Recent reviews by LordofBeards

I feel that this is a far more polished game than Kiwami 1. The graphics are better, being able to go in and out of the buildings without loading screens is so good, and in general being around the world is better.
The minigames which are a staple of Yakuza are back and again feel well polished. I hate the gambling games with a passion though anything like that which is integral to completion or plot can go in a hole.

The sound and music is great, but the main thing for this game; the plot.
The plot is great and the finale to the game is fantastic!

Excellent game well enjoyed!

I played this for 10 hours before stopping, and I stopped for one simple reason. This game grated on me.
I get this this basically hits all of the JRPG tropes and doesn't just hit them, it smashes them repeatedly with a baseball bat. This made it feel less than original.
Sure the setting and the idea feels original but the casing of these tropes makes it feel lazy.
But the killer for me was the combat. I just did not enjoy the combat. I dont know why but this would have been 10x better if it was turn based, but as it was i hated every moment I was in a fight.

I got to the point where I asked myself "how much more of this is there" and when I saw I was only a 1/4 of the way through, that was it. I knew I couldn't do this for another 30 hours.

Bitterly disappointing as loads of people had said to me that this game was really good.

This game is good, a great narrative story where the quicktime events do feel like they add to the immersiveness you feel.
The flowcharts also add to the time you can replay the story, but honestly I feel that this is good for 2 playthroughs at best.
QD's decision to make the cutscenes unskippable or no fast forward button for a new-game + is frankly infuriating and this stops me from looking to investigate the many routes that they've programmed into the game.

Good, but game mechanics on replayability could have been better.

This game is fantastic.
A great story taking place in a half-visual novel, half dungeon crawler, half school-simulator and yes that is 3 halves because there is a lot that this game has to offer.
The soundtrack is addictive and ear-wormy and though the style is perhaps not to the style of a modern game it holds up well and has been amazing to play on steam deck

Another outing in the Yakuza universe which bundles together crazy minigames, excellent story and supremely satisfying combat.
The skill systems are good, and there isn't much that isn't likable about the game for me.
I started with Yakuza 0 and I loved this.

Having been on the internet for a number of years I feel that I've seen everything to do with this game prior to playing.
When it came to actually playing it, I found no enjoyment in it.
The humour didn't make me laugh. The game didn't feel entertaining.
It just didn't click with me.
If you've seen alot of this game on the internet and want to play it yourself, you may not need to.

Excellent game.
Superb level design really shows how you can be so open within a closed environment.
Fantastic story telling and easily can be played for multiple playthroughs.

Get it

A very cute and cosy game.
In early access so things may change. The Devs have a roadmap that is viewable by anyone and it is clear that they have good intentions with the game going forward.
The core mechanics of running the inn are very solid and refined.
At the time of writing I've played for ~60 hours and have basically done everything I can find. I had everything unlocked by about Reputation 10/11 I think and perhaps the balancing for unlocks could be a bit steeper as suddenly I had everything available without feeling as though I had earned it.

Overall, very solid nice game. Would recommend, and eager to see where it goes

A very fun short game with additional challenges to complete.
The online achievements ruin a 100% route as I couldn't get a game but the offline and time trial modes were good fun.
Will definitely get the second game.

I haven't played many FF games, at least in comparison to some but this is the first one where I just didn't care.
Yes I've played nearly 60 hours of this game. Yes I gave it every opportunity to be liked. I liked the bro-ness between the charactes but that only takes it so far.
The world in itself wasn't captivating. I didn't understand the idea of transplanting magic into what I can only imagine as rural Texas.
I had to read up on the story after I reportedly finished the game to figure out what the hell the story actually was and when written down it sounds good, it just failed in its excecution completely.

Oh and the side quests were just flat out boring. I forgot that sidequesting could get this bad.

Really disappointing. 4/10 Max.