fool completes itself prior to some of the stuff that makes SMTP3’s story truly amazing.  And judging by the part of SMTP3 specifically within the purview of The Fool, it’s good, but not great.
SCORE: 2

Persona 4: The Investigation Team is, in certain ways, utilized better than SEES was, with each party member being introduced by the game’s main story, and having a noticeable and significant role to play in it.  On the other hand, once their 5 minutes of plot time are over, most don’t develop any further as people (even in their individual Social Links, usually), and while there are highs and lows in the cast, those highs (Yosuke and Kanji) are only so good, and the lows are pretty bad (goddamn is Naoto BORING, and if you don’t already know my feelings on Teddie, you’re sure as hell gonna find out before the end of this rant).

While it has its virtues, and I appreciate what it’s attempting to do, SMTP4’s overall story is a massive step down from its predecessor, and while I’ll give it that it’s more cohesively paced, it just doesn’t have the same elegance or meaning to it.  It’s clunky and heavy-handed more often than not, watching the morons of the Investigation Team try desperately to grasp shit that’s painfully obvious to the player is tedious as all hell, and it’s all driving a story that lacks the compelling philosophy and heart of SMTP3.  As before, The Fool does cut off before the game’s finale, but unlike with Persona 3, this doesn’t really have much of an effect on the verdict--even if this Social Link included the culmination of all that the story has been leading to, Persona 4, when judged purely for the merits of its plot and main cast, is decent, but no more.
SCORE: 1

Persona 5: Really can’t say much about the character representing The Fool in SMTP5; he’s basically just an observer making cryptic comments.

But that’s okay, because the main plot of Persona 5 more than makes up for The Fool’s lack of character quality here.  While the best elements of both SMTP3 and 4 were humanistic ones to some degree outside of the plot (primarily the Social Links), Persona 5 went hard on telling a great story over its course that stands proud all on its own.  From start to finish, Persona 5’s tale of the major problems with Japanese society, told with a major theme of rebellion and individuality to the purpose of social reform, is engaging, thoughtful, and important.  Stepping-stone villains are still shockingly evil in ways all too recognizable from real life, emotional punches to the gut are raw, twists are expertly orchestrated, victories feel truly grand, and everything is paced excellently.  SMTP5 tells an honestly terrific story.  And in a reverse of SMTP3, The Fool actually benefits from what it doesn’t cover--it ends after the Shido arc, right before the finale to the game.  Since Shido is definitely where Persona 5 should have ended anyway and its last parts were almost as out of place and random as Persona 4’s Izanami nonsense, the 1 blatantly weak part of Persona 5’s overall narrative doesn’t really affect The Fool’s worth.
SCORE: 4


1. THE MAGICIAN
In SMTP3, The Magician is represented by Kenji, a classmate, for Makoto, and Junpei, a teammate, for Kotone. In SMTP4, it's Yosuke, a teammate.  In SMTP5, it’s Morgana, likewise 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 (which wraps back around to its being represented by 1, for all other numbers are divisible by it, meaning that 1 is the most basic, inescapable stuff of creation).

...But mostly Shin Megami Tensei Persona just wants to focus on the “1” thing, translate that to your first and/or best friend, and call it a day.  Kenji is both Makoto’s first Social Link and best friend (or at least the closest thing Makoto seems to have to a bestie), Junpei is typically seen as the first party member, Yosuke is Yu’s best friend, first Social Link, and first party member, and Morgana is Ren’s first party member and...well, I think most people would say that Ryuji is Ren’s best friend, but there’s no denying that Morgana is Ren’s constant companion and is a participant in almost every part of Ren’s life.  He’s some nebulous mix of a best friend, brother, and pet to Ren, and whatever that shakes out to, it feels like it fits a “Number 1” position.

Alright, alright, there is a LITTLE extra to these Social Links to connect to The Magician, I suppose.  Morgana’s Social Link dances between him fretting about what he is, scenes that are just plain part of the main story and barely even relate to his character, and him contemplating each of the Phantom Thieves and his role on the team, none of which has the slightest thing to do with The Magician.  But, as Morgana’s Social Link progresses, he teaches Ren how to create tools to help with his exploits as a Phantom Thief, which relates to the whole creation aspect of the Arcana, so that’s something, at least.

In SMTP3, Kenji focuses much of his time on trying to hook up with a teacher he has a crush on, which is sort of like creating action and decision out of the intangible idea of love?  Hell of a stretch, though.  Junpei’s series of events are basically his growing connection to Kotone making him reevaluate himself offscreen and motivating him to stop trying to avoid the serious parts of his life through evasive humor.  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 Kotone, which grows as their friendship deepens.

Yosuke’s focus on his issues with being the son of the owner of mega-mall Junes legitimately just has nothing to do with the Arcana.

Verdict: I’ll...give the point to Persona 3, for Junpei’s story.  As they’re all essentially equal in terms of the first/best friend/Social Link/ally thing, Junpei’s taking inspiration from Kotone and turning that into action is the most definitive expression of the lot of’em.  Even if this interpretation is, admittedly, a bit of a stretch, it’s not as out there as finding relevance in Kenji’s story, and Morgana teaching Ren how to make lockpicks is just too minor a symbol to secure the win.  So yeah, point to SMTP3, but someday in the future, Persona 6 will have an easy opportunity to claim a win with this Arcana.

Worth
Persona 3: Junpei’s version of this Social Link wraps up pretty well, but it’s a bit disorganized at first, and depends too much on revelations that Junpei has offscreen which only somewhat feel like they could have been significantly inspired by the events of the Link.  Thus, we’ll judge by Kenji.  Kenji’s story is at times a bit silly, but I’m quite fond of it overall.  It’s not so much a dramatic story of love and loss as Kenji himself would view it as, as it is one of learning to accept life’s disappointments (particularly when it comes to first loves), and to take comfort in having found things of value on the way to that disappointment (most notably, his solid friendship with Makoto).  It’s a simple but solid tale of friendship and personal growth, and the perfect sample of a basic, good Social Link with which to introduce this narrative feature of the Persona series.
SCORE: 2 (Junpei’s would have been 1)

Persona 4: Yosuke is the best-written party member in the game, and this story is a major contributor to that fact.  Persona 4’s Magician Social Link shows us a well-paced look into Yosuke’s psyche and character through a skillfully coordinated coming together of his frustration at being defined by being the son of the invading superstore Junes, his feeling of isolation and the way it made him crave a purpose, and his guilt and grief over the tragedy of Saki’s death and life situation prior to that demise.  It’s a great piece of character development for Yosuke, and a touching story of him finding some peace with his situation, and being able to take a moment to properly mourn Saki, thanks to having an honest friend who understands him.  Admittedly, Yosuke does seem to make a few leaps between scenes to get to a very wise state of mind that doesn’t seem to have required Yu’s input to achieve, and that does weaken this Social Link a bit.  But it’s still 1 of my personal favorites.
SCORE: 3

Persona 5: Morgana’s Social Link suffers from frequently being more of a case of him reflecting on the state of events in the game’s plot than doing much to tell its own story, or develop him.  That, and his obsessive delusion with being human (mixed with the exceptionally tiresome, vaguely Teddie-reminiscent going-nowhere crush on Ann) taking up a decent amount of conversation time.  Now, yes, Morgana does usually bring his reflections on the proceedings of the Phantom Thieves’ crusade back to himself, so it’s not like the stages of his Social Link are unrelated to him, but honestly, half the time he’s doing that just to talk himself up and boost his ego--and I get it, Morgana’s self esteem issues and uncertainty of who he is are the foundations for his character development, so that makes sense.  But that still doesn’t mean that hearing this damn cat be his own hype man doesn’t get old fast.  Morgana’s overall story of finding his home with his friends isn’t a bad story, it just isn’t especially good either.  While I like him personally and I think he’s very important as a friend and ally to Ren and the rest, in his own right, Morgana is simply a very middling character, and his story is sort of just there.
SCORE: 1


2. THE PRIESTESS
Also known as The High Priestess.  In SMTP3, The Priestess is represented by Fuuka, a teammate and, for Makoto, love interest. In SMTP4, it's Yukiko, also a teammate and love interest.  In SMTP5, it’s Makoto--the REAL Makoto, that is, not the renamed-for-no-fucking-reason-at-all protagonist of Persona 3--who is likewise 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, intuition, instincts, 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 Makoto’s route, B, Fuuka coming to understand that just trying harder isn’t necessarily the way to succeed at things with Kotone’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 that’s not what the Arcana’s actually about, and femininity has more than 1 single blasted characteristic, goddammit.

(Real) Makoto, at least, has a story concerned with something other than whether or not she can stuff some rice into a bento box.  With that said, connecting said story to The Priestess is a tricky matter.  I suppose you can say that (Real) Makoto’s following her gut instinct that something is wrong with her friend Eiko’s boyfriend connects to the idea of subconscious, hidden knowledge, but that’s certainly a tenuous connection.  Similarly, the Social Link ends with (Real) Makoto better understanding her own inner self as the experience helps her realize what she wants to do with her life (become a police commissioner)...but a LOT of these Social Links end with their stars experiencing epiphanies and forming goals about where they want their life to take them, so (Real) Makoto doesn’t really stand out as an icon of The Priestess on that count, either.  Hell, even Yukiko somehow got to that point with her stupid cooking Social Link.

Verdict: I’m still giving it to SMTP5.  (Real) Makoto may only connect to the subtle unknown and inner mystery of the Priestess in the absolute vaguest, tiniest ways, but you CAN at least make an argument that she does.  And frankly, I just fucking refuse to give the others a point for trying to pass off another lazy “Girlz = IN TEH KITCHEN” anime subplot as some story of the feminine mystique.

Worth
Persona 3: 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.

Both versions of Fuuka’s story are pointless and dumb.  I feel like the stupid cooking thing is supposed to heavily supplement or even replace any serious character development she gets.
SCORE: 0

Persona 4: 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.

Yukiko’s story is pointless and dumb.  I feel like the stupid cooking thing is supposed to heavily supplement or even replace any serious character development she gets.

Hm?  What’s that?  Oh, I basically just copied what I’d done for Fuuka and pasted it here for Yukiko?  Gee, imagine that.
SCORE: 0

Persona 5: This story works better without the romance subplot, so I’m judging by the platonic version.

Weirdly, I feel like (Real) Makoto’s ultimate decision at the end of the Social Link to pursue a goal of being police commissioner is somehow at odds with her character, who I’d interpreted to be a composed, steely revolutionary who now saw through the cruel tricks of social expectation and structure.  At the same time, though, judging strictly by what’s contained within the Social Link itself, this is a fine, competent story that paces itself adequately and has a rational conclusion.  It’s nice to see (Real) Makoto find a “normal” friend, and although the Link seems not to be going anywhere early on, the conflict of Eiko’s being manipulated by her boyfriend is engaging once it emerges.  I also respect the fact that it jives with Persona 5’s theme of exposing the predatory parts of society where the law and justice fail to reach, and that it’s calling attention to what I am led to understand are real-world predatory behaviors in the host club industry.  (Real) Makoto’s decision to become a police commissioner to extend the law’s protection to places where it hasn’t been adequately vigilant makes sense and is a satisfying conclusion within the Link’s context.
SCORE: 2


3. THE EMPRESS
In SMTP3, The Empress is represented by Mitsuru, a teammate and, for Makoto, love interest. In SMTP4, it's Margaret, the Velvet Room attendants.  In SMTP5, it’s Haru, a teammate and love interest.

Meaning
The Empress represents physical beauty and pleasure of the senses, along with motherhood. Compassion, the creation of life, unconditional love, protection from the world, and Mother Nature, along with appreciation for the world's resources and pleasures (often seen as abundance, prosperity, and sexuality), are tied in with it.  It is a definitively feminine Arcana, and represents any distinctly female role--mother, daughter, sister, wife, aunt, niece, grandmother, granddaughter, amazon, K-Pop enthusiast, etc.

Mitsuru's Social Link...doesn't really seem to add up for me on this matter. I mean, I guess learning to enjoy cheap burgers and ramen, which she’s never had the chance to do before, might be an attempt to show an appreciation for the world’s resources and pleasure?  But this isn’t like some alien or robot experiencing food and entertainment for the first time; Mitsuru hasn’t had grungy fried street vendor food before because she’s lived as an elite all her life and has eaten accordingly.  The Social Link seems 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.  Her throwing her future social status into jeopardy for love in Makoto’s version doesn’t feel very strongly like an unconditional love situation (and it constitutes her choosing a mental and spiritual need over assured personal prosperity, so it, too, is sort of against the Arcana’s meaning).  And I don't think there's anything there that particularly symbolizes motherhood or its qualities.

Interestingly, Haru is in many ways the exact opposite of Mitsuru.  For her, this Social Link is about the exploration of new experiences and culinary appreciation, but her exploration into the world of coffee and so on is more about understanding this new horizon in its whole and to its fullest, and appreciating it at its best.  Mitsuru is an elite curiously stooping down to try a hot dog and unrealistically finding that she likes it, while Haru is an elite broadening her horizons and seeking to understand them on all levels in order to get the absolute most out of them; she’ll try both the simple and the high-grade to find the best.  And while Mitsuru’s high-society position is stifling and distancing herself from it is seen as a good thing, Haru’s arc is about her striving to find a place and earn her role in her 1-percenter world, and the way she wants to pursue that is to embrace the spirit of her grandfather and take her company in new directions of providing quality experiences to the masses.  She’s all about an appreciation of the world’s resources, and seeks to immerse herself in her world of prosperity to the end of sharing that appreciation with the rest of the world, which all fits very well into at least a portion of The Empress.  She’s also talented at growing vegetables, relating to Mother Nature, and the concept of nurturing, but that only barely relates to the actual Social Link events, so we won’t be counting it.

In Margaret's case, it's kind of fuzzy how she's meant to symbolize the Empress, but it's not quite as bad as Mitsuru. The way you advance Margaret's Social Link is by creating certain Personas--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.

Verdict: Margaret only has a remote, tenuous connection to The Empress, and Mitsuru possesses even less than that, so the win goes to Haru.  Her Social Link may only focus on a single aspect of the Arcana, but she IS at least pretty on-point in representing the world’s resources and pleasure in those resources, as well as prosperity.

Worth
Persona 3: This story works better without the romance subplot, so I’m judging by the platonic version.

Mitsuru’s story of chafing under the weight and sacrifice of her position, and finding the strength to stand for her own sake, is a nice one.  This sequence develops Mitsuru’s character well, balancing her personal self with the aristocratic leader she fashions herself to be in a way that satisfactorily acknowledges both sides to be valid parts of who she is as a whole, and there are some moments where it’s heartwarming without being sappy.
SCORE: 3

Persona 4: Margaret's Social Link has little dialogue, development, or deeper meaning worth note.  It’s about as stiff, terse, and uninteresting as Margaret herself, actually, but I’m not awarding a bonus point just for appropriately matching a crappy Social Link to a crappy character.
SCORE: 0

Persona 5: This story works better without the romance subplot, so I’m judging by the platonic version.  Even if Haru is actually my preferred SMTP5 romance for Ren.

This is the story of a high-class woman out to experience new things, stressing out about what her and her company’s future will be, engaged for political reasons to a self-important asshole, who will learn the self-confidence she needs to take her future in her own hands and ditch her shitty fiance thanks to the protagonist’s encouragement.  Man, Haru really can’t catch a damn break from SMTP5’s writers; not only does she get thrown into the game over halfway through and have to share her introductory character arc with that spotlight-hogging chump Morgana, but she even gets stuck with Mitsuru’s recycled Social Link!

Alright, admittedly, there are some significant variations in their situations, and, as noted above, Haru differs very much in what direction she’s going in from the foundations she shares with Mitsuru, so it’s not just a copy-paste or anything.  Seeing Haru come into her own, have her leap of faith in showing the company president trust be rewarded, and gain the confidence and interest in her position to come up with and share her vision for her company’s future makes this a decent, straightforwardly nice Social Link for Persona 5’s Best Girl.
SCORE: 2


4. 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.  In SMTP5, it’s Yusuke, likewise 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. Stability, authority, reliability, and a desire to control oneself and the world around one, are all expressions of this Arcana.  It is also the most distinctly masculine card, and represents any and all uniquely male roles--father, son, brother, husband, uncle, nephew, grandfather, grandson, OnlyFans simp, etc.

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 Makoto/Kotone, 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.

Yusuke’s not much better in terms of accuracy.  His story is that of an artist struggling to find his lost inspiration, make sense of the human heart, and come to terms with the contradictions of his father figure’s being both a genuine nurturing parent at times, and a manipulative monster.  The part of the Social Link in which Yusuke grapples with reconciling the duality of Madarame at least relates a bit to the fatherhood aspect of The Emperor, and you could stretch the Arcana to allow for Yusuke’s art to substitute for words and writing...but while Yusuke is, by the end, hoping to inspire others to artistic purity through his own work, that’s not the kind of change-the-world approach that The Emperor is intended to convey.  Realistically, I just don't think Atlus was really trying to significantly tie either Kanji or Yusuke to The Emperor, rather just slapping an Arcana on them that kinda-sorta-maybe fit each at a very brief first glance.

Verdict: SMTP3 definitely wins this one; the others barely even qualify.

Worth
Persona 3: Hidetoshi’s story of coming to view the world and people in a new, better way speaks to me, and I especially like the fact that Hidetoshi’s take-away plan from what he’s learned of people and society is to become a teacher, so that he can help open and guide the minds of others to a better perspective, too.  It’s a good, well-paced story with something to say, and it connects well to the theme of SMTP3 of finding a better way to look at life.
SCORE: 3

Persona 4: Kanji's coming to accept himself as a whole, recognizing 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 a pretty cool story, and executed well overall.  I also strongly respect the intent and message of this Social Link, and think it’s 1 of the most valuable to the target audience of this series--teenagers and young adults still in the process of finding themselves and determining where they sit with the world.  While being a geeky video-game-loving, anime-watching introvert kept me happily far from embracing the self-destructive stereotypes of masculinity that every level of society has thrust upon men for most of my lifetime, it still took me until well into my adulthood to really become comfortable allowing myself to enjoy “girly” things.  But I’ve only been a happier person since My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic opened my eyes to the foolishness of denying oneself something genuinely good out of some ridiculously arbitrarily gender standard, and if I’d had a chance to see more stories like Kanji’s earlier in my life, I might have benefited from them and not waited as long to reach a better place.  So...yeah, this is a good Social Link story, handled well (as well as anything with Kanji is, at least; Persona 4 does have an unhealthy dose of homophobia that it can’t quite seem to shake), and with a genuinely valuable message to impart.  Solid.
SCORE: 3

Persona 5: Yusuke’s character is easily the most bland and uninteresting part of SMTP5’s major cast, but I have to say, I really like his personal story here.  His failed initial endeavor to depict the human heart through his art and his subsequent attempts to recapture the artistic inspiration of his youth make for a good and inspiring story of the difficulty of devoting oneself to art.  The struggle of the artist against his own failings, against the realities of the world, and against the difficulty of both seeing truth and making others understand that truth, are well-depicted by Yusuke’s tale.  I also like the fact that it reveals, unapologetically, the fact that Madarame had his virtues as Yusuke’s parent, adding complexity to the previously interesting but non-nuanced villain, and likewise really like the conclusion, in which Yusuke’s triumph of artistic clarity and learning comes in the form of a great work of art painted upon and into his first failure--a great bit of symbolism for his process of advancement.**  This is a really good coming-of-age story for the artist.
SCORE: 3

Tiebreaker: I definitely think Yusuke’s Social Link is the best of these; he’s about as close to a 4 score as he can get without quite making it.


5. 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.  In SMTP5, it’s Sojiro, a cafe owner and caretaker to Ren.

Meaning
The Hierophant's easier to verbally define than most of these so far. 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/or forbidden knowledge that can only be imparted by representatives of a higher power. Basically, it represents the fundamentals of organized religion, while not necessarily having to be linked to any organized religion as a whole.

Neither Persona 3 nor 4’s Hierophant stories have anything to do with the card, really.  I mean, the legacy of a teacher who was Bunkichi and Mitsuko’s son is sort of related, if you really, reeeeeeaaaaalllllly stretch and see the tree as a representation of something divine, kind of?  But it’s definitely not accurate in any significant way.  And Persona 4’s Link, which is all about Dojima trying to come to terms with single parenthood and find an acceptable balance between professional and personal lives, is...just totally unrelated.

Persona 5’s story doesn’t really have much to do with the more religious, faith-centric part of the Arcana, but it DOES at least relate to The Hierophant a bit.  Sojiro’s tale is of a man coming to see the foolishness of the prevailing social belief that a child is automatically better off with a blood relative than an unrelated guardian who actually cares about her.  In coming to understand that his fatherly love for Futaba weighs far more than her abusive uncle’s biological connection, Sojiro finally gains the courage to stand up to the oppressive group-thought of his culture.  And within this story, Sojiro also comes to finally and fully realize that Ren is a good person, and that assuming otherwise because the kid’s on probation was wrong, which is again a case of Sojiro opposing the kind of collective stigma that falls under The Hierophant’s purview.

Verdict: Why weren’t these stories made for the Emperor Arcana, instead?  Every 1 of them has a theme of fatherhood.  I mean, okay, parenthood overall in Persona 3’s case, but still.

Anyway, Persona 5 may be more opposing the ideals and concepts of The Hierophant, but it IS still discussing an idea that’s a part of the actual Arcana, while Persona 3 and 4 are not, so I’ll give it the point.  This could be another easy win for Persona 6 someday, though.

Worth
Persona 3: The tale of an old couple still feeling the pain of losing their son to a car accident many years before, and their concern for the precious symbols of his life that he left behind, is a moving story that speaks to anyone who’s dealt with not just loss, but, in the years that follow it, the pain and worry that the world has started forgetting and discarding the memory of that person.  The ending to the Social Link, 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 by simply letting his tree stand untouched, is an elegant and meaningful one--the message that valuing the intangible legacy of a person, the way they touched the lives around them, is more important than valuing the mere objects that represent them, is one I very much agree with.  Good stuff.
SCORE: 3

Persona 4: 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, and the character development it provides to Dojima, who is a significant part of the game's proper plot, is important and well-done. It’s great character development and a solid story overall.
SCORE: 3

Persona 5: I wish there’d been a little less lead-up to the good parts of this story, but overall, Sojiro’s story of coming to embrace fatherhood and reject the unjust collective mentality that would try to dictate his capacity and right to love his adopted daughter and son is another strong, well-written vignette that ends with feel-good sentiment all around.  As with Persona 4, it also provides good character development for an individual whose importance to the plot definitely warrants it.
SCORE: 3

Tiebreaker: While I really like all 3 of these Links, I think Persona 4’s just manages to edge the other ones out.


6. THE LOVERS
In SMTP3, The Lovers is represented by Yukari, a teammate and, for Makoto, love interest. In SMTP4, it's Rise, also a teammate and love interest.  In SMTP5, it’s Ann, likewise 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 by 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 Makoto’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 Makoto 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 Kotone’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 Makoto’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 Kotone’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.

Ann’s Social Link doesn’t really connect to the Arcana in any significant way that I can see.  There’s no more harmony and unity in Ann’s story than there is in almost any other given Social Link, and while Ann does have to make a choice eventually about what she wants to devote her energies to, I really wouldn’t call it a “difficult” choice, particularly since she ultimately decides to continue being a model, something she already IS.  There’s a romantic option with her, but frankly, it’s completely out of nowhere and feels extremely forced and tacked-on, so that doesn’t add up to a Lovers connection, either.

Verdict: No contest; Persona 4’s the only one that even qualifies.

Worth
Persona 3: This story works better without the romance subplot, so I’m judging by the platonic version.

Whether with Makoto or Kotone, whether friendship or romantic, Yukari’s Social Link is a pleasant but wholly unremarkable affair that doesn’t do or say much. Although a neat character in general, most of Yukari's better character development occurs during the game's plot proper, and not in her Social Link.  It’s not bad, but that’s about all you can say for it.  A shame, because I do like Yukari.
SCORE: 1 (I like Kotone’s version just a little more, but both earn the same grade)

Persona 4: This story works a little better with the romance subplot, so I’m judging by the romantic version.  Even though Rise is definitely not the right romantic option for Yu.

Unlike Yukari, Rise 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 fine plot for a Social Link. The love subplot is decent, too--Yu's helpful guidance and reassurance to Rise makes her falling for him seem far more realistic and emotionally satisfying than this series’s overall tendency to have love interests just sort of glide toward love for the protagonist.  Rise’s far from the best romance option for Yu, of course, but at least she’s a halfway decent one that feels appropriate to the Social Link’s story.
SCORE: 2

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 hate to do this, because I really like Ann.  But, like Yukari, while she’s a good character with both decent depth and a likable personality in the game’s plot as a whole, few of her best moments are to be found in her actual Social Link.  Frankly, the whole thing feels unfocused and directionless, and its destination is boring.  The Social Link tries to juggle Ann’s coming to realize that she doesn’t know what she feels passionate about, her connection to and admiration of Shiho as well as desire to support Shiho in her recovery, AND a subplot about finding a rivalry with an underhanded fellow model...by its end, the audience really has no idea why Ann randomly decided to make modeling the thing she’d devote herself to, Ren feels more like a witness than a participant in the whole thing, and frankly, nothing all that important seems to have been accomplished.  It’s a confused mess.

The 1 saving grace of this Social Link is the rooftop scene with Shiho, as she confronts the place and terrible moment in which she tried to take her life, and has a heartfelt talk with Ann.  Honestly, I don’t know why the writers didn’t just have this Link focus entirely on Ann’s part in Shiho’s recovery and their relationship, with Ren at Ann’s side to help her find the strength to stay at Shiho’s.  This rooftop scene would have been a great conclusion to such a story, it would have been far more focused and emotionally affecting, it’d have a greater connection to Ann’s overall character development, and it would even have better represented the Arcana by making Shiho’s recovery and coming to terms with what happened an act of both her own and Ann’s labors together to achieve something greater.  Instead, we get some barely cohesive collection of subplots that puts Ann and Shiho’s complicated and mutually inspiring relationship in the corner, only just barely managing to tie it to the rest of the Link.  What a disastrous waste of potential!
SCORE: 1, and it’s ONLY Shiho’s final scene with Ann that gets it that point.  I really would prefer to give it a 0, to be honest, but that scene deserves some serious credit.


7. THE CHARIOT
In SMTP3, The Chariot is represented by Kazushi, a classmate, for Makoto, and Rio, a classmate, for Kotone. In SMTP4, it's Chie, a teammate and love interest.  In SMTP5, it’s Ryuji, a teammate.

Meaning
The Chariot is meant to show discipline and drive to succeed. 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. To a degree, this also means that The Chariot is associated with things like conquest and victory--but only in the sense that those are the natural results of channeling your discipline, ambition, and emotions to a cause.

Persona 3's Social Link for The Chariot on Makoto’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 Kotone’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.

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’d say that Persona 4 trumps both Persona 3 stories for Meaning.

Ryuji’s Social Link story in Persona 5 is only sort of tangentially related to the idea of channeling his feelings into proactive action.  While there’s a bit of an angle of becoming more disciplined over himself here and there, the Link is mostly about self-respect, coming to terms with who he is and the fallout of the Kamoshida incident, and striking a balance as he moves forward between doing right by his past ties and not letting them hold him back.  It’s only barely related to the Arcana.  In fairness, though, Ryuji’s involvement with the Phantom Thieves is already kind of a great representation of the Chariot’s meaning, as he’s channeling his indignation against the unjust into his work, and has learned the discipline needed to pursue effective means to his team’s ends rather than just impulsively acting out as he once did with Kamoshida.  In a sense, Ryuji’s story of embodying the Chariot was already largely completed by the time this Social Link even started.

Verdict: This is a rather bizarre situation.  As a character overall, Ryuji best embodies the Arcana, absolutely and easily.  But he does so almost entirely outside the confines of the Social Link itself.  So...even though Ryuji is the best representation for The Chariot’s meaning on his own terms, I’m actually going to give the point to Persona 4, because what we’re primarily judging here is the content of the Social Link, not that of the rest of the game, and on those grounds, Chie’s story is the most grounded in the Arcana.

Worth
Persona 3: Rio’s journey of self has nothing especially wrong with it, but no part of it stands out or seems particularly interesting or wise, either.  Kazushi, on the other hand, represents a more solid story with better character development and a more interesting overall premise and message.  You do feel for the guy, and his conflict over his wish to inspire his nephew being at odds with what his body is capable of and his responsibility to the team as a whole is a decent one.
SCORE: 2 (Rio’s would have been 1)

Persona 4: 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.

Chie’s story is okay, I guess, but 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.  It’s also 1 of those Social Links in which the protagonist feels more like a witness than a participant in the story, which doesn’t make it any more compelling.  It’s fine, just no more than that.
SCORE: 1

Persona 5: Ryuji’s finding himself and a healthy perspective on his past, learning to assert himself, and discovering how to strike the right balance between friend, loner, pariah, and hero as he finds a way to help the former track team while not backtracking on the fact that he’s grown past that part of his life, is a good story that’s interesting and deftly managed.  It’s a good story of personal growth, and of friendship, and I like it.
SCORE: 3



Alright, that's it for now!  We'll continue to compare the Social Links next time.  See you then!












* Or “Confidants” as SMTP5 wants to call them, which I’m not indulging, because look Persona 5 I really like your commitment to your theme and I’m 100% with you most of the time but Social Links are goddamned Social Links so stop trying to be cute and just call them what they are.


** Although if you ask me, the first painting was way more awesome.  I know it’s about the idea, not the actual visual props the game uses for the paintings, but if we just go by face value of those props, the first one speaks to me with way, way more substance than the second.