I Am Responsible? Persona 3 Portable Part 1
Persona 3 Portable is such an outstanding game and I love the work they have done with the port for the most part. I did have to struggle through some hard crashes (mostly with the Bufu spell) but the story still strikes me as deeply as it did 15 years ago. (For the record, I played on PC Game Pass). I am writing from the female protagonist playthrough as I have not played P3P up until this point.
There is a lot which can be covered in terms of ethics and philosophy and I want to start this series looking at the contract which you sign to start the game. I think this opening contract paints a stark realization of having to ask ourselves, “have we ever had a moment to deliberately choose to be responsible for one’s own actions and accept the consequences?” This basic question is frightening especially as we look at the challenges in our world today and our path of resistance. Are we ready to accept our task to stand against a horrific fate?
After finding your dorm in an hour which you didn’t know existed and then are immediately asked to sign a contract. Definitely offputting.
The big questions, can we handle being bound to accept full responsibility for our actions?
Yes, I did forget to get this screen capture and made up a name based on a P5 character and a Persona.
The Contract
An admittedly frightening phantom boy appears in your dorm just as you arrive asking you to sign a contract. Image 2 gives the only condition in the contract, “it only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions.” Atlus even added a great albeit blurry contract when you sign your name to start the game. Full responsibility for your actions includes direct and unintended consequences as we will see as P3P progresses. This is an unpopular philosophical method being presented here. First, it places a heavy burden on the main character and second, it assumes all choices are free choices. While philosophically there are large challenges to both sacrifice and freedom imagery, for this post, I want to assume Atlus is 100% correct to break down what is being said and then raise questions in my conclusion.
Screenshot taken from opening screen in P3P
The Burden
The above image is the burden placed upon the main character. You are given one year to safeguard the future without context at the start of Persona 3. You are asked to affirm this burden in the signing of the contract above. You also get asked to reaffirm that you will accept responsibility for your actions in the Velvet Room. To be given this burden is deeply unfair, because it is such an open-ended request. Far too often, in life we are given unfair burdens without context because of ours’ or others’ suffering but we’re not given a time limit to address them. The interesting thing about the burden and this contract is that it is open-ended. “Go forth without falter with your heart as your guide…” is both deterministic and in-line with free will. The game is not going to tell you who to relate to, when to train, or how you interact in school. There are multiple endings in Persona 3 and a variety of paths you will not take so your burden will be unique to your playthrough. However, there is one hoped-for ending and it is up to you to discover how to unlock the best possible outcome, so the nature of the game is posing an interesting question, “can free will and determinism exist at the same time?” It is also important to have some context about the world of P3P in order to determine possibilities for this question.
The Situation
The Dark Hour is an hour which exists between days where most people are “transmogrified” into coffins and where shadows come out. This is the phenomenon you encounter when the main character is walking from the train station to the dorm. This distortion of time and space is not noticed by many and it is a sign of “potential” to be able to maneuver normally in the Dark Hour. The “potential” will be revealed at a later time. However, it is important to know the MC ends up in a dorm where everyone seems to be able to function during the Dark Hour which is weird. The MC has one unique ability which she did not ask for and will uncover more unique abilities as she progresses throughout the game. A fatalist perspective will often say gifts are meant to be used in response to certain situations and have no value outside of responding in according with the one way. However, I think Persona 3 does a marvelous job at exposing you to the Dark Hour and its realities slowly so as not to impose pressure as to the right decision. Life unfolds slowly, than quickly, than slowly in a challenging and traumatic pattern oftentimes. Pain and suffering is a common journey in Persona 3 and the bonds the player builds with people in the world are vital for growing one’s own gifts and enriching the lives of others.
The Dark Hour in all its glory or creepiness
The Critique
There are a couple of things I personally would want to add to this reflection as a challenge given what we know about the world and to add to the free will and determinism as questions to ponder.
1) Given quantum mechanics and particularly the school of thought about quantum immortality, is it possible to have free will in the midst of a deterministic system which has to account for all possibilities of all possible decisions in its multiversal structure? My personal belief stems around this possibility as I think it frees people to accept the burdens to better our world with the reality that somewhere quantum immortality has been figured out and we will get to experience that conscious world. We also have the option in our universe to not take these burdens on or rest from these burdens knowing other instances will build some solution.
However, in Persona 3, as in every game, all the possibilities of all possible multiverses are measured and lived meaning that there is only one preferred set of outcomes because we have to create something observable. As a philosophy I don’t think 100% free will is tenable, but I also don’t think 100% determinism is viable either given the quantum reality and theoretical applications. I think the base nature of what a game is provides an interesting experiment to how we measure a type of reality.
2) Plenty has been written about the theme of sacrifice in feminist literature and it is important to see the challenges of a woman being asked to take on the burden of the world in Persona 3 Portable. Being forced to sign a contract to take this burden is even worse. Fatalism which promotes or shows that suffering is assigned to people is deeply insensitive. Persona 3 doesn’t cross this line but it is a challenging ethical question about the burden the player does receive.
3) What is the “fate” in Persona 3 Portable? I will be navigating that question as I write the rest of this series on Persona 3 Portable.
Conclusion
When placed with an unexpected burden, there are many different responses. We will be scared and challenged with ever changing circumstances. There will always be a balance of mourning, helplessness, and resolve and Persona 3 Portable is going to be a great journey for exploring the burden the MC is given and navigating these three experiences. All three: mourning, helplessness, and resolve are vital for navigating conflict and I hope this series will help you as the reader reflect on navigating challenges and conflict in your own life, while also leaving a lot of space for grace.
