After all this time writing about my look at certain games, I ought to write about some of the games I have been playing. While I have several in mind, today I shall write about what makes this particular game work for me and what did not work.
The game in question is:
This is the latest entry in the long-running Yakuza series and what is new about it aside from the new main character is the gameplay which was previously a beat-em-up with RPG elements to a turn-based RPG. Despite the change, I had plenty of fun with the game and feel that this is a close second in my personal rank for the games. For the record, 0 is my favorite but to be fair, I have not played Yakuza 3, 4 and 5 due to lack of time from my actual job. As the remastered collection is available on the Playstation Store and later in the year, Steam, I may get to those games. So for now, these are my thoughts.
For the record, I played this on the Playstation 4 as the game is not available on Steam my region due to some kind of exclusivity deal. It does prevent me from enjoying the perks of a SSD to speed up load times.
What works:-
Characters
First point to address is that the main protagonist of the series up to this point, Kazuma Kiryu, is no longer the playable main protagonist in the series due to the events of Yakuza 6 (and that is all I will say about Kiryu for now). Our new protagonist of the series is one Ichiban Kasuga and let me just say it now: I love the guy and feel that he is a worthy successor as the leading protagonist moving forward.
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| Yes, he looks like Japanese Eric Andre. That joke has been made a million times by now |
Unlike the stoic brooding bad-ass with a heart of gold and burning inner passion that is Kiryu, Ichiban is a good-natured expressive, optimistic, passionate and an all-around bombastic idiot, the kind of person who charges forth to help those he trusts and befriends with minimal thought to consequences but as the game depicts, can be competent and is savvy with the business practices of the yakuza life and soapland lifestyle. While I like Kiryu as he is, Ichiban's charisma and good nature often comes across throughout the game which wound up making me like him a lot as the main character of this game.
Part of Ichiban's background is that he is a gigantic Dragon Quest fanboy (yes, THAT Dragon Quest) to the point where it influences the way he fights and slight more significantly, introduces how he has a party of like-minded people accompanying him throughout the game. Yes, as a turn-based RPG, Yakuza: LAD introduces actual party mechanics to the series and for me personally, I am glad it did so.
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| While the outfits are DLC outfits, this is one of the few pictures I found online that has the business dimension's party member present. |
Ichiban's party consists of the Hero, the tank, the mage, the healer, the assassin, the monk/martial artist(?) and the bonus ninja aka Ichiban Kasuga, Koichi Adachi, Yu Nanba, Saeko Mukoda, Han Joon-gi, Zhao Tianyou and Eri Katamaki (who is also voiced by said voice actress in the Japanese dub). One of the best parts of being part of a party is how the members interact with each other like a gang of friends who like to tease and fling shit at each other but will maintain camaraderie with each other and share opinions. The character writing in their banter during party chats found in the overworld are often a highlight and the fact that they join you for certain group activities is a nice touch (and yes, they do join in the karaoke).
How are the individual members? For me, they were fine individually though I had more fun with their banter and interactions with each other. A recurring element of these characters are how they are outcasts of society, except for business dimension's Eri, and probably due to that, they form a tight-knit camaraderie with each other that allows them to get through the adversities of life in the Yakuza/Ryu Ga Gotoku setting. Overall, they are a charming gang to adventure with.
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| Fun fact, Masumi Arakawa is voiced by George Takei. Oh my, indeed. |
As for the major side-characters, I would say they are up to the standards of the series which is to say there are some stand-out characters, some average characters and some that seem to exist for the sake of having a hate sink (Looking at you, Kume you sack of fecal garbage!). Masumi Arakawa is a stand out character though does not have a lot of screen time in the actual story, outside of flashbacks, due to story reasons while the major antagonists are proper antagonists with little sympathetic traits, save for perhaps a select few. The other side characters in the side content serve their purposes and do well to highlight & flesh out the kind of person Ichiban is.
Overall, I enjoyed the characters along with their writing and look forward to see more of them.
Side-Activities
One part of the Yakuza games that fails to disappoint are the side-activities. While certain open world games have a lot of side content, there is something about the Yakuza games that add on a touch of silliness to the whole thing and that is not including the actual silly side content. The usual gambling mini-games, Western and Japanese, are back here along with brand new ones like Dragon Kart (think Mario Kart except with adults in adult bodies firing rocket launchers at each other), can collecting (think Pac Man but more vagrancy) and business management. Ichiban's bombastic glee at some of these mini-games adds some extra charm to the activities.
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| The only thing more bizarre than the chicken who assists in battle is that pun. |
As for side-activities like sub-stories, Yakuza: LAD does not disappoint in the slightest. While Kiryu reacts to the silliness in the setting with stoic bewilderment which makes for a nice contrast, Ichiban's expressiveness makes for funnier reactions to the bizarreness and hilarity of the setting. In order to maintain the viewer's curiosity, I will not describe any of the sub-stories but I will say that Yakuza: LAD is probably the most bizarre sub-stories in the series by a good margin, which in itself is bizarre given the series.
Story
I will not go into details about the story but I will say this is the most I have gotten into a Yakuza game's story since 0. While I generally enjoyed the stories of these games, I never did find myself motivated to continue playing for the story. Here, the crime story and the schemes surrounding it is compelling and I did not find myself rolling my eyes at certain plot points and events (looking at you, experimental rubber bullets). While there are plenty of contrivances like any main Yakuza story, I found myself being able to tolerate them due to the characters.
You can tell this part is going to be short seeing as I do not want to spoil anything so overall I will say this is a pretty good story that is propped up by the characters.
Gameplay
Fun fact for readers, the gameplay in the current game was a result of the unexpectedly positive reception that the studio received for their April Fools' gameplay video. Prior to this, the game was supposed to be the usual fare but said reception caused them to scrap most of their work and rework the game to its current state. While this has left some issues with the game which will be discussed below, it has created a game that is more accessible to those not used to the beat-em-up gameplay of the prior Yakuza games.
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| Fun-fact, the English version of the menu spells out S.E.G.A. |
While the dynamic nature of the combat from previous games is not present, the turn-based system does allow for a degree of thoughtfulness in-game as you attempt to determine weaknesses, resistances, area-of-effect potential, status effects, weapon type, tag team abilities, summons to use, job exclusive abilities, inherited skills gained from levelling up certain jobs etc. There is quite a bit of thought put into battles which gets tougher as you progress in the story. Jobs play a huge role in this thoughtfulness as the further you level up a job class, the more abilities you can unlock for use which includes, as mentioned earlier, certain skills that can be used by all job classes (Here's a tip: Unlock the Foreman job class as soon as you can. There is a vital skill that is usable for overworld exploration).
Enemy placement is also relatively important as area-of-effect attacks are more effective if enemies bunch up together, Ichiban can use nearby items (i.e the standard bicycle) to beat a particular enemy with and certain items can be kicked at an enemy if said item is in the way of the playable character and their target. Playable characters can also knock enemies onto the road where they can then be hit by passing traffic (Yes, in Yakuza: LAD, traffic hits you!).
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| Yes, this is a job that Ichiban can use. |
One part that I found amusing throughout is that every turn-based battle in-game are actual fantasies that Ichiban comes up with every time which in turn ends up justifying how bizarre these fights get. In a cutscene you encounter early on, Ichiban and crew end up acknowledging the fact Ichiban is not seeing the same things they are seeing in dialogue but decide to play along with his fantasies if it motivates him.
An example of a random battle in this game is Ichiban fighting a group of men dressed up as trash bags while Ichiban is dressed up as a rapper and if the situation got desperate, Ichiban could summon a crayfish who then poisons your target for you. He could also be joined in battle by Nanba dressed up as a fortune teller, Adachi dressed up in riot gear and Saeko dressed up as an idol.
I am not making this up, these are actual features of the turn-based gameplay.
Overall, I think this is an admirable first effort into this gameplay and while I do not mind them going back to the original gameplay of the previous games, I am open to them returning to the turn-based gameplay as long as they can improve it further.
What does not work:-
Gameplay
As I mentioned before, the RPG gameplay was a result of the development team scrapping their work due to the positive feedback received for their April Fools' video. That combined with how this is their first actual turn-based RPG results in what is an admirable first effort but at the same time, is still clearly a first effort.
Fights with random enemies in the overworld tend to get repetitive and drawn out especially at lower levels. While there is an item that prevents enemies from spawning to mitigate this, running into low level enemies even when you out-level them can be tedious (especially on the PS4).
Another part that does not quite work is the item interaction that I mentioned earlier. While the characters are able to interact as described, the player has no control over the party's positioning in the level. Due to this, many item interactions never actually work and more often than not, area-of-effect attacks may miss other enemies due to the enemies freely moving about while the player is unable to adjust their positioning.
Grind tedium
While I did mention the battles do get tougher as the story progresses, certain boss fights may end up being too tough if you have been relying on experience gained from beating story enemies and bosses, meaning that grinding experience and job points in the overworld may not suffice. As such, the game can be grind heavy even with the right items equipped to boost experience gain.
While there are locations that provide significant experience gain, some readers may view this as a band-aid for a rather significant wound. I found the grind especially tedious when preparing myself for the game's bonus dungeon (which to be fair, is only available after completing the game's main story so there is that).
Final thoughts:
Overall, I had a far more enjoyable time with this game than I thought I would when I first saw the initial trailers. The fact that the Western release removed the New Game Plus DLC that was used in the original Japanese release is also a major point of praise for the game and Sega's Western division. I only ended up playing a few 2020 titles (Doom: Eternal, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Wasteland 3) so out of those games, Yakuza: LAD stuck with me longer than the rest.
I would not mind having a crack at this game in New Game Plus in the future but for now, I will be waiting for Disco Elysium: Final Cut.
(VOICE ACTING PERSONALITIES FTW!)
What makes it work:
Characters
Side Activities
Story
Gameplay
What breaks it:
Gameplay
Grind tedium
