I took his criticisms of the combat as basically saying “this system is not interesting enough to form a satisfying gameplay loop”. That’s a critical statement which I actually agree with, though from my perspective that’s a key part of Persona’s core design: neither the combat system nor the social link system are endlessly enjoyable, so the player is intrinsically motivated to avoid lingering for too long and properly close the core gameplay loop by advancing the calendar. It’s that sort of pendulum-like cadence which gives the series its unique sense of steady momentum.
I do think that it’s a shame RPS’s Matt was unable to find joy in P3R’s gameplay loop due to disliking the social-link system… but I also see it as an opportunity to better understand the game as a holistic package in a way that can’t be achieved through a more carefully measured, quantitative analysis. The way I see things, the game is the game – I’m much more interested in understanding what’s in the game rather than what’s not, if that makes any sense.