Persona 5 Clear, May 31 2017 stuff

Finished Persona 5 yesterday, 58 hours. The game is an improvement over previous Persona games but it's still got stuff that makes me sad, like:

-Throwing Haru into the party, then not letting you hang out with her until like the last 20% of the game, where most of the plot happens :( Makes her role in the party feel like an afterthought and it stinks. Related to this is locking battle options behind excessive hour requirements. Is Haru really so broken that you have to lock her behind a 30~ hour gate?? I mean yeah reflector spells are strong but still!!!

-One more got nerfed from P4 and it's still stupid strong and lame, as usual the boss fights are the only interesting fights because they usually don't revolve around cycling elements until you find the win button.  I really wish they'd downplay or even remove the weakpoint system and instead add more things characters can do, instead of just stock dps/buff/debuff/heal abilities.  I did appreciate the ailment bonus damage mechanic they added, I think more stuff like that would be nice.

-It feels really bad maxing out social links then just never seeing that person ever again. What kind of friend does that??? I wish there was some sort of incentive to see the characters you've maxed again, like giving out nice items or bonuses in combat that day or something...anything that isn't just "you have a special bond with x" and maybe some text.

-Perhaps this is asking too much, but I really wish more games would steal the "full party from start" grade shop option from Tales of Rebirth. It really sucks grinding x hours in the story until you can assemble the party you want...And sure, the balance might be out of whack, but it's new game +, who cares??? The default option is to inherit levels, gear, etc. which is way more game breaking than having all your characters at level 1!

Aside from stuff I personally don't like though, P5 is a pretty good game. If anyone was ever like "I've never played a JRPG in my life but they sound rad, what's a good one?", P5 would not be a bad game to recommend.