Final Chapter: The Man Who Erased His Name
* Oh wow so it's time... All I know is, it's the best sendoff for Kiryu and the end is amazing. I AM NOT READY.
* They're setting up Infinite Wealth now. I'm gonna cry when Kiryu gets to the church T_T
* Jesus Shishido's history is tragic
* I'll do one last grind. I won't finish it though I'll just lighten the load for the 100% later after the story.
* Four Kings are a JOKE
+ The final Platinum Boss Rush was AWESOME. COLISEUM ROCKS!
+ Amon Fight: Well, it was pretty manageable. No BS mechanic and I LIKE IT. It's a challenge but not headache-inducing. Took a while to realize the drones heal him but I figured out how to outdamage him. Fun fight.
- OH COME ON NOW A TOY THAT SPURTS BLOOD?! THAT'S WAY WORSE THAN RUBBER BULLETS MY DUDE! Somehow Gaiden manages to outdumb the Mirror Face...
- Seems like a bug with lighting when arriving at Omi HQ?
+ The Omi brawl with Kasuga as a setpiece was peak!
+ Shishido is amazing final boss. They're trying to do the Aizawa fight again but a bit slower paced. Ngl Shishido is a jobber because of the juggle system. I feel kinda bad for his fate given his story but his greed for power is too much
- btw... WHERE ARE MY QTEs?!!!!
+++ Man that final set of cutscenes WRECKED ME! Yeah I was planning on a 4/5 but I'll give Gaiden a 4.5. What a game that resonates hard for us longtime fans.

Premium Adventure
* Trophy cleanup
- I've been putting it off for a while now but time to do Cabaret. I'm gonna be miserable through this because I don't like it, or Cabaret in general (The dating parts, not the managing ones like 0 and K2)
* btw, Using a guide for this idc. CyricZ da GOAT
++ YOU CAN SKIP THE CABARET DIALOG YES!
-- YOU CAN'T SKIP THE DATE SCENES NOOO!

GOT 100% ACHIEVEMENTS!!!

* Will finish all Pocket Circuit matches to get all Akame missions

Chapter 4
* Spent most of my time on getting everything possible with Akame Network and Coliseum
+ Bruh that was brutal
- NO WAY HE SURVIVED THAT?! I guess we need a final boss but how?!
+ Surprised Tsuruno/Shishido is still alive. I am happy the past 2 RGG games aren't as predictable as the early games.

Chapter 3
+/- So outfits reflect the cutscenes as well... and I happen to be wearing my goofy fits during an emotional one. I regret it
* LOOOOOTS of Akame Network and Coliseum stuff
+ Nishitani Fight: Man I miss the eccentric moves of Nishitani. This is an amazing fight. Also QTEs are back baby!
+ Man the Party Hardy bit was super fun. Endears you to the Watase boys.
* Wish we fought Nishitani at The Grand for the callback to Yakuza 0
* The story is kicking into high gear. Took RGG a while to set everything up ngl. Though that's standard RGG games. Wonder how much story is left? My theory is before the dissolution but I hope we get an Ichi boss fight.
+ Joryu is actually... being smart for once?!
- Can only change outfit at Boutique

Chapter 2
- Got the Hornet. It sucks ass atm (I'll wait until fully upgraded to judge)
+ Firefly is THE BEST. We're almost like Amon now with all these. Wonder if his clan is a part of Daidoji?
* Upgraded Agent Style a bit and it's all coming together. The clunky-ness is gone and it's so much fun now.
- Castle lags A LOT
+ Coliseum is super fun. Lots of callbacks. Fake Ryuji fight was sick! My heart almost burst when he appeared.
* Long Battle 2: Now THIS is a long battle. Great pacing, fun fights (not you, gun man), and caps off with a cool boss fight (Dynamic intro was sick af)
- Where are my QTEs?!
+ POCKET CIRCUIT IS BACK!
* Best coliseum in any RGG game hands down
* Seeing now how money plays into this. THAT's why they give so many plates...
+ KAITOOOO!!! HIGASHIIII!!! Man I CAN'T WAIT for Judgment 3. Kaito and Higashi as a partner is the type of buddy cop story I want and need. Right now.

Chapter 1
+ That title screen is so stylish!
+ Vibe/tone of game is amazing
- Bruh what is that stock army style font when introducing enemies?
+ Agent Style is sick af!
+ Spider Gadget is a cool addition to the combat.
- A bit clunky and slow though. Hope upgrades will fix it.
-/+ Wonder how much the feel of combat is tied to Kiryu being old and having you-know-what. He's slow, clunky, and barely generates heat.
* It was obvious knowing Kiryu but he's the worst spy ever. Everybody knows him lmao
- Spider SUCKS AT BOSS FIGHTS
* Yo the game is running parallel to YLAD!
+ Played some Arcade. First time playing something Sonic. It was actually a fun fighting game wtf
* My man can't even get a smoke :(
+ Hanawa and Kiryu's friendship is gonna be a tight one, I feel.
+/- Long Battle 1: Well, it's okay. The bosses sucks because you barely get to use your full arsenal due to the way they fight. I had to constantly use dodge attacks just to get a combo in and there's barely an opening for juggles.
* Just reached Bar Survive and LMAO because they used an actual actress they can't use Iroha's likeness in this and creates an inconsistency. Also RGG doing its hardest to not have a Kiryu and Kashiwagi meetup

Chapter 2
* OKINAWA!!! THE KIDS (THEY GROWN NOW)!!! HARUTO!!!!! HARUKA SOUNDS MATURE!!
- Lag on Sotenbori
+ Notice a lot of cool new NPCs
+ Akame is cool. I only know her actress from Joshimental and she's hilarious there. Can't wait to see more of her.
+ Game is lenient with money and drops. I like it.
+ Akame Network is a nice spin on completion points and Hero quests in LAD. It's short and easy too.
+/- hmm not too fond of the "realistic" Cabaret Club. Feels hammy in both the acting and dialog. It's like it was written for a 3d model NPC and not live action. But then again, I don't usually play Cabaret Dates in LAD games (Yeah I know). Happy for Kson tho.
+ First substory! Feeling good about the rest just from this one (Film Assistant Needed). What a cool twist.

Pseudo-NG+, English Dub, Professional Difficulty Run is done!
Nothing much to add except the final boss is infinitely better with lower strength on Professional difficulty. It sucks so hard that there's no Legend difficulty on such a great boss fight. Also last phase could use 2 more health bars. Too short.

English Dub
So I saw Yong's performance on the finale. It was his best performance throughout Gaiden. I didn't cry tho so it doesn't hit as hard as Kuroda's performance (and it's not because I saw it already. I cried again when watching others' playthrough) but props for a decent VA befitting Kiryu. Overall, I think the English Dub as a collective is fine for me on a replay. I'll never play it on a blind playthrough tho.

Chapter 3-5
Pretty smooth run so far. Started wearing gear that reduces strength and it's super fun

ENG Dub Impressions
Got to chapter 2. I agree that Yong is miscast but he does a decent Kiryu when he's being serious and stoic. When there's an emotional moment, I find that he loses the Kiryu voice a lot. Karaoke is bad as well but meh that's a mini-game. I find it funny that Hanawa and even Yoshimura unintentionally fits the Kiryu voice well lol. I chock it up to voice direction maybe? If he can be consistent with the stoic voice for the more emotional ones then it'd be good enough IMO. Anyway, curious to see the most important delivery, the final scene.

Pseudo-NG+ impressions
Well, my plan was dumb. It was way too easy on Professional even w/o the attack boosts (Wish there's a Legend difficulty) but the boss hp mod does wonders for cool moments.

Pseudo-NG+
There's no NG+ as of Dec 23, 2023 so I was planning to "wait" and see if they'll add something before Infinite Wealth comes out... BUT I had an idea. I saw a mod where you can just get all skill points for free. Now the problem is, equipment and NG+ difficulty to balance. Well, I can just cheat to have all the money and akame points that I need, and there's another mod that adds lifebars to bosses. I think that works for a replay without worry of grind. Can't wait for the Final Boss!

ENG Dub
This time, I'll play the English Dub. I have no problems with it mainly because I play on Japanese anyway but I can see why there's backlash for it

Mods
Might use some fun combat mods and cosmetic/model additions. That Akame mod looks fun too.