This review contains spoilers
Yakuza: Like a Dragon was actually the first game of the Yakuza series I finished. I did try Yakuza 0 for a few hours, but dropped it, in part because of its gameplay that wasn't really doing it for me, at the time. I'm really happy that I tried this one despite not getting into 0, because this game is spectacular and I absolutely loved it. I might even try Yakuza 0 again after this.
What made me interested in this game, in the first place was its combat, since it was different from the rest of the series, and I'm a fan of turn-based combat. The combat in this game is pretty fun, but it has some flaws. The main issue is that it's weirdly balanced. The game starts out way too easy, and when you get to chapter 12, the difficulty suddenly spikes and you need to grind for levels. Past this point, the bosses have a bit too much HP, in my opinion, and it can take a pretty long time to defeat them, time that is spent almost always spamming the same attacks and healing when necessary. What carries the combat is mainly the animations, they're really fun to watch and full of charm, especially all the "ultimate abilities" and summons. Having to time button presses to deal more damage and block incoming attacks is also pretty neat and makes combat more engaging, reminds me of Sea of Stars since I played it pretty recently. In brief, the combat is, in itself, good, but needs some tweaking to really hit right for me, which is apparently fixed in the most recent entry.
While the game is a "classic" JRPG in itself, I really liked what it did with the genre to twist it in a modern and semi realistic setting. For example, I find it so creative how ice magic is actually using cold alcohol to make the enemies drunk or catch a cold, or how the class/job system literally works by switching actual jobs, like foreman, musician or cook. Using Ichiban's imagination and love of Dragon Quest as an excuse to make everything more crazy and similar to a classic JRPG is also a genius idea and I loved seeing all the silly things Ichiban Kasuga made up.
I really loved the main cast of Like a Dragon, they were just so likeable. Ichiban is easily my favourite and makes for an excellent protagonist, you just CAN'T hate him. His voice actor, for the English dub, is also really good and does an amazing job, especially in more emotional scenes, to the point of almost making me tear up at the end. I really loved how the game justifies all the RPG elements and visuals with Ichiban being a big fan of Dragon Quest, I thought it was pretty funny and charming. I liked every member in the party, Adachi being my second favourite, I do wish that Zhao and Joon-gi Han got a little more screen time in the party, since they arrive pretty late in the story, but I still liked them for what they were. Eri is easily my least favourite and I'll say that it's pretty funny how poorly integrated into the party she is . Eri is optional, you need to advance in the business management sim to unlock her as a party member and the game does not acknowledge her even a little bit during the game as a party member, the only exception being the small dialogues that pops up when wandering in the city. Speaking of which, I liked all the banter that the party members had in these short interaction, it did a good job of making them feel a bit more alive and interesting, while also fleshing them out a bit.
Visually and on a technical level, the game might not be anything special, but it also manages to do so much with what it has. Sometimes, and especially during side-stories, the animations are so janky that's it's funny, and, on the other side, the cinematics during story moments and special attacks are just so well made and fun to watch that the contrast is pretty funny to see. I just wished that dialogues during side stories were a bit more animated, because even though they're pretty fun to go through and full of charm, it gets a bit boring reading all the, non-voiced, dialogue when all the characters do is stand and stare at each other.
What impresses me with this game, and I learned that the whole series is pretty much like this, is how silly this game is while also being serious. One moment, I was watching one of the most emotional and serious moment of the game during the main story, and right after, I would be doing karaoke, driving in a kart racing mini game, going a side mission to save a lobster from being eating and all sorts of hilarious and fun shenanigans. It's really amazing to see how much fun the devs must have had when making the game and it's a blast to experience.
The side content of Yakuza: Like a Dragon is also really entertaining. The sub-stories, while really simple and kinda repetitive in their structure, where fun and interesting. The absurd amount of mini games present in the game is also a big highlight. The business management sim, by itself, consumed a couple of hours of my total playtime.
The main story of the game was really good, It certainly had its slow moments, but even then, they were pretty enjoyable since I liked seeing more of the main cast. The few last chapters are really what did it of me though. These last chapters were just so good on every level, the cinematics where awesome, the twists and turns the story took were really captivating and it all led to a simply phenomenal finale that made me tear up.
After playing Yakuza: Like a Dragon, I now understand what makes this series so special and why it has such a cult following. It's really something unique, funny, while also serious and emotional. I'm really excited to play more game from this franchise and see where it leads me.
What made me interested in this game, in the first place was its combat, since it was different from the rest of the series, and I'm a fan of turn-based combat. The combat in this game is pretty fun, but it has some flaws. The main issue is that it's weirdly balanced. The game starts out way too easy, and when you get to chapter 12, the difficulty suddenly spikes and you need to grind for levels. Past this point, the bosses have a bit too much HP, in my opinion, and it can take a pretty long time to defeat them, time that is spent almost always spamming the same attacks and healing when necessary. What carries the combat is mainly the animations, they're really fun to watch and full of charm, especially all the "ultimate abilities" and summons. Having to time button presses to deal more damage and block incoming attacks is also pretty neat and makes combat more engaging, reminds me of Sea of Stars since I played it pretty recently. In brief, the combat is, in itself, good, but needs some tweaking to really hit right for me, which is apparently fixed in the most recent entry.
While the game is a "classic" JRPG in itself, I really liked what it did with the genre to twist it in a modern and semi realistic setting. For example, I find it so creative how ice magic is actually using cold alcohol to make the enemies drunk or catch a cold, or how the class/job system literally works by switching actual jobs, like foreman, musician or cook. Using Ichiban's imagination and love of Dragon Quest as an excuse to make everything more crazy and similar to a classic JRPG is also a genius idea and I loved seeing all the silly things Ichiban Kasuga made up.
I really loved the main cast of Like a Dragon, they were just so likeable. Ichiban is easily my favourite and makes for an excellent protagonist, you just CAN'T hate him. His voice actor, for the English dub, is also really good and does an amazing job, especially in more emotional scenes, to the point of almost making me tear up at the end. I really loved how the game justifies all the RPG elements and visuals with Ichiban being a big fan of Dragon Quest, I thought it was pretty funny and charming. I liked every member in the party, Adachi being my second favourite, I do wish that Zhao and Joon-gi Han got a little more screen time in the party, since they arrive pretty late in the story, but I still liked them for what they were. Eri is easily my least favourite and I'll say that it's pretty funny how poorly integrated into the party she is . Eri is optional, you need to advance in the business management sim to unlock her as a party member and the game does not acknowledge her even a little bit during the game as a party member, the only exception being the small dialogues that pops up when wandering in the city. Speaking of which, I liked all the banter that the party members had in these short interaction, it did a good job of making them feel a bit more alive and interesting, while also fleshing them out a bit.
Visually and on a technical level, the game might not be anything special, but it also manages to do so much with what it has. Sometimes, and especially during side-stories, the animations are so janky that's it's funny, and, on the other side, the cinematics during story moments and special attacks are just so well made and fun to watch that the contrast is pretty funny to see. I just wished that dialogues during side stories were a bit more animated, because even though they're pretty fun to go through and full of charm, it gets a bit boring reading all the, non-voiced, dialogue when all the characters do is stand and stare at each other.
What impresses me with this game, and I learned that the whole series is pretty much like this, is how silly this game is while also being serious. One moment, I was watching one of the most emotional and serious moment of the game during the main story, and right after, I would be doing karaoke, driving in a kart racing mini game, going a side mission to save a lobster from being eating and all sorts of hilarious and fun shenanigans. It's really amazing to see how much fun the devs must have had when making the game and it's a blast to experience.
The side content of Yakuza: Like a Dragon is also really entertaining. The sub-stories, while really simple and kinda repetitive in their structure, where fun and interesting. The absurd amount of mini games present in the game is also a big highlight. The business management sim, by itself, consumed a couple of hours of my total playtime.
The main story of the game was really good, It certainly had its slow moments, but even then, they were pretty enjoyable since I liked seeing more of the main cast. The few last chapters are really what did it of me though. These last chapters were just so good on every level, the cinematics where awesome, the twists and turns the story took were really captivating and it all led to a simply phenomenal finale that made me tear up.
After playing Yakuza: Like a Dragon, I now understand what makes this series so special and why it has such a cult following. It's really something unique, funny, while also serious and emotional. I'm really excited to play more game from this franchise and see where it leads me.