Games shouldn’t be this good

For the sake of our time.

Unicorn Overlord was released in March 8th and I waited a few days to get my copy for Nintendo Switch. I thought that such a cute game should be a perfect fit for the OLED screen and handheld gameplay. I wasn’t wrong and so far I only played a docked session once. The game was developed by Vanillaware and the concept phase was initiated at about the same time 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim was in production – another great game that I haven’t finished yet. It was published by Sega/Atlus and it seems that everything on the face of the Earth which bears the Atlus name is condemned to be a success.

Unicorn Overlord is a tactical rpg, but it’s not turn-based like I’m used to. It’s real-time where the actions and the order they should be taken – whom to target and in which situations – are previously set by the played into a number of units on the menu screen. Then, those units are taken into battle and the outcome takes place automatically. 13 Sentinels’ combat is a very, very simplified form of real-time strategy, but I loved it, so I had an idea about how the combat would develop in real-time. Some people mentioned Ogre Battle 64 as the predecessor of this type of combat and we can easily see the similarities between unit builds, classes, maps and interface. No matter where the inspiration is, the combat is very addictive and many late nights are a given.

This is where we can try different setups and choose each unit’s leaders

Unicorn Overlord tells the story of Alain, the son of Queen Ilenia who fell to Galerius’ rebellion in Cornia. The game starts with the battle between both Ilenia and Galerius, also known as General Valmore. Queen Ilenia asked Josef to protect little Alain while the castle was under attack and Josef took Alain to an island called Palevia, raised him and trained him into a fine soldier and future ruler. Alain would later lead the Liberation Army against the established Zenoiran Empire, and with the help of the Unicorn Ring, turn the leaders siding with the Empire into their former selves. Alain soon discovered that the ring had the power to dispel a curse altering the minds of former leaders and commanders into accepting the rule of the Zenoiran Empire.

With this knowledge in hand, Alain sets to Cornia first, to expand the Liberation Army, together with Scarlett, Josef and Lex. Scarlett is then kidnapped by Galerius and Baltro and this event starts the first story arc in Cornia. Unicorn Overlord has a lot – and I mean a lot-lot – of recruitable characters. All have backstories and Alain can unlock rapport conversations with them to learn more about their personalities and motivations. It works like a social link from Persona. If they battle together, interact at the tavern or are given gifts, they increase their rapport points. After a certain amount of points a conversation can be unlocked and accessed from a stabilized region. The funnier part is that all these characters have also rapport conversations between a selected number of other characters they’ve previously met. Considering that we travel across the nations of Cornia, Elheim, Drakenhold, Bastorias and Albion imagine the number of interactions available. It’s a lot of worldbuilding and character development.

An example of a rapport conversation between Selvie and Alain. We are all beset by spirits of the dead.

The game isn’t exactly an open-world but it doesn’t have the same linearity as other games where some areas are locked prior to story progression. The quests and side-quests are stage-based. One stage consists of a combat encounter and after clearing the encounter we liberate a city and access its facilities. However, in case we are so inclined we can access higher-level areas and there’s no barriers holding off the progression. If we desire to access Bastorias before clearing Drakenhold, for example, it’s possible to do it. If we manage to clear a level 30 encounter we can access Albion after clearing Elheim and before clearing Drakenhold – which is the nation we should visit after Cornia. I mean we should, but we don’t necessarily have to. The game adapts itself in case we visit a higher-level area first.

A combat encounter. This will be a win with some damage to my unit.

After Cornia, I decided to visit Elheim to know more about the temples and because the Great Sage was about to give a revelation. I had no idea that I was terribly underleveled – my units, not Alain – for the area and I didn’t have many options to deal with magic. However I managed to recruit some crucial characters that helped me clear the first encounters and then everything progressed naturally. By the time I got to Drakenhold I was massively overleveled for the area, therefore Drakenhold should be the first stop after Cronia’s arc to those who worry about being overleveled. Since I don’t, I also unlocked Bastorias and met some adorable furries and then I left the area to progress the story as guided by Josef. This semi-open-world flair is extremely exciting to explore for the first time, because you know that you technically shouldn’t be in certain areas but you can, and then the rest of the game reconfigures itself to accommodate those choices.

The beautiful area of Elheim – or Elfheim – as I like to call it

The same freedom we get from the traversal does also apply to the innumerable possibilities at customizing our units. Each character has a class and each class has advantages and weaknesses against other classes. Some classes synergize better than others. All the information about classes is explained through characters in the overwold outside the forts or inside the menu. It’s a bit of a learning curve but the information is easily accessible in the library where we can find which classes work better against each other. Around the forts we often get tips about class weaknesses or natural shortcomings – for example, accuracy – and which accessories help mitigate that.

In the tactics menu we can prioritize actions according to the character’s skills and in which conditions an action is taken. I haven’t fully grasped the menu and all its possibilities, but changing the priorities and conditions of certain skill use and then seeing it in action is very satisfying. Certain weapons, shields and accessories provide the character with extra skills and it’s never a bad idea to check how the introduction of new skills affects the tactical actions the character will take in battle, meaning if those actions are given the right priority or if they’re relevant for the character in question. All classes can be promoted to its upgraded form, where the character can get new and better skills as well as a new accessory slot, or a weapon slot to dual-wield.

The tactics screen with battle conditions and categories

The art style is gorgeous in all its forms. The vibrating colors, the character design, the little portraits changing during dialogue, the 2.5D overworld, the landscapes and backgrounds, the food design that leaves me salivating – it’s everything. The little cutscenes are drawn in 2D, the characters are voiced and there’s dialogue boxes. The art style is very unique to Vanillaware. Even in their other games, the art plays with perspective, with light and shadow, and with character proportions. It’s dynamic even though the characters are static because some proportions, like bigger hands and feet, give a sense of movement and reach. At the same time it doesn’t look very exaggerated; it’s just right.

The stuff of nightmares

I wasn’t expecting this game specifically. When I heard about Unicorn Overlord I was expecting something less addictive, for starters, and much less complex in its mechanics. Since I’ve only played 13 Sentinels, I’ve only gotten the visual novel part of the Vanillaware experience and I thought Unicorn Overlord would be very similar, just in another setting. I haven’t been able to put the game down since I started playing. The other games I’m currently playing are on hold and even though I already have two more Vanillaware games on their way I don’t want Unicorn Overlord to end. Brilliant game!

Hacking souls and time

Last weekend, I made some progress in Soul Hackers 2 and I am right at the end of the game. The crazy dungeons inside the Soul Matrix got a little more complex to navigate. Saizo’s Soul Matrix is still the hardest one in my view, however I managed to complete a few more things before I finish the story. I reached 4F with all my companions, but only managed to get enough Soul Level to finish Milady’s 4F and get into 5F. There, I couldn’t open any other gates without loads of Soul Level. I’ve read that the amount of Soul Level we gain from hangouts increases significantly in new game + making it possible to complete a 5F from any character and unlock an achievement.

I completed all requests from Madam Ginko in order to get items, money, upgrades, lower prices to summon demons, what have you. It’s very important to stay on top of her requests during the playthrough to make things easier in the end. I completed all The Lost Numbers DLC quests involving a new character called Nana. She was on a journey to find information about her father, a person who worked for Yatagarasu  – an organization that protects people from demons – while also learning about the story behind her true nature. This lead us to a new dungeon where we could grind to our heart’s content and defeat powerful bosses.

One day I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to fuse many demons with the money I had. Now my compendium is over 90% and I’ll maybe take it to 100%, something I could never do on a playthrough in Persona 3 Reload without a guide. With the DLC we also get some powerful demons for free from the start, but I decided to ignore them during early game because they were too overpowered. What I enjoyed the most about the game was the cyberpunk atmosphere, the art, the palette, and the interactions with demons and companions. The game is a feast for the eye, the soundtrack can be a bit limited but I already got two favorite songs – COMP Smith and Eyes of the Iron Mask.

This is as far as I got before I enter the last dungeon, or what I think is the last anyway. My two main characters – Ringo and Figue – are becoming more human by learning through interactions with other humans. They are machines made in human’s image, created by Aion, a big sentient AI, maybe composed of many other life forms, born from the digital footprints of humans. The purpose of their creation was to save the world from great danger, of course, but things didn’t go as expected as they never do. When human emotions formed inside our character’s personalities every action gained a new significance and by consequence emotions started getting in the way of what was otherwise a very objective mission. One of them went rogue and now it’s up to us to fix the world, before saving it.

These demons are adorable

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During the weekend, I decided to go back to Steins Gate Elite. It’s a visual novel with primary focus on time travel and creating a time machine. I started reading it some months ago but it was a bit on-and-off, the story and the characters weren’t captivating enough at first. So eventually I abandoned it and played many games in between. Steins Gate was that VN that I would read when I didn’t want to play or read anything else. Okabe was very irritating and over-the-top and I could only tolerate him in very small portions. This time I was a bit under the weather and the best thing I could do was going to bed and reading a VN that could work as a pathway to a good nap. I was at the end of Chapter 4 and initiated Chapter 5. From there on, any idea of a nap diluted in the hands of time and I was very much glued to the screen. It must have happened a little before a certain character was killed. I was instantly shocked and I had to read on. Okabe changed a lot, so much so, that I found myself wishing for his nonsense at times.

Suzuha and Okabe

The suffering and confusion brought upon Okabe during his time leaps was palpable. At a certain point even I was giving up hope and questioning the point of saving the world to be. During his hopeless mission to save a special someone he would try again and again at changing something, anything, a few hours or days before a tragedy in order to prevent it, even when it was obvious that the end result would stay the same. At this point we understand the motivations of the cast of characters, especially one that came from 30 years in the future. Real time passed so fast from then on that I ended up unlocking my first ending. The game went full circle and I stayed with Mayuri and Daru in a peaceful world, all of my friends were gone. Very easily I unlocked Suzuha, Moeka, Lukako and Faris’ routes. For Kurisu and the true ending I needed a guide.

Makise Kurisu

The good part about using a good guide was that I could choose the right sms answers for the true ending and then save the game when I was one answer short. With an answer left to trigger the true ending we can instead see Kurisu’s ending and then reload the save. The funniest part was that, after I watched her ending and wept and laughed and everything, I engaged the true ending and it was exactly the same thing. Same scenes, same conversations, but I couldn’t skip them. Then the credits rolled and I thought I was doing something wrong and checked the guide again. They wrote something like “read on, trust us” and trust I did.

*** Light spoilers true ending, continue to next paragraph ***

What came after was a very substantial part of the game because it was long and tied a lot of loose ends from the beginning. Everything we see at the start of the game is explained and I didn’t notice any major plot holes. However, I played the first 4 chapters a long time ago, and I don’t remember every little detail. Kurisu’s murder in the Beta attractor field, where the game starts, is explained and that moment is revisited by Okabe and Suzuha. Okabe gets a message from his future self and finds motivation to rewrite the narrative of that worldline by use of deception. It’s genius! However, I would have enjoyed watching the deception taking place, I mean seeing the reaction of the real Okabe from that worldline. Also that shift between dead Kurisu and alive Kurisu was triggered by a worldline shift I didn’t see. I didn’t see it but Okabe certainly did because he jumped to an attractor field – Steins Gate – where everyone is alive and living their sweet lifes. In order to start anew on an attractor field without any known convergence – a new start for humanity – Okabe had to save Kurisu, and that he did. It was a beautiful ending especially because of everything that happened in order to get there, all the heartbreaks and so on.

*** End of spoilers ***

Yes, it was a great read, for sure! By pure coincidence or not, Spike Chunsoft has a sale on Steam right now, so I grabbed Steins Gate 0. The story takes place in the Beta worldline, meaning after Kurisu dies. Poor Kurisu. Her death is the first thing we see when we start Steins Gate and it’s always looming in the background even when she’s right before our eyes. Steins Gate 0 starts about the same way, with some variations and it’s intended for people who read the original novel. The very first scenes are a big spoiler! I’m very curious to see what they did with the story. The old art is wonderful. I would recommend playing Steins Gate with the original artwork and then watching the anime.

Soul Hackers 2, anxiety and dungeon crawling

The first time I played Soul Hackers 2 must have been about two years ago and I found the game to be very strange. It maybe wasn’t the best game to get into the Megami Tensei universe due to the wave of critique it got (it’s a bit hard to unsee that) and the first dungeons and areas weren’t inviting enough from the perspective of a new player (i.e., my perspective exactly.) The whole thing didn’t go very well. I loved Ringo and the art, but it was as far as I got. For some reason, I didn’t pay attention to the music. I played it on Xbox Game Pass and these things tend to happen when we try a new game for “free.” If we don’t get immediately captivated by the gameplay and environment, we can move on to something more palatable, so there’s little effort involved. Also, we need to account for the lack of context because everything in megaten games has a continuous set of references that can and will be lost on someone unfamiliar with the universe.

Let’s admit, Ringo is awesome

And then there’s this thing I can describe as “it’s not you, it’s me.” I react strongly against new experiences and it’s a constant struggle to counteract that. Even in the real world, if things aren’t predictable and constant, I panic. So, when I manage to get into new things it’s like a miracle and I treat those experiences like so. If I manage to overcome a challenge, I relegate it to the realm of the unbelievable. My biggest life challenge was moving to another country to work and learn another language in adult age. From my perspective this is unbelievable, a miracle. Of course, I had the help of an angel and short thereafter, the help of an army of angels, however I managed to overcome my anxieties and step into new ground making it my own to the best of my ability. This doesn’t digress too much on a micro level from experiencing a new game that’s completely detached from what I am familiar with, or a movie, or a book, or traveling.

An army of angels – Shin Megami Tensei V

Back to Soul Hackers 2 we have to fast forward a bit when I landed on my post-Persona 3 Reload situation, which was a very different one. With Persona 3 Reload I finally paid attention to the demons (the personas) and during my hesitant attempts at Shin Megami Tensei V I started comparing them just for fun. They are very similar and sometimes have different names but are instantly recognizable. They’re a joy to look at! Then the battle systems of exploring weaknesses and fusing powerful demons with a variety of skills could have been (and still are) a bit overwhelming but I adapted to it and now I’m not afraid to mess up. The games provide mechanics to correct many mistakes, at least the newer ones.

I started enjoying dungeon crawling with the new Tartarus and now the old Tartarus from Portable doesn’t bother me that much. The same happened with the dungeons from SH2. At first, they can seem barren and very boring, however when we enter the Soul Matrix and progress a little more in the story, the dungeons also develop into a puzzle of sorts and an invitation to test our spatial awareness skills. They can be very laborious in the sense that they’re long, therefore I need to clear them in the same gaming session in order to keep track of where I was and study when I should backtrack to gain access to other areas. I plan my sessions accordingly while completing all the Soul Matrix quests in the process to spare time. I only progress the main story when I don’t have anything else to do inside the Soul Matrix and when I’ve cleared all jobs given by Madame Ginko at Club Cretaceous. I enjoy this loop.

Saizo sector 3F inside the Soul Matrix is a bit crazy

In order to unlock gates in the Soul Matrix we have to increase our soul level with Arrow, Milady and Saizo by engaging into a number of activities and hangouts. By exploring the dungeons thoroughly, we gain access to objects picked up by the demons doing reconnaissance which in turn are used to unlock more hangouts. When the soul level reaches a certain threshold the gates inside the Soul Matrix can be unlocked. The Matrix also expands through main story progression. The game flow feels very natural and the story, although not as dark as Persona 3 Reload, is well told through the experiences of an older cast of characters way past high school age. It’s a breath of fresh air and I’m glad that I’m finally able to enjoy this game.

Slay the Princess (PC)

Maybe it wasn’t a very good idea to play a game about death right after playing a game about death. However, death is constantly looming, either slowly in the background or right before our eyes. It can be but a little diluted concept in the back of our minds, or it can be announced on a visit to the doctor. It can be a gamble because of our lifestyle, or it can be a gamble because of a diagnosis. It can come due to old age or earlier due to unforeseen circumstances. When people say that we should cherish the moments we have with each other it can come as a big cliche, and indeed it is. You can find the most beautiful words to describe the inevitable but, in the end, it’s very much our nature and the nature of all things living.

Try to imagine a world without death. I’ve tried it many times. It’s the realm of the impossible but we can make the exercise. How many would we be? Would we be constant for all eternity, or would more people be born? How could someone come into existence in a world where there’s eternal permanence? Would there be conflict and consequence like punishment for all eternity, without means to alleviate pain and suffering? Would there be eternal happiness in the arms of a loved one guaranteed to live forever? Would we jump into another relationship after those failed 500 years of marriage? Would there be years and the concept of time even? Would we become of another nature to adapt to a nature without renewal? Why would someone want this? There’s someone who wants this.

It’s very easy to spoil a game like Slay the Princess (StP) or any visual novel for that matter. Even games from other genres are a little difficult to write about if we don’t decide to include spoilers. Hold your thoughts about death because they will be a constant while you navigate StP. Not everything is about death, there’s more to the game and its nature, there’s loops and loops, of constant coming and going, and in the process, we witness love, violence, despair and our own reflected image in the mirror. All of it happens inside a cabin, or in another cabin in another time. The memories remain, but the path is another, although the same. StP felt more like a roguelike visual novel than a visual novel with many routes. It is in fact a visual novel with many routes and sub-routes and sub-sub-routes, but I liked to entertain the idea of a roguelike game where I was constantly dying and could come back to where I started now armed with valuable knowledge only to be surprised that nothing was how it was before.

You have to slay the princess; you just have to. And if you don’t, the world is going to end. What will you do? Look, I did everything or so I thought. I played the game for about 6 hours, and I got about three endings. If you decide to play the game the achievement bar is a good indicator of your progress. I’m at 37% therefore I haven’t seen half of the outcomes in the game. The princess is inside a cabin chained inside a basement. Your task is very straightforward, but which cabin you end up in or which princess will you find depends on your choices. It doesn’t matter if you live or die for the princess will always be communicating something. However, how do we know we have to kill the princess? We have a voice – the Narrator – that tells us to do so. But, since we go back and forth (or only forth) in this loop, how many are they?

The game is not only a quest about slaying the princess and preventing the end of the world. It’s also about the player and their journey to find their own identity. After all, we have to find a clue about why we have to kill a princess in the first place, and where to find some answers as to how to proceed towards the conclusion of our quest. It seems more complicated than it is. Even though it doesn’t look like it at first, the game has a start and an ending, and each route doesn’t take long to complete. The help of a guide for the completionists should come in handy.

Slay the Princess was created by Black Tabby Games and released in 2023 for PC. It has great art and extremely good voice acting. It was one of the indie games I looked forward to playing upon release, in 2023, but I only managed to play it now.

The sins of others (part 3)

** Contains some spoilers for Persona 3 Reload **

I finally arrived at the end. We people who spend a lot of time playing video games are familiar with the feeling of emptiness after finishing a long game. In my case it was a mix of emptiness, satisfaction, loss, and bliss. Spending more than 90 hours immersed in a crumbling world on a mission to save it alongside my character-friends was exhausting but very, very rewarding in the end. I admit, it wasn’t easy to move on, and I still haven’t, but no immersion lasts forever and the idea of replaying the game right after the first playthrough is not feasible for now. I want to, but I prefer to let this feeling last. I started playing Persona 3 Portable in the meantime, but I don’t see myself able to complete it yet. As I wrote in my last post, even I am on a mission to play a good portion of games this year and we only have so much time to indulge in this hobby many see as a waste of time.

Now, let’s talk about Elizabeth. To those who have played the game countless times, the fact that she’s a secret boss comes as no surprise. I was perfectly convinced that her 100^th request – to kill the Reaper – was the last one. I gathered a team with many buffs and debuffs, nothing fancy, just the usual decrease enemy attack/defense/accuracy/evasion and increase those very same elements for my team before performing strong magical and physical attacks. Aigis was, as usual, a godsend, but every team member had something to contribute to the fight. In the end I had to use them all to level up anyway. The first time I killed the Reaper I was overcome with a feeling of immense satisfaction. It wasn’t an easy fight, and I was one-shot a couple of times. With the right items I raised them from the dead and managed to have my team in great condition.

When I went back to Elizabeth to reap my reward, she came up with another request – to take out the ultimate adversary. At first, I thought she meant Nyx. He’s the ultimate adversary, no? No, no, no, what is this? The last Monad door had a locked door at the end of the stairs. The request specifically told me to come alone and try that door. So I went, with some very strong Personas up my sleeve, completely clueless about what I would find. To my amazement it was Elizabeth herself! She wanted to dance with me. I could think about many things we could do together, but not this, this face-to-face, this duel of titans, except there was only one titan and the other was a rabbit. I performed quite well on my first try. I may have been able to do about 650 damage. No. I managed to survive some turns. I died. Then I was asked if I wanted to change to Peaceful difficulty so I could raise from the dead and try the fight from where I lost. What a good idea, of course! Then, the unthinkable happened. Elizabeth summoned a Pixie and unleashed Megidolaon on me for a modicum of 9999 damage! Do you want to retry? Yes, of course. I attacked her – Megidolaon. I decreased her attack and accuracy – Megidolaon. I increased my evasion – Megidolaon. I guarded – Megidolaon. I knew there was no point, it was an Almighty attack, but I was desperate! I went on YouTube.

The fight follows a very specific script and involves a lot of preparations and very specific Personas with very specific skills that can only be unleashed at specific times, and the use of a calculator can be very helpful to know when to unleash a specific ultimate attack and defeat her for good. To be perfectly honest I don’t need this. In a different context, were I more knowledgeable about the game and experienced almost every aspect of it, yes, I would’ve accepted the challenge. As I am today, I don’t think I would get much satisfaction from preparing for the fight and from spending more hours at the Velvet Room than those I’ve already spent so far. I decided to leave Elizabeth at the Monad door, and maybe someday, I’ll defeat her. By the way, there’s an achievement to create a Pixie with Megidolaon in Soul Hackers 2. Funny, right?

I decided to continue with the story, and in the last two in-game weeks, I finished Aigis social link and didn’t manage to finish Fuuka’s. I know why this happened. In order to max out other social links I’d already started, I left Fuuka hanging and then this happened. Some mistakes were made in early game when I spend too much time in other activities that didn’t involve the right social links. I honestly don’t know what I’m talking about or where I failed, but since it’s possible to max out all social links in one playthrough I must have done something wrong somewhere. I just didn’t feel the need to use a guide because using one is exhausting and completely destroys the immersion. I know it from experience. I don’t regret having prioritized Aigis over Fuuka on my first playthrough. Aigis is my protector, she’s canon, she’s the holy knight, for her sword are guns, her body eternal, her memories untouched. I watched her friend route and her lover route. Since I was already taken, I decided to be with her as a friend, although at the end of the game something more seemed to be going on and I gladly accepted the outcome. It was meant to be.

On the 31^st of January we would enter Tartarus and would only be able to leave after finishing all battles therein. It was the end. The remaining of the Strega were guarding Nyx, so they had to be defeated as well. It came to Junpei’s knowledge that Chidori was alive and well. The white flowers worked out well in the end! We were able to witness a nice convo between the two at the hospital, however things weren’t exactly the same as the last time they were together. Even confronted with these major changes, Junpei was happy, and it was a good conclusion to his love story. Jin and Takaya were still clinging to their nihilistic ways with pure fervor – Jin for Takaya and Takaya for the end of times – maybe as some sort of revenge for the injustice brought upon them. After all, how much would they last, their worldview already shattered?

You know that in all jrpgs there’s the power of friendship, that if we stick together, we can overcome anything, even the end of the world. I hope the same goes for climate change or war. We aren’t together actually, are we? But video games continue doing the work with diligence. It’s the little things. Finally, we stand before Nyx, everybody a bit surprised by the familiar figure. I wasn’t surprised at all. I was eager to kill him and very curious about what he had to say. Technically, Nyx was pretty much indestructible by normal means. He himself was a creation of shattered hopes, fears, shortcomings, anxieties, frustrations, the devastation of everything that holds together the very fabric of a living, thriving human being with meaningful connections to others. My Lucifer was brimming with desire from inside my sleeve. “Oh yes,” he said, “this I can feed from.” I told him to calm down, for we still had to defeat the twelve Arcana summoned by the winged beast Nyx, his mask holding a faint smile, the surrender of any will to live. The Fallen Angel retreated for a bit, still entertaining the thought of annihilating the beast that would dethrone him from his station, one only threatened by one adversary, the one waning for ages now. “This is not what’s happening right now,” I said, and proceeded with the fight. “Everyone knows that God doesn’t have many friends,” Lucifer stubbornly answered. Messiah shrugged.

The fight that followed was much more beautiful and creative than what I’d imagined. Yes, there are many other excellent final boss fights in many games, but there’s something special about finishing a long game as this, where the entire 90+ hours are not filled with banter, where the story is heavy, mature, dark, and oppressive, and where many questions about life, death, future, fear, are explored and dissected at the sound of first-class music. During this time there’s attachment to extremely well written characters, all of them with their unique stories and all of them visibly maturing while using their powers to fight an unknown entity, ready to give their lives for any chance at a future.

After defeating the twelve summoned Arcana and surviving Nyx’s attacks, it was finally time to defeat Nyx as a regular boss. I had another little trick up my sleeve, something I’ve learned with Elizabeth, an ultimate to end all ultimates. I could either fight Nyx normally and prolong the fight with my tanking capabilities and many items at hand or I could wait for my Theurgy to charge and unleash my true power over the Death God. I did the later, a cheat code much in the likeness of the one that was used against me inside that Monad door. 9999. Done. The Universe as we knew it was no more. The power of my social links gleaming in the minds of those who loved me and to whom their thoughts were aimed at a moment of need, just like a prayer.

“Blessings to the believer.” It worked. Nyx was sealed, as were our memories. After ending the Dark Hour slowly but steadily we started to forget everything prior to acquiring the power of our Personas. Everyone but Aigis, the protector, the record keeper, the one keeping our memories alive even after our passing, the one who will not know death, only reboot. Even our romantic interest wasn’t able to forget our still young love story, making plans to include us in her life and to introduce us to her family. Yukari asked for help with her mother, showing that our friendship would go a long way in the future. The boys were a bit forgetful but still wondering about our connection. Until something triggered their memories, at least what was left of them still lingering in their hearts, and we were able to meet again, to fulfill a promise.