roc
2003
ended up racing against a 12 year old girl who was racing on manual and drifted constantly, i just barely won
kiryu's agent style is stupid as hell, and while this is the most fleshed out arena mode to date, with fun character cameos (i never thought i would be able to play as mr masochist!) i can't justify the price point for what is offered here compared to a standard yakuza title. should have released at $30.
a much more cohesive package than aa2, with less arbitrary solutions, this game sold me on the franchise enough to finish the rest of it, even if rumors make me think it'll never hit these highs again. time for some coffee.
mechanically, a marked improvement over the original. lots more tactical options even if the difficulty rarely necessitates them. the new characters are great, and the setting is excellent - but the game kind of collapses under its own weight and tries to balance too much at once to succeed. ultimately, the story feels a bit rushed, and made me long for the focus the first ichiban game had.
2011
i catcha da fish
my second favorite after aa3 so far - keeping the narrative cohesion that the 3rd really nailed, but weirdly swinging the narrative back to phoenix at the end. i like the cast of apollo a lot, and the animation of klavier playing the air guitar is batshit. more of this, i hope! (i have no expectations)
2013
made me enjoy solitaire enough to play it for more than 30 seconds but is there is ultimately only so much solitaire i can take without getting frustrated. this is probably the best possible packaging of the concept but i still could only play for like 6 hours before banishing it to the folder on my 3ds where i pretend i might play the games within again (i will not) (ever)
noticeable step down from the original. while it adds more characters and refines the combat a bit, it takes zero advantage of what made the original game distinct and compelling - the ability to move around the naruto setting with the speed and agility often presented in the source material. in the first game, there were a ton of wide open areas with challenges focuses on nimble platforming, but this game largely replaces that with narrow corridors and the worst fucking goof-troop style "puzzles" i have ever played. i would not recommend this to anyone but someone trying to explore every game tied to the IP.
1999
wakle skade is up there for best character name. it's engraved in bronze right next to bobson dugnutt
i know this isnt a universal experience but i do not want to have do actual math in my logic puzzles. ever. for any reason
game has like three songs but the art and ambience is great and i enjoyed the great majority of the puzzles. i hope the sequels have less math but i bet they wont
game has like three songs but the art and ambience is great and i enjoyed the great majority of the puzzles. i hope the sequels have less math but i bet they wont