I had the same experience as the OP until I had another shot at it.

When first released I stopped by Luckys Lounge in Edmonton and played four or five games. They were all short, terrible games. Admittedly I usually flail the first few games to see what a game offers. Played some of the other games and left. Next trip back a few months later I went to play some pins and there was 8 credits in JP. Figured why not? Started a four player game and exact same thing happened my first time. Four, very terrible, very short games.

WTF??? I'm pretty good and can get high scores usually. Why do I suck so bad at this game?

Alright. Press start four more times and lets get this shit over. Well something clicked. I slowed down and started to get the feel for it. Got replays on 3/4 games. Entered my initials and I left, went on pinside and started to look at rules. Went back the next day and played at least 10 games. Even fit in a few more games the last day before going home. The whole four hour drive home I thought of scoring strategy.

That was late December and I haven't had a chance to play it again. I think about it daily. I can't wait for this covid shit to lift and get somewhere to play it again. If I could afford to buy a nib game, without hesitation it would be a JP.