*PS4 version

Much more fun than my original playthrough because I was with my BFF. Way too many bugs and glitches in this version, especially game ending ones. Loses a lot of points on that.

I'm certain solo I wouldn't have even finished this because it's way less fun. Not to mention the frustrating bosses.

What exactly did chuck do to earn everyone's ire? Half the dialogue in the first hour is about his dead wife or how his dick doesn't work.

Shout out to the aluminum bat. Great weapon.

The only full fledged story DLC this series has ever dropped. How'd they do? For my money, decent. Thirty bucks is steep though. I got it on sale so I'm not upset with how much I paid but I think that price tag is pushing it. There's nothing in the way of side content. Could break us off like maybe 10 substories or something like that. Of varying size. Just to have something else to do. The game stops you a couple times and ask, "is there anything left you wanna do? sure you wanna leave now?" like uh yeah? fuck else am I gonna go do? Play Virtua Fighter and order Ramen? I did that in the main game already.

That aside, I enjoyed the story. It was an RGG Mystery that refrained from involving mass government conspiracy so that's an achievement. Kaito is satisfying to play as. He's more of a brute than Yagami. His two styles are obviously aped from Kiryu's but there's enough little differences to make it passable. I'd rec this for the die hards of the franchise. Otherwise? You can live without it.

If this went more of an L.A. Noire-ish route instead of shoehorning in combat sections I woulda been fucking with this heavy. The long, tedious sequences of constantly mowing down redundant enemies is exhausting. I'd maybe knock it for the obvs Twin Peaks rip off but majority of video game stories rip off something better anyway.

I have a big issue with one of the protagonist's inner monologues. He says that he loved everything Richard Donner directed so he saw the Lost Boys on release. WRONG! The Lost Boys was directed by JOEL SCHUMACHER BUCKO! NOT RICHARD DONNER! BOOM! BONG BONG!

I skipped this when it came out and more or less moved on from the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise until "The Man Who Erased His Name" came out and I was dragged back in.

While existing in the same universe, there's nothing you really need to know about the series lore wise. Kinda had me wondering if RGG wanted to make a detective game and this was the easiest way to do so. Never the less, if you're a long term fan you'll still see minor NPCs from prior games. The goofy townies that have inhabited this city for many titles now.

Story and character wise this would rank amongst the top entries. Every one of these gets long winded at best and incoherent at worst. While it's a lot to remember and a ton of characters and little threads to tie together, I think it all works out in the end. The villains have a sympathetic edge, the driving force of the plot adds up. Maybe Yagami is rather hypocritical in his actions at times but it's a video game. You gotta take what you can get sometimes.

Judgement has some unique gameplay features that are hit or miss for me and the misses hold this back a tad. On top of the typical RGG action, there's lock picking, chases (which have been absent since like 4?), tailing missions, drones, some crime scene investigation. There are all fairly bare bones. I don't have much beef with them but the lock picking is incredibly generic. It's the same minigame as always and it doesn't help the pacing when you're tearing through an office building of enemies and you need to slow the fuck down to do the boring lock-picking game from Mafia II. The tailing sequences were fine at first but they wear out their welcome. Especially later on when they get on longer. It's tedious filler.

The fighting does have it's own little quirks too. The mortal wounds, the police being a factor, the local gangs that come and go. I never personally had an issue with the Mortal Wounds despite many others feeling it makes the fights too challenging. I could really do without the text message every three minutes from that one old fart who goes, "AH JEEZ YAGAMI THE STREETS ARE UNDER ATTACK!" then his passive aggressive, "aw man, whaaa happen??" when I just ignore it.

After the main story's all said and done there's a plethora of side content. From the detective cases to the Friend system to the Girlfriends, the various minigames. It's a lot of bang for your buck as always with this franchise.

I have something of an unusual relationship with this game. I tried it back when it released, didn't get into it and moved on. I finally tried the prequel/sequel and found it to be easily the best video game story I've ever seen and one of the best games I've ever played. I was shocked that Rockstar pulled something like that off given how juvenile they tend to be.

Going back to this? It was a bit on the rough side. Story wise it's fucking night and day and I don't care what anyone says. This doesn't hold a fucking candle to RDR2. The mission structure feels so Grand Theft Auto. Redundant missions, quirky/eccentric mission bosses. The first section of this game has this cycle of cartoon characters who John will threaten to murder for wasting his time before proceeding to let them waste his time with mundane shit like horse racing.

Now the story does pick up with each section and I do think the final act is quite good. Some questionable writing here and there (how many fucking times can John ask "AND WHAT IF I SAY NO?!?", we just went over this you fucking doofus) and maybe it's TOO similar to the epilogue of RDR2. Still, I was moved at times. I found the ending incredible, it was just something of an arduous journey getting to it. The repetitive mission structure wore me out. How many times can we herd cows or get on a gatling gun?

Gameplay wise, if you've played the follow up its the same thing. A little clunkier as expected. It's almost fifteen years old now. Still, once you get adjusted to it, it's like butter. You're locked in. You can easily get lost in this world if you allow yourself too. Your actions matter, people recognize, it does feel like the map exists and lives with or without you as opposed to centering around you. This is helped by random events. The strangers missions are a mixed bag. "Eva in Peril" in particular is so unbelievably fucking stupid.

All in all, I'm never gonna believe this touches Red Dead Redemption 2 but it's worth while in its own right. For me personally, if I finished the game back in the day, I doubt I would've ever been in love with it so maybe I played it at the right time.