This game was easily a 10/10 for me. Honestly the way the ending went really sold the game for me. It felt so "anime" and I loved it. The improvements to the gameplay were so well done too. And, Ichiban has really been growing on me. I'm curious to see where his story will go next.
Without spoilers can you elaborate your thoughts on the ending - does it have anything to do with Kiryu? Coming from someone who has only played 0 & Kiwami - took me a good part of 6 years believe it or not 😅
"There's a time and a place for everything" so agree with this. One time I pushed through some games (Deus Ex and FF 12) just with a thought "I'll just finish this", I ended up not enjoying the experience. Then I wait some time to go back to replay those games from the beginning, playing it slowly, really taking everything in and they were great experience overall! Infinite Wealth is a long game and now I always take my time with any long games like this. Glad this one turn out to be a sort of "passing the baton" to Ichiban while also further exploring Kiryu's struggle. Can't wait for what kind of story will RGG Studio make with the next game
I loved how the game is simultaneously a celebration of the series so far and a look into where it’s going in the future. It would be awesome if they released a GOTY physical edition which includes Like A Dragon Gaiden. Anyhow, great review as usual.
Great review, Alex! Glad you enjoyed it as I LOVED it. Such a fun time, great new characters and nice to see the old gang. Just a fantastic experience overall.
I was really happy that I got to do so as well! I hope people resonate with the personal story I'm telling. Sometimes, you just gotta wait for the right time to play certain games!
Yeah the lack of continuity from LAD to LAD:IW was disappointing. By the end of the former, Ichiban was a wealthy business tycoon with Ichiban Holdings (if you completed that Ichiban Confections side quest.). But at the beginning of IW, he was dirt poor again and was scraping by working part time as an unemployment agent. How the heck did that happen to him? It was never explained.
Infinite Wealth is an appropriate title for this game. Theirs an ridiculous amount of seemly Infinite wealthy content in this game. Almost all the Yakuza games are long but this was incredibly long even for Yakuza itself. I think when I finished I put 72 hours into this game. The 2nd longest for me would be Yakuza 0 at I wanna say 66 hours.
The tricky thing about it is that it ends up being not really an Ichiban game or a good starting point, it's more about Kiryu and the history of the franchise. Series vets will find A LOT more to like about the game story-wise than people who jumped in at YLAD (the nostalgia hits are STRONG). Almost all complaints I had about YLAD's gameplay have been addressed, so it's vastly more fun to play even if not all parts of the story landed as well as others. Even after platinuming it I kept playing for another 15-20 hours to just run around the beautiful environments and finish off some last completion-y tasks. Ranks somewhere in the 2nd-4th range for me in the series out of the 12 that I've played.
Overall, I was very happy with the game, the only unfortunate thing was the new game + paywall which I didn't find out about until after I had purchased the deluxe edition, otherwise I would have just bought the standard edition. Yong Yea clearly had a much better director in this game as he at least sounds like he's trying to play the role of an older character which didn't seem to be the case in the man who erased his name
@@BacklogBattle I also like that most of the stat boosts are tied to the characters levels as opposed to their job levels now, plus the ability to choose skills learned from other jobs and set them as active skills added an extra level of customization which I liked
@@BacklogBattle Yes there were stat increases as the characters levels went up, but the job levels seemed to give a lot more increases if I remember rightly, I may have to go back to the game to confirm that just to be sure
Enjoyed the breakdown! I'll grab it but honestly not in a real rush way too much stuff out. I'm surprised you recommended playing the previous titles. Most folks seem to wanna jump into the new entry lately
thanks for the review Alex. yeah i didn't like dondoko island very much. i just did it to see what would happen but it really wasn't my cup of tea. other than that i loved this game and its a contender for goty for me.
(Spoilers after the 1st paragraph. Just gotta let it out here, lol. Sorry for the length to anyone reading! You were warned, dood!) Infinite Wealth's gameplay was totally peak between the two. It took the 'throw crap to the wall and see what sticks' mentality the first one had and actually gave it GROUNDED PURPOSE, lol. The team attacks are so smooth and so satisfying when you lamd them, and they aren't few and far in-between as you'd think. Unfortunately, the part that really gets me down is how they treat Kiryu in this game. He never catches a break, even to the end. He's my favorite character, and one that I aspire to from time to time (hell, we share the same birthday, lol). If they would've just left his appearance in LaD there and just gave him some sort of side character position, I'd be okay with that. Here, however, he's not given the time to shine when he and Ichiban's personalities are literally clashing when they occupy the same party, and when he finally gets his time, it's just really depressing. You'd think things would lighten up in the ending, but no. Look at what has become of Kamurocho's finest. It's like he's being punished for having his way of living life, and being told it's not okay to rely on yourself when you TOTALLY HAVE THE POWER TO. (Also, sadly Yong Yea's performance just doesn't work here, imo. He's great in other roles, but he still feels too forced, and somehow still doesn't seem like he's trying at all. He's like, overly stoic and then gets loud when he feels he has to.) I'm curious to what they have in store for Kiryu in the sequel, if anything, because it's totally unfair how he's treated here and in Gaiden. (Considering he also shares the same birthday as the series creator, it also feels like some cruel joke after his departure, but that's just my conspiracy theory at work, dood.)
Like a dragon Infinite wealth was the first "new" game i started in 2024, after playing Rebirth, P3 Reload, Unicorn Overlord and Eiyuden Chronicles, I still find myself wanting to play more Yakuza. Cant wait for the next one 🥲
I platinumed this game, including the DLC… It felt underwhelming 😢 But the story was rather good, just a little disappointed about one story hype that didn’t really get anywhere 😞.
I've absolutely loved Like a Dragon and expected this one to be even better, unfortunately I've been let down hard. Combat improvements are appreciated but they didn't even matter considering getting overleveled by accident was way too easy. I've hated the plot, new characters didn't do it for me, minigames weren't fun. I'd give it like 6/10 on a good day and it's just because I'm a yakuza shill. It's nice knowing I'm not the only one not loving this game
THANK YOU !! Im glad someone else noticed the theme of love
This game was easily a 10/10 for me. Honestly the way the ending went really sold the game for me. It felt so "anime" and I loved it. The improvements to the gameplay were so well done too. And, Ichiban has really been growing on me. I'm curious to see where his story will go next.
Without spoilers can you elaborate your thoughts on the ending - does it have anything to do with Kiryu? Coming from someone who has only played 0 & Kiwami - took me a good part of 6 years believe it or not 😅
"There's a time and a place for everything" so agree with this. One time I pushed through some games (Deus Ex and FF 12) just with a thought "I'll just finish this", I ended up not enjoying the experience. Then I wait some time to go back to replay those games from the beginning, playing it slowly, really taking everything in and they were great experience overall!
Infinite Wealth is a long game and now I always take my time with any long games like this. Glad this one turn out to be a sort of "passing the baton" to Ichiban while also further exploring Kiryu's struggle. Can't wait for what kind of story will RGG Studio make with the next game
I loved how the game is simultaneously a celebration of the series so far and a look into where it’s going in the future. It would be awesome if they released a GOTY physical edition which includes Like A Dragon Gaiden. Anyhow, great review as usual.
Great review, Alex! Glad you enjoyed it as I LOVED it. Such a fun time, great new characters and nice to see the old gang. Just a fantastic experience overall.
"Oak's words echoed... There's a time and place for everything"
Wasn't sure if you were going to end up reviewing this game but glad you did!
I was really happy that I got to do so as well! I hope people resonate with the personal story I'm telling. Sometimes, you just gotta wait for the right time to play certain games!
Yeah the lack of continuity from LAD to LAD:IW was disappointing. By the end of the former, Ichiban was a wealthy business tycoon with Ichiban Holdings (if you completed that Ichiban Confections side quest.). But at the beginning of IW, he was dirt poor again and was scraping by working part time as an unemployment agent. How the heck did that happen to him? It was never explained.
Infinite Wealth is an appropriate title for this game. Theirs an ridiculous amount of seemly Infinite wealthy content in this game. Almost all the Yakuza games are long but this was incredibly long even for Yakuza itself. I think when I finished I put 72 hours into this game. The 2nd longest for me would be Yakuza 0 at I wanna say 66 hours.
that item list without wasting a trip chefs kiss
Game of the year
The tricky thing about it is that it ends up being not really an Ichiban game or a good starting point, it's more about Kiryu and the history of the franchise. Series vets will find A LOT more to like about the game story-wise than people who jumped in at YLAD (the nostalgia hits are STRONG). Almost all complaints I had about YLAD's gameplay have been addressed, so it's vastly more fun to play even if not all parts of the story landed as well as others. Even after platinuming it I kept playing for another 15-20 hours to just run around the beautiful environments and finish off some last completion-y tasks. Ranks somewhere in the 2nd-4th range for me in the series out of the 12 that I've played.
I can't wait to jump into this game as soon as I'm done with ffvii rebirth!
But can i go fishing?
Took a while, beat the game in the meanwhile, but glad your review is finally here.
After doing all the side quests and bucket lists and the main story, to name a few! 100+ hours later!
Overall, I was very happy with the game, the only unfortunate thing was the new game + paywall which I didn't find out about until after I had purchased the deluxe edition, otherwise I would have just bought the standard edition. Yong Yea clearly had a much better director in this game as he at least sounds like he's trying to play the role of an older character which didn't seem to be the case in the man who erased his name
Makes sense. That paywall isn't great. But I'm glad you enjoyed the game!
@@BacklogBattle I also like that most of the stat boosts are tied to the characters levels as opposed to their job levels now, plus the ability to choose skills learned from other jobs and set them as active skills added an extra level of customization which I liked
I actually played YLAD and saw that stat ups were also tied to the levels in that game, so I’m not actually sure that’s accurate.
@@BacklogBattle Yes there were stat increases as the characters levels went up, but the job levels seemed to give a lot more increases if I remember rightly, I may have to go back to the game to confirm that just to be sure
Enjoyed the breakdown! I'll grab it but honestly not in a real rush way too much stuff out.
I'm surprised you recommended playing the previous titles. Most folks seem to wanna jump into the new entry lately
Just Yakuza: Like A Dragon!
thanks for the review Alex. yeah i didn't like dondoko island very much. i just did it to see what would happen but it really wasn't my cup of tea. other than that i loved this game and its a contender for goty for me.
(Spoilers after the 1st paragraph. Just gotta let it out here, lol. Sorry for the length to anyone reading! You were warned, dood!)
Infinite Wealth's gameplay was totally peak between the two. It took the 'throw crap to the wall and see what sticks' mentality the first one had and actually gave it GROUNDED PURPOSE, lol. The team attacks are so smooth and so satisfying when you lamd them, and they aren't few and far in-between as you'd think.
Unfortunately, the part that really gets me down is how they treat Kiryu in this game. He never catches a break, even to the end. He's my favorite character, and one that I aspire to from time to time (hell, we share the same birthday, lol). If they would've just left his appearance in LaD there and just gave him some sort of side character position, I'd be okay with that. Here, however, he's not given the time to shine when he and Ichiban's personalities are literally clashing when they occupy the same party, and when he finally gets his time, it's just really depressing. You'd think things would lighten up in the ending, but no. Look at what has become of Kamurocho's finest. It's like he's being punished for having his way of living life, and being told it's not okay to rely on yourself when you TOTALLY HAVE THE POWER TO. (Also, sadly Yong Yea's performance just doesn't work here, imo. He's great in other roles, but he still feels too forced, and somehow still doesn't seem like he's trying at all. He's like, overly stoic and then gets loud when he feels he has to.)
I'm curious to what they have in store for Kiryu in the sequel, if anything, because it's totally unfair how he's treated here and in Gaiden. (Considering he also shares the same birthday as the series creator, it also feels like some cruel joke after his departure, but that's just my conspiracy theory at work, dood.)
Yakuza 7 is one of the best JRPG I have ever played. Yakuza 8 is better.
Like a dragon Infinite wealth was the first "new" game i started in 2024, after playing Rebirth, P3 Reload, Unicorn Overlord and Eiyuden Chronicles, I still find myself wanting to play more Yakuza. Cant wait for the next one 🥲
I platinumed this game, including the DLC…
It felt underwhelming 😢
But the story was rather good, just a little disappointed about one story hype that didn’t really get anywhere 😞.
Without spoiling too much, is this about KK’s ending?
I've absolutely loved Like a Dragon and expected this one to be even better, unfortunately I've been let down hard. Combat improvements are appreciated but they didn't even matter considering getting overleveled by accident was way too easy. I've hated the plot, new characters didn't do it for me, minigames weren't fun. I'd give it like 6/10 on a good day and it's just because I'm a yakuza shill. It's nice knowing I'm not the only one not loving this game
You might want to watch until the end lol
@@BacklogBattle damn, your community post baited me 😂
I've since changed it, if it means anything!
@@BacklogBattle lol no worries, I'm glad you enjoyed the game
The "tutorial" took so so so long. When i did finally get out of it i got killed by a shaman and i rage quit. I still havent picked it back up.
As I said in the review, there’s a time and a place for everything 😉