My Honest Thoughts on Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Spoiler-free)

[@ghostspartan81]

Yamai was a surprise favourite character. I didn't expect him to get THAT cool.

[@rainbowtie18]

Same!

[@ekio3572]

he became cool out of nowhere. when you rewatch the first few scenes with him, you cant find any depth in him besides another bad dude.

[@passbyicecube]

They get Dio to voice him in Japanese, that really should've hint that the character going to be special and holy sh*t what a character he is.

[@ryochan161]

Not gonna lie, after Yokoyama's words about how Yamai would overcome Majima in popularity had me doubting hard, but hell, I fell in love with him in the middle of the game already. Overall all the new cast characters are great. Tomizawa and Chitose are absolutely lovable, and Eiji is the biggest hate sink for me since Iwami.

[@TheFoolTohru]

Me as well! He's fucking god-tier!

[@MilkJugA_]

I loved how Date was the biggest fucking bro ever in this game

[@kevo300]

Yeah Date being a huge bro I hope hes lenient with Yamai

[@UndyingHatred_]

He really was.

[@manukau5271]

Walking into Anaconda Mall for the first time had me geeking

[@Hellsing7747]

Great review dude ! Also, I was wondering if here are way to level up jobs rank faster?

[@aarshdeepondrise]

​@@Hellsing7747use trainers

[@nutsberkintime]

This game is very much a case of B tier writing with S tier ideas and generally S tier characters across the board for me. Bucket List is such a good mechanic on a narrative and gameplay level in restoring Kiryu's will to live, and i adore just the wonderfully goofy and crazy shit you can do in Hawaii. The combat is by far the most fun ive ever had in a turn based rpg

[@h4rshturtle456]

100% agree also tomi anf chitose beeing the only new character and also the best characters is amazing

[@stevenclubb7718]

That's pretty much the LAD series in a nutshell. There's a couple of games that mostly hold it together until the end, but a lot of recycled plot beats (Y6 uses so much of Y3's Okinawa stuff) and nonsensical plot reveals (Y4's rubber bullets and Y6's Secret Of Hiroshima being the worst offenders). But lots of great character moments and scenes so you don't mind the bits that are kind of crap.

[@Vibes-gw9qp]

​​@@stevenclubb7718I disagree, secret of onomichi was over the top but def not nonsensical like rubber bullets

[@stevenclubb7718]

@Vibes-gw9qp The Secret is awesomely cool... but utter nonsense as you not only have the nearly magical mechanism to expose it (see also Castle Of Osaka), but would require quite a lot of work to keep it in that condition. It doesn't kill the story (that would be almost everything in the final chapter) like Rubber Bullets, but it's definitely one of the more nonsensical things to happen I the main story.

[@Vibes-gw9qp]

@@stevenclubb7718 well first about the Osaka castle, idc about that coz it literally didn't have any effect on the story Now onto the boat, you say that the mechanisms required to reveal it don't exist irl and yes, yakuza is an over the top series but over the top doesn't mean nonsensical, in fact the twist actually made a lot of sense in context of the story and certainly wasn't dumb like rubber bullets

[@5persondude]

Shoutout to Homiezawa 🤜🤛

[@LuisMane1]

Shout-out to our homegirl chitose

[@Future_Doggo]

This game is incredible, but it's absolute treason that SEGA had to taint Kiryu's last game with the whole NG+ situation.

[@angelganon8213]

You mean the ng+ situation that was the same for y7?

[@omensoffate]

I say it’s more of a taint to screw it with yong yea

[@JarendFromVietNam]

​@@omensoffate FAKE KIRYU

[@alihorda]

At least that was somewhat fixed later ​@@angelganon8213

[@darrylaz3570]

@@omensoffate Oh my god shut the fuck up already. To say YongYea being Kiryu more problematic than NG+ being paid DLC is legitimately insane of you.

[@TovarishTony]

The way Ryu Ga Gotoku made Hawaii is so beautiful and really captured this feeling of being a tourist there like Ichiban even in a Like a Dragon fashion of always getting into trouble. To think you can roam around Hawaii like that when its only a small area and mostly cutscenes in Persona 5(even Royal version didn't fix this) is really great plus being able to swim on the beach. Also this came with some of the best karaoke songs ever especially Honolulu City Lights.

[@Rad-Dude63andathird]

Tbf neither Hawaii nor big free roaming worlds have ever really been Persona's thing.

[@lifedeather]

Nice profile pic

[@kennethshiro9500]

hawaii was ok. the npcs are ugly and everyone conveniently speaks fluent japanese.

[@isshintheglocksaintPlotagon]

Id call Infinite Wealth Kiryu's Swan Song but just another Adventure for Ichiban

[@thatdats306]

Ichiban was a side character in IW, Kiryu took over as soon he was introduced.

[@KingShibe]

Ichiban didn't even get to meet Kiryu after Ebina's defeat or confront Ebina himself when they revealed he's also Arakawa's son

[@BlaZe2099_]

Honestly I just think RGG are too scared to give Ichiban his own game. Kiryu's story pretty much ended with 6 but they just refuse to let him go and keep shoe horning him in every single chance they get. In 7 he wasn't horrible but not needed, doesn't help the writing has taken a nosedive since 6 released and doesn't show signs of getting better since Infinite Wealth turned out the way it did

[@kraidy117]

It really feels there should have been a chapter between 13 and 14 so a certain character in the ending felt a lot less confusing, since that character basically just left and then randomly show up in a very confusing way at the end.

[@h4rshturtle456]

Feels like they ran out of time and had to rush the ending

[@apthegoat1]

You mean ei chan the wheelchair guy?

[@Subpar1O1]

I think you're talking about Eiji and yea he just kind of comes out of nowhere. He disappears after the nightclub scene and looks completely different. The ending in general could have done with a few extra scenes to bridge the gaps imo

[@route77productions]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who noticed how rushed the final 2 chapters felt. This game could've used 2 extra chapters to further bridge out important issues.

[@soldier_4th_class]

Yea i got confused during tatara channel confession when the person show up with mustache, i was like, WHO?

[@andresashura5550]

Leon, as a old time fan who didn’t really connect with Y7 combat, I totally love this gameplay, I even told my self, let’s go grind because I wanted to lmao, Having Kiryu and ichiban as a duo, nostalgia & future was an amazing choice, I never thought that a turn base yakuza game would be on my top 3 of yakuza games ever

[@devilleon7]

That's awesome! Glad to hear you're having a good time :)

[@TheFoolTohru]

♾️ Wealth is Peak!

[@UndyingHatred_]

Agreed.

[@descendantofartorias2067]

I enjoyed 7's combat but I think IW proved how flawed it was and massively improved it.

[@rkroo]

wasn’t the ultimate kiryu adventure i was expecting but still loved it. and the gameplay improvements are a massive plus, as well as the beautiful hawaii map

[@shunakiyama6275]

It litterly was tho

[@shunakiyama6275]

Even the smallest characters from the kiryu saga came back

[@dgomezzzzz]

@@shunakiyama6275 The smallest came back, but the biggest ones didn't (for example, who wouldn't want to look at all grown up kids - not only Taichi). I mean they could have handled it differently.

[@shunakiyama6275]

@@dgomezzzzz the biggest absolutely came back, the kids are the only big thing missing

[@returnofskurk1633]

@@shunakiyama6275 It wasn't, there was so many things they could have done and they didn't.

[@j.k.7985]

I looooove the bonds system. The conversations were so interesting and surprisingly real. As soon as the bonds opened, I cleared the map actively searching all the conversations.

[@77-7-]

Go outside

[@TheExFatal]

IW is probably my favorite mainline game to date, and it also came out on my birthday - I absolutely loved it

[@utlw-]

You just spoke the truth so much fan service cant wait to do every substory and the island and the combat change mind blowing

[@RedaniaKnight-Elect]

My biggest problems are the different minigames that they keep introducing you to during the plotline and the continued substory ambushes when you are going somewhere.

[@illupo300]

welcome to yakuza

[@Boyzby]

As I was playing the game, I was trying to think if it's just gotten progressively more annoying with shoving the side stuff into your face and forcing you to do it. It's so bad in this one, with the worst offense you having to stay on Dondoko island for days before moving on. Just have the things on the map and I'll check them out if I want to.

[@SolidSnake240]

​@@BoyzbyDodonko Island def slowed the pacing down. I hope they change this in future games but they probably won't lol.

[@EastmanWestman]

Cool strat: Using Smackdown is SUPER handy to get easy levels for new jobs that have been equipped at rank 1!! The higher your level, the easier it is to rank up your new jobs with smackdown

[@hulkasaurus]

Once they fixed the stat bug i used this as a super easy way to level every job to 10. Only took 2 fights maybe 1 minute per job as i was at level 40 but boosted my stats like crazy.

[@EastmanWestman]

@@hulkasaurus what stat bug?

[@Turtlebro]

I also felt a little unsure on certain parts of the story (especially towards the end) but looking in retrospect, I just think Infinite Wealth gave us a banger package of a game - So it makes up for it for me. And yeah while the whole NG+ stuff sucks, I feel like 99.9% of people "boycotting" this game weren't even planning on buying it lmfao.

[@BLACKSTA361]

I was. And I will still buy it eventually. But you just gotta send a message. You start giving them passes and they'll eventually exploit us all. They're just testing the waters

[@omensoffate]

I think something bad is gonna happen to our boy ichiban in the 3rd game

[@highwind9984]

more like paid bombardment towards the game, just like RE4R

[@chukyuniqul]

Oh I was 100% planning on buying it. Just not at a 70$ price tag. I refuse to condone this shit. The ng+ thing and the localization thing, yeah those only really validated me.

[@maggintons]

Can't wait to use skill inheritance to get Birthday Bash on every characters move list.

[@TyroneBiggum64]

This game came out on my birthday, but my pc broke a few hours into through my playthrough. PAIN. I can't play it now.

[@Schion_A]

I'd like to think that the reason kiryu is seeing thing in rpg mode even when ichiban isnt there is because his sickness is causing hallucinations and his ultimate move is him breaking free of it for a brief moment

[@Synthpopper]

Good one. For me Ichiban just rubbed off on him and feeling in charge of a party again has got him playing into it and pretending. Whereas Ichi is dead serious schizo

[@Schion_A]

@@Synthpopper better yet, it's a combination of both, Ichibans influenced along with cancer induced hallucinations lol

[@Jman580]

Yea I am with you on the NG+ debacle its a damn shame people are not willing to give the game a chance for one known issue with the game.

[@SentientPotatoXIII]

A lot of consumers don't want to support companies that make questionable decisions like that but that doesn't mean the game is horrible. It's like the whole issue with Hogwarts Legacy but not as controversial, I've heard it's a good game but people want to hate it and not support it simply because of JK Rowling.

[@marilagi]

@@SentientPotatoXIII hogwarts legacy was best seller because of the controversy 😂

[@SentientPotatoXIII]

@@marilagi yeah but you know how much hate it received because of the controversy? I legit lost friends just because I said the game looked fun 🤣

[@archersterling6726]

I have a question regarding that. Can you play higher difficultues without NG+? In Yakuza 7 higher levels were kind of a must

[@SentientPotatoXIII]

@@archersterling6726 pretty sure he says it in the video but no, you can't.

[@RyanNightTalks]

Danny Trejo did a great job. That added a lot to the story. Was a cool character too. The scene with him and Tomi was probably the high point of the story in my opinion.

[@gokudoni]

Amazingly said, as always

[@soldier_4th_class]

Boy the fight with the 3 old friends is amazing, and they joined you in turn based combat in the end is just cherry on top (even better had a we able to control them)

[@MrMallardg1]

17:42 Can we talk about how built Adachi is? Dude is in his early 60’s!

[@deanospimoniful]

Serious old guy strength.

[@PianoHypnoshroom]

Virgin Kiryu (can't beat cancer in his 50s) vs Chad Adachi

[@ericbaker8781]

I think that that’s how Ichiban sees him as opposed to how he actual is, I could be wrong

[@Used_cloth]

I feel like they missed an opportunity with the Memoirs of the Dragon and the Bucket List. They could have made it so at the start of the game Kiryu is a monster and made the combat easier and faster then constantly get a little weaker and weaker till when he gets back to Japan when he is at the same level as the other party members. And then by doing the Memoirs of the Dragon and Bucket List he gets back his strength as he is getting back his will to live.

[@LargeToastie]

Can finally use Essence of Roadside weapon on Ichiban as a shared skill. 10/10

[@nilexinator5901]

when you talked about soundtrack the barracuda theme just popped into my head :D

[@adarksoulsnpc]

Would love to hear your honest thoughts on the ending, cause it left me with ALOT of mixed feelings 🫤

[@joshuaknox2724]

danny trejo is basically majima everywhere for movies glad to see him doing games i think he's a perfect cameo reminds me of how yakuza 6 had beat tekashi a very popular japanese actor even westerners would recognise straight away

[@ghintz2156]

I didn't know the taxi change. I just was doing it the same way that I did in Y7.

[@muchluck7981]

Small clarification about kiryu's awakening system. Only the traits that have the stance names are the only ones exclusive to Kiryu. Kiryu keeps the resistances he gains from the awakening system

[@Good_Ebening_]

Agree with all your points about the gameplay, so many QoL changes from 7, it's so much fun to play and you don't feel penalized switching jobs often.

[@qubix8327]

Really nice review, thanks!

[@kakazi2170]

The actual story was a bit bad with how rushed everything came about in the end. There were many things we should've seen in Ichiban's final area and they never showed it. The final fights were also a bit underwhelming. But everything else was stellar. The substories coinciding with one another made Hawaii feel so *alive* it was so cool seeing npcs interacting with each other. The memories were great and felt like a love letter to the fans. (Where tf is the florist memory tho? Hes gotta be dead or something) And the interactions between the party chats were funny and charming. Story gets a 7/10, gameplay 9/10

[@liahknight56]

Ever since 6 the florist and purgatory have been banished to.... a literal purgatory. they both exist and don't exist because he's too much of a plot device.

[@zura8879]

Also I'm bothered so much by Haruka and Kiryu's reunion being hinted to have happened off-screen. Like what the hell? That's one of the most important parts of Kiryu's life and you don't show it on screen?!

[@Neskess]

​@@zura8879dont worry we will see Kiryu with Haruka and Haruto in Y9 😂

[@003SONE]

Great video! Are you planning to do a spoiler review with some more discussion on storypoints or characters?

[@imjustlikedenji5954]

I feel like they had trouble tying everything together at the end Like A Dragon had amazing writing and a satisfying conclusion in comparison But Infinite Wealth has a lot of great moments and side content to always keep you engaged, there wasn't a single point during my 110 hour playthrough that i thought "man i'm tired of this game"

[@stefanavious]

Been waiting for this one. It was a wild enjoyable ride, watching all the streams. I had a blast. Edit: B A R R A C U D A is a banger fr fr

[@devilleon7]

Thank you for hanging out in the streams! Loved having you around And yes, Barracuda peak track fr fr

[@sharkgamez505]

Exploring Hawaii feels so great its so gorgeous definitely my favorite location in thw series. I'm on chapter 8 and without spoiling for anyone else I love what they do for both main characters, Ichiban on another awesome adventure and Kiryu approaching his last adventure

[@publicenemygelo6204]

Leon gotta do a new tier list of dynamic intro fights, also I agree with everything you said on here, well said.

[@shoryu87]

I just want to say, it was a joy to watch your stream. You really do deserve all the success, you have achieved. Yakuza 8 really improved in all aspects. Despite ng+, it's still good value for money. I agree with stars like danny trejo, being involved displays the strength of the series. I have a feeling the next setting will be in south Korea. I predict that some groups will target kiryu.

[@karumina]

Yeah and in gaiden someone kidnapped shishido. I'm sure he won't forget

[@MNB730]

Outside of the main story, this game is 100% the most fun I've had out of all Yakuza games topping Y5 for sure, the only side content that I didn't enjoy was Dondoko Island(I tried but its just so boring) but almost everything else felt like a classic Yakuza experience, and the gameplay itself is a massive improvement from 7. I was baffled with JackSepticEye recommending this game as a first for people, but honestly I started to agree a little after finishing the game. I know that Gaiden is made after Infinite Wealth but where the fuck is Watase? The dude that is Co-CEO with Daigo for the security company just disappeared, thought he was dead until Sawashiro briefly mentioned him.

[@factandsuspicionpodcast2727]

This is the best turn based combat I've ever experienced. It's not even particularly close. RGG took everything wonderful about Seven's combat and dialed it up to eleven. The story may be lacking in some ways, but the wonderful exploration, fantastic characters, and brilliant combat make this a must play for any RPG fan.

[@RefreshThisPage]

Great deep dive. I am just on the Chapter 3 (23 hours spent for grinding or going around the places) but cannot wait to unblock other features

[@Godzrage]

Best yakuza channel on KZbin W vid as always🔥

[@devilleon7]

Best viewer on KZbin W comment as always

[@hartantoanggoro]

@@devilleon7 Sorry that SEGA overlook your efforts in Yakuza lore and thanks for your content

[@VoltSlash]

Of the 100hrs on my playthrough (not beaten it yet), at least 6 were spent on karaoke. This game is perfect.

[@dagarob_c]

This review was awesome! My fav game series of all time. One thing unless its right under my nose but I can’t find a way to pick and set my favorite battle abilities instead of going to the list and find my favorites.

[@FirstPlace97]

Your review is very detailed and you touched on a lot of points that are absolutely true. There are a lot of quality of life improvements in this game from 7 and even compared to the other games. Minus some story issues (and Sega DLC bs), this game is very solid and definitely one of the best games overall, in the series to this point.

[@sapphire3084]

Would've loved to hear Tomizawa in karaoke, but since he's the vocalist of King Gnu, that's out.

[@mechashadow]

Question: Will there be a spoiler version of this review where you go more in depth about the story later on?

[@devilleon7]

There will be something like that, yes, look forward to it!

[@4nothernpc]

I'm 20 hours into the game and I'm still on chapter 4. Haven't even unlocked the chick as a party member and I'm still using the default jobs. Can't wait to get to the other island

[@elstormcaller]

I *just* described the story to my friend as being the LJ to Y:LAD's Judgment! It's really the best way to describe the differences in how personal the stories of both games are.

[@SpaceCattttt]

But with both LAD and Judgment, the first games are superior.

[@RoyalBlur97]

@@SpaceCattttt from a story perspective, yes. Gameplay, LJ stomps over the first game, same thing with this game.

[@SpaceCattttt]

@@RoyalBlur97 I'd mostly agree with that. But there are too many jobs. And there's no point in leveling up more than the basic ones, because you can't use the best weapons with whatever job you'd like. So all those cool outfits? Forget about them.

[@bankai7623]

​@SpaceCattttt LAD7 gameplay is unplayable after playing 8. Plus your certified of the jobs makes no sense . Also lost judgment is a lot more fun to play . The msq while I agree with you it's not bad. It's subjective.

[@Subpar1O1]

8 is definitely one of my favourites now, but I only have one gripe and that's the story just... ends? Likd of course it does, but I feel like they could have added a few more scenes. Akane and Lani don't show up at all after you split between Hawaii and Kamurocho, there's no follow up to how Sawashiro is doing, we don't see Ebina getting taken away, it just feels like it was brushed aside to dedicate more time to Kiryu and his final few scenes. I have no problem with the ending we got, this is definitely one my favourite games period, but the ending maybe should have had a few more scenes. That's just me though

[@bryanchristianabrigo]

18:15 lmao I expected Kiryu of all people to not join the squatting part because of his seriousness and I'm glad that he did 😂

[@MikeRedead333]

This is a must play 🌊🐲

[@imnotbryce]

Favourite game of all time by far. So much content it’s unbelievable

[@masterofbloopers]

One thing I really liked is the new weapon crafting system. I grinded my ass off in 7, and to this day I never got a single weapon to EX EX. Meanwhile in 8, I just made my 5th weapon +50.

[@Thechimpanzeeanimator]

Last boss was pretty good i feel. And the track playing to it with the dynamic intro is eargasm as well as awesome as always. Though i personally didnt find the boss battles all that challenging or interesting mostly.

[@brotherhoodscout3265]

I had an absolute laugh about your critique with NG+. That blank stare was priceless!

[@TheHiddenOne690]

I am in love with the game! Currently 30 hours in and just got to the splash screen of chapter 6. I think i'm getting lowkey overleveled. I am level 28 and the enemies in Chapter 5 were around 17-18

[@devilleon7]

I was overleveled especially later on too, but I didn't want to take risks, and also the dungeons gave really good rewards

[@daniel____4236]

Same here. I just started chapter 6 and I'm level 36. With all 3 party members having bonds over level 50

[@GiveMeTheDragonBalls]

Best thing about these games is you can choose what you wanna do i as well over leveled myself and it felt so nice to breeze through enemies and enjoy my surroundings while still having fun!🔥

[@TheHiddenOne690]

@@daniel____4236 woah level 36? You must've been grinding street fights or the dungeon

[@jimruch5196]

Thank you my friend , not only for the video but replying to my question on twitter ! Always been my favorite channel since your awesome streamathon of all the games! Highly value your opinion regarding these games🤟🏻🔥

[@ssj4goku18825theepic]

This game looks promising will def look into buying it soon. Love your content btw Leon keep up the amazing work

[@fg2002id]

I would want to get infinite wealth but I refused to support SEGA’s shady rotten anti consumer practices like microtransactions, price of the game, NG+ paywall, and denuvo DRM.

[@stevenkennedy6870]

I was planning on buying this along with Persona 3 reload now i’m playing reload on gamepass and contemplating picking up the tomb raider trilogy i just need to see gameplay don’t want to pay full price for a gta trilogy situation

[@BLACKSTA361]

Same here. I'll get this on Game Pass or Sale in the future

[@angelganon8213]

@@BLACKSTA361 sega already stated this will not be on gamepass

[@omensoffate]

It’s the same as the first game

[@vapshockxd6516]

I cannot even buy the game

[@stevenrussell09]

Honestly the amount of times I had cried for the whole Kiryu bucket lists and everything based around his story. I cried like a baby

[@nenjutsu1774]

SPOILERS: The ending was sorta bittersweet with Kiryu now seemingly being physically unable to fight ever again. However him not meeting Haruka nor some reuinion with the sunflower kids kinda makes it feel incomplete?

[@GomerJ]

BARRA CUU DA I love that just about anyone who mentions the soundtrack will inevitably mention that song. Such a bop and it just doesn't get used enough especially with the Barracudas basically disappearing from the game for a LONG stretch.

[@admiralalyssa]

I love the Yakuza franchise, but Devilleon definitely was in the honeymoon phase when he released this. Since he didn't give you an accurate representation of the bad I will. The combat is masterclass, I haven't had this much fun in a Yakuza game since 0. Being able to move around, chain combos with teammates, prioritize back attacks for guaranteed crits, and the tag team mechanic that replaced the tag team skills are all fantastic. Infinite Wealth did for turn based combat what Lost Judgment did for the brawler style games. Pure revolution. That being said, balancing is bad. All the bosses are underleveled to hell. Going through the hawaiian haunt/Yokohama Underground once will leave you overpowered for the entire game. It's clear the endgame was cut out for the day one dlc or else why would there be a trophy to hit Lv70, but the final Amon fight is only Lv55. Also on combat, I am so disappointed in most characters exclusive jobs. Why is Namba still a homeless guy? Kiryu is such a powerhouse compared to Ichiban's more balanced stats and support moves I would have loved to see Namba to be retooled as a male healer. Adachi is still marked as a Detective dispite working as security prevention. Imagine if he focused on grapples that left enemies paralized/slienced. Detective is just a worse version linebacker. Zhao's Mafia job is just bad, they retooled his kit to incoperate his love of cooking but now he is slow, his attacks cost high MP for low damage, his main attack with his area sword attack costing 50 MP for a medium attack with weaker healing then Mask of Fertility from Pyrodancer. Joongi got nerfed to hell, and Saeko is just bad. RGG saw the classes that weren't used or were overused (cough Han cough) in Y7 and doubled down on trying to make them good. No one is going to use barmaid, they're going to sub her out for Zhao as soon as you get access to him. Dondoko Island and Sujimon battles did not outclass Dragon Kart and CEO management, although Sicko Snap is a nice homage to Pokemon Snap. I would have loved to see the management minigame expanded on in a game called INFINITE WEALTH! The fan speculation that Kasuga was expanding operations of Ichiban Holdings to the states would be a way better explantion to get Ichiban to Hawaii than what we got. Seriously where is Nick Ogata, he doesn't even get a handwave explanation to where he is. Overall gameplay is a 9/10 World Exploration is compex, Hawaii is 10/10, Yokohama is a 8/10 and Kamorocho is the blandest its ever been. You're going to run around collecting Kiryu's memories once and never return. The story is an atrocity, I'd give it a legit 4/10. This feels like a Kiryu story where they didn't know what to do with Ichiban but Ichiban has 75% of the gameplay and story. I would list my gripes but this comment is on a spoiler-free review. Overall Ichiban's personal plot goes nowhere and is forgotten halfway though like Fallout 4 of all games. Mom? What mom? We gotta fight the most boring enemy faction in RGG history. One of the two new party members for Ichiban is insuffurable, Tomiwaza is amazing but god did they fumble Chitose. Oh and Saeko's character was assassinated for no reason. She's no longer blunt and honest while having caring and understanding side. No, she's the type of bitch who will ghost you for being awkard then hold it agaisnt you for the rest of your life now. Her drink link only makes her hypocrisy even worse, as she's basically mad at men for not being able to read minds. I could literally spend 30 minutes talking about how bad Chitose is, or the main plot or how Kiryu's bucket list spits in the face of the main plot or how bad the Daidoji is, like how long is Y6's ending going to haunt this franchise. I wouldn't recommend skipping this game, because the combat and character interactions outside the main plot are fantastic but if you did, nothing relating to the core plot of the series would be missed. Ichiban regresses as character, turning into a gullible idiot from where 7 left him where he was one of smartest protagonist we ever had right next to Yagami and Akiyama to the dumbest by far and Kiryu... play the game for that one.

[@Maelstromaku]

I'm 27 hours in and just started chapter 6 😅

[@monlei1020]

Same bro Life and responsibilities have made me only play on weekends 😭

[@deffloyd]

I'm around 37 hrs in, and I just started chapter 7.😂

[@TheFoolTohru]

​@deffloyd I'm currently on Chapter 8, 40 Hours in barely touched on Sub-Stories. I only do those when I'm done everything else. ♾️ Wealth is the biggest RGG game as of yet.

[@asmabalaska2428]

Question can i finish the game in 1 month if i play like 4 hours a day

[@h4rshturtle456]

Took a week off from work 107 hours in at the dlc dungeon now will finish that and the see how ng+ is

[@darthvaderreviews6926]

My thoughts: LAD 7 was a bad JRPG carried by a great story, LAD 8 is an amazing JRPG _(and pretty fun animal crossing clone)_ bogged down by a meh story. The story handles its characters well, including Kiryu's arc and resolution IMO, though ultimately the plot fails them, and I think the villain has an unnecessarily confusing backstory. I wish we had less time being asked to return to Revolve for _literally no reason_ and a bit more time to fully resolve the finale. The RPG combat is phenomenal. There is still room to grow _(eg. in its current state, I think it's too easy to overlevel content accidentally, and it's also too easy to use extreme damage AoEs to reduce encounters to a single enemy on turn 1)_ but every big problem from 7 is fixed. The combat is so fun I found myself wishing this game had a Colosseum equivalent. Dondoko Island is, by far, the best business minigame LAD has ever made. I honestly think that some equivalent to it, repurposing LAD's long legacy of assets for decoration, should remain a permanent feature in some form. Sujimon Battling has potential, I liked how well integrated it was with the whole game, but I wish Sujimon had a little extra spice to encourage real team composition, like passive abilities. The NG+ thing I agree compromised the game. SEGA clearly don't know how to get extra money out of their games and that leads to these pay to win booster packs and stuff getting locked to DLC. Maybe if some employees could be dedicated to putting _serious work_ in, it could lead to something worth buying, like a "hero game +" that makes changes beyond levelups to the game to make a second playthrough tough as nails.

[@liahknight56]

The story is honestly so confusing. Ichibans villain has symbolic ties to Kiryu, and Kiryu's villain has symbolic ties to Ichiban. The result is neither character feels very interesting and they just start to rehash ideas from the last game. I was stunned when the game ended because I felt there was much more to go to make it feel complete.

[@returnofskurk1633]

I have a lot of issues with how they handled the bucket list, I feel like it's a damn shame if this truly is Kiryu's last game. Secondly, I don't know if it's just me, but the main villain(s)/final boss really wasn't it for me.

[@kaz101]

My only huge issue with this game's story is to do with *that* one character at the end. Besides that, I love everything about this game. I do wish though that Kasuga didn't feel overshadowed towards the end.

[@cwp24]

21:34 while New Game+ isn’t something I use too often, it being locked behind DLC is absolutely greedy and scummy by Sega. I’m enjoying this game, but knowing they did that is painful. That should never be a thing, putting New Game+ behind dlc sets a TERRIBLE PRECEDENT!! Whoever at sega thought that was a great idea should be fired. Other than that massive negative sticking point, this is the best turn based yakuza game to date. Honestly with all the improvements, it feels like the yakuza 0 of turn based yakuza games. It’s THAT GOOD!

[@MrRobertGillan]

Game really was an incredible experience and I’m honestly really happy with what they did to improve from 7. The only thing I’ll say about the story is I feel like there should’ve been another chapter or a couple more cutscenes for the last 2 chapters. Feels like a lot of loose ends or “oh this character is just gone now” and that was sad to see.

[@pegasuskiller9905]

Won’t tou was wasted potential. My biggest surprise was how much I was gonna LOVE yamai. Hopefully he comes back. I am disappointed we didn’t get to see kiryu talk to haruka but based on the ending it’s obvious they are gonna talk. Hopefully we see that in the next game. Other than that this game was near perfect. 9/10

[@ryanbhadain5867]

This game's story is the only one which gave me no goosebumps at all. Can you make a video for the people who already played the game, talking only about the story ? I did not understand a few things and the ending left me a bit ... idk. It was not as good a story as Yakuza 0 or Yakuza 7 in my opinion.

[@PhoenixDowned]

Gaiden got me to cry, Infinite Wealth didn't. Now that doesn't mean IW is bad, far from it but I wish it was more emotionally charged. Still recommend that long time fans give it a shot 😊

[@solace2679]

IW is damn near the most well-written game in the series in my opinion, and because of that I didn't particularly care if wasn't as emotionally full as the others.

[@dgomezzzzz]

@@solace2679 what a joke! The most well-written game? When they forget about important characters and plotlines? When the antagonists are as bad as they can ever be? When Kiryu gets less time than Ichiban in the epilogue and it is supposed to be the end of his story? I don't even mention some wasted potential-characters and the fact that lifelinks contradict to the main plot.

[@AnimeSimp234]

@@solace2679 I have to agree. I think the only stories I liked better were 7 and Lost Judgement.

[@kazumakiryu1617]

Ebina was an amazing antagonist wym.​@@dgomezzzzz

[@zakariahamidi]

11:45 is that yagami behind saeko ?

[@PhantomVcTs]

It's peak Yakuza. After hearing you say it's like Lost Judgment to Judgment is probably the best way to describe it as well to be honest!

[@Einkiller]

I do feel the bucketlist a bit lackluster with some parts as the finish for kiriyus story

[@aronsurakh1747]

it was great but it feels like it crashes from the middle to the end, like there's something missing

[@ryangibson1578]

That was a good review.i do wish you brought up the funny hawaii radio show but its alright of course

[@SoPe_00]

i still havent bought the game so im avoiding most of the videos/streams but i hope i get it soon :), i skipped the story parts of the video and im just listening to it

[@Avesonn]

The life improvement of this game is massive. It looks much funnier than Y7 and your review made me want to buy it even more. Great Job and thanks!

[@b_is_alive]

cant wait for the review with spoilers... lots of stuff to talk about

[@Thechimpanzeeanimator]

The gripe i have with dungeons is that the enemy variety is not amazing, so you usually fight the same enemies for a good while. And of course the dreaded NG+ Paywall. But i am enjoying the game safe to say

[@TheFoolTohru]

You said everything right Leon...this is the best game I've ever played. Judgment had the title before...but ♾️ Wealth is built even more different. (Also Chau Ka Long's theme is fucking amazing! 🔥)

[@Connor.trashy]

I’m pretty sure it’s Ogre has reborn from Yakuza Kiwami, I was so happy to hear that play during memoirs of a dragon

[@EnvoyOfRot]

YAKUZA/RGG 8 looks pretty fun, but I will get this on a sale at 20$ or below because of all the shady business practices surrounding it it like MTX and paywalled NG+. Maybe it will even get a complete edition down the line

[@wompuwempu4147]

Do we know whether it was a rgg decision or a sega decision to lock ng+? Its extra sad to me if it was an rgg choice...

[@jesse759]

Thank you for making so many awesome yakuza videos. I love your content, keep it up man💪🏻

[@settantaventi]

I would have liked some kind of music in the background for the DLC " big swell"

[@depressedcheems9961]

My biggest gripes with the game have to do with the story. Like, why do we get Dragon Resurgence in a terrible forced substory right after the perfect scene for Kiryu to use it? Imagine in God of War 2018 getting Spartan Rage from a terrible side quest right after the first Baldur fight. Why didn't they let Ichiban snap again(you know, the guy who almost beat a random thug to death before Kiryu stopped him)? This was one of my favorite moments in Y7 and was a great contrast to Kiryu. I know it was probably just a Y0 call back, but without it, Ichiban is basically Luffy instead of just Luffy-inspired. He's wholesome, but a good bit more boring in this one. Somehow Yamai is their best written character after Y0. Despite how much I love this game, I think this is the one that demystified me with RGG games. Besides Kiryu and Daigo getting a few paragraphs of character development every few years, they refuse to do anything good with their other characters. If you like a character, you can bet they won't flesh them out in following games. Other than the negativity, I think this is the most fun Turn-based game ever made. My favorite combat in the series and the Dondoko Resort is clearly their best business minigame. This is the first time my interest was held by gameplay instead of hoping the story goes somewhere.

[@beaup.2643]

I think Ichiban forgetting that you can't kill people because you're emotionally vulnerable would've made it a lot worse. I also find saying that Daigo and Kiryu are the only characters that get character development is a bit disingenuous when every game introduces new characters with backstories and their own motivations for what they do. Even while giving the benefit of the doubt that you aren't including the Judgment games in that point. My biggest gripe with the story would have to be how they botched Kiryu's motivation once getting to the Yokohama section of the game. I don't buy that Kiryu would feel that much guilt about choosing Haruka over the yakuza, especially because of something that happened in the 70s. Like the man left the Tojo Clan in the hands of people he trusted to do the job well so he could help an orphan, that's not really something to feel guilt over.

[@depressedcheems9961]

@@beaup.2643 it isn't that he forgets, he'd just be overwhelmed with emotion. You have his mother and a child at risk, you'd figure that combined with betrayals+ all the people killed in the raid would have sent him over the edge. Have him beat the hell out of Eji, but stop himself from going all the way. Dude, this is RGG, they forget character arcs and their developments every entry lmao. Bringing back the old cast made sense Gaiden, but every other game had been a waste. They've done basically nothing with them. RGG is just as bad as the Resident Evil devs when it comes to following something through. Where's Watase? Why did they even add Daigo and crew to comeback outside of fanservice? They shown up 5-15 minutes in the past 4 games lmao

[@beaup.2643]

@@depressedcheems9961 So you're complaining that they forget character arcs between games while complaining that they didn't forget Ichiban's? Characters don't have to go on grand character changing arcs every time they appear in a form of media. Take Nanba for example, he had his arc in 7 with his brother and the reasons he did what did in the game, ending in him being the character he was after rejoining the party. In 8 he doesn't have some grand arc, he's mostly there to take care of Kiryu. That's not a detriment to his character, that's just him acting in character. Just like Ichiban learning to control himself. It's pretty clear Ichiban sees Masato/Ryo Aoki in Eiji even after the twist, going beyond the wheelchair. As dumb as it is, it makes sense that he'd want Eiji to redeem himself and serve his time for his actions as opposed to just dying for it.

[@depressedcheems9961]

I'm saying Ichiban is boring without that flaw. A flaw that shouldn't be gone after a couple of interactions with it. Let him stop himself in his spree instead of being stopped by someone else, it shows both growth and continuity. He feels more like Luffy than a character inspired by him in this one. Nice to see his anger is as meaningful as the Saejima family. Ah yes, a side character should be comparable to the supposed next main character(spoilers Kiryu will always be here lmao). How do you see this as a good thing? Ichiban is just a trope in this one. I don't know how Ichiban sees Aoki in this guy outside the manipulation, Aoki didn't appear this psychopathic. I'm not saying Ichiban had to kill him, but he should have atleast beat him up in the heat of the story instead of him disappearing in the last few chapters.@@beaup.2643​

[@beaup.2643]

@@depressedcheems9961 You say that Ichiban has no flaws and is a trope, that's kind of rich when talking about the characters that manage to kill other characters because of his naivete and lack of caution. I don't really get the Luffy comparison either. Unless you want to be reductive to the point of "moron that likes his friends" they don't have much in common. Eiji and Aoki are both men that felt wronged by the yakuza and their situations in life to the point that they themselves did terrible things. Eiji seemingly was a good, well intentioned person before being framed by the yakuza, it's not hard to see why a character like Ichiban would want him to redeem himself and willingly pay for his sins. And Ichiban shows that growth away from his outburst that Kiryu pulled him out of by not doing it again. It's not just ignoring a flaw he had, it's showing that he's grown and moved on from that flaw. A character not doing something is just as, if not more, telling of that character as them doing something. If Ichiban didn't have that moment of growth in 7, he would've done it again with Eiji.

[@kennethshiro9500]

i'm still on chapter 13. i kind of went down a shogi rabbithole on this one so I've been taking way too long. Plus the flashbacks have made me replay the original 1 and 2. I think the combat tweaks were all slam dunks (like I went, YES i wanted that so bad in 7). As for the story I think the social media/vtuber stuff is really dumb (i know, it's current and hip). I kind of get where they're going with kiryu's story, but I think a lot of the setup was hamfisted.

[@breathescubasteve]

the recruiting enemies thing reminds me of shin megami tensei. they thought of everything the fight system is octopath/ xenoblades idk this game is crazy. for someone that plays everything this is everything like nier automata was everything you know what i mean? its a must have for real.

[@jamesb687]

Very cool video. I am still on chapter 14 of this game so I am glad you didnt spoil anything super duper late finale wise 👍

[@mikeehrmantraut1899]

Leon forgot to mention is that Infinite Wealth and Yakuza 7 both suffer the same problem which is both Ichiban and Kiryu die and it make them game over which you can't revive them at all.

[@sladelius6174]

Like Persona, if the protagonist goes down, you fail. Always try to keep your HP reasonably safe.

[@omensoffate]

That’s fine. Get good

[@devilleon7]

Yeah it would've been nice if that wasn't a thing but eh

[@darthvaderreviews6926]

While it can _feel_ unfair, I understand why it's there. Otherwise, enemies would need multihit attacks that can wipe the whole party to actually pose a threat to you

[@Yes917]

@@darthvaderreviews6926Thats still the case, at least in my play through it was. Most of the time when i died it was to bosses spamming AOE attacks. Its pretty frustrating to die this way especially when you cant perfect block some of the AOEs cuz youre not controlling the party leader.

[@djmexicanodetx2195]

I'm only on chapter 4. Great game so far!

[@MiniDallas000]

Great to hear, I'm on chapter 9 and now I'm able to make Infinite Wealth without dondoko island or sujimon

[@mavvynne444]

It's good to see Esfand doing game reviews.

[@MiniDallas000]

It's sad to see Devilleon7 doing lame irl streams.

[@SentientPotatoXIII]

The NG+ issue is honestly the only problem I've had with the game. Everything else was pretty good. Probably my favorite in the series so far and I'm not a fan of turn-based combat either, so its high praise coming from me 😅 it just feels a lot more engaging now than the last game.

[@soldier_4th_class]

1 thing that annoys me in the beginning is if you use non default costume for jobs, the level up menu will show the default ones. But I get used to it eventually.

[@axeoseilez3207]

Easily 10/10 yes the decision for ng+ being dlc with difficulties is scummy. But that aside easily max rating. It's amazing and I have gotten lost in the game and I've not even gotten half way through the game yet. By far the biggest world they have made. It feels so lived in I just can't stop playing.