I Am Responsible for Improving the World: Persona 3 Portable Final Part

The theme of responsibility has stuck with me throughout this P3P discussion in a way I had not expected. Looking at major world events, particularly in the financial sector, a lot of questions about responsibility and people getting away with causing catastrophic harm have arisen. Why have responsibility when so many powerful people can do whatever they want with no consequences? In this series, we have examined the personal commitment to responsibility and separating responsibility from fatalism. We also explored empathy and how empathy allows us to unlock the most authentic expression of others by listening and awareness. Our last entry explored self-improvement and how it is our responsibility to better ourselves and how bettering ourselves is a grind but ultimately worthwhile. However, that post also rejected the hustle lifestyle for an integrated sense of betterment connected to the relationships fostered in Part 2. This reflection leads to Part 4, our responsibility for improving the world. How do our abilities, connections, and internal drive all come together for building a commitment to improve our world? This post will explore the challenge of seeing what cannot be unseen and steeling one’s resolve based on the one’s grounding in the experience of people, the specialized knowledge we obtain, and finding a community to support the feelings of dread which arise.

For the previous entries in this series, please see:

Part 1 can be found here.
Part 2 can be found here.
Part 3 can be found here.

Heavy Spoilers for Persona 3 Portable will follow! Please be forewarned as parts of the ending to P3P will be discussed in this post.

All screenshots taken from my PS5.

Seeing What Cannot Be Unseen

In P3P, Shadows come attacking right out of the gate. Seeing a threat soon after entering a new environment is a challenge in itself, much less one attempting to attack your residence from another dimension. Events like a sudden transition and threats from others leave traumatic impacts on us but also change how we perceive the world. The resistance in P3P is to accept the power of Persona. This is only possible for people who are aware of the Dark Hour and who awaken to the “potential” of Persona. This is a restricted group of people. It is also a secret life because so few people know about the existence of the Dark Hour. Seeing and being forced to respond to Shadows and the Dark Hour for survival definitely biases the choice to respond. Many of our decisions in life are temporarily forced through difficult circumstances. However, there is a separate step which requires that we take responsibility for improving the world on our own volition rather than responding only to the trauma we have encountered. This step of integrating the awful things which have happened to our own response to addressing issues is of vital importance. Being responsible in P3P is integrating the struggle of seeing a terrifying reality and resolving to face death itself in order to bring a peaceful resolution. This resolution takes part over many conversations throughout P3P. The characters grow in knowledge of their burden as they learn about Tartarus and the Dark Hour and the immense stakes.

The Burden

The burden in P3P seems simple: rid the world of shadows and improve yourself enough in order to do so. However, the burden has a couple of complicating factors. First, Mitsuru’s grandfather is the person who unleashed the shadows on the world. Yukari’s father was also involved in the research into the Shadows and died when the shadows escaped from the factory. Family ties to brokenness created by families, especially on such a grand scale is filled with pressure and expectation of resolution. Second, Jin and Takaya (Takaya on the left and Jin on the right in the third picture above), are people who have suffered from an experiment thanks to the Kirijo Group. They were abducted as children and were forced to draw out a Persona when they didn’t have “the potential”. This has led to a lifetime of taking medication to prevent the Persona power from killing them. Jin and Takaya in their rage cannot understand why anyone would take the burden of climbing Tartarus (a labyrinth of 200+ floors which are repetitive.) Why would anyone try to remove the Dark Hour, especially because those who can sense and thrive in the Dark Hour have very little limitation as to what they can do? Jin and Takaya feel special because of the Dark Hour and their personas, even though how they received their personas was traumatic, because they spent their early lives being bullied and mistreated. Everyone wants an ability to be special and recognition for being special in an authentic way. When others cause harm to seek recognition, it adds to the burden of people who see suffering in their midst, because not only do Jin and Takaya show their own suffering, they also inflict pain to others which has to be dealt with in addition to the original burden at hand.

A friend gets exposed as Death and he explains his role as Nyx’s Avatar

The Antagonist

Death is the antagonist in P3P. In a twist, the 12 shadows destroyed throughout the course of the game become reunited under the banner of the 13th Arcana, Death. Nyx is the guardian of death and Ryoji, pictured above on the left, is Nyx’s avatar. Ryoji also lived inside of the MC because Aigis had to imprison death somewhere and the MC happened to be at the bridge in the background. Ikutsuki-san (pictures one and two above) sees death as a way to bring about a new beginning. In P3P, the Fall is an event where Nyx as the guardian of death descends upon the world and resets the world causing the death of all living things. Ikutsuki-san despairs at the state of the world and thinks a fresh reset is the only way to have a clean slate. Ryoji also pressures the team multiple times that Death is impossible to defeat and as such the team should have the memories of the Dark Hour wiped until the final end comes. There is an ending where you can choose this path and let Death come finish the world. However, the true ending is a path of resistance against Death. The MC emerges from a fight with death because she is protected because of the bonds she has made with others throughout the game. In the darkest times, our closest friends are our barrier, our shield, and our guides to move forward, even if the difficulties we are facing are of our own choice, such as the contract in the beginning of P3P.

The Fulfillment

I love Igor for many reasons: the mystery, the help with fusion, the long nose, and his overall purpose. He is the caretaker of the Velvet Room and he helps those who have signed the contract to unlock their full potential. All of the relationships and capturing of personas comes together in this room to build the power of Persona. His purpose is to foster growth for the MC who has the ability to be a jack-of-all trades. He gently nudges and gives new tools based on need and experience which is how a good mentor should function.

After Nyx is defeated and the Dark Hour is eliminated, this final discussion is really touching. You fulfilled the one year contract of being responsible for all of your decisions and the consequences of those decisions. A lot can happen in a year. I also love this last line. You were truly a remarkable guest. A positive reinforcement from a Velvet Room which exists in the MC’s subconscious is wonderful to see. It is very easy to have a violent subconscious which never gives a kind remark such as this one. I think it is also important because it reiterates who we are in the world, we are a guest in one part of a multiverse and we will continue sojourning until we enter our personal fulfillment when we will find a realm of quantum immortality. Igor’s sendoff is a great reminder of the great power of what happens when we unlock ourselves and not in a motivational, manipulative speaker sense of the term. Rather, unlocking ourselves is about accepting our journey, embracing the journey which others are on, and finding our own resolve which leads to peace and a deep community. And as we’ve seen in earlier posts, the community which is needed is the one where we can say to those dear to us, openly, you truly are a remarkable guest.

Next week, I will be writing about the Legend of Dragoon and its theme of evolution as cleansing via the game’s narrative. I am also working to have a conversation with Stephanie DeCleene @TheGothDragoon via a podcast about why she is so energized by the Legend of Dragoon. After the Legend of Dragoon, I am looking to provide an introduction to the Legend of Heroes series. If you want to have a conversation with me, please find me on Twitter @whatcouldbeingb.