The good things outweigh the bad ones.
Story-wise, definitely in the top 3, at least.
Ichiban is a very well-written character, you'll get everything you need to know about him in only one game. With only ONE game, you can love him as much as you love Kiryu, which is INSANE.
RGG Studio went nuts with the motion capture and things like that and combined with Ichiban's VA, they reached an unprecedented level of immersion in the franchise.
The other characters and your friends are also very likable.
The plot is pure yakuza juice, but a LOT more emotional.
The "bad things" that I referred to before are the changes in the combat system and the overall tone of the game.
Even though I liked the dubstep/electronic soundtrack of this one, I REALLY miss the rock ones, from the previous games. This is justifiable, cuz the game now is a lot more goofy than epic and serious, as it was before. With Ichiban as a protagonist, this makes total sense, but I miss it nonetheless.
The other main bad thing is turn-based combat. Not gonna take long here, but I really suck at those games, and part of the reason is that I'll always prefer to spend time trying to hone my motor skills and being mechanically better at the game, instead of doing repetitive tasks over and over again, to level up my character, get better gear, powers and such just to have a fight that is practically the same as the very first fight that I fought at the beginning of the game. For me, it's an artificial way of progression.
Though in the end, I think that this is personal, and it's not fair to judge the game through this specific view.
Even though I HATE grinding, I've managed to have an EXCELLENT time with this one.
I still think they should have at least made the game a "main spinoff" or something like this, cuz using the name of a franchise with like 15 games and 15 years of story in an ALMOST completely different game, fells off, but again, I can more or less understand why they went this way.
Even though ~Yakuza~ Like a Dragon 8 will be another turn-based JRPG with probably lots of grinding, I still look forward to it.
Yakuza/LaD gave me an incredible journey through the past 2 years, and I can only be grateful for it, but for now, it's time to rest.
Story-wise, definitely in the top 3, at least.
Ichiban is a very well-written character, you'll get everything you need to know about him in only one game. With only ONE game, you can love him as much as you love Kiryu, which is INSANE.
RGG Studio went nuts with the motion capture and things like that and combined with Ichiban's VA, they reached an unprecedented level of immersion in the franchise.
The other characters and your friends are also very likable.
The plot is pure yakuza juice, but a LOT more emotional.
The "bad things" that I referred to before are the changes in the combat system and the overall tone of the game.
Even though I liked the dubstep/electronic soundtrack of this one, I REALLY miss the rock ones, from the previous games. This is justifiable, cuz the game now is a lot more goofy than epic and serious, as it was before. With Ichiban as a protagonist, this makes total sense, but I miss it nonetheless.
The other main bad thing is turn-based combat. Not gonna take long here, but I really suck at those games, and part of the reason is that I'll always prefer to spend time trying to hone my motor skills and being mechanically better at the game, instead of doing repetitive tasks over and over again, to level up my character, get better gear, powers and such just to have a fight that is practically the same as the very first fight that I fought at the beginning of the game. For me, it's an artificial way of progression.
Though in the end, I think that this is personal, and it's not fair to judge the game through this specific view.
Even though I HATE grinding, I've managed to have an EXCELLENT time with this one.
I still think they should have at least made the game a "main spinoff" or something like this, cuz using the name of a franchise with like 15 games and 15 years of story in an ALMOST completely different game, fells off, but again, I can more or less understand why they went this way.
Even though ~Yakuza~ Like a Dragon 8 will be another turn-based JRPG with probably lots of grinding, I still look forward to it.
Yakuza/LaD gave me an incredible journey through the past 2 years, and I can only be grateful for it, but for now, it's time to rest.