for the past year or two I've been increasingly more cynical of turn-based games from a gameplay perspective (ignore the Pokemon pfp). but it's nice now and then to play one that makes you try. it's nice now and then to play one where each of your party members and each of their moves and abilities really feel like they need to pull their weight. it's nice now and then to play one where there is actual level design and puzzles.

also at this point I've realized random encounters are 100x better if you have a meter telling you when you're about to encounter another ..encounter. it makes the pacing of exploration feel infinitely better.

EO5's overall polish, including being much less grindy and slow paced than the previous EOs I've tried, makes me feel comfortable in saying this is one of my absolute favourite Atlus games alongside SMT Strange Journey and SMT Nocturne

if you're interested in EO but aren't interested in playing all of them and just want to try the "best ones", I feel like a lot of fans including me would point to this one