such an odd first impression for the new protag but i see the vision. ichiban and his friends are definitely an amazing and charming bunch, I loved every single interaction with them. the villains in this game are weird as well, but the build-up to that ending was 100% worth it.
but oh my god we gotta talk about the gameplay
the fucking gameplay
it's not bad for a first switch in genres but man, every enemy in this game ranges from "one-shot easy wins" to "lvl 60 damage sponge" which just causes an unnecessary and annoying amount of grinding. they really did not know how to balance this game at all, and it's glaringly obvious with the last few bosses in the game. the new yokohama city is absolutely gorgeous. it's very fun to explore but i'd say it's a little TOO big, making for some tedious traversal. sure, there are taxis, but it's not like they can go everywhere.
overall this game was such a treat, specially for the new protag.
i think it'd be the best yakuza if the story took itself more seriously from the start and the issues with the gameplay were ironed out.

This is the highest 4.5/5 rating I can possibly give a game. As much as I absolutely adore this game to death, I cannot justify giving it a 5/5 because there are certain flaws that shouldn't be ignored.

First, the good. This might be my favorite story ever told in a video game. It's at least up there in my top 5. Benedict, Frederica, and Roland are phenomenal characters and they perfectly evolve alongside the growing politics of Norzelia. Decision-making in this game is incredible. The combat, while weird at first for someone more used to games like Fire Emblem, is very engaging. I especially like how each character is given a specific niche so that it's worth bringing in a more gimmicky character for a particularly tough chapter.

Tragically, though, this game has some missteps that made me reconsider giving this game a perfect score. Some voice performances are far from stellar. Even Serenoa, the main character and one you will hear talking constantly, has several very stilted lines. Serenoa is actually written very well, but it's harder to see that when he sounds so...wrong at times.

I played this game on hard mode, which was a very fair and fun challenge for about 70% of the game. For the remaining 30%, I wondered if those chapters were even playtested on hard mode. They genuinely seemed impossible - maybe hard mode is meant for a new game plus playthrough, but on a standard new game it was a fairly uneven and frustrating experience.

Still, solely for the phenomenal story, characters, and decision-making, this game is a masterpiece. I can't wait to do another playthrough once 2022 stops bombarding me with other masterpieces.