KIRYU KAZUMA I LOVE YOU
Ah sorry. Review time.
Story
Amazing. Another banger for Kiryu's journey. Despite Sotenbori being familiar Kiryu's relations and view on his life somehow make it all seem fresh. His dynamic with Akame is fun and keeps him from the doom and gloom he should probably be feeling.
Kiryu is faced with his common problem of being completely unable to let anyone else shoulder a burden and it puts him in the situations he encounters in this game. Even here where he should be at his absolute lowest he never lets it change who is at his core even if that sacrifices his own safety. His views on the dissolution of the Yakuza plot from 7 and into this game are interesting to see as despite not having been an official Yakuza for a long time he still understands that it's at its end.
Hanawa, Tsuruno and Shishido were wonderful characters too. Each having a unique role in this story and Kiryu helping them and them helping him mutually. I love the scene in Chapter Four where Kiryu, Tsuruno and Shishido and Tsuruno's buddies are just palling around. Small moments where Kiryu can just have some fun are nice. Same with Akame's Stijl conversations, even if you kind of can just speed through them. It's nice seeing Kiryu form a bond with someone else like this.
I like how this game feels placement wise, starting after 6, entering into 7 and ending before 8 and it all flows really well. Seeing the events of 7 from Kiryu's perspective is also fun.
Substories were nice too. Did everything except the coliseum stuff. The ones that tied back to 0/1/2 were nice and I especially liked the ending of the clearing the gangs story. It was nice to see Kiryu like that.
Gameplay
I loved 7's turn based gameplay a lot. But man, it's nice to be back to just beating the shit out of people. Both Agent and Dragon styles were fun to use, even if I wish Agent was a bit better in boss fights it's fun and useful for mob fights so you use it enough. That cigarette saved me. I wish Kiryu had his parries but all his other moves are fun. No boss fights I found annoying and LOVED the final boss fight. I thought grinding for money/akame points for upgrades would be annoying but doing the substories is quick and rewarding. Kinda wish you could use all 4 gear slots the whole time but it's fine.
Overall
This game was amazing. A great entry in the story. Super fun to play. I teared up at that ending. I now feel that Kiryu's story is like Adventure Time where it can have multiple "Endings" but they're all peak so idc. 6, Gaiden, soon Infinite Wealth I DON'T CARE IF KIRYU WILL ALWAYS BE THIS PEAK I'LL ALWAYS BE THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ah sorry. Review time.
Story
Amazing. Another banger for Kiryu's journey. Despite Sotenbori being familiar Kiryu's relations and view on his life somehow make it all seem fresh. His dynamic with Akame is fun and keeps him from the doom and gloom he should probably be feeling.
Kiryu is faced with his common problem of being completely unable to let anyone else shoulder a burden and it puts him in the situations he encounters in this game. Even here where he should be at his absolute lowest he never lets it change who is at his core even if that sacrifices his own safety. His views on the dissolution of the Yakuza plot from 7 and into this game are interesting to see as despite not having been an official Yakuza for a long time he still understands that it's at its end.
Hanawa, Tsuruno and Shishido were wonderful characters too. Each having a unique role in this story and Kiryu helping them and them helping him mutually. I love the scene in Chapter Four where Kiryu, Tsuruno and Shishido and Tsuruno's buddies are just palling around. Small moments where Kiryu can just have some fun are nice. Same with Akame's Stijl conversations, even if you kind of can just speed through them. It's nice seeing Kiryu form a bond with someone else like this.
I like how this game feels placement wise, starting after 6, entering into 7 and ending before 8 and it all flows really well. Seeing the events of 7 from Kiryu's perspective is also fun.
Substories were nice too. Did everything except the coliseum stuff. The ones that tied back to 0/1/2 were nice and I especially liked the ending of the clearing the gangs story. It was nice to see Kiryu like that.
Gameplay
I loved 7's turn based gameplay a lot. But man, it's nice to be back to just beating the shit out of people. Both Agent and Dragon styles were fun to use, even if I wish Agent was a bit better in boss fights it's fun and useful for mob fights so you use it enough. That cigarette saved me. I wish Kiryu had his parries but all his other moves are fun. No boss fights I found annoying and LOVED the final boss fight. I thought grinding for money/akame points for upgrades would be annoying but doing the substories is quick and rewarding. Kinda wish you could use all 4 gear slots the whole time but it's fine.
Overall
This game was amazing. A great entry in the story. Super fun to play. I teared up at that ending. I now feel that Kiryu's story is like Adventure Time where it can have multiple "Endings" but they're all peak so idc. 6, Gaiden, soon Infinite Wealth I DON'T CARE IF KIRYU WILL ALWAYS BE THIS PEAK I'LL ALWAYS BE THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!