8/10
Having played the original remaster (cant believe im writing a sentence like that, but here we are) I can say that this has some improvements but also a few downgrades. And yes, I will compare them together, if you want to avoid people making comparisons, make an original game.
Improvements so far:
+a lot of cutscenes are voiced instead of plain text,
+quality of life improvements such as saving anywhere you want,
+lesser loading screens etc.,
+ some cut content, which was frankly fluff
+obviously graphics when compared to the previous remaster
+ I actually like the new combat style, the Og remaster weapon system while rewarding, is still pretty annoying to me, because you have to repair them all the time and you can only repair one at a time. You dont have to do that here. Though some weapons are unfortunately missing, like kali sticks and katana, but I will let that slide, there are only so many weapons you can cram to so many buttons and there are some new ones, albeit not as cool imo.
+ progression is better than in the og. In the og you had to do a lot of sidequests to get upgrades and I mean A LOT.
+ new gang minigame and customization of phone
+ morning glory update (Though I will say that taking money from Haruka feels all sorts of wrong)
+ i like that you can now customize your Kyriu, good idea. Iam an old sentimental ♥♥♥♥, so I usually go for the original white suit, but it is nice to have to option to switch it up from time to time
+ mine story and gameplay is a great addition
Downgrades so far:
-LIghtning in this game looks weird sometimes
- no dialogue history, which would be nice, because some conversations are pretty hard to follow for a non native speaker
- on the other hand, some cut content is baffling. Revelations, hostess club and a lot of funny side characters gone. No Komaki (why????, on that note where are half the komaki moves?), no Mack, we can no longer hang out with Rykia. The part where you can take him to a shady bikini bar at his own request is gone. No hanging out with Haruka either.
-WTF happened to sound? Why is the music so low in every fight by default? Same goes for sounds of hit and impact. Absolutely immersion breaking. I use headphones and can barely hear anything. And no, its not my settings, every other game works fine, only here I am forced to use third party app to kind of fix it (i highly recommend dolby atmos (paid, but cheap) or fxsound (free) with gaming preset), but it sometimes messes up other sounds. On top of that some of the sounds are straight up missing. such as footsteps in cutscenes, or even punches in combat! I am willing to overlook a lot of jank and bugs. I dont zoom in on distant textures to complain that they arent in 4k, I dont mind funny bugs like a lot of older Bethesda games have, but I draw the line at game breaking bugs, like losing your progress, being unable to progress or missing sound. I am considering deducting two whole points out of ten.
-Enemies dont get permanent visible damage to their faces like in the OG and that is such a shame. The way they get brutalized in that game is something else.
-Difficulty is lowered from the og a lot. A lot less enemies in some sections, which is a shame, i think the more the better. Richardson fight is simplified a lot, where is his arsenal from the og? I thought he was going to pull a bazooka at me toward the end in that game, here its just pistols.
- enemies no longer get scared in combat and I dont get why, the same mechanic is implemented in lost judgment for example and I am pretty sure it is the same exact engine
- some of my favourite heat actions are missing, like breaking enemies spine on a railing, but to be fair, they kept a lot of them
-soundtrack in the final part was better in og (it is the second song of subtitles, imagine that in the final part, doesnt that get your blood pumping a lot more?), overall it is either on par or subpar throughout this game
Things that are about on par:
+- combat. This version is so far great, even with the completely ♥♥♥♥♥♥ sound (though that obviously takes a lot from it), but so is the original and that game has a working sound.
+- the recasts in the story dont bother me as much as I thought they would. I will say that I liked previous Hamazaki better, that guy looked creepier than the new one, which fits his character so well, and I kind of miss old "curly cueball" rykia but so far it is not bad enough to warrant a point deduction. I am glad that they got rid of his "ANIKI" which drills into the back of your skull everytime you run too fast with him around in the og. Also, I could care less what an actor does off screen in their spare time.
+- some of the kids faces look rough in some scenes, but that is the same in the og
+- *Major spoilers here* regarding to the changes to the ending: I prefer the OG. This was definitely weaker. Maybe they are planning to turn MIne into a recurring rival fight like Majima, which I am not completely opposed to. I enjoyed Mines story a lot up until the final stretch, where they really drop the ball. So let me get this straight. Kanda and Mine fight for a million yen or whatever. After you brutally kick everyones assess they get back up as if nothing happened. Ok, not the first time, I can overlook that, though it is annoying. But then comes the big WTF just happened. Kanda sacrificing Mine to escape with the money. Number one: what does throwing him in front of the crowd of enemies even do? Number two: How tf do they let him run to a car, start it and get away? Are they all just standing around twidling their thumbs? That could have been handled a lot better. Furthermore, a lot of people are saying that the way Mine survived is beyond stupid and I agree. A small bush fence breaks a fall like that, really? Somebody saw assassins creed I guess. Richardson also apparently evaporates mid air, because he is nowhere to be seen. I understand that this series isnt exactly realistic but it was pushed a bit too far this time.
I was annoyed by the broken sound the most. I consider that game-breaking bug, which ruins the entire experience. Also, can I just say that locking the "original" behind 150 euro paywall is the scummiest move I have seen them pull so far. Just get that game on GoG, if you are interested. Also Mines "true ending" is... just wow. That being said, this is still a solid game in general, improves on the og a lot (even though that one is still worth playing imo, kind of like resident evils) and it is still a solid 8/10. I can tell that they still put effort into this (though not as much as previously), the direction is also solid and so Iam looking forward to next game, unlike for example Bethesda, where I just wish they wouldnt even bother with next elder scrolls, because it will suck. If they remake yakuza 4, I hope we get all four characters. Akyiama kicks, Saejimas strength and Tanimuras technique were all great styles and additions to the game and I hope they keep all the best heat actions in (such as akyiamas twenty knees to the head, saejimas throwing an entire circuit box that you ripped out earlier and of course rolling your enemies into a snowman, or tanimuras handcuffs).
