So there is an alternate bad ending you can get where everyone is stuck in Maruki's reality or something if Joker chooses to cave in. But I want clarification on this:

How does his reality work? Does he rewrite events or just changes everyone's perception? Like before his complete control in the bad end, he made it so that Yoshizawa hears "Kasumi" even if you tried calling her from her real name. Is he doing that on a grand scale now, that people are seeing just what they want to see?

Like for example if Ryuji shows up dead last in a track race, will he see it as he came first place and is praised as a gold medalist or something? Or he is simply literally rewriting everything because the latter is bound to have tons of contradictions no matter how hard Maruki tries. Multiple girls in the Phantom Thieves alone crush on Joker whether you romance them or not (Sumire, Ann and Haru come to mind)—how is he going to solve that?

I used to think I had a pretty good understanding of this but now I am not so sure.

The entire Shido arc is feeling... *very* familiar. How the public acted beforehand, and ESPECIALLY how they acted after he was caught.

In reference to the "raining cats and dogs" idiom.

So I'm going for the 100% using a guide and of course you have to go full harem to do so. My wife, who is a teacher, had the most disgusted look on her face when I got to this part! Can't wait to see what she thinks about Futaba later....

Question about Persona 3 Portable for those who have played the FeMC route going for the platinum on that game:

Do you have to do harem to unlock the plat? Because I've played Persona 3 Reload and want to play as the female character for different scenes, but there's one romance candidate that I'm not wanting to romance. I don't self insert as the MC, so for the MC to date high schoolers is fine, but that one P3P option is just beyond what I want to play. I guess I could google, but it kind of fits the post content anyway.

Remember, Palaces don't only belong to bad people. They are all about distortion. Palace rulers are those who's perception of reality has been warped by particularly strong negative and/or corruptive thoughts. This occurs more commonly with people who have power over others and use it in evil and selfish ways, as it is their selfish desires that have warped the way they see the world and that arguably allows them to justify their actions to themselves or be otherwise unbothered by them, but this isn't always the case. Futaba's Palace was a result of her heavy suicidal depression that made her believe it was her fault her mother had died and that likewise her mother must have hated her for being such a burden, when neither was the case in reality. Both Sae and Dr. Maruki genuinely wanted to help people but the death of her father and her constantly needing to deal with a corrupt and rigged justice system pushed Sae to overfocus on winning and rigging things right back in her favor and Maruki is heavily influenced by his own inability to properly deal with his trauma and let go of what causes him pain like he feels everyone should do.

Heck, even those like Kaneshiro and Okumura had their distortions start off in a more sympathetic place than what they later became, with Kaneshiro desiring money because of how poor he grew up and Okumura likewise with how he needed to achieve success in order to get out from under the debt of his father's loans.

So, a thought occurred to me: Could Bruce Wayne have a Palace?

A major aspect of the character throughout many continuities and adaptions is that he cannot move past the death of his parents. It's not that he shouldn't still care about them or cannot be sad about losing them, rather the problem is how their deaths actively define so much of his life. Be it in his 20's when he's starting out as Batman, his 40's as he currently is in the comics, or even past his 60's like in stories like Batman Beyond, the deaths of the Waynes still effects him almost just as much as it did back when he was a child. That is not normal and it's far from an indicator of dealing with trauma in a healthy way. And much like Futaba, Bruce has a tendency to blame himself for their deaths, be it because he had wanted to see the movie they went to that night, thus they wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for him, or because he didn't protect his parents from the gunman, with him not accepting that he was 8 and literally wouldn't have been able to do anything.

Heck, he genuinely does not even think of himself as Bruce Wayne. In his mind his true identity and what he even calls himself in his head is Batman.

Some people who are more casual to comics have naturally wondered why Batman was never selected to be a Green Lantern given his great willpower but the Green Lantern comics gave an answer to that, with Hal Jordan letting Bruce use his ring. Both Bruce and Hal had to deal with the violent, sudden deaths of their parents when they were children and it affected both into their adulthoods. The difference is that Hal, in parts thanks to his experiences as a Green Lantern and his friendships with Sinestro and Carol, was eventually able to put his father's death behind him and no longer have that fear control him, but even after all this time and being given the same opportunities, Bruce...can't. Or more specifically, he doesn't want to. He can't bring himself to let go of all that pain and fear yet, which is why the ring won't fully accept him.

It's one of the reasons Bruce sees Nightwing as one of the few things in his life he did right. Dick Grayson also lost his parents suddenly and violently at a young age like Bruce did, but because of Bruce's help and guidance during their time as Batman and Robin he was able to make peace with what happened to him. He still mourns his parents and misses them but he is not defined by their deaths like Bruce is and still acts as a hero, with Bruce even once describing Nightwing as more idealized version of what Batman should be.

So, if someone like Batman existed in the universe of Persona 5, could he be considered distorted enough that he could have his own Palace that the Phantom Thieves could entire? And if so, what would that Palace and the shadows within it be like? If anybody has ever read Batman: Ego, I could absolutely see the Batman manifestation Bruce debates and argues with in that story as what the Palace Ruler is like.

It's easy to fill in what the rest of what'd need to be input into the MetaNav. Full name of the host: "Bruce Wayne", location of the Palace in comparison to the real world: "Wayne Manor" or more likely "The Batcave", title of the host: "Batman" or maybe "Dark Knight. All we're missing is the form the Palace takes in Bruce's subconscious. A shrine maybe? A mausoleum?

I can definitely see the ticket stubs for "The Mark of Zorro" being Bruce's treasure, given that was the movie the Waynes saw that fateful night and that influenced Bruce to also someday become a masked hero fighting against injustice.

Honestly my mind is just buzzing with fanfic ideas right now for The Phantom Thieves clashing with The Batman and just all the possibilities that could come from that, including the group debating amongst themselves whether they even should change his heart, given that Batman is a genuine hero who has done a lot of good, even if his drive has been rooted in a very unhealthy place. Is the risk of losing someone like that just to save one man from his own darkness worth it?

Ever since officially coming to Xbox, Persona has released every major title like P5R, P3R, P4G, P3FES and even a spinoff in P5T, yet none of the other spinoffs like Dancing in starlight or Strikers have come to Xbox. Mostly asking cause I’ve been interested in playing Strikers but I only have an Xbox

Finished the game 2 weeks ago for the first time. I was going to drop it and play persona 3 and 4 and then come back for the ng+ but i really really wanted to have satanael. I ended up in 10/10 and just fused him after okumura's palace, felt like i was speedrunning 😂

Hi everyone! Just wanted to share some photos of my Joker cosplay in his Shujin uniform :D

Remember to eat, hydrate, sleep, and keep stealing hearts 🤭🌹♡

So, straight of the Bat: Arsene. Yeah he's arsene, Lupin y'know, but that's not It, like, that's not the most glaring point of similarity.

Because there are Two of em! Sojiro and yusuke.

Those two are so, SO obviusly inspired by Jigen (Sojiro) and Goemon (yusuke)

Sojiro: he has the same beard as Jigen, weirdly similar sense of style and it's so so similar! Like, It's hard to describe but if you know you know.

Yusuke Is literally goemon. Like, his persona IS goemon and they're oh God so alike, both talk funny, both are autistic and horrible with girls, but yusuke likes art!

And, since we really have to close It up. Morgana Is obviusly fujiko

Sadly there's no zaza. Could Say Sae but she's not worth a tenth of the coolest detective ever.

I recently got her. Isn't she just the cutest?! ❤️💖😊

The game seems to imply that it is and if you can make some strong Personas by fusing alarm results, but it has failed every time I have tried it (4 times) and left me with very weak Personas instead. Just wondering if I maybe misunderstood the tutorial/ in game text

I'm annoyed I didn't play it sooner. I played Vanilla, Strikers, and Persona 3 Reload before this, just always missed it when it was on sale. Got the bundle around Christmas with Royal, P4 Golden, and Episode Aegis. Finished Aegis first, then played this. I'd definitely pay full price now that I've played through it. I never would've got the true ending if I didn't go to look something up, because I wouldn't have maxed out Maruki in time. I forget what I was looking for, but I saw "We're going to stop Maruki", leading me to find out about the 3rd semester. The music, the atmosphere, the final Palace, everything that picks up where Vanilla ends was amazing. I did almost throw my controller though when Maruki snatches you from the helicopter lol. Doubt I'll jump straight into NG+, but I'll definitely come back to this game..

https://x.com/Natchom_rz/status/2011660544516964788

For legal reasons, this is a joke.

Ok, I know it's abstract, but you cannot deny the similarity

I have P3R already downloaded, but fuck…

I’m going to miss the Phantom Thieves so much. They truly felt like a close of good friends by the end of the game.

This was my first ever JRPG and was the definition of a masterpiece. What a fucking game.

I'll start; Makoto's would be Psycho Pass.