The game is done. What an absolute FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC game. I now have a Persona 3 sized hole in my heart. The ending was legitimately beautiful (surprised it ended so well actually) and the final fights were climactic as hell (save for the fact that I was SUPER overleveled lmao). There’s way too much to say in one note. The ending was virtually perfect. I am so glad I decided to give this game a chance. It comforted me through some stress times in the last few months, and it gave me a lot to think about with regards to friendship and my outlook on life. I also enjoyed the last few part of it with friends watching me, and the conversations I had with them were so good. I’m gonna miss this game for a long time…luckily we’ve got an epilogue coming in September! Shit…I might replay the whole damn game in advance of that!

1/15, evening. I BEAT THE GODDAMN REAPER TODAY!!!! My level fucking SKYROCKETED and so did everyone else on the team. Everyone on that team (Ken, Aigis, and Yukari) plus Fuuka are now sitting in the low nineties. I don’t want to underestimate Nyx…but I think I’m gonna cook her. Here’s hoping I’m right and she doesn’t pull out the Heat Riser Concentrate Marakunda Megidolaon on my ass lol

1/11, evening. I’ve reached the top…Tartarus has been bested, save for one more foe. Saturday…we end this.

1/5, evening. Man am I getting anxious for the 31st. Now a cults risen up and is making everything super depressing. On my end though things are progressing relatively smoothly. I managed to get both Lovers and Sun in shuffle time in one run, so I was able to fuse a level 80 Futsunushi to replace Siegfried, even though I was only level 71. And holy shit is it fucking BUSTED. I also tried to defeat the Reaper, and actually got pretty damn close (1/5 health) until it used a Concentrate Megidolaon and one shot my entire team at once…20 minutes down the drain haha

1/1, 2010, evening. Hoooooool shit. Fuck it we live. Made it the rest of the way through December, and we stared death in the face and said “not today”. All we can do is try and I’ll be damned if we don’t give it our all. There’s no wasted effort, nothing is futile. I am so fucking pumped for the end of this game.

Also getting to spend time with Yukari on Christmas Eve was very nice, glad they let you do that. New Years Day was also very nice, and Memories of the City is a very sobering track to listen to. In the face of despair, we’ve chosen to live. Literally so pumped to play this game again

12/11, afternoon. Holy shit I played for 6 hours today. I got so into it streaming it with friends and I loved every second of discussion. I finalized Yukari’s social links, and now her and Makoto have a full-fledged romance. I hope there’s a date mechanic lol. I’ve also found out the truth about Ryoji, Aigis, and Makoto himself…and needless to say it’s a lot to take in. Having to face death at such a young age, I couldn’t imagine it. I know for sure I wouldn’t want to take it lying down. I’d like to believe I would have the presence of mind to resist the end even if it couldn’t be stopped—no effort is futile, and any amount of it means something even if it doesn’t work out in the end. I also could never give up my memories. I’ve always been adamant that I don’t regret things, and that everything I’ve went through, for good or ill, has made me into the person I am today. And there’s only one me, so why should I be concerned with what I’m not? I’ve tried to reflect that in Makoto’s actions and words—I knew from the start i wouldn’t give up my memories. If we’re going out, we’re going out swinging. Still, it’s too much to process. Seeing Junpei blow up on us for indirectly contributing to Ryoji’s return was heartbreaking. I get his fear of helplessness. Being stuck in a dead end with nowhere to go sucks—it was the same way Yukari felt before Yakushima when she felt forced into SEES by Mitsuru. So to see her defend Makoto against Junpei’s blame was very nice (romance makes ”You’re still you.” hit different). And I’m glad they were able to apologize to each other, Yukari for teasing Junpei, and Junpei for snapping at Makoto. I love these characters to death.

11/28, Dark Hour. Quite a lot happened today. Had to suffer through a very cringe hot springs scene, Junpei lost someone close to him (and learned to live for her sake), Protag romanced Yukari (let’s GOOOOOOO), and I made it to the Harabah border floor and secured the last old document. Things are looking up

11/17, evening. This Ryoji guy is sus as fuck, he clearly sounds like Pharos so I think he’s some reincarnation of death or something. Come to think of it I hope that contract I signed does have anything to do with me being some harbinger of the end times…let’s not think about it and just enjoy Kyoto instead

11/8, Dark Hour. Holy shit a lot happened. I did the final operation, both Takaya and Jin and the Hanged Man were insanely fun fights, especially with the latter’s action extensions. I also got some crazy numbers with Charge and Scarlet Havoc, plus buffs from Aigis, Yukari, and Akihiko. It was pretty shocking to see Takaya and Jin go off the edge like that…I wonder if we’ll be seeing them again at all. And of course, I had my doubts about the Dark Hour ending, but Ikutsuki…I was NOT expecting that insane turn of events. At least Yukari has found some closure from it, but holy shit man. Also the next block of Tartarus is visually nauseating lmao

10/28, evening. Getting so close to the final operation is actually making me a little anxious lol, I wonder how it’s going to go down. Also I’m making good progress on Yukari’s social links. Got her to rank 6 and even pulled off a flirty comment, lucky I read her tone of voice correctly. Also very close to finishing Bunkichi and Kazushi’s social links

10/22, evening. Today I straight up rejected Chihiro in her fifth social link lmao…I feel bad but I’m not trying to romance her. If I’m going to romance anyone it’s going to be a SEES member, I literally fight and bleed with them lol

10/19, evening. Nice to see everyone trying to bounce back from their recent loss. Especially cool to see Akihiko cook everyone pancakes too lol

10/5, evening. Played through October 4th…fuck that was rough. I can’t believe that actually happened. Never saw anything like that coming. I’m glad they gave that a cutscene. But…fuck man…

9/25, evening. I can’t believe this mf Makoto slept for two days straight through that typhoon. Also Yukari’s social links are really funny, she straight up played Makoto with that “flowers are great when they’re from you”. Demon shit

9/18, evening. Sure did a lot today…got my ass beat in the Monad on the sixth (?) border floor, heard Mitsuru’s concerns about Shinjiro wanting to extend his leave of absence (I didn’t take the form back from her, it’s gotta be Shinjiro who decides if he comes back), promised I’d take care of Ken’s pet if he didn’t make it, and finally got my Charm maxed so I can access Yukari’s social links

9/10, dark hour. Floor 124 in Tartarus. I think Junpei is just a little crazy for continuing to like Chidori when she manipulated him but whatever man. Also the idea of a Persona killing its host is sick as fuck

9/6, daytime. There’s a lot to say today lol, I added both Ken and Shinjiro to my team (love them both) and I got to see Chidori prey upon Junpei’s insecurity which really hurt. I get he’s going to want to see the best in Chidori but he’s taking things to fast. Shinjiro said it best when he said that she played Junpei. Aside from that, I got to watch a film with each SEES member during the film festival, which was pretty fun if I do say so myself. Shinjiro’s theurgy is also fucking BADASS (so is Ken’s) and I managed to get the 999 damage achievement by buffing him with his crit up/phys up buff and Fuuka’s oracle buff. Blew past that achievement and got fucking 1900 DAMAGE that is insanely fun

8/22, daytime. Honestly nothing crazy to report this time around. I did hit the fifth border floor in Tartarus though

8/18, daytime. Mitsuru really signed us up for summer school, smh. At least I got a chance to go to the summer festival with her an Aigis, though my man Makoto had ZERO drip and just went in his normal clothes. Koromaru has finally joined the team, and by god everything he does is SO CUTE AAAAAAAAAAA

8/7, daytime. Just finished the Chariot and Justice fight, that was honestly sick. We fought a giant goddamn tank. And the separation mechanic was pretty cool, and shit they did a lot of damage. And now Strega has revealed themselves. I’m honestly really interested in seeing how they proceed from here, fighting Persona users sounds really cool

7/31, evening. Made it to the floor 91 (maybe 92?) border floor, which I think is actually more than the average player at this point. Aigis in combat is awesome, and apparently Koromaru can use a Persona. What a good boy!

7/25, dark hour. Made it to Tartarus floor 77 and man oh man am I glad to not have to see Arqa all the damn time now. Also Aigis has a cool attack animation

7/23, evening. Yukari is slowly becoming my favorite character, it was rough watching her snap at Mitsuru and Makoto over her grief at finding out the true circumstances of her father’s death. But that hug at the end…my heart. God there’s nothing like a hug after an emotional moment that gets me feeling emotional myself. We also picked up chicks…and while Junpei and Akihiko have no game, Makoto evidently has W Rizz given how Aigis reacted to him lmao. Honestly I wasn’t enjoying that sequence but it was all worth it to see Akihiko’s perplexed reaction to Aigis hugging Makoto. Hilarious

7/20, daytime. Man I was so pumped to see if I aced finals and then I see finals grades get announced after Yakushima lmao. Also really happy to see Junpei apologize for being rude to Makoto, though I totally get where he’s coming from. Currently at the Yakushima beach, though it took me a while to figure out what I actually had to do to advance the game lmao

7/11, evening. Was camping so I didn’t get a chance to play for a few days. Today I beat Hierophant and Lovers, which was a crazy fight especially since I didn’t expect Lovers to be as difficult as it was. Lovers sent Makoto and Yukari into a love hotel room which was equal parts amusing and disconcerting. Also Junpei is super cold to Makoto now which really sucks to see, I just wanna ask him if he’s alright but I can’t :( And I also learned of the Kirijo Group’s involvement in Tartarus and the twelve major Shadows’ creation…just sucks that we have to be the ones to clean up their mess. Terrible thing to have a burden placed upon you that you never asked for, and you just have to suffer through. Yukari is rightfully upset

6/26, evening. Arqa, floor 69. Did I just see three hitmen shoot some teenager…during the DARK HOUR? That revenge site plot thread sounds juicy 👀

6/20, evening. Arqa, floor 54 (because I haven’t said anything on Tartarus in a while). Love that we can hang out directly with everyone in the dorm. Also I’m almost done with Tomochika’s social links and man it’s hard not to feel for the guy, he’s a homie even if he’s a little naive for seeing his “relationship” as more than it was. Koromaru is ADORABLE and I missed my taiyaki window yet again.

6/15, after school. Bro, we got both new outfits (that are new to Reload?!) AND THEURGY MOVES? Dude, this is so fucking badass. Also I see Yukari being a bit suspicious of Mitsuru for pushing Fuuka into joining so quickly, and I get it. Really interesting way to take her character and it seems like she might start to get combative about it since she mentioned it during a Tartarus run

6/11, evening. Fuuka is now a member of the team! And her Persona is quite cool and useful too. Also tried to shoot my shot with Yukari in the school and that did not go over well lmao. What can I say, I was curious

6/2, evening. We made it to the Arqa border, don’t think I’ll be able to progress that until the full moon. I also presume whatever we end up facing is going to involve that ghost story everyone’s talking about. also Yukari is such a hater, can’t believe she’d be homophobic to my boy Junpei. Smh, iykyk. Also Akihiko is badass and Kurosawa shoulda let him beat the shit outta that gang

5/25, evening. Not only did I get to floor 40 in Tartarus, but I ACED THE DAMN MIDTERMS. I’m literally him

5/29, evening. Made it to the second region of Tartarus and it was pretty difficult to get past those bird gatekeepers, but we managed to defeat them. And I made it through midterms with 3 Academics, so there’s no way I didn’t absolutely obliterate them. AND Akihiko is cleared for combat! Next session is about to go absolutely hard

5/10, evening. Tartarus floor 21 (although it just opened up again!). MAN that Priestess fight on the train was nail-bitingly close to ending in disaster. I beat it with 30 seconds left…I was inputting actions so fast by the time it sped up the train for a second time lmao, insanely fun

4/25, evening. Made it to Tartarus floor 17 after the network features peer pressured me into getting to the player average lmao. It was very fun to do so though! I’m really getting into the swing of fighting in Tartarus. Also unlocked my first social links with Tomochika…he’s really going after a teacher huh? Someone should tell him that’s not a good idea…won’t be me though

4/21, evening. Visited Tartarus and summoned my Persona for the first time, and wow I’m surprised how much the game has opened up now. Tartarus, going out at night, Persona fusion, free time after school…damn. I spent all my money though lmao

I’ve played like…2 hours of P5, but otherwise this is my first Persona game! Excited to see what’s in store, especially now that I’m more into turn based combat than I was back when I played P5. Left off on 4/9, evening