dreams are big, and subtext is for cowards

have you ever wanted to be a taxi driver? what about a bear hunter? what about an idol? what about a guy who has money?? what about a ex baseball pro??? well guess what! with yakuza 5, your dreams (wink) canm come true!!!!!!

yakuza 5 does have some littol flaws that keep it from being a 5/5 for me, such as the encounter rate which made me want to have an encounter with falling off the side of a cliff :3 there's some plot issues but tbh they are not so bad that they bring down the game much, if at all, for me.

the new characters make me ascend higher than the highest highs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! takasugi and shinada 4 lyfe <333333 i think also this game in the series is one of the first to really dig deep into self reflection, and using dreams (wink) to showcase characters flaws and goals in such a beautiful way oh my god, very good very well done rgg i love u

i also think the antags are very good and i'm so happy that yakuza 5 did not fall into the same tropes that have been going on for 4 games in a row. good job yakuza 5

yakuza 5's themes are dreamlike (wink), i think they really do well at weaving the protagonists stories together, and make the finale section of the game genuinely superb writing. there's something so special about these larger than life characters, who often times literally and metaphorically explode off the screen, have wishes that are so human. dreams (wink) are so big and huge, yet the humans wanting them are so small, but can still be a constant inspiration for those around them

yume think i'm exaggerating, but i wouldn't dream of it, this game is sheer peak, and i cannot wait for more of the story to come <3

Is it a perfect game? I don't know. There's hiccups here and there.

But also, I am in mini game hell and I couldn't be happier.

Because look at my friends. I missed them so. They love each other. So much. And I love them. What beautiful characters this game gave us.

Plus, I've been spending the last week thinking about it and sending my friends endless essays while receiving the same, and really, part of the beauty is getting to talk about it with them.

So yeah, actually, a perfect game to me.

bloat turns to rot

i will preface this by saying i genuinely, for the most part, had a pretty enjoyable time with this game. it was very funny at moments and some characters are really good.

aside from that? eh.

the puzzles are a major step down from 999. where 999 felt it encouraged you to think and figure things out and try different options, VLR says you must do it My way, that is the Only solution. i figured out puzzles ahead of time, but because i had not done one specific unrelated thing, to get some kind of dialogue, despite everything else being in place, the puzzle goes unsolvable. it also has puzzles that expect insane amounts from the player, and to have outside knowledge of so many things. god bless anyone who played this game on the 3ds with no internet, i would not have been able to get through it.

the characters range from pretty interesting to not wanting them to be on my screen, which is another step down from 999, in which everyone is great. using each character as a way to define endings also means that some get 'was that it?' endings, and some get the most overblown bloated ridiculous eye-rolling endings ever. i think if about 6 plot elements were taken out of this game it would have been hugely better.

the lack of personality from the player character compared to the vibrant insanity of Junpei in 999 is a shame, but ig they had reasons for it. the change from beautiful 2d sprites to the 3d models also somehow gives them a little less personality and removes the beautiful feel of 999. but i also saw dio being pinned down several times so thats nice.

the games own internal logic leads itself to fall apart, and i've yet to have any sort of feeling of satisfaction from finishing the game, which really just felt like an entire setup for the third game, which i don't want to play yet, because i am recovering from this game, which made me feel like the lowly termite i am, incapable of understanding uchikoshi's mind as i am not a higher being, which is a shame.

anyway yeah, still want to play ztd, still enjoyed 999 a lot, this just really was the schrodingers cats we made along the way

The only other Final Fantasy title to rightfully sit at the top next to Final Fantasy VII. While some moments are lost to odd translations and odd voice acting, Final Fantasy X boasts one of the most memorable storylines of the franchise, an amazing cast of characters, and a distinct world that blended fantasy and sci-fi; all of these factors were partly responsible for bringing the Final Fantasy series' first sequel through Final Fantasy X-2. Combat is no longer real-time with a filling action bar, instead taking the turn-based approach to allow more time to strategize and take advantage of improvements and new abilities gained through a unique "Sphere Grid" level-up system. Nobuo Uematsu perfected his art in this game to give the series its best soundtrack, a position it still maintains even after almost ten more Final Fantasy games have come and gone.

One of the best JRPGs ever made, and still incredibly easy to play today despite its age.