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Found out about this earlier today, it is a massive W, it makes me so happy to see

Very much looking forward to playing this. Loved the first one and seems to be more of that but better

Yeah, they recently published a 20 minute video which describes what they are attempting to to achieve with it in that it is attempting to show you the dual reality of people living with psychosis experience in their interactions with normal people in how different it can make her see things. czcams.com/video/KVBxvlRV0d4/video.html

A few tips for those ready to face this stormy psychological adventure: Use headphones, disable subtitles, take your time with the game, and take regular breaks. I'd also add: be aware of your own mental and emotional state before diving in. It's a unique gaming experience, but come prepared!

This is the most positive review of Hellblade 2, barely any negative / critics even

It's free on gamepass by the way.

Already out? Nice. Thinking about playing the first one before this one 🤔

Infinite Wealth is an appropriate title for this game. Theirs an ridiculous amount of seemly Infinite wealthy content in this game. Almost all the Yakuza games are long but this was incredibly long even for Yakuza itself. I think when I finished I put 72 hours into this game. The 2nd longest for me would be Yakuza 0 at I wanna say 66 hours.

Overall, I was very happy with the game, the only unfortunate thing was the new game + paywall which I didn't find out about until after I had purchased the deluxe edition, otherwise I would have just bought the standard edition. Yong Yea clearly had a much better director in this game as he at least sounds like he's trying to play the role of an older character which didn't seem to be the case in the man who erased his name

Probably one of the best games I've ever played. Just a masterpiece from start to end. Never played anything like it!!!

I just finished the first Octopath Traveler and when I heard you rate it 7 after giving its sequel 10/10, it gives me a hint (also high expectation) of how much better OT2 🤔 And you're right about how score can change, Alex, congrats on anniversary 🎉

Everytime we get another game like this , my hope for the gaming industry gains a little. From Second Story R, to Chained Echoes, to Visions of Mana, things just keep looking up.

thanks for the review Alex. yeah i didn't like dondoko island very much. i just did it to see what would happen but it really wasn't my cup of tea. other than that i loved this game and its a contender for goty for me.

Final fantasy 2 was not bad sure alot of people hate it but the game was a huge influence for the final fantasy legend games aka the saga games if people hate to as a final fantasy game think of it more as a saga game

(Spoilers after the 1st paragraph. Just gotta let it out here, lol. Sorry for the length to anyone reading! You were warned, dood!) Infinite Wealth's gameplay was totally peak between the two. It took the 'throw crap to the wall and see what sticks' mentality the first one had and actually gave it GROUNDED PURPOSE, lol. The team attacks are so smooth and so satisfying when you lamd them, and they aren't few and far in-between as you'd think. Unfortunately, the part that really gets me down is how they treat Kiryu in this game. He never catches a break, even to the end. He's my favorite character, and one that I aspire to from time to time (hell, we share the same birthday, lol). If they would've just left his appearance in LaD there and just gave him some sort of side character position, I'd be okay with that. Here, however, he's not given the time to shine when he and Ichiban's personalities are literally clashing when they occupy the same party, and when he finally gets his time, it's just really depressing. You'd think things would lighten up in the ending, but no. Look at what has become of Kamurocho's finest. It's like he's being punished for having his way of living life, and being told it's not okay to rely on yourself when you TOTALLY HAVE THE POWER TO. (Also, sadly Yong Yea's performance just doesn't work here, imo. He's great in other roles, but he still feels too forced, and somehow still doesn't seem like he's trying at all. He's like, overly stoic and then gets loud when he feels he has to.) I'm curious to what they have in store for Kiryu in the sequel, if anything, because it's totally unfair how he's treated here and in Gaiden. (Considering he also shares the same birthday as the series creator, it also feels like some cruel joke after his departure, but that's just my conspiracy theory at work, dood.)

Oooo Alex got stock money 😮😊😊😊

"There's a time and a place for everything" so agree with this. One time I pushed through some games (Deus Ex and FF 12) just with a thought "I'll just finish this", I ended up not enjoying the experience. Then I wait some time to go back to replay those games from the beginning, playing it slowly, really taking everything in and they were great experience overall! Infinite Wealth is a long game and now I always take my time with any long games like this. Glad this one turn out to be a sort of "passing the baton" to Ichiban while also further exploring Kiryu's struggle. Can't wait for what kind of story will RGG Studio make with the next game

I loved how the game is simultaneously a celebration of the series so far and a look into where it’s going in the future. It would be awesome if they released a GOTY physical edition which includes Like A Dragon Gaiden. Anyhow, great review as usual.

I might buy Yakuza: LaD, cause it's so cheap sometime down the road. But I've heard this is overall the best game in the series. Sucks there's no remasters of the other games on modern consoles. But I'll the series a try one day. A well-done review Alex.

Took a while, beat the game in the meanwhile, but glad your review is finally here.

The tricky thing about it is that it ends up being not really an Ichiban game or a good starting point, it's more about Kiryu and the history of the franchise. Series vets will find A LOT more to like about the game story-wise than people who jumped in at YLAD (the nostalgia hits are STRONG). Almost all complaints I had about YLAD's gameplay have been addressed, so it's vastly more fun to play even if not all parts of the story landed as well as others. Even after platinuming it I kept playing for another 15-20 hours to just run around the beautiful environments and finish off some last completion-y tasks. Ranks somewhere in the 2nd-4th range for me in the series out of the 12 that I've played.

Yakuza 7 is one of the best JRPG I have ever played. Yakuza 8 is better.

This game was easily a 10/10 for me. Honestly the way the ending went really sold the game for me. It felt so "anime" and I loved it. The improvements to the gameplay were so well done too. And, Ichiban has really been growing on me. I'm curious to see where his story will go next.

Enjoyed the breakdown! I'll grab it but honestly not in a real rush way too much stuff out. I'm surprised you recommended playing the previous titles. Most folks seem to wanna jump into the new entry lately

"Oak's words echoed... There's a time and place for everything" Wasn't sure if you were going to end up reviewing this game but glad you did!

I platinumed this game, including the DLC… It felt underwhelming 😢 But the story was rather good, just a little disappointed about one story hype that didn’t really get anywhere 😞.

I've absolutely loved Like a Dragon and expected this one to be even better, unfortunately I've been let down hard. Combat improvements are appreciated but they didn't even matter considering getting overleveled by accident was way too easy. I've hated the plot, new characters didn't do it for me, minigames weren't fun. I'd give it like 6/10 on a good day and it's just because I'm a yakuza shill. It's nice knowing I'm not the only one not loving this game

Like a dragon Infinite wealth was the first "new" game i started in 2024, after playing Rebirth, P3 Reload, Unicorn Overlord and Eiyuden Chronicles, I still find myself wanting to play more Yakuza. Cant wait for the next one 🥲

The "tutorial" took so so so long. When i did finally get out of it i got killed by a shaman and i rage quit. I still havent picked it back up.

I can't wait to jump into this game as soon as I'm done with ffvii rebirth!

In terms of newer RPG's I've only played Hades II and Unicorn Overlord the later of which I finished about a month or so ago with over 100hrs of playtime and enjoyed every moment. Such a great game, highly recommend it. I was surprised back in early April with my mate giving me his old PS4 for my birthday after he bought a PS5, and after watching this I didn't realise that Relink, Sand Land and Infinite Wealth came too PS4 so I'll be adding those to my buy list. In terms of stuff still coming out I'm looking forward to that's easy: Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time and Death end re;Quest Code Z. (that last one still has no realese date for the West yet).

Viii is the best

As a long time SaGa series player Emerald beyond is not good It's scarlet grace again The Series going downhill since unlimited which they should go back to snes formula Romancing saga 3 is my favorite saga but the remaster is very disappointing Half the framrate of the original UI worse than the OG Translations is pretty bad The additional content is a joke 1 unused dungeon

I’d have to say the community voting looks pretty spot on, but I would have 6 number 1 myself.

So far i think Infinite Wealth and Rebirth are in my top GoTy I seriously thought Chadley was going to turn into some kind of hidden boss when i did all his sidequest

Uhh would you consider another crab treasure as an rpg. Cause that’s been one of my favourite surprise this year 😭