Let's Play Persona 4: Everyday's Great at your Junes!

So... clear this up for me.

1. School on Saturday? Is that normal?

2. Are they just straight up skipping school at this point or does the game gloss over the school day?

1. Yes

2. They're just glossing over the school day. Most days when there isn't an event going on (rescue or holiday or whatever), it just skips to "After School", just saying, "Yeah, you went to school, but nothing happened of note today."

So these personas? Are they just summons? Cause in the two battles we've had so far it looks like its the kids fighting and casting magic. I'm a little confused on why they have magic people in side them at all?

They're more like summons.

Yeah. Whenever they use a skill, they summon their Persona, and it's the Persona that actually executes the skill.

If we choose "Attack", though, the kids themselves will attack with their weapon.

In a sense, the Persona and the person are the same entity. Even though it's the characters that get hit by enemy attacks, not the Persona, it's the Persona's stats that determine that character's defense and evasion rate. This is less important for the party members, because they only have one Persona. It's more important for Pockets, who will switch Personas more often than you change your clothes.

And yeah, school on Saturday is a thing in Japan!

It's Sunday morning. No school today, and Nanako is sitting alone.



Nanako: He woke up early, so I woke up with him. He said he's gonna be late.

Pockets feels bad about leaving Nanako alone in the house, but Nanako is used to this.

Nanako: Are you going somewhere? I'll be fine by myself.
Weather Announcer: --so the weather this weekend will be perfect for going out. As for next week's forecast…
Nanako: Oh, the sun's gonna come out. I should do some laundry. Uh… Weren't you going somewhere?

At the Junes food court, Yousuke is waiting for Pockets with another of his great plans.



Yousuke: I found some stuff we can use in the closet at home. Take a look at these!



Yousuke: Ahh, you've got discerning taste. This is a Junes exclusive. The blade's fake, though… As for me… Wait, maybe both would be good, too.





Completely out of unforeseeable, of course, a police officer pays some special attention to them.



Yousuke: No… No no no no, this isn't what it looks like. We didn't steal it… Uh, I guess that's not what matters… A-Anyways, we're not doing anything bad! We're just two ordinary kids who like weapons and… Ugh, that doesn't sound right either. Ahaha…
Patrolman: Put the weapons down now! We'll listen to your story at the station.
Hands where I can see them, too! I said now!
Yousuke: B-But… This isn't…
Patrolman: Are you resisting an officer of the law!? Y-You're under arrest!

More officers close in on us.



This day isn't going very well...

A little bit later, at the police station...



Dojima: You know what's been going on around town. We got men stationed everywhere. For god's sake… You're lucky I was around, or this would have ended up on your permanent record.
Yousuke: We're sorry…

Looks like we're fine this time! However, the weapons got confiscated. But who cares? Nothing is more juicy as rumors heard in a police station.

Plainclothesman: Wait, so the one that disappeared is the Amagi girl...?
Uniformed Officer: Seems like it… But she's just a high schooler, you know. Could be that she decided to run away from home…
Yousuke: Hey… Did he say Amagi…? Then… she really is…
Dojima: Hm? Who's that now?
Yousuke: Oh, uh, nothing…
Dojima: I'm sure you've seen on the news that there's an investigation in progress… We're sensitive about certain things. You're free to go. But this better not happen again.

We are about to do just that when a familiar face almost crashes into us.



Young Detective: Huh? Aren't you the kid staying at Dojima-san's place?
Yousuke: Oh…! Uh, can we ask you something? It's about Yukiko-san… I mean, Yukiko Amagi of the Amagi Inn…
Did something happen to her?
Young Detective: Huh? Oh, umm… Am I allowed to say…? Well, if you're friends with Ms. Amagi… Keep this between us, okay?



Young Detective: Since it was the weekend, the workers at the inn were extremely busy, and no one saw Ms. Amagi around that time. Oh, but that doesn't necessarily mean this is a case just yet! But, people've been turning up dead on foggy days… So we're really sensitive to stuff like this. By the way, did she say anything to you guys about maybe going through some hard times?
Yousuke: Uh...? Hard time?
Young Detective: Well, that announcer, Ms. Yamano, was staying at the Amagi Inn before the first murder. Seems Ms. Yamano had some harsh words for the manager about the staff's attitude towards guests.
The stress of it caused the manager to collapse. And with Ms. Amagi being the manager's daughter… She must've felt pretty strongly about the incident, y'know. By the way, did Ms. Amagi ever hint that she might be leaving the house? 'Cause if not, there's been some theories floating around that she's laying low for some reason or another…Crap, I think I've gone too far. You didn't hear that, okay?
Dojima: Adachi, what the hell are you chatting with civvies for!? And where's my coffee!?
Young Detective: S-Sorry! I got it right here!
Psst! Forget I said anything! Please!

I'm pretty sure Dojima is hazing this poor guy here!

At the lobby, on the way out...





Chie: I've been looking everywhere!
Yousuke: Uh, well, there was a slight misunderstanding… We'll tell you about it later. Anyways, something's up with Yukiko-san!
Chie: Huh? You know already!? I kept calling her cell, but she didn't pick up… So I went to her house, and it turns out Yukiko really did disappear…!
Yousuke: I guess we've got no choice but to go now… But that aside, the cops are saying some weird stuff. They think Yukiko-san's hiding to "lay low"… Apparently, Yukiko-san's mom collapsed because that announcer's lady bitched her out. They think that gives her a motive, and the fact that the announcer died right after makes her even more suspicious…
Chie: What!? They think Yukiko did it!? What the hell is wrong with them!?
Yousuke: Dude, don't snap at me! Yukiko's the victim here, dammit, not the suspect…

[img]http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t586/educatog/Persona%204%20LP/4-17/Image098_zpsbbfe05d4.png[/img

As it turned out, Chie went to Junes food court and did not find her classmates anymore. So she thought "I got it! They must be at the police station!" and went there.

Chie: R-Right! That's the important thing!
Yousuke: With the police totally on the wrong track, we've gotta handle it ourselves.
Chie: I'm going too! And that's final! I'm going to save Yukiko no matter what!
Yousuke: Are you gonna be all right…? But man… They just confiscated our weapons. We can't go in empty-handed…



It's funny the sort of things Chie knows!



Yousuke: Wh-What kind of shop is this…?
Chie: A metalworks… I guess? They sell all sorts of metal crap… like katanas and stuff.
Yousuke: Doesn't that seem weird to you!? Why would you know about a place like this anyway? Oh, I get it… You watched one too many kung-fu movies, and…
Chie: It's not that at all! I overheard some guys in our class talk about it. They said this place sells weapons and armor.
Here, this one looks good. Oh, but it might be too heavy…
Yousuke: I dunno, Chie… I still think it's too dangerous. I know how you feel, but-
Chie: You don't! You don't know shit about how I feel… Yukiko might die from this, for crying out loud!



Chie: Psh, I'll be fine! My reflexes are second to none!
Yousuke: Listen… I'm not kidding around. You don't know what it's like in there! If you're not gonna listen to our warnings, we're leaving you here! If you insist on coming, just make sure you have something to protect yourself.
Chie: Alright…
Yousuke: But man, what should we get…? Hey, Souji. Mind picking out something for me, too? You're our main asset in battle right now, so I think you should choose whatever makes it easiest for you.



How generous of Yousuke! It's actually not that generous, considering that we'll be buying equipment for him for the whole game. And this is the only time he gives us any money for it. And 5,000 yen barely covers anything.

And that's still a lot more than we can say than the other party members, who never give us any money.

Chie: I got my stuff all picked out! How about you guys?
Yousuke: You know, if we wear this stuff around town, we'll just get picked up again. But it's not like we can waltz into Junes with a sack full of gear and expect no one to notice, either…




Yeah, I'm sure a katana fits under Pocket's shirt just fine.

Yousuke: Okay… Let's try that. Alright, let's split up and get ready. The store'll be crowded until the afternoon sale ends, and if we walk around together the cops might get suspicious.
Chie: Then I'll see you guys at the Junes food court!

At this point, the game leaves us alone to get some equipment upgrades. Daidara is the only place to get the party's equipment around here. Old Man Daidara keeps calling his stuff art, but I don't know whether anybody cares.



Each party member has 3 item slots: Weapon, Armor, and Accessory. Conveniently, there is one buy menu for each of these slots. We can also "Sell items". Daidara buys items that we pick up from the dungeon; and unlike other games, in P4 these items are used to forge new stuff we can buy. So basically, items appear as fast (or slow) as we clear the dungeons.

We can also talk to Daidara, but who cares what he has to say.

We don't have a lot of money, and Armor is strictly more essential than weapons, so let's take a look at that first.



There's single item available for sale to Pockets. The game conveniently shows us a comparison between the item we're looking at and the item we're wearing. Compared to the T-Shirt Pockets is wearing, the Chain Mail has more defense and less evasion.



Evasion is better than defense in my opinion, but the difference in this case is pretty small; and with only ~100 health, the difference in defense may be significant.

But we don't have infinite money, so let's look at the weapons, too.



Yousuke's new weapon, however, is a no-brainer with both increased Attack and Hit Rate. It costs a whooping 4,000 of our meagle 9,600 yen however.





Conveniently, the game gives us the option to equip the new items and sell the old item on the spot.

Pockets's new weapon is an imitation katana, which apparently I deemed as not worth buying because I didn't even bother to take a screenshot.

Now we only have enough money for another item. We decide to give the new armor to Yousuke. He's already plenty fast, and he can use more defense.

We're pretty much done here for now. Pockets leaves Diadara's shop, and notices a strange door on the side.



No one else seems to see it.

Voce in your head: So it finally begins… Now, if you'll give me a moment of your time…



The message seems pretty clear! Let's go in.



Now, if only Igor and Margaret could just be less cryptic, then I wouldn't have to explain what they say!

Igor: The catastrophe that is headed your way… It has already taken human lives in its approach towards you… But you have nothing to fear. You already have the power to fight against it. It seems that the time for you to use your Persona has come… *chuckle *
Magaret: Your Persona ability is that of the wild card. If you strengthen your bonds properly, their power will help you overcome any ordeal. Our role is to facilitate that.
Igor: My contribution… is to give birth to new Personas.

The wild card is a common theme for the Persona series protagonists. A person of the Fool Arcana, such as Pockets right here, is not confined to a single persona like the rest of his party. He is multi-faceted, and as a result, can wield several Personas and can change them in the middle of the battles.



Igor: This, in other words, is the fusion of Persona. You have the power to hold multiple Personas and to use them accordingly. When you defeat an enemy, the seeds of possibility you attain will appear before you as cards. At times, they may be hard to grasp… but you must master your fear and reach out to them.

This just refer to Shuffle Time, which is common up pretty soon, and Persona fusion, which I will explain later.



> You recall that you have the Magician Social Link with Yosuke…
> It seems that when a Persona of the Magician Arcana is fused, that Persona will gain even more power…



As I said before, having high ranks in social links benefit Persona fusion. Like people, each Persona also belongs to an Arcana. Whenever we fuse a Persona, the resulting Persona gets an exp bonus. The higher Pockets's rank in the social link of that Arcana, the more exp bonus the Persona gets. A maxed out social link can give the fused Persona as many as 10 levels.

This is significant, because the Personas that we can fuse are restricted by Pockets's level. We can't fuse anything that is higher than Pockets's level, though it's possible (and often is the case) that after the exp bonus, the new Persona's level exceeds Pockets's.

Margaret: Registering the Personas you hold will allow you to recall them at any time. Please see me when you wish to use it.
Igor: *chuckle* Do you recall my words to you before? The coming year is a turning point in your destiny… If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost." I meant precisely what I said. Defeat in battle is not the only way your journey may come to an end… Please do not forget this. When next we meet, you will come here for your own will. *chuckle * I look forward to it. Until then… farewell.

This, I believe, refers to the multiple endings we can get in this game. Depending on our choices, we can get one of the two bad ending, the good ending, or the true ending.

I'm a bit busy today, so I may have to cut this day into two days So this may be my last update of the day, unless I get some time in the evening.

Anyway, after exiting the Velvet Room, Pockets can freely walk around the shopping district for a bit.



So let's take a look at what around!

Behind Pockets is the door to the Velvet Room. It will be here for the whole game. Across the street, there's a butterfly save point.



Next to the Velvet Room door is a bookstore. There's always a book-loving guy standing here.



There's a poster advertising the next book to come out.



Books can be read at the sofa in Pockets's room, and they increase one or more status. Usually it's guessable from the book's name which status it increases.

Next to the bookstore is a gas station. In fact, the same gas station that we stopped by on our way to Dojima's house for the first time.



There's also a bus stop that we will see more uses for later.

On the other side of the blue door is Daidara's weapon shop. There's a little girl here.



This girl and her twin sister come up quite frequently in our mini quests.

There's also a red mailbox next to Daidara's that we can use to mail prize tickets from the shopping network.

Next to Daidara's is Marukyu Tofu shop. Not much we can do here for now.



There's an NPC that's obsessed with the square button.





Err... well, moving on. The next shop is Shiroku, where we buy most of our consumables.





We can buy stuff right now, but we don't really need them at the moment. This shop gives a discount every rainy day, so we'll save our money and buy stuff then.

In front of Shiroku is a vending machine. These vending machines are important! They are the only buy-able SP restore items in the game. Only 5 are available at each vending machine every week, and they get restocked every Monday. Since it's now Sunday, this is our last chance to buy them this week.



We only care about TaP, as Orange Smash restores HP, not SP.

There's another section of the Shopping District.



This is Aiya, a restaurant with the famous Rainy Day challenge that we will find ourselves a strong supporter of. We can eat here on non-rainy days too, but there's almost no reason too.

There's also a bulletin board. We can view and accept available part-time jobs here. There's none right now.



Next to it there's a small food kiosk.



We can get these dishes to go. They probably restore HP or SP or cure some ailment. I never bought any of them, so I don't actually know.

This must be the place with good steak that Yousuke mentioned, though!

Next is a series of closed shop. They don't really do anything other than remaining closed for the whole game.



There's also a shrine across the street. If we speak to the guy just outside, we'll get a cute rumor.



There's also the Tatsumi textile shop. This one is still operating, but there's no one there right now.

We go past several other closed shop, including an out-of-business electronics store, until we see some more vending machines.



Like the other one, we can buy 5 here every week, and they get restocked on Monday. Unlike the other one, however, this one only restores 5SP for the same amount of money (the other one restores 10SP). However, we get a chance to win 5 more cans, which we do somewhat often...



... like we did once this time.

And that concludes our tour of the Shopping District. Next, Pockets meets with Yousuke and Chie at Junes food court.

(... which may not be until tomorrow)

One nice thing about this game is that we can teleport to pretty much everywhere instantly. Who needs walking around!?



When we leave the Shopping District, the game automatically brings us to Junes.

Yousuke: The sale should end soon, so that'll get rid of some of the people wandering around here. Alright… let's get going. Chie, it's not too late to-
Chie: I'm going!
Yousuke: Fine, but don't push yourself, got it!?



Teddie is standing in a corner, holding his head.



Yousuke: What're you doing?
Teddie: Can't you tell? I'm thinking about stuff.
> It seems he's been thinking about himself all this time…



Yousuke: … So… did you figure anything out?Eh, it's probably useless to think about it too much. I've seen the inside of your skull, and it was empty.
Teddie: How rude! You're right, though. I try and try but nothing comes out of my head.
Chie: Will you guys shut up!? Now's not the time for stupid jokes! Listen… Someone came here yesterday, right?
Teddie: Wow! There's a girl with a better nose than me!? What's your name, Miss?
Chie M-Miss? Uh… I'm Chie. But never mind that! Tell me more about that "someone"!
Teddie: I think it happened a little after I talked with you guys. After that, it felt like someone was here.
Yousuke: Is it Yukiko-san!?
Teddie: I don't know. I haven't looked… The presence is over that way. That's probably where they are.
Chie Over there, huh…?Is everyone ready?
Yousuke: Y-yeah!

Teddie takes us to a rather ominous looking castle.



Chie: What the…? A castle!? Y'think this is the place they showed on TV last time?
Yousuke: You're positive that no one's behind a camera for that bizarre midnight program?
Teddie: Program…? I don't know. Maybe people on your side can see stuff in this world. It might be that. And I told you before! There's only me and Shadows here! There's no "camera" stuff going on. This world has been like this from the beginning.
Yousuke: "From the beginning"…? That's what we don't understand!
Teddie: I dunno… Can you guys explain everything about your world? I've never seen this "program" thingy before. So I don't know.
Chie: Well… is that really what's happening? Are we really looking into this world? Because the first time Yukiko showed up on that channel was before she disappeared. Doesn't that seem off? I mean, Yukiko saying stuff like "score myself a hot stud"? That's not like her at all!



Yousuke: Yeah, I couldn't believe it either... Yukiko-san would never say anything like that…!? I wonder… Is this kinda like what happened to me last time…?
Teddie: There's a lot of stuff I still don't get. But after hearing your story…
I think that "program" happens because of the person who appears on it. Or something like that…
Chie: So… Yukiko is producing that show herself? Ugh, I don't get this at all! Hey… Do you feel Yukiko's presence from inside?
Teddie: I'm pretty sure.

Teddie is very persistent.



Chie: Yukiko's here… I'm going on ahead!
Yousuke: Hey, wait! Don't go alone! Geez! We better follow her! Tch... she ran off on her own.

We're too late! Chie already ran ahead into the castle. Teddie reveals why it's a bad idea.

Teddie: Urk…! There are lots of Shadows in the castle. It'll be dangerous inside for a girl by herself…
Chie: Dude, are you serious!? Why didn't you tell us before!? C'mon, let's find Chie!

Nothing to do but enter. But before that, Teddie has some stuff to give us.



Revival beads revive an unconscious ally and bring them to half HP.



Peach Seed restores 20HP, and Soul Drop restores 10SP.

And now, it's dungeon time!



Yousuke: Ugh, she ran off alone… Dammit, let's go!
Teddie: Um, wait a second! The Shadows have gotten aggravated ever since you two got here. They'll probably attack as soon as they find you, Sensei. So try to get the jump on Shadows before they can attack you!

Unlike in Persona 3, dungeons in Persona 4 are very nicely themed. This one, for example, is called Yukiko's Castle, and the interior looks like a nice castle. Instead of dark and spooky, they can also be very bright, like this one.

Like in Persona 4, dungeon maps are randomly generated. We can press the START button to see a bigger map of areas we've seen on this floor, which is not a lot.



The maps reset every time we leave the TV world. So, if we come back here another day, floor 1 of Yukiko's dungeon will look nothing like it does now.

There's no random encounters. Instead, enemies appear as crawling or floating shadows, and we can swing at them with Pockets's weapon. Shadows appear on the map as glowing red dots.



There are 3 possible outcomes. If we can approach the shadow without being notice (say, from its back), we will get an Advantage and gains an extra turn at the beginning of the battle. This usually only happens if the party outlevels the shadow by a bit (so, not right now!). The shadow can also gain Advantage and get an extra turn at the beginning if it hits Pockets on the back (usually after Pockets misses it). Otherwise, no one gets any advantage.

This battle starting hit does not do any damage to either side. However, some weapons are faster than others, and therefore are better at hitting shadows. This is another factor when choosing Pockets's weapon.

When we're equipped with Izanagi, Yousuke always goes first. He summons his Persona by throwing his Tarot card up and does an air flip to hit it in the air. It's fun to watch!



Yousuke casts Garu (single light wind damage skill), and Pockets Zio.



Information gets added to Analysis as we discover it.



Since there's another person in our party this time, we can perform an AOA. The option appears automatically every time all enemies are down.





In this case there's only one enemy left, but all enemies would take a big amount of damage.

Sometimes, after a battle we get a Shuffle Time.



In P4, Shuffle Time the way to acquire new Personas outside of fusion. There are three types of Shuffle Time cards: Personas, blank, and Penalty. If we pick a Persona card, we gain that Persona. If we pick a blank card, nothing happens, but we may get a chance to repick. If we pick a penalty cards (not shown in the picture above), we lose the exp, money and items from the battle.

There are several types of shuffles. In the beginning, it's mostly in the form of fast moving card. We just have to remember the position of the Persona we want, keep track of it, and press X at the right time.



We get Pixie!



Pixie is handy to have around for its Dia. It's also of the Magician Arcana, which will prove useful when we socialize with Yousuke.

There's a treasure chest at a dead end. Treasure chests show up on the map as gold stars.



Snuff Soul is one of the more useful things we can get here. It restores 50SP to one person.

There are also doors we can open.



After another Snuff Sould and some battles, we get into one where the enemy has the advantage.



Luckily, Slipping Hableries are hardly threatening to us at this point.

Another shuffle time. This time you can see the penalty card. We try not to pick it.



Slime is of the Chariot Arcana, which makes no sense to me, but at least it will be useful in our social link with Chie.



Evil Touch inflicts Fear on an enemy.

After a while, our dungeon looks like this.



Oh, as you can see, we found the stairs pretty early on. The stairs are always in a room with the partially-filled square symbol. There is still plenty of space on this floor to explore, however, so we didn't go up right away.

Also, one thing we can do is changing party member's tactics.



I've been having Yousuke acting freely, and he's done a good job so far! If we want, however, we can change his tactics to something else. The options are self-explanatory.



Look, an enemy that isn't a Slipping Hablerie!



Conveniently, it's week to Yousuke's Garu wind attack.



We also gain Angel, our first wind/light caster. Her only weakness is Dark, and at this level no enemy ever uses Dark, so she's practically without a weakness. She's also of the Justice Arcana, which will be useful in our social link with Nanako.



After clearing the floor, we go back to the stairs. But before that, we do some healing. We use items, since SP should be conserved as much as possible. SP is basically the limiting factor in how long we can dungeon crawl in this game.



There's a large door right at the second floor entrance.



Teddie: You're good at fighting, Sensei. Compared to you, Yosuke stinks…
Yousuke: Shut up, Ted!
Though I do gotta admit… You have a knack for this stuff.
Teddie: Doesn't he? So you should be the one to give Yosuke orders during a fight.
Yousuke: It ticks me off to hear Teddie say that stuff, but I don't wanna cause trouble doing my own thing in battle… So don't hesitate to order me around. I'm counting on you.

The game is basically telling us to take Direct Command of Yousuke. Bosses are designed assuming that we do this, so, uhm, we're in for a hard time!

Also, it looks like we found Chie.

Yousuke: Chie…?



Yousuke: Yukiko-san!?
Yukiko's voice: I hated my name… Yukiko… "Snow"… Snow is cold and it melts quickly… It's transient… worthless… But it's perfect for me… Apart from inheriting the inn, I'm worthless… Still… Chie told me that red looks good on me.
Yousuke: Are these… Yukiko-san's inner thoughts? I remember hearing Saki-senpai's, too…
Teddie: Yeah. This castle is probably here because of this Yukiko person.
Chie: Yukiko…



Yukiko's voice: She's bright and strong, and she can do anything… She has everything that I don't… Compared to Chie, I'm… I'm… Chie protects me… She looks after my worthless life… And I… I don't deserve any of it… Chie is so kind…
Chie: Yukiko, I-I…

Suddenly...



Chie: Wh-What...!?
Yousuke: Oh man... Is that...!?



Teddie: She lost control over her suppressed self! Now it's a Shadow!



Other Chie: She says she's worthless! *chuckle * That's how it should be, right?
Chie: Wh-What're you saying?
Other Chie: Yukiko's sooo good looking… sooo fair-skinned… so feminine… She's the one all the guys drool over. When Yukiko looked at me with such jealousy… Man, did I get a charge out of that. Yukiko knows the score. She can't do anything if I'm not around… I'm better than her… Much, much better!
Chie: No! I have never thought that!
Yousuke: Wh-What're we gonna do?



Teddie: We need to protect Chie-chan right now!
Chie: N-No, don't come near me! Don't look at me!
Yousuke: Chie, calm down!
Chie: No… No, this isn't me!
Yousuke: W-Wait, stupid! Don't say anything else like that!
Other Chie: *chuckle * That's right. I'm the one who can't do anything alone… I can't win as a girl, let alone as a person… I'm pathetic. But Yukiko… She depends on me… *chuckle * That's why she's my friend… I'll never loosen my grip on her… She's too important to me.
Chie: No… That is not how I think of her…
Other Chie: *chuckle * So, you're just gonna turn your back and deny me again? But things are different now. When the time comes… I'll be the one left standing. You won't mind, right? I'm still you!
Chie: Shut up! You're…
Yousuke: Chie, no!



Then there is a lot of evil laugh and stands a... uhm... dominatrix banana head with chain whips, sitting on a school girl tower.



Shadow Chie: What do you guys think you're doing? Trying to defend the "real" me? Then you're gonna pay the price!
Yousuke: Shut up! Quit being such a pain! Chie… Just hang in there a little longer…
Shadow Chie: Hah… Think you can stop me that easy!?

Shadow Chie is the last boss in the game to ever have a weakness. She's weak to wind. Unfortunately, she also knows Green Wall, which nullifies her weakness for 3 turns. She also casts Mazio (the multitarget version of Zio), which our resident wind caster is weak again. With her One More from that, she casts Bottomless Envy, which will make Yousuke dizzy and loses a turn. Her turn order is such that the turn that Yousuke loses is also the turn that her Green Wall runs out, so she uses it to cast Green Wall again. Effectively, this means that other than in the beginning, Yousuke will never get a chance to knock her down. This is very sad, yes.

In a game where we directly command Yousuke, this is a simple problem to solve. Before Shadow Chie casts Mazio, she will "gaze at Yousuke". This is pretty much our hint to put Yousuke on guard. On guard, Yousuke will not be knocked down, Shadow Chie will not get a One More, and Yousuke can attack her again next turn for a wind and AOA attack for massive damage. The fight would be over in 3 turns or so.

In a game when Yousuke acts freely, well, what Yousuke does is not in our hand. Is the AI smart enough to put Yousuke on guard? We'll find out!

Turn order in boss fights is a bit different from regular fights. In boss fights, our team all go first, starting with Pockets, and then the boss's team goes, and so on. So first, we make Pockets cast Rakunda on Shadow Chie. This decreases her defense for 3 turns.



On Yousuke's turn, he casts Garu, like he should be.



This gives us an AOA. An AOA's damage is a bit higher than Yousuke's Garu, so we choose that. It just occurs to me now that if I canceled the AOA and let Yousuke go again, maybe he will cast Garu again, making Shadow Chie dizzy and lose her turn. Oh well.



Shadow Chie uses Green Wall on her turn.



Yousuke's about to take a lot of damage if he doesn't guard, so we use Pockets's turn to cast Rakukaja on Yousuke, increasing his defense.



Shadow Chie attacks Yousuke with her chain and misses. At this point, Pockets is actually running low on SP, so we just have him attack. With the Green Wall up, Yousuke stops using Garu and starts using Bash. I guess the AI is not entirely stupid!



Next, Shadow Chie spends her turn gazing at Yousuke.



Pockets swings his golf club at her again, and comes the moment of truth. Guard, Yousuke, guard!

Oh no! This fight is gonna be a lot harder. Shadow Chie casts Mazio, and follows up with Bottomless Envy.





After this, she casts Green Wall, one again covering her wind weakness.

At this point, a lot of my screenshots disappeared for some reason, but the rest of the fight is straight forward. We wait until Shadow Chie is vulnerable o wind again (after another attack that makes Yousuke dizzy), and switch Pockets's persona to Angel. Angel is not weak to Elec, and has the Garu skill, so Pockets becomes our wind caster instead. Yousuke, meanwhile, can heal himself with his Dia.



We defeat Shadow Chie when Pockets is equipping Pixie to Dia himself, and Yousuke uses Bash. So after all that work done by Angel, the exp goes to Pixie instead.



Yousuke's Persona, Jiraiya, also levels up and learns Sukukaja. Remember that thing about Yousuke being fast? Now he can be even faster!



Chie collapses to the floor from witnessing al this.



Yousuke: Chie! Are you okay!?
Chie: What happened…?
Other Chie: ……



Yousuke: Stop it, Chie. It's all right.
Chie: B-But...



Chie: Everyone…?
Yousuke: He's right… I went through the same thing. So I can understand… I mean… Everyone has a side like this…
Chie: Yeah… I kinda get it now. You are me… A side of me I couldn't forgive… That I tried to ignore… But you still exist. You're a part of me…
> The strength of heart required to face oneself has been made manifest…





Chie also gets a Persona!



Chie: But I wasn't lying about being friends with Yukiko…!
Yousuke: Like we don't know that already.

Suddenly she collapses on the floor.



Chie: I'm okay… Just a little tired…
Yousuke: You don't look okay at all… And I bet… You can use the same power we have now.
Chie: Huh…?



We decide to call it a day and go back. Even if we want to go on, the game won't let us anyway.

Yousuke: I agree. We need to let Chie rest.
Chie: I-I never said I needed a break! I… can still keep going…
Teddie: Don't overdo it!
Yousuke: It's not that we don't think you can. It's just, we have to save Yukiko-san, no matter what. Now that you have the power, you can fight with us. It'd be much better for us all if you had your strength back. That's why we're saying we should go back and regroup.
Chie: But Yukiko's still in here, isn't she!? I-I… If those were Yukiko's true feelings… then I have to tell her something. I'm not as strong as she thinks! It's because she was with me… Because we were always together, I was able to act that way. If we weren't, I'd…
Teddie: Well, you need to get your strength back! Then you can tell her! Yuki-chan's normal. The Shadows don't attack normal people. They only attack when the fog lifts here.
Yousuke: So Yukiko-san will be safe until then, right?
Teddie: I'm positive.
Chie: Why…? I don't get it…
Yousuke: Teddie told us that the weather here is the opposite of our own world. When it fogs over in our world… That's the day it lifts here, and that's when the Shadows attack their victim. So even if we leave for a while, Yukiko-san won't be in danger until the fog starts to cover Inaba. I'm sure of it. It was the same way for that announcer and Senpai… Don't you remember how it was foggy in town on the days they died?
Chie: You mean… they were killed by their other selves?
Yousuke: The fog usually appears after it rains. But it's been sunny lately. I don't think it's going to rain anytime soon.
Don't worry so much. We'll check the weather forecast first thing when we get back.
Chie: But I-I can't turn back now! We've come so far! Yukiko's still here! She's all alone… She must be so scared!
Then you tell me how much further we gotta go to reach Yukiko-san!
Chie: Th-That's…!
Yousuke: You don't know what's up ahead. The enemies might be even stronger.
If we push ourselves too hard and get wiped out, who'll save Yukiko-san then!?
We can't fail, no matter what… Am I wrong?
Chie: ……
…Alright. I'm sorry about before… I shouldn't have rushed in like that by myself…



Yousuke: No worries. We're definitely gonna save Yukiko-san… Right?
Chie: …Right!

A little while later, we're back at the studio, but Chie isn't feeling so well.



Yousuke: That's right, you're not wearing the glasses.
Chie: Oh yeah… What's with those glasses? Did your eyesight go bad?
Yousuke: Man… You didn't notice until now? How panicked were you…?





Chie: Whoa! What the---!? This is awesome! It's like the fog doesn't exist!
Yousuke: Why didn't you whip those out earlier if you had them?
Teddie: I made them right now! You didn't tell me she was coming! It was all so sadden! I mean, sudden!

Now I'm imagining Teddie walking everywhere with his glass making kit.

Chie: Huh… so that's the trick. I was wondering how you guys could see where you were going. Hey, is it alright if I keep this?
Teddie: Fo' sho!
Chie: We'll have to stop here today… But I'll be back with these puppies! You guys better not come here without me, got it!?
Yousuke: Yeah, let's all promise each other… Nobody goes in alone. It's way too dangerous. If we don't work together, we won't be able to solve this case or save Yukiko-san… Right?



Yousuke: Alright, so from tomorrow on, we'll try and come here as much as we can after school… And that includes days off. Hey… would you mind being our leader? You were the first to get this power, and you're way better in a fight than either of us. I think it's bet for all of us if you set the pace of the investigation, and we follow your lead. I'm cool playing second banana.



Yousuke: I had a feeling you'd say that. I mean, I'm more the advisor type, y'know? An ideas man, not an executive.
Chie: I'm with Yosuke. If you're the one calling the shots, I'd feel a lot more comfortable about this.
Teddie: I'm with Yosuke too. If you're the one calling the shots, my pillow will be a lot more comfortable at night.
Chie: Teddie, would you please stop talking. I'm really on edge right now…
> You've been unanimously appointed team leader.
> Your days of pursuing this case alongside your friends have begun…

Velma?


What happens if you say no?

We just acquired our Investigation Team social link. About time!

Some social links in the game, including The Fool, advances automatically as time passes and the plot progresses. Unlike Yousuke's social link, we don't need to decide to spend time with them.

Yousuke: Okay. Let's get some rest for today so we're ready for tomorrow on. And don't forget to check the weather forecast. It gets foggy after a lot of rain, so let's keep an eye out. Also, let's make sure we gear up for next time.

After a long and tiring day, Pockets goes home. Hardship is not behind us, however, as we sit and eat dinner with Dojima and Nanako-chan.



Announcer: That's all for world news tonight. Coming up next, the local news.
……
> Dojima is quiet, with a stern expression on his face.
Dojima: Hey. Mind if I ask something? You aren't getting involved with any strange business, are you…? What happened at the station this afternoon… it's still bothering me.



Dojima: …Is something bothering you? Believe me, I do feel bad that I've been too caught up with work for us to have time to talk…
Nanako: What's wrong? Are you fighting…?
Dojima: No… We're not having a fight.
Nanako: This isn't the police station…
Dojima: I agreed to look after you. So don't get yourself involved in anything that could get you in trouble. Got that?
Weather Announcer: And now, our weather forecast. Due to high-pressure fronts from the west, that sunny spring-like weather will stay with us fro a while longer.
Nanako: Is this lady the one who decides the weather? 'Cause when she says that it'll be sunny, it always is…
Dojima: Uh, she's not really deciding it…
…Never mind.
> The news continues, heedless of the heavy atmosphere…

We're given free control of Pockets after dinner. Nanako is still upset about Pockets and Dojima.



Dojima is sorry, too.



From tomorrow on, we're free to decide on Pockets's after school activity. We still have to rescue Yukiko, of course, but we don't need to do that right away. As long as we do that before it gets foggy, everything will be fine.

Inaba gets foggy the day after several days of rain. We check the whether channel.



It looks like we still have plenty of time! Also, it looks like it will rain on Thursday, but a single day of rain won't make it foggy the next day.

Before Pockets heads to sleep, let's look at our new party member, Chie Satonaka, and her Persona, Tomoe.



Chie is also fast, though she's not nearly as fast as Yousuke. She is pretty much an offensive character. Right now she has Tarukaja, an attack buff, and she learns physical and Ice skills.

As one of the two physical damage dealers our party will have, Chie's strength and endurance growth is high. Her HP pool is HUGE, though this is not as much of an advantage because she likes to use her physical skills, which cost HP to use.

In the early game, Chie is a good damage dealer. However, she lags behind the rest of the party very, very fast. Frankly, her skill progression sucks. In October, when everyone is running around with the -dyne version (heavy damage) of their elemental attack, Chie would still be casting Bufu and Mabufu, the single and multitarget version of light Ice damage. At that point, the only thing we can use her elemental attack for is knocking enemies down for AOAs.

Her physical skills aren't much better. She doesn't learn Power Charge until level 52, and at that point most formidable thing she has to use her power charge on is Heat Wave, a medium physical damage skill. The only redeeming quality about Chie is that she eventually will learn God's Hand and Agneyastra, both very powerful. But before we get there, Chie is a big liability. On my other playthroughs, I just dumped her as soon as the protagonist gets his 5th party member.

And that's it for today!

Just wait until you see the special glasses Teddie makes!

I kind of wondered that to, but too find out we'll have to reload a save file and fight Shadow Chie again. I doubt the outcome will change, though. Most of the dialog options outside of social link events don't matter. It just gives the players an illusion of choice. Except for when they do, like that time when they sneakily sneaked in some options that increase Pockets's Understanding.

This is true in the vanilla Persona 4. However in Persona 4 Golden Shadow Yukiko actually got the Ice weakness originally held by her minion while the minion got a Zio weakness.

Huh, this is interesting! But I'd say it's a welcomed change. That's really the hardest hardest boss in the vanilla game (except for the bonus boss maybe). It's even harder now that we've seen that the AI can't guard

Interesting is probably the best way to describe a lot of changes between vanilla and Golden.

Of course I'm only really going to talk about the big ones. If I reported every minor change, I might as well LP Golden.

It's another day at school.



On mentions of her name, Chie arrives.



Chie: Yep……
Um… Thanks for everything yesterday. It's kind of embarrassing, ya know? You two were there to see my hidden feelings and all…
Yousuke: Don't sweat it.
Chie: The same thing happened to Yosuke, right Soooo… what was it like?
Yousuke: Huh? Uhhh, how should I put this… Oh, I nearly forgot! None of that happened when yours awakened, huh? Hmmm, could that be because you've got nothing to hide?
Chie: Oh? So nothing happened for you? I gotta agree that you seem like a pretty open guy. There's a funny air about you… I dunno, I guess that's what draws people to you, or something like that.

Pockets knows the best way to pick up girls.



... but he's not courageous enough to do it.



So he settles with:



Chie: Wha--Hey, what're you talking about?
Yousuke: Don't do it! You'll get arrested again!
Chie: Anyways, what's most important right now is to rescue Yukiko. I'm dead set on coming. Remember… You promised.

Yousuke's most pressing problem makes a comeback.



And Pockets is left alone with Chie.



Chie: Th-Thanks for saving me… Yosuke's cool and all, but… There really is something different about you. I feel like you won't let me down…
> You sense Chie's gratitude to you…
> You feel a faint bond forming between you and Chie…

And we acquire our Chariot social link!



And like Yousuke, Chie will die for us!



Now that we'll be working with Chie, we want her phone number and all. Pockets knows the best way to ask for a girl's phone number, too.



... but again...



So he ends up saying it's for the investigation anyway.

Chie: Oh… right. You'll need this from now on, huh?
> You exchanged cell numbers with Chie.
We have to be careful of the fog that sets in after the rain, right? Let's save her before that happens!

During class that day...



Mr. Kondo: My name is Mr. Kondo, your PE teacher! But since no one at this school teaches English, I'll be doubling up my roles... Don't be disappointed. In fact, I've spent some time overseas! One week of vacation time, to be exact! But that's more than enough to teach a class! Hahaha!
We'll start with the basics of basics: definite articles versus indefinite articles! A definite article is used before a singular or plural noun that refers to a particular member of a group. In any other instance, use an indefinite article! Ya got that!? I'll pick someone at random... Pockets! This is a "definite" give-away. Hahaha!



I'm not going to bother with spoiler tagging this!

Mr. Kondo: Gooooood job! You're correct. Native speakers distinguish between the two unconsciously, but you guys aren't them! So study hard, okay!? Now! Repeat after me! "The" is a definite article! "A" is an indefinite article! I can't hear youuuuu! Don't be shy! Let's practice together, loud and proud!

And as usual...



The school day is over, and now we can control Pockets after class! From now on, we can decide what he does and when. On school days, Pockets start in the middle of the classroom like this.



There is a save butterfly at the right corner of the room. We can save the game there.

Chie and Yousuke hangs out in our classroom on many days. This is where we can find Chie on school days for their social links. Yousuke usually stands around in the corridor, near the library.



Available social links will have a speech bubble with a question mark on top of their head. Since neither Yousuke nor Chie has that, they're not available for social links today. In general, our party members don't really want to hang out when we have a pending rescue mission.



This is the corridor just outside of classroom 2-2, Pockets's classroom. We can see classroom 2-3 here too, but we cannot enter it. There are many places in the school where we cannot entered. They're mostly there because it does not make sense for a school to not have them.



The library is at the other end of this corridor, next to an unavailable calligraphy room. We can study here to increase our knowledge. If we study here on rainy days, we get a bigger increased in knowledge. During the week before exams, we can study here with a friend to increase our knowledge and gain more music notes with that person at the same time.

Moving between different areas has become a lot easier and more convenient in P4. If in P3 we have to walk through many unrelated areas to get to where we want (just like in real life!), in P4 we can just press the square button to bring up a menu.



The menu has a list of locations in this area that we can instantly teleport to, and also the option to leave the area. For now, we're going to Floor 1.



There are lockers on the way out, and also a bulletin board. We can check school events and our exam results here. Currently there's one event posting.

There are many classrooms here, but we cannot enter any or them. Later on, once we've acquired social links with some underclassmen, they will show up here during school days.

At the end of the corridor is an exit to the gym and practice field.



Next to it there's another corridor that leads to the Practice Building. There are a lot of designated-classrooms for various clubs here, and again we cannot enter most of them. There are a couple of gossiping girls standing around talking about Yukiko and Chie.



Almond-eyed student: Wait, how many has it been this year? It's amazing how popular Amagi is, huh...?
Brunette student: Doesn't it feel like the whole world's different for her? I can barely talk to the boys in my class at all.
Almond-eyed student: I know, I know... it's like you start to say something about shopping, and nobody wants to listen!
Brunette student: Even Satonaka seems to have a lot of friends... It's not like she's fun to be around or anything. She always sticks so close to Amagi, huh?

We wanna yell at them, but that's not a game option. Plus Pockets doesn't yell at anyone.

The Practice Building has a second floor too, but nothing noteworthy is there. Then there's the roof.



Looks like Pockets is popular! There's also a weather girl here, so we can see the weather forecast without having to wait until the evening.



That's an overview of the school. When we leave the area, we'll see this area selecting screen. Yasogami High looks like a nice walk from everything else.



We'll visit the other areas eventually, but for now let's go to the shopping District to visit the Velvet Room.



Igor: Well then... I shall tell you about how I can offer you my "assistance".

Why is "assistance" in quotes like that? Is that an innuendo or something? D:

Igor: I can gather a number of the Personas you possess and provide you with the ability to "fuse" them. One of the most important aspects of your journey is acquiring powerful Personas... When you wish to create a new Persona, please ask me to "Fuse Personas." Also, if you register a Persona in the Compendium, you will be able to summon that Persona in that same condition. If you wish to "Check the Compendium," please ask Margaret.



Our real purpose here is to register Izanagi and Pixie, but as long as we're here we may as well go through Persona fusion. But first, we choose Check Compendium.



Margaret: The Persona Compendium registers all of the Personas in your possession and all of their abilities. After registration, the Persona can be summoned with the same ability as many times as you like. However, the stronger the Persona, the greater the cost to summon it will be. Simply registering a Persona is free of charge. You may also overwrite previously registered Personas as often as you like. Do so however you like.

In other words, we can fuse and experiment all we like with Personas without having to worry about not having access to our previous Personas. New Personas we get through shuffle time automatically gets registered the moment we get them, so we don't have to worry about that. But Personas aren't automatically registered as they gain EXP and learn new skills. So we register to overwrite the previous, lower-level version of Izanagi and Pixie.



Next, let's take a look at Persona fusion. Igor has some explanation.

Igor: ... I will now explain how to create new Personas through fusion. There is a variety of methods to fuse Personas together. A Normal Spread is a fusion of two Personas... A Triangle Spread is a fusion of three... There are many Persona cards that can be used as the basis for fusion, and even larger number of fusion results. The drawback is that using multiple Personas in a fusion always result in a single Persona... Do not forget this. Also, a Persona created through fusion may gain additional power depending on the day it is created. Refer to the fusion forecast to help ensure that your fusion result go as you desire.

The fusion forecast is available to us in the fusion menu. The forecast for today is "bonus stats." In other words, it's a good day to fuse Personas. For most days, the forecast is "None."



Next, we choose Normal Spread. We can see a list of our Personas.



A Normal Spread fuses two Personas. Whenever we select one, a list of results will appear next to the other Personas, along with their Arcana and level.



Since we've just started out, we can only hold 6 Personas at a time. This doesn't give us much room, so we fuse to decrease the number of Personas we have whenever we can.

We can select two Personas and get a preview of the fusion result.



Which Persona we get from fusion depends solely on the name of the Persona used in the fusion. However, the fused Personas' levels and skills do matter through a mechanic called skill inheritance. For example, in this preview of Apsaras, we see that Zio is highlighted on red. This is because it's a skill she inherited from Izanagi. Skill inheritance are semi-random. Each Persona has some categories of skills that they will inherit --- so not all skills are inheritable for all Personas, but among the ones that they can, which one they inherit is chosen randomly. We can, however, reset this random counter by simply canceling the Persona selection and selecting them again. This is why you hear about people spending hours trying to fuse a perfect Persona --- they just select and deselect the Personas until the resulting Persona gets the desired skills.

Since we don't have any rank in the Temperance social link, Apsaras gains no exp bonus if we fuse her. On the other hand, if we fuse Orobas of the Magician Arcana:



Since our social link with the Yousuke, the Magician Arcana, is rank 1, we get a little EXP bonus. Notice that this exp bonus is enough to give Orobas a level. This works the other way, too. Whenever we decide to spend time with a social link, we're holding a Persona of the same Arcana, we'll get bonus music notes for that time we spend.

Also observe that the image for Orobas is only a silhouette. That's because Orobas is level 8, while we're level 6, so we're unable to fuse him.

For now, let's fuse Apsaras.



Igor warns us about fusing a Persona with no EXP bonus, but we do it anyway.





So now our Persona roster looks like this.



In this screenshot, I'm also trying out a Triangle Spread. Triangle Spread works just like a Normal Spread, except that the resulting Persona will inherit more skills.

Next, we stop by Shiroku. It's not a rainy day, but we're going to go into the TV world anyway, so we need some basic supplies. The only thing we buy are those Goho-M.



When used in a dungeon, the Goho-Ms will automatically warp us back to the entrance, so we don't have to run down several floors to get out. Also, it took me a long time to get the pun, so if you get it right away, congrats!

Since it's Monday, we also get more sodas from the vending machines.



Another 5 cans won!

We're done shopping for today, it looks like. Now we'll look at the remaining game areas.

The Samegawa river bank is empty right now. There isn't much to do. Pockets goes past here every morning to go to work.



That's the gazebo where we stopped by to chat to Yukiko while she was out on an errand. Later in the game, some stray cats will also appear around here.



There's also a riverbed. A little girl is wandering around here. She doesn't say it, but she's the twin sister of the one we saw in the shopping district. Later once we've acquired the fishing rod, we can also fish at the dock.



Dojima Residence has exactly what it says. If we choose to back home now, we simply skip the afternoon phase and it becomes evening. Later, there also will be several cats around here, one of which we can pet to increase our understanding. There will also be a neighbor with atrocious cooking. We'll save her dog from having to eat those dishes by asking for them to use as fish baits.

Lastly, there's Junes.



Sometimes people show up here in the lobby, but other than that, there's not much to do. We go straight to the elevator and head to the food court.



Going to the food court basically means gathering everybody and getting ready to go into the TV. The game is designed such that dungeon crawling is best done on rainy days: when it rains almost nobody wants to hang out, and also there are "rainy" monsters that only appear on rainy days and sometimes drop materials for rarer items. However, there are days like today when it's not rainy but we still want to go dungeon crawl. There are two main reasons: 1) nobody is available to hang out right now, and 2) our party members generally don't want to hang out when there's a pending rescue. So until we complete this dungeon, we'll be missing some social links, which we have very few of right now.

Back in the TV, Teddie is waiting!



We can move freely around here now. There's a save point conveniently located at the bottom left corner. There's also a door to the velvet room.



Whenever we're ready, we can talk to Teddie to get to the castle.





Teddie has some more items to give us. Appreciate it while you can, because I think this is the last time he will give us anything.

Since we left the TV world and came back, floor 1 of Yukiko's Castle looks nothing like it did yesterday. This time, we also have Chie in our party. So our AOA screen looks like this:



We found some more healing items.



We also get Ukobach, our first Agi-casting Persona.



In any case, we storm through Floor 1 easily. This time it looks like this.



Floor 2 of this particular dungeon isn't random, however. It's the same as the time we found Chie: a big room with an entrance and exit. Teddie also senses something.



Yukiko is here in her flowery pink dress.



Yousuke: Yukiko-san! Are you all right!?
Chie: Yukiko… what's wrong?



Uh-oh. This is not good.

Yukiko: Oh my! Special guests? I wonder how they'll play into all this! *chuckle * Things are really heating up! Okie-dokie! I'm going back to the hunt for my Prince Charming! Ohhh, where could he be…? This place is huge! It's sooo exciting, but it makes it so hard to find him! Ooh! Maybe he's playing hide-and-seek in the fog! Ready or not, here I come! Let's go further in then, shall we!?



How tacky!

Yousuke: Wh-What the hell is this!?
Chie: You're… You're not Yukiko… Who are you!?
Yukiko: *chuckle * What're you talking about? I'm Yukiko… and Yukiko is me.
Chie: No! Don't tell me, are you--!? Where's the real Yukiko!?

Suddenly there are a lot of voices around. We can't make out any words they say, but they sound like conversation noises from a lot of people talking at once.

Yousuke: What's with these voices…!?
Teddie: The Shadows are getting agitated!
Yukiko: Well, I'm off again! Heehee! You'd better be waiting with bells on, my dear Prince!
Chie: Hey, wait! That clearly wasn't the real Yukiko. It had to be…
Teddie: I think it was. It must have been the other part of herself.
Yousuke: So it's just like what happened to us…
Teddie: But I don't think she was excited for nothing. The real Yukiko wants to show us something. I can feel it. It's hard to explain… It seems like she has a strong connection to this castle. This is a lot more dangerous than I thought!
Chie: Yukiko…!
Yousuke: Hey… Not again! Dammit, we told her not to run off on her own!


Chie runs off after Yukiko, so we quickly follows. To the third floor...



Yukiko: *chuckle * Teeheehee… My Prince will soon come for me. *chuckle * I'll always be waiting… Forever and ever…
Teddie: Hrmmm… I hear voices, but the only things I sense here are Shadows and you guys. Sensei and Shadows… Oooh, there we go! *snrk * Hey Sensei! Listen to this.

Let's listen to a very important thing Teddie has to say!



Err, maybe not that important.

Is it possible to get enough Courage by this point to use the Chie dialog options?

In a New Game+, it is.

Does anything good happen if you do?

In this particular case, I don't think so... just a minor change in two lines of dialogue?

In other S.Link dialogue choices, some of the hidden-behind-stat-check dialogue options I believe will advance the S.Link faster, but I'll not steal Wormz's thunder and will wait patiently for the official LP explanation.



Damn it I want a Vita...

For some reason I keep forgetting, but each dungeon in P4 has a unique background music. This is Yukiko's Castle's theme.

We encounter new enemies. These Black Raven likes to Tarukaja themselves to increase their attack and then whack the someone with a physical attack. Thankfully, they're weak to Zio.



We also found Hiranya in a chest. This may be useful in a fight coming up.



Another new type of shadow. They look like hands with head. They cast Agi, which Chie is weak to, but they're also weak to Ice.



Here's another type of shadow. Unfortunately, they're immune to wind. They're weak to fire though, so Pockets only needs to switch to Ukobach and use Agi.



We get a new Persona, Sandman.



By the time we're done with Floor 3, it looks like this.



Now, onto floor 4!



Yukiko's Voice: Thank you for coming to the Amagi Inn today. Your room is right this way. If we can help you in any way, please let us know immediately.
Teddie: …What's this voice talking about? This place isn't an inn. It's totally a castle!

The first shadow we encounter on this floor is kind of annoying.



If we don't kill him within one turn, he will summon additional shadows. Oh, and he repels Elec.



We beat him before we could figure out what his weakness was, but at least we narrowed it down to a few possibilities.



We also find a Chest Key in a room. Throughout the dungeons, there are golden chest that are locked and can only be opened with a chest key. They contain rare and more valuable items, usually not consumables. We also find a Revival Bead.

Onto the 5th floor.



Yukiko's Voice: Hmhmhm… Ohoho…
Teddie: I can sense her! She must be on this floor!
Yukiko's Voice: Wow! By any chance, are you… My Princes? I'm locked up here… Please save me! Hmhmhm… I'm sure my Princes can do it… I'm sure they'll brave any danger to release me from this place… I'll be waiting for you… Ohoho…
Teddie: This seems very strange… Be careful.

Unlike the other floors, this floor is also not randomly generated. However, it has a very annoying property. Every time we approach a door...



We immediately gets teleported ahead.



You can see where we got teleported to and from by the gap in the map. This keeps going until we're back in a circle.



Fortunately, the teleportation only works one way. We can just backtrack to the doors. One of those doors contain a treasure chest with a particularly good item.



The Kevlar vest is strictly better than Yousuke's armor right now, so we give it to him, and give Yousuke's Chain Mail to Pockets.



Another encounter with the Positive King, and we figured out his weakness.



We reach another door, but it's locked...



Another door seems to be hiding something behind it.



More work to do, so I'll have to cut this day into 2 days again, it looks like D: That's it for today then!

Anyone can answer questions! My answers aren't magically better or anything

Yeah, sometimes better dialog options are hidden behind stat checks. IIRC, you need Courage for some of Chie's, and definitely Diligence for Tower.

In this case though, I don't think it matters much. However, I've heard rumor that it's possible to advance your dateable social links in such a way that being romantically involved isn't an option at the end (so you can only do the friend route). I'd imagine that the courageous option for Chie makes it more likely for us to have the option to date her --- not that that's particularly difficult to get!

always with the cliffhangers?!

I've seen this guy somewhere before...

What's in the bag?

McRibs. Always McRibs.