Aside from the last 25% of this game, Yakuza Like A Dragon is amazing. Through my time playing the 7th entry in the Yakuza series I was always excited to see what new trouble or development that Ichiban and his gang were dealing with and how he brought everyone together. This game is truly an amazing soft reboot of the series, and while there are plenty of references to the original games, this really feels like a step forward in the right direction.

Seriously! The majority of Yakuza 7 is wonderful, but that last part of the game can feel a bit like a drag with how everything is set up. Not so much the finale, but how you get to it. Largely the difficulty spike have to do with leveling up and dealing with Kasuga dies game over mechanic. While I certainly think the majority of this game is easier for newer RPG players; the fact we have to deal with such blunt boss design is not something every RPG player comes across. A lot of RPGs let their main character die in battle because it makes for a much more interesting game dynamic. Having to worry about Kasuga dying certainly isn't a big problem for the majority of the game, but for roughly 3 boss fights, it is.

Yakuza 7 is still a stellar game though, and one that makes great use of RPG elements, narrative, characters, and Yakuza staples. Honestly it was a bit worrying when I heard that Yakuza 7 was going to be a RPG, but gosh does this work so well for the series. Not only does it allow itself to open up more, but also gives more characters a chance to shine! Honestly having Ichiban have a whole crew was a great change of pace, and one that helps make the story better due to higher emotional ties. The cast for Yakuza 7 isn't only more diverse, but interesting to boot. I would have seriously loved to see more substories staring the cast, but Ichiban is still plenty entertaining.

Ichiban Kasuga really is the meat to this whole game. While I do miss Kiryu; Ichiban fits into his own niche of himbo that feels similar, but drastically different in his own way. Ichiban isn't exactly the smartest person in the world, but his emotional intelligent and ability to inspire others is chad worthy. On top of that, the game highlights the fact that Ichiban grew up in a soap land, and sex workers where a big part of his life. So much so that this game generally shows sex workers as human beings that may not be able to do more than just that. While it certainly isn't the full message we want, Yakuza continues to prove just how progressive it is.

Overall Yakuza Like A Dragon is a new start to an already wonderful franchise, and with the way they pivoted into RPG battles and mechanics is amazing. If this was just another brawler, I don't think this game would have it me in the emotions nearly as much as it did, and because of how well crafted the story and character interactions were nearly all the emotional beats hit exactly how they were suppose to. Honestly if you ever wanted to get into the series, this is a wonderful place to start, and one that truly shows risks can pay off in ways you never expect.

STOP POSTING ABOUT MEGAMAN X7. I’M TIRED OF SEEING IT. MY FRIENDS ON YOUTUBE SEND ME MEMES, ON DISCORD IT’S FREAKIN’ MEMES. I WAS IN A SERVER, RIGHT? AND AAAALL OF THE CHANNELS WERE MEGAMAN X7 STUFF. I-I SAW A CAMPFIRE GOING ON IN THE WOODS, I NUDGED MY GIRLFRIEND AND I SAID “REMINDS ME OF MEGAMAN X7 HAHA BURN BURN BURN BURN BURN BURN TO THE GROUND!” I FREAKIN’ LOOKED AT A TRASH CAN I SAID “MEGAMAN X7 BELONGS IN THERE”, I LOOKED AT THE FLAME SWORD FROM MEGAMAN 8, IT REMINDED ME OF THE KOMBINAT STAGE AND I WENT “FLAME SWORD? MORE LIKE FLAME HYENARD!” AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA