l / ______ __ l
l/ l / \ l
l ___ l _______ /____\ _____ l
l\ l l l l l l /______\ l l
l \ l__l__ l l l l / \ l l .
(cgalliher@cablespeed.com)
Your Table of Contents, Milord:
1. Introduction
2. Review
3. Walkthrough
4. Persona List/My Opinions
5. Hints/Tips
6. Dungeon Tips
7. Credits/People I Don't Like
8. More About the Katman
Persona, one of the rarest titles known for the PSX (I was forced to buy
a used copy, myself, and that was only after seaching the whole frickin'
state of Virginia!) (Oh, and THE rarest is Lunar: Silver Star Story
Complete, which is out of print), is also one of the best. As a matter
of fact, it was one of the reasons I GOT a Playstation (The other was
Final Fantasy VII, and I've not regretted my deciscion)...
Due to it's moody dialogue and upscale, "pop" setting, Persona comes
along as an RPG similar to, er..., well, it's in a league of it's own,
really. I suppose the closest thing would be if you crossed together
Resident Evil 3, Earthbound, and Final Fantasy VIII.
Persona is part of the "Revelations" series of games here, and part of
the "Megami Tensei" series of games in Japan. There's 4 Revelations
series games: Revelations: Persona, Revelations: The Demon Slayer
(Confirmation, here?), Persona 2 Innocent Sin, and Persona 2 Eternal
Punishment. All but The Demon Slayer were released for the Playstation
(the other is for Game Boy Color).
This particular game centers around a group of high school juniors'
quest to defeat the hordes of demons attacking their town, Lunarvale (a
crappily translated name :-) and stop the influx of the foul creatures.
To do this, they are given the power to summon Persona demons, a type of
demon that coexists with humans, to cast magic spells, along with using
modern weapons like AK-47 rifles (though that's one of the weaker guns
:-). It works great with the graphic style used here.
You shouldn't buy games for graphics, but if you do, don't bother with
Persona. You'll be disappointed. The best graphics featured are of the
actual Personae (a type of demon-human symbiote) being summoned, since
each is different-looking, and has about 5 different animations.
Sound: 8/10
All the characters have digitized voices, and this, if I'm not mistaken,
was the first use of digitized voice in an RPG (confirmation?). Well,
it's not that detailed, really. Mostly, the only lines are "PERSONA!!!"
during summoning, "DIE!" during a gun or sword attack, and variations on
that theme :-)
The music is OK, but you'll probably prefer to listen to a CD.
Gameplay: 9/10
The main part of the game is battling, that being the nature of an RPG
and all. You need to be patient when fighting in this game, since the
animations are very slow (though it's worth watching when you start
flinging Persona magic around, as like I said the Personae have unique
animations), and sometimes it's difficult to understand why some attacks
do the damage they do (Kudos to Atlus for allowing you to check the
demon's elemental immunities!).
To create new Personae for magic, you actually talk to the demons you
fight, with the goal being to obtain a "spell card", which is a bit like
a tarot card. You can mix two cards to make a new Persona, which varies
depending on the cards used. Also, you can add in items to the card
fusion, which could result in an entirely new Persona. There's about 99
Persona in all, which means you'll be playing for a while.
There's a catch, though - each character (of which you can have 5) has
two different types of level - the normal experience Level, and the P-
Level used in summoning. If the level of a created Persona exceeds a
character's P-Level, that character can't equip that Persona.
Replay: 10/10
As I said, you can obtain 5 different characters during any one play
through the game. 4 of these characters stick with you through the whole
quest (The hero, Mark, Nate, and Ellen), and you can choose one of 4
others for your fifth party member. Since each of the four optional
characters can use different Personae, you'll need to play the game
through 4 times to see all of the spells and such. Also, certain demons
only respond well to a certain character, and to obtain the ultra-
powerful Ashura Persona, you need to get a Spell Card from every single
one of them.
Removed from the American version of the game, due to time constraints,
was a "second quest" sort of feature (essentialy a second "second half"
of the game) in which a fifth optional character could be obtained (you
only see a glimpse of this character in the American version before she
leaves the party permanently).
You'll be playing for awhile, trust me...
Overall: 8/10
It's worth whatever you're forced to pay to get your hands on this game,
and it'll be HARD to get it, trust me. Took me my entire winter vacation
to get a USED copy :-)
After you set up your Playstation, lie, cheat, and steal to obtain a
copy of this game, and get some yummy sunflower seeds for a snack and a
bowl to spit the shells into, you're ready to begin!
Watch the CG intro (If I'm not mistaken, this is the first use of CG in
an RPG, other than Wild ARMs which doesn't count since that's anime.
Confirmation?), depicting a strange butterfly flying across pictures of
a town and the quote
'I dreamt I was a butterfly.
I couldn't tell if I was dreaming, but when I woke
I was I and not a butterfly.
Was I dreaming that I was a butterfly?
Or was the butterfly dreaming that it was me?
Even if there's a difference between the butterfly and I
the distinction isn't absolute.
And there is no relationship of cause and effect.
-Soshi (Soshi was a Japanese poet, BTW)'
In the opening scene, we see our 7 heroes, whose names are Ellen (The
girl with the long, blonde ponytail), Mark (the black guy with the cool
hat :-), Nate (The pale guy with the blue handkerchief), Alana (the
ditzy-looking blonde ponytailed chick), Yuki (The girl with the long
coat and blue hair), Brad (The red-headed guy with goggles),
and...er...the guy you play as, who hasn't been named yet, getting ready
to play a game which is supposed to summon the demon Personae onto them.
Yep, just another teenage pastime, summoning demons.
Mark argues with Brad that the summoning spell won't work, is flat,
totally busted, etcetera, to which Brad essentially replies that Mark is
a shmuck, what does he know? They bet on a lunch over at the local Peace
Diner (you know, the teen hangout place!), and ask you who you agree
with. Pick whoever, doesn't matter really, I picked Mark because of his
cool hat.
The game commences, and I doubt it's much fun, since it consists of
walking circles around the room while chanting "Persona, Persona, please
come to us...". It doesn't work. Everyone complains, whines, and
essentially is fully disappointed that it didn't work. Then a wierd girl
in black appears, and proceeds to frying you and your friends with
lightning bolts. You all fall unconcious...
This leads to a CG scene in which you meet the myterious Philemon, a man
in a suit wearing a strange mask. He explains that you, too, are
constantly wearing a mask - in the way you behave differently around
different people and in different situations. He shows you a strange
dark demon figurine - this is Starion, your own personal Persona.
Finally, he bids you awaken.
You wake up in the hospital of your school, St. Hermelin High School.
Your friends Yuki, Nate, and Mark are there, as is your teacher Ms.
Smith and the nurse, Mrs. Beverly. After a quick chat, Ms. Smith
reccomends that you head over to the hospital for a checkup; getting hit
by lightning certainly can't be good for you, right? :-)
Take a look around school and get used to the wierd first-person way you
explore dungeons. Make sure to head to all the classrooms on the second
floor, as you'll meet TJ. TJ is a friend of Mary, who is a friend of
yours, thus TJ is a friend of yours, right? :-) She wants you to go and
ask Mary if she can borrow one of Mary's books.
Take a look around the rest of school if you wish - the main places of
interest are the Library (you meet a guy named Kain there), the Fencing
Club room (You meet Tammy, a member of the club, there), one of the
classrooms on the third floor (There's a guy named Chunky there, who is
really important in the deleted second quest :-), and I guess the rest
of the club rooms too.
When you're done, leave St. Hermelin through the huge double doors.
After a short scene where you meet Nate's butler, Alfred (he's just a
generic butler stereotype), you get to the main map screen. If you press
L2, you'll see that the Hospital is ALLLLLLLLLL the way across town from
St. Hermelin. This sucks.
On the way to the Hospital, make sure to check out the two malls - Sun
Mall and Joy Street. The Rosa Candida shops here are useless except for
a couple of short chats, the Yin-Yan convenience stores sell Herbs,
Ribopitans, Lifeorbs, and other items of the like (likewise with the
Pharmacy and Japanese stores). Make sure to check out the Pharmacy at
least once - the song in there is actually sung in Japanese, though it
is a bit strange.
The massive purple trees you find in the unlabeled rooms in the malls
are Augustus Trees - they save your game. The Velvet Rooms can't be
entered for a bit, so hold out on them (they're great later). Judgment
1999 Casinos sell cool items in exchange for coins - though, since the
exchange rate is 1 Coin to $1, you can just save to buy anything you
want. The games are tough, except for Poker, where you can hussle the
game out of all it's money by playing High and Low.
When you get to General Hospital (no kidding :-), you are told that Mary
is in room 3-2. Thus, you need to get your rear up there. Mary chats
with you for awhile, you tell Mary about how TJ wants to borrow a book,
then Mary goes into a seizure or such.
Mary is sent to the ICU. There's a big earthquake, and when Mark opens
the ICU door to check on her, he discovers that it's just a door to a
blank wall. You leave, only to discover Alfred laying dying on the
floor. There's some icky zombies there too, and you go into a battle.
BOSS:
4 ZE Zombie
This isn't really a boss, since your personae automatically activate.
The Hero's persona is the EMPEROR-class Starion - it looks like a dark
blue superhero, and uses the Wind spell. Yuki's is EMPRESS-class Vesta -
a red beast (It's actually a bit similar to Starion) that casts the
Blast spell. Mark's is CHARIOT-class Shaman, a green-haired humanoid
that is arguably the crappiest of the starters, which uses the Tackle
spell to kill a zombie. Nate's is HIEROPHANT-class Voodoo, a blue girl
that fries a zombie with Holy. (NOTE: If you have played Persona 2:
Eternal Punishment, you'll note that Voodoo's actual name is Aizen-
Myouou...Guess they ran out of space...)
You get a "free level" after this fight, and 3 points to distribute
among the Hero's stats. All 3 will work well put into Agility.
You are then placed into the game's first dungeon. Make your way through
(if you use your automap, it's simple), and keep using your Personae to
win fights, as they learn more spells with time - Starion gets
BlindLight, Vesta gets Cure, Shaman gets Rapidfall (though it takes more
time to grow than the others, once again showing it's crappiness), and
Voodoo gets TecUP.
Vesta's Cure will come in handy if you get wounded, and don't be shy
about using copious amounts of magic, since your Spell Points regenerate
very quickly as you walk around.
Check all the rooms on the way - in boxes inside one of them, you get 2
Scalpels and a Mop. Go ahead and equip them on the Hero and Nate (Yuki
throws Razors, a rather interesting weapon, so she doesn't need one, and
Mark is carrying around a DualAxe for some reason)
The ZE-class demons here are easily Contacted for Spell Cards - Yuki
using her Ignore technique works well ("Did I leave the microwave on?"
etc. :-) to provoke Interest in the demons.
You'll note that while Voodoo's Holy skill doesn't do much initial
damage, it will do that same amount of damage over and over again at the
end of each round for the rest of the fight. All Holylight and Evildark
skills work like this - it's called Curse damage, BTW...
At the bottom, you find a nurse trapped under a vending machine. Yuki
tells you to help her lift it, but Nate notices more zombies running
down the hall to attack you. Choose to lift the machine - you'll thank
me later. The zombies attack, just as Ellen enters the hospital.
BOSS
1 ZE Zombie
Oh, come ON! ANY Persona could kill this guy in one hit, but Ellen
decides to show off and use her Persona, the JUDGEMENT-class Nike (a
huge armless angel) to cast the cool-looking Light spell, killing the
critter.
You get another "free level" after this fight.
After a chat with Ellen, you are told to head back to the local Shrine.
Feel free to do so at your leisure, though there ARE demons on the
streets, ready for random battles.
FY Pixie appears often - Yuki's Ignore works here. On the off chance you
meet WD Fruman or GT Goblin, Mark should Dance ("Mark danced crazy" :-)
The Shrine is pretty much in the middle of Lunarvale - you won't have a
problem getting there. On your arrival, you see Mary's mother, who has
been shot! GASP! The butler did it! No, wait, the butler's dead, so it
had to have been people from Sebec that did it, because that's what she
tells you. You are told to take her back to school, but a strange yellow
butterfly appears before you leave.
You are shown another CG cinema, in which Philemon chats with you about
what exactly is going on in town (He gets old fast, doesn't he? :-).
Afterwards, he heals you (you can come back anytime you want for free
healing now, if you wish, BTW) and you get to head back to school, which
is still in the southwest corner of town. It's quite a walk so expect to
encounter more enemies. Nate and Mark decide to leave to go the Police
Station for help.
MA Muskat reacts well to Mark's Stare ("Mark glared!"), and OL Slime
will be intrested in the Hero's Provoke (Er..., actually the Hero's
contact commands are a bit boring :-). OL Thug likes Nate's Bribe
("Here's a special quarter. Heads and tails are reversed!" Man, those
things must be stupid.) ZE ZombieBoy and ZE ZombieGirl both react with
Interest to Yuki's Ignore, as did ZE Zombie.
Moving right along, make sure to unequip Yuki's stuff, including her
Razor (though no one else can use it, we can sell it later), since she
leaves your party for the rest of the game, taking her Vesta persona
with her. Don't worry, she'll be back in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
(and she'll still have Vesta! :-), or the second ending, which you can't
get unless you happen to be playing the game's Japanese version.
Unfortunately, without her you cannot get the EMPRESS-class Dorga
Persona, which is really cool.
Head to the hole in the wall in school after the scene at the hospital
with Mary's mother, since Ms. Smith tells you to tell the people there
not to plug the hole in the wall, since Mark and Nate might be coming
back that way. (It divides the first floor in half.). There, you meet
Alana, who talks about the demons for a bit. Suddenly, Mary rushes in,
and then after a quick chat about how suprised you are to see her, Nate
rushes in. Everyone is in such a hurry these days!
Apparently, Mark was attacked by demons at the Police Station, so that's
your next destination. This, unfortunately, is where you say bye-bye to
Yuki and her cool Persona. Everyone wave :-) Nate brought guns, too!
Equip the guns - the Hero uses an Uzi (9mm Gun), as does Brad. Nate uses
an assault rifle (AK47), as does Ellen, but she's not around right now.
When you find Mark, he uses a single-barreled shotgun (M17), and so does
Yuki (though hers is double-barreled, and again, she's gone forever).
Mary, who'll join you momentarily, uses a pistol, as does Alana if I'm
not mistaken. Since I've never actually gotten Chris, I don't know what
gun he uses.
Check the club rooms. In the Fencing Club room, Tammy will give you a
Rapier, which the Hero can use if he didn't already steal Ellen's or you
killed a demon for one. There's Gloves in the Boxing Club room, which is
a weapon for the secret character, Chris. In the Archery Club room,
there's a Bow, a weapon for Mary. In the Ballet Club room, there's some
shoes, which should be appreciated if you're short on equipment.
As you leave via the hole in the wall, a replacement for Yuki's Vesta
Persona appears when a demon attacks you.
BOSS
1 DD Goul
Before you can even move, Mary uses her Persona, PRIESTESS-class Maria
(a woman in a blue robe and hat) to cast the Chill spell on the Goul,
instantly killing it.
This is another "Free Level" fight. I reccommend that you put 2 points
in LUC and the third in AGI, since those are really the most important
parameters.
Head to the Police Station, which is quite a looooonnng walk to the
North. The enemies are a big mix of what you've already seen, so I can't
really help you with Contacting. Remember, if you get Joy with a certain
person, keep trying that and you might get Interest.
Try to keep using Mary's Persona, and make sure to put Mary in the very
back of the party, as she is a lot more effective there.
In the Police Station, your first task is to find the key that lets you
actually get in the station - the Cell Key. Its where you'd expect it to
be, in a box on the northeastern wall. After getting it, go on in the
dungeon. Head through it (it's really easy if you use your automap), and
concentrate on getting Mary's Maria Persona to learn the awesome
MultiBow spell, which pretty much shreds anything at this point. Also
try to get Starion's butt-kicking (well, at thi stage in the game)
WindAll spell, and Voodoo's Holywhite (well, this one's a bit unlikely,
as it requires Voodoo to be stage 8).
At the end of the dungeon, you find Brad and Mark, who are locked in
jail. After you release them, the head of the Police station appears,
along with some cops...
BOSS
1 EM Gremlin
4 ZE ZombieCops
Everyone but Brad uses their Persona to kill the ZombieCops. The Gremlin
attacks Brad, which 'awakens' his Persona, JUSTICE-class Talon (a brown
creature with the head of a bird and the body of a person) to fry the
Gremlin with the Ray spell.
After the fight and a chat, Brad offers to join your party. This is the
first time in the game you are asked who you want for your fifth
character. This choice is PERMANENT, so think before you decide!
Brad uses a spear and machine gun. He is REALLY crappy at contacting
demons, however EM Durahan and EM Maui seem to react with Interest
easily to his Gossip. His starter, like I said, is JUSTICE Talon, and
his exlusive Persona is JUSTICE Darkside. JUSTICE Darkside looks cool
enough as to merit getting Brad just to see it, as you won't otherwise
:-) His highest stat usually ends up being TEC, meaning his machine gun
attacks are super-powerful, and he hardly ever misses.
Brad gives you a Security Card, which you need to take to the Factory.
Take him or leave him, you need to head over to the Factory now. Before
doing so, though, head to the Subway in the middle of town.
Ellen is there, and she also offers to join your party. She's the second
choice for your fifth character, and again, this is not a deciscion to
be taken lightly :-)
Ellen uses a sword (like Main), and an assault rifle (like Nate).
Despite her uninspiring equipment, her exclusive Persona, JUDGEMENT St.
Michael, is awesomely strong, though her starter, JUDGEMENT Nike, is
also rather crappy, though it will speak to AL Angel demons for you. Her
HP rivals Mark's, for some reason, and she gets immense amounts of SP.
In my first playthrough, she was my choice for fifth character.
Take her or leave her, head to the Sun Mall next. You might want to
visit Judgment 1999 and buy a HellBook with whatever money you have -
it'll be useful here in a minute.
The Velvet Room store has finally opened! This is where you fuse the
spell cards you get from demons to make new Personae. You're likely
unable to handle many of the Personae you can create, due to your low P-
Level, but if you can make PRIESTESS Virgo (a girl in a green kimono,
she has excellent healing spells and takes half damage from magic
attacks), SUN Ven (an long Egyptian bird, and a user of powerful all-
affecting fire magic), LOVERS Jack Frost (a cute little blue demon in a
santa outfit, he uses ice magic), or LOVERS Pixie (a critter similar to
the Pixie demon, it is the only known Persona with the crappy StarPunch
spell, and can also heal), do so, as they're the most powerful Personae
you're probably able to handle.
If you can make a HEIROPHANT-class Persona, select to add your HellBook
into the mix to make the game's lowest-level Persona, HEIROPHANT
Trickster. It has the powerful DualSword and Holyer spells, and there's
no doubt you can use it - it's only level 4, and every single character
in the game starts at level 5 or above! It also takes half damage from
magic attacks, like Virgo, maing it even etter.
You can probably also make STAR Sumi (a very strange Persona that is
actually two in one - a boy in a blue outfit, and a green-haired demon
in that same outfit - it's a master of Holy and Evil magic) but by now,
most likely, but you probably can't use it - likewise with WORLD Hive (a
strange armored worm with wings that casts the powerful WaveAll spell)
and HERMIT Hellcat (a red tiger in brown pants that reflects status-
change magic and tears up enemies with Petrinail and Icy). Make them
anyway and save them for later.
If you have a ____Rock or ____Stone (where the underscore is a word like
Disch, Gishin, etc.) use it to make that Persona learn the spell the
item casts at second level. Note this doesn't work with MagicRocks,
HinaStones, and MagmaStones, since those are just normal items.
Finally, I'll update you with more info later, when you can get more
cards.
When you're done, head over to the Factory, which is in the other corner
of the map (Southeast, as I recall). Inside, you'll meet Alana, who
talks with you and offers, like Ellen and Brad, to become your fifth
character. If you didn't take Ellen or Brad, you should take her, unless
you happen to be trying to obtain Chris for your fifth character.
Alana uses a whip and a pistol for weapons (Humorously, her beginning
weapon is the JumpRope :-) Her beginning persona is MAGICIAN Fury, a
really strange-looking girl in a red jester outfit, which uses Fire
spells. Her exclusive Persona is MAGICIAN Flare, which uses Earth magic
and looks really cool.
Take her or leave her, you now need to find a place to insert the
Security Card that Brad gave you. It's up the stairs on the east wall,
and there's a slot at the end of the path they lead to. Mark nearly
kills Nate when an elevator appears in the middle of the room :-)
Ride the elevator downstairs. If you took Alana in your party, there's a
battle...
BOSS
1 SM Blackman
Blackman is a guy in a trench coat - any humans you fight will be in the
SS class. Alana uses her newly awakened Fury Persona to kill this guy in
one hit with Fire.
You get a free level after this "fight", assuming it even occurs.
Head through either door here - they both lead into the same dungeon.
Head all the way to the end of the hall here, then head west. Follow the
path again, taking the next west path you see. Check the west wall at
the end of this path - there's a switch you need to press on it (This
dungeon is the only time something like this will happen, BTW).
Head north along the first path, and go through the gate that the switch
opened up. There's another switch on the east wall here - look and
you'll see it. Afterwards, keep heading north and you'll eventually
reach the main Sebec building.
The enemies here include ND Nightmare (Mary's WasteTime gets Intrest
here), SD MagicUrn (use WasteTime again here, but DON'T use Fire
magic!), BD FireBird (Nate's Sarcasm gets Intrest), and DD Goul (Mark's
Dance gets Intrest).
In the main building, follow the simple path. If you have any CoreShield
items, use one, as they protect you from the annoying traps on the floor
here - likewise with Mary's Maria Persona's TrapCure spell.
If you encounter AL Angel, and Ellen is in your party, have her talk to
it with her Nike Persona equipped - it'll cause the Angel to talk to
Nike, and will end with you getting the Angel's Spell Card if your level
is high enough.
If you meet OL Yakuza, try to kill it instead of talking to it - it
carries Nate's first weapon, the ShockSword (though it's a bit rare to
see it drop one, I got it the first time I killed one!). If you can't
get a ShockSword here, we'll get a (less effective) sword here in a
minute, called the BackSword.
Check all the doors here as there's usually some goodies in the rooms
inside. Notably, however, all the GOOD items are protected with minor
traps (Damage and Poison traps are the only ones seen here), which
CoreShield and TrapCure don't affect (don't worry about it, really).
There's a Velvet Room on the same floor you start on, if you'd care to
use it. The AL Angel Spell Card, when mixed with most anything, yields
the JUSTICE Halo Persona, which is so cursedly strong it's not even
funny - it's immune to magic, and has the butt-kicking HealAll spell, as
well as the pretty good TwinStab spell.
There's also a Fountain of Youth here, where you can pay a miniscule
amount of money to get healed - this incudes both HP and SP, as well as
status ailments. It's not really nescesscary, however, as you heal
extremely fast automatically by just walking around (1 HP per 1 step, 1
SP per 5, as far as I can tell).
Lastly, you'll find an Augustus Tree near the Fountain, for all your
game-saving needs. Head to the elevator when you're done, and check all
the floors out. The floor you NEED to go to is the 3rd floor, but you're
missing out on some good items if you don't look in every single room.
On the third floor, you'll see a long path that curves once. Follow it,
and from there it's a pretty basic (if long) trek to the top floor of
the building, where Guido (the guy who started this whole mess) resides.
(BTW, if you talk to your party members, you'll note they're a bit
bloodthirsty :-).
Inside the last room on the top floor, you meet Guido and his lackey
Tiny, both of which have Persona powers like you do. After a short chat,
you start the game's first REAL Boss fight.
BOSS:
1 SM Tiny
2 SM Blackman
2 SM Agent
Before the fight even starts, Guido summons his Persona, Massacre (It
looks like a Ghoul from Valkyrie Profile, or a Zora from Zelda: Ocarina
of Time), to fry you with FireAll (It's not that strong, but it's
cheating one way or another!). He then leaves after some coaxing from
Tiny, who then attacks you. He and his minions use the DriveShot and
PowderShot skills, which hit a bunch of party members at once for about
40 damage each time. Tiny also uses his Persona, a guy in a karate
outfit, to cast assorted Fire spells on you (This is actually weaker
than his gun attacks :-).
Use all-affecting spells like WindAll, FireAll, and ChillAll to inflict
plenty of pain on all the foes at once. If you, by some stroke of
massive luck, were given the Nuke spell, use that - it'll kill all of
them in 3 turns. Similarly, Gishin is great is you have it, which you
probably don't (you need to erase the WORLD Hive Persona to get the
GishinRock needed for it) Use STRUp if you're going to use any physical
attacks (I didn't), and MAGUp and DEFUp no matter what you do. TECUp and
ACUUp are sorta redundant, and are pretty much a waste of a turn.
If you lack any good magical healing (and you SHOULDN'T!), use Ribopitan
to heal, as well as BloodOrbs if anyone dies (LifeOrbs work well too,
but they're very expensive. Have your slowest member use any revive
items, as then the enemy won't kill the just-raised character. Mark is
usually slowest.). If you get low on SP (and once again, you
SHOULDN'T!), use HinaStones or SpellRocks. Have Nate do the healing, due
to his low attack power. Mark's physical attacks work well here, as do
Mary's (especially if you managed to find the DeltaStorm bow for her in
this dungeon). The Hero's gun works well too, as it hits a bunch of
enemies, and we're trying to get rid of as many as possible at once.
When you kill Tiny, your next task is to chase Guido. He's in the back
room, but make sure to grab the BackSword in here first. Follow him,
through the corridor that's flashing red, until you get to the room at
the end. Noteworthy is an area that is covered in darkness, so you can't
see. It has walls in it, just keep pressing against them, and use your
automap to help find your way through.
Inside is the huge Deva System - the macine that's caused all this
nonsense. Also there is a scientist and Guido. Guido drags the poor
scientist inside the System, in an attempt to escape your WRATH!
MWAHAHA! Er...ANYWAY...
The scientist tricks Guido, turning the machine up too fast, which would
work like a particle accelerator and disintegrate both of them. You are
given a choice - push the RED button, turning the machine off, or push
the BLUE button, turning the machine on full blast.
Trust me - push the RED button (It'll help later, just like saving the
nurse in the hospital and giving Mary TJ's message.) to turn the machine
off. The evil Girl In Black that you saw from the very beginning of the
game appears. She would've turned the machine off for you had you
pressed the blue button, and does now what she would've done then - zap
you and teleport you back to school. Who does she think she is, a truant
officer?
After a trippy FMV of a dimensional tunnel, you find yourself and your
party members sprawled out and unconscious in the school's gym. You all
wake up. Doesn't the gym look slightly...different?
Head out of the gym. Go ahead and look around the school again - most
everyone acts a bit strange... In one room, you'll meet Bruce. If you
were paying attention the first time you were in school, you'll hear
that he disappeared a month ago! (SHOCK!)
Bruce explains that this is some sort of "parallel dimension" to yours.
WTH? Are we playing Chrono Cross or something? Anyway, this dimension is
3 months before the time in the actual dimension (It has to do with time
zones. Ya know, if you go past the prime meridian you lose a day? :-).
Now, apparently, we've combined Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, and
went flipping past space and time.
After a liesurely chat with Bruce (who's been beat up by that little
girl in black that zapped you), you are suprised to hear the little girl
speaking. She takes over the school and turns it into a maze.
Proceed through the simple maze. It's not hard, if you see the EG
Dribbler demon, try Ellen's commands to get Interest (It's very
difficult, however, Dribbler seems to get Angry at everything!) if you
have her. Otherwise, try Mark's commands, though those are even less
likely to work.
In one of the rooms (the Art Room) in this dungeon, you meet Chris, who
is the final option for your fifth party member. Unfortunately, he's a
secret character, so it's likely you haven't fulfilled the requirements
to obtain him yet.
BOSS
1 Ogre
Chris saves a girl from an Ogre demon using his already-awakened
Persona, DEVIL Guni. That's the best starter Persona, BTW. You get a
free level after this fight, and note that it's the only fight you'll
see where you have 6 party members.
If you've done the right stuff to obtain Chris, you're in for a treat.
Chris is the ONLY character to use the game's omipotent Persona, DEVIL
Lucifer. At Stage 8, Lucifer makes Chris invincible to everything (1
damage!), and makes anything Chris does do 999 damage, something that's
unmatched by any other Persona, or for that matter, Demon. The closest
you'll get is if you have Brad and use his Darkside persona's BiStrike.
Ah, but the rub to Lucifer is that he is the only P-level 99 Persona,
meaning you'll have to level up for days on end. I was level 47 when I
beat the game :-) Also, to make Lucifer you need the David Star item,
which you get by raising Ishtal to Rank 8 and deleting her.
Chris's special starting Persona, like I said, is DEVIL Guni, and his
ultimate Personae are twofold: DEVIL Mondo and DEVIL Lucifer. DEVIL
Personae are Strong Against Everything (excepting Holylight magic, like
Holyword or Holy), making them butt-kickingly strong. Chris has no
weapon - he equips Gloves, and uses 1 basic punch animation. Also, he
uses an assault rifle, like Nate and Ellen.
Afterwards, continue along the dungon, until you reach the big open
plaza in the middle of the school. There, the Girl In Black (whose name
is Mae) summons a nasty RoboRat for you to fight, sparking the game's
second Boss fight.
BOSS
1 RoboRat (UNKNOWN CLASS! SEND IT IN!)
The RoboRat is a pretty easy boss. Just use basic attack methods, but
don't try any of the Blast-line or Nuke-line spells on it.
Well, it's easy UNTIL it uses the Nuke spell on you. This is the first
of the most powerful non-secret line of spells in the game, and will
likely kill at least two party members. If you have a Persona with a
Revive-line spell, have it at the ready, you'll need it.
Later rather than sooner, RoboRat will fall, and the spoils of victory
will be yours - the school transforms back to normal, and you're allowed
to leave after a short chat and a look around if you'd like.
Outside has all kinds of mist floating around (First Chrono Cross, now
Legend of Legaia?). The enemies here can be tough - AL ArchAngel, like
all AL-class demons, is immune to magic. It likes Ellen's Story skill,
so use that for Intrest, or, at worst, Joy, which isn't bad in itself.
The stores are different too (the Yin/Yan convinience store actually
sells GUNS and AMMO now! Cooool!!! Notice the bars on the cashier's
counter and the glass display cases, and that the clerk is the same one
from the real world :-). In the mall, the Rosa-Candida stores now sell
armor, which you should make sure to buy (it really helps, and since
you're getting a LOT of money now from demons, it's not hard to buy.)
The Velvet Rooms still work the same way, as do the Pharmacies. The
Candy Shops (the ones with the Yamato-style doors) now trade you Gems
for Essence items (STREssence, TECEssence, VITEssence, AGIEssence,
LUCEssence, HPEssence, and SPEssence).
It's easy to find Gems since usally you win them from fights now. You
can also trade in Gems for assorted -Rocks and -Stones, which when used
have the spell effect they're named after. Try to buy a NukeRock, which,
when used as an item in demon fusion, results in a Persona with Nuke at
level 2, making crappy personae awesome.
You can also buy -Rocks and -Stones for money here too, however these
are Group-effect spells instead of the All-effect spells you get from
the Gem Store.
There's an Augustus tree in the mall too, and you probably need to use
it. Feel free. I'll wait.
Done? Ok, let's go over to the Peace Diner and get a snack. WHAT? THEY
DON'T SELL FOOD ANYMORE? NOOOOOOO! The Peace Diner no longer sells food,
like I said, but then again it wouldn't sell you any food in the real
world either.
Leave the mall after any fusion you might've wanted to do at the Velvet
Room, or other shopping. If you have the Cards and P-level to use it,
CHARIOT Vortek (For the rear-punting Nuke, and, later, NukeMore spells)
is super-mega-awesome at this stage in the game, as is SUN Gasious (for
the butt-kicking Holyword spell, the strongest Group-attack Holylight
spell) and MOON Remy (She absorbs magic, excepting Holylight magic, and
will get Cards from the Remy demons you'll meet every once and awhile
for you). STAR Sumi is OK, but not great, due to it's lack of powerful
attack spells. JUDGEMENT Halo is great, still, even though it's outdated
for this stage, and so is PRIESTESS Virgo, both due to the fact that
they have awesome healing magic. Don't worry too much about status
boosts yet (anything that grants high AGI, like JUSTICE Mach, is worth
hanging onto though).
If your Persona barn is getting full, it might be worthwile to erase
your starter Personae, as they've been outdated since Sebec, especially
Mark's CHARIOT Shaman (It's Weak Against Magic, and Mark's not exactly
naturally strong against it himself) and Nate's HEIROPHANT Voodoo (Holy
and Holyer just don't work anymore)
Notice the huge black barrier dividing Lunarvale in half. Our job is to
get through there. And how to get through you ask? We need the Holy
Mirror, as Philemon told you if you decided to go over to the Shrine in
this world. Bravely quest over to the Museum, and you'll automatically
take the Mirror after a scene when you enter the display room.
Now, go to the Subway, which you can enter now. It's a difficult dungeon
in this world, and due to the strange 1st person view I can't really
explain it. WD Siren shows Interest to Nate's Bribe as I recall, and WD
Babe likes Brad's Pickup, if you have him. Hang onto Babe's card if you
get it (we need it for a secret fusion later). Don't use Nuke or
Nukemore on DW Mermaid if you see her (she absorbs it), instead try gun
attacks, the Hero's machine gun is great. She's hard to talk to, I
haven't gotten Interest from her yet.
If you're using CHARIOT Vortek's NukeMore, you're probably raking in the
EXP and PEXP. I reccomend giving Vortek to Mark, who's gotten stiffed on
Personae from the beginning and is probably a bit low-level.
Halfway through this dungeon, you meet a demon in a "story" scene. It's
a boss.
BOSS:
1 Yoga Jr. (CLASS?)
NukeMore, NukeMore, NukeMore. Need I say more? If you don't have
NukeMore, any strong Rank 8 Persona spell should work well, as would
Nate's ShockSword.
When killed, Mae appears again, and Mary says the game's funniest line
("I don't like Mae! She's too evil! When we see her again, I'm gonna
give her a spanking!). Mae says that the next big fight is going to be
against a beautiful girl. Ignore her and move on.
After another quick subway section, you find yourself on the other side
of the Plasma Wall (the black barrier you went through the Subway to get
past). There's a mall here, which was the Sun Mall in your normal world.
Go ahead on in, but make sure you've not got anything important to do
out here (you probably don't!), as you won't be leaving for a lonnng
time.
When you enter this mall, called the Black Market due to its black color
on the map, go ahead and try to leave. YOU CAN'T! (SHOCK!)
There's a Velvet Room here, as well as all the other nescesscities
(Rosa-Candida, Yin/Yan, Essence shop, Judgment 1999, Pharmacy, Clinic,
Augustus Tree), most of which have new items to look at/buy. I don't
blame you if you still break into tears from laughter when you see the
convinience store selling firearms or when you hear the Pharmacy song
about frogs :-)
The people here are all fearing for their lives, due to the dictatorly
rule of the Harem Queen. She has moles all over her face, aparrently,
and everyone thinks she's beautiful. Apparently, she hides in the Karma
Palace, and you need to go to the Karma Palace and get rid of her or you
can't leave.
Conviniently, the Karma Palace's entrance is right next to the Judgment
1999 Casino. Go and make sure you have the best possible armor and guns,
and PLEASE have CHARIOT Vortek ready before coming in!
The enemies here are easily beaten, except possibly for the Mermaids,
which absorb NukeMore, and the Chomps, which reflect it (NOT FUN! You
take about 800 damage from a reflected NukeMore! Even more if there's
multiple Chomps!). Have Main use his gun, hopefully with SilverTip or
other good ammo, and everyone else use swords on these, or get their
Cards and make them leave the fight whenever you see them (by trying to
contact them again).
All the other enemies (Karen, ETC.) will fall to one shot of NukeMore,
making it the most overpowered spell in any game, except for NukeMost
which you don't even get to see for awhile. And you'll be using it A
LOT, as the Karma Palace is ridiculously complicated. There's trapdoors
in certain passages that you need to fall into to get to other places,
and there's 9 floors in it!
Try to get through it yourself for now, since that's the end of this
version :-) If you have trouble, feel free to write me at
cgalliher@cablespeed.com.
*After you get Virgo, you've pretty much exhausted any use that Herbs
and Ribopitans might have - instead, spend the money on SpellRocks and
other SP-healing items.
*SP is a valuable commodity, but not exactly a rare one. Walking around
restores it at quite a high rate, so don't worry TOO much about using
magic.
*On the other hand, don't squander your SP on useless magic like
CeaseHeal.
*Weapons are generally crap in Persona, however try to stay updated with
the times, as without a doubt you'll find some magic-immune foes
anywhere you go.
This FAQ, as well as quite a few others, was written by Katman. Katman
can be reached at cgalliher@cablespeed.com. Plagarism is not acceptable,
though if you ask any of my information may be used in your guide or
website.
PIDL:
*I don't like...er...um...heck, I dunno. I'm in a pretty good mood
recently. Someone needs to do something to make me not like them.
*Oh, wait. I don't like Osama Bin Laden.
*Yeah, me and the rest of the country. He'll be dead before the end of
the year, I'll wager.
Everyone favorite ball of typing fluff, Katman resides in Maryland,
where he hides in a cave known as the 'computer room' and types
ridiculous video game guides, preferably to win FAQ bounties from
www.gamefaqs.com.
*FAQs written by Katman (in chronological order): Xenogears FAQ; Fallout
2 FAQ/Walkthrough; Azure Dreams GBC FAQ/Walkthrough; Sanity - Aiken's
Artifact FAQ/Walkthrough (FAQ bounty); Sacrifice FAQ/Walkthrough;
Robopon: Sun Version FAQ/Walkthrough (FAQ bounty)
*FAQs in progress: Revelations: Persona (PSX, this document); Metal
Walker (GBC); Project Justice (Dreamcast); Assorted character guides for
Project Justice
*Real Name: Cory Galliher
*Age: 15 (You got a problem, punk? :-)
