Persona 5 - Unused Confidant Reverse / Doubt Cutscenes 

“Your confidant is in a state of Doubt. You will not receive it’s benefits until you clear your name.” “ALRIGHT!”

“I got a Boyfriend” “Oh, you’re gay? Sorry bro, can’t let you skip class anymore.”

Joker: I'm a Phantom Thief. _[Chihaya saw through your lies!]_ Joker: But I wasn't lying!

8:24 I love how even the player was confused that he still got it wrong.

Hifumi: Please leave! Joker: (Enthusiastically) Alright!

“Doubt” Joker: *”ALRIGHT!”*

2:48 NO JOKER THIS IS NOT ALRIGHT

this is interesting, but maxing out everyone in one run was hard enough, i cannot even imagine having to deal with this

Joker: I'm sorry I'm really busy and I simply can't spend time with you at the moment, I hope you understand Confidant: *press x to doubt*

The game: Someone just lost their trust in you, you cant use their perks anymore Joker: *A l r i g h t !*

The Weapons dealer says YOU’RE too shady. Wow. Maybe you really are a criminal.

So THIS is why Morgana has that line "You should really make sure to respond until you gain their trust" when confidants hit you up.

Joker: clearly answers "pride" Ohya: *huH? yOu dOn'T kNoW!? iT wAs PRIDE!*

This mechanic could have worked if the game had a longer time span. Perhaps that was the main reason why they cut it; they originally had a longer story that allowed for this kind of mechanic but later shortened it and realized there simply would not be enough time for a player to restore a confidant from doubting to normal.

Group of translaters sweating while writing this.

“What was written in Madarame’s card?” “Pride” “You don’t know? It’s pride” Ohya is stupid Same for hifumi’s blender question lol Additionally: “I, Martin Luther King jr, have a dream.”

I am happy this wasn't included, it would of been so annoying to deal with

Seems like they had all of the assets and stuff sorted for this. Amazed they didn't just chuck this in the Royal edition.

"i don't trust you anymore" joker: ALRIGHT either joker doesn't give a shit or he's secretly an introvert

I like how Shinya and Yoshida both tell you to go home as if you don't have a life beyond them. It's also weird how these event triggers are kinda stupid and unintuitive. It's understandable to think that ignoring a friend would make them suspicious of you, especially in a situation where it's a mutual benefit relationship, meaning that you could be using them for selfish gains. However, in a game like Persona, this would destroy a lot of the freedom of time-management in the game. Howeverer, I think a system more akin to P4 would suffice. Just make it so they pop the question after you say something that ticks them off. This would help balance a mechanic that was previously seen as either, "stupid and annoying" or " What mechanic?", to being a weird, but logical one.

Akechi:... You know I seen you avoid looking at me, it’s like you rather not talk to me. Before we continue our plan in Sae’s palace, I want to ask you a question. What do you think of me when you see me? Delicious Pancakes Someone I can trust -Betrayal Akechi:...... What? YOUR RELATIONSHIP IS IN DOUBT!

Kawakami’s 2nd one is so funny. “Now that you have friends, we can’t be friends!”

7:22 "I GOT A BOYFRIEND"....? THIS IS UNUSED? :0

I greatly disliked this in P3... I mean, I was literally not allowed to even talk to another female social link if one had already progressed too far and they had become "invested" in the protagonist. Funnily enough once you complete their social link they don't care at all anymore. It was frustrating to not even have the option to say "Calm your tits. She's JUST A FRIEND. I'm dating YOU." ...and I bet even if I did have that option, she'd still get mad and refuse to speak to me / Reverse Arcana until I apologize for spending an hour or two with a friend. Fuck. As interesting as this is, I'm glad they didn't add it in P5. I don't like mandatory selfish NPC's creating problems for the protagonist AND the player.

Instead of Joker saying “Alright”, he should say “Damn it”

5:46 I wanted them to choose "I want to be handsome" so badly. It's just such a hilariously nonsensical answer that I think it would have thrown her for a loop. And while she's processing that, you can come up with a better answer!

I was so pissed when a social link got reversed in Persona 3 that I just didn't continue with the ones that did, so I'm so glad they didn't put this in P5

This just doesn’t make sense. “We didn’t hang out for a while because you were busy. Let’s play a bit of trivia. Oh, you got that wrong, you’re such a shady character. Oh wait what, you got it right? I’m just gonna stop talking to you because I don’t like you.”

Joker: says wrong thing by accident Everyone: Triggered *THAT’S IT. GO HOOOOOOOME!*

I might just be parroting off what others say, but while I get this mechanic is cool in theory, it sounds like a chore. Having to meet others out of sheer obligation, then being punished when you don't meet those demands is kinda unfair. Kinda like that X-COM 2 mission where you need to complete it under a certain timer. It puts an unnecessary amount of stress to the player, and worst of all, you won't get rewarded for completing it in the end. I'd rather have the game introduce ways to encourage players to meet confidants aside from leveling them up, like receiving gifts from them, or additional scenes when you hang out with them and - potentially - other characters come along to add. I'd like to have more scenes with me and Ryuji goofing off, maybe add in Yusuke or Morgana for good measure. Or if I feel like it, I can go on for more dates with the girls. Sure it sounds like a lot of time and effort, but if they had time to think of the "doubt" mechanic, I'm sure they could pull off. I dunno, just my two cents.

"You will not receive your confidant's benefits until you clear your name.” I fail to see the issue when it comes to Ohya.

While this would've been a bit more realistic (except for the forced quizzes and how melodramatic the confidants become), at the same time just thinking about this during your playthrough must be a bit stressful

They definitely knew how much worse of a time crunch this would have been for players if they added it.

Press X to doubt

Huh, is this why in the early ranks of some confidants Morgana says "make sure you accept their invitations until you gain their trust?" Because at one point they COULD lose trust in you?

Man thankk God this wasn't in Persona 5 lmao

I love the idea of takemi completely losing any faith she has in joker just because he didn’t know what a pen is used for

Honestly this is somewhat of cool and annoying mechanic. They could’ve added another difficulty with this mechanic on. It also seems that they didn’t have enough time to finish it since it wasn’t close enough to being polished

Love how the friendships are as fragile as random trivia questions after I helped you conquer your inner demons/helped out with your small business idea.

Wow... I wasn't expecting to hear a former yakuza member to call a highscholler "too damn shady" xD

I feel like they skipped this mechanic in late development. In the begin state of your confidant ranks, when you receive an invite, Mona tells you stuff like "make sure to accept this invite, or he will lose his trust in you." I always wondered why Mona said that, but I think it's because of this. It's rather interesting.

As someone who feels bad picking mean dialogue options, this genuinely upsets me

The mechanic would've been okay if implemented in a non-awkward way imo, so just the same vein as the bad dialogue choices leading to the SL to reverse like in P4. Basically no "I doubt you because you didn't see me in a month or so" I can understand some of them doubting tho tbh. 1. Iwai - considering his line of work, Joker might as well come off as some pawn for Tsuda or smth lol 2. Ohya - well she does need to prove that Joker's stories have validity since her integrity's on the line (tho lmao her dialogue here makes her rather annoying) 3. Hifumi - idk, she calls Joker a weirdo for a reason (and there should've been some form of apprehension at the start tbh 😂). After all, Joker's some stranger from a controversial school that walks up to Hifumi all of a sudden and asks her to have him under her tutelage. If he didn't have any knowledge (or luck in the rank 1 scene) to back up his claim of wanting to improve his purpotedly existing shogi skills, I would've immediately been highly cautious ngfl. He might as well come off as a creep and I'd gtfo asap 4. Tae - a bit understandable. Her rank 1(?) scene does show she still kinda doubts you'll use her meds for entrance exam stuff (showing some perceptiveness). Her "pen" question is kinda awkward in execution but understandable: if this kid claims to use my meds for studying yet he has shown no positive results, I could assume he's up to some shady shit and I'd rather not get involved. As for the reason to get into university part, it's either it reverts back to "this kid just gave a flimsy answer and I assume he's lying about all this; thus I'd rather not deal with him" OR her own storyline with Oyamada(?). He rushed the development of the drug of some incurable disease so he'd gain a boost in ego despire his lack of talent (which leads to riches anyway). Meanwhile you have Tae who continued to work hard on the drug for the sake of the kid. I wouldn't say it's due to integrity (since c'mon her guinea pig deal is a huge violation of medical ethics), but rather passion. Soooo with the way I see it at least, being given a generic answer that also reminds me of how this patient I care for suffered bc of someone's ego and need to maintain reputation would really piss me off. --- ??? ones 1. Chihaya - idk. if I were a fortune teller with accurate readings (who may also not have heard about the PT before) suddenly sees my clients get their fate changed ever since the appearance of some high school kid, I'd be skeptical and frankly a bit scared that he might've done smth illegal. (Still, the reason for her doubt simply due to ignoring her invites and whatnot is so weird lmao) 2. Shinya - yeah I can understand any kid being cautious about being approached by this almost-adult asking for tips on how to play a game. But idk, being questioned about PT stuff to prove Joker's integrity is kinda weird to me --- Weird ones 1. Yoshida - while it might be sketchy for a high schooler to just come up to a politician, Yoshida's nice enough that I can't even imagine he'd ask these questions lmfao 2. Kawakami - apparently Joker can't learn to have friends

*_i got a boyfriend_*

“Your confidant is now in a state of doubt” ‘All right’

I like the idea of a DOUBT mechanic for social links, but I do think how they happen in all these scenes and the fact that they could happen off of you not seeing them for a while/declining invites are insanely ridiculous. "You've been shady, answer this question. Oh you got it wrong, get out." If this were reworked in a way where the only way it would happen is constantly being a dick and/ choosing horrible options I would absolutely love to see it in the game. But until then I will be satisfied that this was scrapped entirely

If this mechanic was attached to the Phantom Thieves, things could go really bad. Like you could do it solo or even disbanded the group, and Joker could become Shadow himself.

I do NOT want this... I already put the majority in my time in: Getting social stats up. Getting my hp and sp up with training. Take countless trips to mementos/palace And obviously work on different social links: (Which can get overwhelming on it's own) Wash clothes. And take jobs to not only boost social stats but to make money, and to get intel for said mementos. Putting THIS in would cause much much more inconvenience than ever.

Can't believe Iwai's a gatekeeper smh

Man this would've been SUPER annoying, glad they removed it.

This would be super scary if that could happen

I like how only the non party confidants can doubt you cuz (unless they didnt make the scenes for it) party members' confidants didn't have any doubt scenes which would make sense

I'd make it a thing on Higher difficulties tbh....

This feature was such a pain in persona 3. Glad it wasn't in p5 although these don't make any sense they ask you a simple question out of the blue then if you get it wrong they become all pissy. Atleast i can understand why the s.links get upset in p3 :/

A few of these seem to be characters trying to put Joker into their preconceived narratives. Some of the questions don't make sense to ask in the first place. It makes sense though, as this is unfinished and unused content.

This explains why Morgana constantly reminds you to go see new confidants to "Build your trust with them". I always wondered why he did that.

That alright in the Doubt tutorial is hilarious ngl

8:12 Joker: Pride Ohya: Huh? You don't know!? It was Pride! Morgana: Go to sleep

I'm still surprised it never made the cut, it was great for characters to notice you were being a jerk

It's kind of interesting this was cut. Not only is it essentially a completed mechanic, but it makes a lot more sense thematically in this game than in P3 or P4, since the Phantom Thieves (especially toward the endgame) are struggling to have people believe in them. Not that I'm complaining. I kinda hate this mechanic...

Ren: I'm a Phantom Thief? Chihya: Liar!

As if I didn’t already feel terrible for ignoring some confidants because they ALL want to meet at the same FREAKING TIME.

this wouldve been cool to add in the game or royal, maybe use it only on hard and merciless with tweaks in the dialogue and responses

I would literally cry if I got doubt

damn if this feature is being kept, I'll have too many doubt confidants in my first playthrough

It is so interesting how much of this mechanic was finished to the point of being basically finished, and localized, this was cut late late in development which is insanely interesting.

Imagine that this mechanic existed in Merciless difficulty, where you not only have to deal with tough enemies, but also confidants doubting you

Kind of a shame they didn’t include it. I actually liked the idea of social links being in a rut until you did something to fix it (especially in a blind play through), makes the game a little more realistic for its social aspect it’s another layer of depth. It was annoying from what I remember but I usually went to the shrine to fix it.

It finally makes sense to me why morgana always says you need to keep seeing people to earn their trust...

“I’m a Phantom Thief” > I knew you weren’t an ordinary person (She’s losing trust in you) Pretty sure if you max her social link she will have already known you were one like everyone else in this game so why do this Atlus?!

To be honest I'm kinda glad this was unfinished I practically NEVER talked to yoshida or to Iwai when I played the Original Persona 5 game 😅😅😅

I actually kinda like this mechanics, sure its kind of stressful, but it does feel like, not everything you do is just ok. Something that I miss from P3.

It's a shame there's no option for telling your confidants that you couldn't see them because Morgana was constantly disallowing you from going out at night. Confidant: You haven't been seeing me as of late! What gives!?" Joker: I'm sorry. My *beep* cat talks and keeps telling me to go to bed!

Chihaya lost her trust MC : Alright!

7:24 his name is GORO AKECHI

based on what I read in a past interview, I think Atlus swapped out this mechanic of confidant rank freezing/reversal for the shadow negotiation mechanics (they basically saw these mechanics as being equivalent in the challenge they present). Personally....i’m glad they kept this out lol

Lots of these questions make no sense especially the boyfriend ones and are probably not link to male dating and more to lying

That could be add as a Extreme mode, I would love it!

@3:38. I love how Joker says "alright" like everything is fine, despite pissing off an ex-Yakuza. xD

*cards got reversed* Joker: alright

Art is gay Yusuke: *I SHALL PUT YOU TO THE SWORD!*

Lmao... I guess I Mishima would be doubting me from the start since I despise him but not his confidant

It would've been cool if they added this feature only in the highest difficulty to add more challenge to the game outside of battle

I would’ve liked if they kept the doubt/ “basically can’t lvl up this social link cause you effed up now you gotta fix it” mechanic. Would’ve made it a lil harder to max out all confidants

Personally, I think one of the main flaws for this game would be that Joker feels too much of a Gary Stu/protected by plot armor that he can do anything wrong (and have consequences for it outside of Game Overs). I get that this is a JRPG where its suppose to pander to self-inserts and that there may be no time to fit this mechanic in the game from where it was at. But I think having this feature would have lessen this flaw point for me. Even if they only put it on merciless mode. Especially since this is a game about associates and partners rather than all just friends

Press *(X)* to Doubt

Confidant: *DOUBT* Joker: *Alright*

Confidant: What, how dare you ignore me ? Me: Sorry, umm. I was busy Confidant: *PRESSES X*

I wish they had more of a minigame around balancing all your options in your daily life. As is, there's a lot of options, but as long as you're not wasting time none of them really matter. It'd give your regular life choices more weight if you knew ignoring people or purposefully picking options that piss them off would hurt your progress with them. It feels wrong that you can get a level 3 or 4 confidant, then have half the game pass without speaking to a person, then speak to them once and instantly level up like 5+ months later. It's especially a problem with confidants you max out, since these are supposed to be people you are extremely close to. It just feels weird that you get these emotional, heartfelt moments with each character then you never interact again. I think having these scenes would be interesting without causing frustration as long as they didn't use any time slots. Instead of the scene itself taking a timeslot, you could have it so a future timeslot that _isn't_ devoted to a confidant could be enhanced by involving that reversed one. Like say the next time you try to up your stats with a movie or something you should get the option to invite a reversed confidant to join you and that would count as progress towards fixing it. Or next time you go to the metaverse something could drop that could be used as a gift for that person. That way, the whole process of reversing and fixing confidants isn't wasting any time. For maxed confidants, reversing wouldn't really work though. I think instead, each rank 10 confidant reward should be something very beneficial for your next metaverse trip, but only if you spend time with them before the trip. That way you're _heavily_ encouraged to spend time with the people you're close to, not just progress other relationships.

I never knew you could fuck these up.... thats pretty cool

I would’ve been PISSED if they added this feature leave that in persona 3 😂😂

It would've been cool if the doubt turn the respective persona of their arcana into a dark version of the original. Y'know like magatsu izanagi.

I can see why they cut this. This is extremely stressful considering the amount of confidants this game has

Bruh if this was in the game and the I suddenly got a doubt I’d be mad stressed and depressed, all these confidants were so cool

This is one feature I'm glad they removed. I got invitations like crazy.

Protagonist: Answers correctly Ohya: (x) *Doubt*

Its such a shame that this isnt in the game, would have been cool :( One of the reasons why i cant wait for P5 to finally come out on PC is because of things like these, the mods for this game will be amazing because it has such a strong fanbase.

I still feel like this should have been in the game added in the hard and/or mercenary mode.

I think... They would only enter doubt if you just ignored their messages. I suppose that means that if you replied to them, even with a denial, it would prevent them from enter doubt. So in the end, it wouldn't really be too difficult to play with this mechanic in game. At least, that's what I think.

the animation for it is pretty cool for a completely unused mechanic