THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

Yeah, no, I gave my best shot, but this was just a dud for me. It could be a sign of burnout from playing through so many games in this series almost back-to-back, but I got through Yakuza 5 relatively unscathed, so I don’t think it’s quite that. Ishin was just such a bore. It’s an Unreal Engine 4 remake of a spin-off game that never got localized, and that alone should tell you this something of an acquired taste. I don’t blame people who got more enjoyment out of this than I did, there’s something here, massive flaws aside, where I can see the hype. It’s historical fan-fiction with stand-ins played by many of your favorite characters across different eras of Yakuza/Like A Dragon. It’s entertaining seeing characters brought in, many retaining their core personality, and interact in a totally different context. Some, not helped to know they were replacing old cameos from Ishin’s original PS3 release, are just questionable in how they used iconic series regulars as fan service. Like, why did they put Shibusawa and Nishiki in the game but Shibusawa is the one they decided to make Ryoma’s sword oath brother?? Despite the deliberate slow pace, tense dramatic moments, and some of the best directing RGG probably has done, I just can’t feel immersed into this concept. It wants to be a dramatic historical retelling of a famed Japanese figure, yet it wants to also be this fun dish of elseworld fan-service, and it just makes the narrative feel disconnected as hell because neither side complemented each other into something… good? A story that didn’t click with me wouldn’t be much hassle if it weren’t for how the gameplay just feels clunky to play. It’s not even ‘charming clunk’ or ‘jank’ people like to toss around a lot, but something that felt gross to move around and fight in the map. Which I didn’t like either, since I never got hooked into the historical setting and felt we just had the weakest map RGG has ever made. Having multiple fighting styles like slashing enemies, shooting enemies, bashing enemies Yakuza style, or even dual wielding a katana and gun was very fun until the content bloat kicked in with weird trooper cards, unexpectedly dull substories, and so much grinding that I had to put down the controller and close the game right in the middle of a cutscene because I knew this wasn’t getting any better from here on out. This was the only RGG game I dropped, didn’t bother to see the end, and I think I’m fine with leaving it incomplete as that. Yakuza in Unreal Engine is cursed af, I’m glad RGG is never dropping the Dragon Engine in favor of it like some bigger studios are doing recently.

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

The frontrunner for the RGG game with the least amount of play testing done. Yakuza: Dead Souls is frustrating. It's not good, despite being a strange case study for the flexibility of the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series and its characters. You can take these characters and place them in the most outlandish situations, but the tonal harmony the series really mastered makes it all feel believably in character in how they react to it. It's hard to take much of the game seriously when it's made clear from the get-go this is taken with light ridiculous fun. Playing this was initially interesting because there's some unique stuff here for fans of the series to experience first-hand. This is the first time you play as Majima before Yakuza 0, the only time I think we'll ever get to explore Kamurocho Hills, and jump-started an interesting trend where it feels like RGG wanted to bring back Ryuji Goda properly in the main series but for whatever reason, this is the compromise. None of it helps prop up Yakuza: Dead Souls into something more than mediocrity, though.

What kills it is a horrid framerate, whether you emulate it or not it's still never a stable experience, and gameplay that left me miserable. You play as four protagonists Yakuza 4 style and each time I swap around I just wanted this game to be over already. You aim your gun but chances are it always sways away in a different direction for no reason, zombies spawn almost indefinitely even if you take out the mini-bosses, and the closed-in camera that Yakuza/Like A Dragon adopt for tight brawler combat doesn't translate well for shooting swarms of zombies in mostly tight spaces where the framerate gets nuked. I dunno, what I got after finishing this was that RGG should never ever make a shooter again? But then again, this experience got me buying Binary Domain out of morbid curiosity to see how they did this kinda thing again. Anyways, probably franchise bottom tier.

The Trans Daigo substory was unexpectedly memorable alright.

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

I love Kaito and think this makes, conceptually, a good case for how he should step-up as being a proper main protagonist in a hypothetical Judgment 3, but woof man this was mid incarnate. I was disappointed by how the supporting cast in Lost Judgment got shelved but this didn't bother to make up for that either. A very perplexing choice to make a story expansion around Kaito's past but Higashi is hardly involved at all and the Matsugane stuff isn't really deepened whatsoever. Outside of Jun and the final boss, the story was a total lull with occasionally fun gameplay sprinkled in, intentionally reminding you of early mainline Yakuza/Like A Dragon, but nothing memorable to write home about than just boredom. I don't know how RGG or Sega can look at this with the small content provided and think this was definitely worth charging 30 bucks.

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

From the get-go, Lost Judgment already displayed how much of a glow-up it is technically from its predecessor. The experience RGG had with their powerhouse of the Dragon Engine feels the most polished here, delivering unquestionably the best real-time action gameplay they’ve ever done, even more so than the mainline Yakuza/Like A Dragon entries. While not quite to the lengths I prefer it to be taken, the premise of following a detective feels better taken advantage of with unique gameplay additions like radar detection and a dog to help sniff out the map. Judgment was still a great game, but its biggest blemish that dragged it from being an absolute peak was the side-content being… much less than desirable. Something which has been mostly addressed here, with side-cases feeling more entertaining showcases of Yagami as a detective and extra mini-games beyond Drome Racing and Paradise VR. They took cues from Yakuza 0 and greatly reworked his moveset to incorporate four different brawler styles with revamped skills worth buying. Yakuza/Like A Dragon may shift gears to an attempt at turn-based combat, but I think what RGG cooked with the gameplay here proved there’s still room for the older real-time action combat to stick around alongside it. From the sounds of it, I’m very impressed by how much of an improvement Lost Judgment was from Judgment and even consider it to be, overall, just a better game. Except… despite how much I preferred playing this more over Judgment, I still think it fell short in one department where the other game still had an edge over it.

I was completely surprised by how Lost Judgment’s story tackled sensitive topics that I never thought RGG would think themselves capable of making a game about. It’s unexpected as a direction to take after a mystery like the first game, but I applaud the bold approach in shinning a light on the cyclical nature of bullying. The actual threats are hardly ever held accountable for their actions, and so no justice was truly delivered by a broken system that continuously failed the victims who suffered. While Yagami isn’t quite interesting here as he was in Judgment, his dynamic with the main antagonist underlined his conviction as someone who believes law, imperfect as it is, needs people like him to make it by protecting the ones it couldn’t save. The main antagonist definitely deserves to be included in the conversations of amazing RGG villains, perhaps being the most complex and sympathetic. I really enjoy aspects of the wider narrative but the actual ‘storytelling’ itself left a lot to be desired, if that distinction makes sense. Judgment’s story may be a more typical mystery conspiracy thriller with much less to say about current social issues, but it was one that felt personally involved with set-up that paid off in what I still see as one of the best final stretches of any RGG game. The Judgment Four all had a personal stake in the conspiracy that linked them all together to put a stop to the root of their troubles. It wasn’t so much about Yagami and the gang solving a mystery to unearth the truth, but to ensure judgment was given to those responsible for ruining people’s livelihoods, including the ones closest to them. Here, they’re all underutilized within the plot, except for Yagami, never having a personal stake for why they’re investigating a murder mystery together that made you feel like these guys are a team working towards a common goal. It made the narrative feel emotionally disconnected, despite Yagami reminding you constantly what’s driving him about this, which felt artificial after a while as a motivation compared to the last game. I would try to weigh in my thoughts on its message about bullying but to be honest this is out of my range to give a nuanced discussion on, so all I can say is that I think RGG just aren’t the best developers to tackle this subject matter, even if I respect the attempt.

I’m not familiar with the current status of the Judgment subseries, too afraid to do some deep-diving research for the sake of potential spoilers for Infinite Wealth, but I hope this isn’t the end. Despite their imperfections, I'm grateful for their efforts to enhance and broaden both the story and gameplay aspects of Yakuza/Like A Dragon. I definitely think there is a Judgment game from the potential kept brewing here to be a close favorite of mine. A certified all-timer, even. Yagami is already an honorable mention for one of my all-time favorite fictional protagonists, so I just want my newfound GOAT to get the perfect game he deserves.

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

Judgment and Yakuza: Like A Dragon (Yakuza 7 for technicality’s sake) make up for what I believe is an interesting back-to-back combo following the big franchise soft-reboot button Yakuza 6 pressed. Both pivoted towards newfound directions, with new leading protagonists, all while honoring the legacy of the games that laid foundations before them. It may be a lil strange to say, for something I feel is relegated as the kinda unimportant spin-off to the main series starring the actual yakuza people came to play for, but Judgment surprised me for stacking itself up as being the better refresh point for Yakuza/Like A Dragon to me. It still carries on the real-time brawlin’ beat ‘em up combat from the older entries, but everything else is wholly unique from what RGG has brought to the table before. There isn’t much overlap between Judgment and Yakuza/Like A Dragon, if at all. The most you’ll get is the Tojo Clan being a background presence and Kamurocho returning as the primary setting, but none of the important characters are even indirectly mentioned. There’s no shoe-horned in cameos from any of the series regulars, whether they be in the main story or side cases. There’s nothing linking Yagami and his supporting cast to whatever happened in Kiryu’s games, and that ultimately became why I preferred it over Yakuza 7. It doesn’t rely on or feel hindered by that legacy. Instead, relying completely on its own unique strengths to stand head-to-head with some of the stronger entries in the franchise.

Yagami is a protagonist who eerily felt specifically tailored suited to my needs and interests, which is to say -- I really love him. The decision in making the new protagonist a detective is brilliant because it already sets up what makes Judgment stand apart from Yakuza/Like A Dragon. Kiryu and Ichiban’s games are bombastic, melodramatic, with plots escalating to grandiose heights to stress the stakes at play. It never often leaves you with much room for something smaller to breathe in. You never think about what goes on beyond their wildest exploits in Kamurocho, for example. There're glimpses here and there, if we’re keeping this within the confines of the main plot, but Kiryu nor Ichiban can dwell on it because that’s not on their agenda as yakuza. With Yagami, the scope narrows the focus down to something more grounded with characters who feel like the faceless NPCs Kiryu would stroll past by, or villains he demolished easily like some small-time obstacle to get to the big villain he cares about fighting. Yakuza/Like A Dragon bounces dramatically between two polar opposite tones, from bloodied seriousness to unabashed silliness. It pings pongs back and forth almost effortlessly, never compromising the integrity of its own storytelling in favor of it. Judgment straddles on that established tonal wavelength by sitting comfortably in the dark end of it, yet never reaching the deep end. Yagami’s personal mission to uncover a murder mystery conspiracy helps explores these aspects that the mainline games just can’t really do, but that’s fine. Judgment does a fantastic job of breathing life into its rendition of Kamurocho as the red-light district where crime makes it a living hell with constant fights on the streets, but its people are survivors who push through the day.

The side content is mostly a miss, easily Judgment’s biggest sore spot. The side cases are harmless, but they aren’t terribly memorable, especially already knowing the quality output RGG can pump out by now. Weirdly, almost no mini-games except for a returning few and Drone Racing, which wasn’t really my thing. The friendship mechanic is a nice detail that plays into the game’s grounded rendition of Kamurocho where the focus is strictly street level, but they felt like annoying distractions from how thick the main plot would get. The incentive never felt strong with completing much of this, from either the standpoint of unlocking certain benefits to enhance gameplay or to deepen Yagami’s role as a detective. The worst offender had to be the Keihi Gang which evaporated so much interest I had diving into the side content because RGG annoyingly forced them onto you. I personally wish Kim suffers through the nine circles of hell. The Dragon Engine feels like it's more put together here, with collision physics playing more nicely than they did with Yakuza 6. Though, I can’t even deny how unbalanced Yagami’s fighting styles feel with Crane Style feeling very useless with just how much better Tiger Style is for dealing with enemies. I think this could’ve been a bit better if both styles didn’t have a restrictive move set of combos to dish out, a slight disappointment until you unlock Tiger Drop and it gets more fun. Strangely, a lot of stuff gameplay-wise here felt like RGG was relapsing back to more archaic tendencies just as much as they’re pushing into newer things. You could tell me this game had been secretly in development since maybe Yakuza 4 and I’d probably believe you.

Still, it pulled very hard into its own strengths by the end. With a final boss that goes down as one of my absolute favorites from RGG. A case was solved, people died, people lived to see another day, justice was finally served, convictions were upheld, and after everything was settled… Yagami charmingly treats it like yet another normal day in the office. I can’t really think of a more fitting ending to this memorable experience with a cast of characters I’m really excited to see what takes them next, especially my GOAT Kaito. I’m hoping for Lost Judgment to smooth out the rough edges here and polish everything up to peak, because I think the potential laid here is promising as hell.

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

One of the very few games to have ever made me into a complete emotional mess when the credits rolled. Like A Dragon Gaiden is a thrilling emotional rollercoaster. Working within its set limitations as essentially an expansion to Yakuza: Like A Dragon to narrow the focus on Kiryu following his first finale so many years ago. It was developed in a six-month cycle, has the third of the content and scope of a regular Yakuza/Like A Dragon entry, yet it told probably the most tightly personal story these games could ever hope to achieve. It directly addresses the elephant in the room -- what’s the point behind bringing back Kiryu when we’ve had a perfectly fine sendoff for him? Why is he back? What’s he going to do now given Yakuza 7 ends with Ichiban leading the series in his place? Some remain unanswered for what I expect Infinite Wealth to tackle head-on, but what it answers reframed Like A Dragon Gaiden as a needed epilogue to provide more closure for Kiryu’s journey as a legendary yakuza.

The main antagonist is quite up there for me as far as amazing villains go in the series. The perfect final obstacle Kiryu needs to defeat for what he represents. Someone who wants nothing more than to prevent the extinction of his way of life. A twisted, savaged incarnation of the older ways of the yakuza we were first familiar with, but gradually saw fade away entry by entry. A guy who genuinely believed the days of yakuza like Nishiki, Ryuji, Mine, and even Kiryu have never ended despite us seeing how they’ve been phased out with entitled schemers who don’t uphold any ideals painted on their very backs. A man who saw the yakuza life as a chance for fulfillment and freedom needed to be preserved even in a changing era where they’re becoming hollowed out. Trading their freedom and purpose with a tight leash on their neck by higher authority who strip it all away. Making his fate one of the most morbid things that will ever haunt me.

I still need to push through the Judgment games to give a definitive end-all statement, but this is the best combat has felt in the Dragon Engine. It pulls notes from Yakuza 0 with switching between styles again and using money to level up your move set, which led to some tedious side content grinding shoehorned in to pad out the game, but I overall enjoyed it incredibly for a small enough package. There isn’t really much more to dig into here, it is the shortest Yakuza/Like A Dragon game after all, so a lot is the usual standard fare by now. It was made with one sole aim in mind, bridge the gap between Yakuza 7 and Yakuza 8, explore Kiryu through those events, offer some sentimental moments for the long time fans, and hopefully hook you on whatever the hell Infinite Wealth is cooking by pairing Ichiban and Kiryu together as dual protagonists. This affirmed my love for Kiryu and this series, and with no surprise ranks very high for me among the rest. I hope my GOAT can somehow get the happy ending he deserves.

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

I won’t lie, this was a struggle to weigh in how I feel overall. Yakuza: Like A Dragon, from the title alone, made its mission statement loud and clear. This is a mainline entry that represents the transition from seven prior games echoing Kiryu’s legacy to whatever uncharted territory lies ahead of Kasuga and his friends. Like Ichiban Kasuga himself, this game started from rock bottom and fought its way to the top with nothing but grit and beaming determination. I can’t knock down how well this did in winning Kasuga over for me as the new leading protagonist for the series. I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store for him in the future, especially when I get around to Infinite Wealth soon enough.

I’ll start this easy by saying while I don’t consider it to be its equal, the storytelling on display here is genuinely on the caliber of Yakuza 0 in terms of the clean execution of its characters, emotions, and themes. I’m gonna be honest, I was hesitant at first. I thought it spent too long on what’s the first act, ranging around 10 chapters. Which felt like stretching out a conflict that wasn’t too interesting to dwell on. Then I found out there were only 5 chapters left, which surprised me because now I didn't know how we'd finish the rest of the story. I assumed at least 10 more were left from how everything was paced, since I was already aware this was the longest Yakuza/Like A Dragon before Infinite Wealth took that crown. It… still pulled itself together in those remaining chapters, very strongly I’ll add, but not without sudden forced grinding sessions that put an awkward half to the pacing. These are the major culprits for how this gained such a bloated playtime, and I think it only drags the game back since it felt like poor padding that took away from the exciting momentum the story was locking in late-game. There were also ties to the previous entries, some as certain boss fights which made me soyjack the hell out, and made for fun fan service. Although, looking at the current state of Yakuza/Like A Dragon because of this, it may have set a dangerous precedent for RGG’s direction when balancing the old and new. The last stretch definitely pulled everything the game tackles about self-value and connections into this beautiful emotional crescendo that I consider being quintessential to the series. Especially important for understanding what makes Ichiban a character worth getting emotionally invested in. If there was any doubt Ichiban couldn't stand side by side with Kiryu, those last hours shake them all away and prove he's more than worthy to pass the torch.

Moving beyond the main story for a bit, the side content, per usual, is loaded with so many fun distractions to waste away in. They really nailed the mini-games here, especially the newly added ones I spent a significant portion of my playthrough on. I’m pleased to say that the substories are also Yakuza 0 tier, each one feeling memorable, charming, and adding character for Yokohoma to feel like a home for people who had nowhere else to go but rock bottom. Yakuza 7 (to be technical) is refreshing because after experiencing entry after entry where the stakes started escalating when the conspiracy plots only got more complex, where emotional stakes could only get higher as characters experienced more hardships, this took everything back to basics. It’s no stretch to say that Yakuza 7 is pretty much a soft remake of the first Yakuza, with how much the story beats parallel each other. The protagonist sacrifices themselves to be convicted for an extended period. They come back to the world, only to be greeted by how much has changed since they first left it. There’s a mystery they have to uncover by tracking down their fatherly patriarch figure. They’re assisted by an aged, down-on-his-luck police officer and a hostess who plays some relevance to the plot. There’s a shadowy group in town who act as information brokers that have mass surveillance on what’s going on. The main antagonist is both a power-hungry politician who’s been puppeteering everything for his grand selfish gain and the brotherly figure to the main protagonist whose absence led them astray into a path hungering for power to affirm their self-worth. Ichiban even shares the same voice actor as Nishiki, which I feel has to be intentional casting for these parallels to hit harder. None of this feels like a shallow rehash but using familiar beats and tropes to recontexulize Ichiban’s journey and how much he’s similar yet different from Kiryu.

I’ll be frank, this is a hot take I guess? I don’t see many be harsh on this surprisingly. This is not great RPG design. It’s hard for me to be uber critical because I admire RGG quite a bit to understand this was a genuine attempt at stepping out of a 20-year comfort zone into a genre they’ve never fully dabbled in. Yakuza/Like A Dragon always had RPG elements since the beginning. They had random encounters, a leveling system where you increase stats and unlock moves, items you can buy that give you certain buffs in combat, weapons and accessories you can equip, and optional side quests reminiscent of ones you’d find in a Japanese-developed RPG you’ve played before. RPGs unquestionably inspired them, but like I said what they took were just elements. Something brought in to complement a core gameplay style they’ve locked in with for so many games, going through constant refinement and revisions. I wouldn’t call RGG games wholly ‘conventional’, if that makes sense, but with Yakuza 7 it’s clear there was an attempt at making a fully-fledged traditional turn-based RPG. Where they pushed the RPG elements already present in Yakuza/Like A Dragon to the forefront and built upon what was missing by pulling from various well-regarded games in the genre. It’s drawing from Shin Megami Tensei, especially with its subseries Persona, where you have menus as long as your arm, but it all came down to spamming three useful moves that drain MP. The Social Links-- I mean, the Drink Links give that inspiration dead away. It pulls from Final Fantasy V with the job system, but it doesn’t have the experimentation that game offers you freely. I don’t understand the thought process for giving you a handful of jobs that mechanically barely feel unique from each other. Going further, I also think for a game that feels designed to address the criticisms people stigmatized RPGs for, it incorporates archaic choices that first warranted that ire. Final Fantasy V lets you switch jobs and customize from the main menu right away, yet here, you need to travel to this one specific place in a large open map to do that. You can’t introduce a system made for flexible party customization and force players to go through so much backtracking to change it. Now, there’s certainly personality to the combat, I suspect taking inspiration from Mother’s trademark zany realism except with an RGG twist that felt perfect, but there’s so little underneath the hood. There’s no strategy needed to defeat most enemies, partly because it hinges on spamming moves and also because there’s hardly much of a real challenge that pushes you. Until certain boss fights near the latter half, I found everything to be incredibly breezy. I never had to focus on doing some extra grinding, optimizing my party, planning out my attacks, or approaching enemy encounters more carefully. What I found most strange is how they incorporated environmental attacks, where if a party member moves near an object they can pick it up and bash enemies with it. It’s easily the most interesting quirk brought to the table here because RGG is flexing on the Dragon Engine’s collision physics, but you have no control over a party member’s spatial positioning in a battle. It’s an illusion of movement seeing your party members aimlessly roam around, and you have to get lucky they move closeby to an object to do an environmental attack. Because of how they walk around freely on their own, with no input by the player, I encountered so many times when a party member had to run up to an enemy to attack but the pathfinding was so rough they either got stuck running to a wall until they almost magically teleported in front of the enemy or had to awkwardly walk and step over a railing to then switch to an attack animation. I thought it was charming in a jank way, but it became annoying later on because it exposed the weaknesses of a rough design here.

Yakuza 7 became a real test for me. I have my problems with the turn-based design and how the story was paced to fill out an arbitrary requirement to make the game feel ‘big’ because it’s an RPG, I guess. Yet the positives outweighed those staggering negatives, I ended up enjoying this very well, even if it didn’t cross as being one of my favorites of the series. If it wasn’t because RGG games are densely packed with so much content from substories, minigames, and whatever wild distraction you can spend hours on to distract yourself from the main game, this would’ve done even less for me. Like, I don’t blame people for being fine with the combat, it’s fun to watch and does the job serviceably. I think that’s what anyone needs when going into an RPG, but for me, I expected much more from someone who's played the games this is explicitly riffing from and sees a pale imitation. I find this worth criticizing because turn-based is what Yakuza/Like A Dragon is going to be from now on. This is the new foundation for a new protagonist with new stories waiting to be played. I’m not at all opposed to the vision RGG wants to cook with Kasuga, so I only hope this was massively reworked with the next mainline entry to get me fully on board. We all have to start somewhere, even if it is rock bottom.

So much to unpack, it's impossible to give this a proper breakdown. Especially with an emotionally complicated ending that's bound to stir discourse like Remake did, with the scale of this ambitious three-part project either failing or succeeding being the highest it's ever been, yet I don't think I could have it any other way. While I don't believe Final Fantasy VII Rebirth proves this trilogy succeeds as a self-contained narrative for newcomers to fully enjoy alongside the old, I think this does a remarkable job of pulling interest in a way I rarely see games do anymore for me.

Now, I don't care for remakes the same way I don't normally care for many adaptations. Because ultimately, no matter how well-made they are in their own right, they are unnecessary so long as the original exists in some capacity. I recognize remakes, remasters, and revivals have, especially in recent years, become an industry of themselves. So, it's all just a matter of personal preference here, and personally I prefer having new experiences than reliving old ones that's often repackaged at current MSRP. I've also seen a lot of the arguments in favor of remakes; that they're necessary to gauge consumer interest in reviving a dormant franchise, they're a compromise for the original's lack of availability, or that it's an opportunity to take a broken concept and do it proper justice -- I don't buy into much of these. I find it more worthwhile to spend creative talent and labor on a direct sequel (or spiritual one) than waste it on retreading old ground. One-to-one remakes don't interest me whatsoever because I see missed opportunities. I understand availability being an issue, but that lands more on companies making excuses for not porting the original to modern platforms. While I believe there are games that fall into the camp of "needs a remake because this just didn't work at all based on the circumstances it was developed within" (Epic Mickey is a golden example here, but I'll save that for another time), too often I find the ones pushed for one feel like whitewashing the past for little gain. Also, I emulate and pirate when necessary because have you seen the economy we live in nowadays so remakes mean nothing to me.

Final Fantasy VII Remake changed that. I still hold the opinion that it's flawed in design, not helped at all by what Rebirth massively improved in direct comparison, but I respect the ambition Squeenix aimed at pushing the boundaries of what a remake can accomplish. This wasn't made to correct or overwrite the original Final Fantasy VII and the statement it proudly made in 1997, one that stood the test of time like a monolith. No, it was made to re-examine the impact of its characters, setting, story and ideas left on the medium. To peel back decades of cultural osmosis, which ironically speaking, clouded everyone's memories and perception about what the game is. But this was simply the promise Remake's controversial ending made for the sequel to test. To see if this three-part project, as a completed whole, can not necessarily "surpass" the original, but stand beside it as though it's the missing other half we never knew we needed.

Rebirth doesn't even come close to outclassing the original, if we'rereally going there, but it eclipses Remake in how it complements yet alternates. While Remake was reimagining the opening 5 hours of a 60-hour-long game into a 10-hour-long game that for some reason got ballooned to at least 30 hours, it was very restrictive in its design and had to work within limitations. This lends to some opportunities in fleshing out Midgar to unreal (engine) possibilities, including the crux of the plot that'll get rolling, but you can see the cracks in how difficult this was to make into its own full-fledged game. The side quests are frankly terrible and don't even do an interesting job fleshing out Midgar. The attempt at a semi-open world Midgar really doesn't work when it's limited to just a few hub areas that's laid out linearly to progress. It's a good proof of concept for things like the core gameplay and combat, but it leaves so much needed room to breathe. I was surprised how much Rebirth took my major criticisms with Remake seriously and flipped it around. Due to it covering the middle stretch of the original, where the overworld opened up, and the plot takes the characters through so many locations, this is a very side content driven game. I have no problem with this! It's a remarkable achievement in how they took a PS1 overworld map and reimagined it in high graphical fidelity that feels like it geographically makes sense! The gang defeated the manifestation of destiny itself, and now they’re free on this unknown journey that’ll take them to who knows where, other than reliving trauma, burdens, unresolved memories, and minigames galore where they can goof off. It was a no-brainer, but still a clever choice to use a Xenoblade approach when reimagining FFVII’s overworld to follow an open-world format. Almost every major location has been expanded into its own open-world map, with 8th Gen towers and side content to fill it up. I’d have a problem sticking with… less than ideal open-world tropes, but Rebirth makes it mostly work exceedingly well. Some maps, I think, are strangely reimagined to become a large pool for exploration and content grinding, but this is mainly by comparison to other maps in the game that I think are handled perfectly. The combat is fantastically done, thanks to having a larger cast to experiment with, finally proving itself to be an excellent compromise between real-time action gameplay and the strategic ATB turn-based combat from the original.

What really brings everything together as my certified GOTY, and a personal favorite, is the focus on the characters. It’s not just main story stuff, though the ones who get spotlighted throughout are elevated and faithfully to the spirit of their characterization from the original, but even small stuff like exploring environments and having party banter, or taking surprising charge in a random side quest that develops Cloud’s relationship with everyone and why they’ll stick together to the end. Final Fantasy VII isn’t really my favorite entry in the franchise, it’s still close up there as a runner-up but not number one, but Rebirth spends so much time reminding me how at one point it really still could’ve. The thing it undeniably proved to me, however, was this is still hands down the most well-rounded Final Fantasy party. Anyone who I wasn’t super strong on before has now risen in the character rankings thanks to what Rebirth achieved. I can’t really speak more on the ending other than I know for sure it’s causing discourse, but minor spoiler territory gripes aside, it made me incredibly excited about how Part 3 is going to pay off everything Kitase, Nomura, Nojima, and Hamaguchi have been cooking. It’s going to either be a beautifully reflective counterpart to the original FFVII that makes its own powerful statement to shake the medium, or it’s going to completely collapse and fail in honoring its legacy. No video game has made me this conflicted on which way it’ll go, and I adore not knowing what unknown fate is ahead here.

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

A bittersweet, powerful sendoff to a character that I’m having difficulty understanding what could convince RGG to seemingly backtrack on it with the newer games. I guess that’s a conversation saved for when I finally reach Infinite Wealth to understand the vision. Nonetheless, Yakuza 6 fulfills its purpose greatly by providing closure to Kiryu’s long journey since the chronological beginning with The Empty Lot. In contrast to how sprawling Yakuza 5 was in terms of gameplay and story, Yakuza 6 took a self-contained, intimate approach with help from the newly debuted Dragon Engine.

The main draw of the Yakuza/Like A Dragon, that I believe is always essential to the core of the experience, is the virtual tourism. I’ve said this when I played Kiwami 2, but to reiterate, I think the Dragon Engine fully realized this aspect of the games to unbelievable heights. RGG should be proud of the technical prowess they accomplished here in terms of seamless interior exploration and realistic fidelity to immerse you right into Kamurocho. It’s not… perfect, I know. The thing to keep in mind is that Yakuza 6 was the Dragon Engine’s first outing, and it shows when compared to later uses of it like Kiwami 2 where it’s more refined. The casual in-game cutscenes are presented the same as they always have been before, but when rendered through this high-graphic fidelity, it’s distracting how robotic and cheap conversations look now. It’s dull to sit back and see characters lifelessly standing, with only their mouths moving -- no facial animation, barely any gestures, or anything done with the directing to make it feel more lively. The combat definitely has a different feel compared to the older games; it’s less snappy, more emphasis on weight because of the ragdoll physics, which can be chaotic. I’m generally fine with the leveling system and think having restaurants help gain EXP is an excellent addition, though I only wish it wasn’t so barren in how obvious of a grind set it is.

What is a noticeable drawback with how much the game is scaled down compared to previous entries is the side content. I’m not really the type who fully submerges themselves into all the sub-stories, mini-games, training, or anything RGG loves to cram in to spend hundreds of hours on, but I can tell it’s pretty limp here. The substories, especially, feel like a huge miss with how obscured they felt in my playthrough. The ones that I came across and completed were mostly pretty solid, I like how they tie into the themes of the main story Kiryu is experiencing. Though… I was still expecting a much stronger output? Like, this was after Yakuza 0, which had the most consistently, strongest substories in the entire series, hands down. Few were memorable here, which is a shame considering this was Kiryu’s last game. I have to bring up the Clan Creator, something RGG felt the need to even shoe horn randomly into the main story to cue you into playing this weird RTS side activity. I’m sure this must’ve been really cool for someone who’s super into these kinds of things, but I wasn’t so it was annoying how much it got pushed that I neglected it entirely.

I knew this was a finale to Kiryu’s journey that spanned seven entire games, but I was surprised by the direction it took to tell that story. Kiryu has gone through so much in these games, so much crime drama conspiracies, heartbreaking emotional turmoil, occasional glimpses of serenity, but his past as a yakuza legend is the void that consumes everything close to him. It’s why it’s a miracle he even has a stable supporting cast of characters who stick with him on this journey. It’s an unexpected move to sideline or write out many of Kiryu’s most important friends out of the story, instead placing him in, literally, a new environment where he deals with understanding the importance of fatherhood and familial bonds. Yakuza 6, like Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 5, parallel the first three games, respectively. Yakuza 6 in this instance is a parallel to Yakuza 3 in terms of setup, narrative beats, characters even, and the focus on preserving family from the violence inflicted by criminal conspiracies. It isn’t a retread, though, not in a way that detracts from the new things it’s saying about how far we’ve come in our lives, what we’re going to leave behind for those bonds we’ve nurtured, despite our own imperfections, how when we’ll fall down we get up to keep moving forward. It’s hard to get deeper into this, not even because of spoilers, but this is the Yakuza/Like A Dragon game you really need to let the vibes guide you right to the very end to understand emotionally where you stand with them and why. The most emotionally cathartic experience I’ve had with a game in a while, one that has affirmed my admiration for RGG and this series that is unlike any other.

Kazuma Kiryu is officially one of my favorite protagonists of all time. It took a lot of work, patience, and letting him simmer, but I’ve grown to greatly adore thanks to seven whole games. His legendary presence on Yakuza/Like A Dragon will forever remain a towering mountain that newer protagonists need to climb. I hope RGG understood the hurdle they put here for themselves when shifting gears towards the next entry -- a whole new direction.

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

Just like the characters in their game, RGG wanted to dream big. This is Yakuza/Like A Dragon at its most sincere, most collective, most reflective, and utmost ambitious. This is no masterpiece, I don’t consider any of the games in the series so far to resemble one for me, even counting Yakuza 0, though perhaps revisiting it may change that. But this has come the closest in reaching peak fiction, and is something I don’t think RGG will ever recapture again. Not that I can blame them, like I said, Yakuza 5 is unquestionably RGG’s most ambitious game to date.

I was disappointed by Yakuza 4. Since I didn’t think the concept of multiple protagonists paid off strongly either in gameplay or story, along with feeling like an unimportant chapter in Kiryu’s life. His presence in that game never took full advantage of the dramatic implications Yakuza 3 established about his life as a father figure and legendary yakuza. Yakuza 5 took where Yakuza 4 failed and succeeded beyond my own wildest expectation. There’s now five playable protagonists, each with their own unique combat, sub-stories, training, city maps to explore, and individual stories that contribute to the larger nationwide conspiracy plot that would eventually line everything clearly in the end. It felt like you were playing five different games that got taped together into one, and I mean that in the best and most exhausting way. By nature, this is definitely the longest Yakuza/Like A Dragon by far. Clocking in almost 50 hours in my playthrough, topping Yakuza 0 by a short 10 hours, which is a little insane to me, even knowing how notorious of time sinkers these games can be if dedicated enough. I didn’t do everything since I’m sane, but I did a fair bit of sub-stories and training, which was easier this time around because of how it was spread out. I gotta give credit for how RGG made each protagonist’ section feel unique in what they offer to ease the overwhelming burnout anyone would get by chugging through mountains of content. There’s also a consistent intrigue for how the plot unfolds from one protagonist section to the next, so it’s hard to say you get bored by how it’s presented. The sheer scale in the content and plotting doesn’t always land, though. Saejima’s part of the game, much like how it was in Yakuza 4, is the weakest link. Mostly, it’s a step-up narrative-wise and combat-wise (thank god for having real crowd control), but the pacing throughout isn’t very good. It starts off as a slow burn to set the mood, but the sparse and tedious gameplay makes it come out very dry, despite the interesting story bits happening. Then you stop at this awkward middle point filled with questionable mini-games and activities that only makes you wish this was over so you can switch to the next protagonist already. It lets you finally engage with the typical city free-roaming, sub-stories, and a solid wrap-up to Saejima’s story, but it’s entirely back loaded. An unfortunate major drawback that prevents Yakuza 5 from clicking all the way for me, besides other minor quibbles like often insane random encounter rates, Akiyama taking an understandable backseat, but he’s like my second favorite character in this series, so I wanna be spoiled more, and not even being able to play as Haruka in the climax, strangely. But, it goes to show just how well it nails the assignment and then some.

Hands down, this is my favorite story, despite how less ‘clean’ it is compared to Yakuza 0. You’re going to hear characters spout about the importance of dreams a lot, and every time it happens, the game only gets better. It wears its heart on its sleeve about it and just doesn’t care if you don’t buy into it. It’s awesome. Not only that, but it feels like an actual continuation from Yakuza 3 by exploring what it set up for Kiryu at this point in his life, while not only that, but makes thematic callbacks and allusions to every entry in how they matter. Might be why the final boss is the very best one because it reflects the way the games led everyone to this moment. I won’t spoil, but to put it this way; it’s not that he’s your final boss, but you’re his final boss. Have to bring up Shinada somehow, that I’m unfortunately aware is a one-off character never making a reappearance, who also may be pointless to the plot itself when you think about it, but he’s so important to what Yakuza 5 says about the importance of dreams, especially when you’ve lost your own but want to regain new ones on your terms. He’s a remarkable standout character with my favorite bunch of content to play with. A little sad he’s never coming back, but I’m glad my GOAT’s story ended perfectly the way it is.

You can tell this is where RGG finally found their modern groove, and right before making Yakuza 0 which perfected that. This is a quintessential Yakuza/Like A Dragon experience. Very excited to jump right into Yakuza 6 to see how this not only follows up on that ending but also tries to conclude the seven game story of an iconic main character.

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

Yakuza 4 is a game that stretches itself far too thin. Never being able to compensate enough despite its own glaring weaknesses. This is the least emotionally engaged I’ve been with an entry, easily ranking itself as being the weakest Yakuza/Like A Dragon if Kiwami didn’t exist. I knew that this along with Yakuza 3 was considered a low point in the series, but I surprisingly enjoyed 3 positively and I thought Yakuza 4 would fall under a similar camp for me. And… I was mostly wrong when I tried approaching this game with that fair outlook.

This feels the closest to matching in line with Yakuza 0 conceptually, strange that sounds to say after going through the Kiwami games. The obvious point of comparison being the series’ first experiment with multi-protagonists as a storytelling format to break up the plot. While using each protagonist’s section to direct dramatic beats that build upon the ones set up previously in the story. There are other bits that feel like paving the way for Yakuza 0 such as including Little Asia with its own narrowed underbelly buried between the walls of Kamurocho, the differing gameplay styles of each protagonist feeling like a precursor to the four brawling styles Kiryu adopts later, and obviously everything to do with Majima/Saejima which becomes important. If you’ve read between the lines of how I described these similarities, you’d notice how I’m sorta framing everything Yakuza 4 does as essential but ultimately prototypical groundwork for what a better game executed with cleanliness and style. To be fair, this is an argument that can be made for every Yakuza/Like A Dragon game to this very point, even the Kiwamis. The foundation for all of them is still rooted in an RGG who hasn't fully mastered their own craft, the identity of the series, which Yakuza 0 is an encapsulation for how far they have come since these entries were still developing. Except, even being aware that 0 is the peak these games would eventually strive to become, I still found unique value in almost every entry for what they add to the franchise. Kiwami is pretty bad, but we had to start from somewhere, even if it can’t be remade into something much greater. Kiwami 2 gets nonsensical with its own twists near the end, but it has Sayama and Ryuji Goda. Yakuza 3 added so much to Kiryu’s character and reinforced how tragic his life will be for the people closest to him. Yakuza 4, though? …beyond introducing new series favorites like Akiyama, I’m at a loss for what makes this feel like a standout entry with unique merits that isn’t already absorbed into Yakuza 0 or any other entry.

The gameplay is honestly a mixed bag even though it’s a continuation of Yakuza 3’s combat except quickstep isn’t nerfed and enemies block less. You play as four different protagonists who have different brawling playstyles in combat, and half of them just feel pretty bad to play. Saejima, especially, is no short of being awful unless you grind him to the point of being bearable in combat. Tanimura is awkward with his move set, making him pretty bad with crowd control, which is why RGG thought it was brilliant for you to use him to beat the final boss which is just Jingu from Kiwami again but somehow… worse!?! Congrats, RGG, you have given us the worst final boss in the entire franchise! You were sorta on a winning streak with some peak final bosses too! Even the side content isn’t even that good to distract yourself with! What happened over here???

The story, the more I try and let it cook in my head, leaves me with a slightly confused sour aftertaste when I reflect on it. While I can commend how bold it must’ve been for RGG to approach the next entry of a series with multiple protagonists, Kiryu in a way taking a major backseat here, it doesn’t pay off strongly. This is a very messy story with interesting and solid individual pieces, but what ties everything together is something that feels like a parody of Yakuza/Like A Dragon’s identity to this point. Yeah, I get it, Yakuza/Like A Dragon has its own tropes and clichés that I don’t doubt only continues being used in newer entries, but this feels like relying on too much that what we got are diminishing returns. It’s just twist after twist that keeps piling up, but never amounts to anything I found emotionally gripping by the end. This doesn’t really follow up on the implications I thought Yakuza 3 was going to push Kiryu towards, besides one unresolved plot thread left dangling that got folded into this game’s complicated plot. So, I was disappointed that this didn’t feel like the next dramatic chapter in his life because he’s not personally involved nor given primary focus, despite the story shoehorning in unbelievable reasons to make this still ‘personal’ for him. I didn’t even understand who was supposed to be the main antagonist or what they even wanted because they’re missing potential or straight up bad. It was so confusingly handled that they had to drag out fucking Daigo of all people from the little screen-time he has in the plot to be like some forced final baddie for Kiryu to fight one-on-one on a rooftop because this is Yakuza I guess.

Another low point in the series was something I didn't expect to come across since Kiwami. Especially one that I didn’t want to buy into the disappointment fans had because there is stuff to like here, mainly in isolation. But I can’t ignore how fragmented this one pulls everything together to make a whole I was dissatisfied with and can’t recommend without the obligation of needing to get through this to play Yakuza 5 next.

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

The dreaded “Blockuza”. An entry fans will write off as being underwhelming, a game you need to get it over with in order to move onto Yakuza 4. Having beaten it, I can kinda understand why this got the reputation it did among the fan base. Getting this straight out of the way, yeah, Yakuza 3 doesn't beat the “Blockuza” allegations. This doesn’t apply to the standard street thugs you brawl, but with bosses who skill check you hard. While I didn’t find this to be as ‘bad’ as people made it out to be, it gets annoying with later bosses since quickstep is borked in the remaster’s PC port, and you’d need to hook up with Tiger Drop and some weapons to counter block effectively. Nothing about this is bad, except for quickstep being nerfed, and in fact I think this lends to Yakuza finally having combat that relies on the player doing more than just button mashing, but it feels arbitrary in order to learn to fight right. Like, maybe not vital information you should keep within the confines of side content, which considering my long trek into these games, I have to get picky about which mountains of minigames, substories, and training seems worth my time. Learning a technique or two which helps keep you up to the pace and flow of combat in this game seems too necessary to not at least drop in the beginning somewhere.

Now, there’s of course the other big thing with Yakuza 3 and that’s the story. Specifically, everything to do with Okinawa, by that, the orphanage, which I’ve picked up is something many fans weren’t too keen on. Look, I hear you; I understand you -- but you are wrong. Yakuza 3 is a game made aware of what the previous entries have done and attempts to really shake things up for a new direction Kiryu’s story will go through. Okinawa serves as an effective opener for many reasons; It’s not Kamurocho again, the conflict is divorced from Tojo Clan crime drama, the scale is more personal because of that, and it puts us into the serenity Kiryu has created for himself by just being a dad. I attribute this being some side effect of a lead writer for the first two entries, a crime novelist, having stopped contributing to the story after Yakuza 2, perhaps taking a bit of that realism or grit with him. Alongside… maybe a few other things, but we’ll get there in a sec. If I were to describe Yakuza 3, it’s the downtime we didn’t know we needed. It’s relaxing, pure vibes, you just want to see Kiryu impart his wisdom and compassion into the orphanage and chill with these little guys. But since this is a Yakuza game, that semblance of peace doesn’t last very long as Kiryu is dragged back in for Round 3 of How The Hell Is The Tojo Clan Still Standing. So… this is where I have to be mean to the story because I don’t want to really, but even I can’t deny that out of the four Yakuza games I have played now, in terms of construction, this is the weakest by far. The best way I can put this is that I absolutely adore the smaller scale Okinawa and the individual emotional character moments in relation to it, some moments here I see as being incredibly important for Kiryu’s journey from now on, but the actual main plot feels like a too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen situation. Like, a very desperate attempt to further raise the stakes in the conspiracy thriller crime drama fashion Yakuza/LAD makes its identity by this point, only they feel so nonsensical and unnecessary. Andre Richardson is the character of all time, but if you strip away most of the subplots and focus it squarely on Mine and his whole deal that forces Kiryu out of Okinawa, then this would be a serious contender for the best story of the franchise. Even speaking for myself, who still really likes the story, oddities, quirks and all, and considers it to be my favorite one so far. Which is part of what makes this a difficult game to personally weigh some conclusive judgment on because there’s a lot to love, but much of it is back saddled by awkwardness that I’m only hoping RGG gets the ball running for something greater in the next entries. Sign of a flawed banger, alright.

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

Much like its predecessor, Yakuza Kiwami 2 is yet another remake of the original PlayStation 2 game, but this time ported into the more technically impressive Dragon Engine the newer entries adopt. To sum up my settled thoughts on the last game I played, Yakuza Kiwami left me disappointed; a remake that should feel thoughtful in its intentions but came out woefully lazy in the execution. Basically feeling like you’re playing a Yakuza 0 romhack with much of the quality storytelling and gameplay strip mined into something very dry. I’m sure it was a necessary stepping stone for RGG to move up from in order to reach the heights proven in later entries, but Kiwami already felt like a low point for someone trying to journey his way into this series properly.

Luckily, I can proudly say that Yakuza Kiwami 2 hasn’t suffered the same fate, instead demonstrating the greatness I already knew this series could offer. I can’t comment on how this succeeded as a remake towards the original, but nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this. While it doesn’t quite address all of my gripes with the first Kiwami, it certainly did enough legwork to make it feel like this is where the series ‘got good’. The combat is a bit of a trade-off when directly compared to Kiwami and 0, there’s no longer different brawling styles to switch between, but the simplified heat system is benefited by what the Dragon Engine introduces. Kamurocho is rendered beautifully in realistic fidelity. The crowd population feels more dense than ever, and enemies can now just fight you on the spot where battles seamlessly blend into neighboring stores, causing so much collateral damage. I had great joy in messing around with the game’s physics by throwing a random thug around like a bowling ball hitting pins that fly around. I take some issue with how out of hand these physics can be in combat, though. Sometimes momentum is thrown out the window, and you topple way too easily where it gets annoying. I’m just gonna chalk this up as just RGG still figuring out the Dragon Engine in its quirks until that hopefully got smoothened out recently. Yakuza/Like A Dragon is unique in how it juggles around so many ideas for gameplay, a kitchen sink approach to design I like to name it, but the one aspect that’s most vital to the usual experience is the immersion. A strength that Kiwami 2 embodies hard with its use of the Dragon Engine, making you feel you’re touring through a cultural Japanese hotspot filled with little stories and memories. The substories in Kiwami 2 aren't quite up there with later entries like 0, but they're still memorable for fleshing out Kamurocho with a refreshing amount of needed levity when you just needed a break from how serious the main story can get.

I think the story this time around is outstanding. I was emotionally hooked through the end, and it may end up being my personal favorite in the whole series, beating out Yakuza 0 by a slight margin. Yeah, there’s definitely some beats here that feel… too convoluted, especially with the revelations that last hour just throws on you regarding the villains which feel equal parts brilliant in hindsight but just questionable. It would’ve almost continued the same problem I had with Kiwami’s handling of its villains, where there’s one that acts as Kiryu’s personal foil, but the complexity of the plot sidelines them in favor of antagonists that just aren’t an interesting obstacle. Thankfully, Kiwami 2 immediately breaks that trend just enough where Ryuji Goda, the dark reflection of the values Kiryu stands for as the Dragon of Dojima, is given time to shine in a kick-ass finale. It took three games so far, but this is finally where I found my groove with Kiryu as a protagonist who I’m invested in, given how much shit he’s gone through and will continue to. I’m really liking the main cast that’s been cooked here with Haruka and Date, Sayama is an amazing character who unfortunately I’m aware gets written out of the games real soon. Jumping straight into Yakuza 3 is going to be… interesting, for many reasons, but I’m officially in this for the long haul.

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

Last year, I dusted off and finally played Yakuza 0 to completion after it’s been sitting in my Steam library for ages. Although I still can’t quite say that I adore this series like so many people do, it did a great job piquing my interest to check out more. I really liked the characters I got introduced to, Majima now’s an all-timer for me, so I wanted to find out what happened to these guys next. This meant picking up Yakuza Kiwami, a remake of the original Yakuza on the PlayStation 2, but with RGG changing it to fit their current vision of the franchise which Yakuza 0 represented. Since they deemed this the definitive way to experience the original Yakuza to chronologically follow the rest of Kiryu’s story, I figured it was worth a shot. Who knows? Yakuza 0 may have been developed when RGG had already mastered their craft because of years worth of experience, but maybe the whiplash of jumping straight into a game echoing their awkward youth wouldn’t be so bad because of how they remade it to align closer to the quality they’ve proven nowadays. See, this was my cautious optimism when I approached Kiwami being fully aware of whatever imperfections it’ll have, especially when directly compared to Yakuza 0. Now, having just beaten Kiwami though? To put it bluntly; if this were my first exposure to Yakuza/Like A Dragon, playing no other game beforehand... I honestly would have written off the series and never bothered with this franchise ever again.

Kiwami suffers from being too faithful towards the original PS2 version while clumsily pulling in newer additions introduced from Yakuza 0, resulting in a game that’s disjointed in design. What RGG did when remaking the original Yakuza was just porting it into the same game engine as Yakuza 0. It carries much of the same gameplay, like switching between four different fighting styles, most of the mini-games, and even sprinkling in new bits of story content to make the game feel consistent with what the other one established. These mainly come into the form of the Majima Everywhere system and the Nishiki flashback scenes that are awkwardly slotted into the end of each chapter. The main story itself, from what I learn digging around, is kept faithfully intact from how it was originally presented except with certain characters feeling recontextualized with the new characterization written for them back in Yakuza 0. When I put it this way, it looks like there’s no real problem, right? Seems like RGG did a good job with this remake by making the gameplay more fun and adding emotional complexity to a story that sounded like it desperately needed it. Except… I wished it was that simple. I can’t comment on the original Yakuza as a game to drive home some judgment over if Kiwami has succeeded it, I’ve never played it, but I can comment on the story preserved here. I don’t think this is controversial to say by any means, but the story of the first Yakuza isn’t very good. It’s not… ’bad’? More so just too simple, sidetracks its own plot at the expense of important drama, and even with what’s been newly added to reframe the story as a tragedy for the characters it’s often just very contrived. Like, Nishiki is a fantastic character thanks to Yakuza 0, but most of his characterization here is relegated to flashback cutscenes showing his dramatic descent into villainy while in the main story he still has three scenes that don’t give him the proper presence as a personal antagonist. Nishiki being the final boss is tear-jerking in how peak it is now for the way it builds upon our experience getting to know him in 0 to Kiwami, but he still deserves more than that compared to the other big baddie who steals away story focus from him by having the worst boss fight in a game that already had stinkers and overall just sucks. You wanna know the easiest fix for these problems? Just rewrite it. I think RGG being too unwilling in changing the core story and sprinkling in bits of new story content over it isn't an effective compromise. I don't believe anybody holds the first Yakuza's story in high regard, so there's no shame in writing an entire new draft that keeps immovable beats intact for future entries to acknowledge.

To sidestep into the gameplay… this is where you can also feel RGG botching things by drag-and-dropping Yakuza 0 elements onto the original’s foundation with no regard if anything will mesh together well. They locked arguably the most important fighting style, especially for the latter half of the game when enemies get super aggressive with dodging, thrashing, and swarming, behind a repetitive grind-based gimmick that wears out its welcome quick. The enemy encounters feel like a victim of a lack of play testing because many are bloated with durability, health-bars, and a regeneration buff that made most of your brawling experience relying on Rush to quick-dash around them to deliver steady combos. The progression for improving your different fighting styles by relying on EXP instead of money like how it worked in 0 is also very flawed. The side content doesn’t give you nearly enough to level up certain styles, so you don’t feel like you’re progressing enough in combat to beat the repetition of it. I also gotta have a serious talk with whoever thought that designing an enemy who constantly spam dodges while stun-locking you with bullets made for fun combat. It was miserable. And I did not have fun. My experience with Kiwami shakily skews towards negative the more I let this simmer, but it did a good enough job of keeping me interesting in Kiryu and his friends following the events of this game. He hasn't quite been defined enough for me to connect with, other than thinking he's genuinely humble and raw as hell. We'll have to see how Kiwami 2 cooks with that. Hoping things really go uphill from here, if this is the lowest the series could go.