My first entry into the Persona series, and what a ride it was. I look back so fondly on my first playthrough of this game. Kamoshida is a perfect first villian, because the game does such a great job of making you HATE that prick. I felt that the cast of this game was just so much closer than 4, they truly feel like a breakfast club type of unlikely friendships that end up blossoming into true bonds by the story's end.

The palaces are very enjoyable and interesting to go through. Each one stands completely alone with its own themes, settings, and layouts. With the addition of baton passes, combat becomes much more strategic and straight up fun. The social links, while admittedly weaker than four, end up shining brighter due to certain perks you can only get through them, adding new abilities and tools for you to implement in your dungeon crawling, really adding to the feeling of progression.

Finishing this game was a straight up gut punch. Nothing hits harder than that "Fin."