Arc-en-Ciel

After reading this article (link), I was prompted to write something in reflection of my mischievious adventure I had with the Shin Megami Tensei series, particularly the spin-off Persona series.

My random encounter with this franchise occurred when I was at an age of 16. At that time, I love good stories and I wanted to delve into stories with greater depth beyond what Harry Potter has to offer. I would never have thought that a chance purchase of the (illegal copy of) Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 would have change my life forever.

Aside from the typical save-the-world teenagers settings, much of the gameplay and plot development in P3 was new to me. I was totally intrigued by the gameplay mechanics of exploring the personality of other NPCs through the "social-link" system that rewards player with stronger persona. On the other hand, being at the same age group as the P3 cast, I was totally able to sympathize with many of their plights, in particularly with the concise-speaking main character. His indifferent demeanour and cool attitude had gain my complete admiration. In some way, I think I ended up mimicking this character and started speaking concisely! I wonder if my slouching pose and my way of walking on the street is due to the influence of this character?

Photo taken by me!

Anyhow, upon finishing the game, I felt my greedy desires overwhelming for deep and dark storylines just like P3. I was starving for more stories like this. About another year or two, P4 was launched and I found myself analyzing every hook-and-nook of the game: its characters and shadow counterparts, the plot and its gameplay. The entire gender role confusion experienced by Kanji and Naoto was such a nicely written plot point that kept me thinking about using this setting for possible future story-writing. Furthermore, the entire mythology about Izanami and Izanagi may not be that polished in P4 storyline, but it kept me interested about the entire we-kill-God premise that is strong in the SMT franchise. P4 also made me interested in psychology during my varsity period.

After P3 and P4 experience, my greed was never quenched. And by some lucky stroke, I came upon a SMT cosplay group and its founder in an online forum. For that point onwards, I was on a rollercoater ride with these people. Though various ACG events and several more video games by Atlus (eg. Digital Devil Story, P2, SMT IV and DDS), we came to share a bond enforced by a love for good video games and cosplay. Looking back, it's been five years since the start of this rollercoaster life. Though life circumstances had changed a lot for many of us and we would only meet up physically for once or twice each year, but without a doubt, I am sure that the bond we share are still strong even for years to come.

Credits to Akahitoken Photography (link)