When we last left our hero, he got dragged kicking and screaming back into the Velvet Room. Poor, poor Minato.
So, Igor explains to us that the time has come to wield our power, since it's up to us to find out what's up with Tartarus. Joy. I'd be more comfortable with this whole thing if Igor wasn't sitting at my crotch level, especially with those staring eyes. -Shudder- Adding insult to mental undressing, Igor tells us that we're not capable of answering the questions regarding Tartarus. Apparently our power is unique, capable of infinite possibilities, meaning that we can use multiple Personas and summon them as we need. Igor also explains the concept of Persona Shuffle, which we'll get to once we actually see an example of it in the main game. Thankfully, Igor says that his spare time will soon be scarce, but pleads with us to come again whenever we like. I'd rather not, but I seem to have little choice in the matter. With a final foreshadowing about Persona Fusion, he allows us to finally escape that horrific nightmare plane and go back into... our horrific nightmare plane. Great.
We try to explain what happened to Junpei and Yukari, but they are completely clueless. Apparently Minato is the only one who can get yanked into the Velvet Room, which makes me breathe a sigh of relief. At least only Minato will have to experience the horror of Igor's crotch-level starting and extendo-nose. With that final cutscene, we're free to actually wander around again. The first thing I do is head to the big grandfather clock on the left hand side, which acts as our save point for this place. There's also a motorcycle, which Mitsuru uses for transporting sensitive equipment... Whatever you say, lady. There's also a green and orange arch thing that looks like something out of the Tellietubbies, but we can't do anything with it. So, without further ado, let's go explore Tartarus!
Heading inside, we find ourselves in a bloodstained hallway, all of us with weapons. Yukari has a bow, Junpei seems to have a katana, and Minato is wielding a short-sword/rapier. Mitsuru pops up in a little screen to explain that she'll be our mission control for this. Apparently Mitsuru's Persona grants her the ability to see inside Tartarus. She also explains that Tartarus changes every day, so she can't join us inside. With a final warning to be careful, she leaves us free to wander around the halls of Tartarus. And so it is that we're dumped into the main dungeon. We can run around and use X to interact with things, such as the chest right in front of us. Opening it gives us a medicine. We almost immediately come across a Shadow, which we smack with X to bring us into the battle menu. We're given the option to have the basic options for battle explained to us, but since I explained that back in the tutorial fight, it's not really useful. Anyway, our first Shadow goes down easily, and we gain a Snuff Soul for our troubles.
We also find ourselves a set of stairs, which leads higher up into Tartarus. During our next battle, Mitsuru explains that different weapons have different properties. Swords use Slash attacks, Bows use Pierce attacks. Skills, however, are more like elements, with Bufu being an Ice attack. Turns out these guys are weak to fire, and since Orpheus learned Agi (a fire attack). Hitting them with their weakness causes them to be knocked down, and gives us an extra turn. Using Agi on the other Shadow knocks them both down, and means we can use an All-Out Attack. Doing this means the whole party runs in to smack the downed enemies, doing a bunch of damage.
After our third battle, we get access to Persona Shuffle, in which we pick out cards that may or may not contain Personas. If you've seen a coconut shell trick before, that's basically what this is. In this case, we're successful and get Pixie. Anyway, since Pixie doesn't have a whole lot in terms of attacking just yet, we'll stick with Orpheus for this tutorial. After this battle, we get the option to split our party members up in search of an access point and items. Cool, right? Yukari quickly finds the access point, and Junpei gives us a medicine from a chest. Turns out the Tellietubbie thing was our gateway back. Who'da thunk it? Upon getting out of the labyrinth, Yukari and Junpei note how tired they are, giving rise to another mechanic: tiredness. The more tired you or your party are, the less able to fight they become in battle. Keep your party well rested and you can keep fighting. Simple.
But just as we're getting our breath back from that, the mysterious voice appears. That's right, it's time for a RANKU UP! Still, that seems to be a good place to stop, so I'll get back to you all next time on Persona 3 FES!
