Well, now I definitely know that RGG isn't for me. It is a huge pity, because in concept it has a lot of things I would love.
Following my disappointment with 0 years ago and not enjoying the couple hours I put into both Kiwami 1 and the original Yakuza, I decided to give this series one last chance. While diehard Yakuza fans will protest, this game is often seen as another alternate entry point, just like 0, with Infinite Wealth being the one where you have to play everything from 0 to 6, as well as Judgement, which I would've done had I loved Y7.
So, anyway, the thing I usually like the least in media are usually generic, unambitious stories that just try to be "good" and not push themselves. In my opinion, both 0 and this game fall into this category despite being solid in most aspects. At the end of the day, despite all the silly side stuff (which 1) isn't my type of humor generally and 2) I was mostly doing to "experience what Yakuza is about" without sticking to just the serious main campaign, though the place it was most useful was getting money for gear) and the cool action sequences for some bosses, it's still just what I'd consider "a normal yakuza story", and crazy maneuvers and humorous side quests aside, I feel like everything in both this and 0 acts within the confines of that. Stuff about drugs, counterfeit bills, revenge, life after crime are cool ideas, but they're not that crazy to me. It's a very straightforward execution of what you'd expect from a yakuza-themed game. I would take a more flawed story that tries to be something more yet fails any day over this. I see both 0 and this as almost on the same level as just a normal fantasy JRPG which has a heroic hero defeat the big bad or a dragon with absolutely nothing else to add.
The gameplay is weird because it both has AoE and doesn't, which manifests itself as a pretty important factor since enemy positioning (and even your positioning), as well as positioning of some stuff like bikes or boxes that you can pick up to deal extra damage being completely out of your control. This leaves a bit too much to chance for my tastes. This game is also grindy as hell, which was pretty unexpected from a 2020 JRPG. I also like the idea of a turn-based yakuza-themed JRPG with an MC who images it as Dragon Quest, but unfortunately this gets old rather quickly due to the grind and other systems, especially encounters, which get really tedious compared to the action side of Yakuza when you're on your way to your next objective and are overlevelled.
The voice acting (especially Ichiban's) and music are generally good, some of the tracks are just random dubstep (?) but there's some really cool ones like ism, Triplet After Triplet, and this which I'm sure I'd find more impactful if I'd played the other games.
I like the setting but the story doesn't live up to it, in my opinion. I feel like it plays it very safe, and in chapter 15 especially it feels like shit just happens. The way the story ended before the credits kind of cheapened a pretty decent scene that was going on before that.
Overall, it's certainly not bad, but it's not for me, and I don't really see how this is one of the greatest JRPGs and/or video games of all time. If someone reading this thinks so, I am happy for you, I wish I could feel the same. At least now I know that Yakuza isn't for me since I didn't care for 0 nor 7, which are often considered top-tier games in the series rankings, so it was a good indicator.
Following my disappointment with 0 years ago and not enjoying the couple hours I put into both Kiwami 1 and the original Yakuza, I decided to give this series one last chance. While diehard Yakuza fans will protest, this game is often seen as another alternate entry point, just like 0, with Infinite Wealth being the one where you have to play everything from 0 to 6, as well as Judgement, which I would've done had I loved Y7.
So, anyway, the thing I usually like the least in media are usually generic, unambitious stories that just try to be "good" and not push themselves. In my opinion, both 0 and this game fall into this category despite being solid in most aspects. At the end of the day, despite all the silly side stuff (which 1) isn't my type of humor generally and 2) I was mostly doing to "experience what Yakuza is about" without sticking to just the serious main campaign, though the place it was most useful was getting money for gear) and the cool action sequences for some bosses, it's still just what I'd consider "a normal yakuza story", and crazy maneuvers and humorous side quests aside, I feel like everything in both this and 0 acts within the confines of that. Stuff about drugs, counterfeit bills, revenge, life after crime are cool ideas, but they're not that crazy to me. It's a very straightforward execution of what you'd expect from a yakuza-themed game. I would take a more flawed story that tries to be something more yet fails any day over this. I see both 0 and this as almost on the same level as just a normal fantasy JRPG which has a heroic hero defeat the big bad or a dragon with absolutely nothing else to add.
The gameplay is weird because it both has AoE and doesn't, which manifests itself as a pretty important factor since enemy positioning (and even your positioning), as well as positioning of some stuff like bikes or boxes that you can pick up to deal extra damage being completely out of your control. This leaves a bit too much to chance for my tastes. This game is also grindy as hell, which was pretty unexpected from a 2020 JRPG. I also like the idea of a turn-based yakuza-themed JRPG with an MC who images it as Dragon Quest, but unfortunately this gets old rather quickly due to the grind and other systems, especially encounters, which get really tedious compared to the action side of Yakuza when you're on your way to your next objective and are overlevelled.
The voice acting (especially Ichiban's) and music are generally good, some of the tracks are just random dubstep (?) but there's some really cool ones like ism, Triplet After Triplet, and this which I'm sure I'd find more impactful if I'd played the other games.
I like the setting but the story doesn't live up to it, in my opinion. I feel like it plays it very safe, and in chapter 15 especially it feels like shit just happens. The way the story ended before the credits kind of cheapened a pretty decent scene that was going on before that.
Overall, it's certainly not bad, but it's not for me, and I don't really see how this is one of the greatest JRPGs and/or video games of all time. If someone reading this thinks so, I am happy for you, I wish I could feel the same. At least now I know that Yakuza isn't for me since I didn't care for 0 nor 7, which are often considered top-tier games in the series rankings, so it was a good indicator.