Kiryu's third farewell tour, to be totally honest this had me pretty bummed when it was announced. Sega has an incredible, relatable, and glowing protagonist in Ichiban Kasuga and he (along with his crew) deserve all the spotlight they earned in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Even beyond that, if we were to get a game based on Kiryu's "missing history", The gap between 0 and 1 would have been tremendously more interesting and meaningful than from 6 to partway through 7. Still, here we are.
To keep up with Yagami and handle fights of 20-30 dudes at a time, Kiryu has an array of goofy spy gadgets this time around. A wire watch that can snatch multiple enemies and throw 'em around, a swarm of drones, and a couple of others. You can use these in the agent style, as well as the traditional dragon style he's had in previous games. While not as satisfying as the Judgment games, it still feels pretty good.
Minigame selection is fine too. You have the standard fare gambling games, arcade, golf center, karaoke, as well as a new live action variant of the hostess games and the return of pocket circuit. The plot also heavily revolves around "The Castle", which hosts the usual coliseum but with the ability to do big team battles with recruitable allies. These are pretty fun and the group ones get pretty tricky later on.
As for the plot, there's really not a lot to write home about. It fills in some details about what Kiryu has been up to and what led up to a major event in Yakuza: LAD, as well as what's up with The Castle. There's a handful of new characters, though the only two that really stand out are Akame and Shishido. It's a little clumsy the way it ties itself into the plot of Yakuza: LAD, but it does the job I suppose.
The major exception to all of this is the finale. It's pretty impactful, and while the Yakuza OSTs have always been solid with a few banger tracks, you can really feel how much they've been improving over these past few games (Lost Judgement, Ishin, this). There's one scene in particular that was so strong that it not only kicked up my rating from a 3.5 to a 4 by itself, but it also had me kinda looking forward to Kiryu's involvement in Infinite Wealth.
As I mentioned at the start, I still really don't think this game needed to happen (powerful moments aside). Still, it was brief and a good enough refresher to get ready for Infinite Wealth next year. My clear time was 27 hours, however keep in mind that I went way the fuck overboard on the side stuff. Someone bee-lining it and only doing the required amount could probably finish it in 15 or less(?). I wouldn't call this a 'don't miss', but if you really can't get enough Kiryu, this is the game for you.
To keep up with Yagami and handle fights of 20-30 dudes at a time, Kiryu has an array of goofy spy gadgets this time around. A wire watch that can snatch multiple enemies and throw 'em around, a swarm of drones, and a couple of others. You can use these in the agent style, as well as the traditional dragon style he's had in previous games. While not as satisfying as the Judgment games, it still feels pretty good.
Minigame selection is fine too. You have the standard fare gambling games, arcade, golf center, karaoke, as well as a new live action variant of the hostess games and the return of pocket circuit. The plot also heavily revolves around "The Castle", which hosts the usual coliseum but with the ability to do big team battles with recruitable allies. These are pretty fun and the group ones get pretty tricky later on.
As for the plot, there's really not a lot to write home about. It fills in some details about what Kiryu has been up to and what led up to a major event in Yakuza: LAD, as well as what's up with The Castle. There's a handful of new characters, though the only two that really stand out are Akame and Shishido. It's a little clumsy the way it ties itself into the plot of Yakuza: LAD, but it does the job I suppose.
The major exception to all of this is the finale. It's pretty impactful, and while the Yakuza OSTs have always been solid with a few banger tracks, you can really feel how much they've been improving over these past few games (Lost Judgement, Ishin, this). There's one scene in particular that was so strong that it not only kicked up my rating from a 3.5 to a 4 by itself, but it also had me kinda looking forward to Kiryu's involvement in Infinite Wealth.
As I mentioned at the start, I still really don't think this game needed to happen (powerful moments aside). Still, it was brief and a good enough refresher to get ready for Infinite Wealth next year. My clear time was 27 hours, however keep in mind that I went way the fuck overboard on the side stuff. Someone bee-lining it and only doing the required amount could probably finish it in 15 or less(?). I wouldn't call this a 'don't miss', but if you really can't get enough Kiryu, this is the game for you.