oh man. not the greatest game of all time but shit, it may as well be. feels emblematic. not just the Most video game but above and beyond the video game. there's just an astonishing amount of things to do in this and none of it is bad. there's so much REASON to engage with the world, and so much reward in turn.
eat at a restaurant to restore health? good news, you can become friends with the cook as she learns to become more confident thanks to your compliments. want to blow off some steam with an arcade claw game? good news, there's a sad little girl outside in need of toys and a father figure. bowling? WIN A CHICKEN WHO CAN MANAGE YOUR BUSINESSES.
impressive doesn't begin to cut it. both kamurocho and sotenbori are vibrant, bustling, real and living cities with dozens of things around each corner. the substories that present themselves are uniformly excellent for both protagonists, whom I've not even begun to talk about, and these stories gave me hard laughing fits till tears fell... as well as moments of pure, moving, tenderness.
this is close to a 25 hour game and yet my first playthrough ended with 107 simply because I seriously wanted to engage with everything. sure, I found myself grinding certain aspects, and if you're going for a literally full completion you're gonna have to grind some more, but I never wanted to turn down any of these experiences.

and that's not to mention the main story itself. certainly what elevates it, I think, it's unbelievable how many twists, turns, and spins are thrown at you and yet they're all natural, believable, and more importantly SHOCKING. this thing gets thrilling on so many levels. all over a small plot of land. what unfolds is exciting, infuriating, tragic, all at once. even when there's an air of predictability as to where things may end up, the execution is undeniably masterful.
if there's literally anything to fault this game on it's just that it's a minorly taxing experience. long cutscenes and the need to pay attention to subtitles means you have to stay engaged. even then, fuck it, that's all on me. I was happy to keep playing, happy to come back, even if it took me time. completing this felt like the end of an era and yet it's the start of something entirely new.

both kiryu and majima have superb balancing, hardly a bad thing to say about either. if there's an award for what who does best then I'd have to say kiryu wins on: character writing and dialogue, substories, kamurocho is also better to navigate; but majima wins for plot, character, and fighting styles. there's that much to compliment these guys on that I'm entirely forgetting how much more I can list.

really just a blessing to finally beat this and already looking forward to replaying because I WANT to get every achievement here. already looking forward to playing the next game. and the next. and the one after that. it's rare that a game can infiltrate my top 10 so fast (tied for 7th?), but wow, I don't think I've ever had this much to say about one like this. good time!!