rumbee
2005
8.5
This review contains spoilers
7.5 - used to be 6.5
I think with Gaiden releasing and it making up for a lot of lost time, I've eased up on Yakuza 6. It being Kiryu's ending was very unsatisfying for me. It just felt like the whole story was pointing in a new direction for Kiryu, showing him glimpses of his past through the new characters he meets in pursuit of Haruto's father, only to end up going in circles with Kiryu seemingly not learning a lesson from the events that transpired. While I do still feel like it sets up great pieces to the plot, only to stumble by the end, that shouldn't diminish from its great moments.
It's a much sleepier, calmer finale than one would expect which allows you to appreciate its beauty. At least, graphically. This game is 7 years old and it still looks absolutely fantastic, I wish it was 60 FPS on PS5 but I get why they didn't port it. The aforementioned glimpses at Kiryu's past make for some all-timer Yakuza scenes, Kiryu spectating these events adds depth to those scenes in the past as Kiryu is all too familiar with them. New characters like Someya, Nagumo, and Kiyomi show complex new spins on usual RGG characters, and, even if it doesn't mean much to western audiences, the secret of Onomichi's political ramifications intrigue me. The music is also fantastic, this game might have my favorite Yakuza soundtrack, only tied by 2 and Kurohyou.
There are still aspects of the game that bug me. The ending is not thematically satisfying, it feels like the first 3/4s of the game were going steady and they had to rush the last fourth by shoving everything together awkwardly. The new characters reflecting Kiryu's past felt like Kiryu's last lesson, showing him what he did wrong (even though I think 5 did a better job.) So to forgo all of that by the end and just have him run away yet again makes it feel like he learned nothing and just went back to default Kiryu, great fucking finale. Also the pacing just gets thrown out the window, there's no level leading up to the final battle. Some could argue the Millenium Tower is the level leading up to it but that just leads up to Someya's last fight, there's a long battle that's hinted at before you get to the funeral wharf but it just felt like a missing piece. One of Sugai's lines during the finale ("You..! And the sixth chairman...! Always looking down on me!") bothers me because it feels like it should have some weight but Sugai is a new character, it means nothing. Sure, it implies a lot but it ends up just being a weightless line. The final boss is good enough, his whole dad thing parallels a lot of the series' themes of family, I wish it was something new for Kiryu's last hurrah (at the time.)
Despite my gripes with it, I find myself being more positive about 6 nowadays. Still nowhere near my favorites, but it's good.
I think with Gaiden releasing and it making up for a lot of lost time, I've eased up on Yakuza 6. It being Kiryu's ending was very unsatisfying for me. It just felt like the whole story was pointing in a new direction for Kiryu, showing him glimpses of his past through the new characters he meets in pursuit of Haruto's father, only to end up going in circles with Kiryu seemingly not learning a lesson from the events that transpired. While I do still feel like it sets up great pieces to the plot, only to stumble by the end, that shouldn't diminish from its great moments.
It's a much sleepier, calmer finale than one would expect which allows you to appreciate its beauty. At least, graphically. This game is 7 years old and it still looks absolutely fantastic, I wish it was 60 FPS on PS5 but I get why they didn't port it. The aforementioned glimpses at Kiryu's past make for some all-timer Yakuza scenes, Kiryu spectating these events adds depth to those scenes in the past as Kiryu is all too familiar with them. New characters like Someya, Nagumo, and Kiyomi show complex new spins on usual RGG characters, and, even if it doesn't mean much to western audiences, the secret of Onomichi's political ramifications intrigue me. The music is also fantastic, this game might have my favorite Yakuza soundtrack, only tied by 2 and Kurohyou.
There are still aspects of the game that bug me. The ending is not thematically satisfying, it feels like the first 3/4s of the game were going steady and they had to rush the last fourth by shoving everything together awkwardly. The new characters reflecting Kiryu's past felt like Kiryu's last lesson, showing him what he did wrong (even though I think 5 did a better job.) So to forgo all of that by the end and just have him run away yet again makes it feel like he learned nothing and just went back to default Kiryu, great fucking finale. Also the pacing just gets thrown out the window, there's no level leading up to the final battle. Some could argue the Millenium Tower is the level leading up to it but that just leads up to Someya's last fight, there's a long battle that's hinted at before you get to the funeral wharf but it just felt like a missing piece. One of Sugai's lines during the finale ("You..! And the sixth chairman...! Always looking down on me!") bothers me because it feels like it should have some weight but Sugai is a new character, it means nothing. Sure, it implies a lot but it ends up just being a weightless line. The final boss is good enough, his whole dad thing parallels a lot of the series' themes of family, I wish it was something new for Kiryu's last hurrah (at the time.)
Despite my gripes with it, I find myself being more positive about 6 nowadays. Still nowhere near my favorites, but it's good.
2021
yeah!
2012
despite being over a decade old and being from a particular genre beaten to death (ps3-xbox 360 cover shooter), binary domain stands out among the rest. the story is legitimate sci-fi, asking questions about humanity amidst the bay-esque writing and the nuts and bolts spilling everywhere. there's also an added layer of camaraderie to it because of the voice system the game has, making you yell out commands to your teammates a crucial part of the game's combat. on the topic of combat, it's good! pretty same-y for the most part but it never got too grating for me. music wasn't really a standout but i didn't mind too much. didn't think i'd like this as much as i do.
2023
final fantasy xvi reminds me of old sweeping epics, the soaring score, the large scale, the story that shifts and changes so much that by the end you feel like it was a lifetime ago, and the human spirit underlying everything. this game is long. a good 50 hours long and it takes its damn time. side quests start off mundane, very fetch quest-y and just "go here kill monster" but as the context of the world changes, so do the side quests as they involve more recognizable faces and have changes that do affect the world, though as i said it takes time to get to that. the story is the ultimate indomitable human spirit type that goes all in on it by the end so if you cant get into that, you will be sorely disappointed. good thing i eat that shit up. combat is very much like dmc 5 where yes you can just play the game boring or you can make it fun which i greatly enjoyed. its so astounding how much this game clicks for me. didnt love every minute of it, but it won me over more times than it let me down.
replayed cuz of spiderverse hype and that spidey 2 trailer. pretty good! storys much weaker than i remembered (the evil white dude's performance was so good and for what???), i do like the bond between miles and uncle aaron tho and it seems thatll be back in the next game. combat is more fun than base spiderman i love all of miles venom shit and his gadgets and gizmos.
6
it feels like RGG can never really get remakes down. this is the most 1-to-1 remake of the 3 they've developed but, having played the original, it is definitely more of a downgrade than an upgrade. graphics range from stunning to gross, especially in the overworld. the character models of the main cast were upped and look pretty well done but the npcs are all ps3 models that look ai-upscaled (i'm not saying they are, they just look really sloppy). gameplay is balanced more annoyingly than the original with style speed being modified for the worse imo. i do quite enjoy the story, it gets really entertaining for a good 5-6 chapter run but the ending still blows.
it feels like RGG can never really get remakes down. this is the most 1-to-1 remake of the 3 they've developed but, having played the original, it is definitely more of a downgrade than an upgrade. graphics range from stunning to gross, especially in the overworld. the character models of the main cast were upped and look pretty well done but the npcs are all ps3 models that look ai-upscaled (i'm not saying they are, they just look really sloppy). gameplay is balanced more annoyingly than the original with style speed being modified for the worse imo. i do quite enjoy the story, it gets really entertaining for a good 5-6 chapter run but the ending still blows.
2021
just swell.
2001
quite spooky!
2001
i like monkey ball
2022
Barebones gameplay-wise but it doesn't really need any depth. The story was nice for what it was, OST served its purpose with a few great songs snuck in there. Overall, pretty good.
2020
A fun, stylish, if not repetitive, action game romp. The style reminded me of Samurai Jack but beyond that it's just ok. Fun time for what it's worth.
Horizon Zero Interest in playing more!!!!! Jokes aside, it's a very competent game, combat and stealth are pretty fun. But the writing, voice acting, and monotonous open world-ing make this a very safe, very boring play.
2022
Why is this game a contender for GOTY 2022
2018
This game is so fucking fun but I have no idea what's going on.