Hard game to give a real rating to. The game really doesn't pick up until around 20 odd hours in and I was convinced I just wasn't enjoying it up until I started actually unlocking the elements of the game that're desperately required to get the combat going. Three out of four of your styles feel largely useless up until you unlock crafting, the combat masters and the troops. Having a brawling style that feels like a pillow punching YouTube boxer is insanity for a series that revolves around punching the shit out of people.
Having unlocked those gameplay mechanics though, you come to realise just how insanely grindy this game is. Everything in the game costs a fucking fortune and the grind for good swords, guns and gear is endless. I sympathise for the people 100%'ing this game because I could never. Granted, you don't actually need to do any of it to progress through the story--even on Legend difficulty really.
The story is pretty middling and can feel difficult to get accustomed to thanks to the large list of historical factions, domains and characters. You'll get the grasp of it eventually but I wouldn't blame anyone for finding it difficult to understand, especially given how piss poor the glossary is in deciding what terms it even wants to translate for you. It doesn't help that 90% of the story just has you going to Teradaya Inn and then the Shinsengumi Barracks over and over with a poor fast travel system and a map that's a chore to navigate through.
Usually, the substories make up for it on my end and I was pretty pumped to see there were 72 substories to dive into. But almost half of them end up being a 30 second encounter that lead into another grindy friend sim where you have to continiously gift items in order to raise their metres. You're ultimately rewarded with an Amon fight that ends up being easier than the dungeon bosses before it.
I'm ragging on the game a lot but it was worth a play in the end. Though they obviously take extreme liberties with the history and the story turns into heavy Japanese propaganda towards the end, it was still cool to see characters we're familiar with in an otherwise unfamiliar setting. The Wild Dancer style can be pretty fun when you've got everything unlocked. The game's also got a pretty good amount of content to explore too with a good spread of variety between them.
I just desperately wish we got the original release because these half-baked remakes RGG Studios pump out are so chock full of flaws thanks to how half arsed they are. These remakes completely strip the atmosphere from the original games with how they put zero effort into replicating any of the lighting or even the facial animations. Kiwami 1 & 2 couldn't even replicate the animations of a PS2 game, for fuck's sake. I'm grateful the game was localised, it's just a shame we'll never get the original.
Also as an aside, FUCK that 15-20 second animation that plays every time you pick up a prize ticket holy fuck just get on with it
Having unlocked those gameplay mechanics though, you come to realise just how insanely grindy this game is. Everything in the game costs a fucking fortune and the grind for good swords, guns and gear is endless. I sympathise for the people 100%'ing this game because I could never. Granted, you don't actually need to do any of it to progress through the story--even on Legend difficulty really.
The story is pretty middling and can feel difficult to get accustomed to thanks to the large list of historical factions, domains and characters. You'll get the grasp of it eventually but I wouldn't blame anyone for finding it difficult to understand, especially given how piss poor the glossary is in deciding what terms it even wants to translate for you. It doesn't help that 90% of the story just has you going to Teradaya Inn and then the Shinsengumi Barracks over and over with a poor fast travel system and a map that's a chore to navigate through.
Usually, the substories make up for it on my end and I was pretty pumped to see there were 72 substories to dive into. But almost half of them end up being a 30 second encounter that lead into another grindy friend sim where you have to continiously gift items in order to raise their metres. You're ultimately rewarded with an Amon fight that ends up being easier than the dungeon bosses before it.
I'm ragging on the game a lot but it was worth a play in the end. Though they obviously take extreme liberties with the history and the story turns into heavy Japanese propaganda towards the end, it was still cool to see characters we're familiar with in an otherwise unfamiliar setting. The Wild Dancer style can be pretty fun when you've got everything unlocked. The game's also got a pretty good amount of content to explore too with a good spread of variety between them.
I just desperately wish we got the original release because these half-baked remakes RGG Studios pump out are so chock full of flaws thanks to how half arsed they are. These remakes completely strip the atmosphere from the original games with how they put zero effort into replicating any of the lighting or even the facial animations. Kiwami 1 & 2 couldn't even replicate the animations of a PS2 game, for fuck's sake. I'm grateful the game was localised, it's just a shame we'll never get the original.
Also as an aside, FUCK that 15-20 second animation that plays every time you pick up a prize ticket holy fuck just get on with it