Chapter 884: Phantom Thieves of Hearts? No, Thieves of Hearts!

Attending classes, working part-time, shopping, and even reading books and watching movies.

Zhang Yi enthusiastically played the role of Ren Amamiya, an ordinary-looking high school student.

After school, he left Shujin Academy, took the subway to a survival gear store in Shibuya to buy various equipment.

Then he returned to the doctor sister in Yongen-Jaya to purchase corresponding healing potions.

He could also incidentally improve his affinity with Ann Takamaki and his good friend Ryuji in his free time.

Of course, the most important thing was to enter the Palace and take down Suguru Kamoshida.

After all, this guy truly made Zhang Yi restless.

Wasn't three months of doing all the housework for this very purpose?

With all the food, drink, and survival gear ready, Zhang Yi controlled Ren Amamiya, Ryuji, Ann Takamaki, and Morgana, the little cat they met in the prologue, as they entered Suguru Kamoshida's Palace.

Inside the Palace, the game's combat system slowly revealed itself.

The dungeon gameplay didn't come as a surprise to Zhang Yi.

However, compared to the open-world map design of Xenoblade Chronicles, Persona still featured a traditional RPG dungeon design, much like Final Fantasy.

It was filled with all sorts of monsters, and there were also some mechanism-based passages that players needed to fulfill certain conditions to open.

But the overall level of dungeon design left Zhang Yi somewhat amazed; although it was still the traditional 'find path - blocked - open mechanism - proceed' mode, it was remarkably intricate.

Moreover, the entire labyrinth was incredibly vast, featuring "safe rooms" where players could save their progress. Each different Palace labyrinth also contained three red, blue, and green Desire Stones, and collecting all of them would grant a powerful item.

However, these Desire Stones either required players to use their wits to find the correct path, or to overcome powerful enemies.

If the game's map and level design was already excellent, then the combat system was even more interesting.

As the game's main story progressed, Zhang Yi finally encountered the mechanics of acquiring Personas.

Just like Rex in Xenoblade Chronicles, who possessed the authority of the Aegis and could freely acquire other characters' Blades.

In Persona, Ren Amamiya, as the protagonist, could use any Persona representing different archetypes, except for his companions' Personas which he couldn't acquire.

"Lovers," "Fool," "Magician," "Chariot"... a total of twenty-five different Personas representing various archetypes were available for players to use.

Each Persona possessed different elemental energies; some focused on physical attacks, some on magic, and others on healing and buffing.

It also had weaknesses categorized by elemental, physical, gun attributes, etc., making Persona's combat highly strategic at normal and higher difficulties.

By attacking an enemy's weakness and putting them in a downed state, players could not only unleash a powerful and flashy Phantom Thieves' All-Out Attack, but also extort them for money and items for their freedom, or even have them "sell" themselves to the protagonist.

The only thing that made Zhang Yi feel a bit off was whether his Arsène Persona was fake.

“No way! Ryuji's Captain Kidd, the cat's Zorro, and Ann Takamaki's Carmen—all these Personas look so strong. Why does my Arsène feel like a total pushover?”

Zhang Yi looked at the Persona's attributes in the game, falling into a bit of confusion.

In terms of appearance, Arsène Lupin in the game was undeniably cool.

But its stats and skills were completely bottom-tier.

Even a random Shadow mob caught in Suguru Kamoshida's Palace felt stronger than it.

And having played this far, he had also unlocked a brand-new feature.

That was fusion. Through the Twin Wardens in the Velvet Room, captured Personas could be fused to create more powerful ones.

And it could inherit the unique powers of both, which made Zhang Yi find Persona interesting. Wouldn't he be able to create an incredibly powerful Persona in the late game?

The kind with maxed-out stats and skills.

“But for now, Arsène doesn't even feel strong enough to be an experience fodder!” Looking at the pitifully weak Arsène, Zhang Yi couldn't help but sigh.

How did you become the protagonist's Persona?

You're so useless, just leave the group chat!

While complaining about Arsène, Zhang Yi also pushed forward with the game's progress.

At the same time, the phantom thief of hearts he had imagined had completely changed its flavor as the main story progressed.

In his imagination, the phantom thief of hearts should steal the treasure calmly, leaving not a single trace.

How dashing would that be?

But what was the reality?

Completely different from what he imagined.

After infiltrating the Palace and discovering the Treasure, Joker and Morgana realized there was no way to directly steal the Treasure and take it out of the Palace.

So, in order to materialize the Treasure, the Phantom Thieves couldn't discreetly steal it; instead, they had to loudly announce to the enemy, "We're coming to steal your desires!"

Thus, after temporarily leaving the Palace, a Calling Card was directly sent out.

“[To the shameless scoundrel of Lust, Mr. Suguru Kamoshida, you have imposed your twisted desires upon defenseless students. We are fully aware of how outrageous your actions are. Therefore, we have decided to steal your distorted desires, forcing you to confess your crimes of your own accord—From the Phantom Thieves of Hearts]”

“Alright, this definitely has Ryuji's style.” Zhang Yi looked at the Calling Card on the blackboard and couldn't help but feel speechless.

It was just... too chuuni!

And it clearly had the mark of the blonde Ryuji, with Ann and Morgana in the game also appropriately voicing their complaints.

Also, they said they'd steal it, so how did it turn into a direct robbery?

Phantom Thieves of Hearts? More like Robbers of Hearts!

Especially their performance during the battle against Suguru Kamoshida, which solidified Zhang Yi's conviction.

Directly ambushing him from behind and knocking off the crown on Suguru Kamoshida's head.

How is this stealing?

This is clearly a brazen robbery!

Watching the disappointed Suguru Kamoshida after his Treasure was stolen, Zhang Yi was filled with emotions.

But honestly, it was pretty cool!

At the same time, regarding the entire game, setting aside the combat and dungeon systems, Zhang Yi now somewhat understood the combination of plot and world-building.

That is, Persona, in all likelihood, uses the Seven Deadly Sins as its antagonist BOSSes.

Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Pride, Envy, Sloth, and Wrath.

Among them, Suguru Kamoshida was undoubtedly the embodiment of Lust, with his pink-hued Palace and the Shadow that manifested as Ann Takamaki in a swimsuit.

His own Shadow transforming into Asmodeus, one of the seventy-two demons, during the recent BOSS battle, explicitly conveyed this point to all players.

The personification of Lust revealed the darkness within the school.

When many people talk about school bullying, they naturally think of bullying that occurs between students.

But does it not happen between teachers and students?

Using their position as teachers to subject students to unfair treatment, such as corporal punishment.

And there was the so-called "vegetable-ization" phenomenon mentioned in the game's prologue, as well as Joker being betrayed by a traitor at the beginning.

Zhang Yi was very curious about what kind of story would unfold next.

Just like Detroit: Become Human, even though it had a comic-cartoon style, Zhang Yi already sensed the slightly satirical plot settings in Persona.

Pride, Sloth, Envy... and the remaining six deadly sins—in what forms would they appear in the game, and what social phenomena would they expose and satirize?

Zhang Yi was very curious about what would happen to the Phantom Thieves next.

After all, if it were a typical game developer, Zhang Yi would likely expect a good ending to follow.

But Nebula Games?

To be honest, even if Joker died in prison after being betrayed by a traitor, and then the game swapped to a new protagonist for revenge, he wouldn't be surprised.

After all, they had a criminal record; Arthur Morgan was watching from above.

(End of Chapter) <>