Infinite Wealth (Y8) fixed nearly every issue I had with its predecessor, Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Y7). Combat moves quicker and is mor dynamic, and you have more agency than you ever did in Y7. Jobs feel much more balanced, and skill bloat is much less of an issue now, as you have a limited number of cross-class ability slots.
Narratively, the game gets going much quicker and caught my attention basically right out the gate. No waiting for half the game for interesting things to start happening. This game also fixes a writing issue I had with Y7 (and a lot of other JRPGs coughpersonacough) where every party member had to chime in for every single interaction. Dialogue flows much better as a result.
The new party members are all great; thought it's a shame we're likely to not get Tomizawa in Y9 onwards as he is modelled and voiced after a celebrity. Being able to play as Kiryu in both turn-based combat and brief bursts of classic brawler combat is a treat.
Still need to finish the last couple chapters, but Y8 has already risen to my all-time favorites list, and is one of few I would unashamedly rank a 10/10.
...However, there is one major sore spot for me for Y8: fuck the publishers for once again putting NG+ and fucking DIFFICULTY SELECTION behind a $20 DLC. Sure it comes with a bonus dungeon, but NG+ and difficulties should be a vanilla feature, all the time, no exceptions.
It's a ridiculous thing for Sega to lock behind a paywall. Outside of Japan we barely avoided its equivalent with Y7 baking it into the Western release, but Sega should be ashamed of themselves for pulling the same stunt twice, and doing so worldwide this time.
Narratively, the game gets going much quicker and caught my attention basically right out the gate. No waiting for half the game for interesting things to start happening. This game also fixes a writing issue I had with Y7 (and a lot of other JRPGs coughpersonacough) where every party member had to chime in for every single interaction. Dialogue flows much better as a result.
The new party members are all great; thought it's a shame we're likely to not get Tomizawa in Y9 onwards as he is modelled and voiced after a celebrity. Being able to play as Kiryu in both turn-based combat and brief bursts of classic brawler combat is a treat.
Still need to finish the last couple chapters, but Y8 has already risen to my all-time favorites list, and is one of few I would unashamedly rank a 10/10.
...However, there is one major sore spot for me for Y8: fuck the publishers for once again putting NG+ and fucking DIFFICULTY SELECTION behind a $20 DLC. Sure it comes with a bonus dungeon, but NG+ and difficulties should be a vanilla feature, all the time, no exceptions.
It's a ridiculous thing for Sega to lock behind a paywall. Outside of Japan we barely avoided its equivalent with Y7 baking it into the Western release, but Sega should be ashamed of themselves for pulling the same stunt twice, and doing so worldwide this time.