Infinite Wealth continues off with new main character Ichiban Kasuga's second outing in the formerly named 'Yakuza' franchise this time with returning icon and legend Kazuma Kiryu in tow.

Now, I'm someone who relishes in the series' old combat style and tone - with a silent and stoic protagonist, beat-em-up combat and then the quirky and stupid relegated to the side quests and supporting cast. However, I've begun to really warm to this shift of embracing the kooky, whilst allowing the main character to have their serious side (as shown throughout both LaD7 and Infinite Wealth).

What helps this time, especially in terms of the combat, is the much needed improvements to the turn based style. No longer are you constrained to a single spot - you can walk around freely in a small circle area which provides proximity bonuses if coming close to an enemy - or - combo bonuses if close to a party member with whom you have a good relationship with. Eventually, it ends up being a massive help - managing to get combos going and then follow-up attacks from other party members can really shift how a battle is going.

The story I don't need to comment on. It's a Like a Dragon/Yakuza game after all. It's got heart, it's got comedy, it's pure soap opera goodness and worth every single minute of lengthy cutscenes that the series is known for.

As expected from this series there's a whole host of side content and by a whole host I mean a l o t of side content. This time Ryu Ga Gotoku decided to spoof off a bunch of popular Nintendo IP's from a Pokemon Snap "clone", where you explore Hawaii on a tram and take pictures of muscle men in tight undies being lewd across the island to a full-blown Animal Crossing moment of having "your own" island resort to build up to a 5 star resort (of course, with it being Like a Dragon, it's got a campy and zany twist to it). I could honestly go on for hours about just how good of a job they did with Dondoko island and how unnecessarily in-depth they went with it or how I spent a good 10-15 hours of the total 50 I played of this game just building my resort but, I think it's best to just experience it.

God I can't wait to see what they do next with the series.

Supraland is not the usual game I'd delve into. Mostly because I usually s u c k at adventure-puzzlers, however, my partner had played and loved it and seeing him do it made me wanna give it a go.

Turns out, it's actually very enjoyable. The main issue I had with it, is there's absolutely no hand holding whatsoever - you're pretty much just thrust into this world (okay, there's some, with arrows saying go here, but how you get there is kinda vague - at least for my small brain).

I do however, enjoy how many upgrades you get that just make the whole thing incredibly fun and easy to traverse / kill enemies. There's also plenty of 'creative' puzzles to solve that as in most puzzle games, have stupidly simple solutions that are in clear view but just never actually come to mind right off the bat.

Also, the Crash DLC is genuinely fun too - removing basically all combat and turning it just into a strict puzzle/platformer was an interesting choice, but one that absolutely paid off.

Ubisoft releasing a somewhat enjoyable and concise Assassin's Creed game? for once? jesus christ are they okay over there?

Not once did it overstay its welcome and actually became enjoyable because of it. Sure, there's still a lot "wrong" with it - they said a 'return' to the old Assassin's Creed gameplay but, it's quite literally just Valhalla's combat and exploration with two things thrown in to make you feel nostalgic (and honestly, I don't want them to return to the old games - I replayed them the other year and they did not hold up well).

Now, do I want Odyssey and Valhalla levels of grandeur and sizeable empty and lifeless worlds to explore? no, not at all. Do I want a little more scope than Mirage offered? Yes, absolutely. Sure, Mirage does indeed have - outside of its city - a barren world with not all that much to offer, but this could easily be resolved by having just an ounce of like.. yknow.. side content out there, make the world alive outside of two side quests per region.

That's the main issue here, they have scaled it all back but they haven't balanced the content to match the world scale.

But hey, it's a step in the right direction - and I enjoyed playing an Assassin's Creed game to platinum status after just 25 hours instead of 100+ for once.