the fact that this game is that much better than yakuza 8 is crazy to me
joryu.........................
I was a hollow man by the end of this game. It was fucking amazing
Impressive that one of the shortest RGG games had one of the biggest impacts on me. I’ll definitely pop back into this one from time to time just to have fun.
A really fun pint-sized game from RGG with yet more fantastic characters we'll likely never see again, and the best coliseum mode in the series. I hope we see more of this coliseum in Judgment 3, and the quality of the final act was peak Yakuza. Utterly fantastic.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The curse of being a Yakuza
Gaiden has to be one of the best games in this series by far. Some people may be skeptical seeing me give this game the perfect 5/5, but the reason I gave this game the 5/5 isn't because of it's sheer replayability or huge amounts of content; it's because it does what it does for the series in the most perfect way.
Despite being only a 20 hour playthrough for a platinum trophy and lacking a lot of the side content we would see in other games like 5, 0, and IW, that lack of content is heavily outweighed by a masterpiece of a story that fits perfectly as the bridge of what happened in Kiryu's life from the events of 6 to 7.
There will be spoilers, and they'll be at the bottom when I talk about the story itself (they will also be marked!).
If you're thinking about buying this game, please play all the other games first, as this game jumps into the story assuming you know the events of pretty much every single game that has released prior. Before I dive into the details for the others that have played the game as well, I highly recommend buying Gaiden, especially if you catch it on sale.
Before we talk about story, let's talk about this game's combat:
The Agent Style is a brand new style that was added in for this game, somewhat bringing back the "stance switching" present in Kiwami and 0, though on a much smaller scale.
The Agent Style is pretty decent and the addition of gadgets is really fun. However, I still found myself reverting back to the original Dragon Style for most of the game, because the heat actions for this stance do a whopping amount of damage.
In addition, the stance switching isn't as intuitive or as smooth as Kiwami was. Instead of combo'ing and weaving different stances to maximize damage, you were mostly just sticking with a stance depending on what enemy you were facing.
What I also don't like about the gameplay is the modification to Quicksteps. They made it so quicksteps were locked behind R1, or the lock-on fighting stance, this made it awkward when dodging multiple enemies at once, as Kiryu would always be facing a certain direction. When Kiryu is locked on and fighting someone, the issue is that instead of getting the full sudden change of direction, Kiryu dodges AROUND the person that he is locking onto, which makes quickstepping very awkward and hard to use effectively. This meant most times against multiple enemies you had to over compensate by spamming multiple quicksteps, or by using the flying boots gadget in the Agent Style. This feels terrible because you're wasting time creating distance that you could be using to fight multiple enemies.
Despite the gameplay being lowkey gimmicky and lackluster, it was still enjoyable. It was still a Yakuza game, and even if you had some kind of gripe with the gameplay, the story more than makes up for it.
Story SPOILERS:
Oh boy oh boy where do I even begin. This is emotionally one of the best Like a Dragon games ever, dare I say, THE best. This game has us following the journey Kiry--sorry, Joryu and his antics in Osaka as an agent of the Daidoji faction, an alliance that has chosen to take Kiryu under their wing as one of their elite agents in favor of helping Kiryu fake his death in order to protect the kids at the Orphanage.
Every single time, Joryu has to put his life on the line for the Daidoji Faction, because if he doesn't the orphanage gets the kaboom, and Joryu can't bear to see his only family go kaboom like that.
I feel like this game has sort of become the pinnacle of what I like to call "The curse of being a Yakuza", because even when you finally decide to leave the Yakuza behind, the Yakuza will never leave you (in a threatening, binding kind of way).
However, what really makes this game great is the ending. Never in this entire series do we see this grown man shed ugly tears. This man shedding ugly tears almost made me want to shed ugly tears.
In order to truly understand the perfection of this scene, we need to look into what has happened to Kiryu in the past games. Throughout the past 20-30 years, Kiryu has always been alone. Everybody that tried to accompany him has died trying. Shinji, Nishiki, Rikiya, each of these people have died as sworn brothers to Kiryu, with the only exception being the Hiroshima yakuza group from 6, since Kiryu essentially sacrificed his life for them to live. In fact, if you could ask Kiryu, he would probably say that Shinji, Nishiki, and Rikiya's deaths were all his fault.
Each game, Kiryu has always done things by himself, the only way he knows how to solve problems is with himself and his own fists, without the help of anyone else. This is a theme that is further exemplified and talked about in Infinite Wealth, where the Ichiban and the gang always talk about how Kiryu always tries to do things alone, and criticize Kiryu for not depending on his friends more.
Kiryu carries an unbelievable burden that stems from his kindness and compassion as a human, and it is this exact compassion that has led him to bite off more than he could chew. Kiryu wants to take on the entire world, when in reality, he can't.
Since Yakuza 3, Kiryu's purpose for existing was to live a normal life, with his normal daughter, in a normal orphanage. However, the curse of being a Yakuza always comes back to him, with Yakuza constantly threatening to attack the orphanage in order to get Kiryu to do what they want in exchange for safety.
In Gaiden, he's doing the exact same thing, but the difference is that he doesn't know if he really is protecting the orphanage by assisting the Daidoji faction for almost 3 years, since the Daidoji faction doesn't allow him to interact with anyone who may recognize him after his death.
So when Kiryu finally gets to learn about how his orphanage is doing after his disappearance and how they are still going strong, it makes perfect sense for Kiryu to break down in ugly tears.
Kiryu's unwavering compassion makes him susceptible to being helpless, but the truth is, you can't help everyone. He wasn't able to save Rikiya or Yumi, and he isn't even sure if the work he puts in by himself with the Daidoji clan is helping his orphanage stay afloat.
However, Kiryu is finally rewarded for all his hard work with a video of Taichi and Ayako, where Kiryu finally realizes his hard work--not just in the past 3 years-- has finally paid off.
The kids of Sunflower Orphanage are finally growing up well without him, and Haruto (despite having zero recollection of Kiryu as a person because he only interacted with him as a baby) is finally taking his first steps!
Imagine being Kiryu, all of your life, you worked hard to protect other people, failing countless of times again and again, with the people you wanted to protect dying in front of you, with nobody to blame but yourself. But after every single trial & tribulation, there has finally been a time where your compassion and obligation to protect the ones closest to you finally pays off, as you see the ones you obliged to protect finally grow up to become the version of you that you always wanted them to be.
Shit's just beautiful, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Conclusion:
This game is perfect for what it is. It serves its purpose in the series perfectly, and it shows us a side of Kiryu that we really needed.
The perfect part about this game is that Kiryu isn't perfect, and that's alright, because life isn't either. However, if we stick to our convictions to the day we die, we're sure to be blessed with something amazing very soon.
I love Like a Dragon, and I love Kiryu Kazuma.
5/5
(20 Hours played)
Gaiden has to be one of the best games in this series by far. Some people may be skeptical seeing me give this game the perfect 5/5, but the reason I gave this game the 5/5 isn't because of it's sheer replayability or huge amounts of content; it's because it does what it does for the series in the most perfect way.
Despite being only a 20 hour playthrough for a platinum trophy and lacking a lot of the side content we would see in other games like 5, 0, and IW, that lack of content is heavily outweighed by a masterpiece of a story that fits perfectly as the bridge of what happened in Kiryu's life from the events of 6 to 7.
There will be spoilers, and they'll be at the bottom when I talk about the story itself (they will also be marked!).
If you're thinking about buying this game, please play all the other games first, as this game jumps into the story assuming you know the events of pretty much every single game that has released prior. Before I dive into the details for the others that have played the game as well, I highly recommend buying Gaiden, especially if you catch it on sale.
Before we talk about story, let's talk about this game's combat:
The Agent Style is a brand new style that was added in for this game, somewhat bringing back the "stance switching" present in Kiwami and 0, though on a much smaller scale.
The Agent Style is pretty decent and the addition of gadgets is really fun. However, I still found myself reverting back to the original Dragon Style for most of the game, because the heat actions for this stance do a whopping amount of damage.
In addition, the stance switching isn't as intuitive or as smooth as Kiwami was. Instead of combo'ing and weaving different stances to maximize damage, you were mostly just sticking with a stance depending on what enemy you were facing.
What I also don't like about the gameplay is the modification to Quicksteps. They made it so quicksteps were locked behind R1, or the lock-on fighting stance, this made it awkward when dodging multiple enemies at once, as Kiryu would always be facing a certain direction. When Kiryu is locked on and fighting someone, the issue is that instead of getting the full sudden change of direction, Kiryu dodges AROUND the person that he is locking onto, which makes quickstepping very awkward and hard to use effectively. This meant most times against multiple enemies you had to over compensate by spamming multiple quicksteps, or by using the flying boots gadget in the Agent Style. This feels terrible because you're wasting time creating distance that you could be using to fight multiple enemies.
Despite the gameplay being lowkey gimmicky and lackluster, it was still enjoyable. It was still a Yakuza game, and even if you had some kind of gripe with the gameplay, the story more than makes up for it.
Story SPOILERS:
Oh boy oh boy where do I even begin. This is emotionally one of the best Like a Dragon games ever, dare I say, THE best. This game has us following the journey Kiry--sorry, Joryu and his antics in Osaka as an agent of the Daidoji faction, an alliance that has chosen to take Kiryu under their wing as one of their elite agents in favor of helping Kiryu fake his death in order to protect the kids at the Orphanage.
Every single time, Joryu has to put his life on the line for the Daidoji Faction, because if he doesn't the orphanage gets the kaboom, and Joryu can't bear to see his only family go kaboom like that.
I feel like this game has sort of become the pinnacle of what I like to call "The curse of being a Yakuza", because even when you finally decide to leave the Yakuza behind, the Yakuza will never leave you (in a threatening, binding kind of way).
However, what really makes this game great is the ending. Never in this entire series do we see this grown man shed ugly tears. This man shedding ugly tears almost made me want to shed ugly tears.
In order to truly understand the perfection of this scene, we need to look into what has happened to Kiryu in the past games. Throughout the past 20-30 years, Kiryu has always been alone. Everybody that tried to accompany him has died trying. Shinji, Nishiki, Rikiya, each of these people have died as sworn brothers to Kiryu, with the only exception being the Hiroshima yakuza group from 6, since Kiryu essentially sacrificed his life for them to live. In fact, if you could ask Kiryu, he would probably say that Shinji, Nishiki, and Rikiya's deaths were all his fault.
Each game, Kiryu has always done things by himself, the only way he knows how to solve problems is with himself and his own fists, without the help of anyone else. This is a theme that is further exemplified and talked about in Infinite Wealth, where the Ichiban and the gang always talk about how Kiryu always tries to do things alone, and criticize Kiryu for not depending on his friends more.
Kiryu carries an unbelievable burden that stems from his kindness and compassion as a human, and it is this exact compassion that has led him to bite off more than he could chew. Kiryu wants to take on the entire world, when in reality, he can't.
Since Yakuza 3, Kiryu's purpose for existing was to live a normal life, with his normal daughter, in a normal orphanage. However, the curse of being a Yakuza always comes back to him, with Yakuza constantly threatening to attack the orphanage in order to get Kiryu to do what they want in exchange for safety.
In Gaiden, he's doing the exact same thing, but the difference is that he doesn't know if he really is protecting the orphanage by assisting the Daidoji faction for almost 3 years, since the Daidoji faction doesn't allow him to interact with anyone who may recognize him after his death.
So when Kiryu finally gets to learn about how his orphanage is doing after his disappearance and how they are still going strong, it makes perfect sense for Kiryu to break down in ugly tears.
Kiryu's unwavering compassion makes him susceptible to being helpless, but the truth is, you can't help everyone. He wasn't able to save Rikiya or Yumi, and he isn't even sure if the work he puts in by himself with the Daidoji clan is helping his orphanage stay afloat.
However, Kiryu is finally rewarded for all his hard work with a video of Taichi and Ayako, where Kiryu finally realizes his hard work--not just in the past 3 years-- has finally paid off.
The kids of Sunflower Orphanage are finally growing up well without him, and Haruto (despite having zero recollection of Kiryu as a person because he only interacted with him as a baby) is finally taking his first steps!
Imagine being Kiryu, all of your life, you worked hard to protect other people, failing countless of times again and again, with the people you wanted to protect dying in front of you, with nobody to blame but yourself. But after every single trial & tribulation, there has finally been a time where your compassion and obligation to protect the ones closest to you finally pays off, as you see the ones you obliged to protect finally grow up to become the version of you that you always wanted them to be.
Shit's just beautiful, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Conclusion:
This game is perfect for what it is. It serves its purpose in the series perfectly, and it shows us a side of Kiryu that we really needed.
The perfect part about this game is that Kiryu isn't perfect, and that's alright, because life isn't either. However, if we stick to our convictions to the day we die, we're sure to be blessed with something amazing very soon.
I love Like a Dragon, and I love Kiryu Kazuma.
5/5
(20 Hours played)
OBRIGADO SEGA E RGG POR TEREM FEITO MEU ANIVERSÁRIO INESQUECÍVEL.
meu primeiro contato com a saga definitivamente e não podia ser melhor, como eu amei ver essa história de kazuma kiryu e amei as sidequest e tudo que tem nesse jogo, ansioso para acompanhar a saga durante os anos.
meu primeiro contato com a saga definitivamente e não podia ser melhor, como eu amei ver essa história de kazuma kiryu e amei as sidequest e tudo que tem nesse jogo, ansioso para acompanhar a saga durante os anos.
I cry every time.
This was my first yakuza game, and while not the best start, damn do I wanna play more. I love how over the top everything is, which it makes it feel like a martials movie and 4 minutes later a soap opera. Combat is surprisingly, and I felt loke I didn't even scratch the surface of it. Also it's worth me mentioning that even though this is essentially a side game, it Is packed, with content.
After playing Infinite Wealth front-to-back, it was a bit jarring to play this game, but saying goodbye to the "bad guys" never felt so satisfying.
The Yakuza 6/Kiwami 2 combat system is back, with added tech gadgets and larger-scale battles. You've of course got the same familiar minigames, side stories, and RPG elements we've call come to know and love.
With Kiryu being a dead-man and all, you learn the means in which the Daidoji faction keep Kiryu in check. Of course, it's by threatening the people he loves the most. The uneasy alliance Hanawa and Kiryu form is probably still the strongest "new" bond established in the game. Everyone else (e.g: Akame, Tsuruno) quite transparently seem to manipulate him to further their own ends.
The game is rather short (8 hours), and was made begrudgingly longer by the mandatory sidequesting halfway through the story. Alas, the fact Kiryu can do all these good deeds and noble acts for over 20 years and can live undetected as Joryu really makes me think this was among the ligher salted entries in terms of character development and introspection. Again though, this is just the appetizer, and as a canonical spinoff, it gets a little more wiggle room than the mainline games to be lacking in this department.
The big bad Yakuza this time around are men of the hour - an old school yakuza who has a scarred chudface, and a licentious sexual deviant who competes with Epstein on the weirdo scale. Both proper, I guess, to drive home the need for the "death" of the Yakzua as an organization and as an ouroboros. It splices to right around the events of Yakuza: Like A Dragon, and leaves you on the footsteps of Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth's story.
Even an OK Yakuza game is a damn good time, so I'm giving this one a 4.
The Yakuza 6/Kiwami 2 combat system is back, with added tech gadgets and larger-scale battles. You've of course got the same familiar minigames, side stories, and RPG elements we've call come to know and love.
With Kiryu being a dead-man and all, you learn the means in which the Daidoji faction keep Kiryu in check. Of course, it's by threatening the people he loves the most. The uneasy alliance Hanawa and Kiryu form is probably still the strongest "new" bond established in the game. Everyone else (e.g: Akame, Tsuruno) quite transparently seem to manipulate him to further their own ends.
The game is rather short (8 hours), and was made begrudgingly longer by the mandatory sidequesting halfway through the story. Alas, the fact Kiryu can do all these good deeds and noble acts for over 20 years and can live undetected as Joryu really makes me think this was among the ligher salted entries in terms of character development and introspection. Again though, this is just the appetizer, and as a canonical spinoff, it gets a little more wiggle room than the mainline games to be lacking in this department.
The big bad Yakuza this time around are men of the hour - an old school yakuza who has a scarred chudface, and a licentious sexual deviant who competes with Epstein on the weirdo scale. Both proper, I guess, to drive home the need for the "death" of the Yakzua as an organization and as an ouroboros. It splices to right around the events of Yakuza: Like A Dragon, and leaves you on the footsteps of Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth's story.
Even an OK Yakuza game is a damn good time, so I'm giving this one a 4.
If I had a nickel for every time I was lukewarm on a Yakuza game until the really well made final chapter, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.
So, Gaiden, or Yakuza 6.5 (or 7.5 depending on who you ask) meant to tie up loose threads in Kiryu's story and god damn does it do it well. While the main story is just kind of okay, Kiryu himself and the wrapping up of his arc was phenomenal. It's about Kiryu trying his best to help with THAT THING from Y7, all while exploring key moments from his past under a new identity. Most of the new characters are cool if somewhat standard by Yakuza standards, except Akane. She's great, especially as the game progresses. Her whole thing is a network that small side activities stem from, as well as Substories. This is one of my gripes with the game. While I saw a map of smaller quests and by brain jumped to 'this is like a Xenoblade expansion holy shit let's goooooo' I quickly got bored of all quests leading back to the network instead of letting Kiryu stumble on wacky scenarios himself, even if most of the substories are good once you get into them (the 6 month dev time allowing for ChatGPT references of all things being especially neat)
And the next thing is the combat, because holy shit, the dragon engine got refined. It's back to every move feeling impactful and brutal, with satisfying heat actions. At least in classic Dragon style. Kiryu also has a new fighting style focused on gadgets, but due to these gadgets taking a while to get doing in dealing damage, I didn't feel much of a need to use it. But all the things I like from this apparently come from the judgment games, so I'm looking forward to that.
Overall, it's a great finale and love letter to Yakuza, with the only issue being that Kiryu doesn't get a goodbye fight with Majima at the end (HE WAS RIGHT FUCKING THERE) with another ending that almost made me cry. And now, it's time to finish what I started. Onwards, to Yakuza 7!
So, Gaiden, or Yakuza 6.5 (or 7.5 depending on who you ask) meant to tie up loose threads in Kiryu's story and god damn does it do it well. While the main story is just kind of okay, Kiryu himself and the wrapping up of his arc was phenomenal. It's about Kiryu trying his best to help with THAT THING from Y7, all while exploring key moments from his past under a new identity. Most of the new characters are cool if somewhat standard by Yakuza standards, except Akane. She's great, especially as the game progresses. Her whole thing is a network that small side activities stem from, as well as Substories. This is one of my gripes with the game. While I saw a map of smaller quests and by brain jumped to 'this is like a Xenoblade expansion holy shit let's goooooo' I quickly got bored of all quests leading back to the network instead of letting Kiryu stumble on wacky scenarios himself, even if most of the substories are good once you get into them (the 6 month dev time allowing for ChatGPT references of all things being especially neat)
And the next thing is the combat, because holy shit, the dragon engine got refined. It's back to every move feeling impactful and brutal, with satisfying heat actions. At least in classic Dragon style. Kiryu also has a new fighting style focused on gadgets, but due to these gadgets taking a while to get doing in dealing damage, I didn't feel much of a need to use it. But all the things I like from this apparently come from the judgment games, so I'm looking forward to that.
Overall, it's a great finale and love letter to Yakuza, with the only issue being that Kiryu doesn't get a goodbye fight with Majima at the end (HE WAS RIGHT FUCKING THERE) with another ending that almost made me cry. And now, it's time to finish what I started. Onwards, to Yakuza 7!
Kiryu will never die
The story and villains are lacking dawg im sorry
peakuza
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name - By far the slightest entry in the Yakuza (or Like a Dragon, as Sega insists now) series, judging by both its slim 10-15 hour runtime and its position as and its position as something of a bridge between Yakuza 6: The Song of Life and Like a Dragon. Which means, at least for the fans, it explains how Kazuma Kiryu came back after the events of the sixth entry. The answer? Secret society nonsense, which does cheapen that game's finale but is eventually justified by Gaiden's conclusion. By this point Kazuma Kiryu, aka The Dragon of Dojima, is as real as game characters can get, and his very presence gives Gaiden's themes a genuine weight. Plus, you know, he remains the best at doing things such as breaking men with a bicycle.
decent
made me cry over a kid i didnt know
Gameplay - 8/10
História - 8/10
direção - 8/10
Cabarés - 10/10
Os lek sem camisa no final - 40/10
História - 8/10
direção - 8/10
Cabarés - 10/10
Os lek sem camisa no final - 40/10
pure filler and a shit ton of stuff that makes literally 0 fucking sense but i had so much fun throughout the game and the ending was so good it added half a point i was going to take away from it
Wow. Just Wow. Short masterpiece. Genuinely one of a kind. Thank You RGG for this. This is all i ever needed. Genuinely just WOW... THANK YOU KIRYU KAZUMA YOU ARE ONE OF THE GREATEST TO EVER DO IT. I KNEEL. MY GOAT, MY KING. 🐐❤️
best story
One of my favorite entries so far. Combat feels fantastic, some of the side content is the best it's ever been, and it's topped off with an ending that made me cry. My only complaint is that there is no new game plus and that combat gets a bit too easy by the end of it.
This review contains spoilers
I'm so sorry but I think my two favorite things in this game are Kiryu sobbing and the return of Pocket Racing
Joryu of Kiryu what game and what aplot twsit and what a combat damn this game was it i had some good time playing it
RGG never disopoint 10/10
huge fan of yakuza games
RGG never disopoint 10/10
huge fan of yakuza games
The last quarter of this game is peak yakuza (My favourite final boss in the whole series and top 5 in gaming) but some of the stuff near the start-middle is quite disjointed. But when it picks up it does it really well. Surprisingly for a game made in 6 months it has some really great side content (mostly because I have shit attention span and liked the short encounters) with a really fun side story featuring 2 spin-off characters. The combat is a little janky but i still thought it was fun. I really liked the new agent style but I just wish it did more damage and worked better on bosses. I dislike how a lot of the dod style is charge up abilities as i feel they are kinda cheap and make it flow worse. overall a great game with some new interesting characters. Side note: the final villain has a really great motive which makes his boss fight even better.
Ryu Ga Gotoku studio really can’t help themselves at this point, huh?
Even after finally conceding the protagonist position to Ichiban&Co, moving most old character away from the spotlight and ending the yakuza factions that existed since very first game, they go and make ANOTHER Kiryu game. It gets especially hilarious when Kiryu talks in this game about his children living independently from him, and here we have RGG Studio unable to let their favorite child go.
Calling it a game is rather generous though, 5 chapters and no sub stories (unless you count Akame’s errands), only one hub. Gaiden has maybe a quarter of content of an average Yakuza game - but costs almost as much.
Credit where it’s due though: visuals are prettier than ever (with the exception of a couple of scenes near the end of the game) and the new battle style is fun to play with, even though it makes you feel like you’re playing a Batman game and not Yakuza.
Even after finally conceding the protagonist position to Ichiban&Co, moving most old character away from the spotlight and ending the yakuza factions that existed since very first game, they go and make ANOTHER Kiryu game. It gets especially hilarious when Kiryu talks in this game about his children living independently from him, and here we have RGG Studio unable to let their favorite child go.
Calling it a game is rather generous though, 5 chapters and no sub stories (unless you count Akame’s errands), only one hub. Gaiden has maybe a quarter of content of an average Yakuza game - but costs almost as much.
Credit where it’s due though: visuals are prettier than ever (with the exception of a couple of scenes near the end of the game) and the new battle style is fun to play with, even though it makes you feel like you’re playing a Batman game and not Yakuza.
This review contains spoilers
Building off from Y6, the cycle of a chained life continues to be unbreakable for Kiryu. An unending fight and this time the decades of relentlessly putting others lives over his own feels just a bit more heavy, more painful. Repressing his emotions deep within, feverishly scrambling, but still hiding behind that calm, stoic act.
Kiryu's way of life and how he chooses to act for others is present once again, cementing that that side of him will never change, even after the several name and lifestyle changes, it's still him. He spent decades stubbornly fighting for the yakuza and for what he believed in, but this time it's them that have to be sacrificed, not Kiryu himself. The decades, history and blood shed will be erased and Shishido plays a perfect fit as the antagonist and vanguard for the old-school yakuza. Also, I love how we tackle and portray Kiryu's legend and what it means at this point in his life.
The presence of the kids and the orphanage is incredibly cruel and heartbreaking, all the way up to the climax of the game where it hits like a fucking truck and I swear that's the most I've cried in forever. Probably my favorite scene in the entirety of Yakuza, full of what makes Kiryu so powerful and a once in a lifetime character. Add to that the incredibly smart use of Yumi and the weight she carries, something that felt missing since her first introduction. Kiryu's journey started with the ring and it now finishes with it, leaving all of that behind but this time not selflessly.
The game's visuals, soundtrack, and overall aesthetic are seriously outstanding as well. Thank you RGG for another very special entry to the franchise.
Kiryu's way of life and how he chooses to act for others is present once again, cementing that that side of him will never change, even after the several name and lifestyle changes, it's still him. He spent decades stubbornly fighting for the yakuza and for what he believed in, but this time it's them that have to be sacrificed, not Kiryu himself. The decades, history and blood shed will be erased and Shishido plays a perfect fit as the antagonist and vanguard for the old-school yakuza. Also, I love how we tackle and portray Kiryu's legend and what it means at this point in his life.
The presence of the kids and the orphanage is incredibly cruel and heartbreaking, all the way up to the climax of the game where it hits like a fucking truck and I swear that's the most I've cried in forever. Probably my favorite scene in the entirety of Yakuza, full of what makes Kiryu so powerful and a once in a lifetime character. Add to that the incredibly smart use of Yumi and the weight she carries, something that felt missing since her first introduction. Kiryu's journey started with the ring and it now finishes with it, leaving all of that behind but this time not selflessly.
The game's visuals, soundtrack, and overall aesthetic are seriously outstanding as well. Thank you RGG for another very special entry to the franchise.
EU AAAAAAMO FANSERVICE. Mesmo que seja um jogo menor, tendo só 5 capítulos, parece que tudo funciona como uma celebração da franquia. Todos os melhores minigames estão de volta: o Kart, o coliseu, o karaoke com várias músicas fodas e mais um monte de outros joguinhos que eu passei horas jogando. O combate é bem fluído, o estilo novo é bem bacana bem único, a ideia de utilizar vários dispositivos em conjunto com porrada é muito bom, e o segundo estilo é o bom e velho moveset clássico do Kiryu que a gente conhece e ama. Agora, falando da história, apesar de ser meio ridículo que esse é o segundo jogo que a RGG faz pra servir como 'despedida' do protagonista Kiryu, a trama é bacana até por passar até que bem o sentimento de que o universo da franquia está mudando e o Kiryu é uma relíquia do passado. Mas o melhor mesmo em relação à história desse jogo, para mim, é o final: tanto o confronto final, com o visual e música ímpar, quanto a cutscene final que é feita de uma maneira muito foda. De verdade o maior problema do jogo é não ter mais dele.
This review contains spoilers
Good clean fun… doing the pre-final boss fight with 3jima was such a sweet touch. Also THAT cutscene….. try not to sob or you die I died
this game was also what turned me fully to team "kiryu is hot" i guess it took him turning 50 and putting on sunnies.
this game was also what turned me fully to team "kiryu is hot" i guess it took him turning 50 and putting on sunnies.
What is essentially an add-on to an already completed script, but an incredibly heartfelt and inspired one at that. I've never been one to complain about the lack of juggling or the lack of canceling moves, I play these games for their narrative and how they tie into the gameplay seamlessly. There's much more to appreciate of what these games do than simply their combo game.
With that said, what stands out the most is Gaiden's narrative. There's a sense of entrapment and longing for emancipation the entire time, and when it's eventually reached, it feels bittersweet. Being knowing of Kiryu's condition in Infinite Wealth helps make this game feel even more like a swan song, and it drives home this sense of impending doom that haunts throughout the short span of the game.
You know what's coming, but seeing the way there is a whole other beast.
With that said, what stands out the most is Gaiden's narrative. There's a sense of entrapment and longing for emancipation the entire time, and when it's eventually reached, it feels bittersweet. Being knowing of Kiryu's condition in Infinite Wealth helps make this game feel even more like a swan song, and it drives home this sense of impending doom that haunts throughout the short span of the game.
You know what's coming, but seeing the way there is a whole other beast.