Yakuza: Like A Dragon is a new spin on the series with a new protagonist and supporting cast that succeeds at breathing new life into one of my favorite video game franchises of all time. Returning players will find comfortable and familiar ground mixed with a new combat system that takes some getting used to but eventually feels solid. This is also a good starting point for newcomers to the series as it doesn’t require knowledge from the other Yakuza titles to be enjoyed to the fullest. Those with knowledge of prior games will have a more fulfilling experience as there are a lot of callbacks and memorable appearances from characters that were part of past installments.

Here are some points that I’d like to touch on:

PROS

• New turn-based combat system feels good and gives the Yakuza series something new and exciting to utilize.
  
• Main storyline is interesting, engaging and perhaps the best one yet. There were a few twists that I didn't see coming and the ending broke my heart.
  
• Side stories are still silly and fun in the same vein of prior titles.
  
• Mini-games are fantastic and well fleshed out.

NEUTRAL

• English dubs are hit and miss. Some voice actors really bring their roles to life while others fall flat.
  
• Music is good but is lacking variation. Could have used more tracks for combat encounters instead of reusing the same very few tracks over and over again. The unique tracks, such as for bosses and certain stages, are superb.
  
• Some of the supporting characters didn’t have as much depth as we’ve seen in previous titles. It would have been nice to have seen them all get equal time on stage.

CONS

• Some jobs are kind of useless/underpowered compared to others. I think that they could have been more balanced and fleshed out to become more viable. It’s hard to want to switch things up once you find those perfect combos that work.
  
• Can be pretty grindy. Normally, I like a good grind in my games but I found it to be intrusive in this title. There are two notable difficulty spikes that take place at chapters 12 and 14 that require you to be a certain level or you will most likely not be able to progress. Again, I don’t mind the grind at all but it takes a very long time to do so in this game and to me didn’t feel rewarding or enjoyable.

There are a couple things I’d like to mention that are neither pros or cons:

The pacing of the game can be a bit slow at first and a lot of systems don’t open up until you’ve spent hours in the game. This is nothing new if you are a returning Yakuza fan, but newcomers, or new jrpg players, might be put off by this.
For fellow achievement hunters: this game is probably the least demanding in terms of 100% achievement completion.

Overall, this was an enjoyable experience. While not a perfect game, it is still one of the best games I’ve played this year and I am excited for the next tale in the Yakuza saga.