This is the most wholesome, action-packed and hillarious series that gaming has to offer. I have accumulated up to a thousand hours playing this series on Steam, and I have been dreaming of the day I can get them DRM free, download the ZIP file, and store them on a hard drive for the rest of my life. And today is that day. If you don't know, Yakuza (now known as Like a Dragon) is a japanese action-rpg series that is known for its melodramatic stories and amusing side-content. What is offered here on GoG isn't the whole package (the newer entries, like 7 and the Judgment series are omitted), but if you are a newcomer, it includes the most important games you can play in order to know whether this series is for you or not. As many others would say, I highly recommend playing 0 first. That one was made primarily for newcomers and is one of the best games the series has to offer. I am so happy that these are finally available on GoG, I genuinelly don't have words. Yakuza is now DRM Free. Today is a good day.
To be fair, I am not exactly a fan of narratives that are intentionally vague and ambiguous. But the biggest problem I have with the narrative, it's that, well...for 90% of the game, NOTHING is happening. It's about unraveling a mystery, but this is done through uninteresting fetch-quests and mostly expository dialogue. I also didn't like the charatcterization of the protagonist. Too many inner monologues that directly state how she feels or what she wants to do. This game likes it's vague narrative, but has almost no subtelty, to be honest. Gameplay is OK. It's fun to shoot stuff, and the telekinetic powers look and feel good to use. The problem is, is that it's so easy to fall for a dominant strategy. Yea, I could use Charge and Ground slam, switch weapons etc, but once I upgraded launch, almost everything could be beaten with it. The RPG elements feel tacked on, providing nothing but stat bonuses, which makes me question why they are ven there in the first place. There is some costumization there, but I spent way too much time in the menus, discarding upgrades that were lower level. Also, who the fuck thought that it was a good idea to flash bureau alerts in your face during gameplay, where they cover half of the fucking screen?? It's not like they could happen during a difficult combat encounter and disorient you...Same goes for entering a new area. I did side content as well. Some of it is pretty cool, while the rest is more tech quests. I guess my biggest issue is that I am just not someone who appreciates atmosphere and visuals. I am a gameplay driven player, and the gameplay in control is competent, but mediocre, and the pacing is a slog. Raycevick's video made me appreciate the game more, but not enough to want to go back and finish the main story. Yea, I know there is a cool set-piece in the ashtray maze, but if the game is a fucking slog until that point, do you blame me for not wanting to push further? I certainly don't.
...If not for some baffling enemy design late-game (and some other minor issues). I was having a lot of fun with this game, despite my many...many deaths. Because in every single encounter I was able to figure out what I was doing wrong, and how to overcome the obstacles. And the generous checkpoint system mixed with quick respawning made repeated attempts very enjoyable, even though, as I said, I was getting my ass kicked A LOT. Slight Spoilers incoming for some of the late-game enemies But the expolding enemies that the game introduces in the final chapter are complete nonsense. They force you to constantly run away and you don't have too many ways of dealing with them, except your special abilities. I really don't understand why they had to include them, it's like almost every game does this for the final level, introducing enemies and obstacles that are frustrating, not challenging. I get it (if you are a developer) it's the final level, you want something climactic, but you are running out of ideas...but...I don't know...this final stretch really frustrated me and left a black mark on an otherwise great experience. Other small issues include enemy AI not always behaving consistently (this doen't occur all that often though) and the game not telling you that you will lose your progress for the entire level if you quit before finishing it. It's not the loss of progress that is the problem, but the fact that the game does not warn you about it. If you are a speedrunner, you will love this game. If you love synthwave and cyberpunk you will also love this game. And if you are an action game fan, well...you will like this game despite many of its issues..the same way I like it ^^
This game is merely great, which is not a problem on it's own, but given it's unique premise, it could have been something truly special. It is a rogue-lite shooter, where you shoot and reload on the beat of the music. A unique concept. And the game capitalizes on this concept, for the most part. Shooting, reloading and dashing on the beat is a great experience, that often got me into a state of flow. It is really fun to play. However, some strange design decisions drag it down. First of all, why is "WEAPON RANGE" a statistic, that is tied to your character instead of your weapons. Like, you start off with a pistol with such a piss-poor range, that it is almost laughable. Give it around 5-6 meters, and the pistol will no longer deal damage. You can increase your range, if you find the approriate upgrades during a run, but WHY? Why isn't range simply tied to your weapons, like in other shooters - shotgun close range, sniper long range etc. Secondly, the extremely vibrant color filter can be a turn off for most people, but thakfully you can decrease the saturation in the settings. Finally, the music - it's okay, however it gets rather repetitive after a while. Since all songs work on the same beat, there really isn't too much variety. This is probably to accommodate gameplay, which is nice, but it's a bit of a downer anyway. Regardless of my complaints, this game is still a recommendation, especially on a sale. Maybe at some point in the future, the developers can REALLY capitalize on this concept with expanisons or a sequel, so fingers crossed.
