Outside the structure and gameplay feeling a bit off yet pretty damn refined, straight up perfect game

The story has some on the nose moments holding it back with the super off-key pacing, but I would lying if it didn't have me excited and emotional like a kid

I'm really glad Nagoshi finally got to do his mafia mystery without Yakuza holding him back, this game reeks of his inner wanna-make mystery game especially if you've followed all 7 games before

Where do I start, undeniably the best Yakuza has to offer when it comes to character writing, story, side-cast, antagonists, music and payoff, the side content is up there among the best.

It's only a bit lacking in the gameplay section, but that's understandable since this is the first dragon engine game.

The way Kiryu's arc comes to an end here is not simply through what the series says about living, but also its overarching themes of parenthood from way back in Yakuza 1...it's magical even, Hard to describe it with words when I have tears all over my face. RGG fucking killed it.

This game is weird, it's too long, it's too slow and it's certainly almost too big for a yakuza game.

At the same time this game offers the kind of scale, build up and payoff no other entry does. I am genuinely mindblown by how many good characters it had after Yakuza 4, and every returning one hits their peak what more could a lad ask for.

I have a few gripes with the gameplay and story but they don't matter a lot in the big scale. Not to mention this is the hardest a yakuza game focuses on its themes and my god does it nail them

This game has an odd structure, hit or miss humour, weird mechanics and gameplay I'm not exactly great at

but its brilliance shines regardless through all that, the 2 proper routes complement each other well and the character work is brief yet effective

The music and presentation are top notch, absolutely pretty game

truly deserves all the cultural recognition it gets (cringe aside)