Persona 5

Given the bazillion positive reviews of this game, I suppose I shall post my somewhat enthusiastic, yet somewhat less enthusiastic thoughts:

Persona 5 is easily the best persona game I've played - the weakness exploitation system is as good as ever, the extra-curricular activities are expertly integrated with the metaverse as one crawls through phenomenally designed dungeons, and the aesthetic is nothing short of godlike. A bit kitschy at times, perhaps, but godlike nonetheless. Ultimately, i really enjoyed the experience as a whole, and many other reviewers have detailed these two aspects in detail.

Still, just like the other modern Persona games, and honestly much of the Megami Tensei franchise in general, Persona 5 ultimately feels rather hollow. It's ultra-flashy and energetic, but any attempt at emotional depth goes right past me, as the characterization is lightweight and trivial, and the women in particular strike me as cynically designed to generate "best girl" discussions on internet forums. Nearly every social link is defined by one (1) personality characteristic and one (1) issue which you singlehandedly solve, resulting in the two of you becoming best friends forever...22 times over. "How to Win Friends and Influence People" the game, indeed. And while the first act of the game was rather interesting, the climax and epilogue were exhaustingly predictable, replicating Persona 4's conclusion in a nearly take-for-take fashion. There are several other sequences directly copied from other persona games too, such as that nauseating "babe hunt" from Persona 3.

It seems by this point that Atlus has perfected their template for a "really cool" game, but are not really interested in pushing beyond that. And given the absurd degree of merchandising they did with Persona 4, as well their ridiculous attempt at protecting sales with their recent let's play policy, this doesn't really surprise me.

But I still really enjoyed the game. It's very good, yeah?