Let´s Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Finale: On the road again.

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We end our let's play with blatant fan service and our car fixed.

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Let's Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Part 13: Bring the thunder!

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We finally slay Deadeye in Part 13 with the power of thunder!

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Let's Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Part 12: Nilbog, Population 0.

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I exterminate the goblins in part 12 and find their treasure. A Protean beacon.

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Let's Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Part 11: Troll 4

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Part 11 has our heroes enter the den of creatures far more aggravating then anything seen yet.

Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae is owned by Square Enix.

Lets Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Part 10: So that's how that works!

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It took till part 10 to figure out how to lock on. I have no excuse.

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Lets Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Part 9: A day with Ignus.

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Part 9 has us finding Pride Rock and spending time with the Token Bishie.

Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae is owned by Square Enix.

Let's Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Part 8: RUN AWAY!!!

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Part 8 shows that despite Noctis' friends teleportation skills they still suck at keeping him alive.

Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae is owned by Square Enix.

Let's Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Part 7: Clever Girl

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We really start on the meat of the demo as I venture into the den of Deadeye.

Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae is owned by Square Enix.

Let's Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Part 6: Prompto is completely useless!

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In Part 6 Prompto is completely useless. Even before he gets wet.

Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae is owned by Square Enix.

Let's Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Part 5: No fighting on Holy ground.

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In part 5 I ask why do robots need banners, if Raiden is in the game, and if our heroes are from the Macleod clan.

Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae is owned by Square Enix.

Lets Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Part 4: Cambridge Ohio simulator 2016.

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Part 4 gives us Cross Attacks, Gas Stations and everything wrong with Tidus.

Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae is owned by Square Enix.

Lets Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Part 3: The word of the day is Rampage.

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Brought to you by the letters E, P and A.

Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae is owned by Square Enix.

Lets Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Part 2: Biker Men from Lucis

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Part 2 gives us camping, ducks and the armed weapons division of the EPA.

Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae is owned by Square Enix.

Lets Play Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae Part 1: The Hangover 4

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Lets Play THE PLAYROOM: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for me.

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It's my first lets play video and you know what they say, worst the first.

Could the Second do any better and not make me look like a tool?

Video Game Review: Persona Retrospective: Persona (PSP) Finale: One Year Later.

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One year, hard to believe it's been one whole year since I've started my look at this game, and we're not even done with the Persona series yet. But hey I'll only get better with time and things should go by somewhat faster when I get to Persona 2 Eternal Punishment but for now, its time to put this bitch on ice! With the mirror completely restored the gang frees Ms Saeko from the mask, but then Two Face shows up!

No but close enough, her name is actually Tomomi Fujimori, Ms Saeko's best friend when she was in school.

But hey at least she's better then that other female Two Face.

Stay classy DC, stay classy.

 Japanese Two Face is of course pissed off and possesses the mask transforming into a monster called Lady Masquerade.

INCOMING MESSAGE FROM THE BIG GIANT HEAD!

 Said big giant head can use Bufudyne and Magrydyne which hits every party member with heavy ice and gravity damage respectively. She also has God Kandori's Panic Voice skill so keep an eye out for that too. After a very long and very tense battle the group manages to destroy the Snow Queen mask once and for all. Saeko recovers and explains that Tomomi was the one possessing the mask after falling under its power like the three guardians. Saeko explains that in their last year at St Hermelin they both competed for the role of the Snow Queen and Tomomi won the part. However it was due to Saeko secretly withdrawing thinking she could give her friend one role she beat her over, Tomomi however thought the reason why was because Saeko was afraid of the curse. Tomomi did not take this well and when she tried the mask on it burned half of her face.

 After the group convinces Saeko that what happened wasn't her fault Elly notices that even though the Queen is dead and Saeko is saved the school is still frozen, and that's when the true mastermind appears, Nyx the Night Queen.

Nyx is the Goddess of the Night in Greek Mythology It was said that she was originally born from Chaos. She has given birth to many offspring including Light, Day, Death, Sleep, Doom and Fate.

 She proclaims that while she failed as the Snow Queen, now that's she's free from Tomomi's human weakness and the mask; the Night Queen is now free to freeze the world in Eternal Night from the heights of the Ice Castle. The gang leave to confront the Queen but Tomomi shows up before they leave to apologize to Saeko for all the trouble she caused as the Snow Queen and suggests keeping the completed Demon Mirror as a shield against the Night Queen. So she transfigures the Demon Mirror into the Spiegel Shield, which only Naoya can equip. She also mentions that the hero's costume from the Snow Queen play is still in storage inside the Gym and that it could be useful. She then passes on and says that she'll be looking down with the previous queens so that nobody else would end up like them.

 So once you've stocked up on recovery items, fused new Personas and did anything else you think you need to do head to the locked room behind the room leading to Nemesis Tower to find a portal. Nanjo is there observing it and gives the group a Phurba Dagger weapon for them to use, unless you already purchased one in which case you have a spare one to sell. Inside the room is a ball of plasma which can teleport the five party members to the second floor of the Ice Castle so they can chase down the Night Queen.

 Now be forewarned, this place is hard but nowhere near as annoying as Thanatos Tower, but mostly since there's no time limit or losing Persona usage if a party member is knocked out. But the Ice Castle does contain some of the strongest enemies in the game and there are very little chances to come back to the first floor. The second floor is less of a challenge then it is a test of your patience. The main floor is split into a 6X6 grid with paths in-between the grids. The problem is that some of the intersections force you to move in a pre-guided direction. On top of that the encounter rate here is pretty high so if you take a wrong turn you'll have to run the risk of encountering several powerful demons. The only advice I can give you is to equip a Persona with Estoma, take your time and make sure you have plenty of Revival beads.

 Once you make it to the third floor go left from the staircase you came from to find the gym storage room. Inside you'll indeed find the hero's costume which becomes the best armor for Naoya for the Snow Queen Quest. However for it to spawn you need to talk to Brown who will point out something shiny on the ground next to him in front of the frozen student, the shiny thing in question is a note telling you that the costume is next to the vaulting horse next to the ball cages. There's where you'll find the rest of the Spiegel armor and the Spiegel Blade. Continue on to the fourth floor where if you find a stair case you are close to obtaining the Totems for the Ultimate Personas for the Snow Queen Quest.

 Once you make it past the puzzle you'll be dropped back to the third floor cut off from the rest with only a classroom and a pit fall at the end of a small hallway, go inside and you'll find two Jack Frosts named Raiho and Reiho, who've meet previously if you've been exploring the rooms on the 1st floor. They'll trade you the Totem cards for the Ultimate Personas in exchange for Ambrosia. And now is the time to talk about the Ambrosia and how Thanatos Tower is even more evil than how I described it last time. See the Ambrosia you get depends on the order of the towers you've conquered. In order to get all five pieces of Ambrosia, you have to beat Thanatos Tower first; the hardest tower filled with Demons that could squash a low level party like a bug. Fortunately here's a link to a page where you'll get tips on how to survive the Tower.

 But for the purposes of this review we'll assume that the party has all five Ambrosia pieces and can now get their Ultimate Persona. Naoya's is Amon Ra as it was the main game. Yukino gets Durga of the Empress Arcana.

In Hinduism Durga is a Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having ten arms, riding a lion or a tiger, carrying weapons and a lotus flower, maintaining a meditative smile, and practicing mudras, or symbolic hand gestures and is an embodiment of creative feminine force.

Ayase's Ultimate Persona is Freyr of the Magician Arcana.

One of the most important gods of Norse Paganism, associated with farming, weather and as a phallic fertility god.

Elly's Ultimate Persona is Michael of the Judgement Arcana.

An Archangel, Michael is one of the 50 principal angels in Christianity and one of the 10 Archangels of Islamic tradition. In Christianity, he is viewed as the field commander of the Army of God and led it in the war against Satan and the fallen angels. In Islam, Mikail serves as one who delivered bounty and sustenance to all living things as commanded by God.

Brown's Persona is Tyr of the Justice Arcana.

Tyr is the god of single combat, victory and heroic glory in Norse mythology, portrayed as a one-handed man.

I hope you're psyched abut these new Personas, because the pit fall drops you all the way back to the second floor.

 Once you make it to the end of the fourth floor you'll run into Raiho and Reiho again who will take you to the fifth floor of the castle. The fifth though eighth floors are more of a interconnected maze so if you feel like you're going the wrong way, you're not just look at the map and you should be fine. But make sure that you check inside every room you come across. Like for example on the seventh floor Aki is inside the classroom looking for dear old dad though she oddly says that he's wearing their uniform and a black mask. But she teleports away when it's clear to her that they haven't seen Kandori.

 In a classroom on the fifth floor you'll run into Mai who's looking for "her" in a white mask. But second verse same as the first and so like Aki Mai warps out. Later on the sixth floor we find Kandori in the Student Council Room.

Or at least something that looks like Kandori because last time I checked Kandori stopped wearing his old school uniform at least two decades ago.

 Whether it is the real Kandori or not he asks if you've seen "her" already. He tells you she's painting away on the floor below "keeping the gate to paradise shut with the blackness of despair". So the group finds the girl in the art room below.

Doesn't she remind you of someone? Nah probably just me

 She apparently went a little crazy as she says that she's "painting over their future in blackness" and is going on about what we already know of her from the main game about how she's alone and can only observe the happiness of others. Before she warps away she proclaims that she's sick of being alone and will destroy the entire school. So now on the eighth floor the group finally encounters the Night Queen on the stage. She's more then ready to fight however Maki and Kandori show up to offer assistance to the Night Queen and Kandori tells the group that if they want to fight the trio to come to the very top of the Castle before warping the five to the ninth floor. Thankfully he'll offer you the chance to go back to the first floor, but he forgets to tell you that it's a one way trip!

 Besides outside of the room there's not only a save point but also a Velvet Room so you shouldn't really need to go back to the first floor unless you're in desperate need of items. So two more floors and the group finally corners the Night Queen who's fused with the masked Maki and Kandori to become Queen Asura.

And don't even dare to figure out how the hell this thing's anatomy works in a real sense because you'd just go insane.

 Queen Asura may have three heads but thankfully its 15000 HP is shared between them, however it can swap between the tree active heads and thus alternate its weakness' and strengths. As it is the final boss of the Snow Queen Quest it's not going to be easy. The center head can cast four different types of elemental spells. The Green Head (Kandori) can deal status effects while the yellow head (Maki) can not only heal itself but also has the All Guard and Symphony of Lament skills that Pandora has, and like Pandora if Naoya has Amon Ra at it's highest lever unleash Hieroglyphein on them and keep on it. Though here's a free tip, while Maki is the white mage of the creature she is vulnerable to elemental attacks so if the Queen has her head active go to town.

 Eventually Queen Asura goes down and the Night Queen swears she'll return so long as people try to turn hope into despair, so unless a certain bread of evil bunny cats show up in this world and girls from the ages of 4 to 16 start gaining magical powers I'm sure she'll neeeeever bother anyone again. As for Maki and Kandori, the two retreat saying that improvising wasn't enough and they'll meet Naoya again soon. But we already know what happened with that. With the Night Queen gone the school is returned to normal and everyone is safe again. But there's no time to rest as with this distraction done with the five head out to find Maki and Mark and help them stop Kandori.

 Outside the school they find Mark who was overwhelmed by the demons at SEBEC HQ and asks for help saving Maki. The five agree to help and the Snow Queen Quest ends with the six making their way to SEBEC HQ to stop the true cause of the demon invasion of Mikage-Cho.

 With that we end our look at Shin Megami Tensai: Persona. My thoughts are as follows, it definitely helped to lay the ground work for the series and what would come after; unlike the rest of the Megaten series which primarily focused on playing with differing morality, the demons and fighting apocalyptic threats, this game established the strength of the Persona series; which is the characters, personal story lines and a more human element. The characters were distinct and slowly but surely we saw arks for them and their development, from how Nanjo started as a Proto-Kaiba but slowly developed into a open minded person, to Reiji learning to move past his hatred for his father and Kandori, to Maki where the team helps her ideal self overcome her massive amounts of self-loathing. We see that the human mind is capable of creating great beauty and true horror given the right circumstances, and through the bonds shared between those close to you one can overcome most obstacles life throws at you and by staying true to yourself one can strive for greatness.

 The game play however is where this game suffers. While it did set up the ground work for the game play for future installments, the first run was shaky for me, though mostly due me having played the far more refined Persona 4 first. I found the demon contracts to be more then a chore without a guide and the parts where I had to go through dungeons a second time after I already made it to the end was more than a tad annoying and just felt like extending the game play.  The Personas as well were vary limited, though again I preferred to stick to the Personas that were most compatible with the characters. The music for the PSP re-release is really damn good, once again Megaten composer Shoji Meguro knocked it right out of the park especially with the battle music, giving the right mix of tension and epic in their uses. Every score fit the mood it was trying to depict and that for me is a great sign for a game score where you can't imagine any other music in the background, even the song played in the school before the demons show up is catchy as hell.

Overall I wouldn't recommend this game to someone who wants to get into the Persona/ Megaten franchise. But I would highly recommend this game to people who've only played Personas 3 and 4 to see where the series started from, though if you don't want to try watching a let's play. Persona 1 is available on the PSN at the time of this article for about $20 for your PSP or PS Vita. Next time we come back to the Persona retrospective we take a look at one of the more underrated games in the Megaten franchise, Persona 2 Innocent Sin where we see the developers have refined and improved on Persona 1 in every respect, till then, keep the voice in you loud and proud.

Shin Megami Tensai Persona is owned by Atlus and Sega.
Catwoman Guardian of Gotham is owned by Doug Moench, Jim Balent and DC Comics.
Dragon Ball, Dragonball Z and Dragonball GT is owned by Funnimation, Toei animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama.
Dragonball Z abridged is owned by Team Four Star. 
50 First Dates is owned by, Adam Sandler, Happy Madison, Flower Films and Columbia Pictures.

Video Game Review: Persona Retrospective: Persona (PSP) Part 12: The rule 63 Stooges.

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So now it's time for Naoya and his group to begin their assault on the three towers. You can start on any one you choose but for now we'll start from the easiest tower to the hardest so the first on the list is Hypnos Tower which you can find in the Fencing Club. But before you go inside here's a very important warning, once you go inside a tower there's no save points, you either die against the demons inside or you beat the guardian, there's no two ways about it. You can quick-save however so if you're smart with computers the "you can't save" thing should be no problem. Just make a copy of your current quick save so that once you die you can just upload the copied save and you're good to go.

Remember, second star to the right and straight on till morning.

 The tower itself as said holds the weakest demons in the Snow Queen quest so the teams initial Personas and the others you create should help carry you through, but if not the towers always have Stores and Velvet Rooms. Also keep in mind that the three towers are on a one hour time limit, but that's only in the dungeon itself in the first person view mode. If you're in the Shops, Velvet Room, pause menu or in a 3rd person view room the clock stops so you aren't on as much of a time crunch as you think. Once the team makes it to the third floor however the gang finds Tamaki, Tatsumi and the Nurse asleep and stuck in a dream.

Thankfully they're not being attacked by Freddy Krueger, but them asleep in a castle surrounded by demons is hardly better, but no matter what Naoya tries the three can't wake up. Along the way the group finds Hanya (remember him?) as well as Ooishi stuck in the same prolonged slumber. So once the group is forced to pass them over they find a secluded room which leads to the Dream World. With this they can pull a Part 3 and enter the dreams of the victims and wake them up so they can get to relative safety. Philemon however warns that the five are under the spell of Hypnos of the Fortune Arcana, the Persona of the Tower's guardian Kumi Hirose.

The Personification of sleep in Greek Mythology and is a son of Nyx, the Goddess of the night alongside his brothers Moros and Thanatos.

 Philemon further explains that the group has two options, either go inside the Dream World and awaken the people there or continue and defeat Hypnos and his Master. Either option is viable but he also reminds them that they have a time limit. So the choice is either go off the beaten path and save the five or ignore the Dream World and stop the sleep spell at the source. Of course the gang can't just leave the five asleep in a demon infested Tower so they go with door #2.

Inside they find the five stuck in their respective dreams/ nightmares and awaken them. But they also find Kumi as well with Hypnos. Brown and Ayase think that she's a student since she's wearing the St Hermelin uniform but she spills the beans that she's one of the Snow Queen's guardians. Elly points out that with her power Kumi could easily kill them so why would she go through all the trouble of just putting her victims to sleep? She then gives her back story that at school her classmates at the Drama club would give her grief over her supposed lack of commitment to the club and at home her parents would berate her for not getting every exam exactly right. But instead of defending herself she just let herself be pushed around and was finally convinced by the Snow Queen Mask to kill herself so she could stay in the safety of the Dream World forever.

The gang has the appropriate response, to call her out on her crap by saying that instead of growing a spine, being honest with herself and sticking up for her self she became someone just as much of a monster as those she's demonized. Whenever she has a problem she blames it on someone else behind their back like a coward. She's like if George McFly never got the cajones to punch out Biff at the dance so he instead takes out his frustration on his family. With this she snaps and Hypnos offers to attack the group.

 However Yukino calls their bluff and points out that if they're in the dream world then the two are just parts of the real Kumi's dream and that the real one is somewhere else in the Tower. So they pinch her awake and the two vanish. The group then goes back to where the other five were sleeping to check if they're okay. They are and have a gift for the five. Hanya (after getting chewed up and spat out like a piece of gum by Ayase and given the death stare from Ooishi) gives the group a Mirror Shard. When the group checks up on Tamaki and Tatsumi they have a Shard to give them as well bringing their count to two. The Nurse however has nothing to give but hey I guess a good dead is it's own reward.

 With two shards in their possession the gang makes their way to the top of the Tower where they find Kumi who is not happy with them crashing in on her dream like that and sends Hypnos to attack them. Hypnos can be a major hassle, especially if you did pinch Kumi and woke her up. The only attack to worry about is his Dark Slumber which can not only hit everyone for major damage but also has the potential to put everyone to sleep. Once pretty boy is down for good Kumi admits that she was weak and wishes she was as strong as they are so that she wouldn't have succumbed to the mask. Elly tells her that because she admitted her weakness, she's no longer weak, and with that Kumi gives them a Mirror Shard and passes on to the afterlife.

 One tower down two more to go. But before you do there is another area called Devil's Peak. This area is composed of several floors which can only be accessed when a tower is conquered which can make for a great place to grind levels, spell cards and Personas. Now on to the library where you found Elly which holds the door to the second tower, Nemesis Tower.

Well on the bright-side they might get some help from Venturestein and U.R.G.H.

However they instead have to deal with something far worse then an army of scientific abominations who practice Guevara Marxism. The tower's guardian Michiko Matsudaira.

I really hate to use this next clip but here it is anyway.

 Nope it's just a warthog in women's clothing. She makes that abundantly clear as she is a completely sadistic and narcissistic egomaniac who looks down on the group and later on takes pleasure in torturing those she deems ugly. I'd put her on the Bastometer but like another bloated disgusting warthog of recent memory I will do the greatest insult and refuse to give her any form of attention beyond acknowledging them for the purposes of this review. In her egomania Michiko removes the time limit of her tower. Though of course there is a catch as the group sees on the third floor, where they find Toro and Tsutomu being tortured, Tsutomu being forced to do push ups on a bed of spikes and Toro being essentially waterboarded with Milk, and he's lactose intolerant.

 Michiko appears again and offers the group a choice, take the door on the left which will take them to her floor lickedy split so they can get the key to free the two or take the door on the right which will not only give them a Mirror Shard but will also tell them Michiko's weakness. However that particular path is very long which means the two will be tortured for that much longer. So the gang refuses to fall for Michiko's trap and take the short route right to her chamber. She's flabbergasted that they would choose their friends over the Shard and hint. Also her Persona draws power from negative emotion so if the group wasted time while Toro and Tsutomu were being tortured she would get even stronger.

But if you took the fastest way and got there under 20 minutes she would be at her weakest form. Nevertheless she transforms into her Persona, Nemesis of the Justice Arcana.

The Greek goddess of divine retribution against those who've succumbed to arrogance and pride. She is also the daughter of Erebus and Nyx.

Even if you managed to get there between 20 minutes and 1 hour she's still weaker then Hypnos. The only thing you have to worry about is her Maziodyne and Revenge Leak attack which attacks everyone with heavy electrical damage and deals non elemental damage to one party member respectively. With her down she starts going on about how everyone was so jealous of her because all she did was bribe her way to becoming the Snow Queen, bribe her teachers to get the best grades and have a girl who was hanging around her boyfriend expelled.

So then Pumbaa gets dragged to hell and the gang gets another shard bringing their count to four now. As well as a piece of Ambrosia which I will address next time. Once the gang makes it back to the frozen school they find Toro and Tsutomu who thank the group for saving them from the bitch queen and give them two Mirror Shards, bringing their count to six. Last but not least is Classroom 2-1 which leads to the worst tower of them all; Thanatos Tower.

The only place in the collective unconsciousness that could contain Seto Kaiba's ego without creating an imbalance in the universe; unleashing said ego as a demon that's essentially a Super powered Donald Trump.

All joking aside this tower is going to be the bane of your existence in this game. Not only because it holds the strongest demons aside from the Ice Castle but also because if a party member dies they can't use their Persona unless you go all the way down to the second floor and retrieve said Persona from Tartarus. Also the time limit is back so not only do you have to climb all the way to the top, get the rest of the Mirror Shards, avoid having your party members die but you have to do all this crap within a 2 hour time limit. You're gonna die, a lot.

So we start off at the bottom where we meet the last of the guardians, Yuriko Yamamoto and user of Thanatos of the Death Arcana.

Thanatos is the harbinger of peaceful death in Greek Mythology and is the elder twin brother of Hypnos and son of Nyx.

She's definitely an odd duck as she acts so over the top cutesy that reading her lines is like inhaling Pixie sticks. She goes on to say that the way to open the first door is to just blow out a candle, that's it. What she doesn't tell you is that by doing so revokes either Naoya or Yukino's Persona powers. She says that her tower runs on give or take, can't get without giving something in return in this case their other life, their Persona. So the gang has no choice but to make the trip to Tartarus on the second floor.

Tartarus isn't all that bad though since you can pick up 4 count em 4 Mirror Shards in here as well as recover your Personas. Though for one of them you will have to purchase it from a girl for 5000 yen so make sure you have some cash before you come here, the rest however are just in the Skull shaped Treasure chests. Once you've gotten all the shards and Personas head to the shops on the third floor and upgrade your armor, weapons, guns and ammo because trust me you're gonna need it. Moving on, when the group reaches the 6th floor of the tower she's set up another game, there are two chests, one contains a Mirror Shard, the other will seal Ayase's Persona in Tartarus. Choose the left one get the shard giving you 11 shards and save yourself the headache and rage.

Once you climbed all the way to the top you confront Yuriko who's feeling generous and offers the group a chance to die so they can look good forever! Ayase of all people is the one to call her out saying that she's a coward for running away from her responsibilities of life, of growing up, of dying and that's like so not righteous with her. So Yuriko drops the act and transforms into Thanatos to fight the group. She's a problem, not only does her attacks hurt like a jackhammer on your kneecap but she also has six tentacles to back her up which comes in two sets of three each set having different elemental weaknesses and each tentacle has 980 HP.  Thanatos herself is a whole other set of problems, she has two; count em two instant death moves as well as the Slumpa skill which makes her opponents unlucky and more susceptible to status effects as well as instant death skills.

 Also when you beat her she transforms into a floating eye ball that while it has much less HP then her normal form has only a tiny more HP then a tentacle as well as only casting Hell Eyes one of her 1 hit kill moves. The group manages to beat her, to her gratitude as she breaks down sobbing over her foolish mistake of letting the Snow Queen kill her just for eternal beauty and giving up her friends, family and her own mortality. She thanks them from the bottom of her heart and gives them the last Shard and a piece of Ambrosia before passing on to the afterlife. Now that the mirror is completely restored it's time to save Ms Saeko from the Snow Queen once and for all.

Shin Megami Tensai Persona is owned by Atlus and Sega.
Batman: The Animated Series is owned by Dc Comics, Warner Brothers and Paul Dini.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is owned by Wes Craven, Heron Communications, Smart Egg Pictures and New Line Cinema.
The Lorax (Film) is owned by Universal Studios, Illumination Entertainment and Chris Renaud.
Gangs of New York is owned by Martian Scorsese, Initial Entertainment Group, Alberto Grimaldi Productions, and Miramax Films.
South Park is owned by Matt Stone, Trey Parker and Comedy Central.

Video Game Review: Persona Retrospective: Persona (PSP) Part 11: Too cool for school.

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For those who've been keeping up with my Persona retrospective you are no doubt aware that there's a second story for the original Japanese release which was recovered for the international PSP re-release and that's what I'll be covering. Also no there will be no Frozen references in this review, mainly because I've never seen the movie and it's been done to death by this point. But for those who haven't read my previous reviews here are the links, enjoy.

 You remember back in Part 4 where I mentioned the Snow Queen Quest? Where here's where we can get on that quest. After you've rescued Setsuko and head back to the school instead of telling Ayase that you're going to attack SEBEC instead talk to the girl in classroom 2-4 who says that she heard from Devil-Boy aka Tsutomu that the reason the town is so screwed up is because of a curse on St Hermelin. So then we find Tsutomu in the Library who tells of the Snow Queen, a fairy tale that's performed by the St Hermelin drama club as a traditional play. However the tradition stopped since the play is cursed, every person who's ever worn the Snow Queen's mask and played the role died in unnatural ways.

 However that's as far as he knows aside from there being supposedly only one person who played the role and survived the curse, so now to find out who that is. Somebody in the Drama club might know more so that's the next stop. Of course with a story of such infamy the Drama club denies it ever happened, so time go over their heads and make a stop to the student council room to see if there were records kept. There are records but the President isn't budging on showing them and suggests asking someone who was there, a good guess would be the Principal.

This is Principal Ooishi who works hard for her students and their welfare.

 Once Naoya makes it to her office she knows that he's been looking into the Snow Queen rumors, so she gives the whole story. She never believed the rumors until eight years ago when Ms Saeko was cast as the Snow Queen, and that Ms Saeko lost her best friend. Ooishi blames herself for what happened, that if she had forbade the use of the mask then nobody would have died; so to prevent any more deaths she had the mask purified and sealed away. But hey guess who's going to ignore all of that and find the mask? YOU!!!! But hey it's not like we haven't heard several times before that the mask is clearly evil or anything, I mean come on

when has a mask

ever been the source or cause of ungodly evil

in the world? They were probably just unlucky or something.

 If you did all of the steps right you completely ignore logic and head for the Gyms storage area you'll find a box with talismans on it, open it up and retrieve the Snow Queen Mask. Naoya then makes his way to the hole where he sees Mark and Maki walk off to attack SEBEC leaving Yukino and Ayase behind. Yukino says that Nanjo got hurt so Mark, Brown and Elly brought him back so he could recover. But then Maki showed up out of nowhere so like last time more then a few eyebrows were raised.

 But that's put on the back burner for now as Ms Saeko shows up to see what all the commotion is; after getting brought up to speed and convinced to hold down the fort by Yukino she notices that Naoya is carrying the Snow Queen Mask. She starts to reminisce about her school days and tells the story of the play. Afterwords she stupidly decides to put on the mask to prove how lucky she is since she survived the curse, however the entire school is frozen over and the structure has completely been reshuffled. So the moral of the story kids?

 But she did and now look what happened. She's been possessed by an evil spirit and is now going to turn the entire world into an eternal frozen night unless the group stops her. But of course they can't just force the mask off of her no no, the Snow Queen has frozen Ms Saeko and if the group tries to just remove the mask from her and free the school they would end up shattering her into little pieces. The Queen then pulls a move stupid enough for the Great Leader to blush by telling the three that she has set up three towers to stall for time while she prepares the spell to summon the eternal night and that if they can defeat each of the towers guardians before the clock's respective tower strikes twelve she'll leave and return the school and Ms Saeko back to normal. Of course the three have absolutely no reason to trust her and try to find a surefire way to remove the mask. But since neither Uncle or Toru are there to whip up the Mask removal potion they're pretty much up the creak without a paddle.

 Thankfully Philemon shows up to calm the group down and gives them the frame of the demon mirror, which if they collect at least eight of the twelve shards can free Ms Saeko from the Mask. So they have their goal and three towers to climb but they're gonna need two more people to help on their quest and luckily Nanjo, Elly and Brown are still in the school, however since Nanjo is a default party member in the SEBEC story we'll just go find Elly and Brown. Ladies first then as we find Elly talking to Tsutomu in the library. The group figures that since she knows a lot about demons, can read the runes on the doors leading to the towers and already has a Persona she would be invaluable and thus she joins the party when asked.

 Brown is located in the cafeteria and here is where I finally get to explain my dislike of Ayase. In the cafeteria Brown is desperately trying to calm down Toro who's gone crazy and is planning on eating every last scrap of food and watching everyone else starve as revenge for Ayase turning down his love confession. Actually that's putting it lightly, she pretty much smashed his self-esteem to pieces by essentially saying he's a boring, sloven, disgusting, gluttonous waste of skin with all the charm of a ten day old roadside skunk carcass. Then she makes the dumbest comment she could say in this situation by asking if the truth really hurt that much, do you see why I hate her? She just throws her comments out into the either without taking even the slightest consideration that her words might come off as callous and mean-spirited and she doesn't even know that what she says is so destructive.

So if I were to put her on the old Bastometer (TM) she'd be between Cartman and Maleficent since she later admits that she can go too far and does direct her sharp tongue at people that deserve such bile.

This understandably make him completely lose his shit and unleashes his Persona on the five; Mara of the Tower Arcana.

Known as "The Evil One" in Buddhist mythology Mara is a tempter, through the deceit of regarding the mundane and negative as alluring, and personifies unwholesome impulses, unskillfulness, and the "death" of the spiritual life.

 (Also yes I know that this isn't what Mara looks like in the game I'm not going to show what it really looks like for obvious reasons so for those who are morbidly curious, just make sure you're at home before you look up what Mara looks like in the games.) However due to his warped mind state his Persona instead manifests as part of his body and not as a Spirit like the others' Personas. He manages to get off three attacks before Ayase discovers her Persona; Houri of the Magician Arcana.

Houri are mystical spirits that exist in heaven according to the teachings of Islam. The Houri are described as being modest, beautiful virgins that linger in Paradise. The Qur'an describes that anyone who enters paradise is promised a beautiful companion of their opposite gender (which refers to the houri) and becomes an houri.

Just like another fire wielding character affiliated with the Magician Arcana Ayase discovers that the only way to deal with an evil penis monster growing out of a fat kid; is to burn it!

 Following the advice of the greatest leader the Fire Nation has ever known she does indeed burn it which then causes Brown to waken to his Persona (which wasn't revealed yet in this series of events, remember in the main game he awakens to his Persona at the Police Station) with the two new Persona users they manage to calm Toro down. After they all compare notes Brown joins the group and now with their team of five Persona users they're ready to take on the three towers, defeat the three guardians, recover the Mirror Shards, save their teacher and exorcise the spirit of the Snow Queen Mask before the whole world becomes the nightmare world of Silent Hill Shattered Memories, sounds easy. But first just make sure you walk around the place, learn where everything is and make sure your equipment is up to snuff. Next time we'll talk about the towers and their guardians.

Shin Megami Tensai Persona is owned by Atlus and Sega.
The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask is owned by Nintendo & Shigeru Miyamoto.
Jackie Chan Adventures is owned by Jackie Chan, The JC Group, Blue Train Entertainment, Adelaide Productions, Columbia TriStar Television and Sony Pictures Television.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is propriety of Hirohiko Araki, David Production, Tokyo MX, Warner Bros Entertainment and Viz Media.
The Ren & Stimpy show is owned by Bob Camp, John Kricfalusi, Spümcø, Games Animation and Nickelodeon.
Venture Brothers is owned by Adult Swim, Williams Street, AstroBase GO!, World Leaders Entertainment, Noodlesoup Productions and Titmouse inc.
Grand Theft Auto IV is owned by Rockstar Games and Take-Two interactive.
South Park is owned by Matt Stone, Trey Parker and Comedy Central.
Sleeping Beauty (1959) is owned by Walt Disney, Walt Disney Productions and Buena Vista Distribution.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is owned by Gen Urobutchi, Studio Shaft, and Studio Aniplex.
Silent Hill Downpour is owned by Vatra games and Konami Computer Entertainment.
Kamen Rider is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.
Super Sentai is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.

Video Game Review: Persona Retrospective: Persona (PSP) Part 10: The End.....

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Yep it's high time we finished this look at Persona 1. Where we last left off the group had figured out how to stop Pandora and save Maki. To do this they need the three compacts carried by the three different aspects of Maki's personality, they already have the ones from the Ideal Maki and Mai, now they need to get the compact from the real Maki who has hidden herself away in the Alaya cavern. The team arrives when they get another vision from Zordon.

"Pardon?"

Sorry wrong exposition buddy. He explains that the Alaya cavern leads to the sea of souls from which the souls of all of mankind is born from and eventually return. He also says that Maki is planning on returning to that sea and only Naoya and her ideal self can follow. So they do and to everyone reading so far welcome to hell! Personal story time here when I first played this game back around 2012 this was the part where I gave up, in this dungeon there are only two party members, demons that can't be negotiated with, who are also around level 50 and unless you've prepared yourself with the right Personas and have memorized their weakness' will slaughter you like sheep. Oh and need I remind you of the incredibly low chances to run away, and that if you fail to run away when you try the enemies get themselves a free shot? If no then I just did; you're gonna die, a lot.

So the two make their way through this hell and when they reach level B8 (and remember this dungeon closes once you find Maki and leave so this is your only chance to do this) they find someone who looks exactly like Naoya that's playing a video game who says that he knows exactly what kind of person you are. He shows you points in your journey where a choice needed to be made. If you made the right choice you get a Fusion Totem that's used to create a character's Ultimate Persona, and luckily for you all I wrote down all of those choices as they appeared in my previous reviews; aren't I just such a nice guy?

Anyway there are Ultimate Personas for each Party member, however certain party members are only available during certain story lines, Mark, Maki and Reiji are exclusive to the SEBEC quest and Yukino is only available during the second story which I'll cover next time. So for now here are the Ultimate Personas for the current party. First is Naoya who's Ultimate Persona is Amon-Ra of the Emperor Arcana.

Self Created King of the Gods of the Egyptian Pantheon, Amon-Ra is the champion of the poor and central to personal piety.

 Maki gains the Powers of Verdandi of the Priestess Arcana.

One of the three Norns of Norse Mythology who determines the fate of all men, her name translates to "to be".

 Nanjo's Ultimate is Yamaoka of the Judgement Arcana.

The rebirth of Nanjo's faithful butler as an aspect of his master's soul.

 Mark's Ultimate Persona is Susano-o of the Chariot Arcana.

Born from the filth washed off of Izanagi after he failed to save Izanami from the Underworld, Susano-o is the storm of Summer and is the brother of Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi the gods of the Sun and Moon respectively.

 And last but not least Reiji, Mot of the Death Arcana.

The Semitic god of Death who is constantly trying to consume Baal. And was only stopped by his father threatening to overturn his throne.

However don't think you can just fuse them right away. They can only be fused once Naoya is at the level of the Persona, so if you're at that level already then fuse away, equip Naoya and Maki with their Ultimate Personas if you can fuse them and trudge onward. While the five are awesome in their own way the best is in my opinion Amon-Ra; since once it's at full power it unlocks the Hieroglyphein attack. A spell that deals incredible damage against demons of the fiend and tyrant order, which includes the final bosses. But that's a whole way away for now.

The two finally corner the real Maki; who after the ideal Maki reads her the riot act about how she just kept whining about how much her life sucked instead of actually trying to change herself gives up the compact and tells the two to stop Pandora in the Avidya world. The two make it back to the three and with all three compacts they open the door to the Avidya world which is behind the door in the school. Now be careful people the Avidya world is the largest dungeon in this story line and not only does it have super strong demons but it also has pit traps that could send you back to near the beginning. Which means that you'll have to go all the way back to where you were before fighting all the way through. But this also makes for a great place to train your party members' Ultimate Personas and there are stores, gun-shops a save room and a Velvet Room so yeah could be worse.

So after all of this you finally encounter Pandora.

Oops sorry wrong monster.

But you can tell how I'd get mixed up so easily.

Not only does Pandora look like something that crawled out of a nightmare it has an equally nightmarish goal. She's managed to steal the core of the Deva System somehow and is planning on using it like how Hellmaster Fibrizo wanted to use the Giga Slave spell and destroy all of reality. But just like with the demon brat the five aren't going to let that happen, though our group actually has a chance against this incarnation of evil. Pandora can still be quite a problem for an under leveled party, especially once she starts using her Paralyze Puncture attack, which not only hits everyone with non elemental damage but it also has a chance to paralyze your team members as well. This isn't helped by the fact that she constantly uses buffing spells to raise her attack and defense so have a Persona that can use Dekaja with one of your party members and be sure to bring a lot of Dis-Stone and Dis-Paralyze with you or be ready to become the end piece.

After she goes down she sheds the monster cocoon and comes at the group again as a giant humanoid with Butterfly wings. This form allows Pandora to switch between a Red haired version of herself and a blue haired version. The Red haired one is the offensive one and has the attack Butterfly Storm which hits all enemies with non elemental damage and can cause random status effects. The Blue haired version is the defensive form, not only can she recover some HP but she also has the skill All Guard which protects her from all damage and the Symphony of Lament skill which can hit all of your characters with Guilt and remember folks if their Guilt counters are high enough they can't attack.

So once you've taken care of Pandora Naoya, Reiji, Nanjo and Mark return back to their world where the crisis has passed and the group goes on with their life's which I won't spoil here. Mostly because we'll catch up with some of the group in Persona 2. Though we do know from this epilogue that Reiji will have a son, but take my advice Mr Kido; do not name him Shinji because trust me dude

having Shinji Kido wandering around the world of Persona would be nothing but trouble.

But we're not done yet because as alluded to earlier there is a second story in this game and I'll begin coverage of that next time.

Shin Megami Tensai Persona is owned by Atlus and Sega.
Silent Hill Homecoming is owned by Konami, and Double Helix Games.  
Kamen Rider is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.