#p5t

This area is quite grey and bland, which I suppose is narratively the point, but still is boring. Grey on grey enemies aren't great to look at. The maps were annoying too. I tried having Erina and Toshiro out at the same time, but didn't like it. Honestly I kind of stopped using her in general leading up to this, I'm not sure how to synergize her with him in any particularly interesting way. I did take advantage of his extra All Out a few times though. #P5T

Then after the battle you get a save point and I stupidly figured I'd continue on, but there's another 30 mins of cutscenes and *another* mook battle before you get back into the hideout. I really should have just stopped after the boss battle. Or saved and suspended the game at any point. But as discussed with @Mog@gamepad.club earlier today, I like to save in "safe" spots even if you can save at any time. It feels weird. #P5T

So as predicted we're in another Kingdom and need to foment another revolution, this time with an Imperial Japan vibe. I think the bad guy is Toshiro's dad and we're going through his personal dreamscape now to make him into a better person or something like that. And I'm finally back in a hideout so I can save and get ready for bed. #P5T

OMG that took so much longer than I thought it would. I had to do a couple more battles before getting to Marie proper. Then the first two rounds of the fight were slow and annoying. Just hitting and dodging. And then I couldn't for the life of me get her positioned exactly in the square you're supposed to until I looked up online you're supposed to melee attack the bouquets into her route so she stops in the box. #P5T

This is something I kind of hated about the original game as well. These one off boss mechanics that prevent you from just... killing the fucking boss. And it's never as obvious as just flipping a lever or something. Should I have figured out what Futaba meant about "throwing the bouquets back at her" sooner? IDK. It pissed me off enough I couldn't really enjoy the cutscenes after that. #P5T