4 Reviews liked by opal2
This review contains spoilers
“Who knows? Not me
We never lost control
You're face to face
With the man who sold the world"
It’s difficult to talk about Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain without acknowledging the elephant in the room. This is the most awkward Metal Gear entry to sit down and pick apart because it’s the only one where the troubled development and behind-the-scenes drama between Kojima and Konami has bled into the game. It’s where you can really feel Kojima’s vision, storytelling and gameplay wise, has just been compromised into a stitchwork pattern of some of the best moments in the entire franchise that shows how much Kojima and his team has evolved with some of the most unsatisfying parts that make you step back and question a bit. There’s an argument to be had on if MGSV is truly ‘unfinished’. Kojima and company nowadays seem content with the state of the game as it is. There exists tangible proof of cut content during production that wasn’t given enough funding by Konami to make it fully realized and in the actual game. Mission 51 is baffling because regardless of what Kojima or Konami says, this is clearly something very important story-wise, especially with who the mission is centered on, that I cannot understand why it wasn’t deemed worth keeping in. If I was to agree to the level of, yeah, maybe this wasn’t technically ‘unfinished’, this was roughly meant to be what it is in the end of the day, but it gives truth to the fact that there was so much that felt lacking and missing to make MGSV feel like the best possible version of itself that we’ll never get.
I dunno about you but ‘Open World Metal Gear Solid’ sounds like the tackiest idea I’ve ever heard. It does scream like a series very set in what it does uniquely, selling away its own creative freedom in favor of mindless mass consumption trying to give you a depthless version of freedom. 8th Gen, looking back at it now, is also mostly just creatively tunneled vision into sprawling, massive open worlds with resource gathering, crafting, and base management being the real grind to keep your runtime hitting the 80 hour mark. Like, it’s funny how people generalize all RPGs as being 100+ long grind fests when that’s more rare than you’d even care to look at in actuality, and that stigma feels much more deserving for the open world genre. MGSV is admittedly one of the better 8th Gen open world games from this period. This is where doubting Kojima proves futile because he knows how to take these design staples and make it feel fun. The Metal Gear Solid formula, though undergoing so many levels of evolution, bounces back at the core gameplay idea of handling obstacles with a wide variety of different solutions that typically draws the least amount of attention to you. Or, you could just say ‘fuck it’, and just go full explosive guns blazing on enemy guards and outposts with no regard for being sneaky or quiet. Not quite how I imagine you get the best experience for why these games excel hard in game design but it’s not like it’s ever discouraged too much since you’re still given weapon and tool options to choose and play with. Dropping this into the sandbox of an open world is surprisingly a natural step for Metal Gear’s continuing evolution and shakeup. It takes cues from MGS3, MGS4, and Peacewalker to deliver a solid playground where you can ride your horse, travel Afghanistan or Africa, vibe with your radio cassette set to some banger licensed tunes, scout out enemy outposts to infiltrate/assault, and maybe even kidnap the enemy soldiers and send them flying to your Mother Base to force them to serve under you! Fulton Extraction and the Mother Base system, first introduced in Peacewalker, feels fully conceptualized, though not refined, as something worth engaging with. The first dozen hours of the game I was immediately impressed by all of this. The prologue especially is some of Kojima’s greatest work, showing off how unbelievably ahead of its time the Fox Engine is graphically, while being a prime showcase of how ready Kojima is to tackle survival horror in what could’ve been Silent Hills. I don’t normally let expectations, especially from what’s been said surrounding this game, really get to me much when I play something. Here, I was willing to be this game’s strongest soldier…until it becomes very clear why MGSV: The Phantom Pain is unfortunately deserving of its status as being messy, woefully underdeveloped, and confusing but not because of the story but because of what it tries to pull itself together creatively as a Metal Gear game.
This is a roughly 60+ hour game to try to complete, yet throughout my extensive playthrough I felt like I only experienced maybe 4 hours worth of story material that’s stretched thinly yet offered sparingly. What’s frustrating isn’t that the story material itself is ‘bad’, as I feel some might easily write it off as because of how it’s presented and executed, I think it’s actually quite strong for the most part. I appreciate how it contributes to the larger Metal Gear Saga with how it puts the characters introduced in Peacewalker into a radical new dramatic context, exploring incredible themes that makes me appreciate some of the past entries in a better light through juxtaposition. Take Huey Emmerich; originating from MGS2 but properly introduced in Peacewalker, who more or less served as this cheeky wink to the fans over how Solid Snake and Otacon’s dad share the same voice actors and baseline dynamic their sons inherited later down the timeline. Aside from how seeds were planted to see how his character withers into here, there wasn’t a lot to Huey than that. I didn’t expect Huey Emmerich to wind up becoming one of my favorite villains in the whole franchise. Metal Gear has a roster of memorable villains embodying different philosophies and beliefs about the status quo. Though, you can argue many of them are at least understandable, misguided, ‘human’ I dare say, in why they’re driven this way. You can’t say the same for Huey Emmerich. He’s just the worst. An actual insufferable, petty, cowardly, hypocrite with no moral responsibilities for anything he’s done which caused indirect or direct pain and loss to the characters, not just in this game, but throughout the rest of the series. Having him share Otacon’s likeness, demeanor, and voice actor was a brilliant creative decision because we of course associate Huey with Hal, the most genuinely endearing character, only to see how that’s betrayed and subverted once his true colors became ugly and plain to see. Every single detestable thing about Huey is just further ammo for why we absolutely adore Otacon since he could’ve easily been just as low as his father but he chose not to. It’s the way they’re both broadly similar but meaningfully different in the finger details that enriches the Metal Gear Saga in close reflection. It’s not even just Huey who gets this treatment. Revolver Ocelot has been a recurring character who we’ve seen through different stages of his life that paint an interesting picture of who he really is and this is no exception. Skull Face is an underappreciated main antagonist who could’ve benefited from more screen time but once you’ve cracked who he is deep down, he makes for a surprisingly effective foil for Venom Snake for, uh, spoilery reasons I don’t want to dive into. To keep it brief; his motivation regarding his loss of identity and taking revenge on a world that took it away feels oddly resonant when you remember what this series, especially by MGS2, is all about.
It’s only too bad that most of these character beats are just not frequent enough to chew into. You have to slog through so many repetitive missions and side-ops to get even a nugget of a cool cinematic or story moment. The Mother Base management system reveals itself to be shallow as no matter how much you upgrade or develop it, the actual Mother Base you can return to see your progress of building up an army is severely uninteresting to witness. You can…drive around to platforms you just built? There’s maybe a few more generic guards who greet you autonomously and maybe have conversations you could overhear? You might even come across a cutscene that happens with certain important characters stationed there when you make enough mission progress, but, uh, that’s it. It’s quite unrewarding and boring which made me feel like I was playing through some of the most tedious excess of an 8th Gen open world game again and all its warts. Chapter 2 is the worst offender for this because it’s framed as the “postgame” or “epilogue” even though that’s where you’ll get some proper closure for loose story threads that haven’t been resolved yet. To get access to these story related missions, however, you have to play through a bulk of ‘new’ missions which are just older ones you’ve already gone through but at a higher challenge level. Keep in mind, the missions have mostly been repetitive as hell, devolving to the same “find outpost, infiltrate/assault, and eliminate/capture target” formula for hours on end. You don’t technically need to finish these missions to unlock the ones that actually matter, doing leftover side ops does the job kinda, but this is still egregious busywork to have some semblance of finality with a story hinting at incredible themes that just doesn’t pan out well.
This is the only Metal Gear game that I had trouble rating for. Rising should be shot into the sun for how it irreparably damaged the cultural perception of the series, so there were no hardships there, believe me. Peacewalker was interesting, had some fun, but clearly too limited by its design to amaze me in any way that broadened my love for these games. But Metal Gear Solid V, severe flaws and all, emboldened my passion for this franchise with what Kojima tried to tackle, only to get crushed through the grinder of Konami. I guess this game was my own Phantom Pain after all.
We never lost control
You're face to face
With the man who sold the world"
It’s difficult to talk about Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain without acknowledging the elephant in the room. This is the most awkward Metal Gear entry to sit down and pick apart because it’s the only one where the troubled development and behind-the-scenes drama between Kojima and Konami has bled into the game. It’s where you can really feel Kojima’s vision, storytelling and gameplay wise, has just been compromised into a stitchwork pattern of some of the best moments in the entire franchise that shows how much Kojima and his team has evolved with some of the most unsatisfying parts that make you step back and question a bit. There’s an argument to be had on if MGSV is truly ‘unfinished’. Kojima and company nowadays seem content with the state of the game as it is. There exists tangible proof of cut content during production that wasn’t given enough funding by Konami to make it fully realized and in the actual game. Mission 51 is baffling because regardless of what Kojima or Konami says, this is clearly something very important story-wise, especially with who the mission is centered on, that I cannot understand why it wasn’t deemed worth keeping in. If I was to agree to the level of, yeah, maybe this wasn’t technically ‘unfinished’, this was roughly meant to be what it is in the end of the day, but it gives truth to the fact that there was so much that felt lacking and missing to make MGSV feel like the best possible version of itself that we’ll never get.
I dunno about you but ‘Open World Metal Gear Solid’ sounds like the tackiest idea I’ve ever heard. It does scream like a series very set in what it does uniquely, selling away its own creative freedom in favor of mindless mass consumption trying to give you a depthless version of freedom. 8th Gen, looking back at it now, is also mostly just creatively tunneled vision into sprawling, massive open worlds with resource gathering, crafting, and base management being the real grind to keep your runtime hitting the 80 hour mark. Like, it’s funny how people generalize all RPGs as being 100+ long grind fests when that’s more rare than you’d even care to look at in actuality, and that stigma feels much more deserving for the open world genre. MGSV is admittedly one of the better 8th Gen open world games from this period. This is where doubting Kojima proves futile because he knows how to take these design staples and make it feel fun. The Metal Gear Solid formula, though undergoing so many levels of evolution, bounces back at the core gameplay idea of handling obstacles with a wide variety of different solutions that typically draws the least amount of attention to you. Or, you could just say ‘fuck it’, and just go full explosive guns blazing on enemy guards and outposts with no regard for being sneaky or quiet. Not quite how I imagine you get the best experience for why these games excel hard in game design but it’s not like it’s ever discouraged too much since you’re still given weapon and tool options to choose and play with. Dropping this into the sandbox of an open world is surprisingly a natural step for Metal Gear’s continuing evolution and shakeup. It takes cues from MGS3, MGS4, and Peacewalker to deliver a solid playground where you can ride your horse, travel Afghanistan or Africa, vibe with your radio cassette set to some banger licensed tunes, scout out enemy outposts to infiltrate/assault, and maybe even kidnap the enemy soldiers and send them flying to your Mother Base to force them to serve under you! Fulton Extraction and the Mother Base system, first introduced in Peacewalker, feels fully conceptualized, though not refined, as something worth engaging with. The first dozen hours of the game I was immediately impressed by all of this. The prologue especially is some of Kojima’s greatest work, showing off how unbelievably ahead of its time the Fox Engine is graphically, while being a prime showcase of how ready Kojima is to tackle survival horror in what could’ve been Silent Hills. I don’t normally let expectations, especially from what’s been said surrounding this game, really get to me much when I play something. Here, I was willing to be this game’s strongest soldier…until it becomes very clear why MGSV: The Phantom Pain is unfortunately deserving of its status as being messy, woefully underdeveloped, and confusing but not because of the story but because of what it tries to pull itself together creatively as a Metal Gear game.
This is a roughly 60+ hour game to try to complete, yet throughout my extensive playthrough I felt like I only experienced maybe 4 hours worth of story material that’s stretched thinly yet offered sparingly. What’s frustrating isn’t that the story material itself is ‘bad’, as I feel some might easily write it off as because of how it’s presented and executed, I think it’s actually quite strong for the most part. I appreciate how it contributes to the larger Metal Gear Saga with how it puts the characters introduced in Peacewalker into a radical new dramatic context, exploring incredible themes that makes me appreciate some of the past entries in a better light through juxtaposition. Take Huey Emmerich; originating from MGS2 but properly introduced in Peacewalker, who more or less served as this cheeky wink to the fans over how Solid Snake and Otacon’s dad share the same voice actors and baseline dynamic their sons inherited later down the timeline. Aside from how seeds were planted to see how his character withers into here, there wasn’t a lot to Huey than that. I didn’t expect Huey Emmerich to wind up becoming one of my favorite villains in the whole franchise. Metal Gear has a roster of memorable villains embodying different philosophies and beliefs about the status quo. Though, you can argue many of them are at least understandable, misguided, ‘human’ I dare say, in why they’re driven this way. You can’t say the same for Huey Emmerich. He’s just the worst. An actual insufferable, petty, cowardly, hypocrite with no moral responsibilities for anything he’s done which caused indirect or direct pain and loss to the characters, not just in this game, but throughout the rest of the series. Having him share Otacon’s likeness, demeanor, and voice actor was a brilliant creative decision because we of course associate Huey with Hal, the most genuinely endearing character, only to see how that’s betrayed and subverted once his true colors became ugly and plain to see. Every single detestable thing about Huey is just further ammo for why we absolutely adore Otacon since he could’ve easily been just as low as his father but he chose not to. It’s the way they’re both broadly similar but meaningfully different in the finger details that enriches the Metal Gear Saga in close reflection. It’s not even just Huey who gets this treatment. Revolver Ocelot has been a recurring character who we’ve seen through different stages of his life that paint an interesting picture of who he really is and this is no exception. Skull Face is an underappreciated main antagonist who could’ve benefited from more screen time but once you’ve cracked who he is deep down, he makes for a surprisingly effective foil for Venom Snake for, uh, spoilery reasons I don’t want to dive into. To keep it brief; his motivation regarding his loss of identity and taking revenge on a world that took it away feels oddly resonant when you remember what this series, especially by MGS2, is all about.
It’s only too bad that most of these character beats are just not frequent enough to chew into. You have to slog through so many repetitive missions and side-ops to get even a nugget of a cool cinematic or story moment. The Mother Base management system reveals itself to be shallow as no matter how much you upgrade or develop it, the actual Mother Base you can return to see your progress of building up an army is severely uninteresting to witness. You can…drive around to platforms you just built? There’s maybe a few more generic guards who greet you autonomously and maybe have conversations you could overhear? You might even come across a cutscene that happens with certain important characters stationed there when you make enough mission progress, but, uh, that’s it. It’s quite unrewarding and boring which made me feel like I was playing through some of the most tedious excess of an 8th Gen open world game again and all its warts. Chapter 2 is the worst offender for this because it’s framed as the “postgame” or “epilogue” even though that’s where you’ll get some proper closure for loose story threads that haven’t been resolved yet. To get access to these story related missions, however, you have to play through a bulk of ‘new’ missions which are just older ones you’ve already gone through but at a higher challenge level. Keep in mind, the missions have mostly been repetitive as hell, devolving to the same “find outpost, infiltrate/assault, and eliminate/capture target” formula for hours on end. You don’t technically need to finish these missions to unlock the ones that actually matter, doing leftover side ops does the job kinda, but this is still egregious busywork to have some semblance of finality with a story hinting at incredible themes that just doesn’t pan out well.
This is the only Metal Gear game that I had trouble rating for. Rising should be shot into the sun for how it irreparably damaged the cultural perception of the series, so there were no hardships there, believe me. Peacewalker was interesting, had some fun, but clearly too limited by its design to amaze me in any way that broadened my love for these games. But Metal Gear Solid V, severe flaws and all, emboldened my passion for this franchise with what Kojima tried to tackle, only to get crushed through the grinder of Konami. I guess this game was my own Phantom Pain after all.
THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON
Infinite Wealth is an anomaly. Originally, I meant this in a way that wasn't particularly endearing, but after letting this game cook with me more that's starting to change, if only a little bit. This and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth made for the most unexpected back-to-back combo I played this year. Both are these sprawling role-playing experiences trying to bridge the old and new of their respective franchise histories through addressing the fates of iconically beloved characters. Which fueled the marketing and expectations for fans like myself going in. Wondering what exactly is going to happen, and where it leaves us next. And interestingly, how both games addressed this said elephant in the room was an awkward compromise. A lack of full commitment to deliver on their initial promise of moving forwards that leaves the state of future entries very uncertain. For Infinite Wealth, I'm less positive because what I got was distractingly half-baked in a way no Yakuza/Like A Dragon entry was before. I've seen comparisons made with Yakuza 5, which I sorta understand. They're both packed with side content while messily telling stories with beating hearts underneath it all. I wouldn't call Infinite Wealth ambitious, at least not to the scale of Yakuza 5, but there's definitely something here that will leave me thinking about by the time of the next mainline entry, regardless of the execution. What we got are two games taped into one. A sequel to Ichiban Kasuga's first outing as the new lead protagonist, while the other is yet another final outing for Kazuma Kiryu who started it all -- for realsies. When I was making my way through these games, my biggest growing concern as I inched closer and closer to Infinite Wealth was the decision to make Kiryu a main protagonist again. Because if the last few games were any impression, it was that RGG were unwilling to let go of Kazuma Kiryu and his supporting cast. That despite landing success with Kasuga as the successor, they still needed to keep him and old series regulars around in some relevant capacity. Either this was a lack of full confidence in Kasuga taking lead, or because they're too sentimentally attached to Kiryu, or some mixture of both.
Now, I'm very critical of Yakuza 7. I don't love it nearly as many do. I think it has a lot of flaws which drag it back. From flimsily designed turn based combat and a story that took too long to reign in momentum to lock in for its very climax. Alongside introducing threads during that slow stretch to either try to awkwardly spice up the drama or just flat out forget. Nanba's random plot with his brother that went nowhere (isn't even acknowledged here lmao) and Adachi's plot of getting payback against the corrupt police officer working with the main antagonist that gets resolved in a literal post credit scene immediately springs to mind. I don't think it's 'great', but what Yakuza 7 sticks the landing despite that is passing the torch. We've moved on from Kiryu, and that's that. Until... Gaiden came along. Yakuza 7 was already pushing it by bringing back Kiryu, albeit in a supporting role for Ichiban's story, but Gaiden is where red flags were beginning to raise for me. Luckily, it surprisingly works as an epilogue to Yakuza 6's ending while bridging the gaps up to Infinite Wealth. Waiving my concerns about Kiryu sharing the spotlight with Ichiban, as though there's something cooking by pairing the two together like this. What I ended up getting was almost what I wanted yet at the same time, almost none at all at the same time.
Infinite Wealth wants to be two games, but it doesn't do either very well nor balance them together. I have no idea why RGG didn't use Yakuza 0 as the template for dual protagonists with their own respective plots and content that run parallel to each other until they converge in the climax. They did do this... half way through the game. When you finally switch to playing as Kiryu and everything from the trailers actually... happens. By the time the switch up happens, you only have 3-4 chapters for Kiryu alone. His stuff is incredibly backloaded as a result, mainly being relegated to glorified substories than something more integral to his side of the main story. I have the suspicion that something went down in development to cause all this. Like, there must've been more chapters intended to space out the story more evenly while accommodating the abundance of gameplay but it got rushed to meet the almost annual RGG release slot quicker. It would explain why many story beats and characters, especially beyond Kiryu's storyline, felt underdeveloped or forgotten. Maybe I'm asking too much, but considering this was marketed and intended to be Kiryu's final game -- they even gave him cancer to make it legit -- I was expecting something to wrap up loose ends in a big satisfying way that even his first finale in Yakuza 6 couldn't cover. While I was pleasantly surprised to see characters in his life pop up for closure, I was mixed on how it was treated in-game just to make the post credit scene feel moving in retrospect. I guess I'll have to mention Ichiban but I really don't have much to say because he's so impersonally involved in his second game. The first few chapters, iffy stuff aside like the Saeko romance subplot that was REALLY bad, feel like a wonderful follow-up to Yakuza 7's ending while seamlessly charting out the direction for his character in however many games he has left. The moment the ball gets rolling and when he goes to Hawaii though... it flatlines. Like, they had a strong hook for him but it got lost in the midst of the plot and what's going on with Kiryu that gained more gravitas. I can't buy into the Yakuza 5 comparisons seriously because unlike that game, Infinite Wealth has no sweeping highs or lowest lows going for it. It straddles on this fine line of just being... pretty boring, straight up mid I'd say, and for every step forward it does take from Yakuza 7 it needs to take two steps back. I'm also not kidding when I say this has the worst antagonists since Yakuza 4. How did we get back there. Look, I understand what the narrative is trying to go for on paper. This is a game about forgiveness, redemption, friendship -- the true Infinite Wealth -- along with some religious subtext the two main antagonists embody to foil Ichiban and Kiryu. Ichiban seeks selfless salvation and refuge for everyone, so he fights a bad guy who's a mockery of it. Kiryu is trying to take responsibility for his past, so he fights a bad guy representing the karma of the yakuza. These are good ideas for antagonists, but that's all it becomes. It's so underdeveloped that you can't help but wonder why the antagonists they each confront in the finale should've been swapped to feel more appropriate. Especially since Kasuga has been lacking personal stake in his own game, so an antagonist to offer him something would've been a bit fulfilling.
Moving beyond the story, Infinite Wealth's gameplay is generally a net positive in my book. Hawaii makes for a nice radical departure from every locale we've ever exploded in Yakuza/Like A Dragon. It's very big, vibrant, with so much distractions to get lost in when taking a break from whatever's going on in the main story. The substories are bit too spread thin but I enjoyed most of what I played. The mini games, like Sujimon, Crazy Eats, or Dondoko Island, felt really cool but I never sank deep into either for the sake of my insanity and time. Neither are really for me, but I see the appeal for others. Karaoke still remains my top favorite, of course. Honolulu City Lights is an instant classic and I felt too much emotion seeing Kiryu and Ichiban sing Judgment together. I've mentioned this before, I'm not really a completionist when it comes to this series, so I have to imagine this ranks very high as a monstrous beast to try and do that with.
Alright, no beating around the bush, lets get straight into it -- the turn-based combat. Now, Yakuza 7's turn based combat was... yeah, no it's kinda bad. There's no real strats at play, never any interesting enemy encounter design that invokes carefulness in approach, just spamming the same two or three most strongest abilities from a menu as long as your arm. It's... boring. Incredibly boring in a game with an overwhelming playtime that can breach 100 hours. A narrative can only do so much heavy lifting when the other half, the more important aspect for players to engage with, is slouching behind hard. I know there's many people who are here mainly for the story when it comes to games like Yakuza/Like A Dragon, but I'm here for both tbh. This is where the job system comes into play. Something I'm guaranteed RGG implemented to help remedy the lack of depth the turn based combat has. If your game doesn't have enough mechanical depth then make sure it has enough mechanical width instead. The beauty of the job system in RPGs is that it enables this layer of customization and player freedom. Every job is distinct, serves a unique function in combat, invites experimentation waiting to happen when optimizing a party for battle. RGG understands this... vaguely? Well, enough that it's a paper cutout of what a good job system looks like. Unfortunately, something that hasn't changed in Infinite Wealth by not directly addressing the key issue with the implementation. There's just no incentive to swap out of your starting job. Kiryu's the prime example of how RGG continues to botch the job system. Dragon of Dojima is incredibly imbalanced. Being way too good to swap out of by easily having more mechanical width than every other starting job combined. I'm not kidding. He can change change his basic attacks to grapple through guards, perform rush combos that lets him attack twice in a turn, and perform heat moves depending on the situation. Not even getting to how he has a special move that obliterates the turn based combat and temporarily changes the game to be a beat em up brawler. None of the other jobs have this level of flexibility going on. Not even Ichiban for some reason! And he's the main protagonist who should be getting the good stuff! They did address other criticisms I had with the turn based combat by tweaking it to take better advantage of the Dragon Engine's collision physics. Battles now feel dynamic, truly dynamic, where previously it gave you the illusion it was because party members and enemies aimlessly move around. Each party member now has their own radius where you can freely control spatial positioning. This lets you attack enemies from behind for better damage, knock them in a direction to collide with other enemies like bowling pins, sometimes even string up combo attacks on enemies by knocking them around the battlefield like bumper cars with help of your closest party member, have clearer use of AoE attacks, and can properly pick up objects in an environment to do improvised weapon attacks instead of hoping you're lucky. It's not perfect, not even 'good', as difficulty continues being a joke and the newfound approach for turn based gets exhausting in the last stretch of the game because it's still missing a modicum of depth for this new width. Nevertheless, much as I'm pretty sure I'll never get behind these games on their philosophy alone, it is reassuring that notes are being taken to get the combat up to snuff with the rest of the genre.
It's frustrating. This game was disappointing the more I do understand the intent underneath so much here. I spent months playing through entry after entry to get to this current endpoint. I can't even say I didn't enjoy this at least. I spent over 100 hrs into this and don't regret most of that experience. There's moments I liked, but never loved. The scene near the end that beautifully compares and contrasts Ichiban and Kiryu comes close... but it's placed in a game that had to strangely walk back on a lot of set-up in Yakuza 7 for the plot to even unfold. Knowing that it was written after Infinite Wealth was done, Gaiden is especially awkward looking back because so much of it didn't matter in this game. While seemingly having a resolution for Kiryu, I can't help but feel it's not truly over yet. So, this didn't work entirely as his final swan song for me because what he had to learn was more/less what he already learned in previous games. This is Ichiban's second chapter of his life and I'm left unsure what to expect or get excited for in his next game. I think RGG are aware of the faults in their approach in role-playing game design, but it's incremental improvements at best. My biggest hope is that Yamai, my new favorite of the newer characters, gets the opportunity to come back as a mainstay for Kasuga's games and become his Majima. He's way too great of a character to be left in just this entry. If not, then im just really concerned about the future of this series I grew to respect and love and hope won't change.
Infinite Wealth is an anomaly. Originally, I meant this in a way that wasn't particularly endearing, but after letting this game cook with me more that's starting to change, if only a little bit. This and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth made for the most unexpected back-to-back combo I played this year. Both are these sprawling role-playing experiences trying to bridge the old and new of their respective franchise histories through addressing the fates of iconically beloved characters. Which fueled the marketing and expectations for fans like myself going in. Wondering what exactly is going to happen, and where it leaves us next. And interestingly, how both games addressed this said elephant in the room was an awkward compromise. A lack of full commitment to deliver on their initial promise of moving forwards that leaves the state of future entries very uncertain. For Infinite Wealth, I'm less positive because what I got was distractingly half-baked in a way no Yakuza/Like A Dragon entry was before. I've seen comparisons made with Yakuza 5, which I sorta understand. They're both packed with side content while messily telling stories with beating hearts underneath it all. I wouldn't call Infinite Wealth ambitious, at least not to the scale of Yakuza 5, but there's definitely something here that will leave me thinking about by the time of the next mainline entry, regardless of the execution. What we got are two games taped into one. A sequel to Ichiban Kasuga's first outing as the new lead protagonist, while the other is yet another final outing for Kazuma Kiryu who started it all -- for realsies. When I was making my way through these games, my biggest growing concern as I inched closer and closer to Infinite Wealth was the decision to make Kiryu a main protagonist again. Because if the last few games were any impression, it was that RGG were unwilling to let go of Kazuma Kiryu and his supporting cast. That despite landing success with Kasuga as the successor, they still needed to keep him and old series regulars around in some relevant capacity. Either this was a lack of full confidence in Kasuga taking lead, or because they're too sentimentally attached to Kiryu, or some mixture of both.
Now, I'm very critical of Yakuza 7. I don't love it nearly as many do. I think it has a lot of flaws which drag it back. From flimsily designed turn based combat and a story that took too long to reign in momentum to lock in for its very climax. Alongside introducing threads during that slow stretch to either try to awkwardly spice up the drama or just flat out forget. Nanba's random plot with his brother that went nowhere (isn't even acknowledged here lmao) and Adachi's plot of getting payback against the corrupt police officer working with the main antagonist that gets resolved in a literal post credit scene immediately springs to mind. I don't think it's 'great', but what Yakuza 7 sticks the landing despite that is passing the torch. We've moved on from Kiryu, and that's that. Until... Gaiden came along. Yakuza 7 was already pushing it by bringing back Kiryu, albeit in a supporting role for Ichiban's story, but Gaiden is where red flags were beginning to raise for me. Luckily, it surprisingly works as an epilogue to Yakuza 6's ending while bridging the gaps up to Infinite Wealth. Waiving my concerns about Kiryu sharing the spotlight with Ichiban, as though there's something cooking by pairing the two together like this. What I ended up getting was almost what I wanted yet at the same time, almost none at all at the same time.
Infinite Wealth wants to be two games, but it doesn't do either very well nor balance them together. I have no idea why RGG didn't use Yakuza 0 as the template for dual protagonists with their own respective plots and content that run parallel to each other until they converge in the climax. They did do this... half way through the game. When you finally switch to playing as Kiryu and everything from the trailers actually... happens. By the time the switch up happens, you only have 3-4 chapters for Kiryu alone. His stuff is incredibly backloaded as a result, mainly being relegated to glorified substories than something more integral to his side of the main story. I have the suspicion that something went down in development to cause all this. Like, there must've been more chapters intended to space out the story more evenly while accommodating the abundance of gameplay but it got rushed to meet the almost annual RGG release slot quicker. It would explain why many story beats and characters, especially beyond Kiryu's storyline, felt underdeveloped or forgotten. Maybe I'm asking too much, but considering this was marketed and intended to be Kiryu's final game -- they even gave him cancer to make it legit -- I was expecting something to wrap up loose ends in a big satisfying way that even his first finale in Yakuza 6 couldn't cover. While I was pleasantly surprised to see characters in his life pop up for closure, I was mixed on how it was treated in-game just to make the post credit scene feel moving in retrospect. I guess I'll have to mention Ichiban but I really don't have much to say because he's so impersonally involved in his second game. The first few chapters, iffy stuff aside like the Saeko romance subplot that was REALLY bad, feel like a wonderful follow-up to Yakuza 7's ending while seamlessly charting out the direction for his character in however many games he has left. The moment the ball gets rolling and when he goes to Hawaii though... it flatlines. Like, they had a strong hook for him but it got lost in the midst of the plot and what's going on with Kiryu that gained more gravitas. I can't buy into the Yakuza 5 comparisons seriously because unlike that game, Infinite Wealth has no sweeping highs or lowest lows going for it. It straddles on this fine line of just being... pretty boring, straight up mid I'd say, and for every step forward it does take from Yakuza 7 it needs to take two steps back. I'm also not kidding when I say this has the worst antagonists since Yakuza 4. How did we get back there. Look, I understand what the narrative is trying to go for on paper. This is a game about forgiveness, redemption, friendship -- the true Infinite Wealth -- along with some religious subtext the two main antagonists embody to foil Ichiban and Kiryu. Ichiban seeks selfless salvation and refuge for everyone, so he fights a bad guy who's a mockery of it. Kiryu is trying to take responsibility for his past, so he fights a bad guy representing the karma of the yakuza. These are good ideas for antagonists, but that's all it becomes. It's so underdeveloped that you can't help but wonder why the antagonists they each confront in the finale should've been swapped to feel more appropriate. Especially since Kasuga has been lacking personal stake in his own game, so an antagonist to offer him something would've been a bit fulfilling.
Moving beyond the story, Infinite Wealth's gameplay is generally a net positive in my book. Hawaii makes for a nice radical departure from every locale we've ever exploded in Yakuza/Like A Dragon. It's very big, vibrant, with so much distractions to get lost in when taking a break from whatever's going on in the main story. The substories are bit too spread thin but I enjoyed most of what I played. The mini games, like Sujimon, Crazy Eats, or Dondoko Island, felt really cool but I never sank deep into either for the sake of my insanity and time. Neither are really for me, but I see the appeal for others. Karaoke still remains my top favorite, of course. Honolulu City Lights is an instant classic and I felt too much emotion seeing Kiryu and Ichiban sing Judgment together. I've mentioned this before, I'm not really a completionist when it comes to this series, so I have to imagine this ranks very high as a monstrous beast to try and do that with.
Alright, no beating around the bush, lets get straight into it -- the turn-based combat. Now, Yakuza 7's turn based combat was... yeah, no it's kinda bad. There's no real strats at play, never any interesting enemy encounter design that invokes carefulness in approach, just spamming the same two or three most strongest abilities from a menu as long as your arm. It's... boring. Incredibly boring in a game with an overwhelming playtime that can breach 100 hours. A narrative can only do so much heavy lifting when the other half, the more important aspect for players to engage with, is slouching behind hard. I know there's many people who are here mainly for the story when it comes to games like Yakuza/Like A Dragon, but I'm here for both tbh. This is where the job system comes into play. Something I'm guaranteed RGG implemented to help remedy the lack of depth the turn based combat has. If your game doesn't have enough mechanical depth then make sure it has enough mechanical width instead. The beauty of the job system in RPGs is that it enables this layer of customization and player freedom. Every job is distinct, serves a unique function in combat, invites experimentation waiting to happen when optimizing a party for battle. RGG understands this... vaguely? Well, enough that it's a paper cutout of what a good job system looks like. Unfortunately, something that hasn't changed in Infinite Wealth by not directly addressing the key issue with the implementation. There's just no incentive to swap out of your starting job. Kiryu's the prime example of how RGG continues to botch the job system. Dragon of Dojima is incredibly imbalanced. Being way too good to swap out of by easily having more mechanical width than every other starting job combined. I'm not kidding. He can change change his basic attacks to grapple through guards, perform rush combos that lets him attack twice in a turn, and perform heat moves depending on the situation. Not even getting to how he has a special move that obliterates the turn based combat and temporarily changes the game to be a beat em up brawler. None of the other jobs have this level of flexibility going on. Not even Ichiban for some reason! And he's the main protagonist who should be getting the good stuff! They did address other criticisms I had with the turn based combat by tweaking it to take better advantage of the Dragon Engine's collision physics. Battles now feel dynamic, truly dynamic, where previously it gave you the illusion it was because party members and enemies aimlessly move around. Each party member now has their own radius where you can freely control spatial positioning. This lets you attack enemies from behind for better damage, knock them in a direction to collide with other enemies like bowling pins, sometimes even string up combo attacks on enemies by knocking them around the battlefield like bumper cars with help of your closest party member, have clearer use of AoE attacks, and can properly pick up objects in an environment to do improvised weapon attacks instead of hoping you're lucky. It's not perfect, not even 'good', as difficulty continues being a joke and the newfound approach for turn based gets exhausting in the last stretch of the game because it's still missing a modicum of depth for this new width. Nevertheless, much as I'm pretty sure I'll never get behind these games on their philosophy alone, it is reassuring that notes are being taken to get the combat up to snuff with the rest of the genre.
It's frustrating. This game was disappointing the more I do understand the intent underneath so much here. I spent months playing through entry after entry to get to this current endpoint. I can't even say I didn't enjoy this at least. I spent over 100 hrs into this and don't regret most of that experience. There's moments I liked, but never loved. The scene near the end that beautifully compares and contrasts Ichiban and Kiryu comes close... but it's placed in a game that had to strangely walk back on a lot of set-up in Yakuza 7 for the plot to even unfold. Knowing that it was written after Infinite Wealth was done, Gaiden is especially awkward looking back because so much of it didn't matter in this game. While seemingly having a resolution for Kiryu, I can't help but feel it's not truly over yet. So, this didn't work entirely as his final swan song for me because what he had to learn was more/less what he already learned in previous games. This is Ichiban's second chapter of his life and I'm left unsure what to expect or get excited for in his next game. I think RGG are aware of the faults in their approach in role-playing game design, but it's incremental improvements at best. My biggest hope is that Yamai, my new favorite of the newer characters, gets the opportunity to come back as a mainstay for Kasuga's games and become his Majima. He's way too great of a character to be left in just this entry. If not, then im just really concerned about the future of this series I grew to respect and love and hope won't change.
This review contains spoilers
Este juego es solo fanservice de mierda y no debería de existir. Eso sí, tetazas las de las beauty and the beast. Estaría mejor sino crashease cada dos segundos(Lo juego en ps3).
FUCK RICH PEOPLE