Infinite Wealth is a huge improvement from Y7 in a lot of areas, but it's also a downgrade in some others.

Starting with some positives first, the combat in this game is 10 times better than Y7's, I've always loved the combat in 7 but it's only after playing this game I realized how much could still be improved upon. The side content is HUGE, just Dondoko Island alone offers hours and hours of content, but there's a ton more minigames that are all really fun, like Crazy Delivery and Sujimon battles. The music in the game is in my opinion as good as Y7's, every single song is such a banger that I spent nearly an entire month after playing the game almost solely listening to this OST and no other music.

However, this game is lacking in some areas, most notably the story. The story is an absolute snooze by the latter half, some characters with a lot of potential feel barely explored at all (looking at you Wong Tou). To add to that, the substories and side content are given to you so early that if it wasn't for Kiryu's Bucket List, you'd have nothing new to do but the main story. You can be finished with all side content by around chapter 7 on Ichiban's side, leaving you with 4 chapters with nothing but the story which, like I previously mentioned, is not great by (a bit later than) this point, making the latter half of Ichiban's section just a bore. This is avoidable if you still haven't done all of the side content, which is likely, but the same cannot be said about the substories, as there is but a single substory you can unlock only after chapter 7.

Overall, as much as I complained about the story, this game is still a very much worthwhile experience. It's just an extremely rare case where the beginning and middle sections of a Yakuza game exceed the ending one.

Final Rating: 8/10

Infinite Wealth has probably the most engaging modern turn based system I've experienced. In a time when I was getting bored of turn based games, this got me interested again. It's unbelievably engaging, taking the combat of Y7 and perfecting it. I mentioned years ago in my video review of Y7 that the combat was surprisingly well done for a first attempt in a long running franchise. And that if they took it further it could really be something special. That's exactly what they did with this game's combat. It's faster, more responsive, more rewarding and satisfying, includes more fun mechanics, and doesn't have the absurd difficulty curve Y7 had towards the end.

The combat isn't the only thing this game perfected. The side content was done in a way that puts all other games coming out to shame. Every mini game is unique, short and sweet, and hilarious. This includes the many throwaway minigames that only show up during side quests and never appear again. In your typical Yakuza game, there'd always be a couple of annoying minigames that make achieving 100% irritating. But here I had fun with every single one of them. From the weird Uber Eats and Tinder minigames to the Pokemon Snap ripoff. The amount of effort and love the devs poured into this game is evident. I'd go as far as to call the gameplay side of Y8 perfect in my eyes. So, why dock a point? When I have nothing but praise for the game and find it to be the best game I've played since like DMC5 in 2019. Why not give it a 5 star rating? It has to do with the writing.

While the story in Y8 isn't anywhere near bad or remotely close to the worst story. Coming from Y7's story it can feel disappointing at times. More so in the 2nd half of the story. It feels like they shoved too much story down our throat in the 2nd half (which is a bit of a common problem with these games). This ruined the pacing of the game for me. Like they needed an extra 2 or 3 chapters or something. That and Kiryu's party isn't all too great. Ichiban is an incredible protagonist for this era of Yakuza because his personality works really well with a JRPG styled game. He is impossible to dislike and is as bright as the sun. Kiryu on the other hand is a lot quieter and stoic. And that worked incredibly for his series of games to show how his circumstances get worse with each game because he refuses to lean on anyone. And in that respect, I like what this game does to contrast Kiryu with Ichiban. Showing the differences in how they both try to handle situations. And then the outcome of Kiryu's arc from Y6 to the end of Y8. I just wish they gave it more time to simmer in the game for it to hit even harder than it did. And gave the party he was with more time to grow together. Because that's exactly what Y7 did. The pacing of the story in that game is incredible and I love every moment of it, even the stupidly ridiculous Mirror Face. Here though, Kiryu's party feels like one of those random group assignments you'd get in school where no one really knows how to naturally talk with one another.

Another thing I wasn't a fan of was Ichiban and Saeko's relationship. I'm all for romance for Ichiban, someone needs a happy romance in these games lol. But the way they handled it felt out of character for both Ichiban and Saeko. I like what they did at the start but then they never followed up on it till literally the end of the game. And even then, it's treated like a gag. It just feels so empty and disappointing. I wish they fleshed out their relationship and their issues from the start of the game if they're going to make them a couple in the following games. If they do follow through with it in Y9 I really hope they actually spend time building a proper relationship between the two of them. I have some other problems here and there but they're nitpicks really (not the devs fault but the nonsense that is NG+ and hard/legend being locked behind a large paywall is pure stupidity). They've made 2 of my favourite Yakuza games back to back and that alone makes me a happy gamer. Here's hoping we get a hat trick.

9/10

it was an honor to serve alongside all of you 🫡

we truly are at the end of an era. as you probably know, the wii u and 3ds online service has officially ended. i’m proud of the time i’ve spent with this console, even if it wasn’t a fan favorite. i remember getting a free one from nintendo for my make-a-wish trip, packed in a zelda themed backpack. i remember my first experience playing pikmin 3 without the tv, and how cool i thought that was. i remember my first experience playing splatoon, and 3d world, and mario kart 8, and smash 4, and mario maker, and wind waker, and so many more. obviously these games aren’t unplayable now, but the online features will be missed

as for splatoon 1 itself, tons of fun. i used to be a certified splatoon hater, but this has completely changed my opinion on the game. i have to give the sequels a second chance. especially the dlc

anyways, time to homebrew my wii u

We need more games to exist that are developers looking back at the work they've done up until now, their legacy, and the context they exist in within the video game industry. I don't think I've experienced a piece of media by a creator about how much they love the thing they do and the medium they create in but also how much they hate it at the same time due to things beyond their control and how it affects them emotionally. The toxic relationship of art and business. How something that brings you so much joy and inspiration can also hurt you so much.

The closest thing to this is a moment in the manga 'Goodnight Punpun' where the titular character Punpun is getting his manga pitch ripped apart by some idiot editor who completely missed the forest for the tree and is definitely based off some real jackass the author, Inio Asano, encountered when trying to get this manga made. Someone so stupid they couldn't see what Asano had there was one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written.

Probably my favorite part of this game is where it feels like Suda, through travis, is talking about his legacy and how he hates that he has become seemingly reduced to the "wacky Japanese game dev guy who makes the boner jokes and game has titties" in a lot of peoples eyes. Just as Travis hates how everyone looks up to him or sees him as this legendary assassin. Seeing what Travis is and does as something desirable and not completely soul crushing. This game is one of the few pieces of art I've seen (only the second game to really touch on stuff like this, the other being The Beginners Guide) that really goes into that un-personing that can happen to an artist when people interact with their creations and take away completely different message than what they intended.

The biggest "baggage" so to speak about this game beyond the gameplay which i find: incredibly boring most of the time and actively headache inducing the rest of the time. Is that you need to play and know a lot of things about suda's previous works to get the most out of its story. You practicely have to be a Suda51 lore master or know someone who is or consult videos that chronical his journey as a creator. I can't really imagine what someone's takeaway from this game is if they only played No More Heroes 1 and 2 before this and don't know shit about suda as a creator. This game must be utter nonsense to them.

It is very much a tall order to go "hey you want to play this game well besides the two games in the series that come before it: you also need to at least play 6 other games not even including the games that aren't translated in English that are all loosely or directly in a connected universe, read 2 manga (one which also exists as a fangame) and do extensive wiki diving about these games' development to get the most out of this meta self referential introspection about a Director and his studio.

Would have rather it been solely a visual novel or whatever the hell you want to call 13 Sentinal's Remembrance section is. Cannot recommend this game enough, GOATed

Growing up, I always had an admiration for Zelda but was also intimidated by them. I would get stuck or lost quickly in the games and give up, even if I was having fun. The Forest Temple in Twilight Princess, Snowhead from Majora’s Mask, etc. The only Zelda game I managed to finish back then was Ocarina 3D, and that was only because my eyes were glued to a walkthrough the entire time. I still had fun but didn’t feel as immersed as I could have since I wasn’t figuring anything out myself.

A Zelda game that had always caught my eye in particular was Wind Waker. Whether it was due to my affinity with the GameCube at the time or its luscious visuals and music; I knew it was a game I needed to play. Around 2019 I finally bought a copy and had plenty of fun, but personal troubles distracted me from progressing past the second dungeon.

My partner who's a huge Zelda fan came to visit me for their birthday last year. They suggested we play Wind Waker with the tingle tuner, which I was absofruitly down with. We managed to progress further than I ever had in a Zelda game (besides Ocarina), and I still couldn’t put it down after they returned home.

Almost about all aspects of Wind Waker appealed to me perfectly. I already mentioned how wonderful I found the art style and music, but the story also left me captivated. I won’t be going into much detail, but the arc Link goes through resonated with me more than anything else. That’s not to mention all the other characters I loved. Komali, Medli, & Tetra in particular were my favourites. Hell, even side characters such as Salvatore and Beedle were so charming that I couldn’t help but adore them.

When I say Wind Waker is some of the most fun I’ve ever had with a video game, I am not sugarcoating that. Admittedly, while playing, I could easily see why plenty of aspects of the game could be a turnoff for others. Did that deter me, though? Not at all.

Truth be told, sailing across the ocean might have been my favourite part. It felt like exploring uncharted land. I was always interested in which island I would find next. Hunting for treasure was also way more satisfying than I remember it being. With how much I was loving the experience, I went out of my way to fully complete the game. (minus the Nintendo gallery because I didn’t have time for it) Even while I was repeating the same stupid minigame, I was having the time of my life.

Of course, I did have to look up a walkthrough for secrets and side quests, but as far as the main story went, I was usually able to figure out the solution on my own. The dungeons are some of the easiest of 3D Zelda, but they're still hecka creative with their puzzles and items. And considering I tended to get lost in Zelda games before I played WW, (when I first played Ocarina, I literally got stuck in the Deku Tree) I greatly appreciated the lower difficulty.

The moment I finished Wind Waker, I knew it was one of my favourite games ever. After years of trying Zelda titles and putting them down, I had finally managed to feel fully immersed in at least one of them. If Wind Waker was able to open my eyes up to how phenomenal the Zelda franchise truly was, then I was excited to see what made other games in the series special.

Now, I can easily say Zelda is one of my favourite franchises ever. For the most part, it's failed to disappoint. While other games are certainly more challenging and complex than this one, Wind Waker is still incredibly valuable to me. I can see its glaring issues, but it has so much heart and soul and is still one of the most fun and magical experiences I've had with a video game. So, thank you, Wind Waker. Because of you, my brain is permanently rotted with your franchise!

Wow this is like shockingly really bad. Like damn, for a console with so many bangers and hidden gems I was surprised how awful this game is. First off what is with the art direction in this game it’s so ugly. Everything looks like it was hit with a goddamn cartoon frying pan. Second off, these levels man. I think the general concept is stellar, 2.5D worlds you can go in and out of the foreground. Sounds great to me right? It’s terrible. The movement from Bug is so stilted and stiff and going anywhere always feels like a challenge. Doesn’t help these levels are so fucking long and the boss designs really don’t help matters. Idk man, only look into this if you are like me and are really curious about the Saturn’s history. Otherwise, just play any other game from the console it’s not worth it.