a study on PSP game "shin megami tensei" aka persona 3 portable

before starting this, i'd like to know if anyone has played this game on the playstation portable & what they thought of it (and found in it)

i started playing this about 2 weeks ago, having heard some things, and have been constantly finding all sorts of references & embedded content (resorting to taking photos of various screen images, which i'll upload another time)

so far the storyline is this..
you play as either a young male or female who attends a japanese high school by day, and fights 'shadows' by night
there is a 'secret' organization in all this, of which you soon become a member
it's soon discovered during the midnight hour, people "transmogrify" into coffins & do not notice this "magical" (eternal) mystery hour that happens (having no knowledge of events that transpire during this time)
(uhh, btw all of this is allegory & has anyone ever seen the movie dark city?)
if a person somehow "hears" these shadows during the dark hour, they are stolen away to a place called "tarterus"
sometimes these shadows utilize (negative) energy and "manifest" in the real world
thus the uhh, point of the game, is to fight these things & "rescue humanity"
the way in which these characters do this fighting is interesting, using "personas" (that's for another time)
the team slowly battles their way up a mysterious giant tower that appears during this dark hour (entering this tarterus place)

(and here i'll have to leave it off for now, having only made my way to lv. 64 of this thing)
but after a while, deciding to take some interesting photos along the way..
(..missed that stuff about sumeria early on, then when things started getting nice & obvious the camera came out)

everything in the game so far lines up with all our "tinfoil" research.... "somehow" *wink*

a little more
the magic system in the game is entirely based on the tarot
there is a little "room" in the game where these magic cards are developed (the velvet room)
(fans of twin peaks may know what this is all about)
there has been mention of something called "apathy syndrome" in this game.. where peoples thinking starts to break down, and they start to detach from the real world, which leads to a kind-of "zombie-state" (are you following all this?) ..i think the game came out 2010-2011?
..there's way more stuff yet; pharmacists extolling the virtues of healthy food while dumping on the pushers of vitamin pills, the dangers of mobile phones, stuff like that.. exactly the kinda stuff we'd expect to hear from the underground stream

didn't keep notes on this, just took photos (they'll be around soon enough..)
..so... what am i getting at here?
well, if it isn't clear enough already, i'll get into that next time (with pics)
but having gone over a fair bit of this manga stuff lately (children who chase lost voices from deep below, ghost hunt series, etc) i'm seeing the same stuff being presented over & over.. & just wondering if others are seeing it also?

Glad to see a thread on Persona 3. I loved the Persona series since I played Persona 3 FES (The updated PS2 version), and always thought it would make an interesting discussion here.
I'll toss in some more info about it (but I'll avoid spoilers since your not finished yet ) since I've played them so much.

The personas (I don't know the exact count but there are over a hundred) are all based on different mythologies and religions. In 3 the theme is more Greek mythology which is why the dungeon is Tartarus and the Main Characters first persona is Orpheus. Atlus (the developer) loves these allusions to ancient mythology as they do the same with the other games (Persona 4 has a lot about the Japanese Izanami/Izanagi story). This is probably why you notice a lot of similarities to things often discussed here on ATS.

The game is set during the 2009-2010 japanese school year, but it came out back in 2006. It was rereleased a couple times as P3FES and the P3Portable. Portable lacks the cutscenes and the ability to run around areas that FES and the original have, but it gives you the choice to play as a girl and has a few more easter eggs and conversations.

I'd recommend the game to everyone though as the story really hits all the emotions especially at the end. Also most characters have a social link, which is (for lack of a better word) your friendship level with them. As you fill these out you help these characters grow and overcome their problems which are usually very real world problems.

a reply to: UNIT76

I havn't played that game but now that I've watched half of that movie... I got obsessed with getting out of here at a point in time. Actually I always thought about it since my very earliest memories. But Later when I was meditating a lot I got more into it. I made a series of drawings called "Eternal Escape." I figured the point of entry and exit had to be at the very edge between conscious and unconscious.

I don't have to tell you that I gave that all up when I started having problems... Actually again always had demonic type things, but they were worse when I was looking for it.

So that was maybe 2007? It's been awhile sense I decided to have fun and forget about it. And I have done just that. Is there any truth to it all? I think so or it wouldn't nag at me so.. But is it worth knowing? I don't know. Only if you really could get out. I decided getting out was against the rules. And then whats the point of getting out? getting out into what?

Maybe you could tie more into this so I can get a better idea.
The spirals in the movie look just like those rock carvings that come up on ATS. People thinking they were representations of stargates. In my version the most important gate is in your head.

a reply to: RoboticNomad

Atlus (the developer) loves these allusions to ancient mythology as they do the same with the other games

..mentioning that (and some of the other stuff) is going to make all this a whole lot easier
go right ahead & spoil, in between studying playing games, researching watching movies & scouring reading books i don't have time to appreciate this masterfully constructed work

at some point, the use of all this 'western' material in an 'eastern' game might be worth getting into
i think this is all going to turn out a bit like the jack the giant slayer (movie) investigation

anyway, ima see if i can get into that yabboshah section tonight.. been grinding for the last few days, takin' the odd photo here an' there (some of these 'opponents' are quite interesting..)

a reply to: KnightLight

ok, well that's a sticky one
it seems like you made the right choice & coped afterwards..
/shrug
not sure what "get out" referred to exactly? (get out of the area, the things you were involved in, life?)
(i'll just go with that middle one)
(yeah.. right choice)

getting into what? (..i'm still trying to work that out also?) ..little by little, precept upon precept

i'll eventually do that (tie it all in) but fyi it's all going to be placed on a biblical backdrop
(..what else can it go on? ..it's already an eastern/hybrid system.. nothing else to hang it on?)
of course there is truth to all this (the things we've experienced tell us that)
the bible & 'the hodgepodge' tell similar but different stories
after the comparison we might have a better idea of what this "truth" is supposed to be all about

the spirals (dark city?) they're usually related to fertility, sometimes also representing a cornucopia (back to fertility again) they're often seen with this exoteric form of 'hypnosis' ..can you post a link to the rock carvings? (we've probably seen things like that all over the world)

no argument at all on that gate, well stated.. i just think there's a good reason why it's kinda locked
you've obviously been around the block or two (sry, a little tarterus tower joke there)
..i think if one keeps their nose clean enough they should be ok?
(or was that supposed to be about poking noses into things?)
(n/m you know what i mean)

a reply to: UNIT76

Glad I can make it easier for you. I never really looked at the game from this point of view before, but it is pretty interesting. Also your schedule is pretty similar to mine

The "Western" influences really make it more interesting. Persona 4 is a good game, but as it is mostly Japanese mythology it feels more one note.

You'll enjoy the ending as it has a very Messiah sacrifice vibe to it ( And only helped by the strongest fusible persona being named Messiah).

Also Yabboshah is fun. You're also coming up on the best Full Moon bosses. They will make some great pictures to post here.

..great, i'm about to run out of internet again
seeya in a few..

(there's a lot to get through.. but first some of these pics)

as stated, while playing there were all sorts of "references" (many were overlooked, not photographed, it was only when the whole thing became way too obvious i started taking pics like this.. the "way too obvious" thing is something i'll get into a bit later..)
while "one event does not itself indicate a trend" -some idiot from watchmen
and noone can critique a game "saying something like this" (making use of this) ..let's just see what all these "somethings" are about, the preponderance of them, and why they're there..

as stated, the game begins with the player joining a 'secret society' (uhh, to fight these "shadow" things)
this is the premise (it's all allegory) & i'm not going to waste time explaining why that is.. you either "understand" how this relates to the protagonist back in the real world & what it means, or you don't.. (you either understand that you are the student here, the school is the world, and the teacher can be anyone you learn from* but is expressed here more as an authority figure, there is a reason for all that, as you may well know)
*should've used the term "anyone you look *up* to" just there, woulda saved time having to include the "authority" reference (but mentioning the short & long soup like this works too i suppose)

in any case, the student player has just been told "our advancement has come at the cost of our spiritual advancement" ...and you don't have to be a hippy, dissident or new-ager to "get" that (..so if any of this is making sense; it's all about the "messages" that get pumped into our heads)
~~this is the mechanism always used; have an elaborate "backdrop" (here it is this "shadow" war thing) and carefully drop the various messages upon it, like adorning a christmas tree with decorations.. you will note, this "shadow war" is easily extrapolated back into our real world via 'terrorists', global warming & various other bogeymen feel free to ponder the extrapolated real world 'shadow war' further into religious turf (meet various other gatekeepers, vatican, neitszche, etc)

al gore is probably way cool with this game.. let's move on..


from a battle scene now, please note those two "dark" figures if you can make 'em out.. that's a reference to world-famous wrester "hulk-hogan" as his "hollywood" hogan PERSONA (we'll get into this persona thing a bit later, and meet alice down that rabbit hole) ...what i'm saying here might be a bit obscure, unless you happen to know all about that NEW WORLD ORDER skit being used in vince mcmahons wrestling outfit.. i'm just going to leave this one at that, because it's so mind-blowingly awesome & i expect 99% of people to "have a problem" with what i'm saying here (which isn't much) ..note the "dark city" type "head" in the background there


another battle scene, in this one you can almost make out that CHECKERBOARD FLOOR goin' on there.. note the enemies (if you can make 'em out) ...male & female entwined, their heads are a single "love" heart.. this is an (obscure) reference to what i type about in the "polarity encoding" topic.. EDIT: no, actually i take that back, let's keep it "real" here; that's not EXACTLY a checkerboard floor, (although the motif is worth examination) i jumped the gun on this, the checkerboard is actually another texture wrapped around a floating cube-like object in the background (i'll get a pic of that next time, for anyone who likes dotting i's and lower case j's)


..one of my favourite holiday snaps here,
"of all the bars words in all the world, why'd she happen to drink in mine say that particular one?"
so PAN = BREAD, right? (..no, i'm not getting drawn into that..)
suffice to say that 'bread' is also reference to JESUS CHRIST..
hours of fun getting to the bottom of that mess.
..i didn't get a photo of one particular enemy that is called "spurious book", the enemy is depicted as a flying book with a CROSS boldly emblazoned upon it (..any of this starting to make sense? good, because we haven't even touched on all that tarot stuff yet)


(the "star" persona link, iirc?) the "gourmand" (glutton)
..i'll just let his philosophy there speak for itself


..and this is about where we'll start to chip away at the core of the entire matter,
"shadows are the enemy of mankind" yet the book with ephesians 6:12 is called "spurious"
(..any of this starting to make a kind of sense yet?)
..i hope the reader is able to accept & work with these subtle elements of various subversion
(going on here & always elsewhere, always always elsewhere)
it's said a picture says a thousand words so this section is just going be left off here

i knew this would get more and more "interesting" as it unfolded..
(..and all go in the same direction)

looked into that "izanagi" mythos
(from wiki) O_o (yeah, yeah i know.. but for some reason people "trust" this wiki thing)

Izanagi (イザナギ?, recorded in the Kojiki as 伊邪那岐 and in the Nihon Shoki as 伊弉諾) is a deity born of the seven divine generations in Japanese mythology and Shinto, and is also referred to in the roughly translated Kojiki as "male-who-invites" or Izanagi-no-mikoto ("Lord Izanagi"). It is also pronounced Izanagi-no-Okami ("The Great God Izanagi").

(and again)

The seven rays is an occult concept that has appeared in several religions and esoteric philosophies, since at least the 6th century BCE, of the Aryan peoples in both Western culture and in India. In the west, it can be seen in early western mystery traditions such as Gnosticism and the Roman Mithraic Mysteries; and in texts and iconic art of the Catholic Church as early as the Byzantine era.[1][2][3][4] In India, the concept has been part of Hindu religious philosophy and scripture since at least the Vishnu Purana, dating from the post-Vedic era.[5][6][7] Beginning in the late 19th century, the seven rays appeared in a modified and elaborated form in the teachings of Theosophy, first presented by H. P. Blavatsky[8] The Theosophical concept of the seven rays was further developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the writings of the Theosophists C. W. Leadbeater, and by other authors such as Alice Bailey, Manly P. Hall, and others, including notably the teachings of Benjamin Creme and his group Share International;[9] and in the philosophies of organizations such as Temple of the People,[10] The "I AM" Activity,[11] The Bridge to Freedom, The Summit Lighthouse,.[8][12] The Temple of The Presence (1995) [13] and various other such organizations promulgating what are called the Ascended Master Teachings, a group of religious teachings based on Theosophy. As the New Age movement of the mid-to-late 20th century developed, the seven rays concept appeared as an element of metaphysical healing methods such as Reiki and other modalities,[14][15] and in esoteric astrology.[16]

(thanks again, wiki)
that paragraph alone constitutes a handy type of "research hub" for all this stuff
(assuming someone's gonna read through that miasma of text)
0_o
and a parallel (again from that wiki page)

Izanagi's visit to his wife Izanami in Yomi-no-kuni somewhat parallels the Greek Orpheus's visit to Eurydice in the underworld,[5] but a more striking resemblance is his wife's inability to return after eating the food in hell, matched by Persephone of Greek myth.[6]

^so you can hopefully see what i'll be getting at here (like everywhere else) when i babble & yap about "encoding", programming and embracing & expanding "the message" (aquarian new-age agenda for lack of a better term)
(well, i mean.. there are parts of it right now being echoed in two completely different cultures)
sometimes we'll call this "the story of the world" (or the world story, hehe)
the links to this "greek" mythos in this game (and elsewhere) i suspect always have to do with greek (and roman) traditions being (more or less) the "foundation" of western society (there's an interesting 'schism' going on there with these older 'paganistic' euro schools of thought, and if you look close enough you can see this 'divide' still silently taking place but that's entirely another related facet, carelessly we *could* just refer to this as skull & bones vs rosicrucians but it's not something to be talked about carelessly on the interwebs i think)

imho, the bedrock is being laid down quickly here & it'll soon be time to get into some of the weird heavy #
as usual it's all unfolding fast, there are dozens & dozens of obscure links in other posts & topics, chase it all up if you're curious, contribute if you care to

as stated, the game begins with the player joining a 'secret society' (uhh, to fight these "shadow" things) this is the premise (it's all allegory) & i'm not going to waste time explaining why that is..

actually, yes i am (going to waste time on it)
because then i don't have to keep typing the reference over & over again (about joining this secret society)

well.. i'm not going to spend too much time on it, though.. basically, your family unit has been disrupted
(yeah, i'm talking about the real world here)
so you long for a replacement.. and purpose in life.. this is what that "secret society" is all about.. and why you, the player, have just been entered into it

(note in the persona 3 game, at the top of the dorm is a 'command room', uhh, where they were first spying on well, no i can't say that for sure as i didn't ever see a camera watching the player in the game, but there was a scene where the elders were discussing your entry & advancement.. behind your back.. up in the command room highest room in the temple house dorm... and the girl feels "guilty" about the "spying" ..or whatever word she used.. hehe, now *this* is wasting time but it means something.. even in a silly game)

you will note (of course) that *YOUR* character is SPECIAL (lmfao)
and can somehow use ALL the personas (whereas everyone else is limited to their own single alter-persona kinda thing)
this would be similar to simply saying the obvious "the children in the movie SPY KIDS were children of CIA agents.. and were therefore full of special knowledge & capability" (please note the element of family disruption in spy kids, while we're at it, let's think of the cartoon inspecter gadget for just a moment here... there's also another study on the dog [in general and] in inspecter gadget & why it's called BRAIN, but that's another installment for a far off future episode)
oh, but if none of that sufficed, it's about how you're SPECIAL (more lol)
and everyone else turns into a "coffin" at the midnight hour, right?
this is all allegory
this is all metaphor

and everyone else turns into a "coffin" at the midnight hour, right?
(everyone but you)
(and your "family")
(and you & your family fight these monsters by night, right)
(hang on, are we talking about spy kids now, or still on persona?)
*wink*

further study on all this.. is vast.. but there is no real need
(and why i don't even bother vetting stuff anymore)
if you've got your tinfoil hat on firmly, you know all about this destruction of the family unit (trinity)
and what the merging of the male/female polarities is all about

it's this "replacement family" structure that ought to interest us for intents & purpose here
some people do it in gangs.. well, hehe, they're ALL criminal gangs to some extent, aren't they *wink*
here it might be worth mentioning this advancement system, a process of corruption (weeding out) necessary for making people fit to judge others & become predatory in the dog eat dog world, but this is all getting abstract again (leading into other related areas of study) because i'm alluding to the real world here, not what happens in the computer game.. well i kind of *am* still talking about the computer game as one must make judgements in anything they do *wink* (this is another side-study thing, sometimes i refer to it as VPJ-encoding [Victim/Predation/Judgement] using 5 minutes of buffy the vampire slayer footage [TV series; "hellmouth" episode part 1, introduction sequence] i was able to make a small presentation on all that but it was immediately taken down.. "copyright violations", you understand)

i'll conclude this by making the following outrageous statement;
the game is a type of "training" system for this required judgement-calling (more on that much, much later)
..some people here call me scattered but i like the word scrambled

..just generally sounding off to anyone here,
so that's what? ..like 4-5-6 posts here now, and only now just starting to pull my finger out of my & getting onto ONE small but important aspect of what this is all about.. cripes, i hope this all sort-of means something to someone out there otherwise you may as well be programming yourself whoops, i mean, "playing" persona 3..
or how 'bout that other game, where the intro simply states "here's the situation, a contaminated energy drink has mutated everyone into zombies" (or some # like that)
or maybe GTA (similar substitute family+VPJ encoding going on there)
or how about that one where you've got super-powers and free roam & do as thou will, can't remember the name but i do recall all the white owls and other symbolic stuff in the promo..

..zombie shooter, anyone?

a reply to: UNIT76

so lemme ask you something here, phineas, if that is even your real name

object of interest: "sure, we can be in a relationship, we just have to keep it a secret"

^what kind of "person" is that?

^ever had a *relationship* like that? ...how'd it turn out?

a reply to: UNIT76

and you will note, dear reader, that this

you will note (of course) that *YOUR* character is SPECIAL (lmfao) and can somehow use ALL the personas
(whereas everyone else is limited to their own single alter-persona kinda thing)

happened right after joining that "secret society"

and also *somehow* (wink) serves as the following allegory;
YOU (the playah) now have access to MULTIPLE schools of thought (so to speak)
whereas "everyone else" (these "normal" people, that all the "good stuff" is supposedly hidden from) are limited to ONE only (at best, remember most of these people simply turn into coffins when all this stuff supposedly happens) *cough* dark city
(good stuff?, or was it 'best stuff' the gourmand said? meh.. who cares)

ok, so for anyone who might happen to be a coffin just now
what we're dealing with here is
1. the multiple personas you have access to represent the multiple schools of thought available through these various "mystery school" systems (aka "secret societies")
2. the singular thing (school of thought) the normals & others (may or may not) have access to, is "christianity" (well.. i'm being glib but it works)

there's some mental gymnastics required there to make/break the connection to that 'singular' aspect & how the other team members are limited to their single alters (which are hardly representational of this christianity or bible-based system) but it simply serves as the basis for reducing "everyone else" into the same impotent archetype they seek to relegate christianity to (and the bible) that's the springboard, just take the leap
.:. "you" are special
.:. everyone else is "a coffin" (effectively null, void & dead)
the curious thing about all this is the bible says essentially the same thing
(i'll spare you the passages & verses just now)
but they cannot both be right, can they?
this is what we'll try to get to the bottom of... in time



please note

.:. "you" are special

this is only due to the affiliation of that (already somehow special) "family" of yours..
and what it "offers"
remember, without that -- you would be just like any of those "normals" out there
null, void & dead
...
now we'll ramp this up a notch or twelve, by acknowledging that the bible says essentially the same thing
(this is getting almost morbidly fascinating now)
think about it

way too obvious

that would be something like this next pic..

note that B & J emblazoned on the breasts
here is the comparison study below

Boaz, Jachin (Strength, Beauty)
etc
here's a direct reference to masonry & other "mystery school" systems
(she being presented as a type of fallen "opponent" here... interesting)
/cues up track: "holy grail" by J.timberlake & some other shill

succinctly in short;
what we're seeing here is a type of "lost" (feminine) wisdom..
..well, it's not "lost" per se, most of them just don't know what the heck all this symbolism "stuff" *means*
what to do with it..
(maybe they could give the sig. link a quick going over?)



^this is another related study we could branch out to

^and so is this


and that's pretty much all i care to say about that

a reply to: UNIT76

I played the original persona game or I am not even sure which one, but i think it was either persona or persona two. This was years ago back when the ps2 was still a brand new system. In fact I was thinking of either getting persona 3 that your talking about or persona 4 golden for my psvita. But really the game or at least persona golden is over 100 hours long I heard, I really dont have the time or inclination to play games that long anymore, or at least not on my PSvita, the dam battery dies after 3 hours of play anyways.

But ya! The persona games, or in fact pretty much any JRPG borrow heavily from all kinds of mediums and throw a unique Japanese twist to them, it is one thing which make the games fun and because its japan there are some weird stuff in the games, some that even made me go "wait a minute, did I just see what I think I seen" However I would not read to deep into it, as some of it is just there for the giggles of it.

I mean here is some scenes in persona 2 one were you fight Hitler, and one were there is a cameo of him talking to a joker about 12 crystals skulls, oh ya, didn't I say some of these games borrow heavily from all kinds of mediums. And if your asking why are you fighting Hitler? Well that is the wrong question to ask. The right question is...Why not?

a reply to: galadofwarthethird

hello once again & thanks for the contributions..

I played the original persona game or I am not even sure which one, but i think it was either persona or persona two. This was years ago back when the ps2 was still a brand new system.

so it would seem this Atlus company certainly know what they're doing...

In fact I was thinking of either getting persona 3 that your talking about or persona 4 golden for my psvita.

PPSSPP emulator
shin megami tensei ROM
Logitech gamepad

But really the game or at least persona golden is over 100 hours long I heard, I really dont have the time or inclination to play games that long anymore,

aye, then there's all that grinding..

or at least not on my PSvita, the dam battery dies after 3 hours of play anyways.

maybe the battery booster is available for vita?
there's also a nice solar panel attachment for around $20

But ya! The persona games, or in fact pretty much any JRPG borrow heavily from all kinds of mediums and throw a unique Japanese twist to them, it is one thing which make the games fun and because its japan there are some weird stuff in the games, some that even made me go "wait a minute, did I just see what I think I seen" However I would not read to deep into it, as some of it is just there for the giggles of it.

yeah, uhh, it's kinda like how they've substituted the term 'demon' for the term 'ogre' & so on...
well, we can trace a bit of this back to WWII & the social engineering that took place after
but then we'd have to 'read pretty deep' into stuff, wouldn't we? *wink*
so that's entirely up to you good sir, if you see these things & think "hey, wait a minute, did i just see what i *think* i seen"
..well, what do you *think* you saw?
if you opt to *giggle* at these things instead, that's at your discretion, your choice..
..humor is often used as a defence mechanism, isn't it?

I mean here is some scenes in persona 2 one were you fight Hitler, and one were there is a cameo of him talking to a joker about 12 crystals skulls, oh ya, didn't I say some of these games borrow heavily from all kinds of mediums. And if your asking why are you fighting Hitler? Well that is the wrong question to ask. The right question is...Why not?

ah yes, but then we'd have to read pretty deep into what the personality of hitler is doing in that game in the first place.. you've stated "why not" there, implying something like "hey, gotta have a bad guy, right?"
so that would be the *start* of this little inquiry..
..but you've got the ball rolling by mentioning a joker (wildcard) & that associated (real world) crystal skull mythos (which is all bull#, btw, but i'm sure you already know that)
the next parts would involve 'reading pretty deep' into the other associated mythos surrounding hitler (thule society, spear of destiny, etc & so on) which is probably what the Atlus company have already done in the first place & why they've used him as an antagonist.
but they're not going to say why they did that exactly, are they?
(otherwise persona3 would've been a documentary, not a game)
it seems like these are the things certain folks in the know like to "giggle" at..

but let me ask you something now..
since you seem to pop up everywhere i go, did you watch the X-factor:light coming to earth video presentation i uploaded some years back?
the cartoon "donald duck in math magic land" was featured..
here's a snapshot of a specific portion of the cartoon

"wait a minute, did I just see what I think I seen"
why don't you watch it, and then get back to me on how donald joined a secret society, how we were inducted into the basics of sacred geometry, etc etc and how the narrator is making a *cryptic* reference to masonry & other such "pythagorean mystery schools" with that statement above..
"wait a minute, did I just see what I think I seen"
..or you could just giggle at it, i suppose

thanks for the info on those crystal skulls being in the previous game..
i know how to make use of that later down the track

a reply to: RoboticNomad

The personas (I don't know the exact count but there are over a hundred) are all based on different mythologies and religions. In 3 the theme is more Greek mythology which is why the dungeon is Tartarus and the Main Characters first persona is Orpheus. Atlus (the developer) loves these allusions to ancient mythology as they do the same with the other games (Persona 4 has a lot about the Japanese Izanami/Izanagi story). This is probably why you notice a lot of similarities to things often discussed here on ATS.

Roman mosaic depicting Orpheus, wearing a Phrygian cap and surrounded by the beasts charmed by the music of his lyre
source

Orpheus (/ˈɔrfiəs, ˈɔrfjuːs/; Greek: Ὀρφεύς)
was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music, his attempt to retrieve his wife, Eurydice, from the underworld, and his death at the hands of those who could not hear his divine music.
As an archetype of the inspired singer, Orpheus is one of the most significant figures in the reception of classical mythology in Western culture, portrayed or alluded to in countless forms of art and popular culture including poetry, film, opera, and painting.[1]

SHOPPING LIST
the charm ability is the ability to recruit personas. (there's more layers to this)
the journey into the underworld to retrieve the wife is the polarity merge. (ditto)
(curiously, his death echoes the hiram abif mythos)
what i'm trying to type here is just a thin end of a wedge
(..i'll try to get into those things another time.. carefully)
"inspired singer" is akin to how neitzsche & others use the term 'dancer' to describe people who use minimal effort for graceful results
it is all gradiated knowledge on the same subject
the word "orphan" can also be extrapolated from orpheus. (back to the polarity merge again)
(maybe this isn't making much sense yet? it's all these layers we've yet to bust through)
the orpheus persona in this way represents who & what the basis of the protagonist is; his/her job purpose
how clever of these Atlus people to do all that..
(tarterus is for another time, it's linked to these beasts & coffins)

the part about "taming beasts" is probably the most SIGNIFICANT portion here;
'beasts' & 'coffins' become synonymous terms here..
we will want to get to the bottom of something here eventually...
is the(ir) goal 'domestication' or 'liberation' ? (from this lower animal nature/coffin state)


more leads..
orpheus' father
orpheus' mother


what galad was saying back there... that's why i used that ROMAN rendition of a GREEK source (above)
(they seem to have added that phrygian cap) ..a bit like how Atlus added hitler into their game
(remember earlier i mentioned something about a 'schism' between roman/greek schools of thought
(and how their ideals are later disseminated throughout the world)
..i'm thinking about asking someone i know for advice on this particular section but she's not too keen on jesus

a reply to: UNIT76

let's have another look at one of those pics again..

see all those BLACK attachment things going into her head?
oh.. that's supposed to be HAIR, right?
well, yes & no..

did you happen to see similar black attachment things on that 'dark city head' in the battle-scene backgrounds & while walking around tarterus?

it's not exactly "hair" ..is it?
they're more like "pipes", aren't they?

and note how they "feed" into the head...
..and they're black *wink*

what does that represent? ~~black feeding tubes piping stuff into ones head

consider the following from the mind control, human evolution & butterfly dunes topic..


there's an ACTUAL wire attached to that babies head *wink*

tetra50:
Yes, and although you are doing a wonderful job at vetting and showing the propaganda at work, this does exist and is real, as well. There really is a wire attached, and it really has an effect. This level of engineering goes beyond the social encoding you are making the case for and showing.

but let's get into these peculiar black pipes (wires) attached to these heads here in persona3
..what do they mean?
..why are they there?

UNIT76:
(and -part of- how this whole thing works)
..in that it doesn't necessarily require these physical wires attached to peoples heads (re: pics on page 1)

these wires (real & allegorical) represent KNOWLEDGE

being *pumped into* a head

and they are *black*

..hmmm?

This level of engineering goes beyond the social encoding you are making the case for and showing.

This level of engineering goes beyond the social encoding you are making the case for and showing.

This level of engineering goes beyond the social encoding you are making the case for and showing.

a reply to: UNIT76

orpheus' connection to "the darkness"
Perhaps related to Greek ορφνη (orphne) meaning "the darkness of night"
(note: only a hop, skip & jump away from "orphan" just now)
(note: an orphan, "parent-less .:. no sun & moon!! could indeed be described as 'the darkness of night")

en.wikipedia.org...(cosmogony) - View by Ixquick Proxy - Highlight
Greek χάος means "emptiness, vast void, chasm, abyss", from the verb χαίνω, " gape, ... It may also mean space, the expanse of air, and the nether abyss, infinite darkness. ... a sea serpent representing the clash between the forces of order and chaos. ... Primal Chaos was ...

this darkness is always associated with an unknown creative potential, and it's always *feminine*

orpheus, the protagonist, the 'playah', ie: YOU
(being dark in this way) is empty..
(due to disruption/destruction of [former?] family unit; separation from "trinity" .:. sun & moon)
that's what all those "personas" are about & why he "collects" them..
he's "getting to know" himself (ugh, i butchered that)

"Your story is more than the words you speak or images you create. More than the rules of the medium constraining your narrative. More than the structure that is you. In order to fully understand your personal story, someone can't just know your structure, understand your constraints, and hear your words... they must *become* you." [2]

jump the que & start at the post above this link


all of this is starting to make a *type* of sense now, isn't it?
(until we hit that grey-goof story)
and we haven't even really touched on the tarot & bible stuff yet
been spamming this topic for 2 days now.. time for a little holiday..

some leads on that greek/roman tiff
for people who like collecting straight-jackets
here

a reply to: UNIT76

PPSSPP emulator s
shin megami tensei ROM
Logitech gamepad

I have not used emulators in over 6 years. I used to play some of the older games on them back from the nes and super nes days. But thinking on it, I cant even remember which persona game I played. In fact I remembered specifically that they had a one in 3D for the ps2. For a second there I thought I imagined it, but ya here it is I even remember that Dante from the devil may cry series made a cameo in that game, which considering you have evil penguins and evil teddy bears in the game is not really all that of a shock. However I dont remember much else from it, I do not think I finished the game, which happens a lot I sometimes get to the end and sometimes I dont even Finnish the game.

But ya it was this game Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne.

aye, then there's all that grinding..

The grinding is what is killing off this genra I think. RPG's especially some JRPG's just never evolved past the grinding stage. I mean a little grinding is not bad, but really were talking days and days here of grinding, nope no thank you.

maybe the battery booster is available for vita? there's also a nice solar panel attachment for around $20

With everything turned up full, sound and screen at maximum it generally lasts about 4 hours if I am lucky. But most times I dont play it that often, and when I do its generally in my room plugged into the wall.

yeah, uhh, it's kinda like how they've substituted the term 'demon' for the term 'ogre' & so on... well, we can trace a bit of this back to WWII & the social engineering that took place after but then we'd have to 'read pretty deep' into stuff, wouldn't we? *wink* so that's entirely up to you good sir, if you see these things & think "hey, wait a minute, did i just see what i *think* i seen" ..well, what do you *think* you saw? if you opt to *giggle* at these things instead, that's at your discretion, your choice..

I think all that needs be said has been said on the Oni thread. Or at least for now, I do not bother reading to deep into things I know just borrow from each other. Over time off-course things will be cross googlymooked.

And also you likely did not watch or play enough japanese games or anime if you have not yet went WTF is that yet. Do you know they have a movie were the heroine goes about killing bad guys with a chainsaw coming out here butt? Well now you do, I myself havent watched that stuff, but I seen it and the preview and went WTF. And well Hitler making a cameo in a video game is not really all that surprising, what is surprising is that he is the last level boss. Which is a total rip off, I myself think he is a maybe a halfway through the game maybe second level boss, but really the last boss in that game should have been a carebear who shoots rainbows out his eyes and is all shifty eyed and evil and stuff. And off course the whole premise of the game would have been build around that.

..humor is often used as a defence mechanism, isn't it?

Humor should come naturally. If it is used as a last defense its likely somebody is using it wrong. But I suppose anything could be a weapon, after all its just the kind of world we life in. War for Peace, being the lest of the contradicting juxtapositions out there.

ah yes, but then we'd have to read pretty deep into what the personality of hitler is doing in that game in the first place.. you've stated "why not" there, implying something like "hey, gotta have a bad guy, right?" so that would be the *start* of this little inquiry..

YA thats what I am saying. The carebear who shoots death rainbows from his eyes would have been a much better last boss. But I suppose since they could not do that, eh Hitler would do.

..but you've got the ball rolling by mentioning a joker (wildcard) & that associated (real world) crystal skull mythos (which is all bull#, btw, but i'm sure you already know that)

Are you sure about that? But really the crystal skulls theory as data transfers from aliens is kind of bunk. I mean why do that when you got something more prelevent and its everywhere to work with. So the theory that some aliens made them as data mines is not likely, because if they made that, then its just as likely they turned monkeys into humans, so really no fancy skulls are needed. But really even the whole story on the skulls and the joker is ever changing, come back in a few years and who knows what it will be then. I think now there supposed to be resonators into other dimensions or something, in a few years maybe they will have been made by yetis from another dimension for all we know.

Which brings me to the point of why all these old hashed out tales come creeping back up. Why not eh?

the next parts would involve 'reading pretty deep' into the other associated mythos surrounding hitler (thule society, spear of destiny, etc & so on) which is probably what the Atlus company have already done in the first place & why they've used him as an antagonist.

Like I said everybody just equates things to other things, and anybody can do it, especially if they got a group of people who like to do that for whatever reason. As for why hitler was in that game. Like I said why not, probably somebody just though "hey who would be a really bad bad guy?"

And for all we know they could have been watching the history channel and high as a kite, and it just went from there. In fact back then when the game was out there you may as well have called the history channel the Hitler Chanel, all Hitler and Nazis, all day. I think for a few years they showed practically nothing but WW2 and Nazi and especially Hitler related programing. Now a days, well we got aliens and the guy with the funny hair who claims that it wasn't aliens but it was aliens. And so it goes as it always has.

But as for this fascination with Hitler people have. I could go on for a long time about that, and its another just meshed up ball of everything, and if you think Hitler being equated to Atlas is pretty far out. Well have you ever read a book called The lightning and the Sun by Savitri Devi She was some British chick who read to much and went to India got equated with the whole myth's of the goddesses there, so she changed her name, oh she was also a big Hitler fan. If you haven't and want to see some really interesting thins in that book, you would probably get a kick out of it, its full of all kinds of associated mythos. In fact most of such things seem to have been started by bored females who suddenly became all goddess like and had some sort of vision, and plenty of bored dudes to listen to her, thule society for one I believe comes to mind.

but they're not going to say why they did that exactly, are they? (otherwise persona3 would've been a documentary, not a game) it seems like these are the things certain folks in the know like to "giggle" at..

Um persona 3 was a different game, I do not think hitler made a cameo in that game. But I do believe they had evil tedy bears? Or was that persona 4 and 5. I am not sure dude never played those games yet.