After rolling credits yesterday, it's hard to understate just how much the themes of this game resonated with me. Ichi is reminiscent of a shonen protagonist in how well-meaning and forgiving he is, but something about how the game approaches criminal rehabilitation made it land so much more powerfully than any other case I can think of with that kind of archetype. I really appreciate the sentimentality display here.

As for Kiryu's story, I know him still living on (for now) will rub a lot of people the wrong way, but personally, after the striking pain suffered in the ending of Man Who Erased His Name, him finally learning to rely on others and come back to reclaim his will to live on instead of simply trying to tough guy his way to his own demise as a martyr was a truly wonderful moment of growth. Bearing all of the burden you can isn't necessarily a sign of strength; sometimes the strongest thing you can do is admit that you can't do everything on your own.

Ichi's final moments with Eiji in the game may not be artfully subtle, but sometimes the simplest messages that matter to you the most are the ones that make you cry your eyes out. And Kiryu begging Ebina for forgiveness was probably my favorite moment of the entire series.

This game really blew all my expectations out of the water, and it kicks ass as an RPG too with the new knockback, movement, and team attack systems all delivering so much fun. Dondoko and Sujimon absolutely rule as time sinks, they're easily my new favorite mini games. It's been such a journey playing through this series from the start beginning in the tail end of 2022, and I'm so glad I did.