This game really spoke to me. Like, it doesn’t do or say anything that hasn’t already been done before, but the way it does it worked for me. The story is anything but subtle, but it’s still fun and heartwarming. The characters are great and memorable. The gameplay is interesting, altho I feel like it could have been expanded in more interesting ways. The puzzles and combat also aren’t very challenging. Also, I’m not sure if the game would work as well on people who don’t enjoy drawing. But I do, and I loved it. Definitely my favorite game that came out in 2021.

Truly a game of contrast. Such a freeing and beautiful open world coupled with such restrictive and frustratingly linear missions. Such great character writing and dialogue coupled with such garbage-ass mission design. Really enjoyed my time with this wonderful game, but god damn can it be frustrating. So many times I’ve failed a mission because I didn’t do exactly what the game wants me to. I didn’t even go out of my way to break the game or anything, it just happened naturally so, so, so many times. Not to mention how repetitive it all is. Start mission>Ride horse for like 5 minutes>Do a thing>Thing goes wrong>Shoot a bajillion people>Repeat like 100 times. Just a very flawed game, but the world is so easy to get lost and immersed in that it’s easy to forgive. And the writing is really good for the most part. Arthur especially, legit incredible. Overall, a bit of a mess, but what a beautiful mess it is.

Very interesting game. I'm very glad that a AAA game this weird can still be made, but sadly it didn't land super well for me. I love the concept, and the lore and world building is intriguing, but the way it was presented was very boring to me. The cutscenes are fine, and some of the performances are great, the technology to capture the actor's emotions has come a long way. But, most of the interactions in this game is with NPCs who you deliver the stuff to. They're all just holograms who talk to you, Sam becomes a silent protagonist despite the fact that he's pretty talkative in main story cutscenes, thus making it all feel weirdly gamey for me.
Gameplay wise, I had a very good time. Really takes 'walking simulator' to the next level. Progression felt very nice too, with new vehicles, equipment and structures to build unlocked regularly as you go through the game. It was deep and fun, but also felt kinda janky. Especially with the vehicles. Something goes real bad with the driving physics when you drive over tiny rocks and such.
Overall, had a good time. The story, while intriguing, gets too much even by Kojima standards.

Hella fun game. The story takes a hot minute to get going, but the presentation is so over the top and stylish that it's entertaining by itself. The biggest issue I could see is that the game pretty much takes place in one location, and lever reuse is common. But they change things up by adding new enemies and challanges to previously visited locations, plus the game is pretty short, so it isn't a super big issue. The gameplay feels great. I played on normal, and didn't have too hard of a time. I still died a bunch, but never really felt like I hit a brick wall. Trying to stay alive while also attempting to mix up your moves to be as stylish as possible is incredibly fun. The enemy variety is great, and going from getting your ass handed to you, to learning their attacks and weaknesses as the game progresses feels amazing. Boss fights are fun and memorable too. Some are weaker than others, but mostly great. Especially the last one. Just a great fucking action game.

Fun game, with the basic premise of killing a billion things on screen. It looks great for when it released, but it's very brown and drab looking, the shadows are super dark and the environments look very generic. The whole game is just desert ruins. Also some of the new enemy types are garbage and hurt the fast action gameplay by forcing you to slow down. Sam as a protagonist is a fun throwback to the 90s, but he could really use some better one liners. Overall, not too bad of a game, especially considering the size of the dev team, but really nothing special in the end.

This is a good game, but I wouldn’t call it amazing. The traversing mechanics are incredibly well done, and feel satisfying to use. But all the other aspects of the game never really reach an amazing level. Nothing in the game is straight up bad, and I had a good time playing, but I doubt I’ll think about this game often in the future. The combat was fine, but by the end I was more bored with it than excited.
The main story is pretty good for a superhero game, and some of the performances and facial animation are pretty great. But the side content is a huge dip in quality. Obviously they can’t do the fancy cutscenes and set pieces for side content due to budgetary constraints, but they’re still really boring. Most are just collectathons without any value, but even the ones focused on story aren’t anything to write home about. Also, whoever came up with the character of Screwball should go to prison. Also, holy moly does this game really love to deepthroat the big long schlong of the law. Every cop in this game is a saint, and every small criminal is a bad person. The main story is all about good people becoming bad guys and all that jazz, but the world around them is cartoonishly black and white. Still, fun game.

Unsure how exactly I feel about this one. Enjoyed it overall, but didn’t really wow me. The atmosphere is great, along with the music and artstyle. The character design is pretty memorable as well, but it does get less interesting the more characters you encounter. The gameplay is a mix of exploration, puzzle solving and hide-and-seek. There’s also alchemy, and all kinds of items, but I barely used any and didn’t have a hard time. The combat is not great, but it’s not supposed to be. All the boss fights are pretty much puzzles, rather than actual fights. That said, the puzzles aren’t great. Fairly easy to figure out, but executing on the plan with the janky controls is a different story. The story starts out pretty interesting, but it starts losing me the further it goes, jumping some sharks along the way. All in all, neat lil game, would recommend. Also the dog is super cute and you can pet him.

The black sheep of the series. Was looking forward to playing this one, and honestly had a pretty good time. The opening is my favorite Yakuza opening so far. Kiryu chillin on a beach and taking care of some orphans is a vibe. I didn’t really care about the main plot tho, but the characters are really fun. Great villain, too. Gameplay-wise it’s definitely weird tho. It’s known as Blockuza 3 in the fandom, and it’s clear why. The tougher enemies just block everything, which slows the combat way the fuck down and makes it feel wayyy less satisfying. It gets a bit easier as you level up, and especially with Tiger Drop, but man, it was really rough for most of the game. Also, substories are always a highlight in this franchise, but they just put way too many in this game. There’s so many moments when the main plot is super urgent, and the game just showers you in side content. Realistically, this is probably like a 3/5 at best, but I’m a slut for Yakuza.

I’ll be honest, this game wasn’t that great. It was still good, but kinda ‘eh’ overall. Obviously, the combat is the highlight and is as fun as ever. Nero is really fun to play with, especially with his demon grapple hand. Knocking enemies back, and then pulling them back in to beat them some more is very satisfying. The game looks great, the soundtrack is fun, the character designs are cool. But the story is ass. Not much more complex than Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach and Mario has to save her. A simple story is not necessarily bad, but this one is just boring. Sure, the cutscenes are hella fun, but the supporting characters are really bland. And the second half of the game is super weak. A bit disappointed, but I still had a good time.