This is easily one of the best Yakuza/Like a Dragon games, and I'm glad that it's finally available in the west. I don't have much to say really, it's a very faithful remaster of the original (with some odd changes here and there, I'm not entirely on board with the kamehamehas in combat and literal giants), meaning that the gameplay might seem outdated in some aspects, but generally it is very close to Yakuza 0's gameplay since it was made around the same time on the same engine. Thankfully the slightly dated gameplay does not take away from the combat, which is still very enjoyable, as it should be, considering the majority of the gameplay is comprised of combat segments. In particular, the Wild Dancer fighting style is my favorite, evokes feelings of Majima's Breaker style in Yakuza 0 where you just endlessly spin around, beating down your enemies. Story-wise it's great, with a story that rarely had any low points or filler moments for me, unlike some other RGG games. The side content is enjoyable as well, with stupidly ridiculous substories as always and a karaoke mod, both being series staple at this point. Overall, I'd say this game is definitely on the higher end of RGG games, and I'm glad we finally got it in the West. I just hope that in the future we can get other Japan-locked RGG games, such as Kenzan and the Black Panther games.

Reviewed on Mar 25, 2023


Comments