The gameplay is amazing and completely carries the game. The only complaints I'd raise against it are that the UI doesn't feel as snappy as previous games, the lack of a brightness setting, the near lack of dungeons/puzzles, few NPCs, and the alignment system coming down to a choice towards the end. The game also got way too easy later on, but that's an issue with most SMT games.

On the other hand, the story and characters weren't so great.
Given how good SMT IV's story, script, tone, and world building were, I was let down that this one instead took a page from Nocturne's book and went for a minimalistic story with a focus on gameplay and exploration.
But unlike Nocturne, the story here is way too barebones and sparsely paced to be good and most of the characters just show up, do like one thing, and then sit around for the rest of the game. It felt like the side quests did more to expand on the story than the actual story scenes did.

The plot points and characters seemed cool for the most part, and they had the potential to be interesting, but things are rarely ever fleshed out.
It's almost like things were cut or rushed, which they probably were; anyone else remember the devs talking about the themes the game was supposed to touch on that never ended up in the final game?

I really would've liked for characters like Yakumo, Goko, Yuzuru, Miyazu, Tao, and Fionn McCool to have been more involved (especially Yakumo with how much background info there is about him).

Also, the Nahobino's design is straight up trash 👎 And for that matter, so is Amanozako's (she's annoying too)