Shin Megami Tensei III Kabukicho Prison Guide

Each dungeon has it's own gimmick or new element to add, but in Shin Megami Tensei III Kabukicho Prison is one of the more confusing ones. You'll encounter this dungeon a little bit over halfway through your Shin Megami Tensei III journey. Up until now most dungeons have been harder, or added things like environmental hazards, but Kaukicho flips the formula on it's head... literally.

The gimmick for Kabukcho prison is that when you interact with a portal the map will be flipped upside down. What was on the ground will now be the roof, and holes between floors now work in the opposite direction. All of this is spread out over multiple floors and you can only view the map for the floors of the same orientation as yourself. This can make getting through the prison very confusing.

This guide picks up after you've defeated the Naga and got the Umugi Stone, the key item that allows you to use the portals to flip the prison. You should be standing near the first terminal room when you acquire this item.

How to get through the Shin Megami Tensei III Kabukcho Prison? 

1. Head north after acquiring the Umuhi Stone to the portal and flip the world
2. Head South and take the path to the West taking the ladder at the end
3. Head straight forward and descend another ladder
4. Folow the pathway and descend once again down a ladder
5. Now you're on the 4th floor go straight forward and you'll encounter a Manikin in a cell trying to dig at the floor. Offer to help him find a new spoon
6. Head West and then North again and use the portal
7. Travel South and East, when you see a hole in the floor jump in
8. To your left and right after dropping down you'll see gates, activate the panels on the wall to open them up
9. Go down the ladder to the south and open the gate there.
10. Travel East > North > West > North > East and go upsairs
11. Once upstairs follow the singular path and open another gate
    
    From here you can to West to a save room, this is a great place for a breather
     
12. Travel East and take te ladder to the 2nd floor
13. Use the portal
14. Travel South and go down the ladder
15. There will be three ladder on the south of this floor, pick the one i the middle
16. Walk forward until you see a Manikin suspended to your left in a cell. This is your friend the Collectio Manikin. He will give you a spoon.
17. Once you have the spoon jump down the hole in the East
18. Jump down another hole on the next floor and talk with the digging Manikin and he'll create a hole
    
    
     
19. Use the portal on this floor to the West and then North
20. Go into the room where the Manikin just created a hole and jump down it
21. Make your way down the hallway to the stairs, open the gate as you pass it
22. Head south up the ladder. There's another save point in front of you here
23. Go back down and head through the gate you opened and use the portal to flip the world
24. Head East and then South and go down the ladder.
25. The main door in this room will not only be the end of the labyrinth that is the Kabukicho Prison but also a boss fight so be prepared

Shin Megami Tensei III Kabukicho Prison Boss Fight

Mizuchi

HP: 4800
MP: 500
Reward: 1500 Macca and 1000 Exp
Weakness: Fire
Resistance: Ice (Void), Electricity (Drain), Expel (Void), Death (Void)

Strategy: This boss uses a number of Ice attacks, because of this you should prepare before heading in by ingesting the Wadatsumi Magatama. This is the one you got for defeating Forneus at the beginning of the game so there's no way you don't have it. It's worth spending some time before the battle with a fire Magatama to get some powerful fire attacks, and have another few strong fire users on your team. Mizuchi is able to remove any negative status spells that you cast his way. On the one hand it can seem somewhat futile to be lowering his stats when you know that he can just negate what you're doing, but that also means he's wasting a turn. If you don't have a particularly strong demon, or just want to keep him occupied then can at least debuff him once in the hope he'll waste a turn removing it. Aside from that what healing you already have should be sufficient and it's a matter of hitting him with literal firepower getting every extra turn you can out of him.

Well did you make it? It certainly can take some time if you keep getting flipped around and have trouble getting your bearings. Did you make it through without needing any help?