At this point, you know what you're getting into with a Yakuza game. Difficulty curve is steep at the start, and smooth as butter by the end. Sidequests have funny writing, but too many rely on checking on a character and then coming back to them later - probably a holdover from the ps2 era.

My main criticism with Ishin, especially as this is a remaster, is the upgrade tree. I'm coming in after playing Yakuza Kiwami 1 & 2 last year. The rate at which you unlock new moves and abilities with the four styles was fairly consistent. In this game, the unlocks are more of a linear ring, and all of the interesting and special techniques are locked near the very end of the skill rings. So you end up doing the same stuff over and over.