Absolutely mesmerizing. I don't think any character in the last couple years has resonated with the same way Ichiban Kasuga does. As much as I love Kiryu and Majima as characters, Ichiban is a character whose growth throughout this game alone sets him up to be the character that means the most to me in this series.

There's a couple narrative issues I have with the game, and some gripes about some of the politics of the game (woodaba's review highlights a couple of them, although I can't 100% agree with them), but a lot of it is overshadowed by how much I love and character for the primary crew in this game.

Game had me crying a bunch near the end. I may just be a sucker for found family shit, though.

When I was a kid, around fall my family would always plan big camping trips up north. After a decade and a half, the exact locales blur, all dirt campsites and sleepy towns, cut by endless drives down quiet backroads. Connecting every single trip, however, is the same singular image: laying in the backseat, staring to the sky as the pine, beech and maple trees ebbed and flowed with the breeze, a shimmer of greens, golds and reds against a still, cloudless ether.

Despite its northwestern setting, Alan Wake is a game that feels like home. Beyond the woodsy vibes, the spirit of the game keeps that same autumnal energy I associate with those countless trips, down to the same Halloween haunts that filled hours of my life. Alan Wake is read through the lens of Steven King and The Twilight Zone, a sort of contemporary / old school horror fusion, and the game makes it's infatuation with these influences blatant, to the point of embarrassment.

Horror molds the story and setting, leaning into a gun-toting Twin Peaks atmosphere, but the mold is not the full experience. Despite billing itself as a horror game, it feels more aligned with being an acknowledgement of horror's influence. In a sense, Alan Wake isn't a horror game; it's a game about horror, where horror itself is light and breezy.

Alan Wake is a beautiful game, a picturesque capturing of the woods and towns I spent much of my childhood in. To imply the game is mechanical deep or systematically unique would be disingenuous, but as a reflection of some of the most calming, perfect moments of my life, it's flawless. I love this game.

DREAM BIG
Everyone has that one game where you just start playing it, and somehow the hours fly by. This happened to me with Yakuza 5. I booted up the game, went “I’ll play for about an hour or so before I log off tonight”. Then I look at the clock and two hours are gone. Yakuza 5 is an immensely entertaining and polished experience, and I hope this review will entice you to try it out eventually.
I’m still trying to process the story of this game. Out of the five entries I’ve played thus far, this one is super convoluted and has many, many things happening at once, which means that this game’s story has earned its divisive nature among fans. Tie that with the fact that this is easily the longest game in the series so far, and it sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Personally… I’m very mixed on this. I like my games a bit shorter (normally clocking in around the 20 hour mark), but I’m not opposed to a lengthier title if it makes worthy use of its play time. Yakuza 5, for the most part, earns its longer length by having a variety of gameplay styles and gimmicks to keep itself from getting stale.
What I admire the most about the story of Yakuza 5 is the main message it contains: Dreams. Everyone has dreams, and how we accomplish them comes in many different shapes and sizes. I love the emphasis several characters have about carrying on the dreams of those who are gone, it gives the plot a very personal feeling to it, and I hope all people who play this game take at least something away from what the game is trying to tell you.
What mainly sells the expanded plot of Yakuza 5 is its characters. Kiryu, like Yakuza 2 is once again pushed to new limits emotionally, and this is furthered by his dynamic with Haruka. Saejima focuses more on his prison buddies and relationship with Majima, while Akiyama is once again being his Akiyama self and helping the troubled in need. The big hit with this game is our new character, the retired baseball star Shinada, as he deals with the seemingly sadistic but secretly caring loan shark Takasugi. The dynamic between these two is excellent, and I really love how they play off one another as Shinada discovers what really happened behind the big incident he was involved in all those years back. Shinada well earned his place as one of the most popular characters in the series, and he’s definitely up there for me.
But of course, what is a Yakuza game without mentioning its ass kickin’ combat? Returning from the last game we have Kiryu, Saejima, and Akiyama back, each of them feeling much better to use and more versatile than before. Our newest brawler is Shinada, with a unique play style that is creative by utilizing elements of his past job in entertaining ways. Yakuza 5 EASILY has the best combat in the series, and it’s personally on par with the second game for me. The enemy AI is more aggressive, but that incentivizes smart play with even the most basic of foes. The physics are pitch perfect, and the combat in general has a nice flow to it. While not as arcadelike as Yakuza 2, this game regardless has very fun and rewarding combat that just makes me ready for the next battle. What about the fifth play style, you ask? Well, it’s Haruka! Instead of being a brawler (although admittedly that would’ve been awesome LOL), Haruka gets to play a rhythm minigame by having “dance battles” with other dancers in the streets. It’s a simple minigame, probably so people who are more so in it for the brawling don’t have to play a frustratingly complex or difficult rhythm game alternatively.
However, that’s only one side of the coin when it comes to gameplay in Yakuza 5. The game contains several alternate gameplay modes in the side stories. Kiryu gets two different Taxi Driver modes, one being a pretty realistic one where you must follow the rules of the road, with the other being a crazy taxi-esque race on the highways. Saejima gets to go hunting in the cold wilderness, and Haruka has several pop idol events she must attend. And lastly, Shinada gets to show off his batting skills at the range. I can’t stress enough how nice all of these modes are, they add a lot of content to the game and in true Yakuza series fashion, are all deep and enjoyable in their own right.
Aside from the PS2 games, this is my favorite visual style in the series. Character proportions are a bit better, the lighting of cutscenes and areas is a big improvement, and generally the game looks SUPER nice to look at, especially for a 2012 PS3 game. All five districts offered have their own kinda aesthetic and vibe to them which adds to the variety aspect of the game. The remaster also has this game run at 60fps, which makes this absolutely stellar presentation even 10 years later.
The soundtrack is no doubt fantastic. While it doesn’t hit the same highs as Y1-3 for me personally, I think it’s an improvement over 4, offering alot of variety for each character. I’ll have to give it a bit more of a listen to get full thoughts on this OST, but it’s great nonetheless
Yakuza 5 is RGG studios giving it their all to make a large and memorable video game experience, offering a boat load of content, a fantastic story, great presentation, and satisfying combat. You can really tell that the team behind this one had a realized vision, and put everything into making this the Yakuza game to top them all. This game isn’t perfect, far from it, but at the same time I feel like the 10/10 rating I gave it is earned. This is easily one of my favorite games of all time and I’ve even considered the possibility of 100%ing this game someday. If you consider yourself a fan of the Yakuza series, you owe it to yourself to finish this one, no if, ands, or buts. Next up I will be playing the ever so popular Yakuza 0, and I’ve been looking forward to this one. I hope it lives up to the massive hype train it’s gained for the past few years, that’s for sure.
Never Give Up.

I have mixed thoughts, but mostly positive.

It's been called Yakuza 6-2 and it's obvious it was meant to be ANOTHER Kiryu sendoff since many were unhappy with 6's ending. I personally didn't mind 6's ending, but any excuse to play more Kiryu is good.

The story ties Kiryu from 6's epilogue, to his time during 7 leading into 8. I'll see how much it comes into play when I get to Infinite Wealth, but I think the story is fine even if there isn't too much when you cut through the game's padding. The Akame Network and accompanying substories come into play for the main story, so you'll likely need to take time doing super quick fetch quests or Akame's requests, which are much more like the substories you'd expect in this series. A few are pretty good, especially the orphanage substory. There is also a bigger emphasis on the coliseum this time around (also Amon is unlocked through finishing the coliseum substories, too bad I hated him this time around), and possibly the best version of the clan creator minigames thus far (actually being on the battle field and not controlling them from a distance made them feel much more fun).

The combat is paradoxical, it has the best Kiryu moveset in the Dragon Engine while having a few glaring flaws of its own. DE Dragon of Dojima (now called Yakuza style) doesn't get faster, unless you attack enemies on the floor, and feels weighty, which isn't bad in and of itself but there were plenty of situations where my combo got broken either by super armor, interruption, or an enemy being pushed away. It ended up using it for most of the game, with the new Agent style being a bit of a let down (I couldn't get it to work for me until after most upgrades, any other time bit me in the ass).

Bosses were mixed-decent, with the final boss (the finale in general, actually) being the highlight and arguably a top 5 boss fight for the series. Currently replaying the game with no damage upgrades to see how they are when extended (I don't like fun fights ending too quickly). Also don't want to dwell too much here, but the lack of a new game plus is absolutely absurd with how much you can unlock here.

The ending has been lauded by pretty much everyone, and I don't disagree it's a series highlight.

My thoughts might change after finishing IW, but as it stands it works as a fun sidestory despite its flaws.

Also, Akame is the best part of the game and she needs to be a recurring character. First Summer Uika is a queen.

7/10

it’s insane how each entry in this series just keeps getting better and better. this game tells an utterly massive story, with so many different plot threads that all somehow come together perfectly to create my favorite ending so far. Yakuza 5 is a story about what it means to pursue a dream, what it means to pass on that dream, and what it means not to give up. presented absolutely beautifully, somehow we’ve reached new heights in a series that already soars to those of the highest sky scrapers. I couldn’t begin to organize all of my thoughts on this game— it’s one of the biggest i’ve played in my life. It’s worth every second of it though, there really isn’t a truly bad moment here. the best iteration of the combat so far in the series, and as mentioned, an absolutely wonderful story. I have no further notes… it was kino

Perhaps one of the more conflicting Suda51 titles in terms of reception with the audience, No More Heroes 3 tries to bring new life for Travis Touchdown following years of trying new combat systems and narratives within Grasshopper Manufacture's titles. There are TONS of gameplay, narrative, and stylistic elements drawn from their older titles (a similar overworld to One Night Kiss, similar space fights to Liberation Maiden, a similar art style to Killer Is Dead, various characters returning from previous Suda51-written stories, etc.), and it's pretty obvious that this and Travis Strikes Again serve to be a celebration of everything Suda and Grasshopper have created for over 20 years of game development.

I'm going to be honest and upfront: Travis Strikes Again has the best story. Yeah, pretty unique take, right? But regardless, I think it's fine that this game went the direction it did. After all, Travis' development in TSA already did most of the legwork with the narrative and I don't think it had much to go by after that. That being said, there's still quite a bit to digest with this game's story: love, hatred, death, life, heroism, villainy.

Suda51 wasn't very subtle with most of these recurring themes, especially knowing how much of a New Order fan he is. But even then, it's interesting to see all of them being demonstrated through the interactions of Travis and the rest of the cast. You have the big bad villain of the story, FU, who serves as a reflection of what Travis used to be in the earlier entries. FU is in a relationship conflict with his best friend Damon, who you can hardly tell if the pair really love each other until the very end. Travis meets various characters who have their own reasons for fighting. Some fight for glory, some fight because they believe it's their destiny, some fight because it's the heroic thing to do (one person in particular is actually a coward under the guise of a hero), and some fight because they're just damn mad. The final hour of the game demonstrates that last fact pretty well. It's a perfect culmination of everything that occurred in the previous games, thematically speaking. Some might argue that the story was a little rushed or unfinished, but I think it works well anyway. There were some subversions of expectations that had me a bit frustrated at first, but in any case, it's a satisfying conclusion to a t̶r̶i̶l̶o̶g̶y̶ tetralogy that begs to leave it the way it is.

Gameplay wise? It's the best that Grasshopper Manufacture has to offer. For No More Heroes veterans like myself, there is still a lot more to digest in terms of tech and strategies that allow for more fun with the beam katana. For example, learning how to reduce attack animations with jump attacks, learning combinations of light/heavy attacks with said jump attacks to maximize damage output while minimizing battery usage, learning that you can technically stock 2 Full Armors with an exploit, and finding new ways to look flashy all the while doing so. There are returning mechanics from 1 and 2 that are both easier and harder to complete. Dark Steps can be exploited by spamming the dodge button while holding the katana charging input, and extra damage from Kill Slashes are more subtle and are shown with the intensity of the light of the Blood Berry. There's just a lot to take in for those who want to find everything this game has to offer for gameplay. It's also a bit like Travis Strikes Again, so NMH3 mixes in traditional action gameplay with arcade style combat for a pretty unique and stylish experience. Fun? Yes. Monotonous? Yes. Conflicting? Yes. I don't care. I fucking love it.

Suda51 has a lot of love for this series and the way it ended should be left that way. I don't think we need a fifth installment because I wouldn't really be much point to it, unless you want something of a boring, quirky tale like No More Heroes 2. That's just me, though.

Playing this game for over 400 hours and I still can't get enough of it. Thank you, Grasshopper Manufacture, for creating a satisfying beginning, middle, and end to my favorite series.

Farewell, My Hero

I’ve been told that a propensity for smalltalk is one of the little things that reveal someone as American, but even as an introvert who was never super good at it, I never found it as off-putting as some of my friends around the world do. Sure the words themselves are pointless, but I think it’s nice when people can spend a couple seconds establishing some tiny human connection. Of course, when you get into a situation where it drags on for minutes at a time, that’s when the unspoken social contract has been broken. The idea here was to invest a small amount of time to connect and lift the feeling of uncertainty from the air, but once that’s complete, the connection benefit is far outweighed by the social energy required to keep going. When you think about it, this principle of energy input vs. energy return can be generally applied to the effectiveness of a lot of things, and it’s part of the reason I’ve been writing shorter reviews than before. For every second I demand, I should hope to return an appropriate value, and that’s easier to do when maintaining a strong focus. With this in mind, after completing Nier Replicant, I’m sitting here wondering what the thought process was in making players repeat ~15 hours of content across 4 additional playthroughs before seeing the few short scenes which complete the narrative. It’s not that what’s here is terrible, but again, it’s like bad small talk. The story creates little connections and pulls at your heart, but the investment it demands is disproportionate to the return. It creates the same sort of annoyance that you could feel with someone who’s excessively chatty; you go from thinking it’s nice to meet someone so friendly, to wishing they would leave you alone for a while. As beautiful as the game is, and even with how most of it is executed well, that’s the unfortunate feeling that comes to mind as I look back on the experience. It’s nice, it’s fine, but I feel like it chose not to respect my time, making that lack of respect unfortunately go both ways.

When you think about it, the principle of energy input vs. energy return can be generally applied to a lot of things, and it’s part of the reason I’ve been writing shorter reviews. For every second I demand, I hope to return an appropriate value, and that’s easier to do when maintaining a strong focus. With this in mind, after completing Nier Replicant, I’m sitting here wondering what the thought process was in making players repeat ~15 hours of content and complete 5 playthroughs before seeing the few short scenes which complete the narrative. I had the exact same thought when I was finishing Automata, and although I was willing to give it some credit back then, I was surprised to see that the exact same gimmick was already used in the previous game. Just like with Automata, it’s not that what’s here is terrible, but again, it’s like bad small talk. The story is as dramatic as one would hope for, but the investment it demands is disproportionate to the return. It creates the same annoyance that you could feel with someone who’s excessively chatty: you go from thinking it’s nice to meet someone, to wishing they would leave you alone for a while. As beautiful as the game is and how well most of it has been executed, that’s the unfortunate feeling that fills my mind as I look back on the experience. It’s all fine, but I feel like it chose not to respect my time, which made the lack of respect go both ways.

When you think about it, the principle of optimizing energy input vs. energy return is a fundamental rule of nature, and it’s part of the reason I’ve been writing shorter reviews (other than general laziness, of course). Every second that you spend reading this should be worth your while, and that’s easier to do when staying focused. With this in mind, after finishing this game, I’m sitting here wondering why players had to complete 5 playthroughs before seeing the ending cutscenes. I had the same thought when finishing Automata years ago, but while I was willing to give it some credit back then, I was surprised to see that the same gimmick was used in the previous game. Just like with Automata, it’s not that what’s here is terrible, but again, it’s like bad small talk. The story is as dramatic as one would hope for, but the investment it demands is disproportionate to the return. It’s sorta like how I’ve intended to watch that new Batman movie for a while now, but the three-hour runtime creates such a mental block that I never decide to actually start watching it. It would probably be a fun enough little movie, but I know Batman will just be doing the things I expect him to do, so I don’t think I would get three hours worth of enrichment from it. As beautiful as Nier is and how well most of it has been executed, that’s the unfortunate feeling that fills my mind as I look back on the experience. It’s fun but widely uninriching, and I feel like it chose not to respect my time, which made the lack of respect go both ways.

When you think about it, the principle of optimizing energy input and return doesn’t just apply to media, it’s a rule of nature, and it’s part of the reason I’ve shortened my reviews. Every second that you spend reading them should be worth your while, and that’s an easier promise for me to keep when I stay focused. If I don’t, then even my audience might lose focus, making even the parts that they did engage with quickly fade from memory. With this in mind, after finishing this game, I’m sitting here wondering why players had to repeat so many hours of content in Nier before seeing a satisfying conclusion. I had the same thought when finishing Automata years ago, but while I was willing to give it some credit back then, I was surprised to see that the same gimmick had already been used in the previous game. It’s not that what’s here is terrible, but again, it’s like drawn-out small talk. The story is as dramatic as one would hope for, but the investment it demands is disproportionate to the return, especially when a plot that’s fairly obvious dips into indulgent melodrama. It’s not like the media you consume needs to be analyzed as such a clinical and unartistic transaction of course, wasting time has a lot of its own benefits, but a line needs to be drawn somewhere for the best use of your time. As beautiful as the game is and even with how most of it is executed well, that’s the unfortunate feeling I get when I look back on the experience. It’s fun, it’s fine, but I feel like it chose not to respect my time, which made the lack of respect go both ways.

When you think about it, the principle of optimizing energy input and return doesn’t just apply to media, it’s a fundamental rule of nature, and it’s part of the reason I’ve shortened my reviews. Every second that you spend reading them should be worth your while, and that’s an easier promise for me to keep when I stay focused. If I don’t, then even my audience might lose focus, making even the parts that they did engage with quickly fade from memory. With this in mind, after finishing this game, I’m sitting here wondering why players had to repeat so many hours of content in Nier before seeing a satisfying conclusion. I had the same thought when finishing Automata years ago, but while I was willing to give it some credit back then, I was surprised to see that the same gimmick was used in the previous game. Speaking of Automata, I was really split on whether I should do a standard review for this game like I did for Automata, or whether I should be a self-indulgent hack like I am right now. I decided on this format mostly because doing a repeat of “it’s a fine game, but its obvious plot, melodrama, and repetition bugged the hell out of me” would be a bit pointless. It’s not that writing another review like that would be terrible, but again, it’s like drawn-out small talk. The investment it would demand is disproportionate to the return. It’s not like the media you consume needs to be analyzed as such a clinical transaction of course (wasting time has its own benefits) but a line needs to be drawn for the best use of your time. As well as most of it may-or-may-not have been executed, that’s the unfortunate feeling that probably fills your mind as you look back on this experience. At the very least, *I* had fun, I think it’s fine, and maybe that’s how Nier’s creators felt, so in the end it goes both ways.

I'd like to start this review by quoting Kiryu himself in Yakuza 5

"I'm not like you. To you, being Yakuza is a way to die. To me... it's a way to live. We walk the same path, but you're barreling towards death, while I fight for life."

While this might be a Kiryu game in all effectiveness, to me this is a game dedicated to the series itself, and to the moment of glimmer the characters see in a way of life trudging through filth. The way of life that the Yakuza follow.

This game lets us finally see the true impact of what the dissolution of the Yakuza brought about. And in a meta-narrative sense, the end of Kiryu's age or the "Yakuza" series with the rebranding into Like a Dragon.

When you reflect on the series' origin, how Kiryu ended up in this way of life by idolizing a man who held guilt towards his actions. The diamonds of his effort resulted in him having ended the cycle by inspiring his children to be people who walk the path of light. He didn't just end the age of Yakuza in this game, he truly brought about something good from Kazama's actions that kicked off his life no matter how morally grey he was.

To quote Kiryu again,

"I can hide my past all I want. But no matter how much I hate it...I'll always be Yakuza."

"I can erase my name all I want but I can't deny who I am."

He unbashedly acknowledges how he is Yakuza through and through in the series, and while his ideal might've been one of hope and strength the path of violence that he has taken has had its consequences in turn bringing about a cycle of violence that threatened all that was precious to him. And inspiring others to follow it in the wake he leaves.

This is where I'll make a tangent to talk about Shishido, I think he is the best thing to come out of this game. On paper, he might be just a man who tried to prevent the end of the Yakuza because that's the only way of life he knew. But to me, he's more than a character in the narrative, he's a figure who represents every single person in this way of life across the series. He is the result of what Kiryu's life influenced in a twisted way.

Confronting Shishido at the end must've felt like facing a crystallization of his own life to Kiryu. When you see him size himself up with the backdrop of the Omi alliance building, that's when I knew he wasn't just representing himself but the very blood, sweat and tears that went in throughout the series that led to this.

While Yakuza is a series that talks about humanity in criminals, it also deconstructs itself by commenting on the modern age of Yakuza where there are no ideals or honour in the men who identify as such. To them, it's just another way to succeed and indulge in the pleasures of life.

Where Someya is a man who was able to walk the path of the lost ideals despite losing himself, Shishido is someone who inherited the one thing about the Yakuza that's universal across all of them. Tenacity.

He is a cry for survival the Yakuza shout out in their dying blaze. And one that calls out to Kiryu as the man who stands atop it all. An effigy of the ideals that breathe no more.

If Yakuza 6 was about his parenthood being tested and the sacrifices he would make to uphold it, Gaiden is about him coming to confront the past he couldn't in 6. The demons he's built and festered, the legacy that nearly consumed him whole. It's impressive how small-scale and contained the narrative is, focusing solely on the end of the Yakuza. We direly needed to see Kiryu's perspective on this as it isn't just a conclusion to the era but also the end of his life as Kazuma Kiryu.

That's all I have to say about the narrative and how previous entries play into it but to make a few footnotes, it's a little disappointing the first 4 chapters don't do a lot for the story but it's fine considering they are primarily here to serve the finale. The gameplay is good it felt unpolished which isn't surprising with how short of a development cycle it had. What I did of the side content was standard fare for the series, the coliseum is good. The music is great and this is the best-looking game in the series undoubtedly.

To conclude the review with the quote I started it off on if a man whose identity and actions are so tied to a path he finds to be rubbish can start over, I can't help but be inspired.

I'm gonna repeat myself a little here but it is incredibly rewarding emotionally to see that Kiryu's life through the mistakes, partings and suffering he bears, leads to something meaningful. Even if his past being bloody is something he regrets, his purpose as Yakuza resulted in lives brightened as the ultimatum.

To be able to destroy the throne he sat on and subsequently wipe off the face of the Yakuza, I can't think of a more perfect ending for The man who erased his name.

IW is by no means perfect. It has a lot of issues. But I don't care. This game is just... man.

The side content in this game is phenomenal. The music is phenomenal. Honolulu was a great setting. As usual, there are tons of great boss fights and dynamic action sequences. The gameplay took 7's combat and turned it into one of the most engaging JRPG battle systems I've played. Poundmates and regular attacks are so much better. Reclassing and jobs have been streamlined signifcantly, making it way easier to utilize a wide variety of skills.

Yeah, the story had times where it wasn’t super engaging, and the antagonists I felt were a bit lacking for the LaD series- but the character moments in this game go so unbelievably hard. This game made me like Ichiban even more than before and he's now one of my favorite characters in fiction ever. Chitose and Tomi were both fantastic, and are in my opinion better than any of 7's party members. Seonhee I was skeptical of first as a party member, but she fit in so well. I loved her interactions with Kiryu and everyone else. I will say, it felt like some of the returning party members weren't given a lot to do and were just kind of there, but their presence still felt natural due to the sheer amount of group interactions the party has via drink links, walk and talks, and table talks.

There were many great moments between the characters over the course of the main story as well. And that ending sequence before the credits rolled is actually one of the best scenes in any piece of media I have ever witnessed. I hate using this word to describe it, because it sounds really pretentious, but it truly was cinema.

Infinite Wealth is an amazing game. If this were the last LaD game, I would be okay with that.

around the time yakuza 3 wrapped development, there seemed to be some internal consensus that kiryu shouldn't helm these games on his own anymore; the team thought that some fresh blood could really open up the scope of these games narratively and mechanically and instill a sense of surprise in its audience. and to be clear the series has benefitted strongly from how well it characterizes its protagonists relationships to their environment, but fourteen years later we can safely state that they kind of failed miserably at this task and kiryu is still around. still, this is what makes looking at yakuza 4 and kurohyou interesting - i genuinely have no idea what happened here. yakuza 4 is this insanely unfocused and indecipherable improv mess of 'yes, and' plot developments. you spend the whole game playing through highlight reels of what the dev team thought was cool - they'll hire koichi yamadera specifically to play akiyama ("If Akiyama isn't voiced by Koichi Yamadera then it won’t work! We can't capture his charms!") and then have him make constant metaphors about the animal kingdom, also because they didn't actually have any editors working on the game, they just had a bunch of guys in a room saying 'hell yeah'. they'll walk back pivotal character beats because they don't subscribe to the series' bizarre ideology on who can and can't be a player character. an antagonist will show up in exactly one scene wearing an alternative version of kiryu's suit to show that he's gone full heel and means business. we could literally recap the things that make yakuza 4 ridiculous and i would be here for the next 24 hours.

kurohyou, meanwhile, possesses a jolting sense of restraint. much of this has to do with its comparatively small scope, but even so as an attempt at establishing a new protagonist, there are clear strides to parallel the first ryu ga gotoku. when we first encounter kiryu, he's sacrificing himself by taking the fall for a murder he didn't commit; when we first encounter tatsuya, he's beaten a man presumably to death, and he scrapes up the loose cash he can find and makes a break for it.

all of which is to say that tatsuya starts off as a bit of a psycho - uncharacteristic for this series, to say the least - and the rest of the game is devoted to his character growth. it's parts tournament arc, parts delinquent manga, parts coming of age story, told lovingly through comic book cutscenes reminiscent of those found in portable ops or peace walker. for the most part, it's really solid! no one will be stunned by the direction the story takes but it comes off as tender and earnest; where the fixed camera angles of the ps2 duology reflect its noirish tone, the fixed camera angles of kurohyou's kamurocho evoke a diorama of sorts, befitting of tatsuya's small world and limited interiority. he's a high school drop out who can't really see beyond his fists, and the game manages to eventually channel a level of introspection which feels true to the character.

it sucks that the rest of the game is kind of a first draft. part of why i hold the original yakuza in such high regard is that it's a fantastically realized game that you can wrap up having experienced most of it in between ten and fifteen hours. comparatively, kurohyou has far less to do, but runs for about twice that time. the mini games are much weaker than the standard fare for the series, the absence of taxis makes getting around a bit of a pain, the OST isn't that great, and substories are a notch below the usual degree of quality in spite of how fun tatsuya's interfacing with the world can often be.

kurohyou's strongest draw, then, is its combat - vicious, kinetic, dynamic, and satisfying in ways that the mainline series sometimes can't deliver on. as a def jam fan i felt like i was being pandered to and i'm right at home with AKI/syn Sophia's sensibilities, but it still feels like it's missing something for several reasons. targeting limbs isn't really as important a strategy as it's made out to be; heat faces its most unsatisfying and uninteresting implementation thus far, with nary a hint of resource management to keep players thinking; grabs are too strong for players and opponents alike; for as many fighting styles as there are, some of them are underwhelming and homogenous and all of them are subject to long grinds in order to flesh out; the levelling system is somewhat confused and arbitrary; its differing focus means that some series staples, like long battles, aren't present.

but when it does work...man. so smart to center this game on intimate battles with no intrusion from the UI. performing custom combos and figuring out what works organically instead of queuing up the next tiger drop. relying so strongly on tells in order keep track of your own stamina and to figure out when an opponent might be gassed is a joy. the bosses are a mixed bag because their second phases are all kind of ass, but the bosses that decide to eschew convention via additional parameters (i.e. don't target this opponent's head; you are at increased risk of leg damage) offer very fun twists on the format that you're just not ever going to see in the mainline games.

overall, a great experiment - ten years of thinking about playing this game and now i finally got to play it. satisfying. they should let you cancel attacks using command inputs in the mainline games like they do in this one. sure, they break the combat system on its hinges, but they're pretty fun to execute, no?