Yeah, while P5 is great, I do have a handful of criticism toward parts of it too.
I agree with the pacing. I get that you're supposed to span out Palaces over the course of the time you're given, but I generally wiped them all out in a day's time, which left a lot-- a LOT of text to get through until the next time I could do some combat again. There was a very strong unbalance in that sense. Partially my fault I guess, but there felt like so few days where I actually did any kind of dungeon exploring.
I know this may be a massively unpopular opinion, but I actually got very tired with parts of the soundtrack. Yes, Behind the Mask is a good song, but did we really need three versions of it that takes up the entire game when you could have mixed it up a little? That's not saying it's bad, but I feel like they could have given more variety. I really did not like the Mementos theme either, and it's a shame, because it's another song you hear for a very long period of time. There are a ton of great tracks too, don't get me wrong, but for the bulk of the game, it felt like I was listening to the same song for over 90 hours. It's still stuck in my head.
I didn't mind the SMT devils as enemies. I always found the shadows in 3 and 4 to be, while flavorful, rather bland and without personality, and just ended up feeling like enemy placeholders rather than actual enemies, I guess. The negotiation mechanic coming back in P5 also felt nice too.
Also,
. Fuck that, it was such a drag to do.
And as far as characters:
The rest of the cast was pretty good. Ann felt kiiiind of bland, and I didn't like Ohya much, but I still liked Ann a lot regardless.
Finally, I really wish I would have had more time
. I feel like I had absolutely no time to do it and the only way you would have is if you would have maxed out an otherwise unnecessary stat overall just because. By the time I had it maxed out, it was already late December. Seriously disappointed about the pacing there.
But you can tell that if this is all I can find to complain about, you have an amazing game on your hands. Definitely an incredible game that will be treasured for years to come.