Ichiban Kasuga had big shoes to fill taking the place of Kazuma Kiryu as series protagonist, and he does it with flying colors. Ichiban is a more goofy, and rambunctious character than Kiryu but his morals, and beliefs align in a way that feels natural and non invasive to long time fans of franchise. The game play takes a huge shift into turn based combat as a series first, as opposed to it's action game roots, and it pulls it off with flying colors. The way Ichiban's love of Dragon Quest and desire to become a fantasy like hero as an explanation for the game play shift is genius, and fits the tone of the game well. And while this game definitely takes the goofy angle to the next extreme, it doesn't take away from the series staple heartfelt and dramatic moments. My major complaints with this game is that it takes a while to truly get started. It feels like it meanders a little bit too much in the middle, but once it picks back up you're in for a ride. Also there is a really high difficulty spike towards the end of the game which is a little ridiculous, even for an JRPG vet such as myself. The level pacing could've been a lot better, but at the end of the day the grinding wasn't the worst i've ever experiences. All together, Yakuza 7 (Like a Dragon) is a perfect start to a new beginning, and I can't wait to see what zany adventures lie ahead for Kasuga.