[REVIEWED ON XBOX SERIES X]

Yakuza 6 is the swan song for RGG's flagship, at least in it's original title and protagonist, and they made sure to send it off with a bang. Scaled down in some ways but also fleshed out in many other ways, you're left with a world that feels less open than Yakuza's 5 and 4 before it, but one that feels much more lived in.

Because of an incident at the beginning of the game, Kamorocho has had sections cut off, specifically the hotel and champion districts, as well as Kamorocho Hills. Futhermore, the underground is no longer accessible and the sewers are scaled way down.

But in it's stead you have more buildings that can be entered, with more activities to do, and a wide variety of NPC's, which in a series first, are all voice acted. There are no text boxes, from the largest of story beats to the smallest of substories, every line is spoken.

As far as mini-games go, there's plenty of the mainstays here. You can go to the bar and play darts, you can go on dates at hostess clubs, you can hit up the batting cages, and clan battles make their return too. I want to shout out the Club Sega in this one, because I've never seen a Yakuza game with this many arcade games to choose from. You can play hang on, fantasy zone, space harrier, poyo poyo, virtua fighter 5, and my personal favorite, outrun. All of which offering multiple difficulty modes too. Yakuza 6 could easily be called a compilation game with just this alone.

But the mini-games don't just stop with long time favorites (and mahjong) they have plenty new to offer. If you ever get tired of hitting the batting cages and want the real thing, you can head over to Onomichi (the only other location in the game) where you can manage and play in your very own Baseball team. Recruiting new players, upgrading their skills, and taking them on against a few other local teams from the area. Futhermore, Onomichi also is home to a spearfishing mini-game which plays out like a classic Sega style rail shooter. All of these are just scratching the surface of what this game has to offer, I haven't even talked about befriending cats to recruit for a cat cafe.

The story itself is a classic Yakuza story, a classic serious crime drama that should clash with the wackiness of the substories but never seem to. I don't want to dive too deep into spoilers but I will say it was enjoyable. Twists and turns, relationships getting personal, and tears being shed.

All in all despite not being as big as some of the other games in the series, Yakuza 6 still manages to provide one of the greatest games in the series, and provides a suitable send-off for Kiryu and the Yakuza name. I still think Kiwami 2 is the pinnacle of the franchise, but 6 is not too far behind.

[PLAYED ON XBOX SERIES X]

All the benefits with none of the performance issues. I think when people think of Assassin's Creed 2 being the first great AC game, they got it wrong. 2 was decent but still had its issues holding it back. Not the same with Brotherhood. They made the parkour system even smoother, tightened the combat, added fast travel, and most importantly... fixed the bugs. 2 had quite a few minor bugs that hurt my progress, and then 5 major bugs which crashed the game for me. The same can't be said for Brotherhood however. The game ran smooth as butter from start to finish.

Its not a perfect game mind you, the game feels like it can drag at points in the middle, and the cliffhanger ending on the Desmond side was disappointing but to be expected. However, Ezio's journey to defeat Cesare Borgia has a much more satisfying finale, alongside a great beginning too. So despite the slow midpoints it was able to keep me going forward.

I failed to mention the soundtrack in the last game, which was a shame because it was great. Which is also the case here, from tense stealth missions to epic action sequences, the music matches your movements great. It also adds great atmosphere to the Renaissance era of Italy.

My only regret is playing this on The Ezio Collection, I couldn't play the Multiplayer as it sounds unique and fun. You have one player you need to assassinate, while another one is hunting you. So you need to make sure not to raise suspicion to your target while avoiding the person coming for your head. It sounds like it would have been a great thing to play a couple rounds of when I have time to kill, but too little too late I suppose. Regardless of omissions, whats here is still great and easily my favorite AC game thusfar. I hope that the rest of the franchise can stay that way going forward.

[PLAYED ON XBOX SERIES X]

(As part of the Ezio Collection)

Assassin's Creed 2 is a large improvement over the original but still not a perfect game. The game continues the storyline from the original, but through the lens of a new character, Ezio Auditore. Ezio is a major improvement over Altier, with much more depth. He can joke around, or be serious. He feels a wide range of emotions throughout his twenty year journey, from exciting highs to terrible lows. A far cry from Altier's 2 emotions: angry, and annoyed. Ezio also has a much better supporting cast behind him like his charismatic uncle, Mario, the sharp and tough Maria, and even Leonardo DaVinci himself.

Desmond Miles is also back, but his roles in the story takes a major backseat this time around to Ezio's. With only 3 small portions of the game, at the beginning, middle, and end respectively. But regardless, it did help to keep the story moving forward.

The gameplay feels better than ever. Ezio has a long list of tools from the iconic hidden blade, to smoke bombs, to even a pistol. It makes getting your way out of a situation feel more dynamic. The parkour feels much faster than it did in the original which alleviates some of my gripes with it. Also the variety in the gameplay, while still feeling like that trademark "Ubisoft checklist style" at least has more varied things on that checklist. Making missions feel more unique, especially when compared to the same 3 things you need to do in the first.

However, it's not without its flaws. The parkour system, while faster and smoother, is still not perfect. With there being many times that it feels like Ezio is not doing what I want him to. While not happening as much as Altier in the original it was enough to the point where it warrants mentioning here. The performance is also something I think is worth noting, the game had crashed on me 4 times throughout my playthrough. One time frustratingly sending me back to the beginning of a particularly difficult mission.

Despite the technical issues, and the parkour system still feeling dated, one thing that does not feel dated is the world of Renaissance era Italy. While I had the benefit of being able to play the game with the enhancements of it's next gen re-release, they only helped accentuate the hard work the artists did to recreate this country during the late 1400s. One thing that did not get enhanced as well were the character models themselves. They definitely have that 6th generation look to them. With lifeless eyes making them look almost doll-like.

All in all I liked Assassin's Creed 2, but I expected to like it more than I did. As the game that really launched the series into the forefront of gaming culture, it definitely still feels like a product of its time. When it worked great I had a blast, but it didn't always work great, and it turned what would have probably been a 4 star review into something a bit lower. But still a major improvement on the original and I can't wait to see how the series will continue to grow in the future.