Persona 5 - Okumura’s Spaceport
For the past week or so I have only been playing Persona 5. Haven’t touched Resident Evil in a while, don’t know where I’m at in there. Shelves full of unplayed games and I can not stop playing Persona 5. With 5 out of 8 palaces done, I am now definitely past the halfway point.
Space port of Big Bang burger has been demolished. We as players get to see the black masked stranger for the first time, but the Thieves miss him. He comes in to take out the palace boss, Okamura. As with the previous palaces, the second run has been smoother than the first. Running through in one go really makes a difference. Once I know how far I have left to go, I can better plan what items to use and when. The HP raising items are kind of useless. It is much better to use healing spells and then use coffee and curry to top up SP.
Even though I did die a few times through the palace, but it was definitely less than last time. Having the freedom to exploit the enemy weaknesses brings about a new level of enjoyment. It is not just about being able to use my SP freely. The fact that I have more shadows/demons to use helps too. Usually over-level and brute force my way through whenever I play a JRPG. For the most part, this is what I did in the first playthrough here, too. Once I got over my hang-up of hoarding up items, I quickly found out there is no need to grind as much.
Persona 5 is a game that primarily deals with the social issues of our time. It specifically targets the problems prevalent in Japan, but to some extent it is relevant to every modern society. As such, it does throw out some seriously dark scenarios at the player. Some of them are problematic. Others are set up to force the player to acknowledge the problems marginalized or outcast people face in our society. The most recent example has to do with the owner of a popular fast-food burger joint. Okamura is a businessman who runs a successful franchise. His palace takes form of a space port. The whole palace shows his attitude towards the workers. They are only as good as the work they put in. Once they are no longer able to provide service, they are sent down to become fuel for the station. As with everyone else, the villain strips away the humanity of the people they rely on to be successful. In this case, the workers are no longer humans, but nameless robots. It is telling in how Okumura views those working underneath him. It is also indicative of how little he cares about their well-being.
Callous attitude towards his employees is not the only problem with Okamura. Aside from running a successful business, he also harbors political ambitions. This is where his ties with Shido come in. He is also working towards getting Shido elected, and in return he hopes to get some kind of political power. It is not clear what exactly is he hoping for. Not one to put all his eggs in one basket, Okamura has also set his daughter up with son of another nameless politician.
Haru Okumura is also a student at Shujin. She is one year ahead of Joker and friends. Unlike tropey single child of a wealthy family, she is not spoilt at all. In fact, she comes off as a quiet, shy girl. When Morgana has a big blow up with the rest of the gang, he recruits Haru to take on the metaverse. During the first foray into the Space Port, Joker and his team meet the two. Haru comes off as someone who is unsure of her place inside the metaverse. In fact, she is so flustered when meeting the Thieves, she forgets her introductory speech she had memorized for the occasion. How she met Morgana, and how she was first exposed to the metaverse is not explained. She must have visited the other side before meeting the cat or else she would not have been able to understand him. When and how that happened remains a mystery.
Haru is not really interested in her betrothed but is going along with her father’s wishes. Sigumura, the fiancé, is a positively despicable person. He is abusive and a borderline pedophile. The reason he is interested in Haru mainly has to do with his predilection for schoolgirls. When Haru shuns his advances, Sigimura becomes violent. Haru is saved when the Phantom Thieves show up and stop him. Sigimura threatens them as he leaves.
Haru comes home and tells her dad what happened. Okamura is unfazed. He tells his daughter to go apologize to Sigumura and then comply with his wishes, in effect sacrificing his daughter on the altar of his political ambitions. To its credit, the game is successful in making the player uncomfortable. Both these guys are supposed to be villains and should be hated. At least one of them meets a terrible and abrupt end. The other is probably still out there perving on schoolgirls.
The rebel persona in Haru wakes up when shadow Okumura tries to pimp her out to the shadow Sigimura. It is odd Haru’s persona is named Milady, one of the most dangerous and cunning women in literature when she herself is the most naïve person of the group.
During their efforts to steal the treasure, the thieves discover the whole station is also a means to an end. It is supposed to destruct while launching Okumura into space. Again, not very subtle, but symbolic of Okumura’s ambitions to use his business to launch himself into politics. Even though this palace is called a Spaceport of Greed, it is Okumura’s lust for power that is mainly on display here.
5-17-20
