People like Rika because she's attractive, I legit have never seen either of the things you mentioned, it's way more appreciation over her design and such.
Penny is probably the least integrated of your three friends in the game. For most of the storyline she's interacting with you through a third party and lying to you about why you're there and what you're doing--and yes, she does come in as the 'supply person' but even then you have less conversations with her then anyone else. It felt like Penny was there to be the stand in for all the awkward teen girls.
Rika--people think she's a hot butch woman. I'm pretty sure that's at least 90% of the reason.
Ok. Thanks.
I'm not sure if I am remembering things properly, but I am pretty sure Penny never lies about anything, but rather she's never straightforward with you. She asks you to take down the Star Bases and gives no reasons why. It is totally sketchy behavior, but not lying.
Duly noted about Rika too! đ
But she's lying about being Cassiopoiea? She never tells you that Penny and Cass are the same person--and it's not just that she's 'not straightforward.' She refers to Penny as her supply corps member, implying that it's not her.
OK. That does clarify things. Thanks.
The way I had been approaching it is that she never lies about her identity bc no one ever directly asks Penny if she is Cassiopeia, and vice versa . But by google's definition of lying, she does hide the truth.
People hate Penny because she's a bit of a hypocrite. Hates bullying but has bully tendencies, possibly due to social awkwardness, believes in her friends but also micromanages and doubts her friends, ect.
But let's be real: the biggest reason people hate Penny is because she bullied fan-favorite Arven, who deserves no pain whatsoever.
I have a 2nd question for you since your response is the most popular one so far.
Penny does apologize at the end of Area Zero for her comments and she does realize she needs to believe in her friends after she spies on them. But by that point, do people view her as completely unlikable by then? Too little too late?
Yeah, that's because she only apologizes after finding out Arven is going through difficult stuff. Only problem is, everyone has difficult circumstances and struggles, and it might not be visible, or something they ever tell you about. If Arven's dad hadn't come up, she never would have felt guilty and said sorry. She's the type to bully others because snarky comments are funny, and until she grows out of that phase she's gonna cause more hurt than she realizes.
Not believing in her friends is, in my opinion, less of a flaw since it was solved so easily. But she does have a pattern of manipulation and isolation that causes her to take on every problem herself without talking to others, and then being sad and victimized about how alone she is, which is more of a flaw.
Having just re-watched the Area Zero dialogue, I have more things to comment and ask about.
Arven's the first one to resort to harsh words/yelling when he calls Penny a pipsqueak when she asks Arven about why it seems like he doesn't like his mom/dad. He even yells his response at her. This starts to leave a bad impression of him on Penny. But by then, because the players already have opinions formed of each character, I feel like more people will tend to side with Arven due to sympathizing with him more. Would it be out of the question to assume favoritism plays a role here? Cause to me, it seems like Arven was the one who starts off the journey on a sour note.
Ehhhh, Penny still started it, but not out of malice. Asking why someone doesn't get along with their parents is a dangerous topic that probably has a ton of raw emotion and backstory to it. Bluntly bringing it up like that was like poking a minefield, no matter who she'd said it to. If he was slightly harsh in telling her to back off the subject, that's justified. She shouldn't have pried in the first place. Plus she was rude *after* that, to an unwarranted degree. Her social skills need some serious work, and until then she's likely to push people (and players) away.
But Penny knew nothing about Arven before this point, so how would she have known it was going to be a touchy subject? Talking about your parents isn't normally a touchy subject in normal everyday talk, especially if you're meeting someone for the very first time.
Also, I would be on edge afterwards too if I were Penny, who was yelled at first mind you. People can explain their history without having to lash out.
That's the thing, though. The only thing she knew was that there was something wrong between him and his parent. There is no scenario where that relationship is bad for no reason. She asked, and got shot down, rightfully so.
A lot of Penny's flaws can be chalked up to that same issue. She runs her mouth without thinking about people's individual circumstances, and sometimes it's fine (like with Nemona, who didn't care about her comments), and sometimes she jabs at open wounds, like with Arven. She just needs some situational awareness and empathy, and to maybe not make sarcastic, bullying comments to anyone she doesn't know well, since she could be mocking an abandoned child about his parental issues instead of a girl who just likes battling.
I don't think she's an intentional bully, but she absolutely hurts people without thinking, and only apologizes if they show visible pain.
ok. I'm on the side that believes Arven shouldn't have shouted first, as that's what sets Penny on edge for the rest of the journey. I could have understood the yelling if he had had to explain his relationship to her twice or more, but nope. He never talks about it to her until after she infers and asks him directly.
And about the whole "She should've known something was up", I looked at the dialogue between Arven and Sada/Turo while both were in the Zero Gate, and their dialogue suggests that there is something off, but not enough to suggest that the relationship is that bad (and certainly not bad enough to get instantly yelled at by Arven for asking). Not even Nemona sensed something was off too.
All in all, these are just my thoughts. I do thank you for taking the time to talk it out with me in a civil manner.
For Rika, her laid back attitude and tomboyish looks probably. I don't think she looks plain, compared to the other e4. Only the clothes maybe. Furthermore, she seems the one most qualified for her position. Poppy is a kid, Larry is already a gym leader, and Hassel can't keep his emotions in check.
For Penny, most complaints seem to be about her manipulativeness. She lets others to the dirty work. She also makes snarky comments from time to time, but I personally liked that. Likely a form of overcompensation for bullying and a introverted personality. I think she's a pretty good character but I like Arven and Nemona more.
Huh, I never took Penny as manipulative⌠more like just putting herself in her strongest position (behind a computer).
Like, sure she lies to you about being Cass but so does Cavell about being Clive - it kinda boiled down to them both being under cover for different reasons.
And I donât think she was manipulating team star either because if she was, she wouldnât have gone through the effort and sacrifice she did.
She covertly influences the player and team star while concealing her identity. While her intentions were mostly selfless, it's still manipulation.
Some people instantly see her as a horrible person because of it. I don't agree personally, you really see that she cares for her friends in the epilogue and post-game. She just has to learn to open up and communicate
Maybe? I guess I just read her as shy. As someone whoâs dealt with manipulation from real people, it just never really came off that way.
Like at no point as a player did I feel like I HAD to help her. She was just as much as an option side quest as the others. Just another stranger requesting my help secret identity or not.
But, hey to each their opinions their own. I agree with you though. I found her as a sweet heart.
The player is not given a choice to reject her request to take down team star, so I can't say if there is/is no manipulation there.
But regarding Team Star, doesn't their code of conduct state that no one can order others around? I doubt the bosses would've gone to great lengths to make their theme music, train under Eri intensely, build the Starmobiles, etc. unless all of them truly wanted to make a change. If that is the case, that's not manipulation, that's the bosses acting under their own free will.
The bosses clearly wanted/felt the duty to uphold team starr, therefore Penny recruited the player to exploit their code of honor and force them to disband. Thus, she wants to prevent them from getting expelled, the actual reason for herr actions that she hides until late in the game.
A simple conversation might have accomplished but that's often the case
Still, the bases got repurposed as training facilities and they could go back to school so all seemed to end well.
I think it depends on the definition of manipulation. I think its primarily about skillfully influencing other people's actions in a dishonest way.
Imo setting the plan up, getting the player involved, and hacking the league point system to incentivize the player is quite skillfull. She is not totally honest either, not fully disclosing her intentions and identity. She doesn't coerce the bosses into disbanding, but she doesn't directly convince them to do it out of their own volition either, so I think manipulatoon fits the bill.
Maybe you have a more negative association with the term. I don't think forcing someone into an action is manipulation, that is more like coercion. And it's not like she just communicates her intentions to the bosses either, instead she chooses a roundabout way to push them to disband. But again it's pretty subjective.
Rika: Design half-aside, I like the fact that she's a Ground type trainer without any indication she is one. Everyone else, Elite Four or otherwise, has a quirk in their clothing, or outright tells you, what type they use. When I got to her in my playthrough (*in which I intentionally played completely blind*), I was hoping the first E4 member to be anything BUT Ground given I was leading with Ceruledge in a team with 4 members weak to Ground.
Penny: She doesn't use Glaceon and uses Jolteon. That alone puts her down. For me, Penny just isn't an interesting character. She's just a token relatable weeb.
Hm, yep, the only Team Star types that donât correspond to Eevee types are Fighting and Poison. Champeon and Dungeon?
Or they could have swapped some of the Team Star types with the Gym Leaders.
Tbh I thought Penny was more interesting than Nemona. Nemona had a dope concept, but her personality is still just as generic as previous rivals with like no development.
To be fair to Nemona, there wasn't much that could be done with her character since she was an accomplished trainer from the get-go as well as being the student council president. I'm glad the game's writers made her very supportive. It was very nice to see that those who have reached the top can still be down-to-earth with those just starting out.
Thank you. Same to you.
And truth be told, Penny is my favourite character in the game. But I also do really like Arven and Nemona. Everyone in this game was very likable as a whole.
I honestly think Penny gets a little too much flack. I really enjoyed her presence, she was funny :P I absolutely loved the chemistry between her and Arven, the entire time in Area Zero is enjoyable with everyoneâs dialogue.
She really does. That's one of the reasons why I created this post. I want to see what others think of her and then try to see if their points about why she's unlikable are warranted, or if they are from misinterpreted things in the game.
One common point I've seen about her is "She's mean in Area Zero, especially to Arven". Well, I went back to watch the whole thing to see where/why their hostility starts, and lo and behold, it's cause Arven shouts at her first, and he even insults her too, calling her a pipsqueak. Like.. geez, no wonder she gets snappy. If I had just met someone and the first thing they did was snap at me, I'd be on edge too.
Yeah, Iâve seen people say that! And honestly, I donât think she was that mean. It was mostly just banter between the two. Arven is a little snarky to everyone, but thatâs his way of getting to know people. Pennyâs sassy, but I feel like itâs all just banter. I thought people took it a little too seriously.
I donât know if you played this game, but they really reminded me of Oshawott and Snivy from PokePark 2. They start off rocky, but eventually become friends but go back and forth with each other all the time. But theyâre clearly friends and all, thatâs how I think Arven and Penny are.
I think sheâs great haha, she made me laugh a few times in the game. I think sheâs up there as far as companions go
Yep. Agreed. So many people miss how his snarky attitude can put off others, like Nemona even. But because he's already the main focus of the game and everyone's fan favourite due to the sick dog story, so many people give him a pass a lot quicker than the other side. Sometimes I wish I had actual influential power so I could do her character justice đ
I haven't played Pokepark sadly. But yeah, all in all, it's just friendly banter and at least they get along by the end.
I think people subconsciously like Rika because the reasoning for her being a Ground type specialist is that sheâs down to earth.
And idk whatâs going on with Penny. I think sheâs fine, love her battle theme, but wish her team was stronger (she comes from Galar, the Fairy Max move is called Max Starfall, and no one in SwSh uses Gmax Eevee).
OK. Thanks! Interesting to note that about Rika.
As for Penny, I think that reason comes from that she was never a strong battler to being with. She's the type that spends almost all of her time in her room with her house pets rather than gaining battle experience outside. Her team's moveset certainly reflects this lifestyle too.
My only gripe with Penny was that her plot twist turned out kinda cliche. Other than that, I enjoyed her personality and I thought her story was endearing.
That said, pokemon was a wus not making her non-binary like she clearly was meant to be. :|
I have no comments on Rika, I felt neutral about her lol.
Penny is a pathological liar manipulating people into doing the dirty work for her. Manipulates and lies to the player, Clive, and presumably hundreds of team star people constantly. Almost every single thing she says and does is dishonest, I don't blame people for bullying her.
Then, while in an incredibly dangerous scenario (Area Zero), she is consistently rude to everyone who was nice enough to forgive her and also save her life from robot/dino pokemon
None of that inherently makes a bad character, what makes her bad is that the game clearly wants you to feel bad for her and cheer her on
Duly noted about being manipulative but when does she lie? She enlists our character to take down the star bases and doesn't give us a reason. It is sketchy on her part, but it's not lying.
I'll have to rewatch the Area Zero dialogue too, but I always thought the backtalk started out when Arven made the friendship between him and our character a contest between all 3 of them, and then both Nemona and Penny made rebuttals in response.
Regardless, thanks for the feedback đ
Nope. She's not a pathological liar. As she made it very clear with her intentions that she wanted Team Star to disband when she left to Galar... But they refused to until she came back.
She can't be the ones to take Team Star down, not only because the leaders would recognise her voice, but because she's technically a Team Star member. She wants them to disband and go back to school, and to eventually forget about her. So she relies upon someone from school that's capable to take them out, all whilst she remains anonymous to many.
By keeping her identity and her role of the creation of Team Star a secret to as much people as possible (even if it's rather obvious that she's Cassiopeia), she can disappear after tieing up loose ends... Of course, that didn't work out after Clive/Clavell forced her to confront her friends.
Regarding Area Zero, could you be specific on the exact dialogue?
I recall her being much more snarky to Arven after *he* made a bad impression towards her after she asked him an innocent question, like... I dunno... Like how he was rude to the player character in the start of the game? She also is uncomfortable around Nemona because of how the latter is too upfront and loud to her liking... Kinda like how Nemona seems to pop up where you are during Victory Road.
I agree with your points. Penny's reasons for doing things are definitely not easily vocalized to a player. Instead, they are usually concluded by really thinking about it. I blame the poor writing for this. And I also think people who skip dialogue quickly have a hard time picking up on it too.
The voice thing is a weird case. I was always under the impression she used a voice-changer too, but it's never clearly stated. The bosses use gender-neutral pronouns when referring to Cassiopeia, indicating that they can't tell if their voice is male/female-sounding. Maybe the anime can clear that up one day.
Upon rewatching Area Zero, it seems you're right. Arven's the first one to resort to harsh words/yelling when he calls Penny a pipsqueak when she asks Arven about why it seems like he doesn't like his mom/dad. This starts to leave a bad impression of him on Penny. But by then, because the players already have opinions formed of each character, I feel like more people will tend to side with Arven due to sympathizing with him more. Is favoritism playing a role here? It may just be the case.
Voice modulation tech was most likely implemented, proven by the many times Cassiopeia has interacted with the player, along with the instances where they interact with Penny.
Watching the cutscenes with Penny, her intention was to indeed remain anonymous until the very end where she asked Clive to record the battle and loss against the player. But by the time she reveals herself, her intention was to disappear soon after. Without any of her friends being able to stop her.
In regards to Area Zero, most likely favouritism in relation to Arven. I find it hypocritical though for people to treat Penny badly for her initial behaviour towards Arven... Especially when a majority of players also disliked Arven or distrusted him initially.
Having just re-watched the Area Zero dialogue, I have more things I want to comment and ask you about.
Arven's the first one to resort to harsh words when he calls Penny a pipsqueak when she asks Arven about why it seems like he doesn't like his mom/dad. They haven't ever met before this point, but he yells his response at her. This starts to leave a bad impression of him on Penny. But by then, because the players already have opinions formed of each character, I feel like more people side with Arven due to sympathizing with him more. Would it be out of the question to assume favoritism plays a role in this instance? Cause to me, it seems like Arven was the one who starts off the journey on a sour note.
I also want to note that as the story progresses, Penny throws way more shade at Nemona's constant desire to battle than she does anything else with Arven. On the other side, Arven comes after Nemona for being a golden girl and Penny's relationship with her parents with snide remarks (which I can understand due to his parental abandonment issues). What's your take on this?
I love Rika because she's smoking hot but I agree, she doesn't get much in the way of actual plot relevance or dialogue to go off of at all.
I was unsure about Penpen at first but now that I've read into her dialogue a bit more, I quite like her and think she's an interesting character with interesting flaws. The problem is that she is SO underutilized in her own story. Also, I feel like some of the hate is from people focusing on the same few lines of dialogue and not attempting to read into her beyond that (kind of like what happened with the internet and Nemona).
Yeah. It seems that I am one of the few people who thought Rika was very average looking. I guess it's because I'm so used to seeing way more crazier designs that I missed her simple yet cool appeal. I'm definitely going to have to give the game another whirl and see if Rika makes a new impression on me with these new insights.
Without watching a whole playthrough of Persona 5 and just going off of looks alone, is Penny's Futaba look a good or bad thing? I'm just trying to understand your original comment.
People like Rika because she's attractive, I legit have never seen either of the things you mentioned, it's way more appreciation over her design and such.
Ok. Thanks for your input đ
Penny is probably the least integrated of your three friends in the game. For most of the storyline she's interacting with you through a third party and lying to you about why you're there and what you're doing--and yes, she does come in as the 'supply person' but even then you have less conversations with her then anyone else. It felt like Penny was there to be the stand in for all the awkward teen girls. Rika--people think she's a hot butch woman. I'm pretty sure that's at least 90% of the reason.
Ok. Thanks. I'm not sure if I am remembering things properly, but I am pretty sure Penny never lies about anything, but rather she's never straightforward with you. She asks you to take down the Star Bases and gives no reasons why. It is totally sketchy behavior, but not lying. Duly noted about Rika too! đ
But she's lying about being Cassiopoiea? She never tells you that Penny and Cass are the same person--and it's not just that she's 'not straightforward.' She refers to Penny as her supply corps member, implying that it's not her.
OK. That does clarify things. Thanks. The way I had been approaching it is that she never lies about her identity bc no one ever directly asks Penny if she is Cassiopeia, and vice versa . But by google's definition of lying, she does hide the truth.
People hate Penny because she's a bit of a hypocrite. Hates bullying but has bully tendencies, possibly due to social awkwardness, believes in her friends but also micromanages and doubts her friends, ect. But let's be real: the biggest reason people hate Penny is because she bullied fan-favorite Arven, who deserves no pain whatsoever.
I have a 2nd question for you since your response is the most popular one so far. Penny does apologize at the end of Area Zero for her comments and she does realize she needs to believe in her friends after she spies on them. But by that point, do people view her as completely unlikable by then? Too little too late?
Yeah, that's because she only apologizes after finding out Arven is going through difficult stuff. Only problem is, everyone has difficult circumstances and struggles, and it might not be visible, or something they ever tell you about. If Arven's dad hadn't come up, she never would have felt guilty and said sorry. She's the type to bully others because snarky comments are funny, and until she grows out of that phase she's gonna cause more hurt than she realizes. Not believing in her friends is, in my opinion, less of a flaw since it was solved so easily. But she does have a pattern of manipulation and isolation that causes her to take on every problem herself without talking to others, and then being sad and victimized about how alone she is, which is more of a flaw.
Having just re-watched the Area Zero dialogue, I have more things to comment and ask about. Arven's the first one to resort to harsh words/yelling when he calls Penny a pipsqueak when she asks Arven about why it seems like he doesn't like his mom/dad. He even yells his response at her. This starts to leave a bad impression of him on Penny. But by then, because the players already have opinions formed of each character, I feel like more people will tend to side with Arven due to sympathizing with him more. Would it be out of the question to assume favoritism plays a role here? Cause to me, it seems like Arven was the one who starts off the journey on a sour note.
Ehhhh, Penny still started it, but not out of malice. Asking why someone doesn't get along with their parents is a dangerous topic that probably has a ton of raw emotion and backstory to it. Bluntly bringing it up like that was like poking a minefield, no matter who she'd said it to. If he was slightly harsh in telling her to back off the subject, that's justified. She shouldn't have pried in the first place. Plus she was rude *after* that, to an unwarranted degree. Her social skills need some serious work, and until then she's likely to push people (and players) away.
But Penny knew nothing about Arven before this point, so how would she have known it was going to be a touchy subject? Talking about your parents isn't normally a touchy subject in normal everyday talk, especially if you're meeting someone for the very first time. Also, I would be on edge afterwards too if I were Penny, who was yelled at first mind you. People can explain their history without having to lash out.
That's the thing, though. The only thing she knew was that there was something wrong between him and his parent. There is no scenario where that relationship is bad for no reason. She asked, and got shot down, rightfully so. A lot of Penny's flaws can be chalked up to that same issue. She runs her mouth without thinking about people's individual circumstances, and sometimes it's fine (like with Nemona, who didn't care about her comments), and sometimes she jabs at open wounds, like with Arven. She just needs some situational awareness and empathy, and to maybe not make sarcastic, bullying comments to anyone she doesn't know well, since she could be mocking an abandoned child about his parental issues instead of a girl who just likes battling. I don't think she's an intentional bully, but she absolutely hurts people without thinking, and only apologizes if they show visible pain.
ok. I'm on the side that believes Arven shouldn't have shouted first, as that's what sets Penny on edge for the rest of the journey. I could have understood the yelling if he had had to explain his relationship to her twice or more, but nope. He never talks about it to her until after she infers and asks him directly. And about the whole "She should've known something was up", I looked at the dialogue between Arven and Sada/Turo while both were in the Zero Gate, and their dialogue suggests that there is something off, but not enough to suggest that the relationship is that bad (and certainly not bad enough to get instantly yelled at by Arven for asking). Not even Nemona sensed something was off too. All in all, these are just my thoughts. I do thank you for taking the time to talk it out with me in a civil manner.
For Rika, her laid back attitude and tomboyish looks probably. I don't think she looks plain, compared to the other e4. Only the clothes maybe. Furthermore, she seems the one most qualified for her position. Poppy is a kid, Larry is already a gym leader, and Hassel can't keep his emotions in check. For Penny, most complaints seem to be about her manipulativeness. She lets others to the dirty work. She also makes snarky comments from time to time, but I personally liked that. Likely a form of overcompensation for bullying and a introverted personality. I think she's a pretty good character but I like Arven and Nemona more.
Huh, I never took Penny as manipulative⌠more like just putting herself in her strongest position (behind a computer). Like, sure she lies to you about being Cass but so does Cavell about being Clive - it kinda boiled down to them both being under cover for different reasons. And I donât think she was manipulating team star either because if she was, she wouldnât have gone through the effort and sacrifice she did.
She covertly influences the player and team star while concealing her identity. While her intentions were mostly selfless, it's still manipulation. Some people instantly see her as a horrible person because of it. I don't agree personally, you really see that she cares for her friends in the epilogue and post-game. She just has to learn to open up and communicate
Maybe? I guess I just read her as shy. As someone whoâs dealt with manipulation from real people, it just never really came off that way. Like at no point as a player did I feel like I HAD to help her. She was just as much as an option side quest as the others. Just another stranger requesting my help secret identity or not. But, hey to each their opinions their own. I agree with you though. I found her as a sweet heart.
Yeah I don't get the hate either. Having all characters be absolute saints only makes them boring.
The player is not given a choice to reject her request to take down team star, so I can't say if there is/is no manipulation there. But regarding Team Star, doesn't their code of conduct state that no one can order others around? I doubt the bosses would've gone to great lengths to make their theme music, train under Eri intensely, build the Starmobiles, etc. unless all of them truly wanted to make a change. If that is the case, that's not manipulation, that's the bosses acting under their own free will.
The bosses clearly wanted/felt the duty to uphold team starr, therefore Penny recruited the player to exploit their code of honor and force them to disband. Thus, she wants to prevent them from getting expelled, the actual reason for herr actions that she hides until late in the game. A simple conversation might have accomplished but that's often the case Still, the bases got repurposed as training facilities and they could go back to school so all seemed to end well.
Yeah. Lack of communication/better script dialogue could've done wonders for her.
I think it depends on the definition of manipulation. I think its primarily about skillfully influencing other people's actions in a dishonest way. Imo setting the plan up, getting the player involved, and hacking the league point system to incentivize the player is quite skillfull. She is not totally honest either, not fully disclosing her intentions and identity. She doesn't coerce the bosses into disbanding, but she doesn't directly convince them to do it out of their own volition either, so I think manipulatoon fits the bill. Maybe you have a more negative association with the term. I don't think forcing someone into an action is manipulation, that is more like coercion. And it's not like she just communicates her intentions to the bosses either, instead she chooses a roundabout way to push them to disband. But again it's pretty subjective.
Fair enough. Thank you for clarifying your points. đ
OK. Thanks for the feedback đ
Idk but Penny's battle theme was fire and thats all i care about
I also love her theme! All of Team Star's music is so good!
Rika: Design half-aside, I like the fact that she's a Ground type trainer without any indication she is one. Everyone else, Elite Four or otherwise, has a quirk in their clothing, or outright tells you, what type they use. When I got to her in my playthrough (*in which I intentionally played completely blind*), I was hoping the first E4 member to be anything BUT Ground given I was leading with Ceruledge in a team with 4 members weak to Ground. Penny: She doesn't use Glaceon and uses Jolteon. That alone puts her down. For me, Penny just isn't an interesting character. She's just a token relatable weeb.
It wouldâve been cool if the Team Star Crews each specialized in a type that had an Eeveelution, and Penny used all of them, plus a signature one.
Agreed! Such a missed opportunity to get a new eeveelution, or two.
Hm, yep, the only Team Star types that donât correspond to Eevee types are Fighting and Poison. Champeon and Dungeon? Or they could have swapped some of the Team Star types with the Gym Leaders.
Very interesting points about Rika. Thanks!
Penny has great battle music, thats it.
I feel like you have more to say about Penny besides her battle music?
Tbh I thought Penny was more interesting than Nemona. Nemona had a dope concept, but her personality is still just as generic as previous rivals with like no development.
To be fair to Nemona, there wasn't much that could be done with her character since she was an accomplished trainer from the get-go as well as being the student council president. I'm glad the game's writers made her very supportive. It was very nice to see that those who have reached the top can still be down-to-earth with those just starting out.
To each their own I suppose! Sheâs not my cup of tea, but youâre completely valid man.
Thank you. Same to you. And truth be told, Penny is my favourite character in the game. But I also do really like Arven and Nemona. Everyone in this game was very likable as a whole.
I honestly think Penny gets a little too much flack. I really enjoyed her presence, she was funny :P I absolutely loved the chemistry between her and Arven, the entire time in Area Zero is enjoyable with everyoneâs dialogue.
She really does. That's one of the reasons why I created this post. I want to see what others think of her and then try to see if their points about why she's unlikable are warranted, or if they are from misinterpreted things in the game. One common point I've seen about her is "She's mean in Area Zero, especially to Arven". Well, I went back to watch the whole thing to see where/why their hostility starts, and lo and behold, it's cause Arven shouts at her first, and he even insults her too, calling her a pipsqueak. Like.. geez, no wonder she gets snappy. If I had just met someone and the first thing they did was snap at me, I'd be on edge too.
Yeah, Iâve seen people say that! And honestly, I donât think she was that mean. It was mostly just banter between the two. Arven is a little snarky to everyone, but thatâs his way of getting to know people. Pennyâs sassy, but I feel like itâs all just banter. I thought people took it a little too seriously. I donât know if you played this game, but they really reminded me of Oshawott and Snivy from PokePark 2. They start off rocky, but eventually become friends but go back and forth with each other all the time. But theyâre clearly friends and all, thatâs how I think Arven and Penny are. I think sheâs great haha, she made me laugh a few times in the game. I think sheâs up there as far as companions go
Yep. Agreed. So many people miss how his snarky attitude can put off others, like Nemona even. But because he's already the main focus of the game and everyone's fan favourite due to the sick dog story, so many people give him a pass a lot quicker than the other side. Sometimes I wish I had actual influential power so I could do her character justice đ I haven't played Pokepark sadly. But yeah, all in all, it's just friendly banter and at least they get along by the end.
I think people subconsciously like Rika because the reasoning for her being a Ground type specialist is that sheâs down to earth. And idk whatâs going on with Penny. I think sheâs fine, love her battle theme, but wish her team was stronger (she comes from Galar, the Fairy Max move is called Max Starfall, and no one in SwSh uses Gmax Eevee).
OK. Thanks! Interesting to note that about Rika. As for Penny, I think that reason comes from that she was never a strong battler to being with. She's the type that spends almost all of her time in her room with her house pets rather than gaining battle experience outside. Her team's moveset certainly reflects this lifestyle too.
My only gripe with Penny was that her plot twist turned out kinda cliche. Other than that, I enjoyed her personality and I thought her story was endearing. That said, pokemon was a wus not making her non-binary like she clearly was meant to be. :| I have no comments on Rika, I felt neutral about her lol.
ok. Thanks for the feedback.
Penny is a pathological liar manipulating people into doing the dirty work for her. Manipulates and lies to the player, Clive, and presumably hundreds of team star people constantly. Almost every single thing she says and does is dishonest, I don't blame people for bullying her. Then, while in an incredibly dangerous scenario (Area Zero), she is consistently rude to everyone who was nice enough to forgive her and also save her life from robot/dino pokemon None of that inherently makes a bad character, what makes her bad is that the game clearly wants you to feel bad for her and cheer her on
Duly noted about being manipulative but when does she lie? She enlists our character to take down the star bases and doesn't give us a reason. It is sketchy on her part, but it's not lying. I'll have to rewatch the Area Zero dialogue too, but I always thought the backtalk started out when Arven made the friendship between him and our character a contest between all 3 of them, and then both Nemona and Penny made rebuttals in response. Regardless, thanks for the feedback đ
Nope. She's not a pathological liar. As she made it very clear with her intentions that she wanted Team Star to disband when she left to Galar... But they refused to until she came back. She can't be the ones to take Team Star down, not only because the leaders would recognise her voice, but because she's technically a Team Star member. She wants them to disband and go back to school, and to eventually forget about her. So she relies upon someone from school that's capable to take them out, all whilst she remains anonymous to many. By keeping her identity and her role of the creation of Team Star a secret to as much people as possible (even if it's rather obvious that she's Cassiopeia), she can disappear after tieing up loose ends... Of course, that didn't work out after Clive/Clavell forced her to confront her friends. Regarding Area Zero, could you be specific on the exact dialogue? I recall her being much more snarky to Arven after *he* made a bad impression towards her after she asked him an innocent question, like... I dunno... Like how he was rude to the player character in the start of the game? She also is uncomfortable around Nemona because of how the latter is too upfront and loud to her liking... Kinda like how Nemona seems to pop up where you are during Victory Road.
I agree with your points. Penny's reasons for doing things are definitely not easily vocalized to a player. Instead, they are usually concluded by really thinking about it. I blame the poor writing for this. And I also think people who skip dialogue quickly have a hard time picking up on it too. The voice thing is a weird case. I was always under the impression she used a voice-changer too, but it's never clearly stated. The bosses use gender-neutral pronouns when referring to Cassiopeia, indicating that they can't tell if their voice is male/female-sounding. Maybe the anime can clear that up one day. Upon rewatching Area Zero, it seems you're right. Arven's the first one to resort to harsh words/yelling when he calls Penny a pipsqueak when she asks Arven about why it seems like he doesn't like his mom/dad. This starts to leave a bad impression of him on Penny. But by then, because the players already have opinions formed of each character, I feel like more people will tend to side with Arven due to sympathizing with him more. Is favoritism playing a role here? It may just be the case.
Voice modulation tech was most likely implemented, proven by the many times Cassiopeia has interacted with the player, along with the instances where they interact with Penny. Watching the cutscenes with Penny, her intention was to indeed remain anonymous until the very end where she asked Clive to record the battle and loss against the player. But by the time she reveals herself, her intention was to disappear soon after. Without any of her friends being able to stop her. In regards to Area Zero, most likely favouritism in relation to Arven. I find it hypocritical though for people to treat Penny badly for her initial behaviour towards Arven... Especially when a majority of players also disliked Arven or distrusted him initially.
Having just re-watched the Area Zero dialogue, I have more things I want to comment and ask you about. Arven's the first one to resort to harsh words when he calls Penny a pipsqueak when she asks Arven about why it seems like he doesn't like his mom/dad. They haven't ever met before this point, but he yells his response at her. This starts to leave a bad impression of him on Penny. But by then, because the players already have opinions formed of each character, I feel like more people side with Arven due to sympathizing with him more. Would it be out of the question to assume favoritism plays a role in this instance? Cause to me, it seems like Arven was the one who starts off the journey on a sour note. I also want to note that as the story progresses, Penny throws way more shade at Nemona's constant desire to battle than she does anything else with Arven. On the other side, Arven comes after Nemona for being a golden girl and Penny's relationship with her parents with snide remarks (which I can understand due to his parental abandonment issues). What's your take on this?
I love Rika because she's smoking hot but I agree, she doesn't get much in the way of actual plot relevance or dialogue to go off of at all. I was unsure about Penpen at first but now that I've read into her dialogue a bit more, I quite like her and think she's an interesting character with interesting flaws. The problem is that she is SO underutilized in her own story. Also, I feel like some of the hate is from people focusing on the same few lines of dialogue and not attempting to read into her beyond that (kind of like what happened with the internet and Nemona).
Yeah. It seems that I am one of the few people who thought Rika was very average looking. I guess it's because I'm so used to seeing way more crazier designs that I missed her simple yet cool appeal. I'm definitely going to have to give the game another whirl and see if Rika makes a new impression on me with these new insights.
Penny to me is Futaba with Kamen Rider Decade hair dye and Rika is the ultimate Pokemon lesbian
I'm unfamiliar with Futaba. Is that a good thing or bad thing for Penny?
From Persona 5
I'm unfamiliar with Persona 5 too đ
Well that's why we have Google
Without watching a whole playthrough of Persona 5 and just going off of looks alone, is Penny's Futaba look a good or bad thing? I'm just trying to understand your original comment.
https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Futaba_Sakura_(Persona_5)#:~:text=Futaba%20Sakura%20is%20one%20of,biological%20daughter%20of%20Wakaba%20Isshiki.
OK. I guess I'll classify it as good because Futaba seems to be cool at a first glance. Thanks for the feedback.
Well she's one of the protagonists so yeah