i think i like persona 4 less than persona 5 because at least persona 5 at least pretends for a little bit that it cares about going against the status quo, and it gives you the illusion that its going to actually do anything good. both games struggle with almost all of the exact same issues, the main difference being 4 doesn't have much style to prioritize over substance so you just don't get much of either.

i don't really care about 90% of the games writing or characters but i will directly point out that kanji and naoto's character arcs are some of the lamest things i've seen in video games, and no it is not because of any "headcanons" i didnt even have for these characters being contradicted. for kanji and naoto specifically i take a lot more issue with the queerbaiting and using queer identities as a stepping stone for their incredibly tame messages than the idea that they aren't actually queer. anyone who is upset about them not being gay or trans isn't necessarily wrong for feeling that way, but it obviously wasn't the intention of persona 4 to make those characters that way and i'm not going to act like it's fair to have problems with the game because of that specifically. the investigation team also do not at all feel like they are friends to me and it sucks, the way that most scenes that wouldve been used to develop SEES in 3 just aren't really there and it makes me care about the group way less

i liked adachi a lot though, he's a really good character