RoyalGhost
2002
To me this is the best 3d Mario game. Improves on SM64 in a ton of ways and I love Fludd. It's a game full of really interesting platforming challenges and vibrant environments full of bullshit to navigate through. I just love it. There's a freedom of movement to Mario in this game that is really just delightful. Feed that technicolour paint sludge to me with a spoon. Mario Sunshine rules.
Pinnacle of the pre Sotn Vanias. Sometimes you just hit it out of the park, you know? I get why people say it's Dracula's Curse but for me it's Rondo all day
I adore this game. Peak of this series before they mess up the spritework and make it increasingly more bogged down with extra mechanics, while being more engaging than the previous two entries in the series. One of my favourite games of all time.
2015
Fantastic game. The second best Yakuza game after 5, Imo. The best standalone entry in the series easily though.
2019
I'm tired of hearing that this is the best game ever. It's fine. I genuinely thing the og Persona 5 has a better story, I think the twist and extra explanation to this version is so awful. Arbitrary and void of thematic content. Like don't get me wrong this isn't a bad game but I sure am tired of people who hate jrpgs telling me this is the good one lol
2016
I really like this game. I've played it twice! It's still probably only my 5th favourite Yakuza game. It's just, kind of what it is. A sort of janky thrown together remake of the first Yakuza game. It's kind of funny thinking about how Yakuza 0 is this bespoke prequel and this game is what it is. Sega is a weird company.
Anyway, this game uses the Yakuza 5 engine like Yakuza 0 does. It's not very long. I think its got a pretty solid version of the combat, and some excellent mini-games. And also one of the worst car chases I've ever played in a video game.
Anyway, this game uses the Yakuza 5 engine like Yakuza 0 does. It's not very long. I think its got a pretty solid version of the combat, and some excellent mini-games. And also one of the worst car chases I've ever played in a video game.
2018
This review contains spoilers
I love this game. 3rd best Yakuza game maybe?
It's a touching piece of character work struggling against its medium and to me that is art. It has one of the most impactful deaths in the series, (one of the only ones that even remain actually dead lmao) and really sets up Kiryu as one of my all time favourite characters in anything.
RIKIYAAAAA!!!!!!! TT_TT
It's a touching piece of character work struggling against its medium and to me that is art. It has one of the most impactful deaths in the series, (one of the only ones that even remain actually dead lmao) and really sets up Kiryu as one of my all time favourite characters in anything.
RIKIYAAAAA!!!!!!! TT_TT
2019
To me, this is the best Yakuza game. There are some things that bother me about it, but they aren't really knocks against it I have held with some distance from it.
Yakuza reaches its true form here in a sense. The combat feels great and actually has a lot of depth if you want to engage in it. I don't really like The Dragon Engine as much that they start in 6. The side jobs each character have really flesh out both the world of Yakuza and the main characters in a fun way, the mini games are excellent and well made, and the new character Shinada is an all time protagonist to me. Solid third place after Kiryu and Akiyama.
Its also the least I've felt at odds with the politics of the people who make it. It is sympathetic about sex workers, and immigrants and homeless people. Weird Japanese nationalism doesn't really rear its ugly head. It could stand to be more critical of the Idol industry but it is still somewhat.
I actually sort of wish the series ended here. I think the final scene of the game is incredible and should have been left ambiguous and I would have been totally fine with that. Not even necessarily have to end it here but completely start over fresh a little earlier since they at least gesture at doing that eventually. (even if it doesn't stick at all lol)
Yakuza reaches its true form here in a sense. The combat feels great and actually has a lot of depth if you want to engage in it. I don't really like The Dragon Engine as much that they start in 6. The side jobs each character have really flesh out both the world of Yakuza and the main characters in a fun way, the mini games are excellent and well made, and the new character Shinada is an all time protagonist to me. Solid third place after Kiryu and Akiyama.
Its also the least I've felt at odds with the politics of the people who make it. It is sympathetic about sex workers, and immigrants and homeless people. Weird Japanese nationalism doesn't really rear its ugly head. It could stand to be more critical of the Idol industry but it is still somewhat.
I actually sort of wish the series ended here. I think the final scene of the game is incredible and should have been left ambiguous and I would have been totally fine with that. Not even necessarily have to end it here but completely start over fresh a little earlier since they at least gesture at doing that eventually. (even if it doesn't stick at all lol)
A game I have very mixed feelings about. The story has a somewhat compelling mystery around Haruka but I think everything surround it is either kind of bad or done better in previous entries of the series. I also just don't like the Dragon Engine as much as the one they were using for Kiwami/5/0.
Still there's lots of good stuff here too. Some decent side stories, Kiryu and a baby. I wish they'd leave this old man alone and let him take care of his family if hes gonna live past Yakuza 5 though.
Still there's lots of good stuff here too. Some decent side stories, Kiryu and a baby. I wish they'd leave this old man alone and let him take care of his family if hes gonna live past Yakuza 5 though.
2021
Fine start to the series. Worth playing but improved on a lot as time goes on.
2021
A very good video game. Music is on point, Uematsu is really coming into his own here. The job system is excellently utilized in the design of the game where jobs are better for certain things, and the solution that could drastically change up the difficulty of a given boss fight. This game rewards you for playing it smartly, and is probably on the higher end of the difficulty scale for any Final Fantasy.
Fine game. Deeply overrated.
2017
I did really like this game. Very easy to give in to astonishment to when you don't have much experience in the genre. With distance and experience I think this game is still really cool and doing interesting things with gameplay as a storytelling medium almost nothing at that scale of development was really even gesturing at in 2017.
But it's also just a very stock story I have seen done better. Most of its influences are just better than it. And I mean that's fine. It's still a good game.
But it's also just a very stock story I have seen done better. Most of its influences are just better than it. And I mean that's fine. It's still a good game.
Love these games. They're just so charming and the first one has the best music.
2015
Not even the worst game I played for 300 hours. Fuck this game. Also, Starfield sucks too.