These sweet new screens of the Arcade Mode in Atlus' upcoming Persona fighter jogged my memory of the time two weeks ago I would have beat the publisher's PR master had he not surely cheated terribly.
How did Atlus' Aram Jabbari cheat during our Persona 4 Arena session during E3 2012? Well, first off we played the game in a back room adjacent to the Atlus booth, where his power was at its peak. As we entered the room he offered me a bowl of candy, as if he wasn't aware of my strict dietary restrictions. It was psychological warfare.
We played the game on Hori sticks that he had obviously practiced on for hours. I could almost see the impressions of his fingertips on the buttons; this was no amateur I was dealing with.
Before I could pick a character he grabbed Aigis from Persona 3, the humanoid robot that's obviously the most powerful character in the game, what with all the sexy and android sticking out. I, conversely, would up with Teddie, the cute and cuddly mascot character from Persona 4 — adorably random, much like myself.
The match went as expected. Though I am familiar with the BlazBlue 2D fighting system that forms the foundation of the Arc System Works-developed game, the differences were enough to throw me off my game. In fact I think he may have invoked the other fighting game solely for the purpose of muddling my mind. "Atlus" Aram let me win the first round, and then wiped the floor with me the second and third. I managed to pull off a few persona cancels, locking him from using his persona's powers for a short time, but when you're a humanoid killing machine you don't really need the extra assistance.
Or maybe I just suck. We'll find out this August.
In conclusion, Aram Jabbari is a mean man that hits me.