Ryu ga gotoku 7: Hikari to yami no yukue

Yakuza: Like A Dragon is a very well made game. My complaints with the combat system are minimal, which shows Ryu Ga Gotoku's ability at making video games, even one out of their wheelhouse. New systems regarding parties, jobs, and personalities are well done. The substories are the perfect mix of zany and touching, although the same can be said for the main story. Many characters are brought back and events from prior games have a lasting impact. Overall, the game lives up to the rest of the franchise and is setting it off in a new, wonderful direction.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is the eighth main game in action-adventure video games series Yakuza by developers Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and publishers Sega. For the first time in the franchise, this game focuses on role-playing video game fighting style where you can play five male and two female characters.

The story revolves around brand-new character Kasuga Ichiban, a resilient but naive gangster who has spent eighteen years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Upon release from prison, he gets mixed up in a complex conspiracy as his family leaves him for dead in a city he has never known. Kasuga Ichiban is trying to put the different pieces of the puzzle together to figure out the things that have happened while he was in prison and to understand his own role, identity and destiny.

This video game convinces for several reasons. First of all, it took me seventy-eight hours to complete this game and there were even some side quests I didn't manage to finish. This means that this video game truly offers value for money like all the other games in this excellent franchise.

Up next, the new role-playing game style is entertaining and fresh. This statement comes from someone who doesn't enjoy traditional games of that genre and thinks that most of these are outdated and overrated. In this particular case however, the fights in the game become much more challenging. The seven different characters also add many different special attacks. The opponents in the game also have numerous different strengths and weaknesses that you need to figure out to beat them.

The characters are equally intriguing. Aside from headstrong protagonist Kasuga Ichiban, we get six party members that will support him as the game progresses. Nanba Yu is a homeless man with a mysterious past. Adachi Koichi is a dishonourably discharged police officer and driving instructor. Mukoda Saeko is the quirky manager of a hostess bar. Han Joon-gi is a criminal of Korean origin. Zhao Tianyou is a gangster of Chinese origin. Kamataki Eri is a shy businesswoman. There are also several intriguing side characters such as crawfish Nancy who can help you poisoning your opponents. The antagonists are also very interesting, especially Aoki Ryo, an influential politician originating from an organized crime family. There are also several characters from previous games who make a return in cameo roles such as former fourth chairman of the Tojo Clan and main protagonist in this video game franchise Kiryu Kazuma. Fans of old date should therefore be as delighted as newcomers.

The game however isn't without its flaws. The numerous fights are at times very repetitive and time-consuming. Some of the opponents are very difficult to beat which might frustrate some players. Especially the duo Majima Goro and Saejima Taiga, former franchise protagonist Kiryu Kazuma and most powerful opponent Tendo Yosuke take quite some time to be beaten and the first two duels are completely unnecessary to the story. Another weakness is that the video game features three different locations instead of properly developing one which takes away from the immersive atmosphere of some of the predecessors. The soundtrack is only of average quality and not as memorable and unique as the soundtracks of several previous instalments.

At the end of the day, Yakuza: Like a Dragon should however please any fan of action-adventure video games and classic role-playing games. Fans of the franchise can't get around this release. Furthermore, the inclusion of a new protagonist offers a fresh breeze to a franchise that was repeating itself a little bit too much in the most recent instalments. Therefore, this particular game would also be a wonderful opportunity for newcomers to explore the franchise and become fans. After having completed the game, I can't wait for the sequel to discover the upcoming adventures of Kasuga Ichiban and his friends and foes.

This game is truly peak. In what other game do you actually get to be in an RPG party where everyone is 30+ and broke? But that's just one awesome part of many that contributes to one of the best games ever.

The story is a wild ride from start to finish that throws so many unexpected turns at you, just about all of which had foreshadowing you wouldn't see otherwise. I wasn't expecting the ending at all, and it even made me shed a tear (I won't say what type, no spoilers)... just a really great emotional journey with excellent music and voice acting. So much of it is contrived soap operaesque nonsense, but they do it so well you cant help getting sucked into the story and loving all the characters. It was a real treat hearing George Takei in the dub too. PLAY THIS GAME.

Despite not having the protagonist of the previous games, for me this is the best yakuza of the franchise.

A game with a great story with major twist, action and comedy, an innovative and awesome gameplay, an open world with lots of things to do.

The main objective of the game is for the character to search the path of redemption together with new allies, similar to gta sa andreas. The game is a Grand theft auto in japan.

How Game works:

• innovative and awesome gameplay

-open world with lots of things to do -Great Story( similar to gta sa andreas) -outstanding and unique charismatic characters -great powers and rps system -the game city is big but it has many repeated NPCs.

-great performances in japanese(Ichiban Kasuga,Koichi Adachi andYu Nanba) -Good graphics.

It's been a while since I played a turn-based JRPG. I like the more action-oriented direction the likes of Final Fantasy has been taking, but I find the frenetic pace overwhelming when so much is going on on-screen. Hence my delight with this gem.

It seems like it shouldn't work; gritty crime-based plot centering around corruption, murder, false imprisonment, and betrayal, interspersed with Japanese RPG weirdness in the combat and mini-games. The games leans in hard to both aesthetics, and though it sounds like it shouldn't work, this blood-and-bubblegum approach gels magnificently. Case in point: encountering crime boss who wants me dead, and attacking him with a rain of lobsters.

Yokohama, the setting for the story, is so vibrantly alive. The people, and the environment feel so alive, from the pristine and cluttered shelves in a well-lit pharmacy, to the debris scattered in the dim sewers and back alleys. Passers-by cower and run when the fighting starts, and traffic flows organically as you traverse the streets. It's a delight just going from A to B.

There is so much to do beside following the main story. Again, it could have felt like a rag-bag of mini-games, but instead they seemed more like entertaining palette-cleaners. I sang karaoke, played UFO catcher in the arcades (along with other vintage SEGA games like Virtua Fighter), hit the golf courses and batting cages, casinos and shogi parlors, and rode mini-carts. I even ran a local business, attend stockholder meetings, and attended the local college. Nothing essential to the plot, but it did unlock goodies which would help in combat.

I have only a few minor quibbles. One of the story beats is contrived to Shakespearean levels, which elicited a "Oh come on, what are the odds" reaction. And the game never really explained what all the status ailments actually meant, so I had to look them up online, which is a major oversight considering how important they can be during longer battles.

So in summary: engaging characters, compelling story, great sound and graphics, immersive setting, and game play which is simple joyful fun.