Hmmm...I probably shouldn't join another Persona 5 thread just as the confidant one is dying off and I was talking less Persona 5 
While we're talking Akechi and the ending:
-Generally, I think the mental shutdowns were handled poorly. I think Haru's dad's shutdown was good. The principal's was also fine but...from the original trainwreck to those, nothing happened. There is incredibly little to Shido's plot in the game.
His co-conspirator's are largely nameless. I love that they had them at the buffet in the beginning...that was nice NG+ content and foreshadowing. There just isn't much of a narrative to Shido and there is also sort of the skeleton of a narrative which is supposed to run throughout the entire game.
It doesn't help that when it does come time to do Shido/Akechi, you just get it all as info dumps while the two revel in how evil they have been and will be (and even those aren't entirely informative, as discussed below).
-I think the biggest disappointment for me with the ending is how there never is anything more to Shido/Sojiro/Wakaba. Mostly this is I wanted an actual story of Sojiro's past beyond the Wakaba thing.
I think the latter was well done and it was interesting seeing different angles on it from Sojiro's and Futaba's account. I think it is interesting how Futaba puts a more romantic light on it, whereas Sojiro is obviously more searching as to what it all meant and is more "she wasn't into me."
But Sojiro is one of my favorite characters and I wanted more about him quitting politics, just what his relationship with Shido was, etc. and I think they dangled this before our noses, having Sojiro recognize and get unresponsive when he sees Shido, having him have quit that career, etc.
Beyond that, the specifics of Wakaba's death are unclear. What exactly was her research? How was she/Shido using it without Yaldaboath's app? What were Shido's plans before Akechi showed up?
You don't even know if Akechi killed Wakaba or someone else. Akechi alludes to her as having "had to die" but is he just rationalizing what his boss did or was he there already at that point? Did he wake up to his powers 2 years before the MC already? Is Wakaba's murder another reason why he has to stay the fuck away from the party in a future rerelease beyond Haru's dad?P).
-Beyond that I think Akechi is a huge disappointment and then the way he is treated after his betrayal is just...so anime.
He goes from being the voice of an alternate morale perspective, which lingers at the back of the game's mind and then he is just revealed to be an evil hypocrite who of course doesn't believe what he's saying and is worse than you all with respect to it after all!
He goes from being a genuinely interesting rival to a stereotypical "dark" anime rival with daddy issues and then gets an obnoxious send-off.
-I also feel Sae's transformation could have been more convincing and while I like that she is awkward with your group and you even after she joins the good-side, the game never deals with what she'd been doing to, say, Sojiro up to that point. It is just sort of under the rug but she also isn't completely trusted and completely inside (as made explicit by her hanging around the cafe on the last day). It just sort of feels her narrative ends and she is left hanging without closure, which is sad because Sae/Makoto/Justice/their dad had been a really good story throughout the game.
-And then I also feel that the "turning on the public and apathy about corruption" was a fitting final act but the transition was awkward and sudden.
IDK. I think the game handles itself pretty well, for the most part, up until and including the November twist. I just think the fallout from that twist is disappointing and rushed.
While we're talking Akechi and the ending:
-Generally, I think the mental shutdowns were handled poorly. I think Haru's dad's shutdown was good. The principal's was also fine but...from the original trainwreck to those, nothing happened. There is incredibly little to Shido's plot in the game.
His co-conspirator's are largely nameless. I love that they had them at the buffet in the beginning...that was nice NG+ content and foreshadowing. There just isn't much of a narrative to Shido and there is also sort of the skeleton of a narrative which is supposed to run throughout the entire game.
It doesn't help that when it does come time to do Shido/Akechi, you just get it all as info dumps while the two revel in how evil they have been and will be (and even those aren't entirely informative, as discussed below).
-I think the biggest disappointment for me with the ending is how there never is anything more to Shido/Sojiro/Wakaba. Mostly this is I wanted an actual story of Sojiro's past beyond the Wakaba thing.
I think the latter was well done and it was interesting seeing different angles on it from Sojiro's and Futaba's account. I think it is interesting how Futaba puts a more romantic light on it, whereas Sojiro is obviously more searching as to what it all meant and is more "she wasn't into me."
But Sojiro is one of my favorite characters and I wanted more about him quitting politics, just what his relationship with Shido was, etc. and I think they dangled this before our noses, having Sojiro recognize and get unresponsive when he sees Shido, having him have quit that career, etc.
Beyond that, the specifics of Wakaba's death are unclear. What exactly was her research? How was she/Shido using it without Yaldaboath's app? What were Shido's plans before Akechi showed up?
You don't even know if Akechi killed Wakaba or someone else. Akechi alludes to her as having "had to die" but is he just rationalizing what his boss did or was he there already at that point? Did he wake up to his powers 2 years before the MC already? Is Wakaba's murder another reason why he has to stay the fuck away from the party in a future rerelease beyond Haru's dad?
P).-Beyond that I think Akechi is a huge disappointment and then the way he is treated after his betrayal is just...so anime.
He goes from being the voice of an alternate morale perspective, which lingers at the back of the game's mind and then he is just revealed to be an evil hypocrite who of course doesn't believe what he's saying and is worse than you all with respect to it after all!
He goes from being a genuinely interesting rival to a stereotypical "dark" anime rival with daddy issues and then gets an obnoxious send-off.
-I also feel Sae's transformation could have been more convincing and while I like that she is awkward with your group and you even after she joins the good-side, the game never deals with what she'd been doing to, say, Sojiro up to that point. It is just sort of under the rug but she also isn't completely trusted and completely inside (as made explicit by her hanging around the cafe on the last day). It just sort of feels her narrative ends and she is left hanging without closure, which is sad because Sae/Makoto/Justice/their dad had been a really good story throughout the game.
-And then I also feel that the "turning on the public and apathy about corruption" was a fitting final act but the transition was awkward and sudden.
IDK. I think the game handles itself pretty well, for the most part, up until and including the November twist. I just think the fallout from that twist is disappointing and rushed.
