This is the fifth and final part of me reading and sharing my thoughts on the Danganronpa Fanfic; ‘Three-Point Shot’ by RandomRex6.
Here’s the last thread if you missed it, and
here’s the actual story if you’re reading along. Spoilers for the canon V3 will be left unmarked, you have been warned, and it’s kind of difficult to spoiler tag the actual final case of a killing game. I’ll do my best, but I will once again implore you to go read the story yourself before reading this.
On that note, if you’re someone who’s struggled to find the time to
read this story you may be able to have it read
to you instead. A frequent commenter of the story on AO3,
Net Neutrality, has their own
Youtube Channel where they’ve spent the last couple of years working on a
audiobook style video series for this fanfic. It’s not finished yet but the latest update is less than a week old at the time of me posting this, so it’s worth a look in at the very least.
Anyway, we’re kicking off with a big spoiler after the last chapter, so
this really is your last chance to stop reading if you haven’t finished the story yourself, don’t start complaining at me if you ignore this and get spoiled …Ok, that should be long enough. So we return to the cast gathered in the hidden room of the library, having just discovered that somehow, Keebo has taken control of Motherkuma.
He explains that when Kokichi sent him into the virtual world, the Supreme Leader used a flash drive (which I had completely forgotten about) he won back in chapter 2 to create a copy of Keebo’s AI. In the chapter 5 Free Time, Kokichi used a weaker EMP to disable the Nanokumas in the library whilst he placed a stronger EMP next to the door to the hidden room. The whole stand-off where both he and Maki pressed their detonators? Yeah, once of those triggered the library’s EMP, taking out the Nanokumas again and disabling the door to the hidden room (
I’ve seen some comments saying this doesn’t make sense, Kokichi would still need the card key to open the door, but I think the story’s good with this one. There are electronic doors out there that actually require power to remain shut, so in the event of a power outage, they’re easy to open and nobody gets trapped inside. I can buy that this is one of those occasions.) When Kokichi fled the group using the flash bomb, he went to hidden room to plug the Keebo USB into Motherkuma, and as soon as the EMP wore off, TDR switched Motherkuma back on remotely, not knowing it was now compromised. Also, when Kokichi sent Keebo off to fight the Exisals, he snipped his antenna off. Kind of feel like that’s something that should’ve come up in the last case, but oh well.
Getting all this information at once is a bit hard for the group to digest, and a lot of them have a hard time believing that Kokichi set all this up
knowing that he was going to die as part of this plan. Everyone but Kaede, that is, who seems to have an easy time believing that Kokichi was trying to atone for setting Tenko and Keebo up to die. Honestly, I feel like this shouldn’t be so hard to come to terms with. Not so much the whole, “he felt he had to atone part,” but the idea that he wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice himself when these guys literally just had a trial that ended with him allowing himself to be executed to resolve the unsolvable crime he’d set up. I mean what more proof do they need after that? He literally told them he was more interested in hitting the mastermind where it hurts than his own life. Ambiguous character or not, it’s a whole other story when they were actually alive to explain this stuff to you like he was.
Also, small nitpick, but how does
this Keebo know all of this? My understanding is that this Keebo’s memories should end from when Kokichi made the copy, when OG Keebo entered the virtual world. Sure, he can scan Motherkuma’s databanks and learn some of the stuff he missed, but how can he know what happened whilst the EMP’s were active, surely Motherkuma can’t see that either?
Anyway, Keebo’s making the preparations for his Monokuma army (dubbed Kiibokumas/Keebokumas) to detonate at one point in the End Wall to blow a hole so they can escape, but Kaede vetos that idea, worried that they have nowhere to go, no rations prepared, no ID’s and would probably just be recaptured and taken somewhere else. So instead, they send a message to the ones pulling Monokuma’s strings, telling them to make their final ultimatum, or else…they’ll just go with Keebo’s plan.
Of course, the ultimatum proposed is the Danganronpa tradition; one final class trial, if they can solve all the remaining mysteries, they can go free. If they fail, Keebo goes back into his regular body and the game continues. They’re given a small bit of time to investigate, and each have some new evidence in their labs (
how did the new evidence get there? Keebo has control of everything but the one Monokuma unit he’s allowing the puppet masters to speak through.) Most of the clues pertain to the canon V3 plot twists; their memories and personalities are fake, and the killing game has happened before. And after a short space of time, the group (joined by Keebo, using a modified Monokuma unit as a vessel) have their final class trial.
The Monokubs are back…again…because we all want that final scrum debate at the end, I’ll give them that. And the start of the trial plays out like you’d expect;
they bring up the Gopher Project plan for the first time and swiftly dismiss it as fake news. The information they have on Rantaro suggests this isn’t the first killing game, and from there they figure out that these games exist for people’s entertainment. They’re shown a video of
Rantaro vowing the same things they’re now saying, that he won’t stand for this which…I guess means he failed, since the killing game is still going? …Yeah, the whole ‘Rantaro and Tsumugi are prior participants of the killing game’ thing they’ve been building up kind of ends on a down note. I mean, I know they couldn’t have beat TDR of the game is still going, but I at least thought the pair stayed behind so their friends could go free. But the video message Himiko finds shows Rantaro pleading with his future self to ‘save them,’ so it sounds like he didn’t even manage to accomplish that. Kaede explains that the clue in her lab was
a flashback light, the first in the entire game if you would believe it, only Kaede opted not to watch it, not trusting Monokuma’s intentions. This turns out to have been a close call, as apparently it was supposed to reprogram Kaede’s mind and make her the game’s mastermind. And finally, we meet the game’s mastermind, the mastermind I was spoiled on from the beginning;
Kaori Akamatsu, Kaede’s twin sister! She was mentioned a couple of times throughout the story, so it doesn’t come out of nowhere, and Rex left an extremely subtle hint in chapter 20 of the story that I’m not surprised none of us picked up on. And having went into this story knowing who the mastermind is, I never actually stopped to think about the merits of the decision, and
...I kind of would’ve preferred it if they just went with the teased plan of reprogramming one of the characters we already knew. I mean, the idea that TDR can literally make anyone into the game’s mastermind with their technology paints them as a truly heinous and powerful villain that must be stopped before they can ruin anymore lives…but it also strips those masterminds of their autonomy, they don’t matter. Kaori really isn’t the villain here, and honestly we really don’t know anything about her, she’s not even herself right now because they infused her with the typical mastermind/Junko personality. She’s Kaede’s sister, so we care about her by proxy, but I just feel like this would be more effective if it was a character we were invested in, one we’d really gotten to know throughout the story as opposed to a casual reference every now and then. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not bad, but she’s just sort of…Junko without the shifting personalities. The mastermind precedes to explain what’s left; who Team Danganronpa are, Keebo’s role in the killing game, they even show some comments made by the ‘show’s’ fans (which are actually comments of the story itself on AO3, which is a nice touch.) That’s basically all the mysteries solved now, so the kids have to make their choice;
continue the killing game, or leave, but have their original personalities returned to them. Kaede doesn’t know what to do, and in a moment that was
very DR2-esque
ends up in a black void, talking not with her love interest or any of the deceased students, but her pre-game self. I love this idea, these kids confronting their past selves, the versions of them that saw no value in their lives, and threw them away to participate in the killing game. It’s essentially their past selves’ fault that they’ve been put through this mess, so it’s a confrontation that has a lot of potential. Kind of wish the two of them didn’t get along so well though. Past Kaede gives present Kaede some sass before helping her to make a decision. In the end, Kaede decides they need to
take the option to leave and get their old personalities back. She argues they’ve come too far to turn back now, even if this moment doesn’t won’t end Danganronpa, it will plant a seed of doubt in the hearts of those that enjoy the show (which is admittedly a more realistic approach to how TDR would have to be dealt with than the game took. One bad season probably isn’t going to cut it.) We get the customary final challenge of the MC convincing everyone else to join them;
Ryoma joins because if his past trauma is fake, he may have something more meaningful waiting for him out there. Himiko joins to honour Angie and Tenko’s memories (even though Angie didn’t really do much at all for Himiko in this story?) Keebo joins to show he’s a strong, independent robot who don’t need no creator. Maki joins both for the sake of honouring Kaito’s memory, but also to payback TDR for turning her into a weapon through her backstory (kind of the best reason of the lot, imo) and Shuichi joins because he can’t keep hiding away from the truth anymore (even though this Shuichi has already embraced the idea of being a detective as a coping mechanism for his depression) Kaori tries to argue that once their personalities are back, they won’t want this decision anymore, but Shuichi disagrees, citing the post-trial aftermath of chapter 4, where Miu continued to call Keebo ‘Idabashi’, suggesting that they’ll maintain some of their in-game personas even with their old personalities back, and they’ll just have to take that risk (Like I said, very DR2-esque ending.) They win the scrum debate with the Monokubs, Kaori admits defeat and takes them to the flashback light terminal to begin work on returning their original personalities. Keebo explains that he’s going to try and hack into TDR’s main servers, and upload his AI into the net, since his physical body can’t leave the academy, he may find freedom there instead. And Kaede and Shuichi kiss (I really feel like this should’ve been the first time they did that, but I forgot to mention they did this in the Free Time chapter of the last section, so whoops.) And the army of Monokumas and the five Kubs self-destruct by the end wall to let the kids re-join the outside world. The epilogue takes place quite a long time later,
4 years in fact. The kids are now adults, Kaede and Maki are meeting for lunch and MAKI HAS A CHILD! KAITO GOT MAKI PREGGERS DURING THE LOVE HOTEL SCENE AND NOW SHE HAS A LITTLE BABY GIRL CALLED ANZU! I FUCKING LOVE IT! SHE’S ADORABLE, SHE SAYS KAITO’S CATCHPHRASE IN BABY TALK! I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED THIS SO BADLY! I’VE KNOWN THIS CHILD FOR 5 SECONDS AND I’D ALREADY SLAUGHTER EVERYONE IN TDR FOR HER SAKE! Ahem, sorry about that. Anyway, the kids have sort of become figure heads in a protest movement against the show. Their whole gamble about regaining their old personalities paid off about as conveniently as it did for the DR2 cast. They’re pretty much exactly who they were in the game, but they just also have some fond memories of watching the show. Kaori’s seeing a shrink, since they’re struggling to get that Junko personality out of her brain (Can’t help but think this may just be an attempt to dodge having to give Kaori a personality of her own.) Ryoma’s enjoying his new freedom, travelling around the world as a tennis coach. Himiko’s on tour holding magic shows whilst trying to raise awareness of how wrong the killing games are (Kind of feel like that message is kind of diluted when you’re still making use of the talent and personality they gave her as part of the show.) Shuichi’s receiving medication for his depression and I believe is still dating Kaede. And the pair of them overhear that auditions for the next season of the show will be starting soon, but the cast size has shrunk again, since they’re struggling to find participants, and something (Keebo) is making it difficult to access the website. I love this idea of giving us a small peak into the characters adult lives. Sometimes, you just need something a little more concrete than simply hoping that the characters had a good life once the killing game was over. I’m torn on how they dealt with TDR, I know I said it’s a more realistic approach and it is, but it’s a shame that 3/4 more groups of kids have to participate and die before the show gets shut down. And, that’s it. My journey through Three-Point Shot is completed, and I’m now obliged to give my final thoughts on the story as a whole.
Before I talk about the story itself, I just want to acknowledge how insanely difficult the format of Danganronpa even is to write for;
- 16 characters, do you know how few stories out there try to have as many as 16 new, reasonably fleshed out characters with each instalment? Yeah, some characters matter more than others, but they all have a personality, background, dynamics with each other. Most stories opt for no more than 8 or 10 characters at best, so it’s no wonder how much of a struggle it is to try and pull it off with 16 of them.
- Then you have to be brutal and try and parcel down all those backstories and potential character arcs you’ve come up with to the bare essentials, the cream of the crop, because you’re killing off, on average, two of these characters every chapter. You will never have enough time to flesh out all of them. So, you’ve got to pick and choose which ones matter most for the story you want to tell.
- But let’s not forget, those characters that die aren’t simply being killed off, it’s a murder mystery! So you’ve got to devise clever schemes that manage to strike the right balance between not being too obvious whilst also making enough sense to create a satisfying conclusion. You have to spend more valuable time foreshadowing this stuff, without it ruining the pacing.
- And then, if all that wasn’t bad enough, you have to try and wrap this all up together. You have to come up with an overarching story, a mastermind who’s motivations justify this whole charade, and build towards a satisfying final confrontation between them and the rest of the cast.
When you really break Danganronpa down into those four components, you realise how much of a miracle it is that this series is even a fraction of coherent as it actually is. Most sensible writers wouldn’t touch this idea, they’d tell you it just wouldn’t work. So no matter what I have to say about this, or any other fanfic I read in the future, they all have my upmost respect for even attempting this challenge and having the guts to put their work out there.
(Also, I don’t go over everything that happened in these threads. I say it all the time,
I want you to read this stories for yourselves before reading these threads. You should never let someone else’s opinion act as a substitute for your own.)
Telling a story is a two-part process; both coming up with your ideas and then conveying those ideas to your audience. Three Point Shot’s greatest strength was the
ideas it came up with. I loved the creativity behind the motives, and the cases. I thought the casino party in chapter 2 and the use of honey in case 3 were great ways to make new use of V3’s already established locations. I loved V3, but my favourite parts of this story were when Rex let their creativity go unrestricted by what the canon dictated. Kokichi blackmailing Maki, only 1 murder in chapter 3, Shuichi’s depression, Angie not knowing whether her thoughts were hers or Atua’s, Keebo wanting a surname, the split vote idea. When the story attempted something new, or injected its own take on the V3 canon, I was generally all for it.
And inversely, when the story repeated something that happened in V3 just for the sake of it, it generally wasn’t received so well by me; night time training in chapter 2, Himiko’s relationships with Tenko and Angie, the way Rantaro’s storyline just sort of ended. The problem isn’t replicating events from the canon, I had no problem with Kokichi’s antics and the student council, but it’s when the story replicates something without considering if what this story’s
already changed affects it.
I loved the romances. I’m a sucker for a good romance, but I don’t turn to Danganronpa all that often to get it. Saimatsu and…(checks Google) Harukaito (Really? That’s what we call it?) just felt really genuine in this story. It felt like teenagers falling in love, being awkward about it at times because they’re only teenagers and they don’t know what they’re doing. Just very wholesome, genuine teen romance.
However, one of the issues I brought up quite often towards the end was how the story handled its supporting cast. Kaede, Shuichi, Kaito, Maki and Kokichi were all used to reasonably good effect across their lengthy screen time, but all the other characters kind of suffered for it. This isn’t exactly unexpected, I did say a while ago that it’s impossible to flesh out all 16 characters in Danganronpa, and you have to prioritise the most important ones for your story. It’s just kind of a shame that they went with the characters that already received a lot of screen time and development from the canon. The only characters that made it to this story’s chapter 5, that didn’t make it that far in the canon, were Kaede and Ryoma. I never really got the sense that anyone here was this story’s equivalent to Fuyuhiko, or canon Himiko, someone who initially didn’t seem like much, but develops in such a way where you can’t imagine them not surviving.
It’s not for a lack of trying. Each chapter had three instances when the group split up (when they’re expanding the school, the Free Time chapter, and the investigation) and it consistently tried to give each character some sort of scene in each of these sections, but they kind of gave me a Ultimate Talent Development Plan vibe; they were fun interactions but they didn’t actually build much character. I think that’s partially because the story kept trying to mix and match different people together, so instead of really developing one strong bond with another person, we got several soft bonds with several people. I can see some debate over which approach is better, but I personally prefer the former, consistent interactions with a smaller portion of the group. My favourite interactions was when Gonta showed Angie around his lab, because that was an interaction the story kept up with, but the little three-way dynamic between Himiko, Ryoma and Keebo was also pretty consistent.
I think RandomRex6 showcased that they’re more than competent as a writer. You have to bear in mind that this was just supposed a simple 1-chapter project that exploded into a full-game rewrite and from start to end, the project took just under a year to complete. They came up with some great ideas, and whilst I found faults in the execution at times, there was always some element that made me want to keep going, and Rex was their own harshest critic, never letting themselves of easy after disappointing their audience with Korekiyo at the beginning, and that fuelled them for the rest of the story. Whilst I think the fanfic peaked with chapter 3, I don’t think it ever dipped significantly after that.
And that’s about all I have to say. I’m not gonna type up my thoughts on the characters again, because honestly what I said in the last thread for each of them still stands. I suppose Kaede stepped up more as a leader in this finale.
It might be a couple of weeks before I start another fanfic series like this, and I think it’s time to move away from the V3 related ones for a while, just to give the rest of the franchise a chance.
submitted by I thought I'd do a follow-up post to my previous post over here:
https://www.reddit.com/PSO2/comments/evz3c7/pso2_na_misconceptions_pc_release_content_etc/ That one isn't going anywhere and I appreciate some of the comments and discussions that went on, however:
- The post (and in some places, my responses) were rushed in some areas.
- I will admit that I didn't make my intentions clear with the previous post. While some responses I made were meant to give some insight into what may be going on with certain things, other areas (e.g the status of collabs) were speculation, albeit ones based on research that went on.
For this reason (and the fact that the PSO2 Twitter released some new information), I wanted to do a second post that addressed some of the things I failed to address last time as well as make things more clearer. The information provided in the post is a combination of conclusions I made together with discussions I had with various acquaintances and friends on the Phantasy Star Fleet Discord.
With that said here we go...
Confirmations
PSO2es The release of Phantasy Star Online 2 NA will not be accompanied with PSO2es at the moment. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222957649915858944?s=20)
Xbox Live Gold More of an issue to pick with Microsoft than SEGA, although Phantasy Star Online 2 is free to play as with many other free to play titles on Xbox One you will need an Xbox Live Gold subscription.
Windows 10 games that make use of Xbox Live do NOT need an Xbox Live Gold subscription.
No Character Transfers A response to a question regarding character transfers has revealed that there are no plans for JP players to be able to transfer their characters to the NA version. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222371507948548096?s=20)
Casino Confirmed Nothing much really, the Casino is confirmed for Beta for those who had doubts it would be in the game at all. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222707050741809152?s=20)
Group Chat & Voice Chat In addition to the Group Chat introduced in Episode 6 a Voice Chat functionality has been added in the game. The way they worded it seems to imply that it will be between party members with no details on whether you'll be able to Voice chat with Team Members. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1223048445474242560?s=20)
In addition, one thing to keep in mind is that the Group Chat was a feature added to the Episode 6 client of the game. (
http://www.bumped.org/psublog/countdown-to-pso2-starsepisode-6/). While it is possible SEGA might just have isolated the feature, keep in mind that features are tied to Client versions. If this is the case this might mean PSO2 NA will start off with Episode 6's Quality of Life updates and balances. Whether Episode 6's story, classes and content is gated temporarily on release will be seen.
English Dub & Dual Audio In a surprise announcement, it has been confirmed that PSO2 NA will have full English voice-overs. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222323522598526977) Apparently even Quna's songs have been dubbed to English. If this is a bother do not worry as the game will have Dual Audio options. This does however change the approach the game's text would have as dialogue boxes would essentially be transcribing the dub as opposed to just simply translating what is being said so playing the NA version in Japanese would make the text more of a "Dubtitle".
There is no information on VAs involved though hopefully, we can expect the same kind of quality we've seen with SEGA's other dubbed games like Judgement and Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise.
Closed Beta Content vs Final Game It has been confirmed that the features and content available to players during the Closed Beta will not be indicative of the final release. So if content is gated (its beginning to look like the Closed Beta will be limited to Episode 1), please don't jump to the conclusion that the full game would launch in that same state. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1221535315422109696?s=20) (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1223459098919723008?s=20)
No IP block for EU A very vanilla confirmation to bring up, especially since it was brought up today but I feel its important to emphasize since it was a worry many outside of North America had. Today's tweet however confirmed that an IP block will not be taking place:
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222967403895611392. Xbox One (and Windows 10) regions are not account bound so you can freely change your region to US or Canada to gain access to the Beta and eventually the final game from the MS Store.
Azure Cloud Many people came to conclusion that "Powered by Azure Cloud" meant the game would be streamed akin to the likes of PSO2 Cloud or a Google Stadia game. The announcement of the game's file-size and that there will be future updates expected should confirm that Phantasy Star Online 2 will be running natively on Xbox One (and hopefully PC). To give some clarification about what MS Azure's use is for, Cloud Servers are now used to host game servers. Notable examples include Minecraft and Sea of Thieves making use of Microsoft Azure and Fortnite using Azure's competitor; Amazon AWS. According to a Japanese exclusive interview, the reason SEGA decided to use Cloud Hosted servers is to be able to cover more geographical areas much easier (Anyone who's played Phantasy Star Universe might remember that game being hosted on a single data centre in the West Coast)
SEGA ID As a recent tweet from the social media accounts confirmed, Phantasy Star Online 2 NA will NOT be using a Western version of the SEGA ID. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222586390094827521?s=20) This essentially makes PSO2 NA similar to Phantasy Star Universe's Xbox 360 version which utilized Xbox Live as your account. GamerTags are also present on Windows 10 which is how your Xbox One characters would be usable on Windows 10 and vice versa.
This doesn't rule out a Steam release or other platform releases just yet either. I can't vouch from Steam (*can anyone who plays Halo: Master Chief Collection tell me how you sign in to Xbox Live on the Steam version?) but in recent years Microsoft had been interested in rolling out Xbox Live to other platforms with Minecraft and Cupheads on Nintendo Switch making use of Xbox Live functionalities.
"All the Content" is still happening... to an extent Like it or not, to many of us "All the Content" was very vague... all the content up to that time? all the latest content? do Collabs count as content? This entry is as vague as their post but if there is one thing to confirm... is that they are at least working on it apparently:
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222956665621733376?s=20 Microsoft's Role I want to make clear that Microsoft is NOT the publisher. According to a Japan-exclusive interview, Microsoft approached SEGA with the intention to have PSO2 released in the West and have one of its platforms be Xbox One. They do however bring up that they will be co-operating with Microsoft due to them having more experience managing Online games and dealing with the Western communities, though as we've seen... SEGA does have the final say regarding some matters (Phil Spencer couldn't comment about an EU release or account transfers)
Windows 10 Version-Release No one knows EXACTLY when it is we'll be seeing the PC version released. However given some posts from the PSO2 Twitter (which I have put in one place here: ) we can probably narrow down a rough timeline of when we MIGHT expect it.
*The Windows 10 version releasing "later in 2020" was not meant to mean "later in 2020", but rather that it simply releases AFTER the Xbox One version. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1217980202858381312?s=20)
*The Windows 10 version is still scheduled for release during Spring. Now bear in mind that Spring lasts from March to May (or sometimes June?) so I'm not implying that both of them might launch simultaneously (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1213892177224318976?s=20)
*I'm stretching "confirmations" a bit here but... its to be expected given how vague the PSO2 Social Media can be. There appear to be implications that some kind of Beta (Open or Closed) will be taking place for Windows 10. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1216039123355455489?s=20) (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1220433244237303809?s=20)
I am aware that some scepticism may be present in trusting PSO2 NA's social media accounts, but given that most of what we know about the NA release (including the fact that its dubbed, has voice chat, Beta rewards) had been given out on Social Media and NOT put on the website... I think it's fair to say their information might be a bit more valid in comparison to the website for now (check in
Speculations for a theory on why) which leads to...
The Website's Information As we already know, the current website has had problems in terms of updates, no Beta rewards announced, None of the new information posted there. Thankfully, the Closed Beta date announcement revealed that a new website will be going up at the same time as the Closed Beta. While we don't know all the new information that would be present on the site, we have gotten some hints that we will at least get to know a bit about a potential Community/GM Team. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222245074911686656?s=20)
Terminology & Name Changes As we already know, there are some names that are spelled differently and terminology changes that have taken place. Some of the terminologies that were confirmed to be for NA were first revealed to us through the PSO2 Episode Oracle official subs so it's fair to say it counts as a reasonable source for what got changed. Although this section is called "Confirmations", I bent the rules here a bit by me trying to explain the potential reason these terms were changed so please bear with me...
Patch Name | Official Translation Name | Potential Reason |
Darkers | Falspawn | My only guess is, the localizers didn't like the name "Darker". SEGA JP's Official Spelling is "D-arkers" (You can see this spelling in the English track name in PSO2 Volume 1 Japanese Soundtrack). I seriously doubt it has anything to do with "Darkers being offensive" when the antagonist "Dark Falz" remains as is. These kind of changes are what is commonly known as "Woolseyism", look it up on Tv Tropes for reference... |
Darker Infection | F-Factor | Changed to match new name for Darkers. Also creates an allusion to PSO1 and its "D-Factor" infection. |
Dark Falz Double | Dark Falz Gemini | In addition to maybe the localizers feeling "Double" sounds like a weak name given the context, the Kanji used to spell Double's name actually means "Twins". Please check back with my original post for a more thorough explanation on this. So again, "Woolseyism" at work. |
Emergency Quest | Urgent Quest | "Emergency" and "Urgent" are the same word in Japanese. This is also the terminology planned to be used for the 2013 translation and which would be carried over to the SEA version. My guess is... it also helps to avoid confusion with "Emergency Codes" since even now that's what people think got changed. |
Naberius | Naverius | No idea why this change took place, especially since SEGA JP's official name spelling is "Naberius"... though strangely, although Nab Rappy don't have an official English spelling... the Katakana for their name reads "Navu" as opposed to "Nabu" while the planet is spelled "Naberiusu". |
Campship | Gateship | Localizers used SEGA JP's official terminology. You can see this name used in the English track name in PSO2 Volume 1 Japanese Soundtrack. |
Dewman | Deuman | Localizers used SEGA JP's official terminology. You can see this in the Opening video (after character creation) for EPISODE 2 |
Gettemhart | Gettemhult | Localizers used SEGA JP's official terminology. You can see this spelling in EPISODE 1's end credits. |
Melphonsina | Melfonseana | Localizers used SEGA JP's official terminology. You can see this spelling in EPISODE 1's end credits. |
Lisa | Risa | Localizers used SEGA JP's official terminology. You can see this spelling in EPISODE 1's end credits. |
Tea | Tia | The twin's names were meant to be a pun on "Patientia". Official SEGA JP spelling is "Tiea" as seen in EPISODE 1's end credits. |
Patty | Pati | The twin's names were meant to be a pun on "Patientia". Official SEGA JP spelling is "Patty" as seen in EPISODE 1's end credits. |
Zig | Jig | Localizers used SEGA JP's official terminology. You can see this spelling in EPISODE 1's end credits. |
Ulc | Ulku | No idea why this happened. |
Photon Rings | Photon Halos | Attempted Woolseyism |
Coat Edge | Coated Edge | Attempted Woolseyism |
If by any chance I missed anything, please let me know and i'll try to keep this list updated SEA Translation Before I start this section I would like to define what counts as "SEA terminology". You see, portions of PSO2 SEA's scripts were based on that of the translation intended for the original 2013 release and are in fact SEGA of America's terms. Some of these terms include:
- Lillipans Lagomites
- Oodan Woodan
- Fangulf Phongalph
- Darkers D-arkers
- Matter Board Paradigm Matrix
- Mechs Automata
- My Room My Quarters
With that said, "SEA terminology" by my definition, of course, refers to changes that AsiaSoft (at SEGA of Japan's request) did which usually goes against established Phantasy Star terminologies like:
- Monomates Health Drink
- Force Wizard
- Braver Samurai (counts since Braver was in Phantasy Star Portable 2 where it was localized in the West as "Vanguard"... though this one can be allowed to slide since Braver in PSO2 are completely different from PS Portable 2's Braver class)
- Techniques Photon Magic
- Photon Arts Photon Moves
Terms like these were thought to make a return to PSO2 NA (and changes like Falspawn get compared to them... despite the fact that Darkers haven't appeared in a past Phantasy Star game). The class list today, however, made use of the proper class name "Force" and throughout various posts referred to Monomates by their proper name. So rest assured... despite all the name changes, the AsiaSoft terminology that goes against past PS games is not being used.
Speculation
Why no concrete date is given I'll keep this one short and simple, given what happened the last time the game was 'delayed', could you imagine if a REAL (and not just "actually cancelled but we say its delayed") delay happens how the community would react... yea...
Why information is different across Social Media and the Official Website As many of you have known, there has been some conflicting information regarding PSO2 NA. First, the website says the Windows 10 version isn't expected until later in 2020, then the social media confirms "Later" does not mean "Late 2020", then another confirmation that states the Windows 10 version is still planned to release in Spring.
Simply put, the website hasn't been updated much, in fact, the most recent update only added the Closed beta date without including any of the new information revealed in the Twitter such as the Beta rewards (site stills says "rewards will be announced soon"), said Open Beta that was recently brought up, specific information (if you were new to the game, you wouldn't know about each Race and Class from the website... but the Social Media feed).
Hopefully, when the full website releases on February 7th we will get more concrete information on these details that the current "Teaser Site" has. (*Fun fact... did you know the PSO2.com domain is actually owned by SEGA Europe?)
Why the Closed Beta is exclusive to Xbox One I will not disregard the complaints there have been about the Closed Beta being an Xbox One exclusive. However I at least wanted to give an idea on why Xbox One gets a Closed Beta. Simply put... its a new port and no matter how alike Windows 10 and Xbox One are there are still some things that would need to be tested on it, particularly in how it handles with Xbox One exclusive features.
Ideas on when the PC version comes out So if you read the details above concerning the Windows 10 version's release, you'll know that SEGA can be quite vague with their information but have given us some details to narrow down a potential time frame for when we can expect the Windows 10 version. Furthermore, the game's website brings up "Windows 10 version coming soon" in a section talking about the Closed Beta and also responded to various people's comments with things like "Closed Beta test is for Xbox One. Windows 10 version coming soon". The vagueness comes in the sense that we don't know whether "Windows 10 version" refers to the full game or one of the Betas (Open or Closed), however assuming it is and combining it with the points previously brought up, one of the following scenarios might take place:
- Only the Closed Beta is exclusive since, as was stated in the previous point, its purpose is to test the Xbox One port. Open Beta in comparison is more or less a test of server-load so it would make sense to have Xbox One and Windows 10 active at the same time. If we count the Xbox Closed Beta as the game releasing FIRST on Xbox One, this still fits the whole "Windows 10 version releases after the Xbox One version but not late 2020", especially if the Open Beta is planned to take place during Spring.
- Following the Xbox One Closed Beta, Windows 10 might get an exclusive Closed beta followed by the full release. I can't give a timeline for when this could happen; at best we might get a Windows 10 Closed Beta not too long after Xbox One's, at worst... Windows 10 will be on Closed Beta while the Xbox One version's launched.
Windows 10 Version Will be UWP I am aware that not many of us would be happy for this. However, from a development point of view it makes sense why the PSO2 Team might choose to do this. Currently in the Japanese version patch files have to be compiled for each specific platform... so now add needing to compile and put out patches for the multiple platforms and also prepare the patches for the NA version. Assuming the Windows 10 version of PSO2 NA is distributed on the MS Store, a UWP port of PSO2 makes the game nearly the same under the hood so only a single set of Patch files that work on Xbox One and Windows 10 would need to be created.
This in turn helps to explain why the game would be exclusive to Windows 10.
General Info
Who does the port Game publishing, especially when it comes to MMOs, is not as straightforward as SEGA JP giving Microsoft or SEGA of America the source code to the game. All features and content for past version of PSO2 (SEA and Taiwan) were in fact developed by the Japanese team. While SEGA West (and/or their outsource responsible for portions of the game) might do things like translating the text and recording the voices, things like porting to Xbox One, programming Dual Audio support, Implementing Voice Chat and (once the game releases) developing potential NA exclusive content all fall on the development team in Japan who also need to work on PSO2 JP updates.
Circumstances Regarding other Platforms Yes so... as much as I'd like PSO2 to be available on all platforms as Phil Spencer said, there are various circumstances that might affect their release in the West.
- The PlayStation 4 version might be affected by Sony's censorship and cross-platform policies. While I am sure that the cross-platform policies may be easily solved by having PS4-specific blocks the censorship policies are another issue. Basically, as it stands Microsoft doesn't have as strict a censorship policy as Sony does (being more worried about outright religious references and what players do and say on their Xbox Live service). As a result, unless SEGA decides to self-censor, if the PC and Xbox One version have content that might be deemed unsuitable for PS4 then either SEGA would have to censor the game ONLY on PS4 or censor the game on all platforms to maintain consistency.
- The Nintendo Switch... we live in a world now where Nintendo of all companies allows uncensored visual novels on their consoles and Sony censors em... so content-wise, PSO2 is MORE than fine. The problem lies in that the Nintendo Switch version isn't a native port but a Cloud Stream. Many people suggest throwing money at the problem will allow this version to be released, keep in mind that other Japan-exclusive Cloud-based titles on Switch from the likes of Capcom (Resident Evil VII Cloud) and Ubisoft (Assasin's Creed Odyssey: Cloud Version) aren't released in the West either... a proper NA release on the Nintendo Switch would need a proper port. While the Switch could probably handle PSO2 without problem, there is the issue of PSO2 having very limited storage capacity. (PSO2 NA is 70 GB). While its true the PS Vita version is smaller, it does have various graphical compromises.
Server Host People bring up that Microsoft is "hosting the servers", I figured I would explain what this entails. The way MS Azure works... Microsoft has about as much involvement managing the server as Amazon does managing Fortnite (sorry for bringing it up!) servers. Microsoft Azure is a Cloud Platform that any company that subscribes to can use for various purposes, including hosting servers. Microsoft's responsibilities fall on making sure that service stays active, is well maintained and doesn't have problems. As such, SEGA's responsibilities involve less managing the physical servers and more managing the server software and what goes on in the actual game.
I'd like to bring up also that using Microsoft Azure should have no bearing on the game releasing on other platforms. Microsoft Azure is NOT the same as Xbox Live in the sense that it's more 'general purpose' and is something that even Sony uses.
No release date and Radio Silence since E3 I cannot explain the EXACT reason why SEGA does this sort of thing, but I will say that its not something specific to PSO2. There has been radio silence and lack of information for SEGA's localized 2020 titles, namely Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix and Project Sakura Wars. Much like PSO2, those games have only a vague 'release period' (Project Sakura Wars is also planned for "Spring 2020", Miku Megamix has a vague release period of just "2020").
This post may be updated over time so please check back from time to time, especially whenever a new update is available. Proper criticism on certain points I bring up will also be taken into account and changed accordingly (if you feel an entry doesn't belong to the right category, etc) EDIT: New confirmations I forgot to add when I first wrote this.
EDIT 2: Added info on the dub (nothing new for many of us) and specified about the Xbox Live Gold subscription not being needed for PC. Also.. thanks to whoever gave me Silver and Helpful Award!
^ I'll be sure to keep us updated on things.
EDIT 3: I got Pati and Tia's name wrong. As a result, it doesn't line up with SEGA JP's official terminology. In addition, another terminology discovered, F-Factor.
EDIT 4: Rephrased some sections, added some extra details on certain localization entries and added an extra line on the origin of some of the statements said.
submitted by Richson White found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. he stared out ahead of him. At a long dimly lit corridor. the walls were cold grey concrete, with a red and purple carpet at his feet. One that had a bright and garish color. that shone vivid and bright under the heavy beam of overhead lights. he moved hesitantly forward a few inches. casting a concerned glance around him. behind him, the din of battle could be heard, gunshots and expolsions.
the whole air of the corridor was unnerving. as it was entirely unfamiliar to him. where was he? the corridor was wholly empty. Just as he'd hoped it to be. ahead of him was a single door, the only one in the corridor. As Richson took a single step towards it. the lights over head went out. plunging the corridor into darkness. He stood motionless. staring ahead at the door. he could see a faint outline of light coming from beneath the door.
A faint whisper behind him made his blood run cold. Richson was unable to clearly hear the whisper. as it came and went quickly. lasting only a few brief seconds. before silence once again settled over the corridor. he crept slowly forward. making his way towards a door at the end of the corridor. Upon reaching the door. he extended a hand to grip its handle. placing an ear against the door to listen for any movement on its opposite side.
upon slowly opening the door, Richson was greeted by an old priest, siting hunched over a desk. in what seemed to be an office. one with white sterile walls, and the scent of rubbing alcohol throughout. Richson approached the priest slowly. closing the door to the corridor behind him. upon hearing the door close, the priest looked up. Glaring at Richson. as he sat down at the desk across from him. drawing a silenced berreta, and cocking it. "hello old man" "id say its nice to see you again, but i was never a good liar" sneered Richson.
The priest glared at him. "you are to address me as father" he replied. Richson growled at this. "no" he stated. the two glared at each other. Then Richson raised his pistol. standing up from his chair. "time to die old man" "your schemes are at an end" he stated. Just as his finger brushed the trigger. the door behind him thudded open. Richson reacted quickly, drawing a second pistol. to aim at the intruder. He was a tall and pale man. dressed entirely in black. he held a pistol in one hand. which he held at the ready.
Richson aimed his gun, "Drop it, or i kill the old man" he commanded. the stranger did as he was told. his gun clattering to the floor. the stranger glance over at Richson. A single word on his lips. "why?" he inquired. Richson shock his head. "you know why" he sated. firing a bullet into the preists head. The stranger than fell to his knees. His mind recalling the path that had brought him there. As Richson leveled both guns at him.
Agent 1776 came to in the van. he stirred awake. sitting up from where he had passed out some hours before. Groggily he checked to see if he had his pistol. his hand patting the side of his pants. to his relieve. it was exactly where he'd left it. holstered on his right side. he took in his surroundings. finding himself sitting in a parking lot. In front of a luxury hotel. One that sat along the vegas strip. it was late at night, and the lights of the city illuminated the darkness. casting long shadows onto the sidewalk below. 1776 glanced up at the hotels glowing neon sign.
"the ultra luxe" it read. in glaringly red bright letters. that towered high above his head. He than removed an envelope from the glove box of the van he'd woken up in. carefully removing a single photo from it. he stared at it for several seconds. commitng the man's face to memory. after this. the agent turned the picture over. "Rodney Tailor, room 325" "eliminate target" "no witnesses" "destroy this note after reading" his instructions read.
1776 climbed out of the van. feeling a hot blast of dessert air blow by his face. he stood on the Vegas strip. Amid the flashing lights of casinos and nightclubs. in the middle of the hottest month of the year. just before summer ended. taking a few tentative steps forward. He ripped the picture to shreds. dropping them to the sidewalk. before crossing the street. to approach the front doors of the ultra luxe. As he reached the front doors of hotel. a bellhop held it open for him. earning a polite nod from 1776.
Once inside he, took note of his surroundings. the lobby was fancy and posh. the sort of thing one might find in any decent hotel. it had a black leather couch, that sat before a flat screen attached to the wall. 1776 strolled over to the front desk "yes, may I help you?" inquired an employ from behind the counter. He wore a white hotel unifrom, and his name tag read Adam. the agent nodded in response, flashing adam a fake smile.
"I'm a courier sent to bring a message to room 325" informed 1776. "very well, you'll find that room of the 3rd floor. near the ice machines" replied the employ. the agent nodded his thanks. then made a b line for the nearest elevator.
walking past a chatting couple on the couch. who were oblivious to his presence. As they talked amongst themselves. the agent summoned the elevator to the lobby. stepping in and ascending up. This wasn't his first hit, nor would it be his last. he cheked his pistol, before steeping out of the lift. to glance down the hallway. at a room near the end of hall.
it was there that a single secret service agent waited. 1776 approached him. his hand reaching down to draw his pistol. cocking the hammer as he did so. the security guard had no time to react. his eyes widening as a bullet pierced his skull. sending his lifeless body falling to the floor.
1776 then moved forward. kicking open the rooms door. suprising a woman inside, who wore nothing but a bathrobe. she only had time to let out a single muffled scream. before two bullets found her chest. painting the wall with her blood. in the bathroom her husband screamed. falling in his attempt to leave the shower.
1776 showed him no mercy. firing a shot into his head. as he lay tangled in the shower curtains. he then emptied his pistol into the man. not wanting him to escape. upon lowering the gun. 1776 took a final glance around the room. seeing no one else, his gaze fell upon the tv set in the corner. it displayed a newscast. upon seeing what the screen displayed. the agents eyes widened. as he recognized the men A fellow agent of the order.
there were three of them in total. all of them having been caught. After assassinating several politicians. two senators, and a congress man. all three confirmed killed. the agent shook his head. holstering his pistol. he needed to leave. now, before he was caught. his superiors never rewarded failure.
As 1776 fled the room. he could hear approaching sirens. He sprinted for the elevator, frantically pressing its button. to summon the elevator to his floor. once inside, he holstered his pistol. as the elevator descended. bringing him back to the lobby. where he fled back onto the street. escaping in the van he'd woken up in.
Richson stood above the agent. who starred down the twin barrels of his pistols. "you really shot a powder keg, didn't you?" he accused. glaring at the agent. who remained silent. "the whole US is on fire after what you did" "killing those politicians led to a full blown civil war" "tell me why you did it" Richson demanded. The agent glanced up at his would be killer. "we needed to remove the protestants from power" "they stood in the way of our master plan." he explained. "what is the master plan?" Richson inquired.
The agent refused to answer. as an explosion sounded in the background. "ill tell you nothing more" he spat. leaping to his feet and dashing out the door. Richson's bullets grazed the agents back. narrowly missing a direct hit. agent 1776 fled down the corridor. nearly tripping as he made his escape. As Richson burst out of the room behind him. He escaped through the door at the end of the corridor. emerging into chaos.
the room beyond had once been a common room. where agent 1776 and his companions took their meals between jobs. it was in ruins. bodies lay scattered about. he bolted for cover. As machine gun fire sailed over his head. "over here" a man shouted. The agent found himself surrounded. he was backed into a corner. with four guns pointed at him. Richson laughed at him. slowly clapping his hands.
He shock his head. holstering his pistols. "you seem like a fighter, I like that" He laughed. steeping up to the agent and raising his fists. "I wont be wasting a bullet on you" he stated. throwing a devastating right hook. The agent dodged this. punching Richson in the face. Making him angry. He violently shoved agent 1776 against the wall. drawing his switchblade, then plunging it in the agents throat.
For a moment Richson watched the light leave his eyes. Than he let his lifeless body fall to the ground. The hunt was on, and he was just getting started.
submitted by So I just beat Royal about 2 weeks ago and had an absolute blast. 10/10 would do again
Whist playing, however, I actually made a list of everything I personally discovered, though some things may be wrong.
If you want to add anything to the list, suggestions are appreciated!! And if you notice any mistakes, please tell me and I'll fix it up a bit, thanks!!
Oh, and there are
no 3rd semester spoilers! I only wrote down things between the first day and Christmas day, so don't worry about anything too major in this post djsjshks and I didn't write much about any of the Palaces besides from story related things
Anyway, here's literally everything I wrote down!! Enjoy, my dudes 🤠
The Atlus/Criwear intros have now been improved, with Atlus's intro having a bit of Joker at the start doing Jokery things
The loading screen for starting up the game now includes the PTs logo with 3 spotlights
Palace "distortions" that can be seen surrounding the screen now have a new look
You can now see the sillohetes of future party members in the Casino
The dialogue between Futaba and Ryuji are now actual dialogue boxes, not side dialogue that you'd see in Mementos
Loading screens are SO much faster and the "walking" loading screens now include more people
You can see Takemi walking towards the clinic when you arrive in Yogen
The scene after you cleanup your room, and going to school is now fully voiced
Sojiro generally has a kinder tone
The "New day" screen now has gone through some improvements. The clouds now move!!
Kawakami will accidentally hand you something whilst giving you your student ID. She quickly takes it back though before you can see it. Most likely maid service stuff
The ride back home now has additional dialogue of the road being extra packed at the end of Sojiro's monologue
You can meet Ohya interrogating a Station officer about the train crash
Arsène now has an "è" in his name
Arsène also talks with a "shouting" dialogue box. It's like a normal dialogue box, but it's shouting now
Not sure if this was in the original or not, but Ryuji has a bit of extra dialogue for him throwing the key away (not much, just a simple "ngh" but still)
The "ugh woe is me I'm a teacher and he's late boo hoo" is now voiced
A fuck tone of dialogue has been rewritten to sound better. Definitely an improvement
Sae now mentions what Kamoshida's crimes were ("He was guilty of everything - the abuse, the... violations...") (I think I'm not sure tho jdhdgh)
Kawakami when shittalking Ryuji will now get cutoff as soon as he approaches
While Ryuji waits for you on the roof, you can find Haru on the 3rd floor talking to a teacher!!! The teacher says how they'll leave the rooftop open so she go to the planters that she volunteered to take care of
The planters are already on the rooftop. I'm not sure if it was there last time in the original, but if it's not, it's a cool touch lmao
Sojiro's scolding for ditching half a day is now rewritten a bit +new dialogue options for Akiren
New dialogue from Justine about how neglecting your fate will lead to his death
New Kasumi scene
New Ushimaru question (The answer is Villians, or C)
New student thoughts scene talking about Kasumi
Kamoshida + Ann scene is now voiced + rewritten
Ryuji's search for the castle is now voiced (though it could've been in the original, in not sure)
Palaces now start at 40% security when you enter instead of 0%
After going through the Palace and meeting Morgana again, the dialogue of them going back into the Palace + so much more that I'm not bothered to write is now voiced
Safe room enterences are now all wiggly and distorted
Ammo is now replenished after battles
Morgana will ask after the gun tutorial if you want to directly command him or act freely instead of making new players go to the menu and find it
New scene of Ryuji and you discussing plans to take down Kamoshida + Goro and Sae walking in the background
New IM background. Messages now have sakura petals floating in the background
Whilst you're stuck at Leblanc, unable to go out, you can up all your stats! Studying at the booth helps your Knowledge, making Coffee ups your Charm, making Curry helps your guts, you can now clean Leblanc to up your Kindness (+some points for Sojiro if he's there) and making Tools helps your Proficiency!
Ann + Shiho can be seen walking in the background at 4/13
Some students walking to school now have voices
After the rally, Ryuji complaints about Kamoshida are now voiced
One victim of Kamoshida that you interrogate now has a voice
Students you can listen into now have a slighty darker "chatter" icon once you talk to them. Same with the "whisper" icon
Wrong answers to Ryuji's question about any names turning up are now voiced
After school when Morgana tells you about changing hearts, there's a little scene where you can get the students options on Ann
The scene after you chase Ann is now voiced
Ryuji post-suicide scene is now voiced
Makoto can be found post-suicide scene right outside the courtyard talking to a teacher about Shiho's suicide (Teacher's worried about it turning into a scandal while Makoto's like "bro wtf what about the fucking student??? Huh????")
Ryuji post running off to the PE office is now voiced
Ryuji shakes his arms when he gets pissed off at Kamoshida
Shadow Kamoshida's speech to the Knights after you enter the palace is now voiced + the scene after that
When a new weapon is found in a treasure chest, the person it belongs to will ask if you want to equip the item
After Ann's awakening, there's a little scene of the crew returning to the real world and talking about what the hell just happened
Sae's dialogue about Ann has changed
Sojiro tells you to "Stay upstairs while we're open for business." Not sure if it's in the original, but it's also voiced
Takemi has a new voice actor!!!
God, fuck, there's so many new voice lines, I'm not gonna put them in anymore since there's so MANY. I'll just mention important scenes that have voices from now on
Friends that go to Shujin will sometimes catch up to you and you'll both walk to school together
Some new people appear on Yongen street when you go to Takemi's for the first time! There's a stern old man who can't hear you (he thinks you're talking about Kindergarten), there's a talkative women (who actually mentions a "very good doctor who's very reliable." Possibly the Doc from Takemi's Route?) And a sick man who says he wants to go in, but doesn't have the guts. (alluding to Takemi needing Guts to rank up)
Iwai's first meeting is now voiced
Kawakami will talk to you after Kamoshida tries to get you expelled. There's now a new scene with Kawakami, Kamoshida and Kasumi
New student comments about you + Kasumi
There are new "thoughts" when quick traveling down near the lower right-hand side of the screen that give you hints (e.g. when hovering over the Library, it says "I think I could improve my Knowledge...")
By sitting on the toilet, you can find out how close you are to improving your stats
You can see your friends (Makoto, Haru, ect) walk to school
New Hiruta question (The answer is they're both the same, or C)
There is now a tutorial for baton passing since it's no longer a confidant ability
Chests now have a weird glitchy sound to them
Some items will give you some additional moves (Wind Ring will give you Garu, ect)
The twins will have new features for you in the Velvet room after you secure the route to the treasure.
The "Next Day" screen's weather will change depending on the weather in game
On 4/21, you can see Makoto and Sae hanging out in the background
The "Next Day" screen will also change when you send the calling card! A card will fly into the date instead of a dagger and the sky will become black and red
You cannot resell guns to Iwai anymore
The Palace security will actually go up to 100% when you send the Calling Card, not 99% like in the original
The Ass Chalice now has a sound effect for when you break it
Shiho and Mishima now appears as apart of Kamoshida's boss fight
New question, forgot which teacher tho (the answer is D, or all of them)
Morgana will tell you to work on your Kindness so you can talk to Ann
Confidants will now sometimes call you
Confidants will also have a little after scene after you hang out with them, mostly by phone call
The amount of people on the train will change depending on the time of day
You can get multiple choices for what to buy from the Home shopping channel now
Teachers will now sometimes call on your dumbass friends and ask them questions. Be a bro and help them out
New Kawakami question (answer is B, you stand by it no matter what, and then C, you have a duty to correct it)
Sometimes, when you're at the trainstation, confidants will come to talk to you. They are now voiced
New Usami question (the answer is B, or Four Colour Theorem)
Achievements for destroying Palaces have different titles now
Walking around the Wilton Buffet to get food is now voiced
Thieves Den, baby!!!!!!
Kawakami's lecture about Kamoshida is now voiced
When Kawakami goes on to explain multiple personalities and stuff like that, Akiren sits up a bit
There are more Chalk throwings by Ushimaru
The Library assistant will actually apologize to you if you spend enough time at the library!
New Kawakami question (Answer is Fatal Woman, or C)
The Monamobile will now purr when you rub the touch pad, and will yowl when you press it
Ryuji's Rank 5 now starts with a little scene of you two entering the alley to Protein Lovers gym (probably to show players where the gym is)
You can now also quick travel to the gym when you enter it
New Inui question (The answer is the Heian period, or C)
When traveling to places such as Inokashira Park, the windows on the train can change depending on the weather and scenery
New scene on 5/11. A school assembly is apparently happening on 5/13 after exams. Enter Maruki (He's the Counciler!!)
Maruki can now ask you questions in the classroom (Answer is the Placebo effect, or C)
The Morgana train button mash incident is now voiced
New scene on how to get to Madarame's shack
New Inui question (the answer is Hokusai Katsushika, or B)
New Usami question (the answer is 1:1.414, or B)
Treasure demon fights now have a new effect for when you enter battles with them (not unlike Disaster enemies, but this time it's yellow and sparkly)
New Chouno question (Answer is Together, or C, then Senses, or B, and then "Senses coming together," or B)
On 5/24, Kawakami announces a public cleanup campaign that the school will be participating in on the 30th
In Madarame's Palace, instead of you having to travel all the way back to the beginning to traverse the paintings, you can hop back in where you exited out of
Madarame's security guard is now no longer origami man, but instead it's this weird, blue angel dude with like a seashell horn?? Sorry idk all of the Persona names
New Kawakami question (The answer is Authur Conan Doyle, or B)
Operation Maidwatch is now voiced!
New Maruki class/question (The answer is the Halo effect, or B)
New scene with Ryuji, we're going to Kichijoji, baby!!!
When you unlock Lockdown during the Strength confidant, Lockdown will have a new feature called Incense. Incense will improve your Persona's focus and gives them more strength. You can find Incense not only in the Metaverse, but in daily life too.
The day when Ryuji forgets to change over to his Summer uniform, or 6/6, he will now catch up to you in the right uniform
The students walking around in the loading screens are now wearing their summer uniforms
Ann now wears a clover necklace with her Summer uniform (in her sprite atleast. Not sure if that was in the original)
Even MORE chalk throwing incidents with Ushimaru
New Kasumi scene
New Hiruta question (The answer is the number of legs, or C)
New Public Thoughts scene discussing Akechi and the Phantom Thieves (this is right before the Social Studies trip)
New Maruki class/question (The answer is Controlling public thought, or C)
Not sure if it's just me, but Kobayakawa seems a bit more of an asshole to Makoto
You actually exchange numbers with Akechi this time
New Hiruta question (The answer is Green, or B)
New Ushimaru question (The answer is Coins, or B)
Kinda newish scene of Makoto/Sae sister time? It's the same dialogue, but they're not eating this time and instead are talking in their living room
New scene of Makoto and Iida (the guy who got blackmailed by Kaneshiro and co.)
New scene of you and Ryuji finding the right line to take you to Shinjuku
The two trolls of Shinjuku scene has been rewritten.
New Usami question and Ann needs help answering it (The answer is Smartphone, or B)
Kaneshiro's introduction is now slighty different (the camera focuses on him talking to Makoto before zooming out and seeing her struggling on the floor)
New Inui question (The answer is a Pope, or C)
Kawakami's IM pfp has now been changed to her maid outfit
New scene on 6/25. Morgana/Ann's showtime introduction
When you enter Kaneshiro's palace, a dog enemy will spot you and will initiate a battle. You will be able to trigger Ann/Morgana's showtime!
New technical tutorial in the middle of Kaneshiro's palace since this is the first time you encounter enemies without weaknesses
Treasure demons will now sometimes appear in battles with other enemies
Kaneshiro's security cameras now have a sound effect for when they go out
In Kaneshiro's Palace, there's a miniboss right before the giant lock. In the og, right as you walked down the stairs, you were forced to fight before you could save in the safe room behind you. Now, in Royal, you can save before going to fight! (Credit to
u/Theroonco for this fact!!)
Kaneshiro's palace now has golden doors you need to pay for to open up (Specifically 10,000 yen.) Fortunately, you can just beat the shit out of them to get them to open.
Kaneshiro's Guard near the end of the palace has been changed. Instead of Armless Brainless mcgee it's horse skeleton man with weird hat (again, idk persona names fdjdhsk)
Special animations will play for Caroline and Justice when lockdown is in effect
New lines from Caroline/Justine when lockdown is in effect
New Chouno question (The answer is Dogs, or C)
On 6/28, new scene with Ryuji/Makoto for their showtime introduction though the date may differ depending on your playthrough. I got mine just as I was about to send the calling card, so who knows?
New Kawakami question (The answer is Gold, or B)
Kaneshiro's entire first phase has been deleted. Instead, you just skip to Piggytron
Kaneshiro also now has 3 phases
New Inui question (The answer is Barbarian's Head, or C)
New Chouno question (The answer is Julius and Augustus, or B)
New Kawakami question (The answer is The Milky Way, or B and then Soumen Noodles, or A)
New Usami question (The answer is a Triangle, or D)
New Maruki class/question (The answer is Memories that last for a long time, or B, then Infinite, or C and finally Forever, or C)
New Makoto scene
New Kasumi/Goro scene (I literally gasped outloud as soon as I saw him I'm not kidding that really caught me by surprise dkdkshhs)
New Inui question (The answer is Thievery, or D)
New Maruki/Makoto scene
New scene with some Gossiping students taking shit about Kasumi and Maruki
New scene on 7/17!!! Festival, baby!!!!! + Ryuji/Yusuke showtime introduction
On the day of the fireworks festival, on the train loading screens, you can see people dressed up in Yukatas!
Not sure if it was in the game last time, but there's now dialogue of Medjed claiming to be modern day Robin Hoods
New scene with Ryuji asking you to check with people in your neighbourhood about Futaba
You can no longer slide down the sand in front of Futaba's Palace while in your normal attire
Anubis will now warn you if he'll perform Mudoon or Hamaon (Anublis tips towards Curse (Mudoon) / Bless (Hamaon) or Anus reset balance (if Anubis decides to stop the Insta kills))
New mementos rooms
New Treasure Demon dialogue if you already have that Treasure Demon in your party
I've also noticed that there are a lot more Treasure demons in Mementos, whether they spawn in or appear right after battle with another enemy
You can sometimes fall into the ground in Mementos
I'm not sure if this was in the original, but you cannot hang out with your confidants in certain areas if the weather is bad
The Big Bang challenge without the special on is 2000 yen on the burger's second phase and 2500 yen on burger's final form
Cognitive Wakaba's 1st phase has now been sped up. She will now dive down on her third turn
New animations for Futaba working in Necronomicon whilst she is talking to Sphinx Wakaba
New Cognitive Sphinx Wakaba + Futaba Dialogue
Just as jobs can now text you and ask if you can come in, Lala can now text you and ask if you can take a shift. She even has a unique Profile colour!
Also, more people will come in on Sundays to Crossroads. Instead of receiving 7200 yen, you'll get 12000 yen instead for your hard work
Kasumi's ending text (Unbreakable bond) is now different. Also, I think it was a different voice?? It said you gained a glimpse, not the ultimate secret though. Very interesting
Also, there's no new Persona for you to fuse for her and Kasumi herself doesn't get a new persona (I finished this before she even awakened so huh??? Wha???)
Futaba's integration into the PTs is now voiced
The Shinjuku Trolls/Lobster incident is now voiced
New scene of the Gang hanging out at the beach (it's animated, but it's one of the 3D ones with the models)
The Movie Theatre Mementos request is now right after Medjed's takedown, and you do not need to search for the name this time as Mishima just gives it to you. You can still find Yasuo Jochi (the target) at the movie theatre threating the old man
New scene on 8/30. Ryuji didn't do his Summer homework
The Takases (Kawakami's blackmail no-good doers) turn into the butterfly man and green girl fairy now (I think. I could've sworn they turned into a Succubus and an Incubus but who knows? I do remember fighting the enemies they turn into now though so again, who knows?)
Naguri (the guy that attacks indiscriminately and can be found out through gossip in the Flower shop) is also now a Kin Ki (again, not sure if it was in the og but I do not remember fighting a Kin Ki)
New Inui question (The answer is Prosperity, or C)
New Maruki class (The answer is Chronostasis, or B) (I'm also pretty sure the second hand stopping question was in the og, but now Maruki asks you the question.)
Not sure if this is actually in the fight, but whilst I was exploring the Thieves Den, I noticed Kamoshida (Monster oogly bloogly form) had a mini him on the Ann Cup.
The Yusuke Hawaii incident is now voiced
New scene with Kawakami
New scene with Maruki, Sojiro, Futaba and Morgana
New scene of the gang + Kasumi shopping for soveineurs (with an additional Haru in the background!!) (Also, unfortunately, instead of the original scene of Kasumi scaring you (she originally said "Konichi-WA") being translated to "Alo-HA", it just got translated to "Hello, SENPAI" which kinda saddens me but it's eh)
When you get back from Hawaii, if you say "Aloha!" to Futaba, instead of saying "He's been influenced..." she now says "He's been Hawaiianized..." Not sure why they changed it, I mean, it was fine to begin with but it's whatever ¯_(ツ)_/¯
New scene with Ryuji and Kasumi
The conversation with Futaba about Morgana's fissy fit is now voiced
New Inui question (The answer is Money loans for collateral, or A)
If you interact with the stuff in your room whilst the game forces you to sleep and Morgana is missing, you'll get text like "There's something that relates to the cat... I'm worried about Morgana..." (E.g if you interact with your work bench, it says "A cat left paw prints in the dust... I'm worried about Morgana..."
Haru's Metaverse outfit sprites have been remade
After Morgana's + Haru's little spiel, if you check on the stuff in your room again whilst the game tells you to go the fuck to sleep, it'll have different dialogue. It's mostly Akiren wondering who "Beauty Thief" was and being worried about Morgana
Again, even more dialogue about Morgana and Haru on the next day. "Why didn't I noticed that something was bothering Morgana...?" oh Akiren you sweet little child hit me right in the Kokoro
New Chouno question (The answer is Cats eating human tongues, or B)
The Morgana chase scene is now voiced
Finally, when Morgana returns, he'll comment on everything saying shit like "Oooh this place is as drab as ever lmao I'm glad to be back ahahah"
New Kawakami question (The answer is Centeral Europe, or B)
ALSO VERY IMPORTANT!!! If you check on your calendar, you can see Akiren's thoughts and what he did that day!!! I didn't know until now djdjdh (also, Hawaii has some cool stamps?? Stickers?? Probably not stickers but they're cool lmao (ALSO THE BIG BANG CHALLENGES ARE CALLED "TRIAL BY BURGER" KSJDHDHH)
New Usami question (The answer is 20 white, 12 black or B)
New scene of Yusuke/Ann for their showtime
The Sad Oh no Okumura Robot dying wahh scene is now voiced
Maruki can now meet you at the station, surprisingly
New scene with Haru and Morgana for their Showtime
New Ushimaru question (The answer is Imperial Household Agency, or B)
God, I tried to not include that much Palace stuff in here - especially the bosses - but holy fucking shit Okumura is fucking hard as shit and it took me 3 tries to beat him oh my god beware of the Borger man and forehead girl I'm actually shaking as I'm writing this just know I hate Okumura and his stupid bossfight
New scene with Kasumi, Maruki and some random teacher
New Hiruta question (The answer is Stars, or B)
New scene with Kasumi and anime scene!! and WHOOPS we've accidentally entered the metaverse WHAT
Gun Customisation has a new screen and new mechanics
You can also now instantly go to the Gun Customisation screen when you buy a new gun
New Inui question (The answer is Joseph-Igance Guillotin, or D)
New Usami question (The answer is Bouba, or B)
New scene with Kawakami at lunch at 10/11 telling you to go see Maruki + Kasumi and Maruki afterwards
New scene with Maruki and Haru on 10/20
New Usami question (The answer is 15, or A)
Instead of Makoto getting Akechi's number from Sae, we give his number directly to Makoto since we actually exchange contact info this time
New Maruki class/question (The answer is Memory Bias, or B)
New scene after the school festival. Yusuke is missing and is found by Maruki
The post-festival party is now accompanied by Kasumi, though afterwards you can hang out with your friends
New anime scene too!!
Ryuji's phone call about being the shittiest of shitbags is now voiced
Goro's prince outfit reveal is now voiced
Also, I forgot if I mentioned this before, but Akechi's pfp is now a different colour. It was grey before, but now it's light brownish
Not sure if it just randomly happens in October, but on 10/30, I saw people dressed up in costumes! Nice little detail (I even saw a Jack Frost lmao)
You can also find people walking around Shibuya in costumes!
Haru will instead be outside the school tending to the plants instead on the roof on Sundays if you want to hang out with her
New scene with Makoto and Haru!! It's the girls' showtime!!! Time to kick ass
I only noticed until now, but if you hold down the R2 button, (the button that makes you dash if you're unfamiliar with the PS controller like I am) you'll instantly perform actions such as jumping across ledges and climbing up walls
Sae now has actual cognitive-human bodyguards when she approaches you whilst you wander around the Casino (they actually kinda look similar from the bodyguards at the beginning whilst you're being chased lmao)
In Sae's Dice room, instead of crawling through the vent to reach the backrooms, you can just select "crawl" on the vent and instantly teleport there without having to crawl through since the two rooms are in seperate "areas"
New scene with Kawakami! She informs the class that Maruki will leave on the 18th, so make sure to rank him up to Rank 9 so you can unlock the 3rd semester!
Not sure if I just didn't notice before, but there are now people in the Dark Maze
Didn't notice earlier since my sneaking skills are so good, but safe rooms now bring Palace Security down to 0%, or something like that idk I was on 10% so it could be something like 15% or 20%, who knows lmao (edit: According to
u/Theroonco, apparently this is a new confidant ability from Ohya! Thanks, worst girl, my opinion of you has slightly improved)
The battle areana is now voiced
Just like Maruki, Akechi will warn you that you will not be able to see him after the deadline, so rank him up so you can get to the 3rd semester!!
New Inui question (The answer is A Share of Stolen Goods, or C)
New Chouno question (The answer is a Sword, or B)
Futaba's Mementos scan is now a lot quicker
Also, I guess now is a good time to mention, but areas in Mementos can have certain qualities to them, such as all the shadows turning into the big hulky ones and the floor being weak which makes Morgana slip through them to the floor below. There's also a chance that the Reaper will spawn right away, which Futaba/Morgana will warn you that there's a certain strong shadow you have to look out for. These areas however will go back to normal after you leave them
New Ushimaru question (The answer is Any Age, or A) (And this was technically in the og, but they've reworded it so I'm just gonna put it in anyway lmao)
New Kawakami question (The answer is Crows eyes are hard to see, or B)
Nee Ushimaru question (The answer is because of high altitude, or C)
New Usami question (The answer is Cochleoid, or B)
New scene with Kasumi on 11/17
New scene with Maruki on 11/18, which is the day that he leaves
On 11/20, (the actual 11/20, not the one at the beginning of the game) you can see the SIU Director's face in the phone call thingymajig
True Justice now has actual text, not just question marks (it says "Cooperate as comrades who fight for justice and seek the truth")
Futaba's computer has now been translated in the subtitles, though I didn't get to read that much
New scene with Morgana. After the whole Interrogation Room incident, he asks you if it was Kasumi that helped you
New scene with Kasumi on 11/25
New angle/actions when hanging out at the downstairs Leblanc hideout
The Rats scene in Shido's palace is now voiced (And the rats voices are weird lmao rats rats we're the rats)
You can now eat cheese as a Rat in Shido's palace to regain Sp
After securing the route, Akiren thinks about keeping Akechi's promise to duel with him again (if you make it up to rank 8, that is)
The Eternal Lockpick is now called the Perma-Pick
On days that it is snowing, Snowflakes will fall across the IM screen instead of Sakura Petals (though they disappeared for some reason. Maybe because spring ended?)
New Vegetables for Haru!! Earth Beans that have the same effect as Charge and Star Onions that have the same effect as Concentrate
New scenes with Kasumi right before Exams and during Exams
Mementos Depths now have collectables that you can steal from
If you have reached the skill Live Painting (obtained on Rank 6), you can ask Yusuke to create skill cards in safe rooms
Your teammates speeches in the Velvet Room are now completely voiced
New ending Cutscene
And the entire 3rd semester :))
And that's about it!! Again, if anything is missing or incorrect, feel free to tell me!
Thanks for reading kdjsjs 🤠🤠🤠
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