Having let the game settle, I'd say it's probably a great but somewhat uneven game.
Like, the first dungeon is literally the best persona has ever been. But then the next few dungeons are kinda just persona autopilot.
Shame that Haru gets kinda screwed. Making her confidant require a level 5 stat was incredibly boneheaded since she doesn't get anywhere near enough play in the main story as many have explained here. Which is a real shame since she's actually a great character. Her relationship with her dad is not only interesting, but it's an important moment for the theives as a whole as their big failure. Plus she has a link to Morgana that doesn't go through the mc, which opens up some new character playoffs. But, again, they just don't take advantage of that.
I did like Akechi though. I'm pretty happy with his whole deal. It was a bit too obvious that he was the traitor, but they saved that by making the reveal more about the Mc's survival than Akechi's betrayal. However, I cannot fucking believe how much of a slam dunk they missed with him. Dude is a detective, is the rival of our mc who uses Arsene, has a powerful persona, and it's finally revealed to be... Robin Hood.
Because, hey, who even knows about the whole Lupin Holmes rivalry? Aside from everyone who played the game since they explain it. They even had a second chance, free of the thief theming, but they just went for Loki. Which is fine since it reinforces that he's a fool/ wild card but still.
Aside from those two the rest of the cast are far stronger than in previous games. Futaba and Makoto are standouts with how their personal situations tie into the main plot so well, but I especially loved how Ryuji got an animated cutscene in Shido's palace just to resolve his running arc from all the way back in the first dungeon. The game really cared about its cast.
The bosses were pretty damn lame until Sae, but after that it 180'd into pretty much the best bosses of the series. Shido is really the standout fight for me. His buff form punching fear into you spoke so much about his own self image without the need for clumsy dialogue, something p4 kinda failed at despite the game revolving around it. And that last boss was great. Mechanically.
But then there's the fact that the last boss comes out of nowhere and is just a lazy mix of p3 and p4's final bosses. A big evil god who thinks they're doing the right thing that oneshots the party before the mc gets a new persona from friendship powers. They did absolutely nothing with the phantom thief theme for it. There wasn't any trickery or skill, it was just hit it with superpowers. The Igor reveal was neat, but even then they coulda done more with it. A fight against Igor before the reveal would have been a great moment.
Music isn't really hit or miss, it's more like it's a rung above hit or miss. It's either decent or the best the series has seen. Rivers in the Desert is my favourite boss theme, but I couldn't even tell you what the normal boss or final boss themes sounded like, other than they were fine.
Only real thing left to say is Sojiro was way better than I expected him to be. I love that he gets fully involved with the plot. Honestly I wish he was a party member.
Like, the first dungeon is literally the best persona has ever been. But then the next few dungeons are kinda just persona autopilot.
Shame that Haru gets kinda screwed. Making her confidant require a level 5 stat was incredibly boneheaded since she doesn't get anywhere near enough play in the main story as many have explained here. Which is a real shame since she's actually a great character. Her relationship with her dad is not only interesting, but it's an important moment for the theives as a whole as their big failure. Plus she has a link to Morgana that doesn't go through the mc, which opens up some new character playoffs. But, again, they just don't take advantage of that.
I did like Akechi though. I'm pretty happy with his whole deal. It was a bit too obvious that he was the traitor, but they saved that by making the reveal more about the Mc's survival than Akechi's betrayal. However, I cannot fucking believe how much of a slam dunk they missed with him. Dude is a detective, is the rival of our mc who uses Arsene, has a powerful persona, and it's finally revealed to be... Robin Hood.
Because, hey, who even knows about the whole Lupin Holmes rivalry? Aside from everyone who played the game since they explain it. They even had a second chance, free of the thief theming, but they just went for Loki. Which is fine since it reinforces that he's a fool/ wild card but still.
Aside from those two the rest of the cast are far stronger than in previous games. Futaba and Makoto are standouts with how their personal situations tie into the main plot so well, but I especially loved how Ryuji got an animated cutscene in Shido's palace just to resolve his running arc from all the way back in the first dungeon. The game really cared about its cast.
The bosses were pretty damn lame until Sae, but after that it 180'd into pretty much the best bosses of the series. Shido is really the standout fight for me. His buff form punching fear into you spoke so much about his own self image without the need for clumsy dialogue, something p4 kinda failed at despite the game revolving around it. And that last boss was great. Mechanically.
But then there's the fact that the last boss comes out of nowhere and is just a lazy mix of p3 and p4's final bosses. A big evil god who thinks they're doing the right thing that oneshots the party before the mc gets a new persona from friendship powers. They did absolutely nothing with the phantom thief theme for it. There wasn't any trickery or skill, it was just hit it with superpowers. The Igor reveal was neat, but even then they coulda done more with it. A fight against Igor before the reveal would have been a great moment.
Music isn't really hit or miss, it's more like it's a rung above hit or miss. It's either decent or the best the series has seen. Rivers in the Desert is my favourite boss theme, but I couldn't even tell you what the normal boss or final boss themes sounded like, other than they were fine.
Only real thing left to say is Sojiro was way better than I expected him to be. I love that he gets fully involved with the plot. Honestly I wish he was a party member.
