My first playthrough that took over 200 hours over a span of 16 months because of how much it took for me to get used to this game personally, so it was a very long journey for me but in the end for the second half, it nailed everything I wanted. The only thing I want to get out of the way is that the first half is very tough especially with this combat system I love and hate so I'll get that out of the way and how the traversal feels very stiff like Dark Souls 1 stiff. Nearing the second half of the game though, I'll say the combat gets better with having a lot of flexibility with party members and the pacing is way better. Getting most of my complaints out of the way, let's talk about the good stuff already.

I've seen some other reviews talking about how this is the worst revenge story of all time, and it seems they either didn't finish it or simply media illiterate when that wasn't the whole point of the story at all. One of the best immersive JRPGs ever and you could just feel yourself getting sucked in the world and feel the whole world around you. Not going into spoilers too much but the whole plot setting on where it takes place which is two titans and this is important to the story and contributes to the world and the second half where it really takes off is one of the most awesome shits ever and I'm glad I finished this shit to experience it, just raw as hell. Shulk is one of my favorite characters especially with the way they handled his character overall in this game was just really good and I ended up really loving him with the rest of the cast that is super lovable and comfortable. This game absolutely isn't perfect but not a lot of games can be, but this is definitely for me and too bad for people who dislike this.

I was reluctant at first in the first half and nearing second half where they were going with Shulks character and the story main message but I'm glad the way it went and did what I really love. Seizing our own future, decide for ourselves on what we want to do and not let someone else control our destiny's walking along with other people towards a new tomorrow. That title screen after you finish this game with the main menu music playing is a special moment.

"Today, we use our power to fell a God. And then, Seize our destiny."

There are so many thoughts swirling around in my head on this one. I have an opinion on some aspect of the game that finds its mark on every part of the spectrum from awful to outstanding. I have so much to say without the drive or inclination to weave all of it together in a coherent manner. Instead, I’m going to try something different to what I would normally do and use a bullet point esque structure for talking points to spring board off of.

———The (abyss)mal———

>Tears of the Kingdom is a masterclass on the importance of story execution and how said execution can impact the quality of an otherwise good concept. Conceptually, I think the story is typical Zelda fanfare. Nothing exceptional, but it does its job and I would even dare to say it has one of the strongest hooks of intrigue the series has presented to this point. This potential is sadly squandered for 80% of the game with the most asinine, formulaic delivery the developers could have possibly achieved. Go to area with something happening to it on map -> talk to resident villagers -> meet the sage -> “yes we saw this Zelda that obviously wasn’t Zelda, do you think that’s Zelda?” -> temple and boss to stop whatever is happening -> flashback to imprisoning war -> something something secret stone -> repeat 3x. I get that it’s an open world game, and thus it’s a necessary evil to design your game in a way wherein your player could go anywhere at any time, but they’ve already proven they can handle this better in, hell, the original Breath of the Wild. Super disappointing.

>I want to have words with the concept designers, developers and playtesters who all collaborated to allow the Sages spirit mechanic to be the way that it is. Why. Why? Who thought it was a good idea to have to run up to the dudes (that are constantly running away FROM you in the middle of combat) to use a context sensitive action that’s very specific about proximity? Anyone involved in the process of this needs to be removed from the kitchen immediately, I no longer want anything that they are cooking.

>A lot of my main issues from the original game are, in fact, still present here and largely unchanged. Look, I understand the weapon breaking mechanic. I really do get it, it’s designed in such a way to force experimentation without falling back on the comfort of reliability. I know why it’s a thing, I just wish there was another approach to this somehow. Do they not think I would experiment with different weapon types and effects if I’m not absolutely forced into it? I think this mechanic has the exact opposite effect it’s aiming for, in a lot of cases. I got the Fierce Deity Sword in my run, which is the coolest shit of all time, but I never ended up using it because I don’t want my insanely cool and unique weapon to break in my hands. Not crazy about the game’s “no music to establish that silent atmosphere, it’s just you vs the wilds” approach still, nothing has changed on that front sadly. It still rains way too much and it genuinely angers me that I finally thought they added an item to the game to help you climb in the annoying ass rain with the Slip Resistance stuff, only to find out that it just doesn’t work unless you have like a million of the buffs stacked on top of one another….and even then it only sort of works? Super, super lame and not communicated very well at all.

>On a similar note to the story point, I was really disappointed with the Dragon’s Tears/ToTK’s take on BoTW’s memories. I think they work much better in the original, both narratively and in a ludo sort of gameplay sense. In ToTK, none of them really…challenge or change our understanding of anything, it’s all stuff we already know from the main story repeating itself ad nauseam.

———The “eh”———

>The depths are the coolest concept ever for a Zelda game. If I had to pinpoint the main thing in the game I was excited about going into it, it was The Depths. I love horror-core and horror adjacent vibes in my Zelda games (the Skyward Sword Silent Realm sections are, still, a massive highlight of the series) and the series pretty consistently delivers on that tone when they go for it. Here, I think they could have taken it way further than they actually did but it’s not something I outright disliked. I did enjoy exploring around down there and the vibes are, in fact, pretty strong, but longer trips do start to wear out their welcome a bit and it’s not quite a centerpiece of the game’s world like the game itself seems to want you to think.

>Similarly, the Sky islands are also just kinda…alright. There’s surprisingly little content up here for how central a point they were in advertising. Nothing really major in the “story” that happens up here, either, outside of…one dungeon? Yet another area that I think could have really benefited from being pushed and explored a little further, but admittedly I’ll always have a soft spot for sky-based locations and the like so I still had a good time. The prettiest parts of the game for sure, for what that’s worth, and platforming between chains of islands is legitimately fun when the game gives you the chance to do it.

———The good———

>The dungeons. So, as a lifelong Zelda fan, the dungeons have always been my absolute favorite thing about the series. My favorites tend to be the ones with really strong dungeon showings (Twilight Princess my beloved) and my…not so favorites are the ones that I think have weaker showings (sorry Wind Waker enthusiasts). Cue my disappointment with the original Breath of the Wild, featuring the worst dungeons in a 3D title with absolutely no contest for the spot. Visually uninteresting, mechanically repetitive, and frustratingly simple all combine their powers of mediocrity to create….something that leaves absolutely no mark or impression. Easily the biggest blunder of that original game, in my humble opinion. Tears of the Kingdom’s dungeons, on the other hand, are a huge step up and, yes, while the bar was in hell, it genuinely makes me happy as a fan of the series to be able to say that with confidence. I wouldn’t call any of them stellar or even great. There’s no Arbiter’s Grounds, Snowpeak, Stone Tower Temple, or Sandships in the mix here but what we do get is all quite solid to good. They’re themed, have some very creative puzzles, unique bosses, etc. It’s good stuff!

>Building wacky shit. Now I’ll be real, I’m mo mastermind engineer but Tears of the Kingdom is very aware that 95% of the people playing this game wouldn’t be so there’s lots of fun to be had with experimenting and putting random wheels and rockets on things and just seeing what happens. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t work, other times it…doesn’t work, then there’s that time it…doesn’t work and I crashed into the mountain. Basically, it almost never works and you would have just been better walking to your destination because now you’re missing 5 hearts from your ass creation exploding on you but that’s the fun of it all. The whimsical inventive spirit pervasive in this game is delightful and I’m sure people more creative than I got even more utility out of it than I did.

———The fantastic———

>Your powers in this game are such a huge step up from BoTW’s it’s kind of unreal, the jump in quality is straight up ludicrous. In BoTW we had…turn water to ice….bomb…..bomb, but square….and like, yeah, it’s fine I guess but ToTK’s abilities are SO much more interesting and they all flow into each other perfectly. Ultrahand requires no mention for how insanely impressive and useful it is for literally everything the game wants you to do at all times. Ascend makes for very interesting vertical platforming and always makes you consider your positioning relative to platforms above you. Finding effective fuse combinations for weapons and shields is a lot of fun and spices up the moment to moment gameplay (and gives way more of an incentive to continue fighting enemies in the late game, since you’ll want their strong parts to make even stronger weapons). I’ve heard the streets calling Recall a washed ability but I can’t fathom how we possibly played the same game. And therein lies the answer: we didn’t play the same game. There’s two different video games here: Tears of the Kingdom, and Tears of the Kingdom: with Recall. I honestly believe it’s that important of an ability, especially once you master it and really get a grasp on how it works you can just casually break the entire game, in a fun way! The amount of times I “cheesed” puzzles with the Recall ability shenanigans are too numerous to count, but I get the feeling that all of that was something the designers did, in fact, consider Metroid-style.

>ToTK is just funny man. Like, the moment to moment dialogue in stuff that’s not the main story is…really good? A lot of the bigger towns in this game honestly feel pretty Majora’s Mask-core to me in how charming the residents can be and how they all operate on a schedule that can be studied and the like. Lots of charm virtually everywhere you look, I really liked some of the sillier side quests in general (the Yiga clan stuff is great) that give some much needed levity from your moment to moment climbing and running activities.

>Lots of really creative puzzles, in shrines and dungeons both. The ways they pushed your abilities and the Zonai devices with some of these puzzles is legit impressive, I smiled many times throughout the game after a particularly satisfying puzzle answer clicked into my head.

>A lot of the set pieces in this game are pretty stellar if I’m being honest. ToTK’s Master Sword sequence is super memorable, one of my favorites in the series, and that final boss…man. Immaculate vibes, very cinematic. The coldest version of Ganom we’ve seen in quite some time. It’s a really nice send-off to this version of Hyrule.

I really did enjoy my time with Tears of the Kingdom more than I thought I would as someone very vocal on not being in love with the open world direction the series has seemingly taken for the foreseeable future. There are some kinks that remain to be ironed out, but I came out the other end incredibly satisfied.

A love letter to an era of gaming long gone but without it's more tedious aspects. I never played the original Ninja Gaiden, I've seen a lot of gameplay, watched the AVGN episode, it's nothing I really want to touch. Yet this felt like this game, but more. There's some witty writing, movement upgrades that seemingly fit into combat, fun levels and bosses and some really meta aspects that elevate this game beyond just being fanservice for fans of the 8-bit era. It's a game worth going blind into for various reasons and worth picking up in a sale for everyone who's even remotely interested in the era this game reminds you of.

I'd like to start this review by quoting Kiryu himself in Yakuza 5

"I'm not like you. To you, being Yakuza is a way to die. To me... it's a way to live. We walk the same path, but you're barreling towards death, while I fight for life."

While this might be a Kiryu game in all effectiveness, to me this is a game dedicated to the series itself, and to the moment of glimmer the characters see in a way of life trudging through filth. The way of life that the Yakuza follow.

This game lets us finally see the true impact of what the dissolution of the Yakuza brought about. And in a meta-narrative sense, the end of Kiryu's age or the "Yakuza" series with the rebranding into Like a Dragon.

When you reflect on the series' origin, how Kiryu ended up in this way of life by idolizing a man who held guilt towards his actions. The diamonds of his effort resulted in him having ended the cycle by inspiring his children to be people who walk the path of light. He didn't just end the age of Yakuza in this game, he truly brought about something good from Kazama's actions that kicked off his life no matter how morally grey he was.

To quote Kiryu again,

"I can hide my past all I want. But no matter how much I hate it...I'll always be Yakuza."

"I can erase my name all I want but I can't deny who I am."

He unbashedly acknowledges how he is Yakuza through and through in the series, and while his ideal might've been one of hope and strength the path of violence that he has taken has had its consequences in turn bringing about a cycle of violence that threatened all that was precious to him. And inspiring others to follow it in the wake he leaves.

This is where I'll make a tangent to talk about Shishido, I think he is the best thing to come out of this game. On paper, he might be just a man who tried to prevent the end of the Yakuza because that's the only way of life he knew. But to me, he's more than a character in the narrative, he's a figure who represents every single person in this way of life across the series. He is the result of what Kiryu's life influenced in a twisted way.

Confronting Shishido at the end must've felt like facing a crystallization of his own life to Kiryu. When you see him size himself up with the backdrop of the Omi alliance building, that's when I knew he wasn't just representing himself but the very blood, sweat and tears that went in throughout the series that led to this.

While Yakuza is a series that talks about humanity in criminals, it also deconstructs itself by commenting on the modern age of Yakuza where there are no ideals or honour in the men who identify as such. To them, it's just another way to succeed and indulge in the pleasures of life.

Where Someya is a man who was able to walk the path of the lost ideals despite losing himself, Shishido is someone who inherited the one thing about the Yakuza that's universal across all of them. Tenacity.

He is a cry for survival the Yakuza shout out in their dying blaze. And one that calls out to Kiryu as the man who stands atop it all. An effigy of the ideals that breathe no more.

If Yakuza 6 was about his parenthood being tested and the sacrifices he would make to uphold it, Gaiden is about him coming to confront the past he couldn't in 6. The demons he's built and festered, the legacy that nearly consumed him whole. It's impressive how small-scale and contained the narrative is, focusing solely on the end of the Yakuza. We direly needed to see Kiryu's perspective on this as it isn't just a conclusion to the era but also the end of his life as Kazuma Kiryu.

That's all I have to say about the narrative and how previous entries play into it but to make a few footnotes, it's a little disappointing the first 4 chapters don't do a lot for the story but it's fine considering they are primarily here to serve the finale. The gameplay is good it felt unpolished which isn't surprising with how short of a development cycle it had. What I did of the side content was standard fare for the series, the coliseum is good. The music is great and this is the best-looking game in the series undoubtedly.

To conclude the review with the quote I started it off on if a man whose identity and actions are so tied to a path he finds to be rubbish can start over, I can't help but be inspired.

I'm gonna repeat myself a little here but it is incredibly rewarding emotionally to see that Kiryu's life through the mistakes, partings and suffering he bears, leads to something meaningful. Even if his past being bloody is something he regrets, his purpose as Yakuza resulted in lives brightened as the ultimatum.

To be able to destroy the throne he sat on and subsequently wipe off the face of the Yakuza, I can't think of a more perfect ending for The man who erased his name.

It took me three tries over the years for this game to finally click, but wow did it ever. Even if the dungeon gameplay was a low point, I couldn't stop playing.

The cast makes this game what it is. Every character in the main cast is incredible, and their individual story moments all had me engaged and interested to see what came next.

The story itself surprised me multiple times throughout. The twists kept me on my toes throughout, all the while having great moments to showcase.

The game definitely shows its age in some respects, but overall I'm glad I finally got around to getting through this game and understanding the appeal. What a ride.

This review won't do justice to what this game means to me but to put it bluntly, I think this is the most a game has hit me with its themes since some of my other favourites. It certainly wasn't what I expected getting into the game.

It's perfect in all its technical and aesthetical aspects but that's also where its biggest flaw comes in, that stupid fucking filter during the last act of the game that made me want to gnaw my eyes out. I genuinely have few qualms without it.

I haven't seen self -acceptance presented with such grandeur while being nuanced. For that alone this is undoubtedly my game of the year. Props to all its other narrative strengths.

Actually fun and has a ton of great character interactions. As someone who was disappointed majorly by the last part of the game due to health sponge enemies galore, this DLC actually isn't like that. 90% of enemies are staggerable, quick, and fun fights. Bosses arent of course but none go on for too long this time.

The main story of it is a bit dumb though, and doesnt have enough time to tell its story properly in the first place. But the side content is fun and cute! Especially the silly wedding prep quest.

Overall, as someone who was disappointed in the 2nd half of the game... I don't get the hate for this DLC! It played to the games strengths in terms of gameplay for 20 hours and that's all I could ask for.

Oh man, where do I even begin with this one.. there's so much to adore here.

Right off the bat, the gameplay's probably the most fun it's been in the series for me - there's some questionable bosses with an overreliance on egregious status effects (the Trails classic, honestly) but the gameplay loop itself has come such a long way.
The newly added Quick Arts during Field Battles to give casters a bit more oomph on the field and Ex Chains to punish stuns with during Command Battles have made the combination of Field and Command battles an absolute blast, rewarding you with incredibly fast-paced normal encounters as long as you use Field Battle properly. It feels great!

But that's not what I'm here for - the thing that has made me such a massive Trails fan that I'd play through a whopping twelve (god, we're really at TWELVE already?) of these games is it's massively expansive world and casts, and that continues to be absolutely fantastic in this game, which I'm absolutely over the moon about.
Kuro 2 picks up the story themes of Kuro 1 incredibly well - where nearly all of the Spriggans are dealing with grief in one way or another and are slowly, but surely, learning to appreciate the precious present for what it is despite it all. And god, does this game nail that aspect. Including Swin and Nadia into the Spriggans, the fabled Three and Nine who have certainly got more than enough grief left to unpack was an absolutely genius idea. They blend into the cast SO well, and the way this game ties a bow on their character arcs is easily my favorite thing about it.
I loved em a lot already, and I didn't think I could love em even more. They're easily some of my favorite characters, not just within Trails itself; and this game added to that feeling tenfold.
Beyond them, it picks up the character arcs of the regular Spriggan cast really well too, and the newly-included villains add a lot to it's themes in that regard as well. Absolutely no notes on it's story, it's fantastic.

I've heard a lot of complaints about Act 3 before jumping into it myself which made me expect the worst but honestly I didn't.. really mind it, at all?
It's definitely where the game starts running out of steam and relying on old assets more than it did before (which is sadly not surprising when it came out only a year after the original) so it's definitely a case of making the most out of what it's got but man, it definitely pulls that off in my opnion.
I think having a long, drawn-out chapter making you aware of how much the connection you have with pretty much every single NPC you've come to love across these two games is great, actually! It makes it all the easier to appreciate what the game's going for, and I love the way it's handled that.

It's such a feel-good game for me.
Bittersweet, but it really makes me appreciate everything I've got going for me currently despite what it took to get here; and being able to resonate with this bizarre family of misfits like that has been such a blast.
It's just a genuinely great time and a perfect reminder as to why I love this series so damn much.

“Once you’re at rock bottom, the only way forward is up. But the bottom doesn’t have to be all dark and gloomy. If you can stand and look up, you’ll see the light of hope there.”

I can't write a proper review to this since the moment that i'm writing this, i have finished the game so yeah. Taking a proper break from Yakuza for 8 months, it just geniuely feels worth it. A new battle system and a new protagonist, everything really goes fresh from start to end and finishing the chapter over and over and having a ton of fun by doing the sidestories just really had me with the fun of my life and on the end of my seat with endings of each one, the cast is just perfect everything goes to well to me and none of the interactions feels forced and geniuely had my laughs with the active voice.

RGG really did it for me and i can't wait to start the Judgment Duology and experience the final 2 Nagoshi games.

As someone who loves the Crossbell arc a lot, I definitely had high expectations for this game.
But holy shit man, those expectations couldn't even hope to hold a candle to everything this game does so ridiculously well.

First of all, the gameplay's ridiculously fun. It's snappy, and all of the new features and gimmicks added to it are such a blast.
Swin's Marks - a completely new debuff unique to him that procs on his crafts and guarantee the next hit will be a crit especially, might just be the most fun I've had in this series since the golden days of stacking buffs on Richard in Sky 3rd and yelling go white boy go as he spins 6 turns in a row with less delay on his crafts than regular attacks.
Slap a Gungnir Sub-Master Quartz on that kid and watch him absolutely nuke anything he touches after marking something through a simple 20 point craft. It's beautiful.

But gameplay's never really been what's drawn me to this series - it's generally enjoyable, but definitely not the highlight that I'd mainly like to talk about.
That'd be the writing, and the numerous amount of incredible casts I've come across on this ridiculously expansive continuous series that have inspired me in ways both small and large.
And man oh man, this game definitely isn't any different in that regard.

Starting off unsurprisingly due to my aforementioned love for the once-called City of Sin; there's a few faults to be had with Lloyd's route - but to me, the only thing that really sticks out is that the way a certain chapter ties immediately into the finale isn't particularly rewarding at that time.
But apart from that? Perfect. Genuinely perfect.
It takes everything the Crossbell arc's about, spins it into a new perspective, and makes it come together so damn well as the SSS dust themselves off and get right back to fighting for their home they've come to love so much, same as they've done countless times before; except now, fully aware that their role as heroes was never theirs alone.
It's such a fascinating route; it makes full use of the speech about justice Dieter gave them in Zero, and even makes them truly be able to stand in KeA's shoes regarding her circumstances in Azure.
It really does feel like a third Crossbell game, because it wraps things up perfectly due to the emphasis on them, and I couldn't be happier about it.

But that's not all! It's even got the "Miserable Sinners", a group lead by a mysterious masked criminal known as C, as an all-new cast introduced in this game. And man, I don't think I've ever grown used to a war criminal and their unhinged children so easily.

Swin and Nadia are fantastic, because they make full use of the way Trails loves to branch off into different mediums to give the players multiple ways to grow accustomed to it's world.
All their volumes of books about their backstory are available both in Cold Steel 4 as a collectable series, on Reverie's title screen and on it's website - that's a way they love to give you a teaser of characters before they appear, and that's so fascinating to me because I personally don't know any other series of games that does something similar, definitely not in-universe.

One of my favorite characters in this series, Toval Randonneur, is much the same - he's first introduced as a young crook in the Carnelia books in Trails in the Sky, then a few years later in the timeline you'll see him again as a cocky bracer who's found his place in the world in the Ring of Judgment manga set just before Trails from Zero, and then finally introduced in-game as a more mature bracer in Cold Steel 1, eventually leading into somewhat of a mentor role through the early game of Cold Steel 2 where he makes use of those life experiences to pick Rean back up when he's at a low point.

It's just so cool to see characters develop like that through multiple mediums, and watching S&N take their future that belongs only to them after all they've been through in their books was so incredibly cathartic.
C themselves and Lapis are both fantastic too, and I did not expect this to be the existential crisis group, but they bounce off each other so incredibly well. They might be miserable sinners - but they slowly but surely find it's a lot less miserable with company, and stuff like that is just right up my alley.

It's also a breath of fresh air to have more of an anti-hero group after so many games of goody two-shoes, and it makes them all the more enjoyable. From what I've heard a more younger, newer part of the writing team was in charge of their route - and it really adds to how much it stands out, in a really good way.

Ofcourse, the game's not without it's flaws - having to juggle between three routes constantly means either having to split resources for sub-optimal builds or constantly swap the good master quartz, regular quartz and accessories around, and I chose the latter. Admittedly my own fault more than anything - splitting resources is probably what they expect from you; but yeah. Trading all that and making sure it's all given to the correct characters can definitely take some time when there's up to atleast 10 times in your playthrough where you gotta do this.

And yes, even though I've sung praise for Lloyd and C's routes specifically there are in-fact 3 of them - but much like towards Cold Steel itself I'm.. pretty much ambivalent towards Rean Route, personally.
It's fine, definitely not anything that's actively a blemish on the game or anything - just not my cup of tea, personally.
It's got plenty of Rean development, and if that's your thing you're in luck; but after four games of Cold Steel I'm just kinda tired of having things revolve around him as much as they do. I don't think he's bad by any means, but at some point it just feels like they're regurgitating things for him to get into his head after doing the same for four games long.
That's probably the point, to be fair - trauma like his is certainly not something that can be switched on or off due to something simple as good advice, but yeah. At some point enough is enough, hence the ambivalence to it all.

That being said, yes, even with not feeling too strongly about one of it's three routes - I utterly adore this game.
Lloyd and C's routes are without a doubt my favorite thing about this series yet, and I cannot wait for Kuro if this is the quality of writing I can come to expect.

But that's a trail for another day! One I'm very, very excited for thanks to this masterpiece.