Despite being really active in the Persona community, I generally wasn't expecting myself to like this as much as I did, but oh boy I was wrong. I loved pretty much everything about it from the characters to the story to everything else. All of these make it a top 5 favorite game for me.

The cast is my favorite out of all the Persona games. They all feel so real and human and even after their initial arcs it still feels like they're growing as characters and we're learning more about them. It still feels like they have a lot of involvement in the story

From Kanji to Rise, it genuinely feels like there isn't a single miss in terms of the IT at all (except for Teddie lol). The supporting characters are also really great too, with the Dojimas in particular being ones I love. Best antags too with Namatame, Izanami, and ofc Adachi.

Story was great too in that it has some insanely high peaks like 12/3 and the confrontation with Adachi. I also really like the thematic ideas shown here with how society only wants to believe what they want to believe and how that's shown with the Midnight Channel.

At first it seems like the Midnight Channel shows only the hard truth, but it turns out it only shows other people's perceptions of the person on there. That's why the others had a hard time accepting themselves, so you should always find the truth and be yourself.

I think what draws me into it more than the other Persona games is the atmosphere. I'd honestly say it's on the same level as stuff like Silent Hill 2 and Mushishi, it's THAT good. It's the perfect balance between being warm and inviting and being downright creepy.

The OST is also my personal favorite in the series and helps to further enhance the atmosphere and Inaba as a setting. From the happy and lighthearted Signs of Love and Your Affection to the relaxing and atmospheric Heartbeat Heartbreak and Heaven, there's just no misses anywhere

Admittedly, the gameplay isn't that good and Persona 5's was better, but it's still fun nonetheless. It's fun just hitting each enemy with their weaknesses and getting one mores and then doing an all-out attack once they're all down. I like the extra party sl skills.

Overall, this game is a masterpiece and I love it so much. It does so many things perfectly and even if you don't like it, you're still always gonna get something out of it by the end of the game. Up there with MGS2, Disco Elysium, SH2, and Outer Wilds as one of my fav games ever