the pinnacle of RGG writing. even better than everyone says. a series that started as a simple crime drama about fate and parenthood is now tackling topics like bullying, vengeance, and justice in such a tasteful manner that i can't help but be so proud of what it has become.

honestly where do i even start, nearly every single plotpoint and major character in this game feels like RGG learning every lesson from their past mistakes in their catalogue. this has their best main antagonist thus far, their best protagonist/antagonist dynamic thus far, their best gameplay thus far, their best boss fights thus far, THEIR BEST FINAL BOSS FIGHT THUS FAR. i can honestly just go on and on but i'll just conclude this by saying this is absolutely RGG's best work and i'm even more excited for the future of this series now, or maybe this spin-off as well if we're lucky.

also i just wanted to mention that it's been EEXACTLY a year since i started my first game in this series, yakuza 1. this wasn't even intentional i'm losing my mind.

Having already played the original DS version several times before this, I'm happy to report that this remaster more than lives up to it

While not all the arranged tracks quite live up to the originals and I kinda wish they had made the game widescreen instead of just sticking customizable bars on the sides, everything else works phenomenally and looks smooth as butter to boot, and since you can swap the arranged OST with the originals whenever you want, there's really nothing stopping this from being the definitive version of the game

As for the game itself, it's still just as amazing as I remember, one of the most unique and creative gameplay loops for a visual novel-type adventure game coupled with an emotional story tying together the fates of several different individuals, full of insane twists that make me wish I could experience this game blind again

I completely forgot how hard "a dead man reaching his hand out for a cat" could hit me (I teared up)