Persona 5 - Futaba’s Palace
I have been playing Persona 5 for what feels like an eternity and I think I might be halfway through the New Game Plus. Futaba’s palace has been razed, confidants are maxing out left and right, Principal of Shujin is dead and the Phantom Thieves are on their way back from the beach episode, ahem, their vacation in Hawaii. Beach episode is a long standing anime trope. Persona 5, the most anime of all JRPGs, was not going to pass up on it.
Today I went through the whole of Futaba’s palace as well as the final boss in one sitting. I am enjoying these palaces more in my second play through. Familiarity makes the traversal and puzzle solving smoother. This pyramid felt more frustrating last time I was here. I enjoyed the aesthetic more when I was not constantly worrying about running out of SP.
With every new confidant hitting the max level comes a new perk. I’m sure they carry over to the next game even if the confidant levels don’t. Last time around having finished Sojiro’s short story, allowed Joker to make coffee and curry much earlier this time around. Which has helped ease the pain of running through the dungeons. I am keen on maxing out the “Tower” since it will give me the ability to knock down any shadow. That is going to be immensely helpful in filling out my Persona “pokedex”.
Futaba reminds me of Lucca from Chrono Trigger. She has the same colors and the persona of “misunderstood genius”. Although Lucca was a well adjusted person with friends. So almost like the opposite of Futaba in all other senses.
In this instance, the team does not come upon the palace right away. Instead, the have to ride in the Cat Bus, in stifling heat until they get to the pyramid. Upon entering, the team realizes they are still in their normal clothes. Since Futaba does not feel threatened by them, they do not switch over into their personas. This sets up a nice twist for the end game.
Similar to other palaces we have been going to lately, the front entrance closes as soon as Futaba is threatened by the team (team suits also change at this time). To get anywhere in this pyramid, first the thieves have to head out to a nearby village and steal the papyrus Futaba wants. The shadow with the papyrus is a sneaky one. We have to chase him down until he is trapped at a dead end. After beating him and taking the papyrus, Joker brings it back to Futaba. She reveals it to be the map of the palace, hands it over to Joker, and promptly drops our heroes in quicksand.
From here on out, the thieves try to find their way back to the top. With each successful puzzle completion, a little more of Futaba’s story is revealed, and one more door in her psyche is opened. Wakaba Isshiki was Futaba’s mother and a renowned “psientist”. She studied the metaverse and predicted its existence. She was absorbed in her research too much to spend much time with her daughter. This neglect adversely affected Futaba. Watching her mother getting run over by a car and die did not help much either. Over time Futaba became a recluse and shut herself in her room. Her psychosis manifested as auditory hallucinations of her mother berating her and accusing her of causing death and destruction.
As we go forward, the team figures out Wakaba’s death was no accident. Someone out there did not want the metaverse brought to light and they made sure Wakaba did not live to tell the world about her discovery. Sojiro was dating Wakaba at this time. Even though she confided into him about her concerns of safety, Sojiro disregarded them as paranoia. After her death, Sojiro felt responsible for Futaba and started taking care of her. Not knowing much about raising children and even less about raising neuro-atypical children, Sojira felt helpless in getting Futaba the attention she needed but he has stuck by her .
This brings us to the pyramid and the final boss of this dungeon. It starts out as the Beast That Rules the Palace. Clearly, Wakaba and her death has left a significant negative impact on Futaba. It stands to reason, she will be the entity Futaba fears the most. She is paralyzed and unable to help in the beginning. After a few hits in, the Beast changes in Wakaba Isshiki. From here on out Futaba finds her courage and is able to help us defeat the Shadow.
The team makes their way out as the pyramid collapses around them. Futaba, having been freed from her tomb, accompanies them out.
Once in the real world, Futaba is so exhausted she falls asleep right away. That’s all good but we do kind of need her to fix the whole bind she has put the Thieves into by setting up their beef with Medjed. First it was a concerning, but as her sleep went on for days, it became hilarious. On the last day before Phantom Thieves are exposed, Futaba walks into the café nonchalantly and remembers she was supposed to help the Thieves keep their identities hidden. She gets on her computer and saves the day, only to fall back asleep right after getting done.
From here on Futaba is the teams guide and cheerleader. She never enters the battle herself but analyzes the enemies and the layout of the dungeon.
This is around the time when the greater conspiracy starts to take shape. There are definitely evil forces working together, to achieve some kind of nefarious purpose. They won’t hesitate to kill. With Wakaba and also the Shujin principal dead the stakes are higher. If these people find out the true identities of Joker and his friends, their lives could be in serious jeopardy. We know at the very least the police has been bought out by them.
The thieves aren’t just trying to stay in school anymore. They are trying to stay alive.
5/13/20
