Royal takes the place of the epilogue of the original version of the game, and it's... not what I expected? Especially considering what we've seen about Maruki in the base game's events, the plotline of what we're seeing in the palace revolving around him is admittedly pretty interesting. Cutting down the cast thanks to some reality-warping stuff to just Joker, Akechi and Kasumi is also an interesting choice, allowing us to spend more time with the 'real' Akechi as well as exploring Kasumi's character and backstory. Kasumi has been pretty... well, kind of basic previously. She's got a rather clearly-delineated problem (the high expectations to a scholar), and our protagonist encourages her to grow. Turns out that her backstory is... a fair bit more fucked up! It's an interestingly executed twist.
Anyway, a lot of these monsters are the ones that show up in Maruki's hospital-themed Palace, which also has a fair bit of Cthulhu-mythos inspired elements to it (the Byakhee previously appeared only in this Palace!) and I am all for it. It's a fun little subversion where the last palace had a 'hell' aesthetic but had a lot of angelic enemies, while this one looks sterile and traditionally good but their enemies look much more demonic!
_______________________________________
Macabre
- Monster Name: Dancer of Death
- Arcana: Hanged Man
Huh. Huh! The closest 'myth' that this has is the Danse Macabre, or the 'Dance of Death', which is more like a style of art that depicts the universality of death. Often, this is shown as skeletons of kings and popes dancing with labourers and peasants, basically showing that you'll all end up the same once death comes calling. The artstyle is common in the late Middle Ages.
Meanwhile, Persona's "Macabre" is a combination of this Danse Macabre with the traditional showing of the Grim Reaper. It is kind of interesting that we've got the Horseman of the Death (Pale Rider), a couple death gods and even an entity called the Grim Reaper... but not the actual traditional 'skeletal guy with a scythe'. Macabre himself isn't exactly the traditional western Grim Reaper, but a dancing guy in a skin-tight bodysuit. His face is also completely covered by that mask, and he's holding an ornamental scythe. Pretty fun dancing, and there's a constant motif of a coiling snake-like rod around an orb, which shows up on his bodysuit, his mask (or is that his face) and on his scythe's handle.
A bit of an unexpected enemy, which is a surprising novelty considering most of the enemies and personas we've been seeing have all been high-ranking deities or demons.
Chimera
- Monster Name: Deformed Lion God
- Arcana: Strength
Oh! A Chimera! Greek mythology is always rife with a lot of these fantastical monsters, many of whom make an appearance in video games, but I didn't expect one to show up at such a high level in lieu of characters like Zeus or Hades or Poseidon or Hera or Artemis or any of the actual Greek gods. Although I suppose most of the Greco-Roman gods were used by the cast in Persona 3 as their personal Personas?
Anyway, while the term 'chimera' is now commonly used for any kind of fusion between animals, the original Chimera is one of the many children of the two giant monsters Typhon and Echidna, which makes the Chimera also a brother to the likes of Cerberus and Orthrus. Chimera is described as being a fusion of a lion, a goat and a snake -- often with the head and front end of a lion, the body of a goat and a snake sprouting from its tail. Some artistic depictions add a goat's head on the front end (which is what this depiction does) and others have the snake head pop out from the neck instead of the tail.
I always find the version with two heads popping up from the neck and an entire snake popping out as the tail to be the most interesting way to depict the Chimera. Now this does make it not a surprise when I saw him, but it's always neat to see the Chimera represented in a game.
Hastur
- Monster Name: Warped Abyss
- Arcana: Star
Hastur appears in many works inspired by the Lovecraft mythos (though he's only mentioned briefly by Lovecraft himself). Hastur the Unspeakable is a member of the Great Old Ones, is the half-brother of Cthulhu, and is known by many names. "The King in Yellow" being the most famous, and within the Lovecraftian mythos, this "King in Yellow" is an entity that would be summoned if one chants his name three times. There's a nice bit of merging with some real-world myths (like Bloody Mary) with cosmic horror. Hastur was mentioned in many of these early appearances as a mysterious place connected to the stars, and often brought up with an enigmatic 'Yellow Sign'. Over the many appearances, Hastur has also been described as the 'Feaster from Afar', being described as a "black, shriveled, flying monstrosity with tentacles tipped with razor-sharp talons that can pierce a victim's skull and siphon out the brain."
It's this description that likely inspires Persona 5's take on Hastur, since he's a mass of tentacles sprouting out of a vaguely humanoid body, only that its entire upper body is comprised of angry writhing tentacles. The tentacles look suitably alien and even plastic, which is a nice subversion from the usually octopus-esque tentacles these Cthulhu Mythos guys have. It's not the most creative design, admittedly, but I do like that it's got a lot of yellow highlights, calling to mind its title as the 'King in Yellow'.
Loa
- Monster Name: Dream-Dwelling Skull
- Arcana: Hermit
The 'Loa' (or Lwa, or Loi) isn't exactly the name of a single deity, however, but a general term for intermediary spirits in Haitian mythology (some have equated this to the role of angels). They serve as a bridge between humanity and the creator divinity called Bondye. Not quite god but not quite mortal, each Loa is a distinct being with their own personal likes and dislikes, distinct sacred rhythms, songs, dances and rituals, with each Loa being associated with specific colours and objects. The Loa originate from Haitian Vodou, and would be incorporated into Louisiana Voodoo. Presumably, the depiction of Persona's Loa as a floating skull is based on one of the most well-known Loa, Baron Samedi, the Loa of the dead. According to Vodou belief, the Loa communicate with humans through dreams and divination, and in turn are given offerings, including sacrificed animals. In ceremonies, the Loa will possess specific practitioners, who serve as the chwal (horse) of the Loa.
Orichalcum
- Monster Name: N/A
- Arcana: Faith
Another dungeon, another Treasure Demon. This is our last one, I think? The name is based on Orichalcum, a metal that I didn't know wasn't just made up by role-playing games like D&D. Orichalcum actually comes from Greek mythology, particularly in stories surrounding Atlantis. It was supposed to be a prized yellow metal, and theories note that it might've been some kind of metal that we now call platinum, brass or bronze.
As recently as 2015, however, the 'true' orichalcum might've been found, with metal ingots found in Gela, Sicily that has an alloy that's a combination of copper, zinc, as well as small percentages of nickel, lead and iron.
Berserk Cendrillon
"Such tenacity. It seems to fit you better than ever before. The glass slippers are an icon of glory... not just for you, but for the other within you as well. I am thou, thou art I... are you prepared for your debut? The ball awaits."
- Arcana: Faith
There is a lot of stuff that goes on with our girl Kasumi, but suffice to say that I'll be referring to her as 'Sumire' from now on. I don't think I'll spoil too much about Sumire's story, mostly because I have a feeling that the expansion of her confidant ranks means that it's not quite over yet.
We have a couple of 'NPC' boss fights before, like with Akechi as part of his rank 8 confidant, or a scripted one against the Velvet Room Twins, or the Persona 3 and 4 protagonists in the special battle, but I guess I count 'Berserk Cendrillon' here as being a Persona-entity that's distinct enough from her original counterpart to include here? I suppose it's appropriate to talk a bit about Cendrillon again after her brief cameo/awakening earlier in the game, and now her being a bit more relevant. It is rather interesting and if I knew a bit more about the lore of P3/P4 I probably could draw a bit more comaprisons with the Persona/Shadow Self thing going on, but Cendrillon sure gets all of her icy diamond blue turned into shades of reds and golds when she goes berserk.
Looking back, the 'Cinderella' allegory to Kasumi/Sumire's story doesn't just extend to her being an honour student and being a true person, but... well, it has more to do with the whole fact that the Fairy Godmother's magic to transform Cinderella to princess is ultimately a sham, and at the end of the story she wins over the prince with her... well, her shoe size, but ultimately not with the magic.
Diego
"I'm going to stand proud on my own four feet... and I'm going to be the one to protect you. I promise I will!"
- Arcana: Magician
So in Royal, in the Third Trimester, if you've maxed out the Confidants of your party member, you get a bonus 'Rank 10+' scene where they bond with Joker and their two original Personas fuse together as they realize that they have an intense determination. As Morgana's Confidant is story-mandated, Zorro and Mercurius fusing together is also a mandatory cutscene by the plot. Almost invariably, these 'third-tier' or 'ultimate' Personas resemble the original version but with a different vibe to it, as compared to the second-tier Personas that tend to look a bit different. And... I guess the original Personas are the ones that most people will see, and so are the most iconic. I can get that; honestly. I do like Mercurius, Seiten Taisei and especially Hecate, but I can also sympathize with people who get super-attached to the original design and was disappointed at the huge change. I knew I vastly preferred Raoul to Satanael!
Out of the second-tier Personas I've unlocked, Mercurius is the biggest departure from Zorro, and... it is interesting that my interpretation of 'Morgana accepts his true self as a cat' actually applies to Diego's awakening here. Diego is basically the original Zorro design (still with the glorious mustache), but interestingly he's shed most of his black superhero outfit, opting for a nobleman's civilian clothes. He's also noticeably got a lot of Mercurius's blue on his mustache, chest and gloves, which is particularly significant considering Morgana's ties and acceptance of said ties to the Velvet Room.
Don Diego de la Vega is the secret identity of Zorro, by the way. Where Zorro goes around at night fighting tyrannical officers that oppress the common folk and the indigenous people of California, Don Diego poses as a nobleman, above the suspicion of his foes. And while Don Diego is arguably the less exciting part of the duality of this character (much like we read/watch Batman for Batman, not Bruce Wayne), Diego is still a crucial part of the person, and I do like the symbolism of Morgana accepting all parts of himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment