Earlier this year, SEGA announced a successor initiative of sorts under the (oft used) moniker, SEGA AGES. With M2 again at the helm, a plethora of first party classics were promised for the Switch. First out of the gate are Sonic the Hedgehog (yes, again) and the classic Mega Drive shmup, Thunder Force IV.

One for the AGES

For whatever reason the game was retitled Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar in the US, but those of you reading this from across the pond will be happy to learn that both it and the international release are available here. It’s worth also noting that although this AGES outing is based on the original Mega Drive version and not the 1996 Saturn Port, it does include the previously Saturn-exclusive Styx mode, which we’ll go into later.

The all new AGES interface is pretty slick, with large, colourful icons (presumably for visibility in handheld mode) and artwork, in addition to a great little animated intro sequence. There’s even a cool “SE-GA” like jingle on the title screen that’s sure to tug on the old heart strings when you’re not perusing bet365 betting.

As is par for the course nowadays with retro reissues, there are a ton of visual customization options, including the obligatory CRT filters. Sometimes these effects can be somewhat overbearing, but the AGES preset Vintage Mode actually looks pretty good, with just the right amount of blur and curvature applied to the image to evoke childhood memories of classic gaming via cathode ray.

Styx and Stones

Thunder Force IV follows the shmup genre’s broad strokes, while at that same time successfully forging an identity all of its own.

Unlike many horizontal shooters, in Thunder Force IV, the play area can also be scrolled vertically within a limited range on most stages. This serves to at least create the impression of freedom, even if in truth, you’re just as anchored to the inevitable rightward crawl as ever.

As you’d expect, weapon power-ups come in many shapes and sizes, but unusually, you’re free to cycle through any you’ve collected at will rather than being stuck with the last one you acquired. There’s also a rear fire mode, which is handy given that a great many enemies will try and flank you.

Moreover, it’s possible to control your ship’s speed, charging your engines to anything from 1 to 100% by holding down the Y button. We have two misgivings with this: first of all, in such a fast paced shooter, we don’t really understand why you’d ever want your ship at anything below 100% manoeuvrability at all times. Secondly, while you can adjust engine power by as little as a single percent at a time, we’re pretty sceptical that affording players such pinpoint precision was ever really all that necessary.

Given Thunder Force IV’s gameplay quirks, it’s no bad thing that there’s a digital manual specific to this AGES release to consult at your leisure. Interestingly, it actually opens in the Switch’s onboard web browser, which to be fair, doesn’t prove as cumbersome as it might sound. Most importantly, the manual is sharp and legible in both handheld and docked modes.

Now onto Styx Mode. As we mentioned earlier, this was previously exclusive to the Saturn version of Thunder Force IV, released as part of Thunder Force Gold Pack II. In Styx mode you take control of the eponymous ship from Thunder Force III, sporting a different array of weapons in addition to a dodge move of sorts. Interestingly, (minor spoiler alert) Styx also makes a cameo appearance in stage 5 to fight alongside your usual craft, Rynex. Styx mode is a nice addition and could prove attractive to Thunder Force IV veterans that never got around to picking the game up on the Saturn.

AGED to Perfection?

The shooting in Thunder Force IV is just as fun now as it ever was, but difficulty may prove a sticking point for the uninitiated. In short, it’s a pretty challenging game, even when tackled in the patronisingly titled Kids Mode, and unlike some retro shooter reissues we’ve reviewed recently, there’s no option for unlimited lives to abuse while you get your bearings. One one hand, this forces newcomers to actually play the game as intended, but on the other, many will find retreading the initial stages over and over off putting.

Enemies are loose riffs on the Giger-inspired biomechnical aesthetic very common in video games at the time (see Gynoug, Mega Turrican et al), but are far from the best examples of this particular sci-if trope. While rarely more than merely serviceable in the looks department as a whole, Thunder Force IV’s impressive parallax scrolling effect deserves a special mention. The many interweaving layers of sprites here, both in the fore and background, create a pleasing sense of depth and forward momentum.

The original Mega Drive release of Thunder Force IV is notorious for chugging on occasion when things get too busy. Given how many orders of magnitude more powerful the Switch is than the Mega Drive, M2 have seen fit to include a ‘Reduce Processing Delay’ option, thereby utilising some of the Switch’s leftover horsepower to improve performance. There’s a tangible improvement, but the game still doesn’t deliver a locked frame rate, even with this mode engaged. A disclaimer states that some slowdown is by design, and thus unavoidable. We’ll have to take M2’s word for it on that one.

Sound effects are forgettable and of generally poor quality, particularly the harsh, lo-fi voice clips that play when you collect a power up. Weapons likewise sound brittle and tinny. The music is a mixed bag: we think the compositions are pretty great, but the actual quality of the samples leaves a lot to be desired. Ultimately, it seems that Thunder Force IV may have been hamstrung by the limitations of the Mega Drive’s Achilles heel: its notoriously lacklustre Yamaha YM2612 sound chip.

Summary

It’s easy to become weary of SEGA’s never ending cycle of modern re-releases, but to the company’s credit, each set of reissues is generally better than the last. This AGES version of Thunder Force IV is an excellent starting point, and certainly more interesting to hardcore SEGA fans than yet another Sonic the Hedgehog redux.

The game is satisfying to play with some nice and unique ideas, even if it hasn’t aged all that gracefully from an aural standpoint and pulls few punches in terms of difficulty. The new AGES wrapper is by far the slickest yet, and bodes well for future releases, among which is the arcade version of Thunder Force III, Thunder Force AC. .

PROS:

+ Original shmup gameplay

+ Extra STYX Mode

+ Slick AGES interface

CONS

– Poor sound effects

– Performance issues

– High difficulty

It’s been well over 15 years since we have left Shenhua and Ryo in that cave, and various advancements in technology have taken the concept of what it means to be an open world game to a whole other level. I do, however, believe it is unfair to compare these titles with games like Grand Theft Auto V or Red Dead Redemption, as Shenmue I & II is an entirely different beast. As the Shenmue fanbase and SEGA have said in their recent marketing campaigns, this is the game that helped shape open world games as we know it.

In 1999, Shenmue was indeed one-of-a-kind and revolutionary for its time. You inhabited a living, breathing world where day turned to night, snow turned to rain, and NPCs went along their day with schedules designed just for them. You could knock on any door, examine every object, and talk with anyone you encounter. When I popped in the first disc into my Dreamcast, my little mind exploded at the sheer concept of such a game existing.

But enough of my reminiscing; Let’s take a look and see how well SEGA preserved and polished these games for the modern gamer.

Lucky Hits

The first thing you’ll notice is that Shenmue I & II  is playable in full 1080p. Despite being originally designed for your retro, square televisions, playing Shenmue on an HDTV feels quite natural. When it comes to cutscenes, however, the game is set back to its original resolution. If you would like to play the entire game in its original resolution, you have that option to do so.

For the longest time, Shenmue’s English voice dub has been viewed as campy and pretty hilarious. With the exception of Corey Marshall’s Ryo Hazuki and a select few main characters, the voices of the various NPCs are pretty hilarious. Although in my opinion, that’s what gave Shenmue its charm. If you’re not a fan of the English dub, however, you can play Shenmue I & II entirely in Japanese for the very first time! Fans of the Yakuza series and Japanese dub purists will surely be excited to take advantage of that option.

The iconic loading screens and UI have been completely overhauled to work with every port. Speaking of loading screens, load times have been completely obliterated. Staring at that black and white screen waiting for the next area to load is a thing of the past and makes for a much smoother experience. You can even save anywhere at any point in the game!

A feature that many fans in North America had missed out on was the ability to transfer your save file from Shenmue I to Shenmue II. While some may consider this to be a miniscule addition to the game, it really makes every decision you make in Shenmue I have more gravitas. All the training and capsule toy collection you do in the first game definitely pays off when Ryo steps off that boat in Shenmue II.

I (Can’t) See…

Although SEGA did deliver on a number of improvements in Shenmue I & II, the game isn’t without its hiccups. There are a couple of sound issues and graphical glitches that occur in the game, even after the day one patch. Certain cutscenes such as an interaction with Fuku-san would cut to the dojo floor and I would be left staring at some wood while I get asked if I would like to spar. The music in both Shenmue I and II would occasionally get a bit off tempo or I would get one sound effect playing repeatedly during gameplay. SEGA is aware of the issues and they are slowly but surely addressing them, so at least there’s that.

Summary

Although Shenmue I and II  were released over 15 years ago, I believe it was important for SEGA to re-release Yu Suzuki’s games to the modern audience and expose them to what is considered to be the pioneer of open world games. The games are not without their faults and another patch is necessary to alleviate some of those sound and glitch issues, but that shouldn’t take away the experience of exploring Yu Suzuki’s living, breathing, and detailed world.

A number of improvements had been made to these classics, and although it would have been nice (and wishful thinking) to get a complete remake of Shenmue I  and II, it feels great to play these classics on modern consoles.

PROS

+ New UI

+ Long loading times eliminated!

+ Dual voice audio

+ Transferring save files from Shenmue I to Shenmue II

CONS

– Minor audio issues

– Certain graphical glitches need to be addressed in a patch

Regardless of my own delusional fight against time, it has indeed been 11 years since we last saw SEGA’s Shining series properly in the West, with the PlayStation 2’s Shining Force EXA being the then-apparent swan song. Since its departure from Western stores, SEGA’s classic RPG series has been prosperous in its homeland of Japan, not just as an RPG, but even dipping its toes into arcade games and fighting games. Those without the ability to import, and/or read Japanese were deprived of 12 games, despite an outcry from fans for each one of them to make the journey overseas.

However, with the current boom in Japanese games coming over that SEGA has played a huge role in, it seemed like only a matter of time before Shining, like Yakuza before it, made another attempt to break into the West, and finally that time has come.

Was Shining Resonance Refrain worth the decade-long wait?

First things first

Shining Resonance Refrain is a remaster of 2014’s Shining Resonance, coming to the West complete with a full English localization, to include voice acting, two new playable characters, a new side story, and practically all of the original game’s DLC available right from the start.

The game’s story centers around a mystical kingdom with princesses, witches, dragons and outfits and weapons that make no sense within the time period the rest of the setting draws inspiration from. Par for the course, and if you’ve ever played an RPG, you already know what to expect. The most interesting thing the setting does is tie everything to a musical theme.

The characters’ weapons double as musical instruments called “armonics” and range from a bow as a harp, all the way to the Gene Simmons’ special, an electric guitar that doubles as a battle axe. The full-party power up attack is called a B.A.N.D. Session – a buff-granting musical performance powered by a BPM gauge. The theme even factors into one of my favorite small details in the game, as the victory fanfare changes depending on who you have in your party, almost as if the characters are playing the fanfare themselves.

It can come off as hokey at first, especially if you’re like me and not exactly a fan of medieval things, but I generally enjoyed the game’s setting. Having music play such a role in the game’s theming helps a ton, as it’s not something I’m personally used to seeing outside of the rhythm genre. It also doesn’t hurt that the game has a fairly lovely cast of characters.

Let’s start a B.A.N.D.

While no one made me freak out and claim them to be the best character ever, there’s not a bad one in the bunch. They’re all mostly well written and acted, with Max Mittelman’s Agnum (pictured above) and Patrick Seitz’s King Arnold topping the list. Tony Taka’s character designs are also on point, and even mostly practical to boot! Shocking, given his … erm … typical works. Don’t search his name at work, is all I’m sayin’.

Aesthetically, Shining Resonance Refrain translates pretty well to the current generation. While screenshots don’t exactly do it much justice, due to heavy motion blur, it does look rather nice in action. There are some beautiful visuals to be seen, but it’s not exactly perfect. Most models, especially the main characters, have been bumped up quite a bit for the PS4 and look fantastic, but some of the monsters and environments have not, including some of the worst foliage I’ve ever seen in a game. Which, come to think of it, might the nitpickiest thing I’ve ever said. In any case, it can lead to some uncanny valley moments at times, but it’s not a deal breaker.

There are some performance issues as well. For the most part, the game runs at a fairly smooth framerate. However, further into the game, I experienced very noticeable framerate drops during battle, especially when using Agnum’s magic attacks. Considering this is the character I ran the most through the campaign, this got quite annoying over time. Once again, not exactly a deal breaker, and I learned to live with it, but definitely confusing considering the power of today’s hardware.

If there’s anything truly disappointing about the game’s aesthetics, it’s the music. It’s strange, given the game’s use of music as a main storytelling theme, but none of the music really stands out as memorable. It’s not particularly bad in any way, far from it actually, but it does end up becoming white noise after in even the most tense of encounters. About the only things that really stand out are the J-pop image songs for the dragons themselves, if only because of the hilarious idea that this happy, poppy music causes the most hardened of knights to lose all their composure.

But how does it play?

And that brings us to the meat of the game, how does it play? Honestly, it’s games like this that are the hardest to write about. Shining Resonance Refrain is simply a solid action RPG that doesn’t reinvent the wheel, nor does it botch and turn the wheel into a triangle. It feels rather similar to Valkyria Revolution in that regard. My time with that game was mostly enjoyable, but it wasn’t something I was clamoring to go back to after all was said and done. It’s the same deal here. The game is solid, inoffensive and succeeds in making each character play uniquely, but it’s ultimately forgettable when you’re done.

For those who want to jump in due to the social link aspects of the game, you won’t find a ton to work with here. It’s cool that the game allows you to pick specific character traits for each party member, turning their relationship values into several different buffs on the battlefield, but aside from that, night events, dates, and romances are as basic as you can get, and don’t really mean much once you’ve done one or two of them.

The most positive thing I can really say about the gameplay as a whole is that it’s easy to get lost in. I would sit down to play a few minutes, maybe walk around and grind some levels while waiting on a snack to cook or something, and later find myself wondering why it’s 3 a.m. and my noodles are cold. It never felt annoying to grind in like many JRPGs, and the ease of combat mixed with serene environments, interesting setting and likable characters made it a very relaxing game to play at the end of a long day.

Summary

At the end of the day, I’m not sure if Shining Resonance Refrain is the game fans of the series waited 11 years for. Its by the book gameplay mixed with a few little issues don’t particularly make it a must buy for everyone. But if you’re looking for a story with an interesting setting and theme, or you’re just into JRPGs in general, it’s worth a shot. Especially given its wallet-friendly $50 price tag.

It’s a great base to build off of. I just hope it’s not another decade before we see a Shining game in the West again.

PROS

• An interesting theme with some wonderfully written and designed characters to go with it
• Full English dub with generally quality voice acting
• Very easy to pick up and play, and easy to relax with as well
• Extra bonuses like new characters and story arcs make it worth picking up for new fans and those who imported the original alike

CONS

• Inconsistent levels of visual polish, with great character models paired with at times iffy environments and creatures
• Music is mostly forgettable, which is disappointing in a game themed around music
• Gameplay is solid, but not something that encourages much replay value after beating the game
• Relationships have no real lasting effect, for those into the dating sim aspect

Following a surprise outing on the Gamecube, it’s also been made available on Steam, Xbox 360 and even Android, although the latter isn’t compatible with newer versions of the mobile OS and is no longer available on Google Play.

Even Though The Ideal Is High, I Never Give In

For the benefit of the uninitiated, Ikaruga is a shooter in the classic Treasure tradition, albeit with an ingenious twist. Your ship can alternate between black and white polarities, and enemies likewise come in one of two monochrome flavours.

You’re impervious to attacks from enemies of the same colour,  absorbing their bullets to fill your special gauge, but do bonus damage to those of the opposite colour. While a very basic risk/reward trade-off at its core, this easy-to-learn-difficult-to-master mechanics gels brilliantly with Ikaruga’s expertly honed fundamentals, resulting in a truly remarkable SHMUP that is as great today as it ever was.

From a technical point of view, this Switch port is based on the more recent PC, Xbox 360 and Android reissues, sporting a ton of customisation options. It trucks along at an all but constant 60fps in both docked and undocked modes, with nary a jagged edge in sight. Models and effects hold up well, even if backgrounds are somewhat sparsely detailed.

With what appears to be a full 1080p resolution when docked and the Switch screen’s native 720p undocked, it’s a massive step up from the Dreamcast original, which tops out at just 480p in VGA mode, but very much in line with the aforementioned more modern PC, Xbox 360 and Android ports.

Ikaruga works brilliantly as a portable game. As we’ve seen with other Switch SHMUP updates (see our review of Zero Gunner 2- in Mega Visions issue 6), the myriad difficulty and gameplay options on offer here go hand in glove with the Switch’s casual, pick up and play premise.

You can approach the game however you want, and engage in anything from a hardcore single credit score attack to a brief, laid back firework show, where enemies don’t even fire back and continues are unlimited. You can even give one of the Joy-Cons to a friend and play cooperatively in both docked and undocked modes.

I Never Die With Regrets

Perhaps the most appealing addition here for genre devotees is Tate mode. In short, it’s possible to play the game with your Switch placed vertically, mimicking the screen orientation of the original arcade cabinet and doing away most of the otherwise necessary onscreen borders. Which is a good thing too, because they do take up a lot of screen real estate.

But would it were that simple. While hardly the fault of Ikaruga, Treasure or Nicalis (this version’s publisher), the Switch is actually quite impractical to use longways, because the kickstand doesn’t work that way.

Indeed, you have little choice but to perch the console on your knee, and you can’t even attach one of the Joy-Cons to the bottom, as the console just keeps prompting you to attach a second. That is, unless you use some kind of third party solution: we found an old iPad stand just the ticket for keeping the Switch safely held at a favourable angle, while using the Pro Controller for input.

Elsewhere there’s also a pretty cool gallery of artwork and renders, plus the ability to browse and listen to the game’s soundtrack at your leisure. You can even upload your high scores to an online leader board – assuming you don’t touch the difficulty setting, of course – or choose to tackle the main game with Geikei, the ship originally reserved for player 2.

While these features themselves aren’t new, they still round out the overall package nicely, and ensure that Ikaruga for Switch really is the definitive experience, whether on the go or at home sat in front of your TV.

SUMMARY

There’s a ton more SHMUPS slated for release on Switch in the coming months, and our hope is that Ikaruga and the aforementioned Zero Gunner 2- will be the first of many Dreamcast ports. A Psyvariar redux is already confirmed, so here’s hoping Psyvariar 2: The Will To Fabricate, which came to Dreamcast first back in the day, isn’t far behind. And while we’re at it, what about Mars Matrix, Zero Wing or Border Down? If Ikaruga does the business, who knows?

While far from the first Ikaruga re-release, this latest for Switch is undoutedly the best yet. The ability to play on the go, in co-op with one set of Joy-Cons and in Tate mode, plus the myriad additional bells and whistles make Ikaruga for Switch easy to recommend unreservedly, and worthwhile even for die-hard Dreamcast fans that still have the original GD-ROM kicking around.

PROS

+ Timeless, polarity-shifting gameplay
+ Tate mode (some assembly required)
+ Local co-op with one set of Joy-Cons

CONS

– Most of the extras aren’t new
– Dull backgrounds
– Punishing difficulty unless lowered from default

Since abandoning the hardware side of things, the company have doggedly re-released a near-identical list of Mega Drive games on too many formats to list here.

Truth be told, it’s actually pretty surprising that only now, four years after launch, are the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One finally getting their due, in the form of the aptly titled SEGA Mega Drive (or Genesis, if you’re in the US) Collection.

ONE FOR THE AGES?

You’d be forgiven for thinking that by now the whole exercise is beginning to feel more than a little perfunctory. However, this time around, developer D3T have at least gone to the trouble of introducing some new (or relatively so) features, such as online multiplayer and a horizontal flip mode, changing the standard left-to-right gameplay for most games, into right-to-left.

Likewise, the games list itself has undergone some tinkering: notable by their absence are all of the Ecco games, Fatal Labyrinth, plus Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. In their place we get 16 ‘new’ titles, including Bio-hazard Battle, a curious insect-themed shmup missing from previous generation collections. I say ‘new’ because all the games featured in the SEGA Mega Drive Collection (plus a few more) are available on Steam and many were on the Wii’s late Virtual Console. It’s a solid line up with a good mix of genres, albeit an all too familiar one.

The collection’s interface is a full 3D render of an early ‘90s SEGA fan’s bedroom, complete with various on point props and appropriate pre-millennial decor. As appealing as that may sound, it’s worth bearing in mind that what’s on offer here is almost identical to the free front-end released on Steam a few years ago. So, while technically this collection is also coming to PC, it’ll be a relatively minor upgrade to the existing experience and we’d expect games to continue to be sold separately rather than as a set on Valve’s digital platform.

AN UNALTERED BEAST

Choosing a game to play involves navigating a shelf full of spine on Mega Drive cases, just like real life in days of yore. It’s cute, but feels a little sluggish. Thank goodness there’s a favourites feature, allowing titles of your choice to be moved to the very start of the list. Various game-specific challenges can also be accessed from here, and where applicable, it’s possible to immediately skip to the correct part of the appropriate game to attempt them. While a nice idea, this is only likely to be of use to hardcore trophy or achievement hunters. The aforementioned flip mode is similarly throwaway, with few practical applications outside of novelty speedrunning and streaming.

For a handful of games, it’s possible to select from a number of regional variations. While it’s not quite clear what the criteria were here,  this seems to be an option for text-heavy RPGs where there’s likely to be a language barrier, plus in a couple of instances where there are significant differences between versions (Streets of Rage, for example). Although there aren’t any digital manuals to peruse, the obligatory save state function is present and correct, with quick functions handily mapped to the right stick.

The emulator itself has a wide number of customisation options, but again, little we haven’t seen before. Since these games run natively at a 4:3 aspect ratio, by default they’ll have black borders on either side. If that’s not to your liking,  you can instead choose from a number of border designs, to stretch the display area to 16:9 or even zoom out in such a way that the games can be seen actually running on the cute little portable CRT in your aforementioned virtual bedroom.

What’s more, there are optional scanlines, a TV Projection setting, which mimics the distinct curvature of old tube TVs, and a number of Pixel Filters. While we’d assert that a sharp, pixel perfect presentation with plain borders is best for extended play, there’s certainly some fun to be had playing with the settings here. Below are some examples to give you an idea of what’s possible:

Video reproduction is almost perfect, as is sound, the odd dodgy effect notwithstanding. We did experience occasional, sporadic split second pauses during play, but the overall experience is solid. We’re quite sure that the vast majority of gamers, even those who played these games back in the ‘90s, will be perfectly happy with the quality of the emulation, but ultra hardcore perfectionists may beg to differ.

SUMMARY

We love the Mega Drive, and on one hand it’s great to see some of its best games grace current generation consoles. On the other, the stock line up of titles is getting pretty stale by this point, and the cool bedroom interface is far from new itself.

The bottom line is this: these are excellent games that still hold up today, but if you’re here, on SEGA Nerds, you’ve probably played them to death many times over. Yes, it’s convenient to have them on a modern console, particularly when it’s getting harder and harder (or rather, more and more expensive) to connect pre-HDMI consoles to new TVs, but we’re pretty sure that every human being on earth that was ever going to play Sonic the Hedgehog already has by now.

If you’re one of a tiny minority of nostalgics that has yet to re-live SEGA’s 16-bit halcyon days, or desperately want some to add some Mega Drive classics to your PS4 or Xbox One library, this collection is great. For the rest of us, though, there are simply too few new gameplay opportunities.

PROS

+ Great games

+ Customisable emulator

+ Cool interface

CONS

– No truly new games

– Minor audio issues

– Flip mode and challanges little more than novelties

[Editor’s note: SEGA provided a promotional code for the purposes of this review]

Crown Jewels

The key appeal of this new edition, entitled ‘Dragon’s Crown Pro‘, is increased graphical fidelity. As you might expect given that expectation-setting ‘Pro’ suffix, PlayStation Pro owners enjoy a bump to full 4K resolution. Those still trucking along with the base PS4 (or Slim) get a less impressive – but still welcome – increase to full HD. Both are a massive boon for the game, given its exquisite artwork.

Music tracks have likewise been re-recorded with a full orchestra this time around. While there’s a definite boon to overall quality here, the musical score was pretty forgettable to begin with, and unfortunately, throwing a dozen or so extra instruments into the mix has done little to remedy this.

Dragon’s Crown mixes arcade style-brawling with the action RPG trappings of Diablo, Titan Quest, Victor Vran et al, albeit sacrificing the third dimension. Messy, busy combat takes center stage here, which thanks to its beat-‘em-up esque inputs, feels far more visceral and hands-on than other genre examples. A top down click-fest this isn’t, and the moment-to-moment fisticuffs actually wouldn’t feel out of place in an arcade cabinet.

Before starting out, you’ll have the opportunity to create a character from one of six different classes. Their appearances are predefined and absurdly exaggerated (to put it politely), with only name and a few color options available in terms of customization. You’ll also get to type in a number of predefined messages that will appear for other human players in certain circumstances; your death, for example.

Regrettably, the look of your character does not alter as you upgrade your equipment, save for your weapons, stunting your sense of achievement somewhat. At least the available classes do all play markedly differently, and compliment each other quite well in the heat of battle.

Dragon It Out

Dragon’s Crown’s story beats are narrated (by a number of possible narrators) in second person present tense; the Dungeon Master in a game of D&D might be an apt comparison. Truth be told, your quest to save Hydeland is a painfully dull yarn whose central concern is seemingly to ensure that as many fantasy tropes are name checked as possible than crafting a meaningful or engaging narrative.

Mandatory tasks will take you through a variety of beautifully drawn environments, culminating in a boss fight. Unfortunately, these areas are very small, and the optional quests that you can undertake at the Adventurers’ Guild involve retreading many of the same steps.

What’s more, the second half of the game tasks you with retrieving items from each of the areas you’ve already visited, albeit via their ‘B’ route, which to be fair, do include new locations and some very imaginative new boss fights. But there’s still a fair amount of recycling on display here, both in terms of background art and enemies.

Dragon’s Crown is particularly fun when tackled with up to three other characters, be them local, online co-operators (available from around the half way point) or CPU-controlled assistants.

Indeed, if you’re short of Dragon’s Crown-owning friends, you can resurrect the bones of fallen heroes found during your exploits at the Temple of Canaan, giving you a pool of increasingly powerful pre-cooked comrades to choose from. The game is so much more exciting with a full party, and this is certainly a interesting way of ensuring that even the most lonely adventurer doesn’t have to ride solo.

The town hub you visit between quests also boasts the usual gambit of fantasy retailers, quest-givers and a tavern in which to recruit comrades. Annoyingly, any CPU-controlled party members disappear once a task is completed, arbitrarily forcing you back to the tavern to rehire them over and over.

This is far from the only oddball gameplay mechanic.  Once you’ve reached a certain point in Dragon’s Crown, the gate you’ve been using to get from town to the various areas of Hydeland you need to explore malfunctions, meaning that it will take you to a random place rather than letting you decide.

You can use the Stable to choose your destination, but doing so costs gold. Having to fritter away in-game currency to get to the places you need to in order to make progress is irritating, and feels like a ploy to encourage the grinding out of already completed areas.

While the 2D artwork remains as ornate as ever, some of it is isn’t animated particularly well. It’s difficult to shake the feeling that many of the game’s assets started life as static drawings, to which Vanillaware simply added crude joints and simple animations.  When Dragon’s Crown Pro does look good, though, it looks absolutley stunning. Some of the screen filling-bosses on the aforementioned B routes especially look amazing in either HD or 4K.

Summary

If we were feeling particularly cynical, we could say that Dragon’s Crown feels like merely a solid-but-not-outstanding vehicle for art director, George Kamitani’s, heavily-stylized etchings. In other words, the objective appears to have been to create as much content from the artwork available as possible, wrap it around the bones of a competent RPG and kick it out the door.

But Dragon’s Crown Pro does work well as an overall package, and the there’s never been a better time to play now it’s available on a more modern platform, even if gameplay remains identical to the original PS3 and Vita versions.

If you’re an aRPG fan who’s a sucker for high-quality fantasy art, you could do far worse than Dragon’s Crown Pro. However, if you’re looking for deep, meaningful RPG that will still be surprising you 50 hours in, this isn’t it.

Pros:

+ Beautiful fantasy artwork

+ Fun brawler-style combat

+ Interesting party mechanics in single player

Cons:

– Recycled assets

– Forgettable Story

– No new gameplay over 2013 original

Endless Space 2, Amplitude’s Studios’ latest sci-fi 4X offering, officially released in May last year following a soft launch on Steam Early Access in late 2016. We looked at it in both its pre and post Early Access states for our sister publication, Mega Visions, giving it a well-deserved 5/5.

Since then, Amplitude has offered up a very generous slate of small, free DLC packs primarily featuring new questlines, heroes, minor factions, and quality of life improvements.

More recently, however, the Paris-based developer has turned turned their attention to paid-for content. In January, the “fan favourite” Vaunters faction from the original Endless Space broke the ice, followed by Untold Tales and Lost Symphony.

Endless Space, Finite Content

The former is a familiar bundle of the aforementioned. While being more content-rich than Amplitude’s prior complementary efforts, it’s still a pretty svelte package that adds a 4 minor factions (with whom you can interact with but not play as), heroes for each, plus additional questlines.

The problem is, most of this is simply thrown into Endless Space 2’s existing random number generator rather than taking centre stage in their own mini campaign or seperate mode. Ergo, start a new game and the overwhelming likelihood is that it’s going to take you a fair while to happen across anything new. Indeed, unless you’ve sunk some serious hours into Endless Space 2, you may well struggle to tell where the old content ends and the new begins.

Likewise, Lost Symphony adds 7 tracks to Endless Space 2’s already generous repertoire of grandiose, ethereal musical accompaniments, but throws them to the existing mix at random. Plus, it adds another fan-favourite minor faction to the fray: somewhat apty, The Harmony.

Endless Space 2’s soundtrack has always been a strongpoint, from the warbling, thoughtful minor chords of ‘Geodesic’ to the airy, ascending synths of ‘Dyson Sphere’. This further septet are just as much – if not more – of an aural treat than what’s gone before. We particularly liked ‘Digital Minds’, with its tense and sinister sounding electronica and powerful drum beat.

Summary

The problem with both of these mini-expansions is that the content they offer compliments the Endless Space 2 experience in quite a tertiary way, and paying real money for the mere prospect of encountering new quests or factions at random will not appeal to everyone, even at such a low price. There’s nothing ‘wrong’ here as such, but our advice would be to wait until Amplitude has turned out a few more bitesize morsels of paid DLC and then buying in bulk to get a more worthwhile, cumulative supplement to the base Endless Space 2 experience.

PROS

+ New content
+ Low price
+ Lost Sympony adds some truly excellent new music

Coming off the back of the infuriatingly mediocre The Caligula Effect on the PS Vita, Japanese developer, Furyu and SEGA/Atlus brings us The Alliance Alive for the Nintendo 3DS – a Japanese RPG with more to it than meets the eye.

It’s fair to say that I was more than surprised by what The Alliance Alive offered in terms of both story and gameplay and it’s a welcome JRPG title for gamers (like me) who don’t often enjoy turn-based titles, such as Final Fantasy or Phantasy Star.

Straight in with the adventure

Some JRPGs can spend hours just starting the game, but thankfully The Alliance Alive wastes very little time presenting the main characters, introducing you to the world and the key plot points.

There is a unique hierarchy in the world: creatures called ‘Daemons’ are the ruling species, in control of the ‘Beastfolk’, who, in turn, dominate and supress the lowly humans of the lands. This hierarchy came about after the Daemons waged war against the humans and, being a superior species, won.

After the war, the world was split into different realms, with a magical barrier called the ‘Dark Current’ preventing humans from travelling to the different lands and only Daemons, who live high above the main lands have the ability to travel between the realms.

Our main story begins approximately 1,000 years after the war, in the town of Svalna, where we are introduced to two young characters, Galil and Azura. This part of the world is constantly raining with the blue skies of previous times just stories of legend (no, seriously), it is also here that a rebellion is forming against the Beastfolk ruling the land, with Azura’s father, Wyatt, at the forefront of the uprising in the region.

After the quick introductions to the story and a handful of characters, you are thrown into the game and sent out on an adventure, in part because Azura has heard tale of a painting of the mythical blue skies being hidden away in an ‘Ancient Museum’ close to Svalna. From here the story develops and throws out some pretty decent curveballs.

Ultimately your rebellion comes down to finding out how to dissolve the magical barriers across the world, defeating some particularly tough Daemons, Beastfolk and monsters, and forming an alliance with humans from the different realms.

“While I was disappointed with Furyu’s previous title, The Caligula Effect, the game did have some cool features and I’m really happy to see the developer bringing them across to The Alliance Alive.”

More than meets the eye

The Alliance Alive intrigued and entertained me more than I expected. From screenshots it’s easy to be deceived into thinking that this is a child’s game, but it’s complex enough to hold older gamers’ interest, while not taxing enough to be confusing or long-winded. It tackles its content with a lot of humour and also focuses on some darker undertones, while character interactions and developments are more entertaining than quite a few RPGs I’ve played.

Side note: There’s a really creepy/weird bit where you go into a house and talk to some kids and they basically tell you that their dad has been physically/verbally abusive since their mum left… WTF?

While Galil and Azura are possibly seen as the main heroes of the game, you are introduced to other groups of protagonists, from very different backgrounds and have a different look on the world, who ultimately find their stories/destinies converging with that of Galil and Azura.

One of these groups features a high-ranking Daemon, Vivian, her Daemon bodyguard, Ignace, and Tiggy, a human scientist, who are all working together to solve the mystery of the barrier separating the world. It’s through this party we learn that not all Daemons are monsters who want to dominate other species, but they want peace for the world.

In another group, we have two humans, Rachel a mercenary who has been hired by Gene, another human actually working for the Daemons. Gene feels there is no need to fight their rulers and does their bidding in a hope to bridge the gaps between their races. With Gene, there’s a begrudging trustworthiness with the Beastfolk, who do the bidding of Daemons and have to show respect for this lowly human working for the higher-powered Daemons.

A final group features a member of the Beastfolk race, Barbarosa, who has pledged his allegiance to the resistance, after Wyatt saved him. Barbarosa is often seen with Renzo, another of Wyatt’s friends and someone who helps to guide Galil and Azura, as well as fighting alongside them at times.

The alliance is alive

As the story unfolds and the rebellion becomes a more crucial part of your immediate actions, you are tasked with expanding the reach of human contact throughout the realm. This involves setting up different guild buildings and recruiting new members to run each guild building.

The different guilds help you in combat in different ways, sometimes raising your defence and attack, or possibly lowering that of your enemies, or (with the Blacksmith guild) bombing your enemies from afar, doing massive damage. The more guild locations you unlock/build, the better the reach for this support is across the world map and the more likely you are to receive help in fights.

Plus, after the opening chapters in the game, you unlock various methods of transport, to help to move more quickly across the lands, or reach entirely new areas; such as a glider set of wings called an ‘Ornithopter’, an ark which lets you freely travel the seas Wind Waker-style. Or a giant rabbit that lets you hop across snowy mountains and a giant mechanical duck, which Tiggy uses as armour and allows the group to cross lava pools. There’s a couple of other methods of transport that I don’t want to fully ruin for gamers, but I can say I felt like The Alliance Alive felt like it had a small sprinkling of Skies of Arcadia and Panzer Dragoon Saga about it.

And there are certain points in the game where the player has to choose a course of action, such as getting involved in a dispute or holding back. Each choice can have different consequences later in the game, with some side characters possibly dying earlier on, or being spared to help with the rebellion at a later time. It’s not original, but a nice touch that gives players a reason to get involved with the characters’ and their plights.

Fight on

While I was disappointed with Furyu’s previous title, The Caligula Effect, the game did have some cool features and I’m really happy to see the developer bringing them across to The Alliance Alive.

The game does away with random battles, instead, as you run around the open world, you can see shadowy forms of creatures and enemies roaming the lands. This allows players to either run into the enemies and engage in combat or try to run past them. But if a creature notices you, they will take chase and should they catch up, force you into combat – but it is wholly possible to avoid most creatures.

The combat itself is a pretty traditional turn-based affair, although characters are not limited by different weapon classes. While they may have preferred methods of fighting, it’s possible for a magic-user to use and learn to fight with swords, axes, bows or spears. The more a character uses a weapon, the more special attack moves they will unlock, so it’s possible to master all weapon types, meaning that when you pick up or buy more advanced weapons later on, you can spread them across the team.

Also, as soon as a battle is finished, your characters’ health is restored – meaning you can safely explore with the knowledge that you’re unlikely to die from taking on too many fights one after the other. Of course, it’s still possible to die, and if one of your team falls unconscious during battle, their maximum health is reduced, until you are able to find an Inn or Guild and rest properly.

Cool feature, bro

Something I love is how the game gives you a ‘Final Strike’ attack when you’re losing a fight. If your team is low on health, or party members are unconscious, the remaining combatants have the opportunity to enter ‘Ignition mode’ – where they become engulfed with flames and can perform a super powerful attack, but it will destroy the weapon they are using.

This often led to some pretty exciting battles with bosses or particularly tough enemies. And while the Ignition attack would usually do enough damage to defeat your enemies, it was never guaranteed.

Another nifty feature is that you can fast forward battles – so once you line up your attacks with your party, you can see the fights speed by as attack animations are sped up. Not only that, every cut scene can be fast forwarded too – so if you really don’t want to spend several minutes reading text, then you don’t have to.

And while it does suffer from some of the limitations of the 3DS’ graphical abilities, the game looks stunning, with water-colour style artwork and each realm you visit looks equally imaginative and attractive.

One thing that struck me about The Alliance Alive is how well it keeps the gameplay flowing with the story and it rarely gets stagnant or feels like you aren’t making progress. Even though your mission sounds like it could be repetitive, the introduction of characters and the uniqueness of each new realm, means the game brings in more and more gameplay styles – keeping everything fresh and interesting.

Let down by technology

But while The Alliance Alive is a fun game, it’s not a perfect example of a JRPG. There are clear limitations from using the 3DS, such as no voice acting and characters lacking facial expressions, which is disappointing. Instead, the developers have used emotion icons to help show basic reactions during cut scenes and conversations.

Essentially, I can’t help but feel something more impressive could have been achieved on virtually any other platform.

Also, The Alliance Alive doesn’t make use of the 3DS’ 3D capabilities, except in a couple of menu screens. I spoke to SEGA about this and apparently quite a few developers are not using 3D anymore, because it gives them more power from the console when making games in 2D only. I can understand why it was done then, although one advantage of a 3DS is playing games in 3D without glasses, so it was a shame not experience the game in 3D.

But other than that, I can’t really fault the game. I can’t say it’ll set the RPG world on fire, but there’s really nothing wrong with it and everything it does right, it does really well!

Summary

There are definitely better and more epic RPGs out there, but I really enjoyed my time with The Alliance Alive and cannot really fault it in any way. Yes, it’s not perfect, but most problems come from limitations of the 3DS, and none of them hamper enjoyment or gameplay. The fact is, the more I played, the more I found myself enjoying it – as the story and characters evolved.

The story is entertaining, as are the characters and their development. More than once I found myself excited to see what was going to happen next and I loved the way the different groups of protagonists allowed you to see the world and its lore from various angles.

Also, for gamers like me, who do enjoy RPGs, but don’t have hundreds of hours to spend on games, or the patience to sit through hours of opening waffle, The Alliance Alive is brilliantly accessible and sends gamers off on their adventure early on.

My only hesitation would be for avid JRPG fans, The Alliance Alive might be a tad too ‘light’ in terms of gameplay, but ultimately, it’s a good RPG for those of who want a fun adventure on a portable device.

Pros:

+ Lovely water-colour style visuals, with really impressive scenery in areas
+ Gameplay changes and evolves with the story, keeping players engaged
+ Good story, that develops and shifts as you progress
+ Love the intertwining stories of the main protagonists

Cons:

– Suffers from console limitations
– No 3D mode? Boo!

If you’d asked a fair amount of people which Atlus titles would be decent candidates for current-gen remakes, chances are, Radiant Historia probably wouldn’t have made their top five. Originally released in 2011 towards the end of the Nintendo DS’ life cycle, the time-hopping, desertification-preventing adventure of Stocke and Co. won favor with critics and hardcore fans but generally flew under most folks’ radars. My own included, sad to say.

But, in a rare second chance to make a first impression, Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology has arrived on the Nintendo 3DS. Armed with new modes and story content, and coming off one of Atlus’ most successful years, Perfect Chronology looks to keep their momentum going and break out the way its past self never could.

Style Over Substance

Now, as mentioned above, I never played the original DS release, so I can’t fully compare the two versions on any other merit aside from aesthetics. That being said, there’s not a huge amount of difference between the 2011 and 2018 releases in that department. Naturally, the 3DS version does take advantage of that system’s higher processing power, and the game does look crisper as a result, but if you’re expecting a bigger leap like some of Atlus’ other “enhanced re-releases” boasted, you may be a little disappointed. In fact, the only real difference visually is the gorgeous new artwork used for story scenes and lifebar portraits.

The audio mostly follows the same “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality, as the legendary Yoko Shimomura’s score from the original is completely untouched. In this case, it’s completely understandable, as her work here is some of her best. However, one huge and welcome change is the addition of full English voice acting for most of the cast, alongside an improved translation. Considering that some of Atlus’ smaller scale releases have had iffy localizations over the last couple years, it’s pretty refreshing to see them get back on track and go above and beyond on this one.

“Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology is at least worth dusting off your 3DS one more time for.”

When the Frustration Sets In

However, the gameplay is where things start to fall off a little bit. The time travel mechanics are interesting and provide a ton of replay value, but it does get frustrating often watching the same scenes over and over just for tiny differences. And while I’ve seen many praise the combat system, being far more strategic than most turn-based Japanese RPGs usually are, it does lose its luster after about 15-20 hours in, and eventually turns into an outright bore.

That being said, one of the big additions to this Perfect Chronology release is “Friendly” difficulty, which gets rid of combat altogether and effectively turns the game into a visual novel. So, if you’re like me, not particularly feeling the gameplay, but still interested in the story and characters, that’s the mode for you.

Summary

Add in new dungeons, a completely new scenario for old-school fans, and a host of other little creature comforts that the DS version couldn’t provide, and you’ve got yourself a quality re-release.

It may not exactly be perfect like it’s name suggests, and it might be a good idea to wait on a price drop, but Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology is at least worth dusting off your 3DS one more time for.

PROS

• Longtime fans of the original are rewarded with brand new story content
• Friendly difficulty setting makes it easier for those just wanting to experience the unique story
• Having a full English dub goes above and beyond what was expected for the localization
• One of Yoko Shimomura’s finest soundtracks

CONS

• Not as touched up as some of Atlus’ previous 3DS re-releases
• Combat system can get very repetitive, very quickly
• So can watching multiple cutscenes over and over just for slight changes

Where do I even begin?

My experience with the Yakuza series has been very brief. I’m not going to sugarcoat this, but I’ve never heard about the series until a year ago. One of SEGA’s IP that I found is, in my eyes, a hidden gem, but it finally started getting the attention it deserves with the releases of Yakuza 0 and Yakuza: Kiwami.

Those were the first two games of the series that I played. Even though I played them within two months, there is a lot of fun to be had in Yakuza 0 and Kiwami. Either from beating up baddies as Kazuma or managing a cabaret club as Majima, the fun I had in between the main story is the highlight of the Yakuza series. There are numerous things to do when you’re not focused on completing tasks towards the main story. From playing pool, to retro arcade games, to winning poker in an underground ramen shop, this series manages to turn a lot of what is normal and bump it up a notch.

Having said that, these game’s story was the main thing that got me hooked on the series. There were many times during the amazing cinematic cutscenes that I had to set my controller down and just watch as the events unfolded. Sometimes, it felt like I was watching a TV drama rather than playing a video game. The way SEGA managed to tell an amazing story to help balance the gameplay is simply wonderful, and Majima’s story still resonates with me today.

So, after investing so much time developing these characters, SEGA has finally decided it’s time to bring Kazuma’s story to a peaceful end with Yakuza 6.

Knowing that this is Kazuma’s final game, it felt right that SEGA would put him back right where it all began – in Kamurocho. The city that has been in every single Yakuza game to date has received its fine, updated look. It felt very different returning to the city. The modern feel did finally catch up to me and made me say, “Hey, this isn’t 2005!” As always, the city is full of challenges with minigames and perps at every corner; you always have to be on your heels whenever you roam the streets.

“Whether it’s slamming thugs on cars or slamming their back on the railings, the fighting in the game entertained me fully.”

A Punch to the Gut

As stated, the main focus of the game is the combat. Being the beat-em-up/RPG hybrid that it is, one of the major changes to the fighting style is that it there is only one definitive combat mechanism to work around. Where in previous games, you could switch fighting styles on the fly, Yakuza 6 simplifies everything, and you just  have the ‘Brawler’ style from Yakuza 0. Of course, you can “buff up” the style with different experience points that you earn.

Now, gaining the experience points is the fun part. Like before, you earn it by beating up the same sort of street scum whose faces are just as punchable as ever before. It’s the simplest way to earn experience points, but there are many different ways to do it. Playing different minigames can help boost certain experience parameters, as well as eating certain foods and working out at the gym. All of which have their benefits to help earn experience a lot faster.

It’s always fun to see what sort of items and combos you can create with Kazuma. Whether it’s slamming thugs on cars or slamming their back on the railings, the fighting in the game entertained me fully and kept me wanting to learn more moves to pour the hurtin’ on Kamurocho’s thugs.

A Masterful Story

The main thing that drove this game was the story, and, oh boy, you better be prepared for a real tearjerker.

The game picks up almost three years after the events of Yakuza 5. If you didn’t play that one (shame on you … and me!), the game provides  flashbacks of the final moments to make sure you’re caught up. Going further, if you’re entirely a newcomer to the series there’s a ‘Memories’ option on the start screen that highlights key points from each of the games.

The synopsis is very simple. Haruka has gone missing and turns victim to a hit-and-run accident. What would you say if I told you that was only scratching the surface? New mysteries were unfolding whenever Kazuma had an answer. A huge arc involves the identity of the mysterious baby. There are plot twists at almost every turn and even a large conspiracy that has been taken to the grave in Hiroshima.

The ending to this game is something that I felt pleased with. It felt right knowing that Kazuma’s story was finally at an end. From losing his best friend, his lover, or fellow colleagues he made during his adventures, Kazuma can begin a new life and finally throw his yakuza one away.

Out For JUSTIS

One of the main features added to the game is Clan Creator. To put it bluntly, it’s very similar to that of a strategy game. You can build your clan, appropriately named ‘Kiryu Clan’, and recruit members as you battle your rival clan known as JUSTIS for control of Kamurocho and Hiroshima.

It has very simple controls. You can deploy up to 100 men to fight the many enemies that are in your way to the big boss at the very end.

In the beginning, you basically have a fighter and a heavy hitter. You recruit fighters that have many different abilities to help to turn the battle in your favor. Some abilities include one that heals while another has a deadly dropkick. However and whenever you want to use them is totally up to you, but be sure to strategize before so you know how many enemies you have to defeat and how many fighters are at your disposal.

At first, this mode really didn’t pique my interest as I’ve historically not been a fan of strategy games. But after playing it a few times, I was surprised at how simple and easy to understand it was. It’s fun to just let your fighters loose and cause havoc to gain an edge in the fight. It’s also an easy way to farm money and experience points, so if you’re running low on cash, give Clan Creator a shot.

“Flirting with the girls in the cabaret club felt more natural than getting a cam star to strip for you in the online chat, which felt kinda awkward.”

Wanna stop at the cabaret or arcade?

If you want to kill time between missions and have fun, the mini-games are here for you. Kamurocho and Hiroshima are literally filled with different games to help pass the time. There’s so much to do in such a big area; you can hit up Club SEGA for some arcade action or even sing along in karaoke. How about a friendly game of Mahjong or practice your batting skills?

Whatever it is, this game probably has it for you. The feeling of running around and playing in the arcade (do those still exist?) was amazing. There are some classic SEGA titles that are available such as Virtua Fighter 5, Fantasy Zone and Puyopuyo, just to name a few.

Besides arcade games, there is so much more, like visiting the local cabaret club or doing an online chat. Flirting with the girls in the cabaret club felt more natural than getting a cam star to strip for you in the online chat, which felt kinda awkward. Nevertheless, it’s one of the crazy things you’ll encounter in the game.

Another interesting tool is ‘Troublr’. It’s an app that notifies you if there are people in danger or are in need of assistance. Accepting these missions puts you in dangerous and weird scenarios. From saving a woman from falling off a building, beating up thugs from mugging people, to even buying toilet paper in a “stinky” situation, your kind acts will not go unnoticed.

Not to mention numerous amount of sub-stories there are for you to complete, some of which happen spontaneously. From buying collectibles and fighting ghosts, helping two people in an identity crisis, or meeting an old friend from almost 30 years ago, these stories can be hilarious, serious or sometimes both. It’s just another way to pass the time during gameplay.

Summary

When I offered to review this game, I knew going into it that it was going to be one hell of a finale, and sure enough, it was. The hours ticked by as I progressed deeper, trying to absorb every minute of the story, and I did my best to make sure I didn’t leave any details unnoticed.

Yakuza 6 is a spectacular experience, with a compelling story, immensely satisfying gameplay, amazing graphics and scenery that left me in awe. Now that I’ve reached the end of Kazuma’s story, I’m sad that I know we won’t see him star in another Yakuza title, and I’m sure many others will feel the same. Even though SEGA is continuing the franchise without our stoic hero, they wrapped up his story in the most dramatic way possible.

I highly recommend this game for those who are still unsure about the series. Again, you don’t need to know anything going into it as the game does a proficient job getting you up to speed. Kazuma Kiryu will forever be known as the Dragon of Dojima throughout the legends of the Yakuza series and will forever be the yakuza with the heart of gold,  standing for those who cannot fight.

PROS

• A story that keeps you on your heels.
• Excellent combat and responsive controls.
• Minigames that are littered all over the map.
• A big ship and Kiryu-aniki!

CONS

• Short list of 2-player minigames
• Very little Majima
• Kazuma’s final game