This review contains spoilers
No heavy spoilers, but still thought I should put a warning.
TLDR: This game is Fun First, Story Second with great side quests, mini games and soundtrack! Outside of one issue I had with the story, this game is truly a masterpiece with amazing emotional value. I highly recommend giving this game a playthrough if you are even remotely interested.
One of the few games that has taken me on such an emotional roller coaster in recent memory. This game goes hard from start to finish, and it hits almost every beat perfectly! I say almost, because I felt that I was robbed of a very crucial part of the overall buildup in this game. Before I get to that though, let me explain what I liked.
This game is fun first, story second, which could turn some people away, but trust me; that's the correct order for this game. The amount of minigames and different sidestories can distract you from the main game for 10's of hours. I found myself regularly going to Karaoke, not because I had to, but simply because I could. I also felt that the toy car racing was an amazing series of side stories that were weird, hilarious and interesting. Some people might disagree with me, but I felt that the Real Estate and Cabaret Club side stories/mini games were really great! I would have done them regardless, but knowing you get a fighting style out of it made it even more worth it for me!
As mentioned before, the story is second to the fun that this game provides, but does not mean that it's mediocre or average. I was captivated and was constantly wondering what would be happening next. When the story was uplifting, it felt great and well deserved, but when the story brought hardship, I felt it. It hit me hard. I felt as if I myself lost something. Both Kiryu and Majima's story lines are well written, and seeing how they cross paths as the game progresses was super cool! But that's also where I have a problem with the game, so SPOILER hereafter.
I felt robbed at the end of the game. The whole story builds to a put where Kiryu and Majima's stories are crossing very close to eachother, where it always feels like the other character is right around the corner of meeting the other, but then the game ends. They never meet. Maybe that's better explained in Yakuza 1 (or Kiwami), but as a newbie to the series, I felt like the moment that was being built up was just not there. I mean yes, there is a 1 minute cutscene after the credits where they see each other on the street, and all of the sudden Majima delivers his famous "KIRYUU-CHANNNNN!!!!" line, but I have no idea why he would be that excited to meet him, since in this game he is pretty level-headed and was never THAT excited about anything, not even joining back with the Yakuza.
Honestly, outside of that one gripe I have with the game, I can't really complain about anything else. Sure, there are mini games I was not a huge fan of (baseball, majong, certian poker games, etc.), but it's totally extra and you can decide to do it or not. For every 1 mini game that you don't like, there are 3-5 mini games you probably will like. Also the soundtrack is simply awesome! Every Karaoke song is top tier, the disco songs are awesome, and just the general OST is really good!
TLDR: This game is Fun First, Story Second with great side quests, mini games and soundtrack! Outside of one issue I had with the story, this game is truly a masterpiece with amazing emotional value. I highly recommend giving this game a playthrough if you are even remotely interested.
One of the few games that has taken me on such an emotional roller coaster in recent memory. This game goes hard from start to finish, and it hits almost every beat perfectly! I say almost, because I felt that I was robbed of a very crucial part of the overall buildup in this game. Before I get to that though, let me explain what I liked.
This game is fun first, story second, which could turn some people away, but trust me; that's the correct order for this game. The amount of minigames and different sidestories can distract you from the main game for 10's of hours. I found myself regularly going to Karaoke, not because I had to, but simply because I could. I also felt that the toy car racing was an amazing series of side stories that were weird, hilarious and interesting. Some people might disagree with me, but I felt that the Real Estate and Cabaret Club side stories/mini games were really great! I would have done them regardless, but knowing you get a fighting style out of it made it even more worth it for me!
As mentioned before, the story is second to the fun that this game provides, but does not mean that it's mediocre or average. I was captivated and was constantly wondering what would be happening next. When the story was uplifting, it felt great and well deserved, but when the story brought hardship, I felt it. It hit me hard. I felt as if I myself lost something. Both Kiryu and Majima's story lines are well written, and seeing how they cross paths as the game progresses was super cool! But that's also where I have a problem with the game, so SPOILER hereafter.
I felt robbed at the end of the game. The whole story builds to a put where Kiryu and Majima's stories are crossing very close to eachother, where it always feels like the other character is right around the corner of meeting the other, but then the game ends. They never meet. Maybe that's better explained in Yakuza 1 (or Kiwami), but as a newbie to the series, I felt like the moment that was being built up was just not there. I mean yes, there is a 1 minute cutscene after the credits where they see each other on the street, and all of the sudden Majima delivers his famous "KIRYUU-CHANNNNN!!!!" line, but I have no idea why he would be that excited to meet him, since in this game he is pretty level-headed and was never THAT excited about anything, not even joining back with the Yakuza.
Honestly, outside of that one gripe I have with the game, I can't really complain about anything else. Sure, there are mini games I was not a huge fan of (baseball, majong, certian poker games, etc.), but it's totally extra and you can decide to do it or not. For every 1 mini game that you don't like, there are 3-5 mini games you probably will like. Also the soundtrack is simply awesome! Every Karaoke song is top tier, the disco songs are awesome, and just the general OST is really good!