This is a fairly fun journey with some bumps in the road.
The pacing throughout felt pretty off. This is a fairly short game overall, but it somehow felt both too extended at times and too rushed in others. The first kingdom being much longer than others, the final one being more of a gauntlet, the first couple being really a slow intro compared to the rapid plot development after, etc.
The T in P5T really does stand for Toshiro. I liked the main story and its two central characters quite a bit, and it makes me wish they did something a little riskier and made this a more separate Persona side game focusing on just them + maybe one other character (could be a P5 cast member as a bridge, could be something original). I liked the generally more restrained plot focus though; it fit the size of the game. The Phantom Thieves are really pretty irrelevant to the plot aside from the main theme of rebellion. They mostly feel like they're there for brand recognition, some fun banter between them, saying "damn that's crazy" during plot moments, and occasionally "this reminds me of my character arc from the hit game Persona 5". Even during the big plot dump sections where pretty much all questions are answered, and you even get to ask some more yourself, there was never even an excuse given for why they got wrapped up in this.
The elephant in the room to me is the artstyle. Regardless of whether you personally like the aesthetics or not, I really feel like it just doesn't serve the game any favors or enhance it in any way. It doesn't match the tone of the story being told (aside from a lot of Yusuke's dialog being food jokes for whatever reason) and makes it more difficult to connect with the serious beats and character moments. Personally, I don't mind chibi looks at all, but I much prefer PQ's style to this (especially when any limbs are bent, eugh), and it never felt like I fully adjusted to the artstyle here and it kept me just a little out of the game all the time. As an extension of this, the citizens of the kingdoms were just impossible to take seriously. They're in situations that have them attempting to discuss topics like oppression, but when they sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks and look like hats with eyes, it just doesn't work.
On a more positive note, while I'm not much of an SRPG guy, I think the combat was pretty creative overall. There were tons of mechanics constantly being introduced, but it never felt too overwhelming. I didn't always have the cleanest solutions to every map, but when I did, it really did feel cool to put it all together. There was plenty going on to keep me engaged and interested throughout. I also like the return to the P1/2/honestly mostly PQish style of personas being assignable to the full party. I'm a big fusion fan, and while this was simplified overall, that felt fitting for the size of the game and I still had a couple cool powerhouses I fused along the way. It wasn't quite enough for me to want to do giant fusion sessions like I'd do in P5R or SMT V though, and I will say that the personas just being screenshots in a menu instead of visually represented in battle was kind of lame.
Overall, I enjoyed most of my time with P5T. There's definitely a lot of room for improvement here, and it never hit the highs of its cooler older brother, P5S (and neither did its music), but it was a fun experience with some neat twists throughout.
Also what was up with the audio mixing on voices
The pacing throughout felt pretty off. This is a fairly short game overall, but it somehow felt both too extended at times and too rushed in others. The first kingdom being much longer than others, the final one being more of a gauntlet, the first couple being really a slow intro compared to the rapid plot development after, etc.
The T in P5T really does stand for Toshiro. I liked the main story and its two central characters quite a bit, and it makes me wish they did something a little riskier and made this a more separate Persona side game focusing on just them + maybe one other character (could be a P5 cast member as a bridge, could be something original). I liked the generally more restrained plot focus though; it fit the size of the game. The Phantom Thieves are really pretty irrelevant to the plot aside from the main theme of rebellion. They mostly feel like they're there for brand recognition, some fun banter between them, saying "damn that's crazy" during plot moments, and occasionally "this reminds me of my character arc from the hit game Persona 5". Even during the big plot dump sections where pretty much all questions are answered, and you even get to ask some more yourself, there was never even an excuse given for why they got wrapped up in this.
The elephant in the room to me is the artstyle. Regardless of whether you personally like the aesthetics or not, I really feel like it just doesn't serve the game any favors or enhance it in any way. It doesn't match the tone of the story being told (aside from a lot of Yusuke's dialog being food jokes for whatever reason) and makes it more difficult to connect with the serious beats and character moments. Personally, I don't mind chibi looks at all, but I much prefer PQ's style to this (especially when any limbs are bent, eugh), and it never felt like I fully adjusted to the artstyle here and it kept me just a little out of the game all the time. As an extension of this, the citizens of the kingdoms were just impossible to take seriously. They're in situations that have them attempting to discuss topics like oppression, but when they sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks and look like hats with eyes, it just doesn't work.
On a more positive note, while I'm not much of an SRPG guy, I think the combat was pretty creative overall. There were tons of mechanics constantly being introduced, but it never felt too overwhelming. I didn't always have the cleanest solutions to every map, but when I did, it really did feel cool to put it all together. There was plenty going on to keep me engaged and interested throughout. I also like the return to the P1/2/honestly mostly PQish style of personas being assignable to the full party. I'm a big fusion fan, and while this was simplified overall, that felt fitting for the size of the game and I still had a couple cool powerhouses I fused along the way. It wasn't quite enough for me to want to do giant fusion sessions like I'd do in P5R or SMT V though, and I will say that the personas just being screenshots in a menu instead of visually represented in battle was kind of lame.
Overall, I enjoyed most of my time with P5T. There's definitely a lot of room for improvement here, and it never hit the highs of its cooler older brother, P5S (and neither did its music), but it was a fun experience with some neat twists throughout.
Also what was up with the audio mixing on voices