I played an hour of this game awhile back and it didnt really click for me, however I wanted to give this game another try and in doing so I ended up buying the entire yakuza collection on steam.

Story and World - Everything was memorable in the story. From the locations you visit like Sotenbori or Kamurocho to the characters like Kuze or Sagawa. Before starting up this game I looked at the splash art and there was just so much characters I remembered thinking "i bet im not going to remember a single name". However, I ended up doing the opposite of that and learning through the story their names and their motives. Wanted to do a completionist run halfway through my first ever playthrough btw but I ditched that mindset halfway through just because of how immersed and pinned I was to the story.

Sidestories - This wouldnt even be a category if it wasnt for the fact that these sidestories slapped. I play quite a bit of mmos and I really hate sidequests due to the pacing issues they can sometimes have, or them just generally being uninteresting and a snooze fest. But every single side story in this game was captivating even when the ideas should of been boring like bringing some lady a pizza or solving a crossword puzzle. Those side missions by the name alone should be boring right, but its the twist and writing that makes them into an exciting adventure like how you are solving a crossword puzzle for a couple which when solved turns out to be a proposal to get married. Genius.

Gameplay - I have never played a fighting game with this much depth before so all I knew beforehand was punch thing till it falls unconscious so keep that in mind. So, I felt like the combat was great, in fact my button mashing mindset completely vanished by the end of the game, and using the tech the game gave to me to take enemies down efficiently. But that even isnt the best part. The heats are so good, and was a surprise to me. Basically when you gain enough heat (up to 3 bars max) by dealing out damage or from the tech you have acquired you can initiate a sort of brutal animation that still hasnt gotten old to me even after 300 hours.

Mini games - There is so much game in this game. You can do normal ♥♥♥♥ like bowling, baseball, pool, or darts. But then comes the wacky stuff like slot car racing, telephone club, catfights, running a real estate or cabaret club, and dont get me started with karaoke or disco absolute bangers after bangers there. And maybe im one of those sick ♥♥♥♥♥ who enjoyed mahjong and shogi and that might be where all my hours were spent... So what? So what!?

Extras - I usually ignore the extras in these types of games but I simply wanted more despite everything this game has to offer. Extras includes multiplayer games like mahjong and poker, and local play like darts, pool, or bowling. The proving grounds were also some challenging side activities I looked forward to complete after each chapter. Good stuff to just kill time.

Got this game on sale for 5$ bucks but I would of gladly paid full price if i knew what was ahead of me.