This game really is amazing and a new favorite of mine! I was worried that the anime style was going to get in the way of the writing, but thankfully that was not the case. It definitely suffers from anime tropes, but it rarely gets in the way when the game decides to get serious. In its strongest moments the story doesn't pull its punches, exploring its themes in ways that really impacted me.

The characters in this game are so loveable, I ended up getting really attached to them over the 125 hours it took to beat it. From the moment I first met Ryuji I knew I was going to love him, and while some of the main cast took a bit longer for me to like, by the end every single one of the Phantom Thieves were near and dear to me. Even the side characters were really likeable, the ones I thought I was going to hate redeeming themselves when I finished their confidant. I felt like tearing up having to say goodbye to them at the end of the game, and when the credits rolled and With the Stars and Us playing I couldn't stop myself.

Persona 5 really has everything. It oozes style with its jazzy music and red color themed visuals, the turn based combat system is the most fun I've had in a jrpg ever with setting up all out attacks by exploiting weaknesses, and it had a really impactful and enjoyable main narrative that actually made me want to get up and get out there. It is really long, but I think it deserves its length. Really recommend it!

Are we so gullible? Do we as an audience not demand anything from our art? There's no story, no new mechanics, no real characters, no interesting or enjoyable visuals, no compelling gameplay, no original ideas at all in fact. Is a faceless strawman to antagonise really enough to get millions of people to play an Unreal Engine asset flip made as artlessly as possible? Is no one else actively disturbed by how blatantly and gracelessly this rips mechanics from every popular game of the last 2 decades, without integrating any of them together whatsoever? Has art ever felt this cynical before?

Feel free to discount my opinion. I am a 'salty Pokemon fanboy' after all, and I only gave this game an hour or so of my not particularly highly valued time. I personally just prefer the art I engage with to care for the art form it sits within, even a little bit. Palworld hates video games. It sees nothing more within them than a collection of things to do and hopes that by shovelling a flaccid farcical version of as many of them as possible into your mouth it will somehow constitute a 'video game' when all is said and done. It doesn't. I'm deeply saddened that so many gamers think so lowly of our art form that they genuinely think this is acceptable.