Great new cast of characters, Kasuga Ichiban and his gang are lovable and are well written. I though this game was fun and charming with a great twist on the Yakuza combat system. The story was fairly deep and interesting, however it can be quite dry at times.
The RPG elements were cool but a bit too simple. I tend to do all the available side quests before moving through the main story and this left me painfully over leved. The only challenge i face were damage sponge bosses that posed little to no threat. That being said i really enjoyed the minigames. The dragon kart and business management were my fave, although they left me craving a deeper experience.

Over all i had a great time. I sunk about 40 hours into the game, completing all the minigames i liked and about 60% of the story. It was at this point that i became totally burned out. I love Yakuza, but i think the days of me being able to complete games like this are over. To many new things to experience.

I'll probably try the sequel at some point, hopefully the mechanics have some more depth.