This game, as well as its excellent predecessor, are demonstrations of the power of character. The fact is: I will always be down to spend some time with my man Ichiban and his pals. Every one of them gets their time in the spotlight, an arc, and meaningful development. But most of all, they're just really great bros (and lady-bros, as the game eloquently phrases it) whose friendships demonstrate that writing with sincerity and emotion still has a place in a world full of people who are terminally afraid of being 'cringe' for feeling things. I would have a beer with each and every one of these characters.
On the gameplay front, things have been improved quite a bit. The combat system in LAD7 was fun, if not rather simple. The addition of positioning and chaining mechanics in LAD8 greatly expand the possibilities for somehow feeling really intelligent whilst beating up thugs with names like 'Hungry Hungry Homeless.'
The remainder of the open world shenanigans are exactly what you'd expect from a LAD game. We've got your hilariously over-detailed and extensive side games (the Animal Crossing adjacent island builder and the Definitely-Not-Pokemon activities are both stand-outs), a huge collection of substories that are either absurdly hilarious or oddly sentimental, bonds to form with your squad-mates, tons of insanely wacky enemies to fight, and much more. You can easily spend well over a hundred hours trying to 100% this game--as is usual for LAD.
The writing here is stellar. The main story is a very touching look at coming to terms with the fact that nothing lasts forever: not our heroes, not our institutions, and certainly not ourselves. And as RGG is wont to do, they go hard on the feels in the final couple chapters. One particular scene during the ending sequence, in which Ichiban fully demonstrates just how good a person he really is, definitely had me wondering if it was... ahem, a bit dusty in here.
In short, the game is absolutely spectacular and somewhat of a culmination of what RGG has been building towards with their last couple releases. Can't recommend enough.
On the gameplay front, things have been improved quite a bit. The combat system in LAD7 was fun, if not rather simple. The addition of positioning and chaining mechanics in LAD8 greatly expand the possibilities for somehow feeling really intelligent whilst beating up thugs with names like 'Hungry Hungry Homeless.'
The remainder of the open world shenanigans are exactly what you'd expect from a LAD game. We've got your hilariously over-detailed and extensive side games (the Animal Crossing adjacent island builder and the Definitely-Not-Pokemon activities are both stand-outs), a huge collection of substories that are either absurdly hilarious or oddly sentimental, bonds to form with your squad-mates, tons of insanely wacky enemies to fight, and much more. You can easily spend well over a hundred hours trying to 100% this game--as is usual for LAD.
The writing here is stellar. The main story is a very touching look at coming to terms with the fact that nothing lasts forever: not our heroes, not our institutions, and certainly not ourselves. And as RGG is wont to do, they go hard on the feels in the final couple chapters. One particular scene during the ending sequence, in which Ichiban fully demonstrates just how good a person he really is, definitely had me wondering if it was... ahem, a bit dusty in here.
In short, the game is absolutely spectacular and somewhat of a culmination of what RGG has been building towards with their last couple releases. Can't recommend enough.