Rating based on having played Reload.

Didnt finish but was close to... I think I got tired of the grind.

This is the first/only Persona game I've played. I love the premise of interacting with people in everyday life and having those social interactions influence how well you do in the dungeons. But most of the time, I found the combat pretty boring. It would usually consist of Find what the enemy is weak to -> Use that attack to stun all of them -> All-out attack. It was sometimes more complex than that, but most fights still came down to feeling like routine. Like constant grinding.

the most infuriating characters, the most tedious dungeons, the most menial sidequests...and yet there was something strangely off-kilter about the atmosphere that allured me. sort of. i've always found the 'more than the sum of its parts' adage to be pretty meaningless, but this is perhaps the one example where it holds true. because aside from the standard megaten battle system, the parts are absolute shit. junpei is perhaps the most stabworthy video game personality i've ever encountered.

Dungeon design is a pretty big flaw, but I felt the strengths elevated it above Persona 4 for me. I seem to be the only person who actually liked not having party control. It made the team feel like individuals when they acted on their own and I felt that with a little effort in the tactics options you could still get the desired outcomes.