I beat this game today (first ending earlier in the week > reloaded and finished chaos), and it left me with a "that was fantastic" feeling that I really didn't see coming.
MC was physical focused with roughly 3dex 1agi 1luck per level, normal difficulty.
My fun log -
Hours 1-5: Lots of backtracking, jarring 2D movies with an equally jarring menu-town system, the rage of having to do fetch quests in a SMT game. Things were not looking good.
Hours 5-15: Significantly more fun, with exponentially more rage. I think I saved somewhere around 300 times during this period of the game. I could see the potential, which just made the frustration of not properly tagging quests to be able to advance combined with constant game resets all the more annoying.
Level 25-~50ish (lost track of hours): This is the game I wanted to play. Better skills were being unlocked, cooler demons were being made, weaknesses for both myself and the enemies were incredibly important, and I don't know if I just got used to the dungeon structure of the game finally or what but happy times were had in all aspects.
Level ~50-~63?: Incredibly bored. I rampaged through every normal battle with 1 critical wave, and every boss battle was won with 2-3 charge > physical skill they weren't resistant to. The enjoyment of demon fusion and a determination to finish a game I had previously liked so much was the only reason I kept playing.
Level ~63-finish(~81?): The story intensity REALLY picks up and I get to evil smirk along with my MC as we destroy angels who only exist as the pitiful servants of God.
Awesome.