konorin
3 reviews liked by konorin
Gaiden offers a heart wrenching return to the life of Kiryu, and while the intent for the series to pass the torch to a new protagonist, its experiences like these that feel bittersweet when theres so many directions you can take the franchise's legendary dragon. However that return to familiarity, both in protagonist and brawling gameplay, is short lived due to the consequences of development. Gaiden's evolution from an interlude in the upcoming Yakuza 8, to a standalone experience, kneecaps a lot of the deeper themes and meta-text. There is so much the story wants to say, and its consistency in how strong its writing is executed, feels undercut when 4 chapters in you find out its ready to end. I can only hope that 8 will deliver.
The conversion to a standalone game was also something done in an extremely short time, with only 6 months of development. While it's story manages to be top quality, the gameplay awkwardly drags it down a touch. Which is an unfortunate constant, Dragon Engine is never kind to kiryu, and all 3 of his games have had combat that ends up feeling sloppy, and undercooked. While Gaiden has taken improvements from the Judgment series, it's brisk time in the oven becomes very clear, as with tweaks the fighting could be stellar, in its current form I feel it's lacked playtesting.
The conversion to a standalone game was also something done in an extremely short time, with only 6 months of development. While it's story manages to be top quality, the gameplay awkwardly drags it down a touch. Which is an unfortunate constant, Dragon Engine is never kind to kiryu, and all 3 of his games have had combat that ends up feeling sloppy, and undercooked. While Gaiden has taken improvements from the Judgment series, it's brisk time in the oven becomes very clear, as with tweaks the fighting could be stellar, in its current form I feel it's lacked playtesting.
fantastic combat with a focus on large groups of enemies and story that feels the most essential to FFXV out of the DLCs so far, expanding on Ignis and Ravus and also providing an interesting alternate future ending
after nearly 7 games, I didn't think there was much left for Kiryu. his storyline felt pretty wrapped, regardless of it being satisfying or not, and a lot of facets of his character were already explored. i was skeptical when this got announced as it seemed like just a little filler game to hold everybody over, but not only is this a fantastic game, i would argue its the most important kiryu story in the entire saga.
gameplay holds up as always, though i found myself a little disappointed by the agent style. the gadgets are neat, but much like the original judgment, it seems like one style is just clearly the better option to use in combat (but someone correct me if im wrong). the game also could've stood to be maybe a single chapter longer to include some of the post dissolution stuff (not having the ichiban fight was SERIOUSLY disappointing), but for a little tie-in game its still got a lot of meat to it.
i shouldnt have to say this for yakuza fans, but dont skip this one. this is a certified banger yakuza title.
gameplay holds up as always, though i found myself a little disappointed by the agent style. the gadgets are neat, but much like the original judgment, it seems like one style is just clearly the better option to use in combat (but someone correct me if im wrong). the game also could've stood to be maybe a single chapter longer to include some of the post dissolution stuff (not having the ichiban fight was SERIOUSLY disappointing), but for a little tie-in game its still got a lot of meat to it.
i shouldnt have to say this for yakuza fans, but dont skip this one. this is a certified banger yakuza title.