Sadistic difficulty and a complete lack of level design? Yeah, that's probably how Star Wars fans deserve to be treated.

Do you get what I mean if I say this is a game with stages, but not levels? Each stage gets its own tileset and batch of enemies, and then you just move through repetitive areas without any sense of momentum until you hit a boss. You're just moving forward until you're not. The Mode 7 areas are even more direct with this approach, just waiting for you to kill a set amount of enemies in an boundless void until the quota is met.

I first played this at some random family's house that my parents made us visit in like 1997, and I remember beating the Sarlaac and thinking this game was incredible, but each time I've tried to revisit it, it shockingly has never brought back that dumb-kid-brain magic. Anyway, 27 years later, I've finally finished it! The visuals are great and the music is solid, but this is ultimately a lame early-90s side scroller wrapped up in cool IP.

Me, mid-2021: "This combat is horrible and I hate it. I love the story and world, but am avoiding the dumb turn-based combat at all costs because I don't get it."

Me, three years later: "So obviously you've gotta keep Ichiban as the Hero class because he gets the best abilities that way but you need a good Freeze damage move, so getting him leveled up as a Host is crucial too and DON'T FORGET to do the business side mode, and YOU CAN PROMOTE EMPLOYEES, I nearly finished the whole mode before realizing that, I was making things so much harder on myself, and the big laser attack is so rad, I used the Brawler God's Mouthguard at all times to take the MP cost from 200 to 160, and you'll also get Eri this way, so if you pick up the extra Job DLC, setting her as a Matriarch will be the best thing you do, then you need to run Saeko as an Idol, her whole-team healing ability is OP in the best way, especially when partnered with Eri's Kiwami matriarch attacks and Ichiban's party-wide attack boosts, and the fourth spot rotated quite a bit, but Joon-Gi as a Host was my favorite in the end, just make sure to level him and both of the ladies up in a bunch of classes, especially to get them gun abilities so you can easily take out the weird cavemen in dungeons OH AND UPGRADE YOUR WEAPONS-"

We call that individual growth.

But seriously, this ruled. Couldn't put it down! Was going for every achievement until I realized the super true mega final dungeon requires all of your guys to be at their maximum level, and uhhhh yeah that's the only achievement that's staying locked! I had heard people complain about "required grinding" in this game, but I didn't have that experience at all until that point. If you really dig into the game and explore everything it offers you instead of just mainlining, even the OP bosses in Chapter 12 won't be a big deal. (I tried once, got bodied, finished the battle arena around the corner all in one go, tried again, and cleared the bosses on the next try, no sweat) It's becoming more and more apparent that Yakuza is an all-timer franchise for me, potentially second only to 3D Zelda, and I am SO HAPPY that the turn-based combat clicked for me this time. I actually think I might prefer it to the brawler combat?? Absolutely a shocking statement for me personally. What a game.