Finished with the "Real Estate Royale" mini game and unlocked the [REDACTED] - MAN OH MAN was that fun to dump money into. Finished the story and... seeing where Kiryu and Majima come from in context from Yakuza Kiwami 1 adds so much more context - highly recommend anyone interested in the mainline series should start with Yakuza 0 specifically for the backstory.

More Real Estate Royale grinding tonight while watching a documentary for 2-3 hours; all purchaseable locations have been bought and the first 4 areas have been S-ranked. Once I defeat the Media King, I'll be finishing this game; watching/listening to something else while grinding a game isn't something I enjoy, but I think I subliminally don't want the game to end. :)

Continuing to grind the Real Estate Royale game at the 45 hour mark - I'm realizing that this is just an unconscious way to avoid stopping the game. :) I've got about 50% of the Media King's properties and almost S-Ranked the entirety of the other 4 areas. Money money.

Had some time to play last night, so grinded away at the Real Estate Royale side game while listening to podcasts. Defeated the Gambling King, S-Ranked the first 3 areas, and now working on the Media King. Kiryu is going to be overpowered as hell for the final fight (at some point).

Replayed all of the Real Estate Royale from last week (when I didn't save like an idiot), I have complete control of the Leisure, Pleasure and Electronic areas and building capital to buyout the Gambling King's area. This little side game is more of a stall before ending the main story campaign since, as my habit with games is, once I 'roll credits' on a game, I'm done with it. Plus, I don't mind Kiryu or Majima to be OP as shit for the final missions. :)

Checking in at the 40 hour mark and decided that once I beat this game, I probably won’t come back to it.

Decided to bulk up Kiryu for the final fight, so I played the real estate game. Bought all of the Electronic District and Pleasure District properties, re-investing hundreds of millions of yen into 10-15 locations to S-Rank for maximum profits.

Defeated the Electronics King and the Adult King (that challenge with the phone was hysterically funny), and super charged Kiryu with over $300 million in upgrades after earning the $1 billion CP challenge. Decided to switch to Majima and super charge his abilities as well before the final fight.

4 hours later, I was ready for the final fight. Turned off my PS4 and felt a cold chill - I forgot to save the game. Turned it back on…. all of tonight’s gameplay was lost… I’m going to bed.

36 hours in and started Chapter 16 tonight; I loved the ‘takoyaki’ throwback during yet another emotional moment in the game. Majima’s ‘I’m takin’ every last one of you straight to the pits of hell’ was a moment that I was absolutely sucked into - and I want this ending BADLY. Started the final chapter and got to the ‘the game ends here, stock up on shit before continuing’ section and had to stop for the night. I’m edging to finish this game.

“ You lay one goddamn finger on Makoto Makimura… and I’ll bury the Tojo Clan. I’ll crush it down to the last man. That I swear to you.”

And then, the meeting afterwards… some powerful storytelling within these games.

Chapter 13 has had some SHIT GO DOWN. Kiryu in Sotonbori is a weird sight, but the story has absolutely gotten real.

30 hours in, finished Majima’s Chapters 11 and 12. Really happy to see “Act 3” start to come into full view with Majima headed towards a date with Kiryu.

Played through Chapter 10 with Kiryu - really enjoyed “Beast” mode in the Tojo Clan area. Story seems like it’s started to intertwine between Kiryu and Majima’s, which feels like it’s been inevitable.

25 hours in and this game absolutely has its hooks in me - the mini games with Majima’s cabaret club/recruiting calls using CP points and the little side missions have me so far off the ‘golden path’ that I simply don’t care. By the time I get back on it and finish Chapter 8, I’m kinda annoyed that I didn’t keep going - the main campaign is so damned good, overlooking the ‘escort’ mission at the end of Chapter 8. Good times.

21 hour mark - hearing Makoto’s story is heartbreaking. I’m going to need some practice with Majima’s cabaret club game though - there are a ton of optional upgrades to dig though.

16 hours into the game and some things are simply enjoyable to me as I come back to it week after week. The introduction music is such a nice, tight riff and the build to the end of the song is exceptional. The “Pulp Fiction” style intro of mixing up cutscenes from the story is something I’ve noticed as really clever as well - some of the content I’ve already seen while some of the content walks the razors edge of spoiler territory. The “Shrink Wrapped Dream” side mission had me DYING laughing throughout. Lighthearted and amusing as some of the side missions are, the mirror of how dark the games’ story can get is so well done, with the Awano and Nishiki confrontations after the sewer fight with Kuze at the end of Chapter 6 being perfect examples.

Playing as Kiryu in Chapter 5 was a fun change-up from the normal, 'go here, beat these people up' that I've been used to. Playing through the storyline of having Kiryu becoming a 'honest' real estate agent was a nice change of pace in that it shows the development team wasn't afraid to deviate too far from what they know. Kiryu's run-in at Serena with Awano gives a nice foreshadow into what's to come. Chapter 6's introduction was another curve ball for me with this type of game; being forced to become the President of a real estate company was a nice change of pace, but felt a bit like a 'side mission' for the game. Either way, I'm still enjoying this game and am excited to see what 'Act 2 of 3' has in store.

Majima’s storyline ending from Chapter 4 with the meeting in the massage parlor was absolutely nothing like I expected. That twist and the gameplay afterwards was quite fun. Back to Kiryu; laughed out loud at a side mission called “The Show Must Go On” after getting Kiryu’s awful looking white suit. :) Lost 7,000,000 Yen to my first Mr. Shakedown. :(

Learning about Majima’s backstory in Chapter 4; really interesting stuff. Really digging the story. Slugger style is stupidly fun to use. There is something about the side missions that are more intriguing than the main missions, that’s really odd for me as someone who typically sticks to ‘the golden path’.

Bought a lot of booze for the homeless. Worth it.

Just starting. This should be fun.