Lots to love here ... Really enjoyed the game's combat system, the music and the storyline with it's stylized cutscene that heavily reminded me of the MGS games on the same system.

However, it suffers a little from the sheer amount of fights that start to become old due to the A.I. not being particularly smart and random encounters being too easy. Also the slow walking speed and how hard it is to avoid enemies on the street makes traversal a bit tedious. Doesn't help that most of the side content isn't particularly good either.

I really enjoyed unlocking new fighting styles and leveling them up though. It's something I would've loved back in the day on a proper PSP when I was still aching for grindy games that unlock more shit.

Definitely worth a playthrough if you're into Yakuza, but I wouldn't call it a "must play" either. Curious to see how the second one improves the formula, if at all.