Yakuza: Like A Dragon 7 - review

Like a WHAT?!

Genre: RPG.

Developer/publisher: Sega.

Platform: PS4/5 etc.
Official Site:N/A.

Release date: 09-9-2021

 

Not sure what to play next I decided to get started on this game

that has been sitting in my backlog for like half a year! 

 

 The game is still set in the same old Kamuro-cho because where else?

or rather you start there but the majority takes place in Yokohama.  

This time we got an all new protagonist Kasuga Ichiban! It didn't seem like

I had to have played the previous games but it was nice to catch some references.

For most of the game it felt like its own story, but some things may have more impact

if you know who some familiar faces later in the game are. 

 

Pro's

- Fun cast of characters.

- Plenty of side content you can do at your own pace. 

 

Grey area

- Story is interesting but it is also messy. 

 

Con's

- Pacing issues, difficulty spikes.

- Confusing plot. 

 

--- 

At first it felt like I saw this somewhere before like the beginning of Yakuza 1

i'm not sure which was more dramatic though but I can definitely see a call back. 

Much like Kiryu, Ichiban also had to spend time in jail but much longer.💀💀💀 

The fun actually starts when Ichibum gets out of jail, he got a bit too excited

and hasn't quite gotten the memo yet. They messed up his hair so he's stuck

looking like he's been struck by lightning. Ichi also felt like he was a bit delusional

and very insisted on doing stuff his way even tho he had someone trying to look out for him.

Oh no... anyway it was quite entertaining to follow Ichiban get his bearings but things

went down the rabbit hole and I thought parts of the plot were confusing.

Was wondering what was up with him and some even say he was a Schizo...........

it certainly would explain things but I think he was just hard-headed.

No one seemed to mind his quirks which was hilarious.

 

Ichiban in a box.

 Storywise I wasn't really sure where any of it was going really. 

It went from Yakuza drama to being homies with the hobo's

to trying to find a job but that is just the tip of the iceberg

as its all down the rabbit hole from there which was just more drama...

Atleast some of it was entertaining, except ''the talk'' in ch10. (I'm tired...)

Then due to pausing the story to get better gear and immersing myself in some side content

I forgot half of the plot so it was like wait this game has a story?!💀💀💀

Now everyone in Yokohama will know Ichiban confections has the best rice crackers ever.

 Uh yea I guess I should go meet with the Omi now huh? about what again?!

That's it... that is my LAD7 experience.

From then on I was able to follow the plot better maybe cuz there wasn't much distractions. 

---

 

Also its no longer a brawler and it just plays like an turn-based RPG now.

 I didn't have much problems with the genre switch as it felt comfy. I don't really feel

like mentioning the gameplay as its just turn based with a job system

to change the characters classes(which I barely did) because it was a hassle.

 The only ones I changed was Saeko(to Idol) and Adachi(to enforcer). 

The battle system is a homage to dragon quest because the protagonist likes that game

I guess sega did a handshake with square enix to keep the names and other references intact.

I played on normal and it seems you're locked to that but I didn't have much

of a problem throughout the game, I could clearly tell when I had to upgrade

and get my shit in order which happened only twice in ch9 and ch12.

I hated this dungeon as it didn't seem to end but those enemies were funny.

 You also raise Ichi's stats(intellect,confidence style etc)like its some persona game

but you don't actually have any social links with NPC's. Raising Ichi's stats usually 

come from choices during substories,skills or the vocational school.

You can deepen your bond with your party members as well by fighting,eating or triggering

 party talk skits but often they'd reach a point they got locked so you had to chat at the bar

to raise it further, these events varied whether they were interesting but most were nice.

 

This game's balance is odd though, early on its rather easy. I got by with the joke weapons

from that one store for a long time along with some light crafting but I had to

upgrade everything in ch9/12 which made things more bearable.

 Unfortunately the upgrades were expensive and the only way to solve that is to do some

optional activities to get more money and the best way to do that is the management minigame.

I got kind of bored of it by rank 21 but I ended up finishing the whole thing anyways. 

 

The length? 50-60ish hours. My ingame save said 55ish but for some reason PSN

inflated this number by 10. Okay whatever maybe it counted me idling but the game didn't. 

Much like Yakuza 5, LAD7 also has a long finale so you gotta make sure you can play

for almost 3 hours because once you enter the final dungeon you can't save.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I recognize that place from lost judgment and I don't like it.

I know RGG recycles a lot but they do it in a clever way and I did enjoy exploring

Yokohama a little more in this game than in Lost Judgment.

The game was also permanently discounted after Y8 came out so its now 20$

with it dropping to 10$ on sales but this price is perfect for the contents you get.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The TL;DR of it would be that I think it was a fun game! but the story

was a bit all over the place? I didn't hate it or anything, at the end of the day its OK.

Honestly I liked the characters, interactions and substories much more than the overall plot. 

 I really struggled to follow some of it till it was straight up explained but even then

it still somehow failed to follow up on one thing in the ending, it made me angry. 

I think the switch from brawler to RPG was refreshing and it still

had the fun things I liked from past Yakuza games such as substories.

Ichiban wasn't constantly getting scammed like Kiryu did in Yakuza 1 in some of them

Ichi is actually helping others out of them. So I couldn't see him as a lvl1 dumbass

but there were some moments here or there cuz he can embarrass himself.😅

It took me a few games for Kiryu to grow on me but Ichiban did it in one game.

Hero missions were boring and repetitive and Ichiban's reaction is similar to mine when I think of it.

The only downsides are the somewhat confusing plot and some pacing issues.
I just think had they paced this game properly I wouldn't have to go out of my way

to get upgrades. They could have implemented dungeons better because chapter 8 was way

too short and to find myself slightly walled by combat the next chapter does not feel good.

It doesn't even get better because the enemy lvls increase like wildfire and I am like hold up?! 

There weren't really any big dungeons besides two so the rest of the game felt like yakuza 1-6

but turnbased. The best way to level ended up being the arena btw can you believe it?

I mean you can revisit the underground dungeons to grind but it was so out of the way

it wasn't even on my mind not even side quests/substories took you back there.💀

 Despite grievances I recommend it to anyone that is interested in an RPG

with an older cast and doesn't mind doing side contents. 

7.7/10

 

More ramblings after the jump, maybe some light spoilers but nothing too heavy

hench why most of the rambles are behind here.

Yakuza 6 the song of life - review

Time for the final episode of the Kiryu saga! but who was baby?

Genre: Brawler/adventure

Developer/publisher: Sega.
Platform: PS4.
Official Site: N/A.

Release date: 17-4-2018.

 

I actually hadn't intended to play this game so soon but because

Cafe Enchante was such a slow game I was itching for some action!

knowing that Y6 wasn't nearly as long as its predecessor also helped.

The game takes place after Yakuza 5 and we're also back to just having Kiryu as the protagonist!

honestly the real reason for going into this within 2 months of finishing Y5 was more or less

me wanting to move on and see Kiryu's tale to its conclusion while I still had investment. 

Pro's

- Decent and well-paced story that doesn't overstay its welcome.

- Great cast of characters lot's of fun interactions during the main story.

- Both main and substories are voiced fully.

Con's

- Combat felt weird, no heat actions for downed enemies? Meh.

- Too many substories are locked behind this or that. Also no substory finder.

- There was not nearly enough Majima.

Story wise it had me hooked from the start, I was surprised by how much directly

followed up on five, the opening scene was a bit random though like who was baby?

but record scratch *Freeze frame* how did we get into this situation happened.

The pacing was pretty good this time, I had an easier time following the plot and

each chapter felt like I learned a new piece of the puzzle which felt really good.

It pretty much felt like a proper crime drama that followed up on Y5's crappy ending.😅

I know RGG studios just sort of keeps writing but they really do manage to build something

from what they already have, they've proven that multiple times through this series.

 

Forgot the jump break so uh I generally enjoyed this game, more rambles after the jump!

Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail - review

Couldn't take a screenshot of the title screen so uh have the keyart!

Genre: RPG.

Developer/publisher: Square Enix.
Platform: PS4/5, PC, xbone.
Official Site: N/A.

Release date: 27-6-2024.

 

I have been playing FFXIV for quite some time but never wrote a review on it.

This post is mostly about the new expansion dawntrail and it isn't much about the previous.

There aren't any major plot spoilers in this post but anything could count as

a spoiler to some so whatever I guess this is just a blog post and I am writing my own

personal thoughts as a review of a game I played, if you don't like it then close the tab/browser.

Pro's

- Decent enough plot.

- Great character development for Krile and Erenville.

- The first four zones are beautiful.

Con's

- Levels are simply given to you and I personally don't feel like I earned the lvl 100.

- Recycles too much old tunes and enemy models as well, its like i've seen/heard this before.

- I get Wuk Lamat is a main character but she steals too much of the spotlight...

 

 The expansions features a slight graphic update with better textures and models

gotta admit I was a little nervous, my WoL turned out okay but there may have

been those the update wasn't too kind of. The developers were kind enough to

give players a free fantasia to edit the character again. Which is a good thing.

Not really great at taking screenshots but thought this was a nice spot in the game.

 

More rambles after the jump but if you want the short of it, I think Dawntrail is decent

however don't expect too much out of the story and just enjoy it for what it is not for what it is not.

 

Trials of Mana - review

Genre:RPG.

Developer/publisher: Square Enix.

Platform: PS4,switch,PC,mobile.

Official Site: N/A

Release date: 2020-04-25.

 

This game is a remake, its apparently pretty faithful...

Gonna be honest here, I have never played a mana game but this

was a nice game to just casually play, it is linear  and little to worry

about missing anything except maybe the cactus thingies.

Most of them are easy to spot but there are a few easy to miss!

I wish I could be completely positive about my experience with this game but I can't.

Anyway...

I got into this while waiting for xenoblade 3 to come out... I decided to continue playing this

from the demo I tried a while ago, it was easy to pick up the pace and/or understand

what's going on plus when chara's mentioned this or that also please be warned

this game is fairly straight-forward in terms of plot, there's not a whole lot of talking

and its pretty on point nor does it ever drag itself out more than needed.

Sadly it seems this game has dropped tremendously in value, I bought it for 30$

and it is now even 20ish euros. After playing I can definitely see why... it is not long

so unless you really love action rpg's most people would give up cuz certain things.

 

Pro's

- A simple, yet traditional story with some replay value.

- Good music, the ability to switch to the original bgm is nice too.

- The ability to choose your protagonist and those who tag along.

- Most of the bosses are all unique and fun in design maybe a lil frustrating too.

 

Con's

- Over two hundred chests but most contents are healing or revive items....

- Class change items shouldn't be locked behind RNG, nor be able to get duplicates of.

^^(Maybe actually put nice things in treasure chests?)^^

- Terrible AI is terrible.

 

The quick and dirty  would be that this is something to look into if you want something traditional unfortunately this games pitfalls are the god awful AI, I think its even worse than ff15!

it also has a nice class system but I found it to be such a hassle when it came to the

second class changes which involves unknown item seeds... it is never guaranteed whether

you get a light or dark class item??? so unless you want to farm and put up with stupid RNG s

 you'll probably have to take what you can get. If you can get past all this it could be a fun game.

 

I am well aware that you can't always get what you want and I already sucked it up and rolled

with classes I didn't want, so I'd like to believe i'm mentally strong enough in that regard.

Anyway bullshit RNG is still bullshit RNG no matter how you slice it. Even worse

if it is determined from the moment you get the item from the chest. REEEEEE~

Anyways I adored the characters and even made a start to the second playthrough but it seems

aside from the prologue and personal motivations most will be the same, a guide said some

of the end game will be different so that is nice. Sadly the AI is horrendously bad

and I was frustrated at watching my team mates die over and over and over again

to the stupidest things. Good news though the only difficulty specific trophy you can

just switch to before the boss itself! so no need to suffer on hard the entire game unless

you want all the challenge! you can just play on normal till then.

 

Sometimes I wonder why I put up with BS like in this game... I must've been really bored

to plow through this game but hmm I guess what was nice was nice even if somethings weren't nice.

Hah... I don't think Chawlotte's UwU speech was ever a problem... IMO there were worse things.

I wouldn't be surprised if people gave up on this game... the beginning might seem

like this is gonna be super stress-free but the AI will end up testing you.

 

For what its worth a nice, fun game but it has noticeble setbacks!

I do want to play the other mana games someday, they do have its charm

but as you can see, you must be willing to get past some setbacks.

Now for all my screeching, another good thing is despite them recycling three bosses

the main game isn't any longer than it should be. If you're still up for more there is a post-game

scenario but I am not sure why they had to split it from the main game. Maybe because

due to the extra classes making MP no longer an issue thus breaking the game.

Anyway if I had to score it this game it might get an 6.7/10 from me which translates to

 well its fine really but could be a little better? it might be even better if you want

a game with not much talking cuz there really wasn't. At the end of the day this was a classic.

 

More rambles after the jump, its more or less just my own experience

with this game and some parts may be a little ranty.