[2/9/24]

I DID IT. I BEAT ALL 10 GAMES IN UNDER 4 MONTHS. What a series. What a game.

If I thought that Yakuza: Like A Dragon was massive after all the previous games, Infinite Wealth turns it into an appetizer in comparison. Hawaii is such an incredible map that's as huge as it is colorful. The corner of the map that's a chunk of ocean to swim in, even if it's just for two vendors and picking up trash, is such a great touch. I heard some time before release that Hawaii was going to be around three times the size of Ijincho from Yakuza 7 (which by proxy makes it 10 times as large as Kamurocho). I don't think that's true, but it's still massive enough that it alone would make it the most expansive game in the series. 65 hours into the main story and I never felt bored. I'm still playing it to chill in Dondoko Island.

The ability to move in an area during combat makes a world of difference as it also makes way for new types of attacks and abilities such as those where the user attacks in a straight line from their current position and having to find the right distances to buff or nerf enemies, as any abilities that focused on all allies or enemies in the previous game have now been reduced to areas around either the user or their target. MP regeneration on a basic attack is now universal, but greatly reduced. The new jobs in this game take after the fact that it's mostly set in America, with Desperado being my personal favorite. The weapon upgrade system is also a welcome improvement, as now crafting and upgrading are separate things. Upgrading weapons lets you add certain attributes to them at certain levels, so you can get more creative with how you want to build characters. Giving the magic users greater MP regeneration breaks the game, and giving your attackers increased damage out of both the desired physical and elemental attack types turns them into beasts. Despite the percieved tedium that it might bring trying to grind out the resources to obtain every job's ultimate weapon, the grinding spots also saw an improvement. Procedurally generated dungeons means more loot every single run. Both also have their own currency you get by completing a floor, and there are three tiers with 10 floors each. A single run on each tier is more than enough to get what you want out of it if you're at the recommended level, and grinding the third tier is nothing but rewarding every single time.

The story, often the strongest aspect of most Yakuza games (MOST) is, unsurprisingly, good. This is the first time since 0 where there're multiple protagonists, and unlike 0 having the two journeys converge late into the story without the protagonists themselves crossing paths, Infinite Wealth has them meet up, split up, and intertwine to give each other the full picture as the story, in typical Yakuza fashion, grows from a rather small goal to something much larger and sinister as in most entries. Also like all Yakuza games after 5, it isn't a complete mess. Yamai was the guy RGG was betting their money to become the next Majima, and despite initial pushback, I'd say that he's a good character! If he becomes Ichiban's Majima, I'll be very glad. Both protagonists' endings are poignant in different ways: Ichiban's is the culmination of social media harrassment given physical form while he believes that the harrassed can change, and Kiryu's is his discovery of a reason to live as he confronts a man who hates everything he stood and fought for. I also really like the beginning portions before Hawaii where it's very apparent that Ichi, Nanba, and Adachi, a group originally brought together out of bregrudgingly wanting to help the first guy, have become genuine bros and have also gotten their lives together (even if we only see the tail end of it). Plus, Chapter 12's bosses fucking rule.

Even with all of this, though, I still have my grievances, most of them to do with the resolution of Ichiban's half of the game. Eiji seemingly runs off, never to be seen until the last cutscene with Ichiban that I talked about. The reveal of Ebina being Ichiban's half-brother feels like it exists only for the former's monologue at the end driving home the point that they're foils of each other, something that could have been done without that detail. Ichiban's mom, Akame, is not present in the ending at all. It all feels rushed, which is a shame given that it was shaping up to be better and even more personal than Yakuza 7. Something persistent throughout the story is Saeko giving Ichi the cold shoulder. It was funny at first, and it's funny at the end when she does it again after the two resolve the issue, but it's her most prominent trait throughout the game. Nanba helps Kiryu with a way to enjoy the time he has left, Adachi helps Ichiban in Hawaii out of them being bros, and Joon-gi and Zhao are still kinda there which isn't really a bad thing given that that was also Zhao's deal in 7. Still a cool guy, though. Saeko's character feels like a downgrade from what she was in 7 since it's mainly about having beef with Ichi. Ichiban regrets doing what he did to piss her off, but with the two being across the Pacific it's an awkward unsolvable issue that lasts through the whole game.

Mechanically, this game blows Yakuza 7 out of the water. Kiryu's half of the game is also a beautiful way to wrap up his time as the face of the franchise. Ichiban's story, however, shows its cracks near the end, however, and I don't feel like it ends up as a better narrative than 7 when put together. That story was personal from start to finish, as the big bad was the man he called his brother and had an actual bond with. It's another instance of a larger world meaning that there's less time to flesh everything out, but I'm glad they kept it in check instead of becoming too ambitious.

Then, there's the biggest detail of that ending that I'm sure will become topic of many arguments as more and more people beat the game: Kiryu lives and is getting his cancer treated after a fake-out similar to the endings of Yakuza 2, 3, and 5. At first, I felt a sort of mild disappointment that they didn't go through with the decision to kill him, especially after both the marketing leading up to release centering more on his cancer as it got closer to the 26th and the gut-wrenching ending that was Gaiden. But then I saw his face. That is the face of a man weaker than he's ever been. And then I learned that the director of the game is a cancer survivor himself. Cancer is a very touchy subject to bring up, let alone write about, and it's obvious that this is the only tactful way to have written the ending. If Kiryu, the unstoppable man that he was for 10 games straight, succumbed to it, what would that say?

This is still an end to Kiryu's story. And it's a perfect swan song. It's the end of the Dragon of Dojima, and the true beginning of a new Hero.