The turn-based system was a big improvement from previous titles and definitely the highlight of the game, however the game didn't really push the system into interesting places. On Hard, it was a challenge, but really didn't feel like there were many ways to defeat the bosses. That's something I'd like to see in future SMT games -- give us more tools to match our own playstyle and ingenuity.
While some dungeons were good, mostly they were too long, and the puzzles felt like a chore. I would have preferred to get rid of most of that, focus more on the MGS-style stealth aspects, and reduce the size of the dungeons by 30-50%. The later dungeons were just a slog, forcing myself to get through them.
The style was great, animations were great, but the amount of animations that couldn't be interrupted made battles more of a drag. Atlus needs to work on making these things snappier. Also, while the art style was great, many textures really looked noticeably bad on the PS4. They featured a full subway system with signs, yet they were so low-res you could hardly read them.
They used Tokyo this time instead of a fake city, yet it hardly felt like a real city compared to Yakuza 0. In visuals, interactivity, and detail, P5's Tokyo just felt like a pencil sketch. I'm not sure why they bothered.
The gameplay pacing felt really off this time. There were so many days that I wasn't allowed to do anything, I felt this ongoing anxiety about the links. The amount of sudden social link blocks for party characters that required 5 stars in a stat to progress meant that you basically had to read a guide in order to max your links with your party. This is a sign of bad game design. It was so bad that I never got past the first level with the last party member.
The story started out strong and refreshingly provocative. Finally a JRPG was going to not pull any punches! But nope, it quickly became a meandering story that ended with a muddled end, basically suggesting that it's fine to rebel a little when you're young, but you still have to become an adult and conform to society's expectations. The story felt like P5's version of the Evoker pistols -- "let's do something controversial...but not too controversial."
Ultimately, by the end I just felt exhausted by the game. This game definitely needed an editor, and probably a large rewrite. The game demanded way too much from the player, and didn't really pay it back with interest. Much of the time, it didn't really pay it back at all. Persona 3 is one of my favorite JRPGs, but this game really disappointed me in the end. I've played P3 three times, but I can't imagine going through all of P5 again -- especially the dungeons -- to do the rest of the social links.
I gotta say, I'm pretty tired of stories centered around high school students. There's only so much you can say with characters that have barely started life. Atlus does have good writers, but their talent is often squandered on these one-dimensional characters. I've noticed that consistently in Persona titles the adult characters are the most interesting ones. I'd really love to see Persona move away from high schools and do something like Catherine, but as a full RPG.
Oh, it's also worth saying that I almost stopped playing P5 due to the treatment of gay characters. It's hard to support a company that promotes a 1950's view of gay men as sexual predators of boys in their games.
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