Game 10 of 2023 - Like a Dragon: Inshin (2014/2023)

Like A Dragon: Inshin

Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Publisher: Sega
Platform: PC
Genre: Action Adventure

Difficulty: Moderate
Date Started: Apr 3 2023
Date Ended: Apr 14 2023
Hours: 10

Finished: Not Yet/No
Final Rating: 6.5/10

I have yet to finish a Yakuza game, even Yakuza: Like a Dragon which I loved. I guess I just get kind of overwhelmed by all the stuff you're supposed to do. I love the setting and the characters and the story, I just never finish them for some reason.

Unfortunately, I didn't break the streak with Like A Dragon: Inshin. I liked this game at first, particularly the setting. I think I ended up getting frustrated with the combat, where sometimes Ryoma would seem to take my button input as polite suggestions, and the camera which I felt was a little... touchy. I don't know, I'm probably just bad at the game.

It's not like I thought combat was bad. You get different styles: fists, sword, revolver, and a revolver/sword hybrid where you just flip out and wreck dudes but can't parry. The revolver is particularly hilarious, because it fires so rapidly and you never have to reload. Whenever I was feeling lazy I would just run away from the enemies and spam the fire button. It usually worked out pretty well. 

You can unlock a bunch of different moves as you gain experience in each combat style, and many have some pretty visceral and bloody animations, which makes this game all the more hilarious because Ryoma doesn't really kill anyone.

Hot damn that's a lot of blood! Don't worry; he'll be fine.

Ryoma tears through combat like a demon; slicing, shooting, and stomping his opponents without mercy, only for them to just get up and apologize or issue empty threats.

See? He's fine.

If this kind of combat sounds fun to you, don't worry, there's plenty of it. Ryoma can't walk around the corner to the damn green grocer without getting jumped seventeen fucking times by identical groups composed of 3-5 randos. D-Don't the outlaws in Kyo ever speak to each other, like 'hey fellow outlaw, see that guy in the grey robes, with the hair? He's wrecked like 100 of our fellows, maybe steer clear of him, eh?" Well, I guess not. Kyo's lowlifes are more than happy to keep running face first into your bullets.

Speaking of Kyo, it's gorgeous and infused with personality. Like A Dragon: Inshin has a virtue system, where the more you interact with the community (shopping, helping people, etc) you earn virtue points where you can buy upgrades, like additional inventory slots. You can form relationships with shopkeepers and bartenders the more you patronize their establishments, and you're rewarded with virtue points and finding out a little more about the people that inhabit Kyo. I always loved these little human touches in the Yakuza games, and it always made me feel like I was playing a caring human that also happened to be a bad guy stomping badass.

The characters in the game are colorful and interesting, as usual.

Whenever an eyepatch dude shows up, you know he's bad news.

It seems like everyone, even the villains, has an interesting story to tell and that was what kept me playing this game.

 

When two naked dudes go at it, I wanna see hogs flappin'. Cowards!

I found myself enjoying the minigames a bit more than the main game. Fishing was pretty chill, if a little simplistic, and the karaoke minigames are one of my favorite bits of the Yakuza games.

All fishing minigames should be like this.

Karaoke, my favorite Yakuza pastime.

Aaaaaaanyway, Like A Dragon is decent. It's fine. I doubt I'll come back to it, but the ten hours or so I played were worth my time.