General RGG Discussion

Off sick with a nasty throat ailment yesterday and I shot all the way to Chapter 13!

Chapters 11 and 12 are arguably the two best back to back chapters in the entire series and 11 on the whole is nothing short of phenomenal, what a powerful and brutal chapter.

I think I will be stuck in these last two though, for a long while; lots of cleanup for that platinum.
 
Warning long review:

After putting in about 137 hours, I am finally done with Infinite Wealth! I’ll give my spoiler free thoughts for now. I didn't exactly "platinum" the game, but enjoyed a lot of the side content. I enjoyed playing Spike Out a lot! I used to play it all the time at the Kawasaki Warehouse arcade until it closed in November 2019. It was nice to play it again after all these years. I heard it came out for XBox, but I was never an XBox guy, especially living my adult life in Japan.
I also tried playing Virtua Fighter 3, but it feels wrong playing it on a PS5 controller IMHO. I'll stick to playing it on a DC controller (which is what Zhao does talk about) or my arcade controller (I only have arcade controllers for DC and Saturn). I also prefer playing Sega Bass Fishing on the fishing rod for DC. Some arcade games are best played with their original peripherals, but that's just me being an arcade controller. Unfortunately, I missed the Master System being in this game. At this point, the inclusion of the Master System in Lost Judgment and Gaiden is the closest we’re going to get to a Master System Mini. But because of Zhao’s love of the Dreamcast, he’s now one of my favorite characters lol! I hope for Zhao’s sake, we get a Dreamcast emulator for the next game!

Other than that, I enjoyed it as a whole, though I feel some parts of the story (both minor and major) are kind of underdeveloped, I am hoping that future installments will further elaborate on them. As I reviewed the Japanese version to seven back in 2020, I feel the ending of Infinite Wealth/8 sets up a sequel to the Judgment series in some ways (which I won’t get into due to potential spoilers), but I think if a sequel to either Like A Dragon or Judgment comes out, I feel the next game is the perfect opportunity for a more elaborate crossover. I understand the issue with Johnny’s has been a hurdle, but considering the company’s recent internal reform as Smile, I hope these issues can be solved soon considering that I love the Yagami character. I know some fans feel the franchise can continue without him, but I feel a game starring Kaito, Higashi, Sugiura, and Sukumo is a better opportunity for a fresher franchise as opposed to a sequel to Judgment because I feel that brand name belongs to Yagami.

I totally love the new mechanics to the RPG elements. It feels a lot more like Parasite Eve and Panzer Dragoon RPG with its much freer movements. I love the setups to the double teams and at times, you can even make triple teams with the right positioning! I love some of the new jobs as well that suit the new setting as it relates to Hawaii and the US. I especially love how the story finds a way to explain why Kiryu is now being part of the system as well. I never had an issue with the game being an RPG knowing Sega’s track record of making quality RPGs, and I would say that Infinite Wealth is probably Sega’s fifth best RPG behind Panzer Dragoon RPG, Skies of Arcadia, Phantasy Star IV, and Sakura Taisen. IMHO, if you have problems with the game being an RPG, then you haven’t been a Sega fan that long.
Videos by native Hawiians perfectly describe how the game represents Honolulu and the state’s internal problems. I have family in Hawaii that are also enjoying the game, and share the exact same sentiments. Considering I have been living in Japan, I can only internalize the game in that sense. I won’t consider this a spoiler, but Ichi talks about how he has helped people disappear at night when he was still in the Arakawa-gumi. This is actually a thing in Japan, but I’m not aware of anything being yakuza related, but there are actual services in Japan that help abused wives and children escape abusive husbands and start a new life. It’s kind of crazy how easy it is to actually disappear in Japan. There’s even a book in Japan about it! Seven also briefly addresses how Masato became Ryo Aoki by “buying” the identity of a real Ryo Aoki, and apparently, this can and has happened in Japan as well! Usually, people disappear in Japan to escape bad debts or not wanting to bring shames to their families due to some shit they got into.

I love how it addresses the anti-yakuza legislation that has been prominent in the last decade, and how Draconian its enforcement is despite its good intentions. I just love that actual issues are being addressed both internally and to a global audience. I also love how Hawaii’s internal issues of homelessness due to cost of living is also being addressed. I haven’t been to Hawaii in years, but my mom (who spent her teen and college years in Hawaii) goes every year to visit her family and friends there, and she tells me that the homeless problem there keeps getting worse every time she goes. As you already know, some of the stores featured in Hawaii are based on actual stores. It sucks that Don Quijote (Japan’s Wal-Mart) is no longer featured in the franchise because there is a location in Hawaii as well!

I totally loved Dondoko Island. I know that it was inspired by Animal Crossing, which I haven’t played since its Nintendo 64 release lol. It took me a while to figure out, but after playing it straight for “65” or so days, I finally got the hang of it and was making money hand over fist
which I lost a lot on Poundmates in the harder parts of the dungeons lol. I was surprised the game featured the Japanese weather channel girls and the mascots of Fuji TV, Gachapin and Muku, who are also part of the weather reports at times. My daughter is a fan of those characters so she got excited every time I played the Dondoko Island part.

As usual, the game has a lot of long cutscenes that are so long, they make Metal Gear Solid 4’s look like an episode of Pop Team Epic or Agrettsuko. So be prepared for long cutscenes. And as I shared before, there are some parts of the stories and some of the characters just seem underdeveloped. I would elaborate on them, but I don’t want to give out any potential spoilers.

What I do miss is the pocket circuit and the dragon kart mini-games. As a racing fan, I totally miss them. And as I shared on my other reviews, the game needs more QTEs! There are lots of action sequences (especially in Gaiden and the Judgment games) that could’ve really used them! Then again, this is my bias as someone who leans more to Shenmue, the semi-spiritual predecessor to the Like A Dragon franchise.

Finally, I know people quote the game for being awake (yeah, I know it’s “woke,” but this explains why I prefer to say “awake” ), and as someone who identifies with the “politics” of Johnny Lawrence from “Cobra Kai,” even I find the accusations to be baffling. The game is addressing real issues that have been affecting Hawaii and Japan the last two or three decades. It goes beyond the politics of the culture wars. These are things me, my friends, and family have experienced. It’s certainly a failure of society and government, but by no means is it pushing some sort of socialist agenda. These are stories based on real people and a lot of people who haven’t been to Hawaii or Japan really know much about them, and I think the series is doing a good job of spreading awareness.
 
Wonderful, RH84; I'm in the last chapter now and you put everything so well, I echo the same sentiments of feelings for the game. It has been an absolutely phenomenal experience from top to bottom, with absolutely, dare I say, perfect gameplay, a plot that is exceptional, with wonderful returning characters and even more wonderful new characters (Yamai, Chitose and Tomizawa are all superb, even though I don't like Eric lol 😂), Kiryu's reminiscing was amazing too and while I don't know how things end in this game proper, I have a feeling something will be done eventually for a
reunion with Haruka and Haruto
, as the framing and setup of that scene just SCREAMS Cliffhanger lol, which IMO, is the only thing missing for the longtime fans.

Being woke, btw, is just essentially anti-right wing ways of thinking and behaving (ie: not being a complete asshole) and only right wingers use that term because they're all assholes and they know they are assholes, so they use this term to deflect blame and accountability.

I don't know about the last chapter of course, but I have seen absolutely 0 of, "wokeness," thus far in the game, absolutely nothing in any way, shape or form.

Can't wait to go another 20 hours this weekend, I may need that many to get level 70 for Kasuga, but I've got everything else that is a long trophy, save for that one. I'm at 65, so I hope I can do the Yokohama Underground with him, since it is sightly higher in Exp than Haunt. I hope to review this on Monday, since it is a national holiday here in Canada.

This has been an incredibly rewarding, brutal, visceral and overall super-fun experience and v I'll be sad when it is done, but I'm so looking forward to what RGG Studios is cooking up for the 20th anniversary 😁 (a crossover would be perfect indeed, especially since
Sugiura and Tsukomo
were in this game, even for a short time).

It will be glorious
 
I think (in the german community, german reviewers etc) ive actually seen more people
who criticised the game for not being "modern enough". So the opposite of woke or whatever.

Because Infinite Wealth still has separate jobs for two genders
and some of the female jobs are super cliche / sexist and the women are written
from a very masculine viewpoint. Like the typical cutie, pretty, hot girls.
Written by men for men.

But Germany is a very political correct and complain friendly country.
(it goes both ways, so there are people who dont want people to support things like Stellar Blade for example,
while the other side loves that there finally is a game like Stellar Blade
and they can simply enjoy the look of a pretty lady and so on.
but our main news, morning shows and stuff like that is 100% pc)

So far i didnt really see any woke or pc stuff in the game
and i dont care about "my german" moral standards or whatever
when i'm playing a game that was created on the other side of this planet.

Like they could release Yakuza 9 with germany as a setting and all the places and enemies in the game
are just cliche castles, knights, barbarians and pretty princesses ... i dont care in terms of stereotypes.
(as long as it stays true to the yakuza formula roots)

I feel like i'm on some alien middle ground. I'm able to enjoy stuff like The Last Of Us (2)
and i'm able to enjoy stuff like Stellar Blade. Now what?
The only thing i dislike is when already established IPs suddenly clearly try to cater to a different kind of audience by force.
Because then i get the feeling that my support up until that point didnt mean anything to the devs.
 
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At 68 with Kasuga, another 3 hours of grinding (or less) and I should get that 70 trophy. All that's left after that is completing Yokohama Underground and then the platinum will be obtained after I beat the game: I hope the journey has been worth the destination.

And what Tosh said: ESPECIALLY with what happened in the past 2 chapters, this game is showing a lot more conservatism than any, "wokeness," in spades at that.
 
Chapter 11.

I hadn't commented for awhile because once chapter 8 came along, an obvious fan favorite character was playable and wow was it worth the wait.

That said really digging the game. This is going down as one my favorite yakuza games to play.
 
SO it actually took like another 5 hours lol, but FINALLY got Kasuga to 70 last night (or rather, early this morning).

Nothing left to do but Yokohama Underground (as you CANNOT do it with Kasuga and crew) and to raise one of Kiryu's skills to max, which all three are halfway to being full on level 9, so I have a feeling they will get taken care of quite quickly.

Those 2 trophies and to finish the story are all that's left! So looks like I'm in (well, we're ALL in, actually lol) for a multiple hour romp of cutscenes to finish the game; I hope it continues to be as awesome as the rest of the game is!

Forgot to mention above, btw, but Yamai definitely seems like a new Majima to Kasuga and I'm 100% for it; guy's been awesome from the word go and you can't help but root for him in the penultimate chapter.
 
Am i the only one who still gets confused by the names in these games after all these years.
I always forget what their first name and what their last name is.
Because i played the old games in english and now in german
and sometimes in the german text versions since Judgment(?) they are using the
japanese style (last name, first name) and sometimes in the next game its the "normal" way, first name, last name.
And then on top of that, when i'm watching Twitch Streams or whatever and they are playing in english dub,
the characters are saying stuff like "Hey Kiryu, whats up" ... which to my ears sounds like
that should be clearly his first name. But it isnt.
I think in the english text version it even states that his name is Kazuma Kiryu
but even in the dub or the translations, only very few people say Kazuma.

I know, its not that hard but i can never remember if they translated the names in "our" order
or if its the other way around etc.
 
I know what you mean, Tosh; it's why I'm calling him Kasuga now, because Ichiban is technically not correct, as per the game's and Japan's naming.

The first game, dubbed, did use Western-naming, so there's that lol.

I platinumed the game almost 2 hours ago. That was a great final chapter: story-wise, it was a middle of the pack to upper tier final chapter (so somewhere between 5 and 11 let's just say), but combat-wise? That was one of the best final chapters, with each fight being fun and the final fights being great indeed (also defeated Amon{s} in the final Yokohama dungeon, so it was a chapter filled with bosses lol)

As for the epilogue, also one of the best in the series, by far, with Kasuga having an emotion-filled one (also brimming with hilarity and kindness/compassion) and Kiryu's... If you know how the series is written and the direction the games and plots go, you will love the final scene of the game: I want to spoil it (with tags, of course), but not sure if I will, at this point. I will just say that my heart was happy â˜ș.

This was an action packed, super high-stakes, supremely well-built and efficient and brutal/visceral game, with the added bit of hilarity and usual hijinks abounding; like I wrote above, Yamai is a phenomenal new character whom I hope will stick around, Chitose was beyond awesome and has inserted herself behind Yumi as being my favourite females of the series, Tomizawa as a character was fantastic (not a fan though, TBH), though I don't see him sticking around unless they return to Hawaii and the new villains were great, with Bryce being an absolute scumbag of the highest degree and Ebina having a great arc that echoes Mine, of sorts.

Can't wait to see what will be revealed/released for the 20th anniversary next year: I'm guessing a game and another reveal, but with this being the best game in the series (not a doubt in my mind), things are looking good, as basically each subsequent game has been better than the last.

Will review it tomorrow on Gfaqs, though I may not submit it for publishing until the 30 days after date, so it can get, "detailed review," status.

Updated list of the best games in the series:

8>7>Lost Judgement>5>3>Judge Eyes>0>6>Ishin!>Gaiden>Kiwami 2>Kurohyo 2: Ashura Hen>Kiwami>Hokuto ga Gotoku>Kenzan!>2>4>1>Kurohyo: Shinso>Dead Souls

Updated favourites:

3>5>1/Kiwami>6>Gaiden>8>7>Lost Judgement>0>Ishin!>Judge Eyes>Kurohyo: Ashura Hen>Kenzan!>Hokuto ga Gotoku>Kurohyo: Shinso>4>Dead Souls>2/Kiwami 2

And Honolulu City Lights is the best Karaoke song in the series.
 
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Day 20 on Dondoko Island, i have three stars now.
I kind of want to play the normal Hawaii story but i would like to finish this whole Island thing too.
I'm not a fan of leaving content aside for later but i have no idea how many more hours
I'm going to need to finish the main goal of Dondoko Island.
This kind of separate game is cool, all good, but it literally completely pauses the main game.
Its like i have deinstalled Infinite Wealth and installed Dondoko Island instead.
 
I just started chapter 8 a few days ago. Honestly, after spending so much time in Hawaii I almost completely forgot that the game starts in Yokohama for a chapter or so. Someone mentioned Ebina a few posts ago and I didn’t even know who that was until I had an “Oh yeah” moment after Googling the character 😂
 
Not just for one chapter 😉

I'm the end, Ebina turns out to be a pretty decent villain, his gimmicky background isn't even necessary to the plot or to things in general.
 
Got the 5 stars on Dondoko Island. I was afraid that the game is going the ultra grind
"now put every single building you can craft on this island and spend 100000000000 Dondoko bucks" way
to get 5 stars, but actually i already had all of the 5 star requirements directly after i received the fourth one.
Probably because i already had so many buildings and shops etc.
I didnt even invite the gold members or whatever as guests yet and my own house isnt fully upgraded.
I'm going to look into this, to see if theres some easy stuff i can do before moving on. But i guess
its finally time to go on with the story mode in the main game.
(where i'm still in chapter 6)
 
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Yeah, that was me too: same day I got 4 stars, I needed I think 150 more popularity points to get 5 stars, so it was only a matter of minutes before I was good to go.
 
In the final chapter now and I am just loving the ensemble. I have to say, for as long as I couldn't imagine a beat em up series switching to the the turn based JRPG format, now I don't know if I want to go back. I really enjoyed Gaiden and the combat was great but I REALLY missed playing as the cast and hearing BS conversations. In this game I just love all the emphasis on the bonding, new character dynamics etc. I almost don't want this game to end. I hope Premium Adventure has a bunch more activities.

If there was one nag I had, it's that I wish Joongi was put in Kiryu's group. I wanted to see actual interactions between him and Seonhee, plus given the whole reminiscing theme with Kiryu, I think it would've been cool becoming friends with new Joongi and perhaps having conversations/getting insight on the Joongi he knew in Yakuza 6. Kind of a missed opportunity there. Zhao's personality also fits Hawaii more but heck I do like Joongi's unbreakable loyalty to Kasuga.
 
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