WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS
I really, REALLY wanted to give this game the full five stars. I gave it five stars when I initially logged the game, but after 24 hours of sitting on it I've decided to lower the score. There are two reasons why.

The first reason being the paid DLC. I don't think I need to explain to you why locking New Game Plus as well as the post-game dungeon behind a $20 day-one DLC is a shitty, scummy business practice. There's no doubt in my mind that the decision was made by SEGA and not RGG but it's still insanely frustrating and leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The second reason is because of the two post-credits cutscenes. These two scenes really do not provide nearly enough closure for the entire plot of the game. The first scene that takes place both in and outside of Survive Bar feels very rushed. Why is arguably the most important party member to the plot of the game outside of Ichiban & Kiryu, Chitose, just completely absent from the ending scene of the game? Why do we only get mention of her from Tomizawa, saying that she's now running her father's business? Could we not have her say that shit herself? Couldn't find her character model in time? What's going on with that? They barely mention Lani & Akane, arguably the most important plotline in the game, the whole reason why Ichiban is in Hawaii in the first place. No mention of Yamai. Ichiban seemingly doesn't even know Ebina is his half-brother? More closure on Ebina and Bryce would have been nice as well. The whole cutscene just seems like they wanted to purely Tell and not Show. It's very aggravating and not rewarding at all. And don't get me started on Ichiban fumbling Saeko AGAIN. Did that plotline REALLY have to continue into the next game? The "will they won't they" plot point starts at the very beginning of the game, is constantly talked about by the characters throughout, and the big payoff at the end is a gag that really isn't that funny? I don't understand why RGG seemingly wanted to provide only the tiniest bit of closure to most of their major plot points instead of actually wrapping them up fully? It's so odd.

That brings me to the second post-credits sequence with Kiryu. It's somewhat revealed that the Daidoji Faction has let Kiryu off of his leash and has allowed him to once again use his full name. Why is that? Who knows. Guess. RGG isn't telling you. Obviously Kiryu's name and face has spread across all of social media, but it didn't seem like that was much of a concern of the Daidoji Faction throughout the game. Did they just... Give up? The deal made in Man Who Erased His Name is that Kiryu is supposed to be dead. If word gets out the Kiryu is alive, then the Daidoji will act and the children will die because of it. I assume the reason why this doesn't happen is mostly because of Kazuma's worsening health. But why am I left having to assume that? None of this could have been shown to the audience? Why did they decide to not explain AT ALL what is going on with Kiryu's relationship with the Daidoji? This game felt like it was going to be a great send off of Kiryu as a character. With all of the Memories of a Dragon sections of the game, as well as the constant questioning of Kiryu's fate, it would make more sense for RGG to actually... Wrap up his story in some way? Either finally kill him off for real or let him have his happy ending at the orphanage. Instead we are left with knowing that Kiryu... has his name back. Wonderful. Another piece of the plot that should have been wrapped up in this game that just... isn't.

Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent game. Aside from the ending which left me disappointed and wanting more, the story really is fun. The gameplay is fun and addicting. The substories and minigames are great as always. They've got minigames that could be sold as actual full on games in this one. Unfortunately, the more I kept thinking about the DLC situation and the ending, the more frustrated I became. I really hope that SEGA and RGG leave me more satisfied with the next entry in the series, and leave the scummy DLC practices in the past.