This album is deeply special to me. It was my introduction to Tyler, which opened my eyes to so much new music that helped define who I was as I navigated my teenage years. From the first listen, I was starstruck by the raw, heavy synths that engulf the sound of this project. The production was such a highlight for 13 year old me that I completely dismissed and ignored the lyrics; I had a tendency to do so back then. And then I went through the same thing Tyler did, and the album clicked with me in a way it didn't before. No longer was it an amalgamation of cool sounds, it was a personal journey of heartbreak and healing. It became a torch that would guide me out of the cave I'd found myself in. IGOR helped me embrace the process of recovery. And it sounded good as fuck while doing so. Not sure why they adapted into a game though that was pretty weird.

Having started the series through Yakuza 0, I unfortunately felt the "downgrade" on this one, and knowing it was originally a PS2 game, all I could think of was "ok, it sure feels like a PS2 game".
Not that it makes it bad by any means, just a little tiresome on the farming side. The story is still amazing, and the combat feels very satisfactory once you get the hang of it (fighting multiple boss enemies was kinda overwhelming though).
The sidequests are also a little weaker than the Y0 ones, but the Majima Everywhere system is fun as hell (didn't get past B rank because I didn't want to farm so much)