i dunno, let's keep this quick. to say it's a bit clumsy is an understatement - and there are certainly aspects of the overall narrative i struggle with - but the depths of its sincerity won me over. i have no particular attachment to yakuza 7 either, and in fact i find much of that game to be very awkward, stilted, and grating so ultimately no one's more stunned than myself here.

when it's not luxuriating in this chilled-out ocean's twelve vibe which i loved, infinite wealth is written with far more intentionality and consideration than most entries in the series; while one might accuse of it of verging on threadbare or cloying for its strict emphasis on theme, i think the game trusts its audience to take some of the emotional leaps necessary to make the storytelling work. character writing for the leads and the party members has seen a dramatic improvement across the board. ichiban as usual brings a lot of levity to the table - thankfully none of it quite as irritating in the zany sense as 7 liked to employ - but kiryu's portions of the game are comparatively sobering. collecting memoirs has a weird psychological effect at times but the series has earned the right to do this by this point given how much of the kiryu saga can feel siloed or compartmentalized - in the same vein as gaiden, the game almost damns him for this, for never taking a chance to stop and reflect, for the consequences of his interminable martyr complex

that tendency to bury the past is only contrasted further by infinite wealth being maybe the most direct sequel the series has seen yet - the events of that game are still fresh in everyone's mind and sets the stage for the overarching conflict and everyone's investment in said conflict. it's a surprisingly natural extension of a lot of 7's themes, and i found it worked better for me this time. 7 often felt more gestural than anything else - to me it balanced far too much as this metaphorical (and literal) tearing down of the old ways, handling the introduction of a new protagonist, paying lipservice to series veterans and setting up parallels to the original ryu ga gotoku. infinite wealth to me feels more fully-formed, more confident; i think the team was able to use this title's unique hook and premise to really bring the most out of 7s promise of something new, and it could only have achieved it by taking the time to reflect on the past.

to this end: they made the game a JRPG this time, that counts for something. and not just a JRPG but one that feels as close to traditional RGG action as possible. some excellent systems this time with a lot of fascinating interplay and the level curve is fantastic. not necessary to sum up all the changes, you've seen them, but they really promote a lot of dynamic decision-making with respect to positioning and once you figure out how status effects can correlate with them you feel like your third eye's opening. very fond memories here of navigating around a crowd of enemies - some of whom have been put to sleep - and figuring out how best to maximize damage without waking anyone drowsy up. lots more strategy and enjoyment to be had here than pretty much anywhere in 7.

that said, i know RGG prides themselves on the statistics relating to players completing their titles, but they could really afford to take a few more risks with enemy waves in the main campaign. i felt like my most interesting encounters were usually street bosses or main story bosses, but the main campaign's filled with trash mobs. and i'm not saying every fight has to be some tactician's exercise - in fact i think that's the opposite of what people actually would enjoy - but i really wish the game took the time to play around even more with positioning. there are some exciting scenarios in the game that are too few and far in-between. stages that split up the party, encounters with unique mechanics...would really liked to have seen more in that vein.

some extra notes - would like to dig a bit deeper into the strengths of the narrative as well as some additional hangups but i can't be assed to write more
- honolulu's great, it gets probably a little too big for its own good but it's a real breath of fresh air for most of the game
- yamai is the best new character they've introduced in years
- dondoko island feels like a classic yakuza minigame in the best possible way, might even represent the apex of this kind of design. not obscenely grindy but just something casual and comfortable with enough layers to dig into without being overwheming and enough versatility to express yourself. shame you can't really say the same for sujimon!
- kiryu's party is disarmingly charming and they have some insanely good banter
- despite what some have said, i think this is a good follow-up to gaiden. it's not explicit about it but this is still very much a reckoning with kiryu's character and his mentality; it is every bit as concerned and preoccupied with the series mythos, the core ideas and conflicts driving a lot of installments
- honestly found the pacing to be on-par for the average RGG title if not better. i can concede that the dondoko island introduction was a bit too long but that is the most ground i can afford. if we can accept y5 into our hearts we can accept infinite wealth; IW makes y5 look deranged for its intrusiveness despite both titles occupying a similar length. if any of it registers as an actual problem, i think people would benefit from revisiting yakuza 7 to find it is almost exactly the same structurally if not worse
- IW is home to maybe the best needle drop in the medium
- played in japanese, like i usually do, so no real interest in commenting on the english dub since it's not real to me but i will say that what i listened to seemed like a bit of a step back from the dub quality in previous RGG games. yongyea isn't a convincing kiryu either and while i could be a bit more of a hater here all i will say is there is a STAGGERING whiplash involved in casting a guy like that as the lead in a game with themes like this. in a grouchier mood, i think it would genuinely be a bit difficult to look past this and it does leave me feeling sour, but ultimately the dub doesn't reflect my chosen means of engaging with the title and it never will
- what is difficult to look past is the game's DLC rollout, which arbitrarily gates higher difficulties, new game +, and a postgame dungeon. i acquired these through dubious means (which i highly recommend you also do) so i feel confident in saying they're really not at all worth the money unless you had a desire to spend more time in this world, but what a colossal and egregious failure to price it in this fashion. new game + specifically has tons of bizarre issues that make me believe a revision of some kind was necessary.
- you will not regret downloading this mod that removes the doors in dungeons


long story short, ryu ga gotoku's journey began in 2005 with a simple motif: to live is to not run away. so much of infinite wealth is about taking that notion to its furthest extent. it couldn't have possibly hit at a better time for me. at times it might be a classic case of this series biting off a bit more than it can chew for a sequel, but i don't think there's anything you can reliably point to that would make me think this is one step forwards, two steps back.

also awesome to have a game that posits that hawaii is filled with the fire monks from elden ring and then you have to travel to the resident evil 4 island to beat them up

Feels like a JRPG made by people who have experienced the genre strictly through TV Tropes writeups. If it were developed by Americans, people would talk about it as though it were Doki Doki Literature Club.

There's a consistent tension in the game between shame about its stylistic heritage and a deep, paralyzing cowardice that keeps it loyal to it. This tension manifests in the story's insistence on being about a world, down to the constant availability of a lore encyclopedia, despite the complete irrelevance of any details of this world to the plot and its ultimate reliance on some of the most rote and formulaic character drama in the series. It's present in the faux-naturalism of mid-fight Marvel quips stuck between uncomplicated, cosmologically-correct monologues about human connections. It's clearly what's motivated the inclusion of empty open-world sections that divide up a linear action game paced around its levels being played one after the other: the game is willing to go to any lengths to avoid being called a hallway.

My favorite symbol of this tension, though, is game's repeated use of a minor key scale as background music: Prelude, but fucked up.

The main cast is completely disallowed any kind of personal complexity or ambiguity. Clive spends the earliest hours of the game denying a painful fact about himself, and this is the first and last display of personal weakness, selfishness, or any form of moral iniquity made by him or any other party member. Each of the rival summoners, by contrast, is given a designated sex thing: promiscuity, obsessiveness, and an Oedipus Complex, respectively. These traits serve as a kind of crude claim to maturity on the part of the game, and the characters to which they're attached are barely developed. No member of the cast rises above a broad archetypal characterization, and Clive himself is no exception, but the most insulting character's Jill. Her role in the story is to love Clive, which she does quietly and without demands. This is briefly interrupted by a revenge plot in which she kills an unambiguously evil cultist for having hurt her, and feels much better afterward. There's a scene in Final Fantasy IV in which the female party members are told by the lead to stay behind for their own safety while the men head to the final confrontation: naturally, they don't listen. In XVI, Jill is told the same thing and stays put.

Dialogue alternates between purely functional exposition and agonizing attempts at humor, with no real attempt to build distinct voices. I do have to give credit to the actor playing Clive, who is obviously trying to complicate very simple lines through his delivery, but it's a losing battle. The character animation is noticeably low-quality in comparison to the series' 6th and 7th generation entries.

The soundtrack is sterile, and the visual design never rises above the level of clean spectacular sightseeing. I can't speak much to the systems design, but interesting fights on normal difficulty are spread extremely thin and more or less only appear in optional content. Feels more like playing A Realm Reborn than any other single player RPG with which I'm familiar.

Healing isn't the same thing as removing pain.
It's the pleasure we earn as compensation for withstanding pain.
To know the joy of healing, you have to know the pain.
Be proud of your past suffering, they are what makes it possible for you to know pleasure.

Higanbana shows a crueler spins on various philosophies shown throughout When They Cry but in Ryukishi's conventional fashion, it is not cruelty for the sake of it.
Reaper of the 13th step and Before the Spider Lilies bloomed specifically are beautiful example of what it is to find joy and fulfilment in our suffering and are a beautiful showcase of what drives us.

I found Higanbana as a whole to be somewhat of a mixed bag but God did I connect with it, it reminded me once again that I value nothing more in medias than having a nice back and forth conversation with an author that I truly connect with, R07 never disappoints me in that regard no matter how floppy his writing can be at times.
If you've enjoyed WTC, I would consider this a must read.

no amount of words could possibly do enough justice. pure unhinged teenage profoundness. a masterclass in the culmination of elements from its inspirations. almost a parody of its pop-culture and on-rails influences, using them as a basis for both its sci-fi-action foundation and exceeding the player’s initial expectations. its face filled with complacency in admitting “yeah, we added a fully fledged cinematic-robo-socio-political narrative on top of the enigmatic disproportionately beautiful gameplay.” a blood-pumping, sharply concentrated soundtrack follows suit to wrap everything together into a somewhat messy package, but it’s an incredibly attractive and addicting package. confidently puts the “mecha” in mechanics.

The long drag of a cigarette beneath the city's smog, the urban firmament of glitzy neon signs illuminating a starless sky. Passersby are flagged down by salesmen trying to drag the drunk and the impressionable into hostess clubs, thugs crowd around shady alleyways and dingy dives, an evil eye aimed at any fool too brazen to wander too close. The city is an ecosystem all its own, a interconnected web of the unscrupulous and the downtrodden ensuring an uneasy system of checks and balances. Stand still and you will surely hear its heart beat.

The crowd gathers, and for a brief moment, the underworld deigns to show its belly to the world above. The sound of flesh meeting pavement, of skulls fracturing and limbs breaking, of glass shattering, bullets firing, the wails of a guitar, dirty and unrefined, as overconfident goons and gangsters punch above their weight class attempting to face the dragon as he tosses them aside like litter.

Yakuza is a filthy game, rough and weathered, a stark contrast to the polish of its successors in both sight and sound. It's a raw, intensely atmospheric game full of grungy guitars and rough characters, a game that seems to truly capture the feel of the streets: Quick. Dirty. Brutal, above all else. Without the bombast of microwaving someone's skull or over-the-top action movie antics, we're left with bottles stabbed into eyes, knives jabbed into guts, curb-stomps upon skulls and the desperate wailing of fists, a much more grounded attempt to capture the swift brutality of dirty street brawls.

Yakuza is a tale of blood money, of corruption, ruthlessness and the lingua franca of the fist. A story about the dangers of ambition, the follies of old men and their pride, the glitz and glamor of the criminal underworld, and the fate such a life seals for those who partake in it. The city of Kamurocho is a city that operates on the most primal of rules: Survival of the fittest. It's a city who's history is written in the blood of ruthless and told by those left standing at the end of it all. It's a hotspot for the hedonistic, and the eventual grave of those who've intertwined their fates with the enticing allure of the criminal lifestyle. It's a city with a bloodied history of urban warfare and shady backdoor politics it's waiting to tell.

Will you listen?

-- Gorgeously rendered open world with clear thought put into it's design that is still actually pretty boring to traverse
-- Great music
-- A guitar riff plays in the cutscenes when the main characters start doing naruto shit and it's sick
-- Mostly boring sidequests with one or two bizarrely hidden really good ones
-- Too long
-- Some truly loaded language that it is not interested in or capable of discussing in any meaningful way

yep, it sure is xenoblade!!

if xenoblade chronicles is a mostly pretty brainless but highly entertaining shonen anime, then future connected is the non-canon movie spin-off where nothing really happens but it gives you a bit more time to spend with some characters you like, and it's an ok one of those. unless melia is your wife you're really not gonna get much out of this, and in true Takahashi fashion the character of Gael'Gar evokes some really heavy stuff that the game doesn't really have the capability or interest to handle accordingly. but, y'know, if you're deep enough into the xenoblade well to be playing the epilogue OVA, you're probably used to monolithsoft taking wild careless swings.

i think i'm mostly disappointed by how conservative it is. not in the weird kind of "reclaim-the-empire" honor and duty of the nobility thing, that's conservative in a different way, one that i already kind of expect from these games. i mean conservative in the sense that that future connected is wholly uninterested in doing anything remotely interesting, even as it charges past the point where the story really should have Ended. monolithsoft seem determined to dull whatever thematic impact the original ending of xenoblade 1 has, first with stuff in xenoblade 2, and now with this, showing that whatever infinite horizons and new futures await us, they're going to be the same people doing mostly the same things in the same places. and if future connected was about that, it would be interesting! but it isn't. in fact, it seems keen to insist that this is, in fact, a New World despite the fact that basically nothing has changed. if we had to return to this world, I would have liked for them to get creative or ambitious with it, to do something to justify it's existence, because as it stands, all future connected really does is hang limply off the body of a game that was already perfectly fine.

if this really is the Definitive Edition of xenoblade chronicles, when what does that say for what shape it will take place in history? an awkward appendix clinging on to a game that never needed it and arguably suffers from it's attachment? it doesn't even succeed at being more xenoblade gameplay, because you're working with a constrained and hampered toolset that's much less interesting to play around in. it's just a worse, miniature version of xenoblade chronicles. what's Definitive about that? have we learned nothing from Persona 3's The Answer? i doubt future connected will have much impact on history at all, except as a slightly unsightly asterisk on xenoblade chronicles' place in it.

however, it gets an extra star for two reasons. first: it was nice to enjoy a new bit of xenoblade content after my relationship with xenoblade 2 ended up so deeply fraught. i used to consider myself a xenoblade fan and 2, in not just being (imo) a really bad game but also something that held a perspective i found really triggering, kind of killed that part of me. so it was nice to just Enjoy this! two: they made nopons good again. oh my god. it's taken them two games and two expansions but they are finally great little guys we all love again. it's a fucking miracle!! kino forever!!!!

this was the moment in which the playstation made any and all competition look like a goddamned embarassment. if final fantasy vii wasn't already enough of an indicator that maybe nintendo should've reconsidered that cd-rom collaboration with sony, the release of metal gear solid is where they must've looked at themselves with their dicks in their hands and gone, "what the hell are we even doing here?" regardless of personal opinion or subjective takeaway, there is an objective throughline to the narrative design and storytelling of essentially the entire modern single-player gaming industry that leads back to 1998's metal gear solid. to call it one of the most influential video games ever made doesn't do its legacy justice. it's a game that continues to morph, bend, and redefine itself almost 25 years after its initial release. hell, it's a shame it didn't inspire MORE of the modern gaming world, in the sense that its experimentation and willingness to dip into the absurd and self-aware clearly was left behind in the shuffle tothe current generation's blockbusters. metal gear solid is a timeless experience that must truly be experienced to be believed.

the cumbersome burden of solid snake is felt in the control scheme, and while on some objective level it's aged, i'm willing to consider it part of the character and how the game defines snake in a metatextual sense to the player; the two may work in symbiosis by design of it being a video game, but there's also a discreet awareness in metal gear solid as a series that this is all, indeed, a video game - so regardless of whether it's intended or not (i'm willing to admit the likelihood kojima was bullshitting when he brought this up down the line, lol) i think it works to an effect. metal gear solid isn't difficult to control if you're used to titles of the era. the level design is immaculate - truly has an intentional "video game-y" feel especially in areas like the second vulcan raven duel, or the section where snake can't use his weapons, or the furnace section - that carries a distinctly futuristic and militant vibe heightened by the score. every piece of music in this game has to be etched into my skull at this point, the highest point of all undoubtedly being the vocal track "the best is yet to come" and its various instances in leitmotifs throughout the game. of course one can't discuss metal gear solid without nodding to the truly game-changing, top class voice performances across the entire class. this had to be a deep scare to the rest of the market at the time - english dubs of this level and with this much spoken dialogue was unheard of in this day and age, and to this day the performances and writing have aged tremendously.

the cinematography and scene composition of metal gear solid is truly amorphous. there are sequences where you might get away with calling this a horror game; the hallway before the cyborg ninja battle where you meet otacon, or the entirety of the psycho mantis sequence. there are moments in which characters' tension or intimacy is highlighted; the seductive ferocity of sniper wolf and snake's interactions, or the sparse moments of genuine care and peace between snake and meryl, or otacon. threats often are 'shot' to feel larger than life, like the sequence with the hind on the roof top, or the titular metal gear rex, which the game forces you to consider the sheer scope of by actually having you traverse its entire scale. while the narrative storytelling is deserving of its constant praise, i think it's these instances of master 'camera work' and visual storytelling that help the game feel a true cut above all the same.

there's much to be said about metal gear solid's sociopolitical messages or the means with which it deconstructs the media it draws much of its inspiration from, but i think one of the most prevelant themes of the game that resonated with me when i first played it as a teenager, especially in tandem with its sequel (a game i wonder if i could even talk about here to any level of justice) was its warcry in the name of individualism. what it means to be a free person, what freedom means and who, if anyone, has the means to attain it. metal gear solid makes it clear there is no war and no country that might offer you peace and liberty - it's a matter of self-attained enlightenment and a tranquility with your reality and surroundings that offers man the means to find true freedom. snake, otacon, fox, meryl, liquid, mantis, wolf, they're all soldiers of circumstance. to be a dog of war is to offer your life for the sake of freedom to observers - we see meryl go through the motions as she realizes, though, she IS green and that her perception of war and heroism was also propoganda all along. pretty girls and gruff rambo would-be's get shot and bleed out, too. the masters of war turn a blind eye and deploy the next one. if you want freedom, as dave and hal find out, you're going to have to go off the grid and find it yourself, no matter the cost.

metal gear solid wasn't afraid to consider possibilities that major titles even now tiptoe around - today's gaming industry has seen massive shooter franchises no longer even disguising their ulterior motives as nationalist propoganda. we've seen an industry willing to trounce creators and small teams in hopes of following trends that peter out within months. we've seen games that dare to question the status quo and dare to do something unique and challenging, thanks in no small part to this pioneer, only to be met with backlash about how games "are all political now" or some centrist hogwash talkpiece nonsense like that. look to the past, to metal gear solid, to learn the truth; when savant visionaries are given the resources, this is a medium that can offer truly life-changing experiences that will force discomfort and challenge preconcieved notions to its entire audience, while remaining heartfelt, loving and tender - universal. a story, a work of art without borders. in the 24 years since its release, metal gear solid still remains damn near the top of the line - one of the finest works of art in this entire medium.