This game is complicated for me to really talk about. I think the main story is fine, it's short and does what it needs to do, and the game delivers some emotional gutpunches for Kiryu. But I played this game on hard, and the gameplay itself is some of my least favourite in the series. Before you upgrade, you're underpowered and the fights can be quite hard if you actually try to engage with the game's mechanics. Dodge behind a boss while they're attacking and start hitting their back, and the boss won't stagger and will instead slowly turn around and you just eat shit anyway. Spam charged light attacks in Yakuza style, though? The boss staggers on every hit and you do massive damage.
There were also some baffling changes to the starting kit, like being able to die in extreme heat mode until you get a specific upgrade even though you did not need to get an upgrade for that in every game prior. But ok, the game wants you to get upgrades or it's a pain to play. So I upgraded Kiryu's styles almost to completion, and now he's way too powerful, and bosses go down in a few hits. Even the final boss, which they attempted to make like the final boss of 5, having a massive healthbar and a lot of stage transitions, was way too easy because upgrades in this game make you way too strong. Once again, I played this game on hard mode.
I would also like to reiterate that actually trying to engage with the game's mechanics makes you eat shit. Try to grab an enemy and as you press the button they start their attack animation? Well even if your grab hits them before they hit you, you still rebound off them instead of grabbing (unlike literally every other game in the series), and the enemy hits you anyway. Even if you do grab an enemy, don't expect any crowd control. They are a terrible option, and they even removed small fun things like being able to change your hold on an enemy while grabbing them. They also gutted bounding throws, locking them behind extreme heat mode and making it so that you can't use them on strong enemies, once again different from every other game in the series. But if you're in extreme heat mode, why would you use bounding throws anyway? Unlike other games where any enemy in the vicinity will get knocked over, bounding throws barely stagger, so its use as a crowd control method is terrible, and it does very little damage. Meanwhile, you can just use the spider thread to throw a bunch of enemies at once and knock down any enemies they hit outside extreme heat, or you can use Agent style in extreme heat and just spam the light attack button and do way too much damage in a massive area. I do not understand what the thought process was behind gutting grabs and bounding throws so badly.
There was some fun to be had in the gameplay, like messing with crowds of weaker enemies in Agent style, but the game removed any options you did have in previous games against bosses, locking you into a few painfully easy options. I swear, Dragon Engine Kiryu's combat peaked at 6 where you actually had to think about your actions somewhat and from there it was only downhill. It was so boring to play that I didn't even bother doing the 4 kings side story.
There were also some baffling changes to the starting kit, like being able to die in extreme heat mode until you get a specific upgrade even though you did not need to get an upgrade for that in every game prior. But ok, the game wants you to get upgrades or it's a pain to play. So I upgraded Kiryu's styles almost to completion, and now he's way too powerful, and bosses go down in a few hits. Even the final boss, which they attempted to make like the final boss of 5, having a massive healthbar and a lot of stage transitions, was way too easy because upgrades in this game make you way too strong. Once again, I played this game on hard mode.
I would also like to reiterate that actually trying to engage with the game's mechanics makes you eat shit. Try to grab an enemy and as you press the button they start their attack animation? Well even if your grab hits them before they hit you, you still rebound off them instead of grabbing (unlike literally every other game in the series), and the enemy hits you anyway. Even if you do grab an enemy, don't expect any crowd control. They are a terrible option, and they even removed small fun things like being able to change your hold on an enemy while grabbing them. They also gutted bounding throws, locking them behind extreme heat mode and making it so that you can't use them on strong enemies, once again different from every other game in the series. But if you're in extreme heat mode, why would you use bounding throws anyway? Unlike other games where any enemy in the vicinity will get knocked over, bounding throws barely stagger, so its use as a crowd control method is terrible, and it does very little damage. Meanwhile, you can just use the spider thread to throw a bunch of enemies at once and knock down any enemies they hit outside extreme heat, or you can use Agent style in extreme heat and just spam the light attack button and do way too much damage in a massive area. I do not understand what the thought process was behind gutting grabs and bounding throws so badly.
There was some fun to be had in the gameplay, like messing with crowds of weaker enemies in Agent style, but the game removed any options you did have in previous games against bosses, locking you into a few painfully easy options. I swear, Dragon Engine Kiryu's combat peaked at 6 where you actually had to think about your actions somewhat and from there it was only downhill. It was so boring to play that I didn't even bother doing the 4 kings side story.