Common Knowledge: This track is often listed as the Final Boss' first phase theme, even though it actually plays during the fights against Maria and Lucifer. This seems to originate from it being mislabeled on the OST, with people re-uploading it on YouTube repeating the mistake.
If you accept Tsuzumi's request and go to Ikebukuro in Chapter 2, you may encounter Harpies. They're fast and are usually found in groups of three, which potentially allows them to one-shot your entire party with Spike Claw before you can even move.
Yamata-no-Orochi start appearing within the Shibuya 1009 building near the end of the game, and they're quite the force to be reckoned with. They can attack many times in one turn with powerful, multi-target physical attacks like Mow Down or Squash, dealing a lot of damage in the process, and also have a passive skill that disables yours. Naturally, Maria summons one during her boss fight.
Enjoy the Story, Skip the Game: The story can be interesting once it picks up. However, experiencing this story requires going through bland, samey dungeons, and a battle system that can most optimistically be described as "experimental".
Goddamned Boss: During Chapter 3, you fight multiple groups of Gaias [sic] and their Legions. The first one is fairly straightforward, but the second one can get annoying fast. You have 8 targets to defeat, and while they don't deal much damage on their own, they make up for it in stunlocking capability — the Gaias use Happy Trigger to inflict Panic on the entire party, while the Legions spam Panic Voice and Fool's Voice. It's entirely possible to end up spending entire turns with a majority of your party immobilized.
Most Wonderful Sound: The sound that plays whenever a demon is successfully recruited.
Battles are heavily automated — while they're still mostly turn-based, all parties' actions are determined by the AI. You can give orders to your party manually, but the AI is competent enough to handle things on its own, so most fights go by with minimal player involvement.
Anything that inflicts Close, especially if it targets the entire party. In addition to sealing your magic, Close can stack with other status ailments, which can be especially annoying if your healers get Closed.
Combo attacks are incredibly powerful when used by the player, and that doesn't change when the enemy uses them. It's not uncommon for enemies that are only capable of dealing Scratch Damage with their normal attacks to obliterate entire parties when they start using combos, especially in the early game.
Combos that use physical attacks are even worse — besides their absurd damage output, they often have a variety of nasty side effects, such as debuffs, status effects, or even instant death.
Mad Tea Party, used by Alice. It inflicts Sleep, Panic, or Charm on the entire party, which can potentially leave your entire party either immobilized or beating each other up. You do have Mubiora or Miranda helping you, so the ailments usually don't last long, but it does prolong an already fairly drawn-out fight.
The fight with Green Bear and Titan in Chapter 2. You aren't ready for Mega Strike at this point in the game, and the only thing preventing them from instantly wiping out the party with it is whether or not the A.I. Roulette is generous enough to not use it.
On the Neutral and Chaos routes, Maria serves as one last difficulty spike before the Final Boss. As you chip away at her massive health bar, she summons powerful demons to support her — Cerberus can immobilize you with Panic Voice, Gryphon and Mizuchi can form combos with her vast skillset, Yamata-no-Orochi is practically a boss in its own right, and Nandi can heal her, potentially undoing entire minutes of progress. While this is happening, Maria is whaling on you with powerful spells, including several powerful Almighty attacks.
is often listed as the Final Boss' first phase theme, even though it actually plays during the fights against Maria and Lucifer. This seems to originate from it being mislabeled on the OST, with people re-uploading it on YouTube repeating the mistake.