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Ryoma the pet hoarder has ran out of space for the 30+ animals he rescued, so he brought them to the Shinsengumi HQ. The animals do wonders for the morale of the troops but the whole place now stinks like hell. Ryoma’s friends urge him to find a solution that keeps everyone happy.
“I could train them to do their business in a designated place. There’s no need to kick them out.”
The animals were allowed to stay on these two conditions:
- Ryoma is not allowed to adopt any other living creature. Ever.
- All animals living in HQ must relieve themselves exclusively in Kashitaro Ito’s room.
#yakuza#like a dragon ishin#ryoma sakamoto#his heart is just too big#this is a DLC substory#all the homies hate ito#absolute shitpost
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You can’t tell me these two people aren’t the same:
#pretty sure they did this on purpose knowing yagami wouldn’t (physically) be in kaito’s files LMAO#dysfunctional families#substories#coincidence? i think not#oshikiri kenya#trauma experiences#abusive fathers#kaito’s file (dlc)#game#sadamoto jun
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The impact of "Ch. Yakou: Thank You, My Detective" on Master Detective Archives: Rain Code's story (and any possible sequel?)
The DLC for "Master Detective Archives: Rain Code" is complete. And having now played through all five of the "Substories," I think we can at least say that only ONE of them leaves any major impact on the larger narrative.
I wouldn't say "Ch. Yakou: Thank You, My Detective" is the best of the substories. Not to me, at least. But it certainly ends on a note that strongly suggests a change to the status quo we all understood when the game ended.
MAJOR SPOILERS for both the main-game narrative of "Master Detective Archives: Rain Code" and the DLC "Ch. Yakou: Thank You, My Detective" are under the cut.
At the very start of "Ch. Yakou," we're controlling Yakou Furio from a side-scrolling perspective as he slowly plods and stumbles down a hallway.
His face is in shadow with his hood up, and we occasionally get flashes of his memories... including Yuma pleading "Yes! I'm Yuma! Chief, you understand me?" And if you don't immediately remember when that moment occurred, it'll all be cleared up by the time you complete this trudge down memory lane. Because it all concludes with a memory of his death on the floor of the lab underneath Amaterasu Corporation.
That's right — we're controlling Yakou Furio when he's already a shambling zombie homunculus! That memory of Yuma is even from the final chapter of the game!
These memory flashbacks are really an excuse for us to experience the backstory of how Yakou met the woman who ultimately became his wife — the one who was the driving motivator behind his actions in Chapter 4. (And who sadly isn't even given a name during this chapter in spite of getting backstory and a voice actress. Wtf is that.) But you might be thinking, "We could've seen Yakou thinking about this storyline at any time. Why doesn't this chapter just take place at some vague interval between chapters 1-3, like all the other DLC stories? Why is THIS the one weird outlier?"
Answer: Because of how it ends.
Yakou's march through the corridors comes to an end when he meets... a ghost? A memory? I'm leaning towards her being the former, but I can't be 100% sure. Regardless, some version of his deceased wife is there to leave him with a parting gift.
I'll let her explain it:
Yup, you read that right. We end with DeadWife handed off a small batch of her experimental medication — a means by which Yakou can truly resurrect himself. ... Although she does add that cavet about how it "might be completed if someone takes over my research," which certainly leaves room for doubt about its efficacy at the moment.
In summation: Most of the final DLC chapter takes place in flashback... but it ends with dead zombie Yakou Furio being handed a medication that could potentially restore him to his original living state.
So uh... I guess they just set up the possbility of Yakou Furio showing up alive and well for Master Detective Archives 2, huh? They gave themselves an excuse to have the whole band back together if they so choose.
But...
My Thoughts
Look: I love Yakou, sure, but his death is the emotional high point of the entire game. Furthermore, it's the ONLY loss to our central cast. Unlike in Kodaka's preceding franchise, the core cast of Rain Code manages to stay safe from harm throughout the adventure — with this one exception. The only loss to the group is Yakou, who goes down like an absolute badass via an exceedingly clever plan to exact his own brand of justice against the man who had his wife killed.
It feels wrong to undo that, y'know? It's just such an important moment for him, for the story, and for the group of detectives at its center who become to be so attached to him.
Despite that, will I be happy if he shows up in a sequel? Well... yeah, actually. He's a super-likable character that ultimately proves to be far more clever than those around him ever realized. There's a lot you could do with that.
So I guess I have mixed feelings. I'm surprised by this choice more than anything, but that's not to say that it's not still kind of cool. I definitely didn't expect it.
#master detective archives: rain code#master detective archives#rain code spoilers#master detective archives: rain code spoilers#mdarc spoilers#mdarc#rain code#yakou furio#thank you my detective#rain code dlc#mda dlc#master detective archives: rain code dlc
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Like a dragon/Yakuza: The man who erased his name review
This was way better than ishin!. Lot's of spoilers
I had low expectations for this because I'd heard it was just planned DLC that was quickly turned into a full length game but it's great.
The story moves along at a far quicker pace than usual but that was to be expected, it's a small timeline that's confined to 7 and 8's story. I saw people say they didn't understand why this existed at all and that kiryu's story should have ended with 6 but frankly I'm glad we're getting more. I found 6's ending to be kind of shitty and I want to know how the bodyguard situation came to be
Kiryu is so fucking miserable in this game and the voice actor does a great job conveying it. Even all his little ordinary task phrases are just so fed up sounding. The end scene were he's breaking down actually had me tear up a little, first time in the whole series.
Akame is basically the Florist again, but less annoying. I was meh on her at first but she grew on me
The baddies are pretty good with how short the game is and shishido was a good rep for all the guys at the bottom who are left floundering with the dissolution. Tsureno was a great character, I'd like to see more of him. The kpop nishitani guy was ok, but I'd prefer they just killed him off instead of having him repeatedly survive.
The plot itself is the usual over the top nonsense, and it does tie it all in fairly well. Kiryu swanning about in the world's shittiest disguise required a serious suspension of disbelief though. As well as characters not using guns when they should have. I know some characters saw through the obvious bullshit but still. The castle ship not being found by police was also kind of silly but we've already had purgatory so whatever (i prefer castle to purgatory, more flair). The whole daidoji thing was strange at times, but I guess they'll flesh them out more in future games. The big final battle alonside the jimas' was cool, even if kiryu couldn't really acknowledge them. Felt bad for Daigo though, only one shocked he's alive and he isn't allowed to speak to the guy. Also LOL at Watase getting stabbed in his Peter griffin fit, so unnecassary. Also he didn't delete the footage he just broke the phone screen
Combat was really good, agent was a nice change of pace and yakuza felt powerful, exactly what i wanted after Ishin and it's low damage dealing. Rocket shoes are my new favourite thing, drones were a bit shite though. Progression is straightforward, no fuckign around with random trainers, just pay with your yen and get the moves. Did seem like my grabs failed most of the time though, but I did rush things. Some great Long battles, again an area I felt ishin was lacking
Music is fine, mostly the long battle themes that stood out. Can't remember most of the boss themes. Good karaoke selection.
Still lots of mini games despite being a kind of filler entry. Lots of master system games, although i found them all a bit shite. Live action hostess clubs are uncomfortable and weird. Sonic the fighters is great still. The joryu clan thing wasn't bad but I'm glad the DLC characters were included in the sale I found because fucking hell they were not worth it. All this time I wanted playable Daigo and when they finally allow it he only has a bare bones move set. The fucking AI daigo has more moves so what the hell?
Sub stories only being through the Akame network is odd. Half are really good ones with lots of throw backs to earlier games and half are tedious 'go there and fight this guy' for your colosseum team missions. I couldn't get one to trigger despite fulfilling conditions so there's that. Also the walk around missions are boring.
The akame network and the colosseum were used as filler during the story and that got old very fast.
Really enjoyed this game and I'm hyped for 8.
Things I liked:
Emotional gut punch of an ending
Cool throwback substories
Ghost substory
Akame isn't bad as far as female yakuza characters go and they didn't kill her off/send her to her planet that needs her at the end
Ties up things
Great long battles
Agent style is a nice change
Finally get Playable Daigo!
Things I didn't like:
Some tedious substories (red peacocks anybody?)
Kiryu's dumbass disguise
Obvious filler missions
Playable Daigo isn't very good!
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Paused, Aheaded, Towers Too
Recently I made an account on Newgrounds, and today I beat two games which had music composed by one of my favourite composers of all time, flashygoodness: Tower of Heaven and Pause Ahead. On the Tower of Heaven side, I have played the game in the past but gave up around the end. Today I decided to beat it, and it was pretty fun! My patience has improved since, and being able to properly enjoy and master the limits given by the game was fun. The ending was very interesting, and apparently, there's another ending I missed. I'll get all the secrets later. Always been fond of the simplicity of the art style and music, near-perfectly capturing the limitations of the Game Boy (color) and in general looking/sounding beautiful. On the Pause Ahead side of things... holy shit. This game. Pause Ahead ekkjkasjsjksdajhsdojhdjsasdjsa this game so good The game is pretty simple on the surface, the main mechanic being pausing the world while you continue to move around, momentum affecting your movement as well. The first levels follow what any good game does (like Tower of Heaven hehe) and slowly introduces you into the world and the main mechanic before saying "fuck you" and instantly jumping towards kaizo bullshit in the best way possible. The levels get harder. Momentum is taken to the max. Pausing becomes your best ally. This shit was so good. It took me some time to get used to it, but eventually, I fought hard with my patience and got through the game and to the final boss, which took me some time (and a walkthrough sorry) to master, but it felt satisfying to finally beat it and witness the first ending. The first ending, because there's a secret path in one of the levels that leads to one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. The belly of the beast. So, small (so I thought at the time of starting to write this) substory before I continue. Rivals of Aether, a game I knew about for a while before I got to play it and another game flashygoodness composed for (there is even a Tower of Heaven stage inside it! with a tiny remix of one of the original songs, Luna Ascension) eventually got a Definitive Edition, and with it came a ton of new things. The milestone system, new adjustments, un-DLCing the DLC fighters, proper workshop support, etc. It was neat. One thing stuck out to me though. It was a song called Nihil Redux that plays on one of the stages, the Frozen Gate. An intense tune with energy and fear injected into it as if you're in the depths of hell fighting for a chance to live. I fucking fell in love with it from the first few seconds. The constant, unstopping rhythm and beautiful instruments got me hooked, and eventually, the song turned into a calmer, hopeful tune. You've escaped hell. You've managed to survive. and then it loops back to the beginning but tbf it's a stage track of course it has to loop that doesn't mean you're going back to hell lollllllllllllll or does it. After listening to this track like a million times through the in-game sound test, I decided to look it up on YouTube and discovered this little game called Pause Ahead, the original source of this remix. And so it loops back to the primary discussion. Nihil Descent. The original version of this song. I reached the secret level of the game where it plays, the hardest challenge. Two fleshy and difficult paths, both taking the main mechanic to the maximum. It took time, but one by one I figured out things. Pause-cancelling at the right times, patterns, etc. All slowly mastered one by one until I got the second ending.
Also, this happened I guess. lmao. I won't discuss the endings in detail for obvious reasons (play the game ehehe) but one felt great and the other surprised me in terms of story context. Also... yes, the music outside of Nihil Descent (including some tracks by another composer, Bill Kiley!) was great, in case I didn't make it obvious sorry. The art style of the game reminds me of Cave Story, very detailed lineless tilesets and enemies with a little protagonist guy person thing character going through pain and sorrow to hopefully find a bright future. Very inspiring and pretty. Conclusion? good video games is when newgrounds, tiny little thing protagonist and pixel art . yeaaaaaaaaa tower of heaven: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/544332 pause ahead: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/628969 both need the Newgrounds Flash Player to run because flash dead boohoo :( if the writing here was ass: sorry
#tower of heaven#pause ahead#wait is this the first ever post in the pause ahead hashtag or is it just not trendy#holy shit if true#unsurprised if false#I looooove flashygoodness#edit thank god I am not the sole pause ahead fan on this site
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Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE DLC schedule announced
Gematsu Source
Publisher Spike Chunsoft and developer Too Kyo Games have released the downloadable content schedule for lucid-noir detective adventure game Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE, including details and a release date for the first substory, “Ch. Desuhiko: Charisma Killed the Cat.”
Each of the four upcoming downloadable contents with substories featuring Master Detectives will be available individually for $4.99, or as part of the Season Pass for $15.99. The Season Pass is also included as part of the $89.99 Digital Deluxe Edition.
Get the details below.
■ Downloadable Content #1: Ch. Desuhiko: Charisma Killed the Cat
Release Date: July 27, 2023
Price: $5.00
The first of four downloadable contents, “Ch. Desuhiko: Charisma Killed the Cat,” will be released on July 27, 2023. In this substory, players control protagonist Desuhiko Thunderbolt, a detective with the Forensic Forte of Disguise.
◆ Desuhiko Thunderbolt (voiced by Khoi Dao in English, KENN in Japanese)
A young man with a goofball nature who likes hitting on women under the guise of investigation. Desuhiko’s goal is to become famous as a mystery-solving superstar detective. He carries a huge backpack filled with tools necessary for his disguises.
Forensic Forte: Disguise
In addition to disguising his clothes and face, his voice, height, and weight can also be changed, allowing him to match the target of disguise visually and psychologically.
■ Downloadable Content Schedule
Downloadable Content #1: Ch. Desuhiko: Charisma Killed the Cat – July 27, 2023
Downloadable Content #2 – August 2023
Downloadable Content #3 – September 2023
Downloadable Content #4 – October 2023
■ Version 1.30 Update Patch Notes
There will be a Patch available at launch. The latest patch is 1.3.0. Please make sure you have this patch installed for the best experience.
Patch notes:
Minor text fixes
Adjusted voice and sound effects
Adjusted certain maps, characters, and graphics
Adjusted certain events and text overlaps
Various bug fixes
Launch to eShop functionality (note that this is required for downloadable content)
Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE launched today for Switch worldwide.
Watch the launch trailer below.
Launch Trailer
English
youtube
Japanese
youtube
#Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE#RAIN CODE#Master Detective Archives#Spike Chunsoft#Too Kyo Games#Adventure Game#Gematsu
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the initial, spoiler-free thoughts on infinite wealth
because honestly i loved it and frankly it is worth the money (not the dlc though please don’t it won’t affect your enjoyment of the base game at all don’t buy it i beg).
definitely the perfect way to end things off for kiryu while passing the torch. nearly everything, from thematics to character writing, was fucking fantastic. some don’t get as much screen time as they should’ve but hey that’s ok. the romance substories are the biggest flaw because they romanticized some frankly disgusting shit but it’s easy to avoid them.
i will say on a personal note, i’m really glad 8’s as good as it is. started my experience with the series with 0 back in 2021 during the baka mitai meme’s height and the games definitely got me through the covid lockdowns. 4, while i loved the main cast, drained me to hell and back, however, so i wrote it off as burnout and didn’t touch anything yakuza-related until infinite wealth. and tbh iw brought back that initial draw i had to the series back then. seriously it’s so fucking refreshing and really reminded me what made yakuza so special and interesting (at least to me). if you’re facing burnout from the series too, please give 8 a shot at least. if you haven’t played any of the games in recent years, give 8 a shot. holy fuck it’s amazing.
so yeah good shit ichiban’s a lovable goof kiryu is still best dad tomizawa better appear in 9
#ngl imma probably platinum it. still got the dungeons to do :)#and uh. here’s to the very real possibility kiryu can get old man married to majima because why the fuck not#shantien rambles#rgg#infinite wealth
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Yakuza/RGG/Like A Dragon OC/SI Ask Game
This is ending up a blend of specific to RGG questions and also general "introduce your character" questions. Oh well.
1. Basic intro! Name, age, etc. Whatever you wanna include.
2. Appearance stuff. As complex or basic a description as you want. If you use this character in multiple verses, are there any features specific to RGG? Irezumi, other tattoos, story scars, etc?
3. What role do they play? Substory star, side character, background cast, love interest, protagonist, antagonist, the options are endless.
4. Where in the story line do they land?
5. Does their existence make any major changes to the 'canon' story? Minor ones?
6. If they're from the mainline games, do they have an Ishin/Kenzan/Dead Souls version? Share as much as you want.
7. If they are/were a protagonist/playable, what fighting style would they use in the beat-em-up games? What about turn based, what would their party role be?
8. What kind of mobs would they get accosted in the streets by?
9. Are they related to any existing characters? What is that like?
10. Who do they get along with? How close are they?
11. How about enemies? Or just people they don't like?
12. Do they have any family? Are they involved?
13. Do they have a fave 'mini game' activity?
14. If they had their own special-to-them mini game, what would it be?
15. What would their 'home base' look like?
16. Bonus/DLC costumes! Serious, silly, anything goes.
17. What canon city are they based out of? Do they travel to others?
18. How about we introduce a new location just for them?
19. Canon has the cabaret, real estate, bakery. What would their 'business' be?
20. What are their 'signature collectibles', if they have any? (Cards, pocket racecar parts, etc.)
#ask game#yakuza#rgg#ryu ga gotoku#like a dragon#I'm winging it here#sorry if there is some overlap in other ask games
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Schedule Post: Tuba Construction
Still rather simple this week. Progressing further into the DLC now that we've progressed its main story and we're finishing up Kiwami 2 with the substories we still need to do and completing the side modes.
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Every Yakuza & Like a Dragon Game, Ranked From Street Punk to Dojima Clan Chairman
The Yakuza and Like a Dragon franchise is one bursting with distinctive titles. From inventive off-shoots to climactic conclusions for long-running sagas, the collection has seen extra innovation and creativity than most any of its contemporaries. And but, with so many titles within the collection, there’s undeniably a hierarchy of high quality. So be part of us as we rank each Yakuza and Like a Dragon recreation from high quality to phenomenal.
13. Yakuza Useless Souls
Picture Credit score: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega Yakuza has seen a wealth of spin-offs through the years, and Yakuza: Dead Souls was the primary to make its means west. Useless Souls is a far cry out of your typical Yakuza recreation, because it brings the zombie apocalypse to the bustling streets of Kamurocho. As a substitute of melee fight, there’s now a give attention to utilizing weapons and different weapons to blast zombies away. It’s a neat premise, however the controls in Useless Souls are very finicky. Likewise, it’s clear that the developer was actually making an attempt to get a really feel for the best way to design a shooter, because the taking pictures mechanics lack the polish wanted to make the second to second fight totally partaking. Regardless of these flaws, there’s loads of quirky writing and storytelling to be present in Useless Souls together with numerous comical substories to finish. Plus, it’s the one time within the collection that Ryuji Goda serves as a playable character. Even when it’s removed from the most effective Yakuza title on the market, it’s nonetheless an fascinating “what if” situation and has some enjoyable moments for fan favourite characters. That also places it properly above many different video games on the market; simply not the remainder of the video games within the Yakuza and Like a Dragon collection.
12. Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Title
Picture Credit score: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega To be clear, there’s no arguing that Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Title has its flaws. Shorter and fewer substantial in its narrative content material than different titles on this listing, the sport very a lot seems like a DLC growth stretched out right into a full recreation. The plot can meander at factors because it tries to make a contracted story work, and the gameplay can begin to really feel repetitive in case you don’t keep on with the primary story path. And but, for all of those lows, there are some excellent highs. The brand new Agent fashion affords some actually wild and wacky methods to terrorize your enemies in fight, permitting you to toss them round and zoom round fight arenas utilizing spy-esque devices. Alongside the fight is the story’s conclusion. Whereas the broader plot may not be perfect and even comes off as considerably unimportant, the finale incorporates a number of the most gut-wrenching and emotional scenes the collection has ever supplied; particularly in case you’ve stored up with each recreation’s story as much as that time. It will not be excellent, nevertheless it nonetheless upholds most of what makes the broader Yakuza and Like a Dragon collection nice. For that purpose, it nonetheless manages to keep away from hitting the underside of our rating.
11. Yakuza
Picture Credit score: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega The very first Yakuza recreation launched on the PlayStation 2 in 2005, and it established a lot of what the collection remains to be recognized for in the present day. Most all the collection’ core parts are current within the recreation together with its trademark brawling system, warmth actions, and dramatic storytelling that mixes in goofiness. The beginning of Kiryu’s saga can be entrance and middle, and it’s as accessible as potential because of the truth that there aren’t some other video games that gamers have to have performed via earlier than. Being the primary Yakuza title ever although, it positively exhibits its age. The way in which the sport segmented its fight and exploration definitely feels dated compared to the extra free-flowing expertise that later entries within the collection would current. It additionally doesn’t assist that the English model of the sport really localizes the story into English with no subtitled Japanese dub choice. Though the English dub wasn’t dangerous, they stick out like a sore thumb when in comparison with different Yakuza video games and put extra emphasis on the crime points of the story than was current within the Japanese model. All the identical, it’s nonetheless an amazing recreation and plainly exhibits why the collection has gone on so long as it has.
10. Yakuza 3
Picture Credit score: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega Yakuza 3 was the very first recreation designed for the PlayStation 3, and the workforce’s early expertise with the {hardware} positively exhibits. All the pieces feels a bit stiff control-wise in Yakuza 3. Fight doesn’t move in addition to in different titles, and animations are a bit unusual exterior of cutscenes. It’s additionally shorter than most different entries within the collection, making for an expertise that looks like there needs to be extra to it. Nonetheless, it performs simply high quality and options a number of the finest substories within the collection thus far. The third recreation additionally has among the best essential tales of the entire collection, as Kazuma Kiryu tries to depart the Yakuza life behind and give attention to working an orphanage in Hiroshima. The youngsters on the Sunshine Orphanage and the Ryudo Household in Hiroshima make for compelling characters, and actually give an emotional purpose for Kiryu to battle. Although Yakuza 3 may not be excellent, it brings some implausible character growth for Kiryu, Majima, Haruka, and different distinguished characters. And, because of the discharge of the remaster in 2019, it’s by no means been simpler to dive into the most effective model of it.
9. Yakuza 2
Picture Credit score: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega Yakuza 2, very like the primary recreation, feels a bit dated in comparison with the remainder of the collection when it comes to each graphics and gameplay, nevertheless it’s nonetheless simple to see why so many held it up as the most effective within the collection for years. The sport made some significant modifications over its predecessor by including extra aspect content material and making fight smoother and extra partaking, all whereas introducing a wealth of recent story parts. Gamers can spend hours exploring each side of the sport’s setting, and the fight makes each battle really feel impactful and adrenaline-pumping. It additionally takes loads of time to introduce the second greatest crime syndicate in Japan subsequent to the Tojo Clan, the Omi Alliance. The sport’s major antagonist, Ryuji Goda, is completely one of many collection’ finest, and amongst Kiryu’s best rivals. The place Kiryu is the “Dragon of Dojima,” Ryuji is named the “Dragon of Kansai,” and he’s a properly fleshed out and memorable character. Toss in the truth that it has among the best tales in your complete collection, and the sport nonetheless shines even so a few years later. Fortunately for western followers too, Sega determined to depart within the unique Japanese audio, which helped solidify the cultural implications of the sport; and, cement a core facet of the collection western followers nonetheless love in the present day.
8. Yakuza 4
Picture credit score: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega Yakuza 4 is a large change for the collection, because it’s the primary recreation that options playable characters that aren’t Kazuma Kiryu. The sport is cut up into 4 completely different components, every consisting of quite a lot of chapters. Every of the sport’s 4 protagonists are playable so as beginning with Akiyama, then transferring onto Majima’s sworn brother Taiga Saejima, the police officer Masayoshi Tanimura, and eventually culminating with Kazuma Kiryu. Not like Yakuza 3, virtually all the recreation takes place in Kamurocho. This time round, nevertheless, town has been considerably expanded, letting you discover the sewers and underground in addition to the rooftops. Main enhancements had been made to fight too, with every character having their very own distinct fashion and Warmth Actions. There’s additionally a wealth of recent minigames to undertake, and tons of aspect content material to dig into for every character. Most of mentioned aspect content material feels distinctive to them too, serving to to determine every protagonist’s misadventures as their very own. Seeing how every of the 4 character’s tales intersect within the recreation is its essential draw, and the finale with all 4 is extremely enjoyable. The sport totally proved that having different characters take the highlight in addition to Kiryu may actually repay, and supplied a framework for future titles to construct off of with the idea.
7. Yakuza Kiwami
Picture Credit score: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega Kiwami was a sort of high quality remake that we hadn’t seen a lot of upon its launch, utterly redefining the unique expertise with all the things the collection has realized since its begin on PS2. A full-blown remake of the very first title, the sport is constructed on the identical engine that Yakuza 0 runs on. Sega stored the unique story utterly intact too, with cutscenes even sporting the very same digicam angles inside the new engine. The unique voice forged additionally re-recorded their strains, and new scenes are featured to additional flesh out the story of Nishikiyama, Kiryu’s sworn brother and the villain of the sport. The sport even makes use of the combating types of Yakuza 0, however with much more changes and enhancements. You possibly can swap freely between the Brawler, Rush, and Beast combating types in fight, and the Dragon combating fashion will be unlocked by finishing particular aspect missions. There’s additionally a model new system often called “Majima In every single place” that has everybody’s favourite one-eyed villain stalking Kiryu all through town of Kamurocho. He may pop up as a police officer and cease you randomly; leap out of the sewer from underneath a manhole; and even costume up as a hostess to actually give Kiryu a shock. Yakuza Kiwami is a main instance of the best way to meaningfully remake a recreation, and it’s the right expertise to leap into proper after Yakuza 0. It builds upon the primary recreation, and makes it that a lot simpler to see how the collection began off so a few years in the past.
6. Like a Dragon: Ishin!
Picture Credit score: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega Although the unique Ishin title by no means bought an official launch within the west, the remake Like a Dragon: Ishin! greater than makes up for it. That includes a pseudo-historical fiction reimagining of the primary recreation’s premise set inside the Edo interval, this title locations everybody’s favourite Yakuza and Like a Dragon characters inside a samurai drama stuffed with blood, blades, and manly spirit. Read the full article
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RGG Tactics/Aoyagi Saga business sideplot #1: Cat Cafe Grand Prix
[Context: at a certain point in the story, Aoyagi is gifted a fixer-upper cafe to make a little walking around money with. Because Sotenbori is chock full of restaurants and because it is Unwise for him to repeat the same gimmick his place in Kamurocho used, he turns it into a cat cafe in partnership with the local TNR group. Naturally, a bunch of Cruella DeVil type shitlords running a syndicate of high-end cat cafes decides to start some shit. From the mechanics outline:]
Similar to the Cabaret Club sideplots.
You get cats on loan from the local TNR/rescue group. In order to request a new cat, you have to trap a stray. The rescue group will swoop in and pick up the stray, and then deliver a new cat to the cafe next time you enter it. The cat you trap will not be the cat that’s delivered, but strays you trap will eventually start being delivered once they’ve been fixed and prepped for adoption.
There are three factors in determining your score for each shift: profit, customer satisfaction, and adoptions. You’ll need to keep your menu fresh to maximize profit and satisfaction, and keep your cats happy to keep them from misbehaving on the floor and to incite customers to adopt them.
The mission of the cat cafe is to get cats adopted. Customers will bond with cats; when the bond maxes out, the customer will adopt the cat. An adoption during a shift will MASSIVELY boost your score and can make or break a rival battle.
There are a few rare “platinum” cats, obtained via substories or beating rivals in the Cat Cafe Grand Prix. These cats have god tier stats but aren’t adoptable (this is explained in-game as them being special needs cats that can’t be placed with just anyone so the application process is a lot more involved). They’ll get customers in the door and loosen their hold on their wallets, but too many of them in your cast at once will tank your overall score because again, the goal is to get cats adopted.
Your first platinum cat is a majestically fluffy white cat with gorgeous blue eyes, named Miyuki (see what I did there? Yuki? Mew-ki? Ehhhh forget it). Miyuki is your number one girl. She is deaf and frequently oblivious to her surroundings and at some point in the sideplot she will get catnapped and you will be forced to do a rival battle without her. Same as it ever was.
Beating the Amon Clan tactical battle gets you, among other cool things, the best platinum cat in the game. He’s a big stocky black cat with sunglasses. His name is Nyamon. I’m not sorry.
You can put cute accessories on the cats to boost their appeal. Except for Nyamon, who will hiss at you if you try to swap his shades for another accessory.
Stressed cats, like stressed hostesses, will need time off. Putting an unhappy cat on the floor may lead to customers getting scratched or bitten, which will affect your score.
Different food has different effects on the cats’ stats. Fresh-made food is orders of magnitude better than the canned shit from Poppo and Donki, but you’ll need a recipe for that...
You can’t assign cats to tables. The cats will go where they want. However, if a cat starts to bond with a customer, she’ll eventually cling to that customer like glue.
In typical asshole cabaret club rival style, the Cruella DeVils will ditch their purebred number one cats after you beat them. Their loss is your gain.
Mr. J and Kofu DLC
#yakuza#yakuza oc#fan stuff#aoyagi saga#essence of pspspsps#look is a true cat cafe management sim minigame too much to ask for#we could have had it in Y6 but nooooooo
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Now you've given me an idea.. What if like. All Tojo clan liutenants and patriarchs wanted to babysit Daigo to get on Dojima's good side.. Like they'd literally all stab each other over who gets to take this kid to an arcade and a karaoke bar after.. Daigo doesn't know what's happening and he keeps lying like "yeah man you're the first person to take me out today let's do something fun" and he just comes back home with alcohol poisoning and twitchy hands from playing outrun all day. We need like a rankings list of who'd be the best at this.
DLC SUBSTORY: "Daigo-ing drinking"
#Anon you're hilarious#Each time Daigo and the current babysitter come out from a bar another potential babysitter stabs the other and is like#forget them kid ill show you what real yakuzas do for fun#ShimanoAsks#as for the ranking i think they're all just as bad as each other lmao. they just dont get it
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Top Ten Games of 2020
This year being the shitshow that it was, I ended up playing quite a few games I missed out on last year! First though, my lists from the previous years:
2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019
I like having my actual top ten being games that came out the year of but here's a few games that would have been on my list last year if I had played them:
Control
Really fun gameplay and a great weird world to play around in that scratched that weird cryptid/scp itch in a really satisfying way. I still have the final DLC left but I'm excited to do a full replay of the game at some point down the line
Outer Wilds
This game was worthy of all the praise it got last year and more. Amazingly crafted clockwork world with great lore and characters and an absolute blast to explore and get lost in- and then explore and get lost in- and then explore and get lost in- and then explore and get lost in- and then explore and oh damn is that a singularity cool I wonder what happens if I- and then explore and get lost WOAH there's two of me now!
I wish I could forget this game and play it for the first time all over again.
Honorable Mention:
Ghost of Tsushima
This game is an absolute blast to play and has some of the best seamless open world navigation I’ve experienced in the genre. How much I love playing the game is however at odds with how much I LOATHE its absolute horseshit main story. Might check out the multiplayer mode some time since it’s all the stuff I liked and none of the bad stuff.
Now for the actual list:
10. Man Eater
This game scratched a deep PS2/PS3 B game itch that I've had since probably the last Saint's Row game came out. It's nothing special but I had a really fun time with this weird, bite-sized(heh) comedy game.
9. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Ori 2 is in every way a massive improvement from the first game. The mechanics feel tighter, the level design is a lot more open and freeform, the writing feels sharper and the addition of tons of new characters with lots of dialogue helps flesh out this very beautiful world the designers at Moon Studio have crafted. I played this game on Switch and it played pretty smoothly though it was extremely jarring seeing XBOX GAME STUDIOS upon loading the game up on a Nintendo console.
8. The House in Fata Morgana: Reincarnation
This epilogue to the previous two visual novels did a fantastic job of closing out all the characters personal arcs and rounded out the story in a really good way that didn't choke me up at all, shut up.
7. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
Now here's one I didn't expect to get sucked into as much as I did. There are a lot of plot expectations coming into this game from Breath of the Wild and it takes no time at all for HW2 to subvert the shit out of them. It toes the line really well between being both a prequel and a pseudo sequel really well and the combat is that good chunky big musou stuff I love. It also doesn't have any Imprisoned fights so it's immediately better than HW1.
6. Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Speaking of pseudo sequels... This game was just an absolute blast. The combat is hectic and strategic in a really satisfying way. The way it fleshes out all the characters from the early parts of FF7 while also having kicking rad world building and a few(not enough) new areas entirely ruled and much like HW2 it absolutely loves to set up expectations from the original game and flip them on their heads. I can't wait to see this shit go off the rails in the eventual sequel.
5. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
I have like 300 hours logged into this game at this point. I've never been much of an AC guy but boy did this game luck out by coming out just in time for me quarantining at home for 7 weeks. I don't really have a lot to say about the game itself, I'm just glad I had it to occupy my time during the start of this hellshow.
4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 4
This game has some of the highest highs in the Trails series along with some of the absolute lowest lows. It's an absolute mess especially on the romance side of things but CS4 also wraps up longstanding plot threads from like 7 games prior with surprising amounts of finesse so the pros ended up outweighing the cons for me overall. This series was a core example of scope getting out of hand over and over. In a world where these games are tighter paced and end up being the 2 games they planned instead of 4 I could see this being a top contender. Sadly that wasn't the case.
Now that the arc of these games is over I'm excited to see if they can return to form with the next one.
3. Hades
Amazing combat, amazing writing, well integrated roguelite elements and plot, dope ass music, this game's got it all baby. The amount of variety and build potential on hand makes me constantly excited to hit up a new run.
2. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero
Take all my complaints out of the CS4 blurb and this (finally) fan-translated version of the first game in the second Trails arc is what you get. This game had some of the best worldbuilding in the series due to it taking place entirely in one huge Hong Kong style city. It closed out a major and extremely emotionally satisfying plot thread from the first 3 games and ends on such a fantastic high note of a finale. Trails fans who haven't touched Crossbell yet, don't miss out!
1. Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Why is Yakuza 7 my favorite game of the year? It’s not the brand new, huge city to explore filled with stuff to do. It’s not the shift to JRPG combat that works extremely well in context and gets really fun by the end of the game. It’s not the fact that this is easily the funniest game I’ve played all year, and hell, maybe ever. It’s also not the way the game perfectly closes out the Era of the last seven games while ushering in a new, extremely exciting one.
It’s because the new protagonist, Kasuga Ichiban, is not Kazuma Kiryu.
Let me back-up for a sec. This game’s biggest change above all else is the shift to a new protagonist. Now, for a Yakuza game, having a different protagonist isn’t normally a huge deal; we had new guys in 4, 5 and Judgement. But they all functioned within the narrative framework established by Kiryu.
Kiryu is a character whose core philosophy I feel can be broken down into one sentence: Don’t let anyone stand in the way of you living your life the way you want to live it. Every main story in Yakuza 0-6 revolves around this philosophy, as do most of the substories. Kiryu only gets involved in a game’s main story when he has no choice, because something is threatening the life he wishes he could be living. Hell, if anything, you could argue his ending in 6 is him finally accepting he can’t have the life he wants if he wants the people in it to be safe.
So when RGG studios created a new protagonist, built around a whole new combat style, they also had to change the philosophy behind their storytelling.
Kasuga Ichiban is a character who, after this first game at least, to me has a core philosophy of: Everybody deserves to be alive, to be seen, to be helped and to be understood. The changes this brings to the story are incredible and lead to one of the most emotionally satisfying games I’ve ever played.
Sure, this is a Yakuza game, with it’s typical conspiracies and crime melodrama, but it’s also a game about the dehumanization of homeless people and sex workers. A game about the rampat mistreatment of immigrants and elderly people. A game about the dangers of rampant puritanical nationalism.
That it manages to be all those things so loudly and proudly is something that could only happen with a loud, rambunctious, heart on his sleeve type of guy like Kasuga Ichiban driving it.
Also the reason it’s a JRPG now is because he’s a huge Dragon Quest nerd, and you get to summon a crawfish named Nancy to kill people. Game of the Year.
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Yakuza Like a Dragon Trailer
Yakuza Like a Dragon Trailer
Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s Day Ichi Edition includes the Legends Costume Set featuring eight costumes representing fan-favorite figures from the Yakuza series, from Kazuma Kiryu to Daigo Dojima.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s Hero Edition includes a selection of the game’s DLC, including the Legends Costume Set, Job Set, and Management Mode Set.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s Legendary Hero Edition includes ALL of the game’s DLC, including the Legends Costume Set from the Day Ichi Edition. This DLC adds a wide variety of in-game bonus content, including the Job Set, which unlocks the ‘Devil Rocker’ and ‘Matriarch’ Jobs, as well as the Management Mode Set, Crafting Set, Karaoke Set, Ultimate Costume Set, and Stat Boost Set. RISE LIKE A DRAGON
Ichiban Kasuga, a low-ranking grunt of a low-ranking yakuza family in Tokyo, faces an 18-year prison sentence after taking the fall for a crime he didn't commit. Never losing faith, he loyally serves his time and returns to society to discover that no one was waiting for him on the outside, and his clan has been destroyed by the man he respected most. Ichiban sets out to discover the truth behind his family's betrayal and take his life back, drawing a ragtag group of society’s outcasts to his side: Adachi, a rogue cop, Nanba, a homeless ex-nurse, and Saeko, a hostess on a mission. Together, they are drawn into a conflict brewing beneath the surface in Yokohama and must rise to become the heroes they never expected to be. LEVEL UP FROM UNDERDOG TO DRAGON IN DYNAMIC RPG COMBAT
Experience dynamic RPG combat like none other. Switch between 19 unique Jobs ranging from Bodyguard to Musician, using the battlefield as your weapon. Take up bats, umbrellas, bikes, signs, and everything else at your disposal to clean up the streets! ENTER THE UNDERWORLD PLAYGROUND
When you're not busy bashing heads, relax by hitting up the local arcade for some classic SEGA games, compete with locals in a no holds barred go-kart race around Yokohama, complete 50 unique substories, or just take in the scenery of a modern-day Japanese city. There’s always something new around the corner.
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Yakuza Kiwami Review
This was way shorter than 0 and it kind of caught me off guard but it is a remake of a nearly 20 year old PS2 game so I’ll cut it some slack. Also the writing was nowhere near as good as 0 but they’ve added some cutscenes to expand upon the story which helps as lot. Anyway spoilers :
The good shit:
It all looks very nice I must say. Outside of NPC’s in the street who are very PS3
Still has the style switching which I prefer for the strategy. Rush seems a bit more useful this time.
Like I said, the new cutscenes help expand on Nishki’s development, which is really needed.
Kiryu has some cute interactions with Haruka
Introduction of one of the best characters, Date. And his helicopter. And his shitty babysitting
I didn’t mind having money separate from experience this time
No Mr.Shakedown
I enjoyed the Majima everywhere system, it was funny and occasionally panic inducing when I was injured and could hear him coming. I imagine it’d be a nightmare if you were a completionist which I ain’t
Final Boss with Nishiki is great
Again, another fantastic soundtrack
Someone matched the old english dialogue with the new cutscenes and it’s funny as fuck
Little references here and there to 0
It’s very similar to 0 gameplay wise so what’s good there is mostly still good here.
The Bad shit:
Feels short, but I get why. Like a big DLC download really.
Haruka’s voice cuts through my head like a knife
The majima in the actual story clashes with the majima everywhere system’s personality. Can make it a bit confusing.
Substories here a more boring, lots of scams.
Most of the boss fights in this game are fucking awful, I’m sorry. The mid fight healing can get tae fuck. Shimano’s first fight is tedious as shit and takes forever if you haven’t unlocked much moves yet. The gun guy is also bullshit. Jingu is the second worst boss fight in the entire series, WTF where they thinking. I’m just glad I got him on the first try.
Substories that are actually important to the plot are easily missed. Daigo’s mum and the fake Mizuki wouldn’t trigger for me so I just watched them online. Bizarre choice.
I do not care for the florist. And I care even less about his stupid son who doesn’t add anything to the story. Purgatory as a whole sucks imo.
Reina deserved better.
Cool tracks being wasted in one off situations. why did ‘Intelligence for Violence’ get used on six random mooks you finish off in a minute. Should of been a boss theme
Having to slowly unlock legend style. Couldn’t be arsed.
Fucking guns knocking you flat on your hole again.
Shitty car chase section
No disco
If it wasn’t for 0, the story would feel very weak. I get it was made without anything else in mind, but even with the added cutscenes it’s not great. Why:
Yumi got no development in 0 for some reason and barely gets any here either. She’s kiryu’s great ‘love’ but I did not sense that at all. He had to be basically be told to get her the ring for her birthday and they barely interact. She’s gone for most of the game and then appears, gives a speech about real happiness and then dies.
Kiryu finds Haruka in a pub he was recently in full of murdered civilians and there’s no follow up on that? Next time I went the pub was back to normal? WTF?
Jingu appearing near the end with little build up and is comically evil with his stupid villain laugh. He was apparently loving but then went super evil because of ‘power’ and despite being married to the prime minister’s daughter is doing all this bullshit. I see they tried to tie him into future games but yeah this felt like bullshit.
Sera gets murdered offscreen and it’s implied Nishiki did it and it’s left at that. Disappointing after his role in 0
Shimano and Kazama built up as masterminds in 0 but don’t seem to be all that in this game. Shimano is reckless as hell and kazama just dumps exposition and then dies.
Kiryu is very calm about the fact his father figure killed his parents. This is never followed up on in the series BTW.
Nishiki doesn’t appear enough and didn’t have to die that dumbass death. The bomb was already going off you tool.
A lot of people said this would feel like a downgrade, as 0 is considered one of the best games in the series and I agree with that. But it does help this game overall if you’ve played 0 first storywise. The game was always going to be limited but they've really put the effort in for a new audience. It’s still really fun.
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My Top 10 Games of 2018
2018 was a solid year for video games. There were a lot of games that I ended up liking a lot more than I thought I would, and a couple of indie surprises as well. I think 2017 was a very hard act to follow and as such I’ve had a tough time deciding the order this time around, but in the end I still feel very good about the 10 games on this list.
10. Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
What a surprise this turned out to be. I bought Obra Dinn based solely on the fact that it was Lucas Pope’s next game and much like Papers, Please, it’s a very unique type of game. In Obra Dinn you are charged with investigating the mysterious return of a ship thought to be lost at sea, whose crew had all mysteriously perished or disappeared. You walk around looking for dead bodies of the crew, and using your magic compass you are able to view a tableau pinpointing the moment of their death. Using this information it’s your job to fill in the journal and figure out how each and every member of the 60-person crew died and who or what killed them. There’s a lot of guesswork involved since you aren’t given a lot of detailed information, but thanks to the fantastic audio cues it was one of the most satisfying and rewarding games I played all year.
9. Tetris Effect (Monstars Inc./Resonair)
Tetris Effect is easily the coolest edition of Tetris made to date. In addition to being a wonderful VR experience on the same level of Rez Infinite or Thumper, Tetris Effect features almost everything a good Tetris game ought to have. Plenty of different game modes are included such as classics like Marathon or Sprint to the weirder ones like new Purify or Mystery modes. But the standout is definitely Journey mode. Functioning as a campaign, this mode takes you across almost 30 unique stages each featuring its own incredible dynamic music that progresses as you clear lines, and beautiful visuals that are greatly enhanced in VR. I expect this will be the game I keep coming back to from this year to play every now and again, and will definitely be my go-to Tetris game.
8. HITMAN 2 (IO Interactive)
A follow-up to 2016′s HITMAN (and my personal #2 game of that year), HITMAN 2 expands upon it in almost every way. The briefcase is back. Blending mechanics have been added for big crowds and bushes. The levels are orders of magnitude larger and while there’s only 5 of them, they’re all of the quality of 2016′s Sapienza level. There are also a couple of new modes too. One of which is a Sniper Assassin level where you are perched in a sniper’s nest overlooking a wedding and given many targets to take out, and the other is a multiplayer versus mode where you race against another player to take out a target faster.
But perhaps the most pleasantly surprising improvement has been in the quality of writing, specifically for 47′s character. You can tell they spent a lot more time ensuring he has lines for some of the more whacky scenarios he can end up in, especially when he gets the chance to talk directly to his targets. HITMAN 2 is ultimately more of the same, but it’s a lot more and definitely the game worth picking up if you’re a fan of the series or stealth games in general.
7. Yakuza 6 & Yakuza KIWAMI 2 (SEGA)
Unlike last year with 0 and KIWAMI, I feel very similarly about the two Yakuza games that came out this year so I thought they should occupy the same spot. The main thing that sets these new releases apart from previous entries is the new Dragon Engine. It’s a pretty big departure in feeling from the previous combat engine, but it allows for a lot more freedom since street battles are no longer constrained to an arena. You can run as far as you like, you can drag enemies into nearby shops and restaurants, and the new ragdoll physics are utterly hilarious. Both games also feature a new side activity (a tower defense style game in Kiwami 2 and a reverse tower defense style game in 6) that ties in with well known members of NJPW.
As far as story goes, I think both of them are pretty good. Having never played 2 back in the day, it definitely holds up to and even surpasses some of the later games’ stories with one of the best antagonists of the series in Ryuji and an even better partner character in Kaoru. KIWAMI 2 also incorporates the cabaret club minigame from Yakuza 0 with a whole new storyline, and some great new substories. Yakuza 6 on the other hand is a pretty decent finale for Kiryu’s story. It makes some callbacks to previous games (especially 0 and 2) and some fun new characters along with the vibrant new location of Onomichi. It’s sad that Kiryu’s story is over now, but I still have a strong hope for the future of the series.
6. Deltarune (Toby Fox)
Certainly the biggest surprise of the year was Deltarune. A new project from Undertale’s Toby Fox, Deltarune most notably features a new party system for battles and more detailed graphics. It’s got all the writing and music I’ve come to expect and love from Toby, a new cast of characters, and a promising story. Deltarune isn’t finished yet and it will be a long time before we see its conclusion, but Chapter 1 is an incredible start.
5. God of War (Santa Monica Studio)
I didn’t expect to like the new God of War as much as I did. I grew up with the series and I wasn’t sure how to feel about this completely new over-the-shoulder direction. My worries were quickly put at ease however, with how much fun Kratos’ new axe was to use and all of the abilities you could unlock throughout the game. Perhaps my favourite part is the map itself; while it is an open-world game, it is the exact right size. It respects your time and you never take long to get somewhere interesting, and your exploration is rewarded adequetly. This design philosophy seems to be lost on a lot of modern open-world developers and its refreshing to see it done right in God of War. As for the story, it goes in a very interesting direction and the dynamic between Kratos and his son Atreus unfolds in some satisfying ways, managing to give Kratos some real character development beyond angry bald man. They are definitely using this one to setup more God of War games, and they have revitalized my excitement for the future of this series for the first time in a decade.
4. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country (Monolith Soft)
The Golden Country takes place 500 years before XC2 and outlines the events leading up to it. There are many familiar faces, and the story expands upon many events Rex and his party learn about in the base game. Much of the game takes place on Torna and its a varied location with lots of different environments and enemy types. The biggest improvement from XC2 is the battle system. It’s a lot more straightforward this time around because there’s no more core crystal system where you have to do gacha pulls to get new random blades. There’s just the 3 party members and their two main character blades which makes for guaranteed combo and chain attack potential throughout the game, whereas before you would have to get lucky and try to optimize for it. Clocking in at about 30 hours, I think one could definitely make the case for playing this expansion either before XC2 to see the story setup, or playing it after for appreciating the character development. You can tell a tremendous amount of love and care went into making this expansion, and being included in the XC2 season pass makes it a tremendous value.
3. Monster Hunter World (Capcom)
It’s been awhile since I got so obsessed with a specific game that I wanted to do nothing else but play it when I wasn’t at work or asleep but Capcom did it. Having only played 4U previously on the 3DS for about 60 hours, it cannot be overstated how much work they put into making this series more palatable. Whether it’s through streamlining weapon upgrades by showing us the weapon paths, or getting rid of consumable whetstones, or just showing us the direction the monster is in after collecting a couple of tracks, or finally upgrading from god damn PS2 models, or just putting it on a proper console again so I don’t have to get carpal tunnel from the 3DS. The list goes on and on about all the things that made this Monster Hunter the one that got me hooked. They’ve supported the game with a ton of free post-launch content too including new monsters and fun crossover skins. If there is any game to point to and say Capcom has cleaned up their act these last couple of years, this is it.
2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Sora Ltd./Bandai Namco)
There are a lot of things I could say about Ultimate, but I think the most important thing to remember is that it is an incredible collection of fighting game content. There are a ton of characters, stages (with 3 variants of each!), and almost a thousand songs. Sakurai has gone to even greater lengths to ensure that this game can be enjoyed by players of any inclination. Whether you like to play with stocks or stamina, or if you wanna use all items/no items/whichever items you like, there’s probably a rule setting for you. This is finally the Smash game that has gotten me interested in the competitive side, fighting one on one without items and as such I have an appreciation for it now. New characters like Incineroar, Simon/Richter, and K. Rool are a blast to play, and characters I missed in Smash 4 like Corrin, Ryu, Cloud, and Duck Hunt have been a blast too. The game has really rekindled my enjoyment of the series and I’m trying all sorts of characters I never would’ve before. I would be totally okay if this was the last Super Smash Bros. game, and I look forward to seeing what the future DLC characters end up being.
1. Valkyria Chronicles 4 (SEGA)
VC4 is assuredly my favourite game of 2018. I’m a big fan of the fantasy alternate-universe WWII setting established in the first Valkyria Chronicles, and VC4 takes place around the same time. It follows the tale of the Federation Army’s Squad E led by commander Claude Wallace. Nearly every character is likeable in some way and all of them get some meaningful character development; the main characters through the story and the side characters through their own events where they interact with other members of the squad. The english voice actors really do a tremendous job selling these characters and their weird quirks. The gameplay is very similar to the first game with some new features like the Grenadier unit class or the halftrack APC you could use to quickly move multiple troops around the battlefield. If you are a fan of turn-based strategy, alternate history, or just straight up great characters I cannot recommend this game enough.
That’s all for my 2018 list. There are a few more games that I’d like to acknowledge from the year that didn’t quite make the top 10, but I’ll do that in a seperate post next week. If you’ve read this far, thank you so much for doing so. I’m very excited about the upcoming year in games!
#return of the obra dinn#tetris effect#hitman 2#yakuza#deltarune#god of war#torna the golden country#monster hunter world#super smash bros#valkyria chronicles 4#GOTY 2018
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