SPOILERS AT THE VERY VERY VERY END OF THIS REVIEW:
An absolute fucking masterclass. What a fucking game man. This easily has become one of my favorite games not only in the series, but ever. Since this is like their 4th (I think) game in the new engine, this game looks god damn great. And the soundtrack in this game is great as well (which is common throughout the entire yakuza series so shocker). The fighting in this game feels SO good. They have definitely figured out how to make the fighting feel good in this engine to an absolute tea (t? idk what the right phrasing is). Both styles feel so good to switch between and use no matter the situation. Of course the spy style is better for crowd control, but it feels like such a good rush style. Brings me back to yakuza 0 and 1. The gadgets add just another layer of fun to the fighting. Its just fun to use go go gadget-rocket boots with the comically exploding cigarettes. Funny ragdolls are always welcome, and very funny when using the spider wrap grapple thing. Dragon style returns as well and feels way better than it ever did in kiwami 2 and 6. It all just feels fluid and fun to play. Like any other yakuza game, this shit is LOADED with side content even if it was reduced to 5 chapters. The castle is a cool new addition, the coliseum I didn't delve into too much but its a really solid addition. The cabaret club is uh...definitely something. The akame network was a really easy way to get money and made accessing substories so much easier to get to. Akame is a new character introduced in this game btw and I love her. She is awesome and I love her and she is 4 stars of this game alone. The other star is because of the story. Holy shit man what a way to wrap up Kiryu's story. It felt conclusive for his character and perfectly builds up the context for what happens in 7. SPOILERS AHEAD BTW

Holy shit man what an absolutely raw final chapter. Seeing all the 4 legendary yakuza gathered up like that fighting together one last time is just so raw. Seein them get shirtless everytime just makes me so damn happy. I also have never never ever ever ever cried while playing a game in my life. But that ending with kiryu holy shit. Seeing taichi grown up made me burst into tears man. Then seeing kiryu's snot filled sobbing face hurt even worse holy shit man. A buildup of like 6 games all climaxing there and what a pay off. Me sobbing as I watch that fucking ending.

END SPOILERS:

Another absolute banger from the yakuza series. Shorely this is the end of the series and it won't have another entry in the series soon. Shorely it won't emotionally break me as well. Regardless what an absolute blast this game was and cannot wait for future entries.

What started out seeming a bit bare bones has ended up as a product that is leaps and bounds beyond that descriptor.

Now that the complete package is out I can safely say that this is a must have for any Mario Kart 8 Deluxe fan, hell any Mario Kart 8 fan in general.

I don't think there is a single track that I don't enjoy. And what they have done with some of the retro tracks is outstanding, I hardly even recognized some of them.

Now there are rumours that the Switch's lifespan is coming to an end next year. And if that is true it will probably bring Mario Kart 9 with it at some point in the coming years. So should that be the case then this pack is a brilliant swan song for what is, and will likely remain, the Switch's best selling title.

I'm still in awe that this was built in Dreams.

If you'd told me that one of my favourite games this year was gonnae be a puzzler where you play as a toy train capable of doin' boosts and flips to earn gold ratings on insane wee tracks I'd have beaten you around the head and neck.

Cannot recommend it enough, just a shame it's locked into Dreams because I know that will put a lot of people off. My advice is to not let it. You're missing out.

had a great time here! was expecting a solid 2d sonic and got exactly that, not quite mania/3&k level but i'd say it's pretty firmly my third favorite of the classics.

they absolutely nailed the physics, and there's some solid level design and gimmicks! speed jungle, sky temple, pinball carnival, lagoon city, and froze base were my standouts for sure. the emerald powers add a pretty nice bit of depth to the levels and were very useful, namely the fireball one which saved me multiple times. they really shine in the boss fights though! 2d sonic historically has always had just okay bosses, and while i don't think these are massive improvements the emerald powers add an extra layer of resource management and strategy that i found super fun and satisfying!

the game looks solid overall, i think there's some refinement they could do to this style if they stick with it and i'll always prefer pixel art, especially of mania's quality but i like this style and am okay with them continuing with it. the character models especially are amazing, so expressive and fun to watch in motion, some of my favorite models in the series honestly!

the ost is unfortunately my biggest let down here. it's not terrible by any means, but considering the talent they had on board it being as just alright as it is, is a huge bummer. there's some stand outs but for sure on the lower end of sonic OSTs when it had the potential to be an all time great.

i very much understand not wanting to spend $60 on this game, in fact i'd say if you aren't a huge sonic nerd like i am i'd 100% wait on a sale, but for what it's worth there's a lot more content than i was expecting! like 11 zones, a new game+ with a new character, and some multiplayer modes i realistically will never dive into LOL but still neat to have. this game didn't blow me out of the water or anything, i got exactly what i wanted, a really solid classic sonic game and that's enough for me!

First and foremost Sonic is a game for kids. So you would think that it wouldn't ask too much of the player when set to easy. Let's just get straight to the point, the difficulty in this DLC is busted.

It is pretty much required to look up a guide on how to do a lot of the challenges in this DLC. Not only do all your stats get reset to 1 but you are also limited to spefic moves and on a timer (either literally or because of ring depletion). Not only that but one of the challenges is actually harder if you use the attack it says you are limited to.

This has been compared to soulsborne games but I don't think that is correct, because those games are much fairer when it comes to being hard. The limitations that are imposed on the player means that you are fighting enemies and bosses that were designed for what is essentially a different moveset than what you have available to you. I didn't feel a sense of accomplishment when beating a challenge, it felt like I cheesed my way through with techniques that were far from the intended solution but were the only viable option.

And that isn't even the only problem. The other playable characters are laughably limited at the start for what is the final island of the game, and leveling them up and unlocking skills is tedious to the point of feeling pointless. And some of the platforming segments (especially the tower climbs) just exacerbate an already janky feeling camera and homing attack. Both of these things I would have been able to forgive if the aforementioned challenges were worth the trouble.

I have decided to shelve this for now in hopes that a patch or mod can address the difficulty balance. But as there is little sign of this happening any time soon the game is abandoned in all but name.

But hey, at least the music is good.

it’s fine! no real complaints! considering i played it for free with an apple arcade trial i had a solid time. nice to see the franchise return! solid production value for the most part (aside from the story mode) and a good soundtrack! the story mode was a pretty fun way to experience all the songs (except for the sonic songs at least) but it was pretty poorly written. it padded time way too long and tons of broken english and whatnot. the little FMV cutscenes while few and far between were pretty fun! i also wish you could select difficulty for songs in the story mode, it got insanely difficult near the end to the point of me needing to cheat and use items. either way, was happy to finally have a new samba de amigo and this was a worthy addition!