Endurance Run: Persona 4 - Part 63

You guys have to go for the TRUE ending. The other two endings won't reveal the truth behind all that happened. :)

I think you should have been using Rampage instead of Mabufu with Chie against the mages.  Combining that with some out of battle heals would have been a very efficient use of SP (as well as being a way to carry Sarasvati's regenration benifits over to the rest of the party's offence).  Also I haven't seen you guys use Assault Dive yet, for all you know it might do more damage than Skull Cracker.

Also I wouldn't ignore the choice of putting Kanji in the party to substitute if one of the characters was running low on SP.  Like the situation you were in just now with Yosuke.  It seemed wasteful to use all those TaPs for grinding.  Sure you'd have to use a Goho-M to pick up Kanji, but those things seem to be pretty cheap.

Thanks to Crispy for the spoiler-free ending tips. I certainly don't have to time to play through Persona 4 a second time (and still continue to play other games I really want to play), so I'm glad to see the basics of how to get there.

Long Episode HOORAYY!!!

The "skill" menu outside battle shows you every skill you can use regardless of what persona you have equipped at the time, so SOMEONE in your setup had Diarama even if it wasn't Sarasvati.

Don't worry, you didn't miss much, and you definitely broke even with all the XP you gained from the last upright moon plus the grinding XP. The best stuff you really get out of redoing dungeons is that the golden chests spawn again (so new loot), and the persona selection (get any new ones you missed), plus the mad cash.

If you get a reversed Arcana chance, it's best to battle until you get another Arcana chance. The effect of that Arcana chance overwrites the previous chance. That's why it's great to get an upright Hierophant, since that guarantees that the next one will go properly. So if you grab a Judgment after that, all your SP is refilled!

Were you left off. Ha, cheaters You played this episode yesterday dind´t you, right after the other one. Still 1 Hour i can´t complain, besides Galactic Punt is becoming my favorite skill :-)

"This is what we call, compellovision"

Dude Vinny, obviously you were only gunna get 1! shoulda listened to Jeff.

Those arcana challenges can be a real bitch sometimes.

Awesome Episode, i dont think the officer wouldve given that much exp, you got a lot with those battles where u had the extra xp.

I don't like Jeff's take of how japanese RPG should compromise just to appeal to a larger mass. The mass can suck GTA IV's, Gears Of Wars' , Call Of Duty's, Fallout 3's gonorhea-infected-cock. The JRPG norm IS what make a video game A GAME, and not A SIMULATION like aforementioned games. Of course everybody here knows this genre has been a garbage in the last few years, even letting a floodgate of repulsive western RPGs like Knights of The Old Republic, Nevermore Nights, Baldur's Gate to rise to prominence, but it doesn't mean the norms should be relinquished in any way. Atlus broke the ice with Shin Megami Tensei : Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga. This customization with the Personas is the biggest innovation they could ever come up with. Comparing appealing first-person-shooters to Shin Megami Tensei : Persona's serie is almost like comparing Green Day with Pat Metheny Group.

Oh Vinny, you think you are halfway done? LOL. You are probably a third of the way through......to the TRUE ending....By the way the boss was week to electricity, but I am not sure how much XP you passed up.

I dunno if this would've worked, but couldn't they have used a Goho-M after reaching the boss floor, then jumped right back in to the same floor and the effect would've been gone? Basically using a Goho-M to remove the effect?

it's fun to see people defend JRPG's, but i think they're totally insane.

* Good JRPG. I don't really care about Tales of Vesperia or Lost Oddysey, but changing the norms like Kingdom Hearts ? Yeah right, that game was a garbage.

I admit I laughed a little about the 1 exp thing. It's not like they totally missed out on a goldmine of experience, but Vinny got slightly depressed about it anyways. They'll get over it and forget it ever happened.

The best way to get rid of reverse arcana effects such as that one is to go back to Yukiko's castle and beat the weak little creatures there until it goes away.

@Coinmatz Yeah I cleared out cookies. Got to the end of this one and Vinnie, tough break man. Don't sell Kanji's weapon though.

Whiny JRPG kids need to suck a dong and go to bed. Deal with an opinion, kiddo's.

Anyways, I had the exact same thing happen to me when I faced the bonus boss in the Rise dungeon. It's not like you get a super amount of EXP for killing those optional bosses, anyways.

I hate to say it but that last fight was so aggravating to watch I was actually rooting for the cop by the end of it...and was kind of hoping you'd only get 1exp when you beat him.  First of all why wouldn't you even try Zio?  Second quit healing every turn if there is no chance in hell the guy is even going to down one of the characters.  Third pay attention to the damage you do with different attacks, Chie's regular kick was more effective than the Skull Basher crap and it didn't cost any of her HP which you guys would then waste SP on refilling.  Ugh.  Sorry the grinding stuff isn't fun to watch it is the story stuff that is funny.

Man that hurts. 1 EXP!

One of the easiest ways to counteract bad arcana effects when they hit the top would have been to go into Yukiko's dungeon, and rush enemies until a new Arcana card showed up or that one wore off.

"even letting a floodgate of repulsive western RPGs like Knights of The Old Republic, Nevermore Nights, Baldur's Gate to rise to prominence,"

Are you serious? I don't know what games you enjoy, but KotoR and Baldur's Gate were revolutionary rpg's.

God I hope RampageEndsHere is a troll.

Sheesh count up to 10!!!

Those games are piece of shits because it has its emphasis on the whole "Your decisions matter. Your actions affect the main story and the ending" bullshit. Who gives a crap about the main story and how i affect it ? JRPG ,especially Shin Megami Tensei : Nocturne , Persona ,etc have an insane depth on its customizations, how you can cover the weakness of your persona with passive skills like Evade Fire, Resist Ice, Repel Darkness, etc, strengthening your elemental attack Boost and Amp . The debuffs , buffs are actually working unlike the Final Fantasy series. The battle is more strategic, you might want to try to land a critical hit to a boss to get another turn by having  a phsyical attack with high critical rate plu Apt Pupil, and so on. Baldur's Gate and KoToR's battle follows basically slash-and-heal, slash-and-heal pattern. SMT is more polished in its strategic approach, more than any RPG.

If you're going to go for only one ending, go with the good ending.  The true ending is actually kinda crappy.

I think Jeff should look into the true ending and give slight hints to Vinny to lead him into the right direction for the true ending...
it would be a bummer to get the bad ending

Yeah, the true ending is awesome. The true ending final boss fight is really awesome. Well, in my opinion at least.
But yeah, don't go for the bad ending. It's made of fail. If anything if you're not willing for the true ending, just go for the normal ending. Don't fret about that optional boss fight by the way, I didn't use lightning when I fought him either.

As for the exp you missed out on, it wasn't more than a few hundred.  Bonus bosses don't give all that much exp.  Not too big of an issue though since they're worth more for their secret weapons and that extra courage boost than anything else.

I much liked the bad ending, though that's because I am a sucker for sad stories. I didn't really like the normal or true endings, since the final boss of each basically came out of nowhere which I felt went against the whole 'investigation team uncovering the truth' theme. Its just like, you beat xxxxx, WELL IM THE FINAL BOSS NOW YOU GET TO FIGHT ME!!!!

Theres really no backstory or plot at all for the final bosses, its like the developers realized persona 3 was a good 20 hours longer, so they copied the final boss and its motivations for destroying the world twice and stuck it as the final bosses for each of the endings so they could extend persona 4.

Don't aim for an ending...play how you guys want!

The Moon effect is great if you can get it upright. Otherwise it'll mess with your leveling big time.

Great episode guys. I look forward to the next one.

Grinding is never fun, especially when you just watch it... Not that I'm complaining, it's not like I pay for it or anything, just saying.

It's probably because of how fundamental they are to Persona 4's combat, but the whole concept of Elemental Weaknesses is well past its prime.  Why the hell is a box weak to ice, while a Hulk Hogan is weak to wind?

You get another turn by hitting an enemy's weakness or landing a critical hit, same can happen to you depending on what Person you are equipping, that's not the case with any other RPG. I think Nocturne started it with 'Press Turn' .It affects the customization of the Persona via Fusion, because you might want to infuse the Persona with a passive skill that covers the weakness of the Persona. Your weakness changes as you change your Persona.

You guys need to get the true ending.  The good ending will leave a gap missing in the entire investigation.  The need for the true ending will completely enhance the story and finalize the resolve.  Yet, the time will come for that much later on.

You need to use a FAQ in order to get the true ending, or the good ending for that matter. It involves several dialouge choices  that are really easy to overlook. I won't go into details, but I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say I want you to get the true ending.

Why are you all talking about the endings? Did Vinny and Jeff talk about them in the episode?

Oh for crying out loud.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ENDINGS:

1. They come at the end.
2. There are specific pivot points where basically they'll try hard to push you towards the "lesser" ending but you can do exactly the right path to get to the better ending.
3. Nothing you do before then (other than, uh, losing the game) matters.

Bottom line: you've got several more dungeons (besides Rise's) to go before you should even care.  Just have fun and enjoy the game as it unfolds... the part you're in is really about as good as the game gets.

@legendary

So then Vinny and Jeff did not talk about the endings? I thought maybe I missed that.

Vinny, that mini boss gives about ~900EXP, so you guys did not lose out on much. :)

Okay, this ending talk is about to delve into spoilers. So, would you kindly shut the hell up?

OK, guys, if you noticed, you got like all the stuff that people in town wanted from monster drops (Coal, Beetle Horn, Lumber, Old Key, maybe more).  Please, cross reference your quest log and item list before you visit the weapon store!  Most of these quest items are monster drops, and talking with the quest-giver after getting the quest yields hints about what kind of monster drops the item and in which dungeon.

A few more things.

If you'd just cast Zio on the cop dude he would have gone down faster.    I cringed every time you used healing or debuffs w/ Charlie instead of trying a Zio.  Some of these optional bosses do have weaknesses.  Those items you find in the boss chamber are goofy, but powerful weapons for whoever was trapped in the dungeon, so I wouldn't sell that Iron Plate until you check out its stats.

Just for reference, the Arcana effects seem to last in terms of battles, not time.  They will persist even if you go to another dungeon or warp back to the entrance.  However, after about 5 battles they disappear, so if you get in a similar situation, just go down a floor and fight some grunts until it wears off.  You could also try to replace it with another Arcana Chance since they don't stack.

Finally, two things to help ease your mind.
The ending doesn't get determined until the end.
Funky Student is awesome, but I'm pretty sure he only has one riddle.  No need to obsessively check in w/ him.

thanks for the long episode!

@Yellow King

Don`t be bummed .  This gives me some good laughs, Really enjoy the mismatch of cultures, and the suprising depth . As long as you are showing your skill and judgement. and remember you are at least getting paid to grind, well hell, thats like any job, mostly. Keep that in mind, and have fun, best way to beat it all. Both you guys are pretty darn funny! More so because because you are just not riffing off a grade Z movie, or making it easier for yourself by playing some terrible short game.

Grinding in itself is a pain.  Any options possible or allowed, say on or off camera?

I don't know if you read this but you guys are probably going to get the bad ending if you don't go in with at least some hint. It's pretty easy to get the bad one if you don't do just the right thing. I know I got it the first time then had to figure out what I did wrong. I'm not sure if you could even get the true ending without outside help without a bunch of trial and error. At least need a pretty specific hint that you probably wouldn't think to do otherwise.

1 EXP... that sucks.

Don't worry about the endings, you don't need multiple saves to get all of them. The game will not let you save past the point of no return. You can always load it up and go towards a better ending. Trust me, you won't want to end the Endurance Run with the bad ending.

Just DON'T save over your file with New Game Plus data. That's all you have to remember, and that's common sense.

Yosuke is going to have some mad problems with his teeth after downing 10 straight Tap's in a span of 20 seconds.

You guys lost 1161 XP. Wouldn't have even leveled you up, though so no biggy.