>>42303947Persona is one of those game series where it works better as a VN.
The amount of freedom your character gets depending on how you spend your time during the day is really amazing when the games first came out. P3 in general is often everyone's favorite when it comes to the story and relationships you can have. But you never hear anyone talk about the gameplay on a positive note outside of the Persona fusions.
I haven't played P5, but the fact that my Fatlus friend hated it and told me "this is the Persona game you wanted" must mean that the gameplay is stylishly fun now.