Honestly, it's a little hard to believe that the Re-Endurance Run has actually lasted long enough to justify this Fourth and Final thread. The real test of interest may just be beginning, however, as we come back from a week-long break brought on by the general insanity and deluge of content provided by the annual E3 coverage. Regardless, as long as the comments keep coming, the Re-ER will continue until it ends. Anyone who feels so inclined is still perfectly welcome to drop in and comment on whatever episode they feel like! Just remember to keep your spoilers marked for the benefit of people watching for the first time.
Duder, it's over!
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Game » consists of 5 releases. Released Jul 10, 2008
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 is a role-playing game developed and published by Atlus for the PlayStation 2. It is chronologically the fifth installment in the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series. Like its predecessor, its gameplay combines a traditional role-playing game with elements of a social simulation. Its critical and commercial success spawned a sizable media empire, including several spinoff titles.
Re-Endure the Persona 4 Endurance Run: Finale!
Edited By Make_Me_Mad
Honestly, it's a little hard to believe that the Re-Endurance Run has actually lasted long enough to justify this Fourth and Final thread. The real test of interest may just be beginning, however, as we come back from a week-long break brought on by the general insanity and deluge of content provided by the annual E3 coverage. Regardless, as long as the comments keep coming, the Re-ER will continue until it ends. Anyone who feels so inclined is still perfectly welcome to drop in and comment on whatever episode they feel like! Just remember to keep your spoilers marked for the benefit of people watching for the first time.
Duder, it's over!
Consider my hand raised. I'll be watching these 'til the end, the additional commentary is icing on an already-great cake. I remember my B-team blazing through this dungeon when I came back to it; made me wish I took Naoto the first time.
Though I wonder: what are those floating things on the sides of the paths supposed to be?
Episode 120! When I was hoping for something to break up this dungeon crawling, I didn't mean fusing.
Nothing quite as entertaining as accidentally fusing something awesome, and I'm glad that they noticed how good Tam Lin and Garuda are. Naoto and Chie swap places again for the second dungeon climb, Fox gets paid, and that open room on the fourth floor has 100% less minibosses that I was expecting. It's almost too bad that Nanako didn't have a bitchy shadow version, because that girl's life was bad enough that she could have had some really terrible ammunition. (They pretty much covered that territory in Zettai Hero Project, though, and it's roughly as heartbreaking as you'd expect...)
The dungeon crawling continues to be a little dull, but does anyone else think Vinny and Jeff's luck when it comes to finding those Gold hand enemies is a little outstanding? I must have only seen three or four of those things my first time through the game... Chie's ice continues to have even more disappointing damage output than I recalled, though, and there's a nasty ambush at about 47:30. Aside from a particularly cruel mix of enemies with that light/dark battle and the dice, there's really not a ton to discuss in this episode aside from the progressively less underleveled nature of the Investigation Team.
@Devoid:
I always assumed that was a byproduct of Nanako making the dungeon. It's heaven, so stuff has to look cool, and when kids want things to look cool they either add spikes or make it fly.
Episode 121! Now this is how you clear an old dungeon... Live!
Another one of those things that makes me wish I'd been on this site sooner- live Endurance Running! Fox being upset on the first day of Nanako's dungeon is rough, but the Secret Lab could use some clearing out with the little SP the Investigation Team has left. The mini-bombcast makes a return, with all of the talk from Vinny reminding me I need to rewatch the Cryostasis Quick Look and Jeff discussing his appearance on X-Play. Sometimes I forget that these things are two years old, but the talk about upcoming games like Bayonetta and Modern Warfare 2, and thenotion that Dark Void was looking like a great game brought me back into the moment.
Talking about terrible movies covers up the rather interesting development of Vinny heading down through multiple floors without battling everything in sight! He passes through a few of them without a single battle- it's akin to watching someone taking their first steps. Next time, Bonus Boss!
@Azteck:
Zettai Hero Project is what happens when the team responsible for Makai Kingdom and Disgaea decide to make a Roguelike. It's not directly related to Persona 4, but one of the characters is definitely a reference to Nanako, as she looks the same, has the same Voice Actress, and always calls her brother "bro". The main difference being that she wants her brother dead. Hearing what is essentially Nanako talking about how much she hates her Big Bro is kind of freaky and depressing...
@XII_Sniper:
I'm going slowly for the crowd! I could marathon the ER in two weeks, but I'd be a wrecked, hollow shell of a man by the end.
@mutha3:
Low damage or no, it gets the job done when the time comes to knock some dudes over.
Episode 122! An entire old dungeon + Bonus Boss finished in about 1 hour. I'm so proud.
I like the decision to take on the boss without moderate amounts of SP. For a tank with only two major tricks up it's sleeve, though, this boss can be a pretty huge pain in the ass. Yosuke is making himself useful with the overpowered wind spells, but Garuda is just doing terrible damage, and I'm really not sure why. Even Chie's Bufula is outdoing it, and the boss isn't even weak to ice! Some nice juggling between Rangda and Garuda to cancel out the attacks, but Vinny was really pushing his luck on a few of those. That double-cast of Rebellion was a little bit odd, though... And Chie manages to outdo a Tarukaja'd Garudyne from Garuda. This is bizarre...
I like that Jeff and Vinny have sort of switched places from their old positions on playing offensively and defensively. Jeff calling for healing when the boss is on the ropes, and Vinny wanting to throw caution to the wind and lay on the attacks... And then they immediately reverse again once Power Charge comes out! Naoto gets a spiffy new gun, the Algernon, and it's time to start fusing again. Luckily, they pretty much instantly make a great White Rider! ...That horse is pretty F'in creepy, though. Really not happy about all the superfluous eyes on that thing.
Episode 123! Naoto gets another chance to prove herself worthy of Chie's place on the A-team... there's something fishy about that.
I'll let it pass as the allure of a character who uses a gun, especially since as soon as they get back into the dungeon over the now-crushed feelings of Naoki and Yumi they immediately start pointing out all the ways that Naoto disappoints them. I have to admit that it was not an especially strong showing on her part, aside from Mudoon and Hamaon hitting pretty often. Those Light Balance enemies really steal the show, though, as I'm pretty sure their insta-kill spells have hit more often than they've missed now. Wiping out Naoto in the very next battle after she'd gotten some new and improved hand-me-down armor was fantastic, but troubling. I still don't know what madness made them unequip White Rider in that fight but at least they made it through mostly intact.
Getting jumped by the Green Sigil/Silent Nyogo combo was plain bad luck, as even though Jeff worked out a good way to handle Makarakarn it was a little too late to prevent getting catching an almighty attack to the collective face of the Investigation Team. That thing always seems so much more effective when the enemies are casting it... The Midboss, World Balance, isn't anywhere near as much of a problem as he could have been because for some reason bosses make very poor decisions when up against Jeff and Vinny. The only damage taken during that entire battle was from Chie using Heat Wave, but the double Green Sigil encounter more than makes up for the life they didn't lose against the boss. The guys set foot on Floor 8, Rise makes some ridiculous leaps of logic, and it's time to leave the dungeon for some serious discussion about paying Fox.
Tomorrow - Daisoujou!
I'm with the guys. I thought that there'd only be 7 floors in this dungeon.
And c'mon, I can't be the only person watching this! I'll be gone all weekend, and if this thread dies, I'm gonna be really disappointed in all of you lurkers.
EDIT: Noooooo, they dumped Masukukaja.. I can't believe it!
Episode 124! Running up these floors like madmen can't possibly backfire!
Turns out that getting ambushed by enemies with party-wide attacks is bad. I still wish that they would have eventually noticed how much SP they were losing from exhaustion in that fight, because I cringe every time they assume it's just HP damage. By this point the status effects should start becoming obvious! Chie lives up to my expectations by not doing a ton of damage, but still knocking the enemies over and ensuring a quick, easy victory. The Jotun of Blood would be a way more interesting enemy if the Wall spells it had didn't narrow down what it's real weakness was, but physical attacks work well enough on it not to bother, I think. The game is just hurling these steps at the Investigation Team today, and they're at the boss floor before long, where it's time to punch out and most definitely not level up the B-Team. Vinny was sounding pretty depressed after just hearing the idea.
The best place to go to prepare for a boss fight is always the Velvet Room, to make some terrible fusing decisions. Granted, they couldn't have known just how great Makarakarn is for this particular boss battle, but it's still all kinds of useful! Tune in tomorrow for some Nanako rescuing, boss fighting action! And seriously people, comment. This is just getting ridiculous.
@Devoid:
The number of floors in these dungeons always seemed kind of arbitrary. I'd like to know the reasoning behind the decisions to make the dungeons as long or short as they are.
Such a shame that they do make Daisoujou... then never use him.
EDIT: Noooooo, they dumped Masukukaja.. I can't believe it!
Yeah, that was soooooooo dumb, they ditched it in favor of frickin' sonic punch! a move they probably haven't used in, like, 50 episodes!
Their worst Yosuke-related decision hasn't come up yet, though:
wind break(which they ended up using maybe twice)over BRAVE BLADE(by far Yosuke's strongest attack)
@Make_Me_Mad
said:Every other party member can do the same thing, but better, though! because of their higher SP pools('cept Kanji) and the fact that they can deal damage on top of that.Chie lives up to my expectations by not doing a ton of damage, but still knocking the enemies over and ensuring a quick, easy victory.
Unless you mean over Naoto, to which I say: eh. Naoto's mamudoon can take out 2/3rds of the enemies in one go, because insta-kills is actually really useful in SMT games. Too bad they seem to scared to use it(even though it has hit almost every single they've used it, they've had scary high luck with that!).
Oh, and enemies can be weak to light/dark, so I'd say it evens out. I don't think either is very useful, though.
@Make_Me_Mad
said:......Can't you say that about pretty much every dungeon in a rpg, though? They're usually around 10 floors in length in P4. The only exception being Yukiko, who had 8 or so floors, I believe.
@Devoid: The number of floors in these dungeons always seemed kind of arbitrary. I'd like to know the reasoning behind the decisions to make the dungeons as long or short as they are.
And man, where are you bitches promising to go along for the ride>:(
Yosuke is making himself useful with the overpowered wind spells, but Garuda is just doing terrible damage, and I'm really not sure why.Oh, haven't been keeping up the past week, so that's why I didn't see this before, but I can explain this:
Level acts partly as a damage modifier+ Garuda's low magic+ that boss took less damage from wind even though he's weak to it(Yeah, they never say it, but some enemies have that inherent resistance, Yosuke wind does way less damage as usual as well in that fight).
Episode 125! I can think of a lot of spells that would have been useful in this fight...
Boss battle on the top floor of Heaven! First, though, they need to talk Namatame down from his current position: having Nanako in a damn choke hold. Not a strong showing for the dialogue options here, as yelling at the dangerous crazy person with the hostage is the only way to proceed. Namatame manages to not give pretty much any answers that mean anything, and the team continues to jump to the worst possible conclusions, so it isn't long before Kanji and Yosuke get in there and shoulder-tackle him while Charlie grabs Nanako. Shadows show up to make sure everyone's day is ruined and Namatame quickly ends up transformed into... something. I think Vinny put it best : "...What."
As far as the actual Boss fight goes, whiffing attacks seems to be the order of the day at first. If only they could raise their hit rates and/or evasion... Still doing decent damage to the weird alien clock Jesus, though, and those Magatamas have the best attack animations - it's too bad the actual skills that use those animations are Persona-specific and can't be passed via fusing. Quad Converge proceeds to turn this fight bad in a hurry, but Jeff and Vinny do a surprisingly good job of keeping everyone in one piece throughout. Cutting it kind of close with the healing on a few of those turns, though.
The Mind Control skill didn't cause them too many problems, but it's a good thing Yosuke didn't continue casting after that Quad Converge kicked in. He rejoins the team once the control skill wears off, but it's a little too late for everyone involved as some poor healing decisions end with 3/4 of the party in a heap after the next Magarudyne. Tomorrow, rematch in 10th Paradise~! Do not miss it!
@mutha3:
It's just that I was under the impression, for some reason, that Garuda did great damage. After my first watch of the Endurance Run I remember specifically thinking that he was really great, so rewatching this bit now and seeing him be kind of terrible is weird. I might have just been thinking of the damage he does during Quad Converge, come to think of it...
And about the dungeon lengths, I just meant that it would be cool to hear why they made them the lengths they did. Yukiko's Castle is the first, so making it shorter than most makes sense, for instance, and Naoto's is a bit short presumably because of the backtracking required. I'd just like to see what was taken into consideration when they were making these.
Yeah, Kunino-Sagiri is pretty great. Probably my favorite boss in the game to fight, and I totally forgot to mention it up there, but the music during the fight with him is pretty fantastic.
I just love Jeff and Vinny's knee jerk reaction to that thing. It has been forever melded into my mind as one of the funniest moments in anything, ever.
*smoke clears*
*silence*
Vinny:........wat
Jeff:*fart noise*
@Make_Me_Mad said:
You're not misremembering. Remember the next dungeon? That's when Jeff and Vinny finally come to a realization:
@mutha3: It's just that I was under the impression, for some reason, that Garuda did great damage. After my first watch of the Endurance Run I remember specifically thinking that he was really great, so rewatching this bit now and seeing him be kind of terrible is weird. I might have just been thinking of the damage he does during Quad Converge, come to think of it... And about the dungeon lengths, I just meant that it would be cool to hear why they made them the lengths they did. Yukiko's Castle is the first, so making it shorter than most makes sense, for instance, and Naoto's is a bit short presumably because of the backtracking required. I'd just like to see what was taken into consideration when they were making these.
"hey...all these physical skills we're getting....which take up almost half of the total skill count in the game......are pretty good?"
You're not crazy! Garuda is good with the phys(actually, there's better, but seeing how they skimped out on using phys skills the entire game, he was all they got at the time.)
Episode 126! Suspiciously appropriate dream about the Death S. Link there.
So, that last rescue attempt went every kind of bad. In gearing up for the rematch, some big changes are underway, such as not paying Fox, buying some healing items, and ditching Charlie's current accessory for a shiny Patient Collar so that if they do happen to die again, it won't be permanent. The first time, at least. Tam Lin and Garuda get called out again, and Jeff's obsessive focus on Persona 4 has allowed him to glean the strategy of repelling Kunino-Sagiri's magic attacks back at him during Quad Converge. I don't think they ever get a chance to put that plan into effect thanks to the elemental Break spells that the boss loves so much, but still, it's a good plan.
We'll breeze past the pre-fight dialogue and cutscene and get right to the part where everyone misses the boss. Black Frost has a spell for every occassion, though, and lowering the Hit/Evasion rate seems to be doing the trick as far as making sure other people's attacks hit. I say other people's attacks because Black Frost still manages to miss pretty often when it would be really useful not to. The Items start coming out before long, although none of the items that they went out of their way to buy- I can't help but be amazed they've been playing this long without finding a Magic Mirror at some point, because one of those really would have come in handy in this battle. Still, they're doing much better than last time, even if it takes them the better part of 36 minutes to realize that they've had a Persona with Mediarahan this whole time.
Yosuke using Tentarafoo on the party after he gets controlled was pretty great, but it would have been even better if it had totally whiffed instead of only hitting Charlie. The party-wide Control is even better for Chie using up her Power Charge to kick Charlie in the face, though. Also, I've never heard of Yukiko actually using Diarahan on the boss, but... can that really happen? That seems like it would be pretty much the worst thing ever. Unerring Justice comes out once the boss is really starting to hurt, but is actually way less dangerous than a Quad Converge spell, and at that point Namtame has nothing left up his sleeve to pose a problem. Black Frost lands the final attack, the boss disperses, and everyone gets carted out of the Midnight Channel in more-or-less alright condition.
Unfortunately, Nanako is deathly ill, for some reason! Charlie's family is going to be in the hospital for a while, it looks like, and the rest of the Investigation Team seems to be pretty content to go about their usual business after doing some obligatory whining. Kanji imitations there were priceless... and since Namatame is in bad shape as well, the only thing left to do is sit around until someone recovers! Also, note the original use of 'Creepy Raper Guy' to describe someone.
Tomorrow... Social Links and waiting.
Episode 127. How do you feel about fusion accidents and hanging out with the ladies?
It's time to S. Link, which means that Charlie's going to need to hit the Velvet Room to make a Socializing lineup. I do love that they went in with a clear idea of exactly what Persona they needed and still wound up with only one of them, and even then only because Igor screwed it up. Pulling the rest out via the compendium works too, though, and I love Jeff's dig at the comments section. "Hey, don't be mean."
Hanging out with Naoto proves, once again, that Vinny and Jeff aren't the best detectives in the world, but if you've got a riddle you want handled it's another story entirely. Kashiwagi covers some biology and makes the classroom awkward again, Vinny buys some more items he'll probably never use, and the Nurse collapses from exhaustion! You can almost feel the disappointment at where this Social Link has gone. Rise is still freaking out a bit over her various personalities at Rank 9, but overall this whole "everyone I love is dying" thing has worked out pretty well for Charlie's chances with the ladies. There's really not a lot going on in this post-dungeon period, but hey, tomorrow they're working on a model. Yeah!
Now that there's the great new video page, I should start getting caught up from where I left off. Now, if only I can remember where I left off...
This ER might still be one of the most entertaining series that GB [or any site] has ever done. I can still randomly pull up an episode of this ER and be entertained by the game play, story and Vinny's/Jeff's reactions. Though some of the fuse heavy episodes make me kind of sleepy, the velvet room music is just too soothing.
I might have to play this game again soon, New Game Plus; Round 2!
I wish there was some kind of proper playlist for it, using the vid-player on Giantbomb just shows everything from the end to the beginning instead of doing it from episode 1 and all the way to the end. All I want is to click one thing and it opens the playlist in whatever player it decides to use :(
i wanted to see their reaction when Charlie goes into the meat dimension.... its too bad
vids not working for me...There have been a lot of video issues lately. I try to have them embedded two different ways, but there's never a guarantee it'll work without some degree of prayer to the Whiskey Media technical teams.
@mutha3 said:
lol at the sudden influx of comments after this feature's appearance on the front page.Ha, you kidder, you. There's no way this dinky operation could have made it to the front page.
...Oh good lord. I feel so... inadequate.
@the_OFFICIAL_jAPanese_teaBAG said:
i wanted to see their reaction when Charlie goes into the meat dimension.... its too badThere's always the chance they'll send Brad and Ryan through Persona 4 with the New Game + file one of these days... isn't there?
Quick little question.. I have had this since launch and played maybe 30minutes of it and seemed to never have gone back. Should I watch the endurance run before i play again or play then watch? IV already destroyed Persona3Fes twice and persona1 on psp. just wondering if watching the endurance run before i play would ruin anything."Besides the ending which i would stop before i got to it to play if i did watch first to not spoil how everything ends.
Kay, so I'm back and all caught up, and.. Woah, look at all these comments! That's great.
@mutha3 said:
Their worst Yosuke-related decision hasn't come up yet, though:
wind break(which they ended up using maybe twice)over BRAVE BLADE(by far Yosuke's strongest attack)
WHAT. Actually, I'm glad you told me that now.. I would have blown a damn fuse seeing that.
@McShank:
Depends on how much time you have. In my case, playing the game first was the way to go.
Episode 128! All of this peace, quiet and Social Linking is enough to make you wish for another kidnapping.
Nothing helps you get over the feeling that you're ruining the lives of everyone you love like the shopping channel and Tanaka! If you were even a little surprised they took the shoes over the Reisen Brace, you haven't been paying nearly enough attention. Rise's link isn't hitting Rank 10 without some work, but Naoto is still as willing to hang out as ever. I love the voices they used for Naoto in the hall there came pretty close to their Jack Frost impersonations, but not as much as I love Ryan's timely interjection while they're stumped by another damn riddle. Vinny and Jeff have totally different ideas about where this S. Link is heading, and it's hilarious to know which one of them is actually right while Vinny freaks out about their decisions.
The Final Lesson conveniently maxes out Charlie's understanding, leaving Diligence as the only stumbling block left in their Social Stats. Mrs. Nakayama still sounds like she's one minor disappointment away from offing herself in front of the whole class, but she at least dishes out some interesting trivia this time. Naoto's next S. Link brings another riddle to the table, and even Google isn't cracking this one for the guys. It does provide them with some decidedly disturbing Fan Fiction, though, and I can't contain my curiosity over what exactly Jeff stumbled across that creeped him out so much. With the Internet a total bust on this one, the only thing left to do is agree with Naoto like an idiot. Fortunately, that's what you're supposed to do!
The Meat Dimension is still off limits, but the Devil Nurse decides she's finally had enough of Inaba and takes off, but not before giving Charlie some inspirational life advice and her old I.D. badge. More importantly, they've now got access (not that they'll ever use it) to Beelzebub, one of my personal favorites. Rainy weather finally sets in, forcing a fishing trip due to the lack of available people to hang out with. The Tutoring position is open, however, and Vinny and Jeff decide to give it a shot for the sake of more S. Links. I have to admit, I've never bothered with Shu's Social Link myself, so the tiny amount of time they spend mocking him is actually all I've seen. Still don't like that kid. They got the Tower link for spending time with him, though, and the pay is pretty excellent. The episode ends the right way - with more Tanaka and some behind the scenes Whiskey Media talk about the Endurance Run.
@McShank:
On the one hand, watching it first ensures you'll be surprised by all the crazy things that happen along with Jeff and Vinny. Playing it first, though, means you get to look forward to their reactions and enjoy their speculation about things that you already know about. Depends on how you want it, I guess!
@dprabon:
I constantly fear that the next Endurance Run will be a Members Only affair thanks to how time and resource consuming they are. On the other hand, it might finally get me to empty my poor wallet for a membership...
Oh wow, I just noticed:
That "Awakening", the song that plays when Charlie first gets his persona, is totally the same song as when Namatame's all buggin' out and absorbing shadows and stuff. If that's not some incredibly subtle foreshadowing, I dunno what is.
Anyway, I think I found that fanfic Jeff was talking about.. I'd advise against typing 'naoto riddle persona' into google.
Episode 129. How do you feel about fog?
Looks like Charlie missed the last chance to get into the Meat Dimension, because the weather for the foreseeable future is indeed some "Endgame-looking fog". As a matter of fact, stifling amounts of creepy as hell fog seem to be the order of the episode, as the entire town takes on a vaguely threatening yellow hue. Adachi interrupts before anyone on the Investigation Team can think too hard about it and lets everyone know that Nanako can have visitors. He also lets some sketchy information about Namatame fly, and Yosuke is again flying off the handle about a girl he barely knew. That guy has some serious anger issues.
Nanako's hospital room is getting pretty crowded, but the support isn't helping her recover any faster and she's looking way more rough than would be expected for a simple case of TV Exhaustion. If you remember that last time we saw that the hospital and the doctors are terrible, you won't be extremely surprised to find out that it's still the case. Fog-related health problems... Namatame, meanwhile, has regained consciousness but isn't in great shape either. On top of supposedly being deadly, the fog is also preventing the delivery of medical supplies to the hospital! Is there anything that this fog can't screw up?!
Leaving the investigation team to check on the town at large again, the citizens are getting more and more freaked out by the fog and the rumors about it's suspected harmful effects. It's gotten to the point where gas masks are a hot selling item and people are avoiding the streets to stay out of the fog, and that's not even getting into the political ramblings and paranoia. Honestly, it's a little creepy just for how bizarre it is. And remember, if you say Adachi's name three times in the fog, he shows up and tells you something he's not supposed to.
Charlie is still doing his damndest to max his diligence, hospitalized family or no. Mr. Yamada continues being kind of sleazy, Dave drops by to remind the guys of some sage advice, and Naoto's S. Link is totally locked into friend-zone mode because of the minor difference between attacking a dude with a knife and defending Naoto from said dude with a knife. The best part is the comments section of the episode, in which people are claiming left and right that this has ruined the entire Endurance Run for them. People sure were picky when they were doing this thing...
Mr. Hosoi gives an ominously appropriate question about being in the Eleventh Hour, which I always thought was a nice touch here, and Rise finally decides she's ready for Rank 10. That whole 'visiting your dying cousin in the hospital' thing is great for the Social life. Turns out she's decided to get back in the idol business after all, but I sincerely hope she gets a different manager this time around. Preferably one with less of a penchant for stalking. She pulls a nice reversal on the hug situation, and the game throws out it's usual innuendo with the surprisingly effective "......" method. The school teaches the guys a little something about Christmas in Japan, Jeff decides they need to do some more tutoring despite the kid and his mom both being really unpleasant to be around, and the town is still covered in crazy amounts of yellow fog. Midterms are fast approaching, and there's no telling what could happen after that...
@Devoid:
Crap, I never noticed that either! Nice catch, and yeah, that's got to be some kind of subtle clue.
They can't get away with putting that behind a pay-wall. Not even companies like Atlus or Ignition would let them get away with that. Rightfully, I might add.
@dprabon: I constantly fear that the next Endurance Run will be a Members Only affair thanks to how time and resource consuming they are. On the other hand, it might finally get me to empty my poor wallet for a membership...
@Make_Me_Mad said:I'm actually really glad you mention that, because I can't help but think I actually made this same argument about half a year ago and then completely forgot how much sense it made somewhere down the line.They can't get away with putting that behind a pay-wall. Not even companies like Atlus or Ignition would let them get away with that. Rightfully, I might add.
@dprabon: I constantly fear that the next Endurance Run will be a Members Only affair thanks to how time and resource consuming they are. On the other hand, it might finally get me to empty my poor wallet for a membership...
Episode 130! This game sure does like to swing the mood on you...
The week of midterms may be a precursor to the real action in this episode, but some interesting and troubling gossip is revealed therein. The Midnight Channel has apparently become visible even without the rainy nights stipulation, and people have been seeing the town destroyed and/or sucked into the fog and disappearing, which is probably a really bad sign. Dave drops in to get briefed on the Inaba situation and is startled at the amount of girlfriends Charlie's managed to amass, but as is the case with a decent amount of the Giant Bomb offices, he quickly decides that Chie is the correct choice. Kanji manages to figure out that the Midnight Channel glasses clear away the fog in town, and Chie comes up with a theory that the fog covering the town is actually coming out of the TV world itself... Midterms end, but things aren't looking good by any stretch.
The rest of the team seems way more worried about the police's odds of being able to put Namatame away, but Charlie quickly diverts this depressing train of thought into a shopping trip to fulfill his pre-kidnapping promise with Nanako to buy a new kotatsu. There are callbacks, obscure Japanese traditions, Chie and Yosuke start arguing and Dave talks about chocolate birds and Luna Lovegood. It all seems like good times and Jack Frost dolls up until Adachi calls, which sends things right back into downer territory because Nanako has suddenly taken a turn for the worse.
The Investigation Team heads to the hospital, but the townspeople remain in hysterics over the fog and the doctors still can't help with or even come up with a cause for Nanako's worsening condition. Adachi comes by and mentions that there's very little chance of convicting Namatame for the murders, in no small part due to the bizarre nature of the Midnight Channel and how unbelievable his confession would be in court. Kanji plans to show him the truth then and there, but Nanako is in bad shape, and Charlie gets called in to talk to her... while he still has a chance. You can feel the awkwardness from Jeff and Vinny there for a while, and the entire team is in despair thanks to the tragic turn of events... but Dojima appears to be heading off to take revenge on Namatame himself, so there's no time for standing around crying.
The team (minus Teddie) arrive just after Dojima gets escorted away by the police at the door of Namatame's room, and end up going inside themselves after a noise from inside. Namatame's apparently fallen from his bed, and seems to have totally lost his mind, not doing much more than shaking and occasionally mumbling out a few words. His shadow appears on the hospital TV, apparently over the Midnight Channel, and makes some statements inflamatory enough to cause Kanji, Naoto and Yosuke to decide to finish him off themselves with his own method of tossing him into the TV world and leaving him to die. The rest of the team is obviously against this, despite Yosuke trying to convince them to either help or leave the room and not interfere, and it comes down to Charlie to talk him down.
Jeff and Vinny still manage to make the tense situation entertaining, and also provide a nice train of thought on making the correct choices to avoid the Bad Ending. Yosuke still comes off as a gigantic asshole in this part, considering he won't listen to the reasoning of the guy who just had his cousin/little sister die in front of him and still manages to be calm enough to know murder isn't the way to go. The situation is defused, though, and there's some shocking news from the direction of Nanako's room. Apparently she just kind of came back to life, with no help on the part of the hospital staff, and they seem totally okay with this turn of events and not curious in the least as to what caused it. Remember that part about these doctors being terrible? Yeah. At least Vinny and Jeff make their incompetence hilarious.
Teddie seems to be missing now, however, but it seems like things are going better with the Fool S. Link maxed, Nanako alive again, and the team is planning to interrogate him about all of this craziness once he recovers a bit. Normal Ending, here we come! It is pretty depressing to see that scene where Charlie checks his cell messages and sees nothing... this is what happens when you ignore your non-Investigation Team social links, I guess. Vinny does a fine bit of advocating is anti-revenge-murder stance when the game is saved, and tomorrow we're on the road to whatever the hell happens next...
"You know how long I had to wait here in this cop outfit to get you in the TV? Bad Ending." - Probably my new favorite line of the Endurance Run.
this is on the community feature on the side. i finally finished this endurance run a few months back and reading the description brings me back...
Charlie being the one who makes the team snap out of it sort of bothers me. He's the garriest stew of a gary stu there is. This scene is a key example of why silent protagonists get on my nerves.
His overall reaction to Nanako's death is idiotic.
.......Not as idiotic as Nanako coming back to life for no reason, though. That is why I consider this scene simultaneously the best and worst in P4.
@Make_Me_Mad said:
Emotions were running high, at the time Namatame seemed like the killer, and he was going to get away with it and potentially make even more victims. They had a minute or two to make a critical decision--
Jeff and Vinny still manage to make the tense situation entertaining, and also provide a nice train of thought on making the correct choices to avoid the Bad Ending. Yosuke still comes off as a gigantic asshole in this part, considering he won't listen to the reasoning of the guy who just had his cousin/little sister die in front of him and still manages to be calm enough to know murder isn't the way to go.
I think his reaction is totally understandable in that context.
Episode 131! I think the Investigation Team makes more progress in this single episode than they ever have before.
Teddie is missing, Nanako is alive again, and Igor and Margaret even take the time to call Charlie back for another visit in his dreams. It's kind of a bummer to see how barren their Non-Investigation Team/Dojima Family Social Links are, as the devil Nurse is consistently pretty much the only person to pop up in scenes like this. The Velvet Room/Limo decides to park for the time being in the Nebula, but before they can really get into the significance of this Yosuke wakes Charlie up to freak out over Teddie's disappearance. The Investigation Team meets up at the Junes as usual, and the missing bear quickly takes a backseat next to unraveling the nature of Namatame's involvement in the case.
There's some interesting back and forth among the team here, and it's becoming more and more likely that Namatame either wasn't working alone or wasn't even attempting to kill someone to begin with! Of course Jeff and Vinny manage to lose the thread of the conversation before too much longer and end up accidentally accusing Misuzu Hiragi, who I'm almost positive they don't even remember anymore. Did they think they were accusing Namatame's alibi or something...? Anyways, they get it right the next time, and the warning letters Charlie got make it pretty clear that someone or something else is definitely involved in the case besides Namatame and the Investigation Team. Since this is all just speculation based on the clues at hand, though, it's time to get into the hospital and confirm all this with Namatame himself...
...Which turns out to be way easier than it had any right to be. With the police indisposed, sadly not by a break dancing Kanji, the entire team storms the hospital room and begins questioning the hell out of Namatame. I hadn't mentioned this before from not wanting to spoil anything, but Namatame really is one of my favorite characters from this game hands down. He's got a pretty tragic story going on, and I find it hilarious that Vinny pretty much nailed it with his "So he's just like a really bad Investigation Team?". Turns out that Namatame isn't responsible for the deaths of Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi at all! The first time he threw anyone into the TV world was when he kidnapped Yukiko, and he only did that because he thought it was the only way to keep the real killer from reaching her. The fact that she returned to the real world some time later, totally unharmed, convinced him that it was the right thing to do and that he needed to continue protecting people from the killer in that manner.
It seems like all of this could have been resolved by him just sticking his head into the TV at some point to see what it really looked like in there, but finally entering it during the Nanako incident pretty much drove him crazy. He seems to be doing better now, aside from the realization of what his actions truly caused destroying the last shred of self confidence and will to live he had left. There's a true killer still on the loose, though, and it's more than a little troubling that the real culprit is so good at covering his tracks that it's taken 80+ hours of the game to realize they even existed. The only thing to do now is try and pick up clues about the first two murders, both now more than half a year old, and the suspect list is only getting larger... though Jeff seems to have already locked in on a suspect by process of elimination via Social Link, despite Vinny's staunch rejection of the theory.
Tomorrow... Investigating!
@mutha3:
I'm just saying, the person in that room who would have been the most justified in wanting Namatame dead was staunchly against it, and Yosuke still felt the need to argue it out. Kanji and Naoto were idiots for being okay with the murder too, of course, so it's not just him that was being an inconsiderate ass, but he is the one you have to directly argue against to calm everyone down. All in all, that whole scene felt really weird, because I never took any of those three as the type to jump straight to revenge killing.
It also doesn't help that I like Namatame a lot, despite the long list of mistakes he made that led him to assume he was saving everyone by chucking them into a mysterious TV world that he'd never even seen for himself.
@mutha3
: I'm just saying, the person in that room who would have been the most justified in wanting Namatame dead was staunchly against it,
Charlie doesn't really have any emotions in the first place, though:p
And, besides, killing Namatame kind of made sense rationally in a way, too. What if Charlie was full of shit and Namatame really was the killer? Welp, they just lost their only chance to make he sure he doesn't throw someone in again. Whether he did it or not(and given the information they had the time+the state of mind they were in, I can't blame 'em for thinking he was ) I can't say the idea of throwing Namatame in is really that much of a stretch for these characters, or really, anyone in that situation.
Episodes 132 and 133! They're both short and center around the revelation of the real killer's identity, so it'd be downright irresponsible to pass up the chance to do a double episode today.
Episode 132 starts off with Vinny running out of inventive intros (but he's still pretty good at it) and a frustrating Investigation scene. The fog seems to have set in on the streets and in the people's minds, as anyone who hasn't gone downright crazy and started screaming about conspiracies is pretty much rambling about whatever they think of. 'Whatever they think of' invariably being not the murders, and the only things anyone is able discover are that no one saw anyone suspicious and that everyone has already forgotten any details they might have picked up back when the incidents happened. The Investigation Team meets up at Aiya, because steaks and beef bowls help every investigation along.
It's not long before the disappointing investigation results drive Charlie and Naoto outside to think. Yosuke follows, but I think he was just feeling left out of the Smart People group. I love Jeff's exasperation at Vinny X-pushing his way past the criteria they need to look at to decide who the killer is- the clues are pretty clearly pointing in one direction, though. Mental stumble for Vinny there trying to remember the circumstances around Namatame's kidnapping of Nanako, but it's quickly cleared up and we reach the absolute highlight of the episode- The Suspect List! One of my very favorite touches in the game, the staggering number of possible names is what every mystery game needs. I wish there was some more elaboration on every possible choice, but I'm still always tempted to reload this part and select every available name to see what they say about each accusation. One day...
The list of suspects is indeed vast and infinite, and several of the identities are a total mystery to Jeff and Vinny, including Misuzu Hiiragi! By this point you'd think they would have some idea... The joke about being able to choose yourself as the killer (which would be all kinds of awesome) forces Vinny to have to go back through the list to pick Adachi, and despite his goofy nature the rest of the team reveal some facts that they really should have brought up before and the Young Detective starts seeming more and more suspicious by the minute. Before any of these things can be confirmed, though, it turns out that Namatame's transfer is happening and the team has to rush to the hospital to, in the words of Jeff Gerstmann, "...go get a knife and get that guy!"
Episode 133 is a tense one. The team meets Adachi quickly and begin to question him in some... not so subtle ways. Great detective work there Naoto. Adachi does seem to have a reasonable answer for everything, but the ominous music pretty much gives the outcome of this scene away. Dojima appears, still injured, and even though he's pissed about Namatame being transferred without his approval and Adachi's odd behavior, our new prime suspect manages to play it off pretty well. The questioning from the Investigation Team manages to uncover some inconsistencies between Adachi's recollection of events and the recently revealed information about his meeting with Mayumi Yamano and interrogations of Saki Konishi.
Even the revelation that Adachi has apparently misplaced the warning letters to Dojima's house is pretty easily brushed off, so the team resorts to accusing Adachi directly. Surprisingly, this is what finally makes him slip up, and Naoto manages to spend more than a minute explaining a line earlier in the game that was a pretty cool discreet clue that he was the real killer... or it was, until the game decided to throw it in your face like this. Adachi manages to slip past the Investigation Team blockade and has, in all likelihood, slipped into the TV World via the TV from Namatame's room. Dojima gets dragged back to his room to recover and the team decides to go in from Junes tomorrow to look for Adachi. You know what this means... dungeons! But not before a very special Teddie episode of Person 4's Endurance Run.
@mutha3:
Charlie is pretty much a mild sociopath. At least he's a lot better than the old SMT protagonists- I still can't believe that Nakajima from that Megami Tensei OVA was considered a good guy.
... Good job.The list of suspects is indeed vast and infinite
One more episode until
I just wanted to say that the Endurance Run was pretty special to me.
During most of that time, I kind of unknowingly had a little bit of a routine going. I'd be in classes for 3-4 (long) hours of the day, come home and the first thing I'd do is grab a bite to eat and enjoy the new episode of the ER. A couple of my favorite gaming-site-dudes playing a really special game making me laugh after a long-ass day. I'll never forget it.
Please Log In to post.
This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:
Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.Comment and Save
Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.
Log in to comment