9 years after the original Japanese release this game finally see the light of day overseas and it was great. The combat basics is the usual bread and butter of the action Yakuza games but with of course, a samurai twist, pre-dating Yakuza 0 this is the first game in the series that introduced style switching, including Sword, Gun, Sword + Gun (Known as Wild Dancer), and Fists. All of them have their uses and are all fun to use (except maybe Fists as the damage output is pretty low).

The story is based on real life events with a real life person named Sakamoto Ryoma (with the appearance of series star Kazuma Kiryu) which has you infiltrating the Shinsengumi to find you killed your father while reforming Japanese society along the way. This is a must play for people into Japanese history and can also act as a gateway for people that want to get into its history too.

This game can also act as an entry point for people looking to get into the series as it's completely disconnected from the rest other than multiple characters taking the appearance of certain characters from the main series. Don't be scared to start here cause it's great.

Now RGG can you please bring over Kenzan!, Kurohyou and remaster Dead Souls please?

Only really played this so I could go into Alan Wake 2 without missing anything and im glad I did. Story was pretty good and the kind to get you using your mind a bit (although could be confusing towards the end), atmosphere and art design was really good, and gameplay was decent although got repetitive since at the end of the day it boiled down to shoot, throw, shoot, throw. Wish they removed enemy encounters altogether after you take them out the first time, since the game has randomly timed missions that pop up people could use that if they wanna go shoot stuff, having enemies respawn as you enter a room trying to do something made the combat feel more repetitive than it was.

Overall solid game though, looking forward to finally playing Alan Wake 2

Good step in the right direction from FF13, while level design can still be a bit claustrophobic its not just walk straight anymore. Each area acts as a hub where you progress the story, do side quests, fight monsters, I really liked the gameplay loop of this one compared to the previous.

Really liked Serah and Noels dynamic but I do wish there was a third character along for the ride, mainly cause i wasnt that big on the monster capture system and would have much preferred just having a proper third character. Also this soundtrack to this game was amazing, one of the best in the series.