Haven't really dove that much into the mind-set of the more focal Persona communities, but I wonder how much of a minority the group is I belong to that really didn't care much for Akechi as a character - be it as a person or simply his motives. I get the reasoning behind his actions, but the way it was executed and told in the story just felt a little half-arsed and lacking. There wasn't enough there for me to sympathise with or make him feel that "deep" or realised as a character. It's come to the point now where I enjoy Akechi shit-posting more than I do discussing the character himself.
Probably not alone, but the moment he was introduced in the game, my immediate thought was: "yep, you're the villain/the one who betrays me". You don't keep shoe-horning a character into cutscenes and over-do it on the nice guy attitude without their being some sort of important reasoning behind it. Thus for me, it lost all sense of intrigue pretty quickly. Quickly to the point I started thinking/hoping the twist was that it was one of the other party members who "sells out" post-Casino Palace - would have loved it for the game to throw a massive curveball like...Ryuji being the one who betrays the protagonist...especially given how much he "LOVES BEING A PHANTOM THIEF YOU GUYS!!!!". Though I did like the cutscenes thereafter that explained how the party managed to figure out what Akechi was up to.
Probably not alone, but the moment he was introduced in the game, my immediate thought was: "yep, you're the villain/the one who betrays me". You don't keep shoe-horning a character into cutscenes and over-do it on the nice guy attitude without their being some sort of important reasoning behind it. Thus for me, it lost all sense of intrigue pretty quickly. Quickly to the point I started thinking/hoping the twist was that it was one of the other party members who "sells out" post-Casino Palace - would have loved it for the game to throw a massive curveball like...Ryuji being the one who betrays the protagonist...especially given how much he "LOVES BEING A PHANTOM THIEF YOU GUYS!!!!". Though I did like the cutscenes thereafter that explained how the party managed to figure out what Akechi was up to.