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This review contains spoilers
Easy GOTY nominee, the game is absolutely fun and big in general but it does make some things better than others.
The upgrade in the gameplay since Yakuza 7 is very notorious, now is a bit more strategic instead of just being a random mess were you basically try to bash the enemy with whatever you have near, at the same time they made the game a lot more easier, there's no more game over if you lose a fight in the story and also there's a lot of money and items that they gift you, personally this didn't harm my gameplay cause I'm usually on a rush when finishing story games but I think it's important to mention, besides I don't think these games should be too grindy, it's Yakuza after all, not Elden Dragon: Infinite Dark Souls.
The characters introduced in this game have me in a 50/50, the ones in the ''good side'' are all amazing and pretty unique, the villains/bosses are not bad but there's like barely any of them, I mean sure, all the fights are incredible but when you have a game so big that it takes up to 2 countries and 2 different evil organizations I would've expected more unique villains, and that's without mentioning how pathetic most of them are at the end except for Yamai and maybe Ebina (I would've said he was pathetic too but his speech and fight convinced me).
In contrary for what a lotta people say online I think the story was great, most of them are just forgetting the hype this game got was for the question ''Will Kiryu Survive?'' and when they got the answer to that they swept the game. The reason I think this game has a nice story it's because it manages to be engaging without resorting to constantly confusing the player with useless plot twists that later turn into nothing, in other words, because it's simpler than other previous games, same exact reason why I think the Judgment saga has the best stories in the Yakuza games, the way this saga generally tries to write stories (at least with the older ones) is by making them too complicated and tangled, which in the long run in my opinion doesn't add any points in "being a better story." Personally I hope RGG will continue creating stories like this.
As for the music, as always, it bops. Although I expected a larger amount of bangers I can't state anything negative against it since it has Barracuda, Brutality -Rebuild- and The End of Denial, karaoke is cool too.
Regarding the side content, it's most probably the best one yet, like, since Yakuza 7 this is the game I've struggled the most to follow the main story because of how many side stuff you have at your disposal. Except for obvious painful stuff like Mahjong and Shogi there's literally not a single bad or boring minigame in this.
In respect of the finale, As much I said I liked the story, the ending left me with a very bad taste, there's so many loose ends and they give such an abrupt and bitter ending to Kiryu, the charismatic protagonist that carried the series since day one, if the next game turns out to be a Gaiden that answers the loose ends I would feel relief but mostly anger because I don't believe a game that it's supposed to be the last one of one of the protagonists, packing so much hype for answers should end like this. As for wether Kiryu made it or not, I'm one of the people that they're sure he died time later after the post credit cutscene, after all he had supposedly only 6 months to live and only 2 months went approximately and he already looked really weak and sick. So R.I.P. KIRYU.
Final Opinion: Marvellous game, can't recommend it as an entry point to the series (although I've seen a lot of people do it), can't say anything that hasn't been said already about the DLC NG+ drama but I really hope that RGG won't get used to shamelessly put stuff like this as dlcs, I love hawaii!! (✿◠‿◠). 6/7
The upgrade in the gameplay since Yakuza 7 is very notorious, now is a bit more strategic instead of just being a random mess were you basically try to bash the enemy with whatever you have near, at the same time they made the game a lot more easier, there's no more game over if you lose a fight in the story and also there's a lot of money and items that they gift you, personally this didn't harm my gameplay cause I'm usually on a rush when finishing story games but I think it's important to mention, besides I don't think these games should be too grindy, it's Yakuza after all, not Elden Dragon: Infinite Dark Souls.
The characters introduced in this game have me in a 50/50, the ones in the ''good side'' are all amazing and pretty unique, the villains/bosses are not bad but there's like barely any of them, I mean sure, all the fights are incredible but when you have a game so big that it takes up to 2 countries and 2 different evil organizations I would've expected more unique villains, and that's without mentioning how pathetic most of them are at the end except for Yamai and maybe Ebina (I would've said he was pathetic too but his speech and fight convinced me).
In contrary for what a lotta people say online I think the story was great, most of them are just forgetting the hype this game got was for the question ''Will Kiryu Survive?'' and when they got the answer to that they swept the game. The reason I think this game has a nice story it's because it manages to be engaging without resorting to constantly confusing the player with useless plot twists that later turn into nothing, in other words, because it's simpler than other previous games, same exact reason why I think the Judgment saga has the best stories in the Yakuza games, the way this saga generally tries to write stories (at least with the older ones) is by making them too complicated and tangled, which in the long run in my opinion doesn't add any points in "being a better story." Personally I hope RGG will continue creating stories like this.
As for the music, as always, it bops. Although I expected a larger amount of bangers I can't state anything negative against it since it has Barracuda, Brutality -Rebuild- and The End of Denial, karaoke is cool too.
Regarding the side content, it's most probably the best one yet, like, since Yakuza 7 this is the game I've struggled the most to follow the main story because of how many side stuff you have at your disposal. Except for obvious painful stuff like Mahjong and Shogi there's literally not a single bad or boring minigame in this.
In respect of the finale, As much I said I liked the story, the ending left me with a very bad taste, there's so many loose ends and they give such an abrupt and bitter ending to Kiryu, the charismatic protagonist that carried the series since day one, if the next game turns out to be a Gaiden that answers the loose ends I would feel relief but mostly anger because I don't believe a game that it's supposed to be the last one of one of the protagonists, packing so much hype for answers should end like this. As for wether Kiryu made it or not, I'm one of the people that they're sure he died time later after the post credit cutscene, after all he had supposedly only 6 months to live and only 2 months went approximately and he already looked really weak and sick. So R.I.P. KIRYU.
Final Opinion: Marvellous game, can't recommend it as an entry point to the series (although I've seen a lot of people do it), can't say anything that hasn't been said already about the DLC NG+ drama but I really hope that RGG won't get used to shamelessly put stuff like this as dlcs, I love hawaii!! (✿◠‿◠). 6/7
Definitely the biggest disappointment in 2023 for me, Payday 2 is my 2nd most played game in steam, got all the achievements except for the last 2 dlcs and when I got the secret ending not much later they announced payday 3 and got so hyped, my thoughts on the beta were ''well it's very scuffed but it's just a beta, just a little taste of the full thing'' but when they made the ''full release'' I was jumpscared with regret, everything was the exact same or sometimes even worse than the beta, like you were literally unable to play the game because the genius devs thought it would be a good idea to make the game MULTIPLAYER ONLY so unless you found a sv with a random you couldn't do anything, worse than that you couldn't even play with your friends because there was no option to create a lobby anyways, and the gameplay? Incredibly boring and generic, trying to be covered up by the ''modern graphics and revolutionary mechanics''.
I was already angry when they took the perfect secret ending from payday 2 away from the gang, but when I played the game, damn. I couldn't even cry out of sadness and anger, it was like those moments where you're getting a scolding from your parents and they say ''I'm not even angry I'm just disappointed'' but from your parents perspective. Luckily enough I was able to refund it.
I was already angry when they took the perfect secret ending from payday 2 away from the gang, but when I played the game, damn. I couldn't even cry out of sadness and anger, it was like those moments where you're getting a scolding from your parents and they say ''I'm not even angry I'm just disappointed'' but from your parents perspective. Luckily enough I was able to refund it.
Definitely one of the best Ryu Ga Gotoku, and the best for me because it got me into the series. I wouldn't say it's a perfect game because it has it's plot moments but that's like 5% of the game while the rest of the thing its absolutely amazing, the story telling is just captivating and at the end of every chapter you will have a cliffhanger to make you anxious and wonder what is about to happen in the next one, I literally never thought that a game about 2 washed yakuzas would made me shed a tear. The gameplay is very unique since you have up to 8 different styles to beat the ever f*ck out of your enemies, and even tho in other games like DmC you can use multiple characters and or styles, I have yet to see a game that gives you the free will to use them all in the same fight, besides the distinct yakuza gameplay that is like a WWE rumble match but with more style and particles so that it looks cooler. The soundtrack in this saga never flops (like literally in any game) but this game in particular has a huge amount of bangers, I can't name all of them but a few examples are: Two Dragons, Reign, Pledge of Demon, For Buddy, Judgment, 24-hour Cinderella and a lot more. These games THRIVE with the side content in general and this one doesn't get behind, I strongly recommend with this game (and the ones in the rest of the series) to just try and enjoy it with all the side stuff before going all out with the main story. This game changed my life to the point I could hold not getting 100% completion and transforming me into a Like a Dragon fan. I really think that everyone should try this game at least once.