This review contains spoilers
Ok so I had to review this a day after beating this because... wow this game is big in every possible way. After spending more than 55 hours in it I can easily say that this is my favorite Yakuza game with 0 being mostly on the same level, although a bit higher, so let's talk about why.
Starting with the gameplay, the sudden shift from beat em up to JRPG may be jarring for a lot of fans, but holy hell was I hooked fast. This is probably one of the most solid RPGs I've ever played, it's pretty simple and classic but it has enough twists to the formula to make it exciting. Things like parrying or how special attacks work give it a lot of personality and they make it feel like a fresh continuation of preexisting Yakuza gameplay. Also they give a reason why it's an RPG, that being Ichiban's love for Dragon Quest and his borderline schizophrenic imagination, which besides being a really fun concept gives us a lot of charming enemy designs that go beyond thugs and yakuzas. It also has some of the best boss battles of the series, like Tendo, Ryo Aoki or Kiryu, the latter one being such a fun condensation of the character (his different styles from Y0 or how he never targets female characters) that made me smile the whole way through. There are some problems I have with the difficulty though, mainly how if Ichiban dies it's automatically a game over, which I get why but it becomes really annoying in the endgame and I hope they solve this in the next entry. Also there are some annoying difficulty spikes here and there (for me it was the wrecking ball fight and SPECIALLY Majima and Saejima's boss fight) which made me go on hours and hours of grinding that I really wasn't a fan of.
As for the presentation, it's kind of a mixed bag. On one hand you have what is easily the best soundtrack of the series, but on the other you have a game that looks worse than Yakuza 6, which came three years before this? I don't know if it's because of the directing or the gigantic scale of the game, but it looks blander and that's kind of disappointing.
Now let's talk about the best part of the game: the characters. Starting with Ichiban (or Kasuga, I still don't know how to refer to him), he's such a perfect successor of Kiryu, mainly because of how they have the same core values but their personalities are complete opposites. While Kiryu is a stoic figure, Ichi is bursting with charisma and craziness, while still being a caring and compassionate individual. I seriously got to love him way quicker than Kiryu, and while I still think he's the better character I can't wait to see more of Ichi, which will maybe make me change my opinion. As for the other playable characters, they're all pretty likeable. Adachi is my favorite, being this kind old man with a lot of energy. Nanba is pretty mysterious and has a satisfying arc, and I love how you truly feel like him and Ichi are besties throughout the game. Saeko, while a bit short in the story department, has a really fun and tough personality which I can't wait to see more of. Same with Joon-gi Han, who despite being back because of fanservice, the explanation for why he's here is so interesting it elevates this version of him over Yakuza 6's, and I love when he's just a casual goofball with the team. Zhao is also really fun, he sort of feels like a more chill Majima and I'm all here for it, although he could have been given more to do story-whise. And that ties with my main problem with the characters and the story. The first half of this game is really character based, with Ichiban meeting most of the cast and forming bonds with them. This is easily my favorite part of the game because of how much chemistry they have. But when we get to enter the Geomijul base it starts to feel more like a typical Yakuza story. This in no way is a bad thing, in fact it's one of the best stories of the series, but it also means that all character development stops right there, with some of the later party members like Joon-gi and Zhao feeling like they don't do that much here. I mean you have the bonding stories in the bar, but they kind of feel more like substories and are still just a few moments per character. I hope they solve this for Infinite Wealth because I love the cast and I can't wait to see more of them.
So yeah, I've talked a lot about this game and I haven't even talked about everything I love about it, but all I can say is that, despite some problems, it's still one of my favorites in the franchise and one of the best JRPGs I've ever played. I don't know if I'd recommend it to someone who hasn't played any other Yakuza game because of a lot of context needed for the latter parts of the game, but if you're a fan and don't hate RPGs this is pretty much a must play.
Starting with the gameplay, the sudden shift from beat em up to JRPG may be jarring for a lot of fans, but holy hell was I hooked fast. This is probably one of the most solid RPGs I've ever played, it's pretty simple and classic but it has enough twists to the formula to make it exciting. Things like parrying or how special attacks work give it a lot of personality and they make it feel like a fresh continuation of preexisting Yakuza gameplay. Also they give a reason why it's an RPG, that being Ichiban's love for Dragon Quest and his borderline schizophrenic imagination, which besides being a really fun concept gives us a lot of charming enemy designs that go beyond thugs and yakuzas. It also has some of the best boss battles of the series, like Tendo, Ryo Aoki or Kiryu, the latter one being such a fun condensation of the character (his different styles from Y0 or how he never targets female characters) that made me smile the whole way through. There are some problems I have with the difficulty though, mainly how if Ichiban dies it's automatically a game over, which I get why but it becomes really annoying in the endgame and I hope they solve this in the next entry. Also there are some annoying difficulty spikes here and there (for me it was the wrecking ball fight and SPECIALLY Majima and Saejima's boss fight) which made me go on hours and hours of grinding that I really wasn't a fan of.
As for the presentation, it's kind of a mixed bag. On one hand you have what is easily the best soundtrack of the series, but on the other you have a game that looks worse than Yakuza 6, which came three years before this? I don't know if it's because of the directing or the gigantic scale of the game, but it looks blander and that's kind of disappointing.
Now let's talk about the best part of the game: the characters. Starting with Ichiban (or Kasuga, I still don't know how to refer to him), he's such a perfect successor of Kiryu, mainly because of how they have the same core values but their personalities are complete opposites. While Kiryu is a stoic figure, Ichi is bursting with charisma and craziness, while still being a caring and compassionate individual. I seriously got to love him way quicker than Kiryu, and while I still think he's the better character I can't wait to see more of Ichi, which will maybe make me change my opinion. As for the other playable characters, they're all pretty likeable. Adachi is my favorite, being this kind old man with a lot of energy. Nanba is pretty mysterious and has a satisfying arc, and I love how you truly feel like him and Ichi are besties throughout the game. Saeko, while a bit short in the story department, has a really fun and tough personality which I can't wait to see more of. Same with Joon-gi Han, who despite being back because of fanservice, the explanation for why he's here is so interesting it elevates this version of him over Yakuza 6's, and I love when he's just a casual goofball with the team. Zhao is also really fun, he sort of feels like a more chill Majima and I'm all here for it, although he could have been given more to do story-whise. And that ties with my main problem with the characters and the story. The first half of this game is really character based, with Ichiban meeting most of the cast and forming bonds with them. This is easily my favorite part of the game because of how much chemistry they have. But when we get to enter the Geomijul base it starts to feel more like a typical Yakuza story. This in no way is a bad thing, in fact it's one of the best stories of the series, but it also means that all character development stops right there, with some of the later party members like Joon-gi and Zhao feeling like they don't do that much here. I mean you have the bonding stories in the bar, but they kind of feel more like substories and are still just a few moments per character. I hope they solve this for Infinite Wealth because I love the cast and I can't wait to see more of them.
So yeah, I've talked a lot about this game and I haven't even talked about everything I love about it, but all I can say is that, despite some problems, it's still one of my favorites in the franchise and one of the best JRPGs I've ever played. I don't know if I'd recommend it to someone who hasn't played any other Yakuza game because of a lot of context needed for the latter parts of the game, but if you're a fan and don't hate RPGs this is pretty much a must play.