the combat is unnuanced, the story kinda becomes swiss cheese in the last act, and the load times get a bit annoying, but this is still a short and sweet little game. i don't really understand a lot of the complaints with the combat, to me it mostly felt boring because you're rarely if ever required to switch up what you're doing. the game just never really got difficult. most of the things that i assume are well-liked about the yakuza series have a strong foundation here, from the lifelike atmosphere of kamurocho to the pretty heartfelt and virtuous portrayal of kiryu. when you remember that this game came out partially in response to games like GTA san andreas, it makes the willingness to tell this big operatic crime drama pretty impressive. i think the story does a good job of blurring the lines between kiryu's "family" (the tojo clan) and kiryu's family (haruka, yumi, etc). there's a lot of emphasis put here on familial bonds, both literal and figurative, and i think the game executes that stuff quite well. i do wish that yakuza did a better job when it came to the nishiki relationship, though; for how important the game tells you he is to kiryu, you don't really feel it. the final boss fight with him feels like a forced formality rather than a natural conclusion, imo. perhaps i'll feel differently once i (eventually) get to 0.