I absolutely loved it when I played it. Now, thinking back, I do have fond memories of it but with a bit more distance I saw some glaring issues it had.
The main characters were fine, I disagree with most people who claim that 4's were a lot stronger, seeing as they pretty much all tick the same trope checkboxes. I do NOT like Ryuji, I will say that much. Ann could've been a thousand times better but she got stuck after her arc. Makoto is best waifu.
The antagonists were hilariously over the top. They could've made them a bit more gray to give the Phantom Thieves some sort of moral questions in the middle of their crusade, but the bad guys are so absolutely 100% irredeemable, their choice was as easy as a couple of dialogue boxes.
Music was amazing, as were the visuals.
Gameplay was very Persona-y, which is a good thing but could've been a lot better. They did some good QoL tweaks but anyone who's played 5 will immediately understand 3 and 4, so I feel like they coul've pushed the envelope a bit in this regard.
Story was... OK, for the most part. It didn't blow my mind in any way or form (especially after having my brain exploded with Nier Automata), but it served as a vehicle OK.
Having said that, I'd still place in any GotY RPG list.