I started this game just around the time of release, played about half / two thirds of it, and then stopped. In the time since then and returning to it a couple weeks ago, I played all of the Kiryu saga (minus what of 0 I had played) as well as Judgment and Lost Judgment. Initially I had stopped playing 7 because I wanted to really have the full picture for when Kiryu shows up in the story. Ironically, I picked it back up because I reached the point of Gaiden where those events happen again. There’s something poetic about that, I suppose. I’ll keep my thoughts on this one short but I wanted them down for posterity.
Story
Ichiban is a great new protagonist for the series to jump off with. His approach to problems is different from Kiryu’s and he sees the world differently (in a literal sense). The whole cast is so good, the party really comes together organically and the central group of Ichi, Saeko, Nanba, and Adachi work so well together. The extra additions along the way only increase the enjoyment. The story is phenomenally well done in certain parts and only really dragged down by a couple chapters here and there. The opening third is so grounded and fun, I thought the hospital / old folks home sequence is just a little genius bit thrown in that you never would’ve seen from a Kiryu game. The finale is rather great too, minus the perhaps-too-long campaigning section. It feels like they took what they learned from telling a “cinematic” story from Yakuza 6 and really improved on it here, lots of movie-quality cutscenes that make the whole thing come alive and quite honestly stand out from the rest of the JRPG crowd. As much as I like FF7 Remake, the type of lengthy and somewhat quiet cutscene like the final interaction between Ichi and Aoki Ryo just doesn’t happen there. The story is strongest in its smaller and more contained moments, like working at the soapland or helping the Yokohama residents. The grander shit with the Omi and the Tojo is fun in a big picture “LORE” kind of way but doesn’t feel necessary for Ichiban’s story in the slightest, and feels like an excuse to bring Kiryu and the other Tojo legends into the picture. I don’t think this is the strongest in the extended series, but it sits nicely up at the top with Judgment, Lost Judgment, and Yakuza 5.
Combat
Oh jeez. I think Ryu Ga Gotoku’s best case scenario is making a Judgment -> Lost Judgment type glowup happen with Infinite Wealth because there’s so much to improve upon. It’s not a bad start for a team who have never made a JRPG before, but it feels lacking in a number of ways. Reservations about the job system aside, I feel like there isn’t enough actual experimentation to do - fights are largely decided by having a damage dealer, a healer, and a defense / attack debuff. Status effects are largely worthless and there’s little in the way of party composition strategy. The move lists are a little underwhelming too, and they feel lacking in that they don’t actually take advantage of Ichiban’s delusional Dragon Quest vision. Most attacks are just walking up and hitting the opponent with something, minus the heat actions / Essence skills. Gear is similarly bleh, with basically only stat upgrades meaning anything. I actually will NOT criticize the difficulty, as despite the fact that you can easily find criticisms of the Majima / Saejima and Kiryu fights online, I cleared both on the first try without doing any grinding beyond the singular dungeons they give you access to before each. I will criticize other things, however. I absolutely despise the “always moving” mechanic within battle. The fact that your attacks can straight up miss entirely regardless of your accuracy stat because the physics engine pushed you back when you moved past a box or something is infuriating. All the movement within combat feels clunky and unnecessary. The level curve feels wack, not in a difficulty way but in a numbers way. Leveling up a job takes probably 2-3 times longer than I feel it should for the number of jobs each character has, and considering that the game’s story ends at basically level 60, why is level 99 even the cap? Overall it’s a relatively acceptable system that feels like it leaves a few things down to be finetuned in the next game, which is hopefully the case.
Misc
Extra content is still pretty much as good as ever, minus the extra dungeons being a slog. Karaoke is fantastic and there are some amazing renditions in here. There are a ton of substories which, admittedly, felt a bit more committed to the bit of “being weird” than just simply telling a standalone story, which I don’t like, but they’re mostly pretty great. The strength of the party chat / “drink links” help make up for the substories as the one-on-ones are pretty emotional and unique in terms of the series. Dragon Kart and Can Hero are… fine, I guess. These types of minigames are never perfect in RGG releases but they’re fun enough. Part Time Hero is imperfect in terms of its missions but I can’t be bothered to seek out 100% regardless so it hardly matters in the long run.
Yeah, really great game. I don’t think it makes sense to play this as your first Yakuza release, but it does serve as a great first step in a new period of Yakuza. It would’ve felt more meaningful if RGG were capable of truly setting Kiryu aside instead of trotting him out 4 more times after his “last” game, but maybe they’ll make good on that decision in Infinite Wealth. The story is excellent, the smaller scale of the conflict helps it immensely, and the RPG focus is good enough to never feel dull but leaves room for improvement.
Story
Ichiban is a great new protagonist for the series to jump off with. His approach to problems is different from Kiryu’s and he sees the world differently (in a literal sense). The whole cast is so good, the party really comes together organically and the central group of Ichi, Saeko, Nanba, and Adachi work so well together. The extra additions along the way only increase the enjoyment. The story is phenomenally well done in certain parts and only really dragged down by a couple chapters here and there. The opening third is so grounded and fun, I thought the hospital / old folks home sequence is just a little genius bit thrown in that you never would’ve seen from a Kiryu game. The finale is rather great too, minus the perhaps-too-long campaigning section. It feels like they took what they learned from telling a “cinematic” story from Yakuza 6 and really improved on it here, lots of movie-quality cutscenes that make the whole thing come alive and quite honestly stand out from the rest of the JRPG crowd. As much as I like FF7 Remake, the type of lengthy and somewhat quiet cutscene like the final interaction between Ichi and Aoki Ryo just doesn’t happen there. The story is strongest in its smaller and more contained moments, like working at the soapland or helping the Yokohama residents. The grander shit with the Omi and the Tojo is fun in a big picture “LORE” kind of way but doesn’t feel necessary for Ichiban’s story in the slightest, and feels like an excuse to bring Kiryu and the other Tojo legends into the picture. I don’t think this is the strongest in the extended series, but it sits nicely up at the top with Judgment, Lost Judgment, and Yakuza 5.
Combat
Oh jeez. I think Ryu Ga Gotoku’s best case scenario is making a Judgment -> Lost Judgment type glowup happen with Infinite Wealth because there’s so much to improve upon. It’s not a bad start for a team who have never made a JRPG before, but it feels lacking in a number of ways. Reservations about the job system aside, I feel like there isn’t enough actual experimentation to do - fights are largely decided by having a damage dealer, a healer, and a defense / attack debuff. Status effects are largely worthless and there’s little in the way of party composition strategy. The move lists are a little underwhelming too, and they feel lacking in that they don’t actually take advantage of Ichiban’s delusional Dragon Quest vision. Most attacks are just walking up and hitting the opponent with something, minus the heat actions / Essence skills. Gear is similarly bleh, with basically only stat upgrades meaning anything. I actually will NOT criticize the difficulty, as despite the fact that you can easily find criticisms of the Majima / Saejima and Kiryu fights online, I cleared both on the first try without doing any grinding beyond the singular dungeons they give you access to before each. I will criticize other things, however. I absolutely despise the “always moving” mechanic within battle. The fact that your attacks can straight up miss entirely regardless of your accuracy stat because the physics engine pushed you back when you moved past a box or something is infuriating. All the movement within combat feels clunky and unnecessary. The level curve feels wack, not in a difficulty way but in a numbers way. Leveling up a job takes probably 2-3 times longer than I feel it should for the number of jobs each character has, and considering that the game’s story ends at basically level 60, why is level 99 even the cap? Overall it’s a relatively acceptable system that feels like it leaves a few things down to be finetuned in the next game, which is hopefully the case.
Misc
Extra content is still pretty much as good as ever, minus the extra dungeons being a slog. Karaoke is fantastic and there are some amazing renditions in here. There are a ton of substories which, admittedly, felt a bit more committed to the bit of “being weird” than just simply telling a standalone story, which I don’t like, but they’re mostly pretty great. The strength of the party chat / “drink links” help make up for the substories as the one-on-ones are pretty emotional and unique in terms of the series. Dragon Kart and Can Hero are… fine, I guess. These types of minigames are never perfect in RGG releases but they’re fun enough. Part Time Hero is imperfect in terms of its missions but I can’t be bothered to seek out 100% regardless so it hardly matters in the long run.
Yeah, really great game. I don’t think it makes sense to play this as your first Yakuza release, but it does serve as a great first step in a new period of Yakuza. It would’ve felt more meaningful if RGG were capable of truly setting Kiryu aside instead of trotting him out 4 more times after his “last” game, but maybe they’ll make good on that decision in Infinite Wealth. The story is excellent, the smaller scale of the conflict helps it immensely, and the RPG focus is good enough to never feel dull but leaves room for improvement.