First, let me say that this game has a couple issues.

The biggest of all is that SEGA is just really not good at optimizing performance in their Dragon Engine games. Yakuza LAD is the only game that makes my PC peak above 75C°, something not even Cyberpunk 2077 at close to all ultra settings can. Admittedly that is a little disheartening in terms of accessibility for users with lower end PCs.

The second issue is that this game has three entire cities but two are basically just glorified dungeon courtyards with absolutely nothing unique to them. Encounters are rare, and all activities can be found in Yokohama earlier. No sidequests, some story beats, that's it. A shame, but one that can be remedied easily later.

Now, let me say that this game is absolute kino in every aspect. It's frankly stunning that a game that made the transition to turn based JRPG at the last minute manages to be so good at everything a JRPG should be.

• Combat with very little tedium due to abundance of access to elements and AOE
• Very easy grinding
• Easy to manage character progression with simple catch-up
• Plenty of efficient moneymaking opportunities

Everything JRPG in this game feels right. Neither too hard or too easy. Plenty of options that don't feel overwhelming either.

The story is easily one of the best out of any Yakuza game so far. In fact, having played 0 to 7, I'll go so far as to say it has the best by far. Ichiban is an incredibly endearing protagonist that perfectly fits the Yakuza universe in both its seriousness and silliness in equal measure. The plot pacing is excellent and the story is extremely well told, handling its fundamental themes of depression and societal alienation with finesse without shoving them in your face relentlessly.

The entire cast is outright lovely in their differences and friendship, and that alone carries the entire Sotenbori segment in my opinion. Every character feels "close enough" to existing ones all while being their own thing all the same. It's a very delicate touch that lets veterans go from 6 to LAD without feeling alienated but without comprimising the story too badly. It's very good.

The soundtrack is extremely good as per Yakuza standards, and ranks very high on my list of favorites (at the top between 5 and 0/4, for reference).

Visually the game is generally pretty appealing but suffers from the usual Yakuza problem of "extremely high res characters in low res environments" and "random low quality CGs after ingame rendered cutscenes" which can be jarring, but kudos for the lovingly crafted rendering of Ichiban's perm. Seriously, this is the best hair I've seen in any game. Ever.

Finally, in terms of voice acting: It's really good to have Nishikiyama's voice actor back, because he absolutely aces the performance. I'm glad he was given a chance to be a protagonist, because he has all the chops to handle it. Ichiban has incredible energy in every aspect and is a very fitting continuation of Kuroda's Kiryu. A breath of fresh air the series really needed and was handled perfectly.

All in all, this is a solid 9/10 with all the problems being negligible especially if you have a powerful PC. If you're running on something a little old or weak, you might want to upgrade first.

First, let me say that this game has a couple issues. The biggest of all is that SEGA is just really not good at optimizing performance in their Dragon Engine games. Yakuza LAD is the only game that makes my PC peak above 75C°, something not even Cyberpunk 2077 at close to all ultra settings can. Admittedly that is a little disheartening in terms of accessibility for users with lower end PCs. The second issue is that this game has three entire cities but two are basically just glorified dungeon courtyards with absolutely nothing unique to them. Encounters are rare, and all activities can be found in Yokohama earlier. No sidequests, some story beats, that's it. A shame, but one that can be remedied easily later. Now, let me say that this game is [b]absolute kino[/b] in every aspect. It's frankly stunning that a game that made the transition to turn based JRPG at the last minute manages to be so good at everything a JRPG should be. • Combat with very little tedium due to abundance of access to elements and AOE • Very easy grinding • Easy to manage character progression with simple catch-up • Plenty of efficient moneymaking opportunities Everything JRPG in this game feels right. Neither too hard or too easy. Plenty of options that don't feel overwhelming either. The story is easily one of the best out of any Yakuza game so far. In fact, having played 0 to 7, I'll go so far as to say it has the [b]best by far.[/b] Ichiban is an incredibly endearing protagonist that perfectly fits the Yakuza universe in both its seriousness and silliness in equal measure. The plot pacing is excellent and the story is extremely well told, handling its fundamental themes of depression and societal alienation with finesse without shoving them in your face relentlessly. The entire cast is outright lovely in their differences and friendship, and that alone carries the entire Sotenbori segment in my opinion. Every character feels "close enough" to existing ones all while being their own thing all the same. It's a very delicate touch that lets veterans go from 6 to LAD without feeling alienated but without comprimising the story too badly. It's very good. The soundtrack is extremely good as per Yakuza standards, and ranks very high on my list of favorites (at the top between 5 and 0/4, for reference). Visually the game is generally pretty appealing but suffers from the usual Yakuza problem of "extremely high res characters in low res environments" and "random low quality CGs after ingame rendered cutscenes" which can be jarring, but kudos for the lovingly crafted rendering of Ichiban's perm. Seriously, this is the best hair I've seen in any game. Ever. Finally, in terms of voice acting: It's really good to have Nishikiyama's voice actor back, because he absolutely aces the performance. I'm glad he was given a chance to be a protagonist, because he has all the chops to handle it. Ichiban has incredible energy in every aspect and is a very fitting continuation of Kuroda's Kiryu. A breath of fresh air the series really needed and was handled perfectly. All in all, this is a solid 9/10 with all the problems being negligible especially if you have a powerful PC. If you're running on something a little old or weak, you might want to upgrade first.