This might be the best game in the entire franchise, if not for the fact it has maybe the worst story in the entire franchise. It feels to me like they had a basic idea for what they wanted to do with the game on a thematic level, but then had to contort it to fit it into the new setting, and pad it to hell and back in order to make the game work better as a JRPG with all this incredible side content. Yet, even with all that padding there are several characters that aren't fleshed out in a meaningful way, plot threads that don't get followed up on, both from this game and Gaiden (which was written after IW fwiw), and hardly enough of the mindblowing end-of-chapter cliffhangers that the series is known for to keep me engaged throughout the middle of the game.
All that being said, I still did really really enjoy Infinite Wealth. I don't think I've ever had quite as much fun just hanging out with a JRPG party as I did in this game. The addition of the Bond Bingo system, which adds a ton more conversations for you to get to know every character better, on top of the previously established Drink Link and Table Talk systems made for huge chunks of the game where I was able to just walk around the city and get to know my party members in a supremely deep way. The 2 completely new party members they added are the highlight of Ichiban's half of the game for me too, both of them have satisfying arcs and are just people I would want to hang out with tbh. You also get to see new sides of characters from LAD7 which was delightful, even if most of them get kind of sidelined in the main plot.
The side content here is some of the best in the franchise, and I think a lot of that comes from the combat being legitimately incredible now so it feels less tedious. As much as I loved LAD7, and most of the previous games, combat has never been the strong suit for LAD. It's usually serviceable, and fights end quick so it never distracts you for too long, but in 7 the fights did last too long, which lead to me absolutely dreading any sort of encounter pretty quickly. I won't say that the combat in Infinite Wealth really goes any quicker than in the previous game, though due to all the additions they made to the mechanics it's far more engaging than before, which makes me not feel that length at all. I was legitimately seeking out fights, for maybe the first time in the entire series, which is a hell of an accomplishment. Like I said, this makes the already top-tier side content even better, because now when I'm running from place to place for a substory, I actually like getting in a random encounter, and for the bits of side content that are entirely focused on the combat (dungeons, part-time hero) I'm also all-in in a way I've never been. The big side quest for Kiryu, the bucket list, not only reminded me of all the older games in a way that made me want to replay literally all of them, but also had more moments that made me shed a tear than the main story did, by a lot.
In a similar vein to LAD5, I do like this big messy overambitious game a lot, but I hope that this isn't the direction the franchise is going to take overall. At least not at the expense of the more intimate, dense, and tighter games that made me fall in love with Like a Dragon.
All that being said, I still did really really enjoy Infinite Wealth. I don't think I've ever had quite as much fun just hanging out with a JRPG party as I did in this game. The addition of the Bond Bingo system, which adds a ton more conversations for you to get to know every character better, on top of the previously established Drink Link and Table Talk systems made for huge chunks of the game where I was able to just walk around the city and get to know my party members in a supremely deep way. The 2 completely new party members they added are the highlight of Ichiban's half of the game for me too, both of them have satisfying arcs and are just people I would want to hang out with tbh. You also get to see new sides of characters from LAD7 which was delightful, even if most of them get kind of sidelined in the main plot.
The side content here is some of the best in the franchise, and I think a lot of that comes from the combat being legitimately incredible now so it feels less tedious. As much as I loved LAD7, and most of the previous games, combat has never been the strong suit for LAD. It's usually serviceable, and fights end quick so it never distracts you for too long, but in 7 the fights did last too long, which lead to me absolutely dreading any sort of encounter pretty quickly. I won't say that the combat in Infinite Wealth really goes any quicker than in the previous game, though due to all the additions they made to the mechanics it's far more engaging than before, which makes me not feel that length at all. I was legitimately seeking out fights, for maybe the first time in the entire series, which is a hell of an accomplishment. Like I said, this makes the already top-tier side content even better, because now when I'm running from place to place for a substory, I actually like getting in a random encounter, and for the bits of side content that are entirely focused on the combat (dungeons, part-time hero) I'm also all-in in a way I've never been. The big side quest for Kiryu, the bucket list, not only reminded me of all the older games in a way that made me want to replay literally all of them, but also had more moments that made me shed a tear than the main story did, by a lot.
In a similar vein to LAD5, I do like this big messy overambitious game a lot, but I hope that this isn't the direction the franchise is going to take overall. At least not at the expense of the more intimate, dense, and tighter games that made me fall in love with Like a Dragon.