Madoka Magica Portable Madoka Route

As If We Met in a Dream... (夢の中で逢った、ような…)

Summary

This is the only one choice in the beginning of the game. The storyline is similar to the anime, but some scenes and dialogue differ, if only in small ways. The biggest difference is the end result. The route only has one ending, so players would be able to easily complete it. Other characters' points of view may be understood from it. This route is considered a tutorial introduction to the game.

Story

Warning, this section contains spoilers.

The storyline of this route is similar to the main timeline in the anime, but with enough differences to make it feel different. For example, Madoka has her conversation about Hitomi's love letters in the dining room with both her parents, instead of in the bathroom with her mother. There are also new scenes that give more perspective on the characters, their interactions with others, inner thoughts, and more interactions with minor characters. The biggest change however is unlike anime episode 8, Homura fails to arrive in time to shoot Kyubey before Madoka makes her wish to save Sayaka, and becomes a magical girl. Homura shoots Kyubey and resets the timeline. Here are some examples of new things revealed in the game: Madoka She remembered her dream in detail, including Walpurgis, the destruction of the city, Homura and Kyubey. She shared it with her family, at the breakfast table, who saw it as imaginative. Secretly, Madoka was afraid of the dream and its intensity. Later, she chooses not to share the details of the dream with Hitomi and Sayaka, probably fearing ridicule. Madoka, not revealing the details of the dream nor why it disturbs her, acts fearful all throughout the day of Homura and the looks she gives her. Seeing Madoka's uncharacteristic behavior and not understanding why, Sayaka begins to see Homura as a threat. Hitomi is also alarmed and tries to approach Homura for lunch, but gets a cold reception. She unknowingly encourages Hitomi to pursue her love interest, not realizing its Kyousuke. After hearing about the hopeless prognosis for his hand injury, Kyousuke asks his father to throw away his violin. He encounters Madoka and she talks him into keeping the violin, rather than discarding or giving it away. Sayaka Sayaka is not a good cook, a fact known to Madoka and Kyousuke. Madoka suggests that she learn from her dad Tomohisa Kaname, who's an excellent cook. Kyubey affirms that the look of the magical girl outfit derive from the characteristics of their magic, and that is why magical girls rarely look the same. Sayaka thought Mami's magical girl outfit was cute, but wanted more of a cool feel for her costume because she thought cute didn't suit her as well. After Mami's death, Sayaka had a confrontation with Homura on the way to school the next morning. Sayaka was annoyed at Homura's cool facade about the death and accused Homura of deliberately delaying to show up, and letting Mami die to get a grief seed. Homura did not refute the accusation, even though as in the anime, Homura was tied up in Mami's ribbon. So Sayaka continued to have this misconception of Homura. The day after she finds out the truth about her soul gem, Sayaka is extremely upset about the zombie revelation, even refusing to see Madoka when she visits because she can't stand the eyes of others on her. When Sayaka sees Hitomi with Kyousuke, one reason she's upset is she thinks he has a smile for Hitomi that's she never seen before. It's later revealed that Hitomi didn't get to confess, because they're interrupted by Madoka who's searching for Sayaka. They decide they'll help search and wait until she's found before continuing their conversation. Mami Before Mami encountered Homura, Kyubey warned her about how Homura as a possible threat. Thus, even though Mami would have welcomed a companion, Kyubey's words predisposed her to think the worst about Homura. Mami, in contrast to her veteran image, was actually quite afraid every time she went into battle. She was very lonely, speaking openly only to her parents who had passed away and Kyubey. Meeting Madoka and Sayaka took away her loneliness. Thus, she was highly motivated to keep them by her side. Madoka would find out these revelations about Mami later after her death, by reading Mami's diary to know her real feelings. Already feeling she let down Mami by not contracting in time to keep her alive, this increased Madoka's guilt and added to her determination to at least save Sayaka. Homura Her relationship with Kyubey was more antagonistic than in the anime. She would repeatedly kill him to keep him at a distance or to vent her frustration. Curious about her nature and goals, Kyubey kept her under observation and often approached her with questions. Homura is caught stealing weapons, once at the scene and another time, accused after the fact. She acts cool and escapes, though internally she is emotionally disturbed by it. Same with witch-kissed civilians which Homura doesn't save, with regret, because she doesn't have enough time and magic to do that and still achieve her goals (e.g. save Madoka and destroy Walpurgis). Kyoko Kyoko saw Mitakihara as a rich territory, full of witches, fit for a veteran not a rookie. She saw the territory being big enough for a rookie, and would have accepted one, but only if she listened to her as a veteran. Kyoko did not initially trust Homura at first, because she did not understand her motivations nor how her magic worked, and made the agreement in the game center primarily because she wanted to understand the girl she saw as a potential threat. While hunting near the hospital for witches, Kyoko heard the sound of Kyosuke's violin playing from the roof-top. The hospital staff told her about the miracle and after asking Kyubey about it, Kyoko found out about Sayaka's wish. When Sayaka throws her a grief seed from Elsa Maria, Kyoko is already concerned about the state of Sayaka's soul gem and does not want to accept it. She only takes it because she knows Sayaka won't accept it back.

Strategy

• As the introductory route with strong magical girls and easy fights, players can learn to try out different girls and their skills to become familiar with their abilities. After this route is completed, players have access to the first Mysterious Witch Barrier under the Extra menu to further practice playing with magical girls and learning their abilities. If a player chooses to do this, prior to entering it, they should first go to the Shop under the Extra menu, to use energy points from clearing the route to purchase spells that the girls can learn. This is necessary before one can use the spell books gathered in the dungeon to learn new abilities. Completing each route will open a new mysterious witch barrier, with new familiars and later on, new witches. Some of these witches and familiars can only be found here, and not in the game routes.
• Madoka's route can be replayed to increase Madoka and Sayaka's causal values, which carries forward and makes them stronger as magical girls. Doing so means it's easier to fight witches with them. Madoka can become strong enough to solo Walpurgis in the Mami route.
• Mami only needs to defeat Charlotte's first form, so Tiro Finale (ティロ・フィナーレ) is the quickest way to defeat it. Charlotte's second form can be dealt with easily by Homura, by using Clock-Up (クロックアップ) and Suspend Time (時間停止).
• The most difficult encounter in this route is Elsa Maria. Since Sayaka's emotion value is inevitable high, her soul gem will become dark quickly and when that occurs, any ability using MP is no longer available. Her soul gem must be cleansed using a grief seed before it gets completely dark, or it will no longer be possible to cleanse it. When Kyoko joins Sayaka, which happens when Sayaka is close to approaching Elsa Maria, immediately switch to Kyoko to finish the fight. There are warnings on the map where Elsa Maria will use her long-range attacks, which can be used to avoid damage.

See also

• Madoka Magica Portable