This JRPG was refreshing compared to the ones I usually play. Instead of the Middle Ages/Fantasy aesthetics, this one takes place in our era, with a realistic setting in Japan. (monsters & magic powers aside)

The soundtrack followed the same trend, mainly going with jazz and rock/metal. Again, quite different from what I'm accustomed to, but it was a really welcomed change! I vibed so much to many of the songs, whether during combat or while I was walking around in the city.

The User Interface is so clean & smooth. Most of the time, I don't care enough about this kind of stuff to comment about it, but they did an amazing job with the UI in this game.

I wasn't too fond of the turn-based combat, but it didn't hurt my playthrough too much because I chose to play on the easiest difficulty to rush through every fight. And since I had the DLCs, I had a level 90 persona right from the start. So it made the fights even quicker. I also made use of the infiltration mechanics to avoid as many fights as possible. This way, I was able to focus my attention on the social aspect of the game and the story.
Speaking of which, this was the main reason I decided to play the game.
Living your student Life, hanging out with your group of friends, going to school and then dealing with criminals during the night. It was really appealing to me.

Leveling up your social skills and the relations with your confidants was so engaging. I was eager to replay the game in NG+ to experiment many of the events with a different character, and see how it plays out.

Makoto was the best girl in the game, I love the fact that she is smart & goody two-shoes. It was nice to date her and watch her become such an important member of the Phantom Thieves, and be more assertive.
I did the harem route when I replayed the game in NG+ out of curiosity, and it was hilarious to see all the backlash on the protagonist when he got caught.

Locking a big chunk of the game (the 3rd semester and the true ending) behind Maruki's confidant was kinda stupid. The game doesn't explicitly tell you that you need to level him to level 8 in order to get access to all that content.

Maruki was a great refreshing vilain. He had an interesting point of view with his ideology of Escapism, and I was really hesitant to fight him by the end of the game. I kinda hesitated to stay in his fake Reality, but I eventually decided to make the right choice!
Kasumi's story was really moving. I didn't see the plot twist coming at all, but it was clever. I wish this character had more screentime.

I was really sad at the end of the game. I had this moment where I felt completely empty, and this kind of feeling happens rarely to me, when I finish a game.
I got so attached to this group of friends. It was hard to watch the Phantom Thieves disband and go their separate way...

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Played between early December 2022 & mid-January 2023]
Playtime: 120 hours
Main story complete. I got every confidant to max level and unlocked the true ending.