Recent reviews by doh60

It saddens me to see my favorite multiplayer game of all time in such a sorry state. Bots and cheaters run unchecked and Valve does the bare minimum. I understand that it's an old game now, but with how popular it is their should be some action taken.

TLDR: While on the shorter side, this game still offers a plethora of side content and has an excellent story that sets up Infinite Wealth. It's the easiest RGG game to 100%.

Combat: The combat is a massive improvement from Kiwami 2, but still falls short of the series peak of Lost Judgment. Agent and Yakuza style each have their specializations (group and 1v1's) and they do a good job in that regard. Upgrading generally starts off slow, but once you reach the coliseum you start becoming OP quickly.

Story: Having played all the Kiryu games, this game feels like it has the best character development from Kiryu since Yakuza 3. Without spoiling, this game has Kiryu at his lowest and Kiryu's VA gave his single best scene from any Kiryu game so far. It's worth mentioning it's only 5 chapters long. A complaint I have is I felt their was some filler in chapters 3 and 4 to pad out the game. The supporting characters in this game were fantastic and had realistic and sound motivations (for a Yakuza game). Overall, this game had a solid story and felt like a apology for Yakuza 5 and 6's story/ending.

Substories/ Akame Requests: The weakest aspect of the game. While their were some gems, a lot of them felt like padding especially the 6 that are just fighting gangs. Now they're still worth doing it's just compared to other games they're on the weaker side.

Minigames: Besides the standard Yakuza minigames, two big returns are Pocket Circuit Racing and the Coliseum. PCR has a satisfactory story line and for the most part the racing is the same, but something new is the ability to make your own course. The Coliseum on the other hand is by far the best iteration yet. It has big team rumbles, solo tournaments, solo rumbles, and surprisingly the ability to fight past final bosses (their movesets). Cabaret Club also returns but it's the old chat version and not the manager. The gimmick is that it's IRL which means it can be awkward for some people.

This is the first entry in the spin off Judgment series and the third in the Dragon Engine. While this game does follow the atypical Yakuza formula of beat em up combat, substories, and everyone's favorite Mahjong. Judgment manages to have that Yakuza feel while maintaining a grounded story. Their is no more tiger dropping tigers and tanking gunshots in heat mode.You play as Takayuki Yagami, a disgraced lawyer turned detective who aims to find the truth behind grizzly killings in Kamurocho. Knives and guns are your biggest threats as mortal wounds permanently looms adding a higher stakes in action packed long battles and boss fights. After two entries, the Dragon engine finally shows its true potential as the combat with Yagami is fast and fluid. The days of the clunky combat of Yakuza 6 are well and truly behind. If you plan on 100% this game be prepared to play a lot of Mahjong and you will get familiar with Dice & Cube. Lastly, I recommend to stay away from spoilers especially that which reveal the identity of the Mole since it would ruin the fun of their boss fight.

Short Summary:
I would rate it a 7/10. The big standouts for this game are it's superb OST, art style, and the dynamic between Ann and Ayane. The combat is serviceable; while the main story is mediocre at best.

The Great:
1. The music in this game is superb as it features multiple tracks that fit the mood. Their's jazzy noir sounding tracks to synth music that fits with its cyberpunk theme.

2. I enjoyed the relationship(s) between Ann and the people closest to her. Her relationship with her adopted family and Ayane felt wholesome and it served as a good catalyst for story segments. It's worth mentioning if you don't have a positive opinion on Ayane then you won't enjoy the game since I think she talks more than Ann.

3. The art style in this game is fantastic and it certainly hits that cyberpunk itch that people might be craving.

4. The game has four unique "zones" that all have different identities and are a blast to walk through and take in their atmosphere.

5. The voice acting sounded great though it's worth mentioning I used the Japanese audio.

The Alright:
1. The combat was nothing really special in my eyes. For 95% of the game on normal (which is the highest difficulty at this time) it's far too easy as you can just mash buttons and win. Enemy variety is vast along with its bosses. Something I found weird that's worth mentioning is unless you grind for an obscene amount of time, you won't have enough "points" to get every single combat talent. In my eyes, this means by the midway point you must pick which weapon (either light sword or twin swords) you want to stick with since you can't afford to miss more passive talents (like parry and instant kill).

2. This game has side quests and most of them are completed in less than 5 minutes. They do a good job of fleshing out the world and some of its other characters. I just wish their was more of them and they needed some depth to go along with it.

3. Without going into too much detail, the main plot-line is "meh" at best. It borrows VERY heavily from the famous SCP Foundation like a very inordinate amount. At times I was confused due to the game not properly explaining or hiding the explanation in a length text that is missable if you aren't mashing the scan button.

The Bad:
1. Halfway through the game Ann gets a plot related power-up that in cutscenes mows people down like nothing, but in-game it just serves as a free heal. Theirs an upgrade that allows this form to do more damage, but by the time you can get it your base form already surpasses it in terms of raw DPS as long as you maintain your weapons.

2. The main villain didn't have enough interactions with Ann to make me care about them. The villain is the reason why their is conflict in the story, but it's hard to feel anything about them when a majority of their appearances are in cutscenes that don't involve Ann.

After 5 memorable games we arrive at the end of the Kiryu Saga in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. It's important to recognize that this is the first game in the "new" dragon engine which all new Yakuza releases are on. It being the first does show in combat and in overworld exploration since the combat (to me) doesn't have the tight concise feel as its predecessors on the older engines. Exploration wise, Kamurocho felt unfinished as a portion of the map is permanently blocked off for an unspecified reason.

Story wise, I felt like this game is in the upper half when compared to its peers. The characters were all memorable to me and that extends to those that reside solely in substories and minigames. I was also very satisfied with the ending to Kiryu's storyline which was quite surprising to me.

As of writing this review I have 100% all available Yakuza games, so I will be speaking about this game as a whole from the beginning to me getting the final achievement.

If you have no interest in reading any further than this paragraph then I'll give you a shortish summary. Of all the Yakuza games I have played this is just a hair below Yakuza 0 which is my favorite. This game hits the mark with the new characters as it took me a short amount of time to enjoy Ichiban and his friends. As someone who isn't fond of JRPG style combat, this combat was suprisingly enjoyable until I had to do some final dungeon grinding. The new city is very beautiful and massive as it's at least 3x the size of Kamurocho. This game is an excellent starting point for newcomers even though I would recommend 0. The main story can hit you hard emotionally as I'm not ashamed to admit that tears were flowing at the end. The main villain is well written and has valid motivations. You can even sympathize and even relate to them.

On the New Hero: I was worried about a new protagonist, but Ichiban easily fit into Kiryu's shoes and some. Their personalities are different as Kiryu is rather reserved and stoic while Ichiban is loud and emotional. However, in the end they both deeply care for their friends and family. It's important to remember when playing this that Ichiban's youth was essentially taken away from him so that explains why he acts the way he is. Other than that, by the end of the game their is a part of me that likes Ichiban more than Kiryu.

Story: With keeping spoilers to a bare minimum, this game had a great (although lengthy) intro, a decent mid-game, and a tearjerker of a conclusion. I personally had a enjoyable time going through the story though I did have some gripes. In order for me to fully go into what I loved about the story, I would be spoiling the game so you just have to take my word that I enjoyed it. The substories are great as some can make you laugh and cry (sometimes in the same substory). The following are some of my gripes that I had.

1. Their was a lack of meaningful boss fights in the mid-game which made it kinda of a a slough to play through. Their was a buildup to a certain boss and while the fight was fine (great theme) this particular boss ended up being like Dragon's own Kuze, but not as fun to fight or interesting.

2. Some people had issues with a MASSIVE difficulty spike near the final 2/3's of the game which wasn't well telegraphed. It was hinted at, but it wasn't very explicit. Their was a general lack of feedback when it comes to the game suggesting what level you should be before chapter ending fights. I can recall only one time I saw this recommendation.

3. At the end of the game, this was a certain plot device that made me laugh out loud on how it was used. I'm open minded with Yakuza's story, but it was absolutely ridiculous.

Combat: Overall, I enjoyed it though the more hours I played the more I got tired of it. I liked the different jobs and heat actions each character has. I enjoyed trying to pick and choose which party members to have with me and what weapons and jobs they should be using. I didn't like how long these encounters took even when you're fully leveled and rather OP. I can probably compete 2-3 Yakuza 0 street fights in comparison to 1 YLOD street fight. Lastly, their is a part of me that can't help be disappointed that I'm not 1v1-ing certain boss fights like the original Yakuza games. You see the cool fight intro then you remember it's turn based.


The Quest for 100%: Honestly, just playing the game how I usually played it managed to get me almost all of the achievements. For those that hate Mahjong or the arcade games then their is no need to worry as you don't have to touch those minigames. The only thing that I had to focus on was grinding character and job levels for beating the "secret boss", if you've played any Yakuza games then you know who this is. That was a mind numbing time as at that point their is only one location and one enemy you have to kill to get a good amount of XP. Besides that, this game is the easiest Yakuza game to 100% that I have played so far.

Closing Thoughts: I am excited to see where Ryu Ga Gotoku takes Ichiban and friends. For a game that is known for their beat em ups, their first attempt into JRPG combat was pretty good though it could use some polishing. This game is well worth the money at full price, though you can skip buying any of the DLC's.

A journey that I wish I can experience for the first time again.

PROS:
- Excellent world.
- Amazing sidestories.
- Deep and interesting characters.
- Has the best minigame I've ever played in a video game (cabaret club).
- Fun combat system.
- Low - Midtier PC friendly.
- Lengthy game (took me around 80 hours to beat albeit I took my time).
- Impressive immersion into late 80's Japan.

CONS:
- If you're going to 100% you will realize how much RNG this game will suffer from regarding minigames.
- You're only able to save from telephone booths which means you can't save in any other location. Fixable with mods.
- I wasn't a particular fan of how you obtain skills but it's bearable.

In conclusion, this game is a must play for anyone who loves fighters, story-based games, and anything regarding Japan.