Had to let this one simmer a bit before dotting down my thoughts. Played nearly half of the 40hr game in two days which I would not recommend doing as some of the more meaty story nuances could be overlooked. Regardless this is a high quality Yakuza/Like a Dragon spin off and there is no denying that.

Bumping up the score half a star because honestly there is very little to complain about here and while I can't say with a straight face that I've enjoyed this game more than some of the Yakuza entries looking at it purely from a mechanical and objective stand point it is a pristine example of what makes RGG games so goddamn good.

Revised and improved combat from previous dragon engine games is certainly a highlight here. Pulling off the fissure release and the GOAT that is the Tiger drop hasn't felt so good before, also the much smoother integration of heat actions into your combos made each encounter not only more stylish and enjoyable to look at but also more satisfying to pull off. The overall balance of the fights were on the easier side with occasional high damage grab or a boss move putting you in the red. The mortal wound mechanic were you lose max HP if you get hit by guns or boss super moves is kinda pointless and an annoyance to deal with. You either use a medkit from a menu which takes a second to get it all back or go to a specific NPC for a check up which is neither that expensive nor does it happen often enough (I guess it depends on your dodging abilities) so it ends up feeling under baked.

Now the story is in a classic RGG fashion a rollercoaster to go through. A detective mystery involving court room drama, serial killings, conspiracy, betrayals and shocking revelations you know what you signed up for if you played any previous RGG games. Honestly it was really interesting to go through as more evidence is revealed and characters shift, perspective on previous facts change until it is all laid out on the table in the last third of the game with a finale waiting to wrap it all up. Saw someone say something along the lines of "this is the best RGG written story" and I would struggle to argue against that in terms of quality for sure.

The new cast is fantastic. Yagami, Kaito and Hamura being the clear highlights no surprise there since they get the most spotlight but even supporting cast like Sagiura, Saori and the merry band of Genda law office have some great scenes. It also feels like they turned up the dial a bit in terms of witty dialogue and humor in sub stories and in the main story as well even incorporating some modern slang which got more than a few chuckles out of me. The two main minigames, drone racing and VR gauntlet were quite interesting but even with a banger track playing for the VR minigame I didn't spend too much time with either.

The final fight was pretty rad as is the standard for these games a shame that the boss OST was a bit on the generic side, the goddamn baby face cane killer had an absolute fire of a track and the guy just shows up twice, refuses to elaborate and disappears. What's up with that? I was spoiled on the Lost Judgment final boss theme which is a shame in a way, but it only made me more pumped up to get to it in game.

So to recap awesome detective mystery story in Yakuza/LaD universe, great band of genuine, likeable and funny characters. Much improved combat with a discount DMC feel - yes the only reason I say that is because you can juggle enemies in the air and a sizeable quantity of entertaining side content.

Who are these mouth breathers giving this game half a star an hour after it came out, I see you bro. This game is ducking awesome. Man it was a blast to go through and it's not the type of game or genre that I'm too familiar with, but decided to give it a go anyways and I'm glad that I did.

Now this is definitely a niche product I feel like you either gonna love it or ask for a refund after the tutorial. Game is focused on squad dispositions, tactical combat and planning somewhat similar to my beloved Heroes of Might and Magic games except you don't directly control your units during battle. I feel like this will be the main hurdle for people trying this game out. Essentially you assign characters to different units, you can customize their positioning, active and passive skill use and in what order they use them and you can give them equipment/accessories that increase stats or give additional abilities or action points to use during battle. Now of course you have different class units that perform better against certain classes and have better synchronicity with others the game encourages you to mix and match, it's good stuff. So far what I've been describing is the combat section but we also get an overworld map again similar to Heroes of Might and Magic were we control our main character running around in the overworld map collecting resources, rebuilding towns, buying provisions, equipment, exploring and completing different side quests. This ain't a user manual you'll figure it out.

Speaking of characters and classes there are so many to choose from almost too many if you ask me and in true Vanillaware fashion they're all gorgeous to look at. Really vibed with this game and that clean medieval fantasy aesthetic. In general the visual artstyle is top notch. Actually got surprised by how solid and professional the voice acting was really helps to bring the life out from all of these characters. Now the game's story is quite a standard affair, not gonna be winning any awards but it never got annoying or in the way or made my eyes roll it was just solid throughout.

Anything negative I have to say is just so minor it's hardly worth mentioning. Overall I did find the game a bit too easy on normal, luckily there are 3 more difficulty options after that so it's an easy fix. The menu navigation with a controller can be a little annoying especially when it comes to switching character skills and equipment if you're a horder. The game has what it felt like a slow and steady start and ramping up process which didn't bother me too much but was noticeable also unit size clearly indicates 6 potential slots but we only ever use 5, now it's obviously for positioning but this asymmetry looks kinda strange I was waiting until we get to 6v6 battles but alas it never came. I also experienced some minor frame rate drops on PS4 Pro version particularly in a couple of endgame larger battles.

To sum it all up, solid tactical gameplay, great deal of customization for your units, fun characters and their interactions with one another, professional voice acting, beautiful visual style, decent musical score, feel good fantasy story with a happy ending and a lack of any real negatives. Certified banger in my eyes.

I think I had fun with this game, maybe a little disappointed after witnessing the "true ending" but overall short version is - if you liked DD1 you gonna like this because it's more or less the same game still got annoying and repetitive pawn dialogue a little less obnoxious than in the first game, the characters are still a cardboard cutouts with barely animated mouths spewing generic drivel, the side quests were designed 20 minutes before lunch break and the story resembles an upside down plate of spaghetti on a kitchen floor.

In two weeks since release we got a couple of patches improving framerate from an average of 37 fps in major settlements to 43 fps and an update adding "New Game" option in the main menu truly revolutionary 2024 gaming. It's funny that I thought after playing DD1 that the game was clearly an interesting vision not fully realized by it's creator due to time or monetary constraints but it turns out that's the kind of game they wanted to make all along since the sequel is hardly an improvement in any aspect over the original now featuring Denuvo and some random microtransactions that have no business existing.

Still it's hard not to have fun when you're plunging a ginormous greatsword into some poor ogre's cranium or calling a meteor shower on a goblin summer camp. DD2 does 1 thing really well -the combat and by god you're gonna be doing that a lot. There's a good variety of classes or vocations to choose from and they only get crazier and more overpowered as your rank increases. The different approach to combat for each vocation and constant drip feed of new abilities that unlock after each rank prevents the game from becoming stagnant.

So the main appeal of the game is still there strong as ever a radiant gem that is the action RPG combat placed on top of a shrine made out of cheap glue and recycled cardboard.

Fun drinking game - take a shot everytime someone says "aught" in the game and you can tell me how it went in the afterlife.