Good game, as someone who has played all the persona spin-offs this game was actually very refreshing in the ways it plays with the formula. If you've played past persona games a lot of these concepts won't be new but the people making it clearly know that and do interesting things with that in mind (the characters even joke about it), in my opinion. A reveal that is usually shown at the end of this kind of game is actually done at the end of the first world, the characters themselves figuring out things quicker than in other similar titles. Not every old concept is played with a ton but enough are to make this a game standout, as well as having a good story centered around the new characters.

The Phantom Thieves, while not having character arcs of their own, do play a part in the story in nice ways. They exist to help the new characters and I thought it was done well, they aren't completely flanderized and are given more to do then repeat their respective bits. They get to express what they went though in pretty touching ways and it's nice seeing them emphasize with the new characters.

The gameplay is a lot of fun, the systems in place give enough to think about to make it enjoyable throughout. It's a very rush down system which fits with the vibe and it's really satisfying to perform as efficiently as possible. Doing a full enemy wipe across the entire map in one move is simply orgasmic. The idea to make each element perfom differently in regards to status effects and movement of the enemies is really cool. Makes every character feel more unique and adds is a fun way to switch out party members depending on the map.

As a persona spin-off, it is one of the better ones if not the best (although I would need it to settle in my mind as I have just beaten it at the time of me writing this).