the writing is so crusty it loops back to being enjoyable. almost a parody of anime tropes, to the extent that i'm not entirely sure this isn't satirical. the childhood friend girl-next-door love interest, the comic relief loser sidekick, the cute animal mascot, the stoic boy who's actually a super important special powers boy who got evil science done to him, and Toki. TOKI. she's the WORST, she's like how nerds remember the most marketable 'waifu' traits of Asuka and Rei Evangelion combined into a younger, edgier looking fanservice machine. the gameplay is probably the best mainline SMT has ever had up to this point, its atmosphere and art direction is nowhere near Nocturne's (tho what is) but this franchise's character writing hasn't ever been that strong. if you can have a good time with some anime babes saying shit like "homeslice went bananacakes" and dumbass edgelord demons telling you to unleash your joker's trick, then it's worth playing. if you can't handle that, you're a coward anyways.