Devil Buster HQ (YCM's Shin Megami Tensei & Persona Fan Gathering)

[The Warden]

I thought about it with him and Yukiko, but honestly, I think the constant giggle fits kinds of put him off, remember Hiimdaisy's comic? Kind of like that. And I forgot Teddie, because... I forgot. But, yes, he is forever alone, unless Teddie x Nanako counts. I don't think he actually ages.

[~Tico~]

Teddie and Nanako will probably just be a case of "Friends Forever". I really can't see them getting together, in all honesty. Nor do I think Yu would allow such a union, even between his "apprentice" and younger cousin. Just...no.

[Hydra of Ages]

[quote name='-Dharc-' timestamp='1336443450' post='5934797']
Don't like the whole...What would that be with the names? Assonance? The whole double -ato isn't really cool, in my opinion. I'd also prefer if they gave the protagonist a name that was more pun-based or held some sort of meaning, like Takao Shinokage. Takao can mean "noble person", and Shinokage is a contraction of the phrase "Shi no kage", which means "The shadow of death", referring to Death being sealed inside him and the fact that he kills shadows.

Just mah two cents.
[/quote]

Minato Arisato translates roughly to "The Harbour of Souls".

You know, the entire "Sea of your Soul" thing that every Persona apparently emerges from?

Yeah.

[quote name='BrokenHeart15' timestamp='1336443494' post='5934799']
Frankly I think the Yu/Kanji relationship could go places. Though, I tend to think that the relationships would end up like this: Yosuke x Chie, Kanji x Naoto, Rise x No one, Yukiko x No one, and Yu x No one.
[/quote]

As do I. Hence my earlier "Yu ends up with everyone. [b]Everyone.[/b]" comment being made in only half-jest. I tend not to subscribe to any particular model of the relationships of P4 aside from that, though.

[quote name='BrokenHeart15' timestamp='1336443494' post='5934799']
On a further note, it's interesting how the all male team in P4 is a largely successful modus.
[/quote]

I guess, but Teddy's largely just an inferior Yukiko, Chie does physical attacks better than Kanji (though admittedly, Kanji having a magic option makes him more useful in some cases), and Naoto's just plain fun to use (and means you don't waste MP on Dark/Light spells!). Honestly, I usually end up doing an all-girls run (minus Yu, obviously) during most of my playthroughs, though pretty much any arrangement of characters is workable.

[quote name='Corona Ray' timestamp='1336443785' post='5934807']
Oh god, that one. "Guide me through it," "significance of calling upon a gentleman in his room", and various other words...Yep, not a single instance of sexual implications![/quote]

Go to the Velvet Room immediately after that scene. Elizabeth proceeds to ask you not to mention what happened to Igor, thanks you for showing her the "Pleasures of the Human World", and basically states that the only reason she can't be with him is that she has to help him in her capacity as a member of the Velvet Room.

[quote name='Corona Ray' timestamp='1336443785' post='5934807']
Plus Yu can score with basically anyone.[/quote]

Notice his Inner Soul happens to be wearing a badass pimpcoat and crotch-protector.

[quote name='Corona Ray' timestamp='1336444640' post='5934825']
Teddie and Nanako will probably just be a case of "Friends Forever". I really can't see them getting together, in all honesty. Nor do I think Yu would allow such a union, even between his "apprentice" and younger cousin. Just...no.[/quote]

I dunno, Yu's let stranger things happen. If there's an obstacle to that relationship, I think it'd be Dojima, considering Teddy's technically a demonic hellbeast created from the repressed emotions of humanity condensed into a blue-eyed prettyboy / bear.

Incidentally, I tend to subscribe to the theory that Teddy was Yu's Shadow. He represents Yu's fear of being empty (which is rendered canon by The Animation), and embodies other traits that Yu tends to keep behind his mask of stoicism (like his childishness and voyeurism). He never started feeding off of Yu's insecurities because Yu has the Wildcard Trait, which lets him take on any number of Personas anyway.

Eventually, of course, he developed his own mind which basically made him a separate entity entirely. The only mark against the theory I can think of is that Teddy's signature element is Ice, whereas Izanagi specializes in Lightning.

[Yang Xiao-Long]

[quote name='Hydra of Clocks' timestamp='1336453965' post='5934949']
Minato Arisato translates roughly to "The Harbour of Souls".

You know, the entire "Sea of your Soul" thing that every Persona apparently emerges from?

Yeah.

[b][i]Let us not forget about our friend Naru[u]kami[/u] Yu.[/i][/b]
[b][i]In consideration that his name can be a pun:[/i][/b]
[b][i]"Yu" as in "You."[/i][/b]
[b][i]Combined with "Narukami," and you get, well, was it either "God of Thunder" or "become God"?[/i][/b]
[b][i]It can be either, I suppose; "You" control Izanagi as a Persona, and he uses Electricity attacks (Zio), but also because of Izanagi-no-Okami at the end, and proceed to one-shot the now dead ex-wife of said Persona.[/i][/b]

Incidentally, I tend to subscribe to the theory that Teddy was Yu's Shadow. He represents Yu's fear of being empty (which is rendered canon by The Animation), and embodies other traits that Yu tends to keep behind his mask of stoicism (like his childishness and voyeurism). He never started feeding off of Yu's insecurities because Yu has the Wildcard Trait, which lets him take on any number of Personas anyway.

Eventually, of course, he developed his own mind which basically made him a separate entity entirely. The only mark against the theory I can think of is that Teddy's signature element is Ice, whereas Izanagi specializes in Lightning.
[/quote]

The mark against the theory might actually be for the theory.
If Teddie is indeed Yu's Shadow, then consider Yu's Wildcard as a bit of a factor.
We know Yu has the Wildcard, and that he started with Fool Arcana, while Teddie has Star; this could mean that the Wildcard changed the Arcana; in this case, from Fool (for Yu) to Star (for Teddie).
As a result, the signature element for the two changed as well.

Although the Shadows of the main cast are typically the reverse of the Arcana of their Personas (for example, Shadow Rise being Reverse Lovers, due to the Shadow's actions displayed on the Midnight Channnel, as opposed to what the Lovers Arcana actually stands for), and Teddie could possibly be Yu's Shadow, you have to take into account that although Teddie did begin as a Shadow, he gained his own ego, personality, and thus, an Arcana, with a Persona to match the Arcana (and every Persona matches the Arcana in one way or another; usually it's in the backstory of the Persona).
Not to mention that Teddie also had to deal with a Shadow of his own.

[Hydra of Ages]

Actually, interestingly enough, the stuff Shadow Teddie talks about is really more applicable to [i]Yu [/i]than it ever was to Teddie himself.

I mean sure, Shadow Teddie was also somehow a mouthpiece of Ameno-sagiri, but notice how it phrases all of its "Truth is a lie" monologues. Out of the Investigation Team, Yu is really the main one concerned with finding the truth of things- note that he's the only one to give Nametame a chance. The fact that Shadow Teddie is basically a giant empty void when Yu is frequently described as "Zero" shouldn't be disregarded either.

Speaking of things presented as Yu's shadow, note Izanami's human form. It's basically just a female Yu with red eyes. I don't think we're intended to think that Yu and Izanami are connected in that way (though, considering Yu's true persona is Izanagi no Okami, there's probably some link between the two), but it's obviously thematic of some sort.
Somebody theorized that Izanami is like Phileman from Persona 2, in that her face looks similar to whomever happens to be looking at her. That's really entirely possible, given that she goes out of her way to be unnoticed[i].[/i]

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

...Um, Hydra? How on earth could you write "Arisato" so that it translates to "of the soul"?

[Hydra of Ages]

Dunno. I only know basic katanaka; never studied kanji.

Just reiterating the explanation I found on a japanese fansite like a year or so ago.

[Ｄｈａｒｃ]

Yeah...Arisato basically means "And there". So, if you get it just right, Minato Arisato could be translated to something along the lines of "The port is there." I guess it's a reference to Tatsumi Port Island, but that's about it.

[The Warden]

I suppose, but an all guy team has one handy use, as Teddie obtains both Matarukaja and Marakukaja, whilst Yosuke gets Masukukaja.

In any other case Yu is relied on for those moves, since the only other party members who get the Ma- versions are those two.

[Hydra of Ages]

Teddy [i]does [/i]beat Yukiko in buffs, but I don't think it's worth the drop in Magic score. While buffs are useful in some cases, I usually found Matarukaja alone sufficient enough for basically everything.

[The Warden]

I dunno, I found Teddie does Magic a lot better than Yukiko, but I may need to compare scores. And Kanji does in fact beat Chie in Physical power, though Tomoe/Suzuku are the physical orientated Persona type, compared to the Physical/Zio hybrid of Kanji's.

I think Marakukaja is probably the least useful; they'll still hit you hard all the same, but mediating damage is handy. Granted, both of them have the annoyance of STILL being weak to a Element once they get their ultimate Persona. It's so stupid, other ultimates null their element then resist another, but is absorbing their element REALLY worth still being weak to another one?

[Hydra of Ages]

Kanji, however, does not have God Hand or Power Charge, making him the inferior character in the long run.

Yukiko gains a Magic skill point approximately 90% of the time on levelup, whereas Teddie gains Magic at a rate of 77%. At level 35, Teddie has 25 magic, whereas a same-level Yukiko would have about 33. He also doesn't attain Salvation, which while admittedly is unnecessary in most cases, makes an excellent panic button.

[color=#d3d3d3](*Note: Persona 4 party member levelups are scripted, and always go in the same order. However, nobody's bothered to actually document all of them- the percentages are the average result of about twenty levels worth of data, and are basically accurate, if a point or so off on the odd level.)[/color]

I subscribe to the "More heals, less defensive boosts" school of tactics, since I dislike micromanaging defensive buffs. Unless an attack will destroy me outright, I'd rather just heal it off rather than take precautions before hand. On higher difficulties it's mandatory, of course... but on higher difficulties, I've already resigned myself to the idea that Yu will be doing 90% of the work anyway, and have a Persona for each that already does each party member's role better.

That said, there's one thing that I can say about a guys only team as compared to a girls- Yosuke is a far superior party member to Naoto against essentially every boss.

As I've said, though, there really isn't a team where it's possible to really screw yourself over on by taking. All the characters are at least usable.

[The Warden]

I find Naoto to be largely unnecessary, she comes by far too late to actual be considered worthwhile using really. Yosuke, I agree on, he's useful due to be the jack of all trades character. And he has some halfway decent equipment that allows him to be useful quite a few times, like his item the Skill Spanner.

I follow up the 'Carefully planned' school of fighting, where everything is planned out to allow for full function. In the first turn I would more or less have Yu, Yosuke and Teddie all use the buffs, then go to town.

The Chie mention was unnecessary, I said she was much better in Physical than Kanji, who was a hybrid of Physical and Zio, making him much less effective. Granted, I DO wish Chie learned more Bufu beyond Bufula.

[Hydra of Ages]

Naoto is amazing against random encounters, since there's actually a huge number of enemies weak to light or dark. Heaven and Magatsu Inaba are far easier with her tagging along. She gets Mind Charge too, which blows away most enemies with Megido; unfortunately, she just uses up far too much MP far too quickly to be useful against bosses.

[quote name='BrokenHeart15' timestamp='1336566695' post='5935638']
The Chie mention was unnecessary, I said she was much better in Physical than Kanji, who was a hybrid of Physical and Zio, making him much less effective.[/quote]

Ah, looks like you made a mistake in your other post, then.

[quote name='BrokenHeart15' timestamp='1336536339' post='5935503'] Kanji does in fact beat Chie in Physical power,[/quote]

In any case, Kanji's real niche is as the party's item dispenser. The guy has a ridiculous amount of HP compared to everyone else, and if you stick to magic, he can basically survive everything.

[Yang Xiao-Long]

[quote name='Hydra of Clocks' timestamp='1336590476' post='5935788']
In any case, Kanji's real niche is as the party's item dispenser. The guy has a ridiculous amount of HP compared to everyone else, and if you stick to magic, he can basically survive everything.
[/quote]

Kanji was built to be tanky.
Although he becomes better with his evolved Persona due to no real weaknesses and a Block to Electricity, his SP is still lacking.

I personally stick with Chie, who has a more reliable amount of SP, an amount of HP substantial enough for her wide variety of Physical moves, and 10 Physical moves to choose from, as opposed to Kanji, who only has 6.

[The Warden]

Course he was designed to be tanky, his main weapon are shields after all. Though, wht also defines a good party member are their follow up attacks. I do like Kanji because he can knock down up to 3 enemies with his.

Of course nothing bests Chie's Galactic Punt.

[~Tico~]

[quote name='BrokenHeart15' timestamp='1336613930' post='5936028']
Of course nothing bests Chie's Galactic Punt.
[/quote]

Great for knocking those minibosses straight into the nether region! Oh the hilarity.

It's also amusing how Kanji's instant kill attack in P4 Arena looks like he and Take-Mikazuchi are doing a brofist.

[Desu the Blue Nerd]

[color=#0000CD]Well I started my second playthrough of P3 on normal like a panzy...not realizing it kept my level, money, and equipment. Well f*ck. This will be far too easy. [/color]

[Yang Xiao-Long]

[quote name='Desperado of Finale' timestamp='1336692948' post='5936593']
[color=#0000CD]Well I started my second playthrough of P3 on normal like a panzy...not realizing it kept my level, money, and equipment. Well f*ck. This will be far too easy. [/color]
[/quote]

Have fun, and don't waste my month of borrowed life.
Oh, and remember to have some fun with Yukari; she IS yours, after all.

[Desu the Blue Nerd]

[quote name='-Protagonist-' timestamp='1336693714' post='5936607']
Have fun, and don't waste my month of borrowed life.
Oh, and remember to have some fun with Yukari; she IS yours, after all.
[/quote]

[color=#0000CD]B*tch, I'm going to get a Persona harem going on up in here. They're ALL mine. Except that chick with Junpei. She IS him.[/color]

[Yang Xiao-Long]

[quote name='Desperado of Finale' timestamp='1336693844' post='5936609']
[color=#0000CD]B*tch, I'm going to get a Persona harem going on up in here. They're ALL mine. Except that chick with Junpei. She IS him.[/color]
[/quote]

As long as I get Rise and Chie, you got yourself a deal.

[Desu the Blue Nerd]

[quote name='-Protagonist-' timestamp='1336695944' post='5936630']
As long as I get Rise and Chie, you got yourself a deal.
[/quote]

[color=#0000CD]Until the Golden comes out on my Vita.[/color]

[Yang Xiao-Long]

[quote name='Desperado of Finale' timestamp='1336696137' post='5936635']
[color=#0000CD]Until the Golden comes out on my Vita.[/color]
[/quote]

...

When P4:Arena comes out, I'm kicking your a**.

[Desu the Blue Nerd]

[quote name='-Protagonist-' timestamp='1336696216' post='5936636']
...

When P4:Arena comes out, I'm kicking your a**.
[/quote]

[color=#0000CD]Come at me, bro. [/color][color=#2F4F4F]<------My money's on Shion. Desu sucks at fighting games...or games in general. Especially Sorry. Can't even say that word.[/color]

[color=#0000CD]Hey! I am amazing at trouble![/color]

[Yang Xiao-Long]

[quote name='Desperado of Finale' timestamp='1336696487' post='5936640']
[color=#0000CD]Come at me, bro. [/color][color=#2F4F4F]<------My money's on Shion. Desu sucks at fighting games...or games in general. Especially Sorry. Can't even say that word.[/color]

[color=#0000CD]Hey! I am amazing at trouble![/color]
[/quote]

Come forth, Messiah.
*Instant kill*

Oh. Wait. Wrong Ultimate Persona for P4:A.

Izanagi-no-Okami!