Yakuza: Like a Dragon

The problem with turn-based RPG games that borrow heavily from Pokémon, such as Yakuza: Like a Dragon, is when it comes to the balance between gameplay and farming. The gameplay here is atrocious, and some of the worst turn-based combat I have ever played in a game, hands-down. Whether it be the amount of stuns, the boring gameplay loop, or the completely RNG interruptions (such as an enemy hitting you as you walk to a different enemy), this game does everything wrong about turn-based combat.

Farming is also immensely unfun. One of the objectives for the MAIN STORY of the game is to obtain 3 million Yen, which is an insanely boring and uncreative objective to have in any game. This game loves to tack on unnecessary grind, and it also loves not respecting your time. What a waste. If the gameplay loop is mediocre, then by default the farming will also be mediocre.

Gameplay Loop: atrocious.
Farming: Tedious
Story: Good/Okay.
Atmosphere/Music/Graphics: Typical Yakuza game aka very good.
Overall: A good game completely demolished and let down by its turn-based Pokémon-esque gameplay.


Also as a side note, this game's minigames are nowhere near as good or fun as Yakuza 0's or 2's.

2/5

Yakuza 7 is a departure for the series, trading in the series' trademark beat 'em up combat for turn-based combat. I did not enjoy the game's take on turn-based combat. Playing Persona 5 Royal directly after this game highlighted the fact that, even among its peers, Yakuza 7's combat is lacking. The game's saving grace, I suppose, is that it's mercifully easy, apart from one late-game difficulty spike (to the point where it felt like a battle I was supposed to lose).
Yakuza 7 has a great cast that carries the middling narrative. It's just wasted on a poor game. The genre switch did not land, as the new combat is a bit below mediocre. I slogged through the combat to play all the side content, and finished the game only because I felt like I should, not because I actually wanted to play it.

I've adapted everything after this paragraph from a Twitter thread I wrote - it doesn't feel as slick as I often try (and fail) to make my normal reviews, but it adequately reflects my feelings when returning to Y7 after going back and playing every other mainline Yakuza game before it. I want to say that I can recognize the amount of effort and care that went into making a game that brightened up such a shitty year for so many people. I'm just not sure what I'm missing. Commence thread:

I've finally beat Yakuza 6 and I'm convinced I'll never be able to return to Like A Dragon/Y7 after this. Not as some kind of protest for them writing Kiryu out of the series, but because I really don't understand the allure of it at this point. The cast of Y7 is so huge and I'm like 60% of the way to caring about any of them as characters, but Ichiban permanently feels like a jester even in serious moments and the most endearing members of the cast are barely given room to breathe. The combat is decent enough but right as it starts wearing out its welcome there is a massive difficulty spike that forces you to just sit there and grind these fights that you've already been choking down for 20 hours.

I don't know man. This series has routinely been clumsy, but I made it through some of those clumsy moments because they had built up my attachment to a couple cities, characters, and showed me that they were capable of creating new attachment to characters when I least expected it. Y7 has just been an exercise in patience, fighting through some dull moments and my rewards are either interactions with a few new charisma vacuums, or trying to make my monkey brain light up by coldly bringing out a character I recognize from a previous game.

The answer to this is "you don't have to play games you don't like" and unfortunately I might just have to accept that outcome at this point. I spent a long while convincing myself I was having fun because the game was polished and I didn't actively hate the combat, but in retrospect I was just biding my time in the hopes that a Yakuza game would turn itself around and hook me as it has so many times before, only to let me down this time. It took a return to the Kiryu saga before I could put my finger on it, but seeing Kiryu's interactions with the new characters in Onomichi and being pleasantly surprised by how much I cared about them, how charming they were and how real their emotions (and their bond) felt, it highlighted how lacking Y7 is in comparison. At this point, I've given this game 50 hours of my time and completed 12 full chapters and it's just worn out its welcome. I wanted so badly to like this game, and knowing that other people see something great here and I'm just missing it leaves me feeling so tired, man.

Yakuza is one of my favourite series since i discovered it with 0, having now played kiwami 1, kiwami 2 and 6, but there is no denying of how formulaic it is. The reusage of assets, maps, gameplay mechanics and minigames, and even story beats. No matter that we still love, but i think it was on everyones head that it needed a big of a changeup, and Yakuza 7 is a huge risk in that regard. Not only it ditches the beat em up gameplay for a party turn based combat system, it also changes the main protagonism and the location of the main story.

Starting off with the visual and sound, there is no big surprise here, as it reuses a lot of assets and animations from kiwami 2 and 6, notably using the same dragon engine. It must be said however that the facial animation and cutscene directions are still great, and the animations during combat are flashy but brief (and the longer ones skippable). Music is good, decent at hyping up the combat, but not that memorable.

The turn based gameplay is really solid. It manages to give the game a bit more fair of options in terms of building your party and choosing jobs for each party member, but it also requires you to use different strategies against the vast rooster of enemies that the game presents. It fixes many of the issues of the series gameplay, while its still obviously not tuned to perfection. Its even enjoyable to grind for levels, which is something i would never thought possible. Its turn based system acts as a parody of JRPGs, explained by Ichigan's wild imagination and addition to dragon quest, but its at the same time one of the most enjoyable out of the JRPGs i have played.
Many of the minigames are still present from past games, and these are fun diversions. The business side activity is a bit odd in the sense that it breaks the game early on when it comes to money and the homeless theme goes out of the window fast, but its entertaining for what it is.

Story is also really solid. Ichiban is a great main character, still has that heart of gold that Kiryu, but comes off as much more passionate and goofy. He sees the world in a very white and black fashion, but his efforts to protect everyone he cares about and see the light in the darkest moments make him one of the better written characters in a long time. The rest of the cast is written really well, even surviving the usual barrage of dumb plot twists that these games always have. The theme revolves heavily around family, law, honor and loyalty, but in a way that it could have never been pulled off with a veteran like Kiryu. It offers 50 hours of wild rollercoaster storytelling, with plenty of melodrama, comedy, comfy banter and goofy sidestories.

Overal the game is great at each section of it, but really its the sum of its parts that make it as enjoyable as it is. You feel the huge amount of passion that got poured onto it, got me grinning for the long sessions i had with it. Thats such an incredible feat for such a long running series. Mechanically its not one of the best RPGs of all time, but everything around it makes it one of the best games of the year.