Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Persona 3 Reload and the Arknights "Moonlight on Water" event.
Is there anything more pleasant than frantically closing your eyes to grab the Platinum Trophy for Persona 3 Reload right after finishing the Arknights "Moonlight on Water" collaboration?
A while ago, I specifically started a true New Game+ of Persona 3 Reload on PlayStation 5, without carrying over any saves (not to mention my PC saves couldn't be transferred there anyway), pushing forward from scratch, and finally stopping progress at January in the game—which seems to be the point of "intersecting fates" in Arknights' "Moonlight on Water" collaboration event.
This point is quite interesting. Because at this moment, the members of S.E.E.S. have all grown, and their Personas have evolved. They have transformed from The Fool to Judgment, preparing together to climb Tartarus. What will such a group of individuals with selves, who have already found their answers, bring, change, or take away when they come to the land of Terra? Therefore, I am quite looking forward to seeing what feelings arise when I interrupt the game here and then resume it from this point.
And after I finished watching the Arknights "Moonlight on Water" event storyline, returned to Persona 3 Reload, and once again welcomed that spring farewell, I reached a conclusion—Arknights, with one event, added a new Social Link to Persona 3 Reload outside of the game.
As for the name of this Social Link, it might just be called "Land of Terra."
"Come, now is the time to show the true value of the 'power of bonds.'"
—Igor, Persona 3 Reload
The Social Links in the "Persona" series, also called Confidants or "COMMU/COOP," originated in Persona 3 and were further developed in subsequent titles Persona 4 and Persona 5, representing one of the most important innovations in these three modern works. Building Social Link bonds affects various aspects including combat, fusion, and plot progression—similarly, it also relates to the player's emotional immersion in the game, as well as their understanding of the game's themes and ideological core.
For Persona 3 Reload, the most intuitive theme is naturally "death," which forms the backdrop of the entire work. But when it comes to specific discussions and plot design, it's about "how to face death." Life is finite, everyone dies, and the fear of death, or death anxiety, always exists profoundly. Therefore, how to face and resolve this anxiety is what the main cast and the supporting characters in the Social Links are experiencing.
Within this, the growth of the main cast is usually reflected in the main storyline and nighttime personal sub-stories. Even that guy who matures three times a year, I feel he made some progress by the end, not as terrible as the memes suggest. The growth of Social Link partners, however, can only be discovered through repeated conversations and rank-by-rank progression, witnessing what crises each small character faces outside of the grand narrative of world-ending events.
Let's take an example—in Persona 3 Reload, a gluttonous classmate often sits by the fountain at the mall. His name is Mochizuki, the "Gourmet King." When you first meet him, Mochizuki is full of lies and has a nasty personality, seemingly hating everyone thinner than him. As you interact with him further, you discover he is deeply entrenched in a cult, sincerely believing in what appears to be pyramid-scheme-like blessings. However, through repeated interactions, after Makoto Yuki helps him escape the risk of being besieged, we finally learn the reason behind his personality—growing up with inferiority complex caused by his more excellent younger brother, and after his brother's accidental death, he couldn't become someone like his brother, so he ultimately chose to escape reality, becoming a decadent glutton. It wasn't until the end that he was moved by Makoto Yuki's various actions, found meaning in life, and became the true "Gourmet King."
His story actually points to human self-alienation, and what is depicted here is "self-deception"—escaping the truth and one's responsibilities with a negative attitude through lying and role-playing. He hides his true feelings, abandoning his consciousness and freedom, just like Nagasaki Soyo firmly believed that "returning to the past band would bring happiness," ultimately ending in failure. Thanks to Makoto's protagonist halo, Mochizuki was given a relatively satisfactory ending.
And the source of this existential dilemma of self-alienation is the existential crisis—the world is meaningless and absurd, and this crisis of contingency arises within the absurd world. Due to its absurdity, anything can happen to anyone at any time; people have no right to choose what they want or don't want. Any accident or incident can lead to irresistible anxiety, resulting in evasion and "self-deception."
Similarly, the elderly bookstore couple representing the Hierophant Tarot card in Persona 3 Reload also face this absurd world, but their actions are positive.
Their only son was a teacher at Gekkoukan High School, but unfortunately died on his way home from work, hit by a drunk driver's truck. The white-haired parents buried their black-haired child, and all the son left behind in the world was a persimmon tree he planted with his students. Originally, the meaning of their lives was their son, and after his accidental death, the meaning of their lives shifted to the persimmon tree planted by their son.
However, this tree is scheduled to be cut down for some reason before it bears fruit—the meaning of life is about to be lost again. How should people move forward? Therefore, they will be saddened by this second farewell and moved by the "Save the Persimmon Tree" campaign organized by the graduates, after all, this tree carries the old bookstore couple's longing for their son.
But in the end, they chose the future. Precisely because they saw what the students did for their son, and because they understood that the reason for cutting down the persimmon tree was to build a new school building, they stopped escaping and worrying. They found new meaning—rather than holding onto memories, cultivating new possibilities would make their son happier. In the end, the school preserved and transplanted the persimmon tree, keeping this memory alive. This Social Link storyline depicts how to find new meaning in life after traditional meanings are stripped away.
But this is only one aspect of finding meaning. New meaning won't appear out of thin air, nor will any higher existence spontaneously emerge. Therefore, the key to rediscovering meaning lies in "finding," meaning humans must actively make choices.
And the most significant manifestation of freeing oneself from pain through free choice and taking responsibility for one's choices is reflected in the Sun Social Link storyline in Persona 3 Reload.
Kamiki Shusei, a terminally ill patient. What he faces is an inevitable outcome—death. If life is destined to perish, what meaning is there in the remaining time? If a person will eventually die, what can they leave behind? This is almost the theme of the game Persona 3 Reload.
He wrote his own story within his limited time, leaving behind that little pink crocodile, because he realized that the meaning of life doesn't require a specific answer. Although he couldn't choose whether to die, he could choose how to live before death arrived.
This is precisely the message conveyed by the Social Link stories in Persona 3 Reload. Humans cannot decide whether the world is absurd, nor can they easily prevent death and loss. However, when facing an existential crisis, people always retain the freedom to choose their actions and must bear the consequences.
And this is precisely the main axis depicted in Arknights' "Moonlight on Water" event. After all, on the land of Terra, the crisis faced by the Sanktas in this regard is particularly evident.
That's right, I met the Sankta's "Lord." Whatever the Lord said about origins, crises, the future... oh well, it's all just troublesome stuff, who can remember it clearly? I think the Lord is better off staying in the Acts of the Saints; we'll decide how to live our own futures!
—New Covenant Exusiai, Arknights
In the story of "Acts of All Living Beings," the Sanktas lost their connection with the Host. This marks the departure of the old deity and the arrival of a new era for the masses. Just as Christianity and God no longer dominate Western life after cruel world wars and economic recessions in reality, the sense of security from the "Lord" disappeared, alienation and loneliness grew day by day, giving rise to crisis. But more importantly, what the Sanktas lost was not just the "God," but also their proud ability of empathy, intensifying the sense of crisis.
Empathy refers to the ability of the Sankta族群 to directly convey emotions through their halos. Granted by the "Law," it allows Sanktas to accurately grasp each other's emotional states and is a key part of Sankta communication. Therefore, for Sanktas, losing empathy is like unplugging the internet cable between you and your online friend, forcing you to communicate face-toface—there must be an adjustment period.
But not everyone can adapt immediately. In an environment without a supreme creator, how does one create meaning in their own life through choices and actions? This is the crisis that Sanktas must face, and also the root of the turmoil.
Thus, just like the Social Links in Persona 3 Reload, the land of Terra encountered Makoto Yuki—more accurately, S.E.E.S.—and underwent change.
Because S.E.E.S. has transformed at this moment; they can act as a whole, using their actions to influence and change others, and even influence and change another world. That's why I say that with one event, Arknights added a new Social Link to Persona 3 Reload outside of the game itself.
When Makoto Yuki and the members of S.E.E.S. entered this world, they also brought some rules from Persona 3 Reload. For instance, some Sanktas inexplicably exhibit symptoms similar to "Fallen," their halos mutate, and strange Shadows appear... In other words, this is the Sankta crisis existing on the land of Terra. Their unease over the disappearance of the "Lord," loneliness from the loss of empathy, fear of traditional失效, and confusion about how to live in the future have been materialized by rules coming from another world.
Nevertheless, these enemies are hardly invaders from the sky, because what they truly face was born within their own hearts from the start. Or rather, this collaboration inadvertently brought Jungian psychology along with it.
The most intuitive manifestation of this change is the monsters resembling "Shadows" that the S.E.E.S. squad searches for late at night after the collaboration, as well as the final boss—the "Condensation of Death Wish." From the name alone, you can tell it is something condensed from people's desire for death, and it is the very essence of the existential crisis faced by the Sanktas.
So... just as Persona 3 Reload portrays ordinary people's choices in the face of adversity as individual Social Link storylines, "Moonlight on Water" places this macroscopic crisis onto specific individuals.
And the real story begins with a funeral—a farewell ceremony that is both a party and a funeral. The party organizer, Julio, plans to turn his aunt's funeral into a party according to her will. In contrast, the funeral director Giada believes that in this era where Sanktas have lost their empathy, funerals should change, becoming solemn and dignified.
The divergence between the two stems from empathy. As a Sankta, Julio possesses the ability of empathy, and like his ancestors, he believes that death is the manifestation of the deceased ascending to heaven and merging with the holy spirit. Therefore, he approves of laughter and joy at funerals and believes this Sankta culture will continue. Giada, being a Liberi, does not possess this ability and thus cannot understand such peculiar behavior—especially whether such behavior remains reasonable after Sanktas lose their empathy.
So, the question is: After the "Lord" disappears, and after the traditional foundation of "empathy" vanishes, can people still rely on past answers?
For Julio, the answer is clear—he follows his aunt's will. Even though he isn't close to this aunt and doesn't know the various inside stories, he decides to do so. From this perspective, Julio also exhibits a certain degree of evasion and self-deception.
But as the story progresses, Julio gradually learns that his aunt's wish for a party funeral was just a joke. And even she, who made such a joke, chose suicide in despair due to the departure of the "Lord" and the disappearance of empathy.
Thus, all the answers Julio previously relied on were stripped away at this moment, forcing him to confront himself.
He may feel fear and confusion, but he won't necessarily make positive choices—whether it's finding new meaning or creating new meaning.
Because he chose another path—embracing death.
And this gunshot completely brought out what had been hidden in the hearts of the Sanktas into reality.
However, once summoned, its health bar appears. Low-spec Nyx? Go talk to my Thanatos.
The members of S.E.E.S. have experienced much. At this point in time, they have experienced the death of important people, faced difficult choices, felt confused, escaped, and hesitated in the face of problems. But as I mentioned at the beginning, those who arrived on the land of Terra at this time are no longer the ordinary boys and girls from the start of the story.
These boys and girls have already made their choices. Therefore, when the Sanktas face the same crisis, they have the ability to confront it and help the people of Laterano take a new step—of course, all they can do is help.
In Persona 3 Reload, when facing those Social Link stories, Makoto Yuki never makes decisions for anyone; he only offers reminders or acts alongside them. Yet, through the process of spending time together, he influences them, helping them rediscover ways to face life, loss, and death. He accompanies the Social Links through segments of their life journeys, watching them find their own answers... before finally bidding farewell in spring.
Similarly, at the end of the "Moonlight on Water" storyline, after the S.E.E.S. squad saves Julio, Everythinggj proceeds accordingly. The Sanktas will once again face all of this, the rules of Laterano will quietly change, and the ways in which the people of Laterano understand death, farewells, and how to continue into the future will inevitably change—as for what the future holds, it all depends on the people of Laterano themselves.
It is precisely for this reason that I consider "Moonlight on Water" to be a complete Social Link storyline.
When this Social Link storyline reaches its end, Makoto Yuki and the S.E.E.S. squad return to their own world. And in the real world, Persona 3 Reload gains a new Social Link that doesn't exist in the game menu and doesn't conform to the Tarot system.
This Social Link has no specific ranks, no corresponding Persona, and provides no effects.
But it does leave something behind.
So, when I returned to that spring again and saw the ending I had watched countless times on the rooftop, this sentence floated into my mind—
Take care on your journey.
"I will make a choice, and whatever the outcome, I will accept it gladly."
—Makoto Yuki, Persona 3 Reload