I was a little lukewarm on the combat gameplay at first due to a number of differences compared to P3 and P5 but I ended up coming around to a lot of it pretty quickly. For example, I originally didn't like how under powered the all out attacks were but as I progressed, I really appreciated how it wasn't always the best answer in ever situation. I can't speak for the other difficulty options, but on hard mode I found the game balance really tight. Most of the challenge felt like it built up at the right points and never really gets to the point of being frustrating. I do wish dungeons had a bit more going on with them design wise. The few that actually have problem solving gimmicks barely get off the ground before they're done.
As for the storytelling, I think it's really strong. Everything feels like it's building upon itself the whole way through and by the end it feels like no stone has been unturned. I probably don't like it as much as P3's plot but hey, maybe that's just the edgy SMT fan in me wanting things to be more spooky and sad. I also wanna appreciate the alternate endings but most of them are just less good and complete versions of the obviously best ending. They're also really easy to mess up. Like, one involves literally the 1st time I can recall in the Hashino trilogy where the dialogue choices outside of social links actually doing something to the plot. If you don't know what you're doing you can get a bad ending. On paper, it's fine, you can try again... except now you gotta watch all the cutscenes you just watched again. I already REALLY don't like how Atlus thinks a fast forward that barely makes it go any faster is just as good as a skip cutscene. It unfortunately makes me think I'd be having a better experience if I just played the game on emulator where I'd at least have a way better speed up button. There's also a point after that where there's 2 choices that sound like they're basically identical choices but one progresses the game further into the best ending and the other ends the game at a point that if I hadn't had the internet to learn it wasn't the end, probably would've left a really bad impression on the Golden content.
As for the storytelling, I think it's really strong. Everything feels like it's building upon itself the whole way through and by the end it feels like no stone has been unturned. I probably don't like it as much as P3's plot but hey, maybe that's just the edgy SMT fan in me wanting things to be more spooky and sad. I also wanna appreciate the alternate endings but most of them are just less good and complete versions of the obviously best ending. They're also really easy to mess up. Like, one involves literally the 1st time I can recall in the Hashino trilogy where the dialogue choices outside of social links actually doing something to the plot. If you don't know what you're doing you can get a bad ending. On paper, it's fine, you can try again... except now you gotta watch all the cutscenes you just watched again. I already REALLY don't like how Atlus thinks a fast forward that barely makes it go any faster is just as good as a skip cutscene. It unfortunately makes me think I'd be having a better experience if I just played the game on emulator where I'd at least have a way better speed up button. There's also a point after that where there's 2 choices that sound like they're basically identical choices but one progresses the game further into the best ending and the other ends the game at a point that if I hadn't had the internet to learn it wasn't the end, probably would've left a really bad impression on the Golden content.