Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth is the 16th Installment in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon/Ryu Ga Gotoku Franchise and is a fantastic experience.

I won't go too long in my review but I can absolutely say this game does an amazing job with having so much too do, along with exploring all of what Hawaii has to offer.

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Story wise, it's a fine enough story with call backs to previous games. Ichiban's mother being the central focus for the first half was very interesting and really heartwarming when he eventually does meet her. I do think the storyline is a bit convoluted, and if anything I just couldn't take Bryce seriously, especially since in the regular japanese voices, they forced the voice actor to speak English when the guy doesn't know it. If anything they should've done what they did with every other bilingual character and have a japanese and english va whenever they had to switch speaking languages in the regular japanese voices.
Kiryu's story is about his cancer and how he tries to push his way through til the very end, along with cleaning up the remaining remenants and after effects of the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance's past sins.
The final boss for Ichiban, I couldn't take seriously because of how out of place he was, Kiryu's final boss was fantastic as being the embodiment of the Yakuza's Victims.
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The new party members introduced are all lovable and you take time to appreciate them as you journey throughout the game with them. I especially love Chitose, with her being this new and really REALLY likable female party member, who outshines Saeko and really makes you question whether Ichiban really should be going after Saeko.
Tomizawa is a great addition as well, being an Japanese-American guy who just got into a bad group, and his sarcastic self always makes scenes with him having to be apart of Ichiban's antics hilarious.

The game does a great job with the Anti-hero Yamai who is voiced by Takehito Koyasu and his amazing voice. The character in general is not 100% good or evil, but he does his own things, that make you question how he is.
Some of the other characters who are either minor antagonists are your run of the mill "evil mustache twirling villians" like Police Chief Roman, or Baraccuda Mafia Leader Dwight (played by Danny Trejo).

I think the way Daigo, Saejima, and Majima were depicted is fine because they're feeling the after effects of the dissolution, I just wish they were playable, if anything there are characters who should've been replaced with Daigo, Saejima, and Majima.
Those characters being: Zhao, Seonhee or Saeko, and Joonji-Han, reason being is because YES JOONJI AND ZHAO WERE IN 7 but they barely do things of value in LAD8, they're there for support but don't really do anything worth while. The only party member who probably wouldn't be worth replacing is Seonhee because her interactions with Kiryu are generally heartwarming and cute when she simps and flirts and fangirls over Kiryu. Saeko had a major downgrade as a character, and is essentially the reason for Ichiban leaving for Hawaii, and not speaking to her for a year over his embarassment of a confession. Saeko really is unlikable in 8, and it's not because she rejected Ichiban, but because she never told him what he messed up on and throughout the game Ichiban has to learn what she wanted, which is just stupid.

Saeko really does become the most unlikable character in the game for no reason, I think the biggest problem as well is she never apologizes either, it's ALWAYS ICHIBAN who has to, except her actions and her overall way of acting in 8 is awful. While the game tries to bring you back to liking her with her interactions with Kiryu, she completely destroys what she tries to rebuild when you play and finish her Substory.

I think the game should've had her not be a party member and save her for the end sort of as a last scene with her and Ichiban, I think if you cut: Saeko, Zhao, and Joonji as party members, and replace them with Saejima, Daigo, and Majima, it would've been more satisfying. Not saying they should be cut from the game, they should be in there as npcs or as secondary characters, with Saeko still being the crux as to Ichiban leaving, but also having Ichiban and her grow seperately and having Saeko seeing she was in the wrong too.
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The gameplay retains it's TURN-BASED RPG Style from 7, but has improved it way more in this game, along with introducing new jobs for both the male and female party members, only thing is that we lost 2 jobs, those being:

- Officer Worker (makes sense since this one was connected to the extra character Eri, who is based on Eri Kamataki, a japanese woman who won a contest to be in the game along with 4 other women who appear in 7)

- Dealer (this one is weird because there's no reason why the Dealer should've been removed, my only guess is because of the "ESSENCE OF RUSSIAN ROULETTE" but that's just an assumption, if anything I always joke and say it's a PERSONA 3 reference.

However with Kiryu being a party member, it's so amazing that his own unique Job "DRAGON OF DOJIMA" brings back the style switching from Yakuza 0 and Kiwami 1, allowing you to switch between Brawler, Rush, and Beast Style with each having their own advantages and disadvantages. 1 thing that's disappointing is that they didn't bring back the 4th style of the "DRAGON", imo they should've included it in the final boss fight.
Kiryu also has his "DRAGON RESURGENCE" mode which allows you to break the turn base system temporarily and allows you to annihilate enemies in the classic beat em up style we know and love from Yakuza 0-6, Gaiden, Kenzan, Ishin, Judgment, and Lost Judgment. It is a bit dumbed down as the developers needed to implement a timer for how long you can use it.
It's best used in the Majima, Saejima, & Daigo fight by it having 2 phases, with phase 1 being the standard turn-based style from 7 & 8, and phase 2 having you fight Majima, Saejima, and Daigo in a beat em up part individually as Kiryu, it's fantastic.

I will say, they should've done the same thing with the final boss for Kiryu with the 2 phase system, though for the final boss he does has 2 phases, I would've included a 3rd beat em up phase as a send off to the beat em up style for Kiryu.
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Minigames are back and they're fantastic absolutely love the new additions as well as returning favorites, along with Karaoke including new amazing songs and fanfavorites. We even got a "BAKA MITAI" 2 in "BAKA DAROU"

The dondoko island mode is essentially like a beat em up Animal Crossing mixed with Yakuza, having you rebuild and refine the once withered and trashy island into a beautiful paradise that allows you to create your own island along with inviting tourism to increase revenue to make more stuff on it. I will say it's a bit of a time waster, but it's SOOO FUN, you'll have a great time with it if you love games like Animal Crossing.
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1 disappointing part that should've been expanded on was Kiryu's bucket list should've feature cutscenes rather than inengine dialogue scenes, and also have Kiryu interact with some of those old characters he met along the journey, especially with Kaoru Sayama.

His moments with Date and AKIYAMA ESPECIALLY were so heartwarming, it just makes you want to cry when you see Kiryu speak with them, especially at the end. But like I said I wish they were actual cutscenes in some of those parts.

Another pet peeve is how they could've featured the cabaret club minigame from 0 and Kiwami 2 again here, along with Pocket Circuit again, I know we got Pocket Circuit in Gaiden but still. The trailers made it seem like 8 was going to reintroduce them again as playable modes, but they were just minievents in Kiryu's bucket list.

Still for what it's worth the substories and memories throughout the cities with Kiryu's bucket list are heartwarming since it makes you remember the journey we as fans have been through.
And this game canonized Kenzan and Ishin which is lit, though they're canon to Japan's history in the Yakuzaverse, Kiryu overexaggerated them because the game makes it so the historical events in the universe really happened but they're also Kiryu's overexaggerated dream. Which is even more funny since it explains that Kiryu also dreamed up Dead Souls.
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1 Final this, the ending is beautiful but I won't go to into it. Only criiticism I have is that it should've been longer and we should've seen what happened to Majima, Saejima, and Daigo after the finale.

I hope for the sake of that little criticism I have they resolve this issue with LIKE A DRAGON 9, doesn't mean Kiryu has to be playable in 9, just a cutscene with him in Okinawa retired. Along with cutscenes showing retired Majima, Saejima, and Daigo living a peaceful life.
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Overall this game is fantastic, it has a bit of hiccups but it's another amazing addition to this franchise that I hold so dear.
The DLC problem is something SEGA messes up alot with in their games especially with YAKUZA and PERSONA, but regardless those aspects didn't influence my score.
I won't give it 5 stars, but my enjoyment with it lasted so long that it makes me happy I put my time into it, really amazing!
Overall I'm giving it a 4.5 out of 5 stars, it's really fantastic. I can't wait for whatever RGG STUDIOS is working on next.

We know so far they're making:

- Judgement 3
- NEW IP GAME
- Potentially Kenzan Kiwami
- Potentially 3 Kiwami

We'll see, regardless this game really makes you feel LIKE A DRAGON, and it endless amounts of fun, it brings you INFINITE WEALTH.

Thanks for reading! :D

Live Alive is a unique RPG that essentially feels like 8 different short RPGS, all intertwined by an outside force of evil.

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I think for the most part the game works well because some of these chapters/mini rpgs felt like they couldn't been their own fully fledge games instead of chapters.
I will say some are better than others. If i had to rank all the chapters I would say without including the final chapter(from worst to best [8 to 1]):

8. Far Future - You play as a emotionless robot called Cube. This chapter is boring as hell, the whole premise is essentially sort of parody/copy of Alien except the twist it's a rogue A.I. The character of Cube doesn't do anything until the end, the threat is a creature that you can easily outrun and also, isn't even the main threat, as the main threat is the A.I. operating the ship. There's only 1 battle and it's at the end, it's very boring essentially making you go from POINT A TO POINT B and so on. If anything the General is the most interesting character. Literally the entire cast is great, but they chose to focus on Cube for some reason.

7. Present Day - Masaru is just a bit too generic, I mean it's fine because this game came out in the era of the 90s, so essentially it's one of pioneers kind of/ it takes inspiration from the first fighting games to release. The issue is that, the story for present day is kind generic, essentially boiling down to a weird Turnbased fighter, where in order for Masaru to improve he has to get attacked by the opponents special attacks. You fight 8 dudes and then fight the final boss, and the moral of the story is that, if you get to the top achieving greatness after overcoming many opponents, someone will be there to try to take it as soon as you achieve it.

6. Twilight of Edo Japan - Here you play as a Shinobi in training becoming a master named, Oboromaru.
You're tasked with assassinating a imperial evil leader in his castle. The issue with this part is this part is a bit vague as to what to do, like there 3 approaches to it: Pacifist, Neutral, or Mass killer. If you're a Pacifist there a lot of thing you need to do in order to finish the game without killing anyone as well as avoiding specific things in order to not be forced to kill 8 guards later, along with having to grind inside 1 specific storage room killing lost souls in order to level up. Neutral means you tend to mix it up as to who you kill and who you don't, makes it a bit easier, just following pathways and overall traversal can get annoying. Mass Killer, just kill everyone and everything in sight, there's not punishment but you have to go out of your way to slaughter everyone by finding them, really a waste of time, you're not punished but it feels like one by just finding everyone. The story plays out with you meeting SAKAMOTO RYOMA, and essentially helping him defeat the evil leader, and later deciding to help Ryoma change Japan or go back to being a Shinobi in training.
The gameplay here is fantastic when it comes to Oboromaru learning moves cause they pack a punch, just the 3 different ways to play can make you hate, love, or feel neutral when it comes to the overall experience.


5. The Wild West - Here you play as "THE SUNDOWN KID". In this chapter you play as a rogue vigilante cowboy who's being hunted down by another cowboy/hitman named "Mad Dog".
They have a standoff however Sundown scares Mad Dog's horse and runs away into the town of Success. Here a typical cowboy thing happens with the quiet stranger, and pretty much he gets into a brawl with this annoying patron. After that, Mad Dog arrives angry and wants another standoff to the death, but are interrupted by scouts of a crazy mercenary named "O. DIO", Sundown and Mad Dog agree to take out the posse of O.DIO and O.DIO himself, but agree to have a battle to the death at the end when it's all said and done.
With the help of the town and searching through the town of Success within 8 or 9 minutes, you can tell all of them to set up traps with different items you've collected in order to take out O.DIO. If you gave everyone the right item you can go into the battle with O.DIO with him having Zero posse members to attack you, however if you mess up, you'll go into battle against him with a couple of his minions.
After O.DIO is defeated, Sundown and Mad Dog have a final showdown, with Sundown winning, the town thanks him and he runs off into the wind. That's when we learn that Sundown was an ex-sheriff from a town that was successful until it was all destroyed, he rides off like the wind, bringing peace and joy to the land.
Overall this chapter is great, and feels like it could've been expanded upon in a full game, but you could also say the mysterious angle is what makes this chapter great. Only thing is, I think I enjoyed the other chapters more, especially since this one leaves a lot to be desired.

4. Prehistory - Here you play as a Caveman named Pogo with his Gorilla friend Bori. The story is essentially a female cavegirl named Beru is going to be sacrificed by a rival tribe, however Beru escapes to Pogo's tribes cave and hides inside of the food area. Pogo notices Beru and falls in love while giving her food. Beru gives Pogo a kiss and a romance blossoms. Afterwords the rival tribe with their commander named Zaki arrives and essentially hurts many of Pogos tribe including the Cave Elder. Pogo and Zaki get into a fight, with Pogo as the victor, Zaki and his troops drive away in their rock karts. The Cave Elder is angry and throws out Pogo, Beru, and Bori. Afterwords, Zaki and his troops come back and steal Beru, with Pogo and Bori going to go find her. When they sneak to the other tribes camp Bori notices they've captured 6 Female Pink Apes, and goes crazy with Lust and demolishes the tribe. At the ceremonial sacrifice, Pogo fights Zaki 1 final time, defeating him, and saving Beru, however Pogo, Beru, Bori, Zaki, and the CaveKing are plunged into the pit, with the king being killed by the T-REX ODO. Pogo, Beru, Bori, and Zaki defeat the T-REX, with Pogo going back with his new wife Beru, Bori with his 6 wives, and Zaki becoming new king and making a truce with Pogo's Cave Elder.
Overall this chapter is very cute, it's very unique in terms of placement and lack of dialogue, but the creators did a fantastic job of telling the story with visuals instead of through text or voice acting, really amazing. It's sweet and cute, it just doesn't crack top 3 in my opinion. Still Pogo and Beru are really adorable together.

3. Near Future - Here you play as Akira, a young man with psychokinesis. Pretty much this plays out as a Super Sentai/Anime with a nice style reminding me strangely of Earthbound with the city, and also having wacky characters with both robots and regular flamboyant humans.
The story essentially is how there is this gang with skull masks causing a ruckus and stealing people for an evil group making robot/monster hybrids for war, but also to unleash an evil Bird God. Throughout the game Akira visits the orphanage hes raised in. He has a sick sister who he tries to take care of and he helps save her dying turtle by putting him a robot thanks to the help of the doctor. Akira has a friend/mentor "Lawless" Matsu, who helps him on his journey however dies towards the end using all his mental power to activate the giant mech. Akira, founds out that Matsu was the one who killed his father at the docs when Akira was little, and was trying to make amends with the guilt in his heart. Akira forgives Matsu with Akira using all of his power to defeat the false bird god, and destroying the evil doctor, priest, and general.
The game ends with Akira driving in Lawless motorcycle and looking over the docks remembering his father and mentor.
Fantastic Chapter, just this feels like a game that went on too quick, it feels like something that could've been it's own fully-fledge game instead of this chopped up quick sequence of events. really great just wish it was longer, and had a lot more story moments, I think 3 is a good position, since the last 2 are just that amazing.

2. Middle Ages - The culmination of where all the evil in the game spreads starts here. And you will believe how amazing it is that this chapter starts off as a generic Fantasy RPG, only to completely turn 180 on the player. The character of Oersted legit is tragic in the sense he did everything right except the universe told him that he's wrong. Streibough who is a "friend" helps him on his quest to defeat the "Dark Lord" however slowly poisons the well, tricking Oersted into doing several things, which leads to the deaths of Hasshe, the previous hero who defeated the dark lord, and Uranus giving his final energy to save Oersted from being trapped in the castle. Oersted is sent on a quest, only to be tricked by Streibough in 2 ways: 1. making Oersted think Streighbough died in the Dark Lord's chamber, when really Streighbough went to find Princess Alethea, and told her a bunch of lies, which he made true by mindcontroling Oersted. 2. He made Oersted Kill the king and spread a lie that Oersted was the new dark lord because Steighbough was salty he lost the match against Oersted.
After losing literally everything, Oersted confronts Streighbough, and kills him, only for Alethea to show up and act like Oersted is a monster, causing her to commit die, over her stupidity, and instead of hearing out Oersted, she instead took all of Streighboughs words as if they were truth.
Oersted stands at the peak, angry... alone... betrayed... ruined. All he worked for, the reason for his quest, the things he did for the sake of people and not himself. No one there to help him at his worst... the dark lord was dead for a long time... people acted like he was one... so the people who raised the hero... beat him down to the very last of his humanity... they want a dark lord... he'll be the very thing they were fearful of then. The Tragic hero.... becomes the new lord of dark. He becomes ODIO the very evil presence lurking over the different timelines.
This chapter is fantastic, taking a generic rpg and having everything go wrong this is chapter is fantastic, and I understand why the left it second to last in terms of unlocking it.
It does so many things right, and makes you actually stand with Oersted, realizing he's you, and all you've done was out of your control, and the mindless blaming from the Princess and the people would piss anyone off, especially knowing there were 3 people who would've always trusted you: Hasshe, Uranus, and the King of Lucrece.
To be thrown away over misinformation... anyone would turn bad. Which makes this chapter so great.
Thing is I want to be a bit fair, and putting this at number 1 seemed like too much, cause the game saves it towards the end. If it was in the base chapter select and not unlockable after you complete the other 7, this would be number 1.

1. Imperial China - This chapter is absolutely fantastic, you essentially play as the Earthen Heart Shifu who has grown old and knows he will die any day when he fails to break a boulder in 2, so he wishes to train a apprentice in order for his techniques and philosphy not to disappear along with him. He meets 3 unique students each with their own personalities but also issue. Lei Kugo is an assassin/orphan who is skilled in speed but also hard headed not being able to trust anyone. There's Hong Hakka, who's a fat dunce who can't afford to eat, but he's very strong but kind hearted. And finally there's Yun Jou, he's a youngster who is weak yet full of determination, he's self-conscious but motivated to be strong and wise.
The Shifu takes the 3 of them as students, training them to be strong, fast, and know to how to defend. What's really cool here is, depending on who you want to focus on, becomes the primary protagonist of the game at the end. While the game says you can focus on different aspects of training per disciple, it's better to just keep fighting the same one you personally prefer. Either way the story plays out the same, except which disciple you like the most, but what makes it so great is that the story makes you so sad when 2 of the 3 disciples are killed in an ambush. Personally I went with Lei, and her emotions are amazing, especially the actress who voices her, saying that she wants to avenge her friend, because she felt like she let them die.
The Shifu teaches Lei his ultimate technique, and they set off for Ou Di Wan Lee's temple to confront the killer. The Shifu with Lei/Yun/Hong take on a bunch of martial arts masters with Lei/Yun/Hong fighting Ou Di Wan Lee 1 on 1. After Lei/Yun/Hong defeat Ou Di Wan Lee, the Shifu is on his last breaths, giving them words of encouragement, for me since I chose Lei, you could hear the actress for lay really giving her all in emotions, especially when the Shifu... finally dies in peace knowing that Lei will be ok, and become the new master... with Lei screaming and crying at her Shifu's lost.
At the end of the game, we see Lei break the boulder the Shifu failed to at the beginning of the game, with her praying to her 3 lost friends, and her continuing her training to become the Shifu next.
Absolutely fantastic story, amazing emotional moments, and overall a nice experience, that honestly should be a game on it's own. The characters are all unique and have depth. Personally I think Lei is the best disciple and protagonist since she's the only female one, even though the game tries to do the typical, weak hero who will grow into a strong one with Yun, and comedic relief with Hong.
Overall this chapter is the best when it comes to story, and the gameplay as well, it's short, sweet, and spectacular and is my favorite from the game.

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Final Chapter - For the final chapter regardless of which ending you're going for in terms of heroes, i recommend you being level 25 or a bove for all characters, except CUBE who is capped and locked at Level 7, only because the first boss against ODIO/OERSTED is pretty difficult.
Essentially the characters are brought to the Kingdom of Lucrece, that's been completely emptied of all life... Barren.
The game here allows you to choose who to play as, and as you go through the Kingdom of Lucrece, you can find the characters from the other chapters, and battle them and letting them join your party.
Depending on whether you find all the characters, will effect your chances of getting the true ending.

If you decide to find 3 other characters, along with the one you chose, you can feel free to confront Oersted/ODIO for 1 final stand. Oersted being killed but the heroes being trapped forever in the lost land of the Kingdom of Lucrece.

If you choose to find all the heroes and recruit them, recruiting which involves just saying yes and inviting them into your part, which will make you have to swap characters incase you have a full party, but after you've successfully swapped between all 7 in your party, finally you can finalize what your final party will consist of in order to face ODIO/OERSTED. After you defeat his corrupted Odio form, Oersted asks you to kill him, if you choose to do so, the same ending as previous happens, however to walk away down towards the chamber of statues of previous final bosses from the previous chapters, the other characters who aren't in your party appear. When then here an angry Oersted who states the battle is not over, with the characters being forced to face all of their final bosses one last time with their determination.
After you go through the boss rush of all previous final bosses, Oersted is corrupted and we finally face the true final boss.
TRUE ODIO, who has captured Oersted in his heart. The party you play as fight TRUE ODIO until half way to where he uses a move to trap the part in a force field, this is where the 3 characters you didn't choose for the party show up to help take out the final bit of health, however before the final attack, the 3 are also trapped. Only for Oersted to break free of his mental anguish prison, and do the final blow to true ODIO.

The ending of the game has one of the characters talking to Oersted giving him words of advice about hope, and where he went wrong, and why the world isn't as bad as he thinks it is, even with evil people and evil things within it.
Oersted understands and dies with his mind at peace, with the Kingdom of Lucrece having it's color and beauty restored. The characters returning to their worlds with their lives with new beautiful moments like:

- Lei/Hong/Yun teaching new students the techniques of the shifu so his legacy lives on
- Pogo and Beru having a kid, with Bori having 6 gorilla kids with his 6 wives.
- Akira helping his Takoyaki stand as well as reminiscing about Matsu and his father
- CUBE reuniting with the General and his creator Yoshiyuki Kato
- Oboromaru protecting Sakamoto Ryoma from an assassination attempt
- Sundown Kid looking up towards the beautiful sky without his hat, hoping for better more calm days
- Matsu finishing up his training preparing to move on to new ventures, waiting for the next battle.

With the final shot showing all 7 characters (not including Oersted running towards the screen in heroic fashion).
Beautiful ending tying in everything together allowing someone to learn how to forgive, as well as looking at the positive things in live.

Bad endings:
If the player were to fail during the Boss rush the entire universe is destroyed.

If you chose to play as Oersted, you go to all dimensions/chapters and kill all the heroes and universe with Oersted's hatred consuming all.

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Gameplay works like a turnbased rpg however in a grid like format, with different attacks or status abilities that can affect singular and multiple enemies, along with you and your party in both positive and negative ways. The grid style makes the game very fun and unique and overall a unique style that games like SOUTH PARK FRACTURED BUT WHOLE would take inspiration from.
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What can I say, this remake is absolutely fantastic using the digital styled characters in the beautiful 3d world with beautiful music and esthetics is astounding. Really this version ups the value in terms of it's presentation with it's environments, music, and voice acting. This is not to say you shouldn't play the SNES version, but I think because this version is more accessible and has quality changes, I think this is the definitive way to play LIVE ALIVE. This game is absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend all of you play it. I did have some issues especially with FAR FUTURE, and the game can be a bit of a chore with the grinding, the moments I really love outweighed the issues, this game is fantastic, it deserves a 4.5 out of 5 Stars. The issues keep it from 5, but it's still fantastic none the less.

Live your life to the fullest, absolutely play LIVE ALIVE.

Shin Megami Tensei IV... is a great story-based game, with gameplay issues for me personally.

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I think fundamentally the story is wayyyy better than SMTV's Story, not to say V's is bad, just I finally understand why people love SMT 4 so much...however.
As cool as the characters of Walter, Isabeau, and Jonathan are, as well as the other supporting characters and antagonists, and as cool as it is to have a massive... MASSIVE COMPENDIUM in comparison to previous SMT Games and Persona games.

I don't care what anyone says, this game was a chore to play through, the biggest problem with this game isn't so much lack of an icon of where to go. More so the biggest issue is TOKYO's map, YOU WILL GET LOST.
And before SMT4 hardcore fans try to cope and say "JUST MEMORIZE OR USE A FANMADE MAP" I did do the latter, however it's ridiculous as hell to navigate Tokyo when it has a bunch barriers, poison areas, blocked paths.
Now it wouldn't be an issue if it had all of that, but why the hell didn't ATLUS label the locations. Now here's my logic with it, if you started the game, the map should be blank, thats fine, however after going to key locations like Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Ginza etc, the minimap at the bottom screenshot tell you what locations are where after you discover them. I swear half the time you're wondering where the hell you have to go.

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I got the neutral ending, and I loved it. However I don't what anyone says, the way of getting the NEUTRAL ENDING is the most convoluted way of getting it. The way you obtain it is by getting neutral affinity/alliance by subscribing to both law and chaos answers, however you really need a guide to let you know which one is which. From there you essentially need to worry about maintaining a neutral stance, and not only that but complete required side missions in order to continue to the neutral route.
After you finally get to the neutral route, and you know you're in it, if you wake up and Isabeau is there with you, the game now doesn't really tell you where the heck you have to go.
After you figure it out via random chance/guess or look at a guide, you then have to go and do 4 more SIDE QUESTS, and then finally you can confront the final bosses.
And as awesome as it to see the ending be a somewhat peaceful ending (considering the neutral ending leads into SMT IV APOCOLYPSE) it's certainly a chore to get through.
I did really enjoy the story though as it's more philosophical about how the world should be ran.

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As for gameplay, I don't have much to talk about other than that it essentially plays like every other SMT game, however has that classic SMT BATTLE Design Style I really think is outdated as hell.
What I mean by "DESIGN STYLE" is this game could've been much cooler if they actually had 3D MODELS of all the demons instead of just still images that occasionally move at 4 fps. And before anyone says "It's probably because game couldn't handle that many models since it's a 3DS game", I understand, however if they ever do a remaster, I feel like they should do the switch from 2d art to 3d models personally.
Another weird thing was how Flynn was the only SAMURAI made in 3D, it would've been better/cooler if they made 3D models of Isabeau, Walter, and Jonathan, as well as the Black Samurai and a few others like Nozomi. Only because it's kind of weird to think your character is traversing on his own, even though the game shows you that Jonathan, Walter, and Isabeau are sometimes in your party, just a little critique.

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I think the story is fantastic and I would love to see a remaster someday for both SWITCH (or Switch 2), and PS4/PS5 and XBOX I really hope ATLUS one day just does a general collection of all games featuring:

- SOUL HACKERS 1
- STRANGE JOURNEY REDUX
- DIGITAL DEVIL SAGA DUOLOGY
- DEVIL SUMMONER RAIDOU DUOLOGY (VS SOULLESS ARMY & 2: VS KING ABADDON)
- DEVIL SURVIVOR DUOLOGY (OVERCLOCKED & 2: RECORD BREAK)
- SMT IF...
- SMT DEVIL SUMMONER 95
- SMT 1 & 2
- MAJIN TENSEI 1 & 2
- Megami Tensei 1 & 2

Kind of like the recent METAL GEAR SOLID COLLECTION VOL 1 except with actual effort (though considering ATLUS halfassed SMT III NOCTURNE when it first released) we'll see if they ever do any other SMT remasters, here's to hoping.

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Anyway I hope this game does get a remaster so more can experience it's great story, I also hope the remaster has quality of life changes, if adding a map with label is what they need to do, I'm all for it.
I would've given the game a 4.5 out of 5 however, the game being confusing with navigation making the game feel like a chore to play and the randomness that is achieving certain endings by doing convoluted things, made me drop it to a 4.
I think the story is fantastic. I would recommend SMT 4 just make sure to have a a lot... and I mean A LOT of patience with it.

Thanks for reading.