I always suspected SMTIV had some identity problems, but Eirikr just
reamed it in his write-up on the game here:
http://eirikrjs.blogspot.com/2015/09/SMT-identity-crisis-final.html
Massive spoilers for every single aspect of IV, and it's eerie how spot-on the criticisms are. I enjoyed IV, but it definitely was missing something, and I think he nailed what it was.
I agree with some of his criticisms, but, at the same time, that article seems fairly biased too, like when he praises Nocturne's use of the demon imagery in comparison to SMTIV even though most demons in that game are basically just set pieces that could be replaced by any other design, with only a few actually following their mythological roles. Even though the Maniax additions are stronger in that sense, they still had some rather odd elements like the 4 Riders working for Lucifer. He also criticizes the "Goddess of Tokyo" for being an extremely important fictional demon, while completely ignoring "Mem Aleph" which is a fictional representation of Mother Goddesses in general.
His criticism of human society still going on in a demon infested land also seems kind of odd - he mentions that in SMT1, the npcs were mostly Messians or Gaian's, but that's really not true. You can meet many random people before the Cathedral, with underground refuges around Tokyo similar to the ones from SMTIV, where you can meet random people - and there are even open business and cafes too.
His complaints about Jonathan's and Walter's characters also are kind of odd, especially when questioning their initial motivation (before the alignment shift). It sounds like because they had no personal connection to any of the enemies, the author considers their motivations irrelevant, which is just odd. And then he goes completely silent about one of the biggest issues with Walter's character (his lack of reaction and acknowledgment of the end of Mikado's caste system with the angel's return). It's also odd that he criticizes them for being "simplified caricatures" of alignment heroes, but also criticizes them when they didn't act like expected from their alignment.
I agree with all criticism of the neutral and nationalism in SMTIV though. In fact, I'd also add that the nationalist theme is obviously tied to the alignment war this time. Stephen tells the player to resurrect Tokyo's Goddess. That Goddess, the spirit of Japan's biggest city, alongside Masakado, its protector deity, then go on to defeat the foreign Chaos and Law demons and restore Tokyo to what it should be. They even made the destruction of Japanese culture one of the goals of the law faction. By the end of the game, in the law route, you can talk to some npcs in Mikado and hear about how the angels ordered them to translate all the "mystic script" (old Japanese characters) into their modern tongue while digitalizing the texts, but at the same time they should eliminate the originals - leading to a scenario where not only Tokyo is destroyed, but also any remaining legacy from Japan is erased. That nationalist theme is also likely why the hero actually turns out to be the reincarnation of the hero who created the ceiling on Tokyo - basically making it so Tokyo is the hero's true home in a way. I think it's obvious that the nationalism was an actual intended theme, not just a bunch of unrelated design choices that happened to go in that direction.
The underlying nationalist theme going on in SMTIV actually gives me a big appreciation for the law ending, where it's basically entirely rejected and Tokyo alongside any influence from it are completely destroyed - Although that obviously wasn't the motivation of the developers. Law's intentions to destroy Japanese culture completely, down to the writing method, only exists as yet another reason to dislike them. If Gotou appeared in SMT4, he'd likely be considered a neutral hero, without having his character changed at all.
