The new "Dragon Engine" makes the game's landscapes, environments, characters, etc. look gorgeous and visually stunning. The graphics will have you feeling like you're right in the middle of Japan with all the action and chaos that ensues while adventuring one last time as Kazuma Kiryu.
The story told here was one of the best to come out of the entire series. Complex enough to keep you guessing what's going to happen next but never overwhelming to the point where you can get lost as there were plenty of recaps to keep you up to speed.
The gameplay however has more than to be desired. Most aspects of the combat felt limited or restricted, maybe due to the new engine? There were a lot of moments of clunk and jankiness; it never felt like you were truly the DRAGON OF DOJIMA in a sense. Instead of a base difficulty, it felt like the game was actively trying to nerf your playstyle by adapting to the way you play or having enemies block/dodge whatever inputs you were doing so you couldn't pull off the usual combos so easily. Combat can be so barebones to the point where it just boils down to you being able to beat the entire game just by simply spamming the running dropkick... as well as relying heavily on HEAVY attacks. Heat actions along with the new "EXTREME" heat this time around were disappointing to say the least. Copied and pasted from previous games, no notable new heat animations unless you're in specific scenarios like fighting inside a convenience store. The substories or "side content" of the game felt very 50/50 hit or miss. Some were really memorable but on the other end of the spectrum, most were forgettable. Thankfully most of the substories were voice-acted but sadly a lot of them were tied to useless and unenjoyable mini-games.
The story told here was one of the best to come out of the entire series. Complex enough to keep you guessing what's going to happen next but never overwhelming to the point where you can get lost as there were plenty of recaps to keep you up to speed.
The gameplay however has more than to be desired. Most aspects of the combat felt limited or restricted, maybe due to the new engine? There were a lot of moments of clunk and jankiness; it never felt like you were truly the DRAGON OF DOJIMA in a sense. Instead of a base difficulty, it felt like the game was actively trying to nerf your playstyle by adapting to the way you play or having enemies block/dodge whatever inputs you were doing so you couldn't pull off the usual combos so easily. Combat can be so barebones to the point where it just boils down to you being able to beat the entire game just by simply spamming the running dropkick... as well as relying heavily on HEAVY attacks. Heat actions along with the new "EXTREME" heat this time around were disappointing to say the least. Copied and pasted from previous games, no notable new heat animations unless you're in specific scenarios like fighting inside a convenience store. The substories or "side content" of the game felt very 50/50 hit or miss. Some were really memorable but on the other end of the spectrum, most were forgettable. Thankfully most of the substories were voice-acted but sadly a lot of them were tied to useless and unenjoyable mini-games.