So who's a cognitive being and who's real?
Ok, so doing the Side Stories all the friends we encounter are cognitive beings. Since we don't know Shinji that means Kotone has to be real (Yukari we've met and forgotten in P3P space, so she could be ours, but I'm guessing she's Kotone's cognitive being not ours).
But is the Kotone in Iwatodai Station a cognitive being? What Merope tells us sounds like everyone present there is. So how is Akihiko there when we haven't met him in P3P space? Or is that the P3R Akihiko (and Yukari?) we know bleeding into P3P?
And what does this mean for Paulownia Mall? Are Makoto/Yukari/Akihiko real or cognitive beings? I know they were real in Tartarus and when we did their side stories, but are they real now? If they're real now, does that mean Kotone is real? Are they all real in Iwatodai?
Posted Sep 30, 2026, 3:49 AM UTC