This should've been the best Yakuza game.

Ever since I started my marathon of these games, one thing I've noticed, even with the games that I hate, that there is a consistency with this series. Every single game, for one reason or another, none of them are genuinely bad games, at worst they can be a 6/10. For a series that's been going on for this long with a lot of games and a lot of ideas being passed around, it's a miracle that that is the case.

Infinite Wealth is a game that's in that middle ground for me. This game isn't a 6/10, it shouldn't be.

This game has some of the best gameplay and QOL features in any Yakuza game. The core gameplay from 7 has been greatly improved on and expanded, with new moves features and the ability to move around in battle, which makes combat flow so much faster and so much smoother. Almost all the characters are great and all the jobs have been improved upon, and with skill inheritance you can have a truly really powerful build, no job in this game is genuinely bad. All the side content is great, the substories were consistently good and a lot of the jokes landed, this game is honestly really funny a good chunk of the time. There is just about as much side content to do in this game as Yakuza 5. Just about every issue I had with Y7 has been fixed, including the dungeons being, in my opinion, much better to explore, especially with the addition of the on-foot radio which is just a perfect thing to add, it should be in every RGG game going forward. On a gameplay front, this is a 10/10 game, honestly.

So saying all of this, why am I not giving this game a perfect score? Simple, this is the worst story ever told in any Yakuza game bar fucking none.

The game makes just about 0 sense and you are aimlessly wandering around trying to figure out what you're doing and what you are actually accomplishing, and you don't figure out until chapter 10 or 12, which no matter what is just awful. This game has about 10 different plot beats that could be the main story but they try to put all of them in the same game and none of it works. They never properly expand upon their ideas, they NEVER give any of the newer characters development, and they never explain or give the player a reason to care about anything that's happened. Tell me, did you remember Wong-To's son until Chitose just randomly asked some Palekana mook in the very last chapter of the game? I didn't, and the game stopped caring afterwards since you don't see him again. The first 6 chapters of this game I think are the best part, honestly. You aren't really doing much but it's still enjoyable to sit through because all it is is Ichiban trying to find answers where his mother could be and who to talk to, then the game keeps going and just shits itself.

One thing that pissed me off a lot is that all the characters from 7 just don't act like themselves, Saeko especially but MOSTLY ICHIBAN. Ichiban in 7 was just some guy, down on his luck starting from rock bottom ever since he had to take the fall for something he didn't do. Trying to find Arakawa the entire game truly believing he would never betray him, to find out that he is his father and his connection with him grows, he finds purpose again in what he's doing and he feels like he's found his footing in the world, only for Arakawa to die the same night they get together again after 20 years and he breaks down, being at his lowest just senselessly beating the shit out of some random goon for information. Some people complained that scene was out of character for Ichi, but that's the point. It's to show how one of the nicest people ever, can still hit below rock botton. Ichi was at his lowest there, confused and pissed off at whoever did it. Ichiban wasn't this paragon of niceness, or the greatest person ever, he was a nice and forgiving guy but not to a comical extent. He forgave Nanba for betraying him because Nanba's motivation to betray him was understandable, he wanted to find his brother again. Ichiban knows how he feels because he's in the same boat, he's known him for a while at that point to so he just can't see himself being mad at what he considered a friend for so long. Aoki is another example. Why did Ichiban forgive him? He's known him for years, he's been his guardian for years, literal decades. Not only recently until he found him again exposing his plans for what he wants to do, reconnecting with him after everything has happened, be basically bond brothers. Ichiban didn't forgive Aoki because he knew deep down he was a nice guy, he forgave him because he's had this connection with him, feels bad for him because he see's the same thing that happened to him, happen to Aoki.

In this game Ichiban forgives a literal fucking murderer who tried killing him, his friends, and lead the charge on kidnapping his mother and a child 4 different times because he found out what they were gonna use the kid for and called it off. Ichiban does shit like this several times, another time with Chitose where she lies and betrays him 3 different times, one of them being the fact she's the reason every single person in Yokohama knows of him as a criminal who started a company to steal shit from people. Basically ruining his reputation. But no it's fine because she didn't actually wanna do it in the end, see how fucking dumb that sounds? This game at all times is 2 steps away from a fantastic plot beat that it just shits itself on and gives up, like this game is scared of actually having focus, because that's what it feels like.

One other reason for why I think that, remember Gaiden? Remember the whole idea of Gaiden being that it's an inbetween game before Y8 so you know the context of what Kiryu is doing and what role the Daidoji are gonna play? Y8 basically spits in your face if you played Gaiden and kills Hanawa after he was in maybe 3 cutscenes with his runtime being 10 minutes total where he gets shot by some random fucking goon. Gaiden meant literally nothing to this game, you did not need to fucking play it AT ALL because it never comes up. All you need to know from Gaiden is that Kiryu is still infact with the Daidoji and Hanawa is infact a character.

I've never played a game with a truly irredeemable story until I played this game, but I can't say I truly, genuinely hate it, because what this game does do good it does fucking amazingly. But I just can't help but while playing this game noticing how it's trying to not only do so much without giving development, it's trying to be other Yakuza games. Mostly 5 I feel in it's identity with being the BIGGEST EVER, and I feel it shares some plot points, and 7 with the fact they basically nullify everything that happened in that game by making offhand comments on what happened. All the 'Jima's starting a security firm after Y7? They got cancelled by some VTuber and now they're out of the job so they had to move away to some fishing shack in the middle of nowhere. The great dissolution? Doesn't matter, Seiryu clan is bringing all the Yakuza together to basically erase the first one to only start a new great dissolution so they can use the Yakuza as slave workers to move toxic waste to some bumfuck Little Saint James-esque waste dump ran by the Palekana. Why did Ebina do this? Because he hates Yakuza! Just like Aoki, like ashes in my fucking mouth.

This game just doesn't respect its own plot, or the player. Game doesn't really have a single plot, it has like 10 different ones that it doesn't know what to choose. This game is messy, unfocused, underdeveloped, and feels insanely rushed towards the end. It's such a shame because again, everything else about this game is perfect, I just can't imagine myself playing through the game again and looking back on the story thinking "Maybe I was too harsh on this game?" like some other Yakuza games I've played.

I desperately wanted to love this game, I wanted this to be my favorite Yakuza game, but I just can't bring myself to like it. Maybe next time will be better. If Judgment 3 sucks though I'm never buying a single RGG game ever again.

this game used to be my Go-To multiplayer shooter. Back when I still played it, it had some of the most fun gameplay and moments in any shooter that would honestly put all of them to shame. The mix of proper strategizing with your teammates, picking the best operators and gear using their abilities to your teams advantage, while at the same time still requiring good timing and reaction time to get good shots off. There was one time it was a 1v5 and I managed to pull the best fucking clutch-ace that I don't think I'll ever be able to replicate in a video game ever. Every operator was balanced, fun, and played to eachothers strengths.

So what the fuck happened to this game?
Like really, I don't fucking know what happened. I tried playing this game again and it felt like a fake mobile knockoff of itself. The UI is atrocious, there's insane bloat, the artstyle looks like dogshit now, teamplay is basically fucking gone and every new operator looks goofy and plays like a valorant operator.

If this game was in better hands than Ubisoft, or if instead they just made a Siege 2 instead of continuing to update this game, that would've been for the best, but here we are.

Fuck this game.

I'm genuinely so mad that this game ends as good as it does because the combat in it can be really fucking unbearable at times. Every enemy can you start attacking you again mid combo and have hyper armor, so they won't give a shit about half the time. Agent sucks, if you play with the Yakuza playstyle you will have a MUCH better time with the game.
All the side content just sucks, anyone who says pocket circuit is fun is a fake human being created by sora ai.

It's such a shame because the final chapter of this game is actually written really well and is one of the best endings to any Yakuza game, every everything else about it is just mediocre or bad.

Yakuza 7 is a weird game. One I still can't really put into words what I truly think about this game.

The story and general character writing in this game has to be some of the best in the entire franchise, bar none. Probably in all of gaming honestly. Ichiban is such an instantly likable and relatable character. He's a dude you wanna see succeed every step of the way, and it's always nice to see him succeed. There's only a handful of games that I can point to that has a main character that's just so likable and entertaining it's almost unrealistic how nice of a guy he is. Every interaction he has with the rest of the cast is just nice to hear because Ichi just has shit to say and it's always entertaining.

This game has had some of the best scenes in the whole series with some really entertaining and funny scenes that can be followed up with the most fucking heart wrenching thing you will ever see. The ending of this game really fucked me up, it's probably just my favorite ending to any Yakuza game ever.

With that comes my main problems with this game, which is for the most part the gameplay of it. It's not by any means bad, honestly it's really good, especially for a first attempt. But it's really only until later in the game where you get some better moves and gear where the combat just starts to click and becomes enjoyable. Some of the bosses can be really annoying damage sponges that you can't even hit with certain moves sometimes. The side content in this game is really lackluster with some really lame substories and side activities that are more just boring than anything. Granted, I don't think you can top anything side content related after 5, but I still wish it was better overall.

Issues aside it's really hard for me to say I actively dislike a good portion of this game, the last final chapters of it are really fucking good and is probably one of the best written in the series. Ichiban is straight up the best protagonist, he's number one.

One of the most overhated games due to internet contrarians trying to tell people that there's actually nothing enjoyable about the game, and you're wrong for liking it.
While I do agree this game isn't very deep or complex in its writing, and the main story isn't that interesting, the core gameplay and atmosphere of it really hits the tone. It has a fun core gameplay loop with interesting places to explore, while all of them not making much sense in the context of Fallout, let alone the setting. The DLCs are definitely the best part about this game, Point Lookout and The Pitt specifically. I'd say Point Lookout is a reason to replay this game alone. While it might miss the point of Fallout, there's still a ton of enjoyment to be had here.