The social systems that define the series feel a bit thin here and many of the side stories seem undercooked, but in the mid months when you're navigating your personal life and juggling dungeon crawling alongside it, its alclear why persona became such a powerhouse franchise. Its core story doesn't take long to kick up and stays out of the way, but when it comes to fruition it feels full of purposeful ideation on grief and loss. Reload relit the fire in me for a series that defined much of my late adolescence and reinvigorated it.