"A Maze of Relationships" - Social Links and Changing Midnight Channel

After facing Yosuke's Shadow and gaining a Social Link, the two are determined to figure out the reason for the murders and what is going on. This creates a new scene as the Protagonist agrees to aid in figuring out the murders.

CLOSER TO THE TRUTH

Before the next big boss is faced, the Protagonist forms his first Social Link, a bond between people that allows him to slowly get them to open up and, if they are part of the team, to give them a special ability as more of the bond is unlocked. The more information the Protagonist has about the person, the closer they are and the stronger the bond.

This is important for the Protagonist and his power, as well as for the game in general. Each bond is treated to the "Thou art I" part, but added with it is not only the name of the card, but also that the bond will bring you 'closer to the truth'.

In some cases, such as with bonds between those who create Personas like Yosuke, the 'truth' is two things - their truth (i.e. why they have such a powerful suppressed self and what their 'true' self is) as well as the truth of the murders and who is throwing people into the TV World. Other bonds allow for one to learn more of the 'truth' behind a specific person, normally allowing for more of the Protagonist's abilities to be trained, but also allowing for some time away from the murder and instead to invest in the community and to help whoever the Protagonist is able to help. Social Links (S.Links) are often created either by saving the person and them later joining the group to solve the crime, or by meeting them or talking with them in everyday life. Some S.Links require a high enough Social Qualities to start or move forward. 

Social Qualities

There are five main Social Qualities that you can advance in order to help with tests, get a part-time job, or even to start or advance certain S.Links. Each of the five are tied with choices you make or what you do in your spare time. In the first play through of the game, they all start at the bare basics, but the second play through should allow you to bring over all the qualities that you once had (as this is my first playthrough, I started with the basics...this is a long game and I have put it aside for other games before, sadly). 

The Five Qualities are:

- Understanding - 

     This will allow you to show your awareness of others around you. It allows you to empathize towards others and their pain. Higher Understanding allows for more solidarity with others.

- Knowledge - 

     This comes mostly from classes and studying, so this particular set applies mostly to book-knowledge and the ability to understand said knowledge. Higher Knowledge means you will get rewarded for test scores. 

- Courage - 

      Courage comes from being able to either be upfront with someone about something, call someone out, or otherwise show your ability to stand your ground, no matter what. In the game, you can often gain Courage by eating some of the food you find in the fridge that is...questionable. (In many cases very questionable)

- Expression -

      Like Understanding, Expression has to do with empathy, but this focuses more on being able to show your empathy over empathizing with them. Higher Expression allows you to speak with people who might otherwise be closed off.

- Diligence - 

      Diligence deals mostly with being able to keep dates or follow through with something that you might not always want to do. Higher Diligence allows you to do certain things more often.

The Continued Mystery

Not long after going into the world and encountering Shadows and Personas for the first time, someone new appears on the Midnight Channel. Chie is very sure that person is Yukiko Amagi, who had appeared that night in an interview about the whereabouts of Yamano before her death. However, despite appearing on the TV, Yukiko is fine and simply had to work at the family-run Amagi Inn. That night, the Midnight Channel comes in clear, but it's not quite Yukiko who we see on the TV...

Revised Analysis 1: The Midnight Channel

During the last few days, Yukiko appeared on the television in some way three times - the main broadcast in which she is asked rather inappropriate questions by an interviewer about being so young and pretty in her kimono (he was there to interview her about Yamano's time there and instead went into talking about Yukiko's look and her youth), with her back turned and wearing the kimono but appearing to look 'out' at something in the Midnight Channel, and finally, in her 'princess' dress, in what Yosuke describes as like 'bad television', entering a castle to find herself a Prince (or 'score a hot stud', depending on the translation) in the new Midnight Channel.

In the beginning of the story, the Protagonist passes by a television playing the news about Yamano's affair and her being let go of at the station. When we see her being attacked, there's a hint of it being like turning to a tv that isn't quite in focus, with static sounding and the picture grainy, enough to see that it's possibly Yamano, but not enough to see any other details. When seeing Saki Konishi on the TV, the picture is far more grainy and out of focus, but it shows her enough to know she's in pain. The Protagonist learns from Yosuke, the day Saki's body is found, that she appeared again on the Midnight Channel, appearing to be in agony.

This seems to be an escalation of what is going on, or it could simply be the Midnight Channel warping, now that there is a chance of 'saving' those within it. Yukiko's disappearance after appearing on the Channel may hint at the first part being a 'teaser' for who is to come, with the next part being the 'show' itself. With Yamano and Saki Konishi, we didn't see any 'shows', but rather them being hurt or put into the TV, and we see the results of the 'dungeon' they were put in later on. With Yukiko, you get an idea of what her repressed self is feeling, and there seems to be a hint that this a deeper and possibly darker 'repressed' self than the others, or that her placement within the TV has allowed for the Shadows to more easily move around her than with the others. The time between a dense fog and Yukiko disappearing into the TV World seems to indicate that the Shadows are not as angry or easily riled up, as they were with Saki and Yamano's appearance in the TV. It would also explain the changed format, allowing for a look into the psyche and what the group will be facing over no hints at all of what happens and instead only showing them being attacked.
If this is the case, then the ones on TV who are focused on by the media have a high chance of being next on the Midnight Channel. As Chie mentions before Saki Konishi's death, the reason for her being on the Channel might be that the media was showing her interview so often, so people had 'Saki on the brain'. That seems to result in showing who appears next as the 'preview', and then the one who appears on the Midnight Channel 'program' that their Shadow uses to hint at the issues set deep within the person's mind, and which created them in the first place.

Next up: Analysis of Yukiko's Castle Part 1