FUCK this game holy shit. the interactions ARE incredibly fun (it's why I haven't marked it as lower than 1.5), but it's bogged down by terrible combat and clunky customization.
The combat is bogged down by trying to force Persona 5's combat into a traditional turn-based system, which does not work at all. The "goal" of every random encounter is to knock down all of your enemies and perform an All-Out Attack, which... doesn't work when you have to issue commands at the start of the round and have to work with a randomized turn order. Combat also tends to slow down when you're facing FOEs (minibosses that wander the labyrinth that you're supposed to avoid at first) because they're immune to knockdown.
Oh also YOU, of course, can be knocked down. When ENEMIES are knocked down (and if you fail to perform an All-Out Attack) it pushes their turn to the end of the round and they MIGHT not be able to act, and it feels like they typically WILL anyways (though this might just be confirmation bias). If YOU are knocked down the ways you will NEVER be able act.
Customization is a pain in the ass because there's three games worth of characters. Also you have to deal with customizing sub-Personas AND main Personas this time, instead of having main Personas more or less just progress on their own. Some of the resulting perks are nice (main Personas actually get their unique skill early on, for example) but it's overwhelming and still really, really terrible to deal with. It honestly feels like it's a regression from the first game, which feels like it struck a better balance between Etrian Odyssey's systems and Persona's (if still lacking in the balance department, sure).
Oh yeah speaking of mechanically the game feels like a direct sequel to Persona Q, completely ignoring any of the applicable improvements Etrian Odyssey made in between the two games. That doesn't help at all.
Again, I will say that the interactions between the casts of each game are well done! They're funny, cute, and the P3 cast can be a bit heart wrenching! It's just... you have to struggle with the rest of the game to get to it. It's not worth it.
The combat is bogged down by trying to force Persona 5's combat into a traditional turn-based system, which does not work at all. The "goal" of every random encounter is to knock down all of your enemies and perform an All-Out Attack, which... doesn't work when you have to issue commands at the start of the round and have to work with a randomized turn order. Combat also tends to slow down when you're facing FOEs (minibosses that wander the labyrinth that you're supposed to avoid at first) because they're immune to knockdown.
Oh also YOU, of course, can be knocked down. When ENEMIES are knocked down (and if you fail to perform an All-Out Attack) it pushes their turn to the end of the round and they MIGHT not be able to act, and it feels like they typically WILL anyways (though this might just be confirmation bias). If YOU are knocked down the ways you will NEVER be able act.
Customization is a pain in the ass because there's three games worth of characters. Also you have to deal with customizing sub-Personas AND main Personas this time, instead of having main Personas more or less just progress on their own. Some of the resulting perks are nice (main Personas actually get their unique skill early on, for example) but it's overwhelming and still really, really terrible to deal with. It honestly feels like it's a regression from the first game, which feels like it struck a better balance between Etrian Odyssey's systems and Persona's (if still lacking in the balance department, sure).
Oh yeah speaking of mechanically the game feels like a direct sequel to Persona Q, completely ignoring any of the applicable improvements Etrian Odyssey made in between the two games. That doesn't help at all.
Again, I will say that the interactions between the casts of each game are well done! They're funny, cute, and the P3 cast can be a bit heart wrenching! It's just... you have to struggle with the rest of the game to get to it. It's not worth it.