wanted to wait until i cleared all of the base game and dlc before making a review, so this covers both of them.

bloodborne was the last souls game that i had left after clearing all of them over the past 6 months or so. maybe my view of this game is tainted by the very high expectations set by others who had played this game early on in their souls game life cycle, so perhaps that has some impact on my view of this game.

i didn't love this game, but i definitely didn't hate it; it's weird. the aesthetic and theme of this game is very unique and i see the appeal. the enemies in this game are absolutely fucking disgusting and it fits perfectly thematically. the combat is certainly unique and the parry aspect is really fucking sick, but doesn't feel as polished as some of the newer games which makes sense given this is nearly a decade old. then again, so are the other souls games, so i'm not sure if that's a valid excuse.

all of these games usually have that point where they click and you're like "ah, that's what everyone means." i really wanted that from bloodborne but it didn't happen until i was essentially done with the game. the base game bosses felt rather underwhelming which was my expectation based on my friends comments; the lows were very low and the "highs" were really only slightly above average.

the dlc was definitely a lot more challenging and rewarding. i now understand the pain of laurence and orphan of kos (what the fuck is that second phase btw), and beating both of them felt like a mammoth task. i really enjoy that and craved that feeling for most of the game. lady maria fight was super enjoyable and just straight up face to face combat which i love. i usually hate big bosses that go off my screen, so perhaps that's why i preferred fights like lady maria and orphan over ludwig and laurence.

it doesn't feel right to shit on this game because i don't think it deserves it at all. it's a good game, i just don't love it as much as everyone else does, and that's okay. i think that in some distant future if the world is lucky enough to get a remaster with 60+ fps and a couple tweaks i'd love to give this another chance.

"the sins of the yakuza are mine. and if i have to, i'll take on every last one."

i have spent the past month and a half playing the entire yakuza series. blood, sweat, tears, and hundreds of hours have gone into this journey that slowly rose to the crescendo that is infinite wealth. but now that i'm here, there is a void inside me left by the man whose entire legacy has been built up over the entire series.

it's rare i genuinely get deeply involved into the story of any game or series. these days games just seem to take the same plots and rehash them over and over again and so the idea of a good "story" was kind of lost to me. the story of kiryu is one that managed to slowly consume me as the series progressed, and i struggle to see how they can top what they managed to achieve with infinite wealth. it's not often you keep a main character around across almost 10 games and multiple decades, but they somehow managed to do it.

they connect all the dots between you and your past lives, and it feels like you are forcefully but hesitantly dragged into accepting fate alongside kiryu. the memory links you come across touch on aspects of every game and had me so emotional so many times. at times it felt like the world would fall apart without this man, yet he managed to hold it together every time.

"me? i'll take on the yakuza's past. but you... i want you to handle their future."

it really did feel like this game was kiryu passing the torch to ichiban in hopes of creating a better yakuza world. i didn't know how to feel about this since 7 left me with a weird taste, but over the course of this game i warmed up to the idea of it and like the character that ichiban has turned into, one who can obtain that legendary status.

the same goes for the gameplay; 7 was definitely pretty rough and i'll be the first to say i was not the biggest fan of the jrpg transition. 8 changed my mind completely on that matter; every small thing that annoyed me completely disappeared and was replaced with even more of what i loved. the combat, the jobs, the substories, everything just felt like it meshed together perfectly.

this isn't a game i can coherently explain in a review, it is something you need to experience yourself. play the yakuza series in its entirety. yes, it is going to take you forever to complete, but i promise you it is a peak gaming experience.

i really don't know what i'm going to do next, i don't know what rgg is going to do next, but i do know that whatever it is, i'm here for it.

it made it to my top 5 for a reason.

also i would die for seonhee.

bon voyage.