Recent reviews by Maxonymous

The 5 Pillars of Yakuza

---( Fighting )---

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 5

Kiwami 2 uses the Dragon Engine and because of this the fighting is superb. You can throw people into props and through windows. Enemies ragdoll and sometimes they flop around unrealistically but that is not a problem in my book. Moves and skills felt more balanced than other games. Kiryu only has one fighting style which I think was a great choice because that makes it simple. I also preferred Kiwami 2's skill system to the ones found in previous games.

---( Story )---

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 5

I really enjoyed uncovering the story of Sayama and seeing the return of our friends Majima, Date, and Haruka. The introduction of an adult Daigo was great too. The antagonists aside from Ryuji didn't feel too fleshed out but nonetheless I genuinely enjoyed progressing through the main story.

---( Substories )---

🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛ 4

Definitely has some Yakuza defining substories along with a mostly average body of missions and a few meh ones (not a big fan of the 3 substory chain that has you beating up a guy over and over until he joins Majima Construction). I found myself completing the most substories in this game than previous ones. These missions felt great to fall back on while taking a break from the main story.

---( Minigames )---

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 5

The return of Cabaret Club was really enjoyable, It actually motivated me to finish the entire story line. Clan Creator was also really good because it was different and collecting characters for it through sub stories was enjoyable. There's also some new mini-games in the arcade and elsewhere and multiple gambling locations. Also you can take selfies, I think this is the best pillar to mention that so yes.

---( Majima? )---

☑️ YES 🔳 NO

Probably contains the largest amassment of memorable Majima scenes in the whole franchise. The Majima Saga was kind of mid but you get to fight DIO and the ending gives us a lot of closure which I liked.

Total Aggregate Score: 4.80/5.00... "Majima Kensetsu... Shaka!"

Ranking of All Yakuza Games as I play them (chronologically)

1. Yakuza Kiwami 2 (hot take)

2. Yakuza 0

3. Yakuza Kiwami

4. Looking forward to playing the rest!

The 5 Pillars of Yakuza

---( Fighting )---

🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 3

Same deal as 0 having Kiryu have his 3 styles + Dragon Style but they felt weaker and less fun. I found myself not really using Beast and sticking to Rush and Brawler. Having to build up Dragon was kind of infuriating because it's easily the strongest style but you don't have all of its moves until mid to late game. Dragon Style's Tiger Drop is probably at it's strongest in this game which was insanely fun to use but it cut down boss fights significantly because it was too strong. The glowing boss thing that requires you to switch to the corresponding style (after unlocking it) was cool at first but just kind of became annoying and repetitive. 3.

---( Story )---

🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 3

The original Yakuza has a pretty good story surprisingly but it's not without random BS and cliches even with the new stuff Kiwami adds. I do appreciate the development it gave to Kiryu and some other characters from 0 but in the end it was a lot less memorable than 0. 3.

---( Substories )---

🟩🟩⬛⬛⬛ 2

Kiwami's substories are weak. There are always the diamonds in the rough but I feel like it had a lot more boring and meaningless substories than 0. 2.

---( Minigames )---

🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 3

Strongly motivated me to play Pocket Circuit due to the substory surrounding it but I didn't think it was worth the time to figure it out by yourself so I used a guide. wasn't exactly fun either, only at the end because that's the only race where there's risk involved and you could end up losing despite your setup. Coliseum was fun but acquiring Tiger Drop was the only reason I played it. Majima Everywhere (probably larger than a mini-game but whatever) was fun at first but as the game went on I found myself going out of my way to activate it using guides which felt bad. I did not care for MesuKing.

---( Majima? )---

☑️ YES 🔳 NO

Total Aggregate Score + MAJIMA BONUS = 3.2/5... "10 years in the joint made you a f****** ♥♥♥♥♥!"

Ranking of All Yakuza Games as I play them (chronologically)

1. Yakuza 0

2. Yakuza Kiwami

3. Looking forward to Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 3!

The 5 Pillars of Yakuza

---( Fighting )---

🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛ 4

3 fighting styles per protagonist plus one each as a reward for completing Real Estate and Cabaret Club with perhaps the most reliable combat system so far. Add weapons and Mr. Shakedown and it's a solid 4.

---( Story )---

🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛ 4

Enthralling and heavenly dramatic, 0 includes some of my favorite characters of all time at prime moments in their story. Story was memorable with great scenes but became hard to follow at times. 4.

---( Substories )---

🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛ 4

Yakuza 0, home to some of the most memorable substories I've come across so far. Really cements the contrast in narrative when it comes to the main plot and these side quests, however 0 is not without a handful of bland and seemingly meaningless substory missions.

---( Minigames )---

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 5

Real Estate Royale + Cabaret Club Czar were intensely legendary and being divided by the protagonists means it was harder for you to get burnt out from them. This on top of the regular gambling and other minigames gives it a 5.

---( Majima? )---

☑️ YES 🔳 NO

Total Aggregate Score: 4.25/5 + MAJIMA BONUS = 4.4/5... LIKE A DRAGON

Ranking of All Yakuza Games as I play them (chronologically)

1. Yakuza 0

2. I haven't played the next ones yet lol

having someone to mentor you and teach you the game mechanics to overcome the steep learning curve is a definite must have for your enjoyment. running solo is not completely terrible but running with friends or even with randoms who you can communicate with is 100x better. other than that, hunt has a very unique feel to it that isn't found even with similar titles such as escape from tarkov.

quite polished for an early access game right now. pacing of the game and the conveyance of risk incentivizes teamwork, planning, and communication. something i really wanted to see from rainbow six siege before it turned out to be what it is. RON is best enjoyed with a group of friends or at the very least a group of randoms with mics. the only bad part right now is how limited the game is at its current stage. the base game is impressive, but missions aren't plentiful and some are not fully textured. many of the weapons only look different but preform the same. weapon attachments currently do nothing. the handful of utilities can be learned in less than a day. the best part of this is that all of this will be improved upon as the game moves forward in development.

before you lies one of the greatest video game franchises ever created

HALO'S BACK BABY!

Only bought this for the Clarion, which is a great amount of justification for a purchase. If you mod it correctly with a corresponding build it becomes a laser beam, perfect for higher difficulties. The other stuff is cool looking. Wait for a sale.

The defining item of this pack is the Plainsrider Bow, a true S-Tier weapon for stealth. Low detection and completely silent. Also you never lose ammo because you can pick up the arrows! The other stuff is okay, mostly just for fun and not really for serious play. Wait for a sale maybe?

Basically I got this only for the Heavy Crossbow. It two shots Bulldozers so yeah. Wait for a sale maybe and you can pick up DLCs like this for under a dollar.