My 5th yakuza game done and by no real surprise it's easily the weakest out of the games I've played thus far. Now this isn't entirely fair has I played 0 and the kiwamis before this and this is a much older game compared to those but I feel like even considering that this game has a lot of pretty large issues that unfortunately plague it and make it very hard to enjoy to the same extent as the others. Combat in this games just feels like a slog, yes you got the infamous never ending guarding enemies and yes it's just as bad as you've heard, a argument in favor of it I've seen is that it warrants a more cautious and patient playstyle from the player and while that sounds nice on paper in practice it unfortunately doesn't work that. I studied the A.I. fairly closely due to me wanting to make sure my tiger drop timing was on point and I noticed most enemies don't attack or will at least take forever to attack if you do nothing and will instead wait for you to make a move meaning you will always be at some sort of disadvantage to Starr off with as you have to punch first and then react to what the enemy might do instead of just waiting to react. Story was alright but it's got some bad pacing issues mainly in chapter 4 and chapter 10. Honestly this game probably deserves more of a 5 than a 6 but I feel like that baseline yakuza charm and quality still exists under the surface and giving it a 5 just feels a bit too mean as there are still plenty of activities to enjoy but this game is definitely bottom of the rankings without a doubt.