Short answer is that it's a cruder version of what Persona's been doing for years. Long answer: The combat is where this game really shines, it's engaging and has all the hallmarks of a standout Falcom action game. This game falls apart when you look at all the other pieces that just... don't measure up to where they need to be. The daily life section of the game is just acceptable, it wants you to talk to everyone all the time, and breaks story flow to do it. But you don't have to, and the only things lost here is a couple of character logs or free items. The character logs counteract the aspect of "growing to know your characters" since it supplants that process with immediate knowledge and removes the need to remember the person. The stores are virtually all interchangable, meaning that there's no reason to prioritize shopping anywhere, since it's covered everywhere. It's really just that it removes all of the character of the non-combat sections, and it just ends up being a slog through story to get to where you get to do what you wanted to.
