I'm loving this game. I'm only about halfway into Mercede's chapter (3 of 5 or 6 total), but I think I already have at least 20 hours in it...and that's without grinding and very little restarting. Recommendation caveats: Start on Hard difficulty, and skip the cutscenes. I didn't play Normal, but on Hard it feels right in how you need to utilize all the game's systems and use your combat techniques properly. As for the cutscenes, if I could have fast-forwarded through them, I'd probably keep track of who's talking to who, but you can't and they're slow and dumb. The characters flesh out perfectly well without the terrible story as you develop their skillset and and see how they remix the game world.

Atlus did a really good job in making the characters play and feel differently. Each one starts off kinda clunky but able, but as you flesh out your skillset and starting combining your preferred moves, you become this absurd screen-clearing multi-hundred combo'ing beast, and the transformation is very satisfying.

It's repetitive but definitely scratches that ARPG itch, and I've had to come up with some pretty specific strategies for some of the bosses instead of just mashing through, so I'm happy with it. Very pleasing to look at, as well.