I used to think like this too, but as I reflected more and more on my P5 experience, I realized it's a worse P4 with a really good visual style. The story, characters and combat system are not that great tbh.Sorry, Persona 5 has been the Best JRPG in years, without a doubt. Even with its pacing issues, it's just incredibly good in every other aspect - art, music, gameplay and style are unmatched.
I think that P5 is top 5 JRPG (but I don't consider Ys VIII, Automata or Valkyria Chronicles 4 JRPG tbh) from this gen without a doubt, but I don't think is any better than Cold Steel games (and I didn't even played III, that is considered the best), Xc2, SMT IV, Tokyo Mirage or other great modern JRPGs. It's good, but it also has a big style-over-substance problem and can't come close to the story and setting from P4 IMO.