It’s been quite a few months since Infinite Wealth was released, and since then I haven’t played it. I really wanted to let the game marinate in my head, because truthfully, Infinite Wealth was quite a difficult game for me to come to grips with. It’s no secret that the Yakuza series is no stranger to problems in its storytelling. Hell, aside from 0 and maybe a couple others, I’d be hard pressed to argue that the games are some sort of high-art, prestigious, deep, and philosophical stories, and that’s never what I look for in these games. The Yakuza games are trope-laden, melodramatic, cheesy, formulaic stories, and that’s honestly kind of why I love them.

I think these games balance a sort of fine line between the rich, emotional storytelling you’d associate with narrative-driven games and the absurd cheesiness of the yakuza crime drama or shonen anime. It’s a lot like Gintama in many ways (which is why I love that series so much). Like Gintama, this kind of storytelling lends itself to a certain sincerity I don’t really get out of a lot of other games, and Infinite Wealth reflects that sincerity more than anything.

There was a lot of skepticism going into Infinite Wealth’s release. Even outside SEGA’s stupid premium versions or whatever the fuck, a certain major story beat was revealed in the promotional material that had many players rolling their eyes at how RGG would approach it. This mistrust stems from people’s belief that RGG has this outright refusal to let Kiryu Kazuma go, as evident with him returning to the franchise after his supposed “conclusion” in 6. 6 wasn’t a perfect game by any means, but that ending was unanimously loved, and people sigh at the notion of RGG stepping back on the decisions they made with that ending.

I just want to say: RGG never promised us anything with that ending, and it’s foolish and entitled to believe that they did. Kiryu is a character they made, and not only can they do whatever the fuck they want with him, but none of what they continued to do with him contradicts their previous decisions.

Still, the skepticism around Infinite Wealth remained. Before release, I said the game’s story could go either one of two ways: either it keeps up RGG’s ongoing streak of well written, directed, and paced games a la 7 and the Judgment games, or it winds up too ambitious for its own good and goes balls to the wall Yakuza 5 goofy albeit sincere ridiculousness. Ultimately I think it landed somewhere in between. It’s certainly a lot more comprehensible than 5 is, though every bit as goofy. Unlike 5, I think it actually has enough competency in the plotting and theming department to more than make up for unabashed goofiness.

I think the biggest problem with Infinite Wealth’s story is, for the supposed “final hurrah” of Kiryu Kazuma’s journey, I think the plot itself fails to live up to the potential that that premise might’ve entailed. We see a few important characters make comebacks, but outside of a select scene or two, are so unimpactful to the story that I kinda wish they’d never been there at all. There’s one cool scene in the climax that’s supposed to be a sort of “everyone is here” moment, but outside of the initial hype, those characters being there felt more like genuinely pointless fanservice if anything, and we don’t really get good closure on any of them.

On the topic of fanservice, this game’s fanservice is AWESOME (for the most part). It’s very FFXIV, Xenoblade 3 Future Redeemed-core in the sense that I was just popping out of my seat every time an event or character, major or minor, from an older game was mentioned. This game’s status as Kiryu’s final hurrah felt a little limp in the main plot, but the many small character interactions between Kiryu and the party peppered throughout the campaign and ESPECIALLY the side content make this game well worthy of its status. Side content, be it minigames or substories, have always been a pretty major deal in these games, not necessarily because they were exceptional stories or a blast to play, but because of how much they added to the setting, characters, and the grander themes of the franchise. They were occasionally silly, occasionally melancholic, sometimes fun, sometimes not, but the essence they carry into this game cannot be understated. It wouldn’t be an RGG game without them.

While Ichiban’s side of the story had your more traditional wacky and melancholic substories present in previous games, it’s in Kiryu’s where a lot of aforementioned fanservice lies. Like I’d said, a lot of the fanservice did have me popping out of my seat for how much it rewarded me for being a fan of the series, but the best thing this fanservice had to offer was how much it added to Kiryu’s emotionality.

Kiryu’s always been a pretty complex character, more than people like to give him credit for, but the problem is the quality of RGG’s writing hasn’t always been sufficient enough to do him justice, which often leads to misconceptions around him. In truth, Kiryu is a deeply broken, self destructive, indecisive, and regretful old guy, something that at this point, Infinite Wealth doesn’t even try to hide a lot of the time. More than the substories, or even the main stories of older games, Kiryu’s substories in Infinite Wealth provide insight into this less idealized side of him. We see Kiryu not only reflect and provide insight on a lot of previous events and people in his life, but forcibly come to grips with the ghosts of his past, all the while the brokenness of his being begins to slowly emerge. I have no problem calling this some of my favorite writing in the entire series. It elevates Kiryu, who was already one of my favorite characters ever, beyond words can describe.

On a more positive note regarding Kiryu, I really really love how this game lets him come out of his shell. 7’s shift to being a turn-based RPG was a controversial move on RGG’s part, but it really lends itself to more party based interactions more consistently, which is what made 7’s cast so endearing. There was always this sort of loneliness that pervaded Kiryu, even when he grew close with Haruka, even when he began running an orphanage, and 6 and Gaiden only served to enhance that loneliness. Infinite Wealth is really aggressive about putting Kiryu in situations you wouldn’t normally find him, particularly that of Nanba, Saeko, Seonhee, and Zhao following him around like ducklings. I was initially skeptical at how much chemistry this ensemble would have, but their interactions endeared me to their group dynamic in almost no time. These interactions were the heart and soul of 7, and they’re the heart and soul of Infinite Wealth all the same. Not the deepest and most complex cast of characters ever, but the joy their interactions alone bring me is enough to rank them highly among my favorite video game casts.

So far I’ve been pretty light on Ichiban in this review. Whereas this game is Kiryu’s definitive closing chapter and 7 was Ichiban’s prologue, Infinite Wealth feels more like a middle chapter in his story if anything. Not that that’s bad; Empire Strikes Back is one of the most beloved films for good reason, as is The Two Towers and so on. I’ve nothing much to say except that Ichiban’s just a joy in this game, and I might actually prefer his plot over Kiryu’s insofar as the main story is concerned. Does it suffer from the pitfalls that Kiryu’s side does from time to time? Sure, but every second Ichiban’s on screen I am ELATED. He’s as full of heart and soul as he ever was, his progression throughout the game is consistently engaging, his interactions and dynamics with the rest of the cast but especially Kiryu is EVERYTHING in this game, and for him alone, I think I could excuse all of this game’s flaws.

I also absolutely ADORE the cohesion that exists between the two notions that this is Kiryu’s final chapter as well as being Ichiban’s next step. Kiryu’s journey would just not hit the same had much of his dynamic with Ichiban been stripped from the narrative. I think Ichiban’s existence is practically integral to a lot of the epiphanies that Kiryu has about his life later on in the game, and I’d argue that without Ichiban, this game never could’ve concluded Kiryu’s story as meaningfully as they did. Vague story shit aside, you can tell how much Takaya Kuroda and Kazuhiro Nakaya love performing together, and you can tell how potently that translates to their characters. A lot of people critique the balancing act between the two sides of the story, but I dunno, I think they compliment each other really well, mostly as a result of the surprising amount of thematic cohesion present. I genuinely have nothing negative to say about these two characters. Genuinely two of my favorite protagonists in fiction without a shadow of a doubt.

I don’t really know how to conclude this review without delving into some major spoilers. I guess the ending’s pretty good. Pretty great, actually, but I can’t help but find it lacking in quite a number of areas. Perhaps it’s a little too subtextual for my liking (which is why I had a difficult time appreciating it initially), which is a critique I never thought I’d have with this series, but here we are. That’s about all I have to say. Infinite Wealth: ever the silly, dramatic, but genuinely sincere game and another worthy entry into one of my favorite franchises. I’m kind of amazed at how much my appreciation for it grew with time. I thought it’d be the other way around: be a game that absolutely wows me on first viewing and slowly trickles down the rankings after the wow factor wears off, but no. My love for this game has only grown more and more steadfastly over the months, and I’m sure with a revisit or a replay some time in the near future, it’ll give the game the boost it needs for it to truly be the masterpiece I wanted it to be.