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.

Yuffie is one of those characters that really, by all rights, should be annoying as hell, yet somehow wins you over. This is a fun bite-sized romp in the FFVII universe. The unique combat mechanics for Yuffie and Sonon are a nice change from the usual format. Scarlet is a suitably mustache-twirling villian. The final boss gives strong 'abandoned character design we had laying around' vibes, but otherwise this is a pretty good time.

A shiny coat of Unreal Engine paint can only cover up so much. The story and characters are great as per RGG's usual efforts... but the game absolutely feels like the PS3 game that it is. When you're used to the modern slickness of their recent Dragon Engine games, it's hard not to feel how dated this is gameplay-wise. Very glad to have experienced it... once.

This is essentially Hades, but with Kratos. That basic pitch sounds appealing enough, as it is an excuse to engage with GoW's excellent combat for a few more hours. However, what the trailers don't make apparent is that this DLC features a significant amount of important story and character development. If you are invested in Kratos' story, this DLC is basically mandatory.

After a truly spectacular opening setpiece, SM2 falls into a bit of a lull. It honestly kind of lost me for a while there, as I was forced to slow walk around various locations listening to some questionable dialog and very much not Spider-Man-ing. That being said, once the plot launches in full shortly thereafter, the game recovers and hits some truly high highs. The combat is refined and smooth. The boss battles are the best in the series. The MJ missions, while still lacking a reason to exist, at least play well now--who knew that MJ apparently trains with John Wick in her free time. So while it's not perfect, it's still an absolute banger of a Spider-Man game that fans of this series will thoroughly enjoy. And let's be real: the level where you play as... well... you know... fully justifies the price of this game alone.

RGG Studios has unleashed their most powerful heat action: Essence of Weeping Like a Baby. Even in a series known for its incredibly well executed blockbuster endings, the finale episode of this game is maybe the best one they've ever put together. It's an hour of your favorite characters from the past 15 years in a perfectly executed high stakes action showdown... followed by 15 minutes of emotional damage. I'm not crying. You're crying. The beat-em-up combat is pretty satisfying, but let's be real... you know whether you like this gameplay or not by now.

Anyone with an interest in uniquely constructed narratives must play this game. The writing is incredibly nuanced, clever, unique, and hilariously meta (as is usual with Remedy Studios). The music written specifically for the game is excellent and well integrated, and the live action scenes are extremely well acted. I'm a huge fan of games that use the medium to tell stories in ways that could not exist outside of an interactive setting--and this is most definitely one of them. The fact that is also has some solid and satisfying survival horror gameplay is essentially just a bonus add-on to the overall package. The only way I can describe it is: an avant-garde mixed-media meta narrative hovering somewhere between a Nolan film and an A24 film and heavily dosed with shrooms.

When you're in the flow, this game really nails it. Clearing a tough room utilizing the hyper precise platforming and combat leaves you feeling like the next coming of John Wick. The issue with this game is all the rest of it: the cybervoid puzzle levels continue to be an utterly unfun interruption. Not sure we really needed so much... talking. The bike levels are interesting but extremely jank. Ironically, I wish the roguelike mode was the actual game. No one is playing this series for cutscenes or puzzles. I was really hoping GR2 would focus the series and give us a ton of combat and platforming challenges with zero down time. Instead they went in the complete opposite direction and while it's definitely good, it's just not what I was hoping for personally.

(Note: I didn't play this fully until 2.0 / Phantom Liberty). Everything you've heard about this game being a masterpiece... yeah, it's true. Night City is the most immersive game environment I've ever experienced. I actually found myself just walking around the city on rainy nights just to take in the vibe. The writing / motion capture / and voice acting are absolutely spectacular. Keanu knocks it out of the park. Near the end of the story, this became one of the few games that actually had me set the controller down and really contemplate my choices. I appreciated how the Phantom Liberty expansion slots right into the game, so you can play it alongside the main story. Not surprisingly, the expansion is excellent as well. I honestly don't really have many complaints about this game in its current form. If I had to knock it for something, I would say that the first hour or two (out of a 75+ hour game, to be fair), doesn't really make the best first impression. It's very tutorial heavy, the interface takes some getting used to, and they toss you into an extended braindance investigation. It's... a lot. But once I began the heist that sets off the plot proper, I could not put this game down. I was in.

This game is a bit of a paradox. It's gameplay, systems, and visuals are drastic improvements over the first game. Yet... it really hasn't pulled me in like the first. I completed one run and that was enough. I think the major downside to this game is that all the biomes aside from the Bloodborne-esque one are just kind of meh. I much preferred the biomes in Remnant: From the Ashes.

Ultimately, there is a reason FF2 and FF3 never originally got Western releases. This game is the epitome of 'fine.' It's worth a one time playthrough, but knowing how much the series improves starting with FF4, it's hard to argue that you ever need to play this game more than once for the sake of completionism. Also, the last dungeon is pain. If you've played it, you know.

I really enjoyed the characters and the overall plot. The dialog is very well-written... it just has this cool formal tone to it. The soundtrack is great as well. The controversial combat system is fine... if you set up your gambits. My main complaint with this game is that it's way, way too long. I was ready for it to wrap up at least 10 hours before it did. Some of the late game dungeons are just brutal. Prepare to spend hours muttering "ok, game, we get it," at various points.

The first half of this game is essentially a mess. You pretty much have to seek out other media (the Kingsglaive film, anime, etc.) to have any hope of understanding what the hell is happening. That being said, the combat is fun, the music is GOAT-tier, and the last act is really exciting and surprisingly emotional. Also, did I mention that the music is GOAT-tier. Because it is.

Pretty fun mech combat game, but it's not without its problems. The difficulty is basically non-existent for 80% of the game, while the remaining 20% is insanely difficult (especially on your first playthrough). Also, while the story is actually kind of cool, the presentation is about as exciting as a PowerPoint slideshow.

A great story, as usual. However, without a modern remake, this is very much still a PS3 game. It feels incredibly dated, and is honestly not recommended for anyone not already invested in the Yakuza series. I put it on easy and basically played it as a visual novel. Fortunately, the story and characters were bad ass enough to make it worthwhile.