If you're wondering, "why is it that the reviews are mostly negative?"

TLDR:
The controls aren't responsive. Even after trying the disable steam controls fix. I pre-ordered and was massively disappointed.

Edit:
To those that are saying use the fix where you disable steam controls, Yeah I did that before posting this. Again, I said the controls aren't responsive... Xbox controller user here... press kick punch jump grab like 20 times, it'll work once, twice, or never... moving and run and dash work just fine (being the only responsive buttons)

On the boards they say its an FPS issue regarding this problem, so let's stop pretending the fix is the steam inputs, the optimization on this product isn't good. Maybe an FPS limiter will solve the issue but when I got this, there was none.

Patch 1.0.1 added the controller support that was needed. Haven’t been able to put it down since

Negative reviews are nearly all from before they patched the input issues. It's been resolved. Note the playtime of the negative reviews. None are more than an hour.

Game randomly decides when to accept your inputs, even with the Steam Input "fix" other reviews have mentioned. Completely unplayable in this state.

This is my Childhood, My dear Aunt that passed away who was my 2P aka Ryan aka Riki, would be proud to see how far the game has come. The Graphics overhaul with NPC's bring River City aka Yumemicho to life. This Game is NOT Tokyo Rumble (TR) but it is on par with it.

Combat - You Set up to 10 skills and develop your own fighting style learned from book stores, allies and enemies. You level up fighting versus earning power ups through binge eating food which instead gives you temp buffs. While the game is multiplayer unlike EX you don't get a posse or AI co op except in certain scenarios. You can also buy gear and accessories to mix and match that increase stats and develop the build you want.

Story - instead of traveling around finding bosses at random, you're given a free roam system of 3 days to take up quests and learn what you can about the story. What you discover and who you fight determines the path and ending you get. Since quests are time sensitive you can miss certain events so this drags the 3 days out as you spend almost every hour searching for events.

Difficulty - This is one of the Hardest Games even on basic difficulty with proper stats you can still have a hard time. The Enemy AI is very smart and is not prone to mistakes often. If you just want to steam roll this game either Grind or "Git Gud".

Cons - The Game is Smaller in scope compared to EX, Tokyo Rumble, and even Underground. Also the difficulty and focusing on timed story elements can be frustrating. Less shop areas and options.

Pros - Despite the city being a little smaller River city comes to life with the NPC's and time shifts. The 3 days is what you make of it and the option to restart the game with current stats and different story paths make it worth replaying. Its River City you're here for the combat and it will satisfy you.

My Ranking of NA RC (Non Girls) games: Tokyo Rumble, EX, Showdown, RCR NES, Underground

They actually fixed the input issues and the game feels responsive to control. I also like the tweaks they added to this port like running being instantaneous or the removal of the pause when you run into a mob which make the game so much more seamless than on 3ds ( not to mention the fps increase from 3ds ). If you were worried about arc system works abandoning this port, i'm happy to report that the steam version got the fix it needed and is worth buying if you were waiting for it to get patched.

I bought this game when it came out. The controls were AWFUL. But that's all fixed now, so ignore the rest of the reviews from October.

There's something strangely compelling about this game. I like the run around and find people to fight/help stuff, but the fighting at the beginning is TERRIBLE. But once you beat the path once, that's when the real fighting starts to begin - intermediate mode changes things up a bunch, and since there are a few endings, multiple playthroughs are warrented.

I'd say it's a solid 7, I like it a lot and feel compelled to keep playing, even if there's a bunch of wonkiness to the way stuff works, the game has very bad Vsync issues at times, the gym is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, there's this weird leveling system where if you aren't at the right level, all your hits do 1HP dmg regardless of what you do... and the gear stores are very suspect - the economy is kinda busted. But getting past all of that, which I think most people can/will, you'll find a great game. (which is what I think 7s are, great games beneath some sharp edges)

A good remaster of the 3DS game released in 2016. Everything with the gameplay I've seen so far has for the most part been kept the same with a few positive changes being made to things like the combat and other general QOL changes that were made in Three Kingdoms. It seems like the game has been re-translated for English as well which is very nice, as the 3DS version was serviceable but contained a handful of errors and dated localisations. Online play worked nicely too!

This game is a re-telling of Downtown Nekketsu Story (the Japanese version of River City Ransom) that drastically changes the gameplay when compared, but has a far more involved story that kept me pretty invested on my first playthrough. Many of the secondary characters have a lot more time to shine in the game's cutscenes while also introducing a handful of new characters.

I believe this game will be enjoyable for any existing fans of the franchise, for those who may be looking to get into the main series, or for anyone looking for something with a more involved story. There's multiple endings and it entirely depends on how you choose to spend the three days you got till the final day!

As a fan of the OG American version of River City Ransom on the NES, (Was playing it in 1990) and River City Ransom Underground, I wasn't even aware that River City Ransom was remade on the 3DS back in 2016. So when I bought this it was a surprise to me. It was a pleasant surprise though.

I love the fact that the story is better fleshed out, and has even more humor than the NES version. The city has been totally remapped. Good graphics, Great controls, (We'll get to that in a minute.) and has a day/night feature not present in the NES version. It has a nostalgic feel which is what I was hoping for since River City Ransom Underground pulled that off nicely.

The only gripes I have with the game the fact that the game seems to be shorter than the OG NES version. (Maybe because I was young at the time.) The 2 player co-op feature doesn't seem to be as good as OG NES and River City Ransom Underground which was 4 players! Hell, I tried to to join someone for a co-op adventure, but it always comes up as failed to find a room. Retry? To be fair, I haven't tried to host a co-op adventure either. I even read that only the 1st player can do a majority of the events. This makes no sense to me.

As for the controls, there were some problems on the PC. Despite installing it on the PC, I have YET to play on it. Guess what? The game works like a dream on the Steamdeck! There is also a controller issue on the deck as well because by default, it's set to the KB/M layout. I typed out how to fix it on the Steamdeck in the controller issue thread, but I'll copy & paste what I wrote there here:

On Steamdeck it's on keyboard and mouse on default but here is what to do, and doesn't require disabling Steam Input.

1. Select the game
2. Click on the controller icon next to achievements. This takes you to "Current Layout"
3. Click on the template tab that has the default of kb/m. This takes you to "Load new layout".
4. Select the Template "Gamepad with Joystick Trackpad. This will change the keyboard/mouse buttons into controller buttons
5. Enjoy the game.

I've already beaten the game and got the variant ending, so I'm going through the game again with "new game +"

Overall a nice game for fans of the series. I also recommend you buying River City Ransom Underground if you haven't done so already.

For those of you that have problems with the game reading your inputs, hear this:

It may not be your controller, at all
Rather, the game seemingly malfunctions (or expects you to be literally button mashing your inputs) when the frame rate is set ABOVE 60.

If you use NVidia Control Panel, or equivalent, and force the game to cap at a maximum of 60fps, the game will run amazingly, and inputs not reading will be a thing of the past!