"We are the Yakuza 4!" - Kiryu, Akiyama, Saejima and Tanimura

Alright, this one's gonna be a bit shorter. I liked Yakuza 4. In fact - I liked it very much.

Gameplay wise - very similar to Yakuza 3, but just... better. The combat feels smoother (no more blockuza) and gives you a lot more options. The four characters don't really feel that different (don't expect DMC5 level variety) but they're all enjoyable in their own right. I just need to say, they made Kiryu feel like a beast in this game and I love it. Oh, and they made the chase sections better. They're kinda fun now.

They added underground and rooftop sections to Kamurocho (TOTK?), but they really aren't that interesting. Not much to say here.

The game looks a bit better than 3. Animations are definitely improved and there is some added detail here and there, but it's still a PS3 game.

Story-wise... well. The game does feel a bit unfocused, thanks to the campaign being split between 4 different characters, but they make it work. It feels like there's a lot happening, but when you think about the story is actually kinda simple? There's a big conspiracy in the background, sure, but in terms of what actually happens in-game - not much. I do like the new characters, especially Akiyama, voiced by Koichi Yamadera. As a Cowboy Bebop enjoyer I was very happy to hear him. In general the story was fun, definitely had it's fair share of hype moments towards the end.

Coming up, Yakuza 5. There sure is a lot of people on the cover.

Huh. Color me surprised.

The talk surrounding this game is... mixed and therefore I was expecting to be disappointed. I thought the combat would be unbearable, it did, after all, earn the "blockuza" title. Well... it kinda wasn't bad.

First off - if you, like me, buy all the Yakuza games on a modern platform to play them chronologically you will be faced with a jarring jump from Kiwami 2 to Yakuza 3. After beating a full remake released in 2016 you immediately get thrown into an early PS3 title with a bumped resolution and framerate. It's not like it deeply disturbed me - it has a certain charm and the game definitely didn't age too bad, but it is nonetheless a noticeable downgrade.

But, as to not be too negative, I have to admit the game looks and feels pretty good. Definitely not ugly, although the faces on some of the background characters and some of the animations (goodness, the walking animation of the children...) are so bad that they kinda crack me up. I think the new locations, especially the beach in front of Morning Glory, look pretty great.

In terms of combat... I heard that it's messed up because of the increased framerate, the AI is not used to twice the original speed and the heat meter goes down too fast. I'm certainly willing to believe that, but I will not verify it. What I can verify is that the enemies certainly block a lot. It's not too bad when you're fighting groups of weaker enemies, the game is actually a lot of fun in those moments, but some of the bosses are really nerve-racking. By the end of the game you should have combos long enough to break through the block and get some hits in, but that doesn't really mitigate the issue. It's just annoying and time-wasting. Overall the combat feels fine, I saw no point in the weapon system that they seemed to be pushing. I didn't feel like engaging with the whole upgrade stuff so I was running around with the starting stick and it didn't deal a whole lot of damage outside of heat actions, but hey, I managed. The game is overall much easier than it's predecessors.

When it comes to wasting time, this game offers you a lot of occasions to walk around the city aimlessly until you finally bump into the person you were looking for or to chase people around the very same city. Those sequences were actually the only times that I got to see the game over screen. Also the random combat encounters are much harder to dodge because they're really not well signified. Annoying stuff.

Finally, the story. I actually think it's fantastic. Right behind 0's. A well put together conspiracy with high stakes coupled with a cast of characters that I actually cared about? And a great villain to boot? AND multiple fatherhood themes? I actually almost teared up at times. These Japanese fellas know how to get to me.

All in all, probably my 2nd favorite in the series. Hope they follow it up well with... Yakuza 4! Coming soon.

It's spring-break so I'm gonna have a lot more time to spend in Kamurocho. Expect the next review very soon.

A really good first outing for Evening Star. I'm a sucker for 3D platformers, so I had a great time with this. The physics and movement feel satisfying and on-point, especially once you get a hang of the moveset. The game is at it's best when you breeze through the level, barely ever stopping, not touching the ground with your feet. Fortunately the level design is great and really compliments the movement. Speed is a reward for skillful play. That's how it's supposed to be.

They did what they could with their budget when it comes to presentation. The game certainly is vibrant and creative. I like the whole crayon look they've got going on. The music is great, as expected from Tee Lopes. The cutscenes are where the lack of budget shows, but I'd rather they spend the money on the stuff that really matters. The story in this game is just background noise.

My only problems are the underwhelming bosses (figures) and the occasional clipping issues. Other than that, I'm not disappointed.

My Yakuza marathon continues with Kiwami 2. I quite liked this one.

The new engine, I believe it's called the Dragon Engine, is great. The game looks and feels great. The new combat felt much more satisfying to me, every punch had it's impact. It is a much simpler system though, far less upgrades, less combos, less special moves. It got pretty repetitive after a while. In that regard 0 and Kiwami are better, offering robust skill trees and different battle styles. One more thing I appreciate about Kiwami 2's combat is the lack of stagger after getting shot. The armed enemies were much more bearable here.

So while the game looks great and the combat feels great, one downside of the engine is the accursed 30 FPS cap. The bane of the 8th generation. Going from the silky smooth 0 and Kiwami, that was a major disappointment. I'm the annoying kind of guy who really cares about getting his 60 FPS.

The story is mediocre. Filled with plot-twist, conspiracies stacked upon conspiracies, secret Koreans left and right. Some threads got too little attention in my opinion. I have heard that the later games are even more convoluted and bloated, so that's gonna be tough. There are characters I do like here, there are some kinda emotional moments, but it's not as strong as in the previous two games, and Kiwami was already siginificantly worse than 0.

Gonna take a short break from Yakuza to play through Penny's Big Breakaway now. Then it's time for Yakuza 3 or "blockuza" as it seems to be named by the community.

Well, that certainly was a Yakuza game.

I don't know, I've got a complicated relationship with these games. They're some of the most repetitive, padded out games out there, but they have this special charm that is irresistible to me. So I keep playing. I keep mashing. I keep running around Kamurocho. I keep beating Majima up. Then I mash some more.

The story this time around wasn't as good as the one in Yakuza 0, but it was pretty good, especially with the added (in 0) context of Kiryu's and Nishiki's relationship prior to the events of Kiwami. A simple story with some nice twists and pretty good character moments, but really not as compelling as its prequel.

I don't engage with side content in Yakuza. Maybe that's a mistake, but the substories I did play are bland and repetitive. And there's too many of them.

Ultimately, when I was not being assaulted by the numerous stupid gun-wielding thugs and bosses, I enjoyed my time with Kiwami. On to Kiwami 2!

I'm gonna be so sick of this series when I'm done with this marathon...

A simple, unremarkable 3D platformer, that is also structured and built like a 2D platformer. A bit of harmless, unchallenging fun that lacks any sort of its own identity.

But I like 3D platformers, even the simple ones. Playing this on the Deck while laying on my couch was a pleasant experience.

I bought this one on a big sale on Steam for less than 10 bucks. I recommend you do so as well if you are interested in this game.

Abandoned it while fighting the last boss. Not hard. Just frustrating. Also I really stopped caring by the end.

Well, can't say I don't see why this game is so revered. A truly impressive achievement. The level of detail and complexity in every aspect is astonishing. So much effort and ambition has been put into this game that I can almost overlook the issues I had with it. Almost.

Unfortunately among the fantastic soundtrack, beautiful, detailed visuals, greatly expanded stealth gameplay and very competent story there is a fair bit of clunk, menu clutter and a sizeable amount of dissapointing bosses. These things did not ultimately take away too much from my enjoyment of Kojima's magnum opus, so I'll just take away half a star.

Truly the solidest of all the Metal Gears. Even if there is no Metal Gear present in the game. Or Solid Snake. Huh.

Simply fantastic. The leap between the PS1 and the PS2 is always baffling to me. In my opinon MGS2 is better than it's predecessor in almost every way - the graphics are breathtaking for 2001, if I saw that rain back then my head would explode. The gameplay - the most important aspect - is TIGHT. MGS2 gives you so many more options, so much more freedom, everything feels so responsive and smooth, in no small part thanks to the 60 fps, and you finally get to engane in Tactical Espionage Action, with it taking center stage instead of the bosses this time around. A good call in my opinion. The combat is also much better though, with the addition of new weapons and first-person aiming.

I have already touched on presentation before, but let me emphasize - the jump from 1 to 2 is astonishing, not only graphically but also in terms of cutscene direction, animation and basically everything surrounding it, including music and voice acting.

While I appreciate the simplicity of MGS1's story, I must say I enjoyed 2's way more. Without getting into details - it's a fantastic conspiracy plot that surprised me and kept me intrigued throughout, asking difficult questions and leaving me off with a beautiful, if a bit obvious, message from Kojima. Also, Raiden really grew on me during the course of the story. I like him.
Although I did get a bit annoyed at all the cutscenes at a certain point. Felt like a damn movie sometimes.

The one thing that MGS1 did better was the atmosphere. Shadow Moses was such a fantastic setting and comparing the Shell to it feels almost unfair.

Such a fun game. The premise is really silly - a bunch of apes mind-controlled by a super-intelligent ape are sent to different time periods and you've gotta travel back in time to capture the escaped apes. I love it. This game is so colorful, lively and fun in every aspect, the apes are very entertaining little fellows and capturing them is infinitely satisfying.

One thing that's really interesting about this game is the control scheme. It's one of the first, if not THE first, games to require the DualShock and the devs were really excited about that. It's really weird to think that the dual analog sticks that we are so used to by now used to be a revolutionary, exciting feature. They are used to the fullest extent here, not for controlling the camera, but instead for controlling the various gadgets and vehicles you come across. Some real original stuff here.

The game really didn't age too bad. The camera is not even half as bad as I would expect from a 90's 3D platformer, I never really found it to get in the way of my enjoyment and the control scheme, while unusual, is easy to get used to.

I'd recommend giving this one a try.

That was SOLID.

Sorry. But really, the original MGS did not disappoint. It's an extremely impressive game with a strong character, great setting and a gripping, although a bit overwritten story. Great voice acting and music, fantastic atmosphere, solid gameplay. It is a hard game and I am a bad player, so it did frustrate me at times and took me much longer than it should have to complete, but that made it all the more satisfying when I did succeed. It doesn't really live up to the "tactical espionage action" title. It's more of a boss rush with some stealth sections in between. But the bosses are decent fun, each is pretty unique... great stuff.

This is my kind of movie game.

Well, that was fantastic.

Loved my time with this one, a much more pleasant experience than Sly 2. The game is streamlined, much less tedious, repetitive and annoying. I see how the lack of collectibles might sting, but I didn't really bother collecting them when they were there, so...

The variety of gameplay styles is fun, though some additions are worse than the others. Particularly the diving missions and the whole pirate shtick, felt a bit out of place.

The story doesn't have the same stakes that Sly 2's or even Sly 1's story had, but it's a nice send-off for the gang and the characterisation is on point, as always.

Yeah, I think Sly 3 is the best in the series. Now I just gotta wait for Sony to rerelease Thieves in Time on PS5 so I can play that one.