Yakuza: Like A Dragon

[mfnick]

This game is fucking incredible. Partly due to the RPG trappings and how that plays into the story and their abilities & your party is just fantastic, such a great group of characters. 
 

One of my favourite games ever, moving to RPG definitely works. 
 

 

[DisturbedSwan]

20 hours ago, AndyKurosaki said:

I’m giving up on this to be honest. I’ve not played it in a month, and I feel little interest in returning to it. I just don’t like the grinding, and I cannot be arsed with battling through that boring management mode to make money.

 

This is the only Yakuza game I’ve ever given up on. But after struggling to enjoy it, I can’t be bothered with it anymore. Change is one thing. But I really don’t feel that Yakuza needed it. And though some people may like it, I unfortunately don’t.

Wow, really didn’t expect that! Has me worried how I’ll get on now ? I do like turn-based combat but I too tend to tire of it in some games after awhile (hello Persona 5) so who knows, not long now til I can find out.

[Nag]

I'll say one thing... expect a lot of make work random battles.

[mfnick]

I didn’t have to grind at all. However that was probably because I did absolutely everything I came across because I actually wanted to for a change. All the sub stories were fantastic with some mental characters and situations so I would actively seek them out. I also didn’t avoid any random battles until about chapter 8 or 9. If I saw enemies on the mini map I’d go to them as I enjoyed the combat so much. From about chapter 9 onwards I really only did story battles.

[AndyKurosaki]

The random battles in this take the absolute piss. Less than 10 seconds after one fight in the world, you’re straight into another one. And you get such a pitiful amount of XP/cash, that they are barely worth it. Meaning you quickly start thinking “Oh, fuck off” when you see yet another band of low level pricks storming towards you. 
 

The trademark Yakuza humour is present, the summons definitely made me laugh with their ridiculousness. But ultimately, I did not find this game fun to play, at all. I was forcing myself to play it, as I love Yakuza so much. I genuinely did not want to give up on it. Judgement had some annoying sections. But I still battled my way through to the end. 
 

I just can’t bring myself to play this anymore though. I hate it. I hate how if your main character dies, it’s instant game over. I hate how ridiculously expensive everything is, and the piss poor amount of money random battles give you. The management mode is one of the most boring side quests of the entire franchise. 
 

With every other Yakuza game, I have not been able to put it down, until I completed it. Their Fist Of The North Star game is one of my favourite games of the last generation. 
 

But this? Nah. Switching to an RPG mechanic was a massive mistake in my opinion. And I sincerely hope it is a one off, and that the series returns to its roots for the next instalment. Because if that also goes down the RPG road, I probably won’t even touch it.

 

Just my opinion, but it’s the absolute worst entry in the franchise by miles. And one of the most disappointing games I’ve ever played in my entire life.

[Nag]

I'll admit that I'm starting to cool on this a bit now, I'm skipping the drinking scenes because I just don't care and the other night I actually skipped some of the main plot points so I could get to a save point. 

 

I think I'm at the point where I may have to mainline the story to just see the end.

[DisturbedSwan]

Started this on Tuesday, put in about 4 hours so far and am about midway through Chapter 2.

 

First time I'd done the PS4 > PS5 upgrade and it worked seamlessly, as soon as it turned midnight I got a little image on the right side of the 'game hub' for Y:LaD saying 'PS5 upgrade available', clicked that and it started downloading, easy peasy. I did make a bit of a mistake in installing the PS4 game though as I didn't realise I'd have to download the PS5 copy, it hadn't finished downloading by the time I wanted to go to bed so just left the PS5 on for it to be ready later in the day. 

 

As for the game itself, I've got mixed feelings on it so far I think it's fair to say. Having played an awful lot of Yakuza games (since Yakuza 3 on PS3!) over the years - but somehow missed Kiwami 2 - they always seem to start super slow and don't let you fully explore at your leisure, this one is no different. Very linear, lots of cutscenes and exposition explaining who Ichiban is, who a few other characters are and their relation to him, his back story and tons of exposition setting everything up for the events that follow slowly but surely.

 

First of all, It was nice to be back in Kamurocho. As mentioned above, I'd somehow never got round to playing Kiwami 2 despite picking it up on release so this is the first time I've been back in that world since Yakuza 6 and I had a blast just walking around seeing all the old familiar sights I'd run around in with Kiryu for countless hours in previous games and getting reacquainted with Tokyo's red light district. It was nice just wandering about seeing if everything was how I remembered it or had changed, thankfully more or less everything was just how I remembered it but I've yet to see if the Baseball Park or Pocket Racing are still there, I've not got to fully explore the area yet so hopefully I get to find that out a bit later on in the game. 

 

I'm not sold on Ichiban or his story yet though, he seems to be a bit of a mix between Majima and Kiryu  in character but I'm not sure I like how much of a kiss ass he is with Akiyama at this point (although I know he does owe him a lot). I also think his whole back story with him

Spoiler

going to Prison to take the fall for someone else is so incredibly similar to the setup of the original game (Kiwami 1) that it is to its detriment, it just seems to me like we've been down this path before with Kiryu and the series is repeating itself a bit in that regard. Luckily when Ichiban gets out of Prison things do take surprising turns I didn't see coming with Akiyama defecting to the Omi Alliance and effectively abandoning Ichiban, being picked up by some mysterious dude who somehow has all the answers for the goings on whilst Ichiban has been behind bars. 

 

The combat is obviously the biggest departure from previous instalments and I'm not sure on it yet, so far it has mostly been Ichiban fighting punks on his own so there hasn't really been much to it, triangle for skills, x for attacks, all very basic turn-based stuff. It is only in the last 15-30 minutes of my previous session that a new party member joined and I started being able to combine attacks and stuff like that, the 2nd party member knocking them to the ground and Ichiban following in quick succession to give them a beatdown whilst they're still on the ground. That's about the only new addition so far though, but it has made things a little more fun, the status affects so far haven't really been anything out the ordinary for someone used to JRPGs either - Stun, Confuse, Sleep etc. - they're all here. I will say what I really don't like about the system so far is your inability to position your party members in battle, I thought you'd be able to move them about like Ni No Kuni or something but nope, all more or less fixed in place, only moving with their player selected action. 

 

I do like the new dungeon format though, although I have my suspicions that they'll end up repeating the exact same environment as the game goes on (but with increasingly higher level more difficult enemies). Making your way through a load of enemies on a floor, being able to recover and save, then going up to the next floor is reminiscent of something like Persona so I dug it. 

 

So yeah, can't be too harsh on it at the moment as a lot of Yakuza games are slow like this at the beginning, but it hasn't exactly wowed me so far. The game has barely begun though and as I get more party members and more freedom to explore I'm sure my thoughts on it will brighten up bit by bit. 

 

Pics to follow:

 

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[AndyKurosaki]

Yakuza games are indeed slow to start. But this took it to a whole new extreme. It takes about 10 hours to actually get going. I stuck with it as I hoped it’d improve. Unfortunately, for me it didn’t.

[DisturbedSwan]

Up to Chapter 4 in this now, played quite a few more hours since my last post, probably about 12 in total and having a much better time with it thankfully.

 

That’s all thanks to the game opening up quite a bit and the mini games though. The story did get a little better at the end of Chapter 2 and it feels like the game proper has begun from Chapter 3 onwards but nothing of note is going on at the moment, it feels like it’s still sewing the seeds of exposition and background to set things up for later on. 
 

I have begun to like Ichiban a lot more, there’s a cutscene in Chapter 3 when he pops out of a box and headbutts someone and I giggled quite a bit at that, the interactions between him and the first two party members you pick up seem really nice too, it feels like they’re all down on their luck a bit and it’s nice they have each other and that when together they improve their mood and future outlook, I’m loving the banter between them too, particularly Ichiban and Nanba. 
 

Having two party members improves the combat quite a bit too. It just seems to flow so much better and is so much more satisfying than it was in beginning when it was just Ichiban on his own. Pulling off some of the skill moves and then watching a party member set pigeons on an enemy, blow an alcohol fuelled flame into them or run into a crowd flooring a bunch of them. Fights have gotten tougher too, about 3 or 4 times I’ve been in an area of the city I probably shouldn’t of been in and fought some way higher level enemies who duly put me on my arse. 
 

Probably the most impressive part of the game so far is Yokohama itself, it’s just so bloody huge! I absolutely adore Kamurocho but this feels about 5 or 6 times larger and features a whole slice of the city itself, not just the red light/entertainment district like it’s Tokyo cousin. It’s just so great to explore this whole new city with all these different vibrant areas, you never really know what to expect as you make your way into a new greyed out area. It just feels so fresh and new, a perfect new playground to explore for the series’ new protagonist. 
 

The mini games so far have been fun as hell as well. I have absolutely loved the bizarre cinema sheep game where you have to stop Ichiban going to sleep from watching an old movie, spent tons of time doing the can collecting one and getting all the S ranks in each course and spent quite a bit of time playing Virtua Fighter 5, Super Hang On and Space Harrier last night in the arcade. I only just discovered Dragon Kart last night as well and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw who’s running it,

Spoiler

pocket racer! Then the kids you saw back in the 80s with Kiryu are now all grown up and threatening Ichiban, just such a cool fan service moment!

The game itself is really pleasing rip off of Mario Kart but I’m a typically bizarre Yakuza kind of way.
 

The Sojidex bit with the

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rip off of Pokémon, complete with a Professor Oak-like and picking between a red, green or blue enemy to start off with really had me chuckling.

Completely changes the random encounters for me as well, I always try to not avoid them anyway but this just gives even more incentive to seek them out, instead of hoping a crowd of enemies don’t turn your way at some points you’re instead running around looking for them so you can fill in your Sojidex a little more, just a genius addition. 
 

So yeah, loving it now thanks to the mini games, the bonds between the characters and exploring the gigantic Yokohama playground you get to run around in. Can’t wait to explore some more later tonight. 
 

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[Snaggletooth]

Might as well put in my thoughts as well, in short im not sold and the only thing holding it back for me is the rpg mechanics. 

 

Ive just finished chapter 4, wow that feels like a hellava lot of cutscenes right now, though not in a bad way ive actually enjoyed them and actually already quitefond of the characters. 

 

I love the size of the city, but do think with the size increase it lacks kamaruchou's soul. 

 

But currently it really is just the rpg mechanics i feel hold it back. 

 Not that the actual mechanics sre badly implemented but they just dont fit, in my mind they would have been better worked in as part of a mini game. 

 

Same enemy paterns and animations are tedious, and as mentioned above I can see it become a real tedious grind. 

 

But for now i am actually enjoying it for the most. 

Just a shame im getting the feeling this has the potential to be one of the better entries if not for my complaints. 

[DisturbedSwan]

I'm liking the RPG mechanics way more than I thought I would at the moment to be honest, but then I do like a lot of other turn-based JRPGs so maybe that's why? At first with only Ichi it was pretty basic but with the two new party members it adds quite a bit more variety and a tactical element that wasn't there in the real-time combat of past games. When I'm out roaming round town I just switch the auto battle on when I'm feeling lazy (as long as the enemies aren't a much higher level than my party) and in a minute or two a fight is all over. I have to say I did miss being able to throw an entire office at the enemies in the Ch. 4 dungeon though, that visceral feel when a sofa whacks in to them is missing. 

 

It feels quite similar to Yakuza 3 for me at the moment. You're stuck in this foreign city trying to get a lay of the land with all these new characters and local factions vying for control, while the protagonist is wrestling with his past and trying to restart his new life. 

[DisturbedSwan]

Got up to about 22 hours played by the end of my session on Tuesday. Have started to really dig this now. 

 

I haven't progressed the story much at all since my last post, I finished off Chapter 4 by

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meeting Saeko

and since I've got into Chapter 5 I've dropped the story completely to explore.

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Saeko

herself seems like a cool new character and it's great to finally be able to fight a as a women after missed opportunities in previous games but her introduction was quite rushed compared to the previous two previous party members I thought. 

 

The mini games have been pretty fantastic though and I've spent countless hours in my past few sessions just ploughing through those. Dragon Kart in particular is just such a ton of fun with the courses getting crazier and crazier as you progress through the different Grand Prix available. I'm pleased I finally managed to find the Baseball batting cages too and Karaoke (which this time around is handled at the groups' Clubhouse) as I loved those in previous titles. What I'm most pleased about though is Part-Time Hero, as this brings in the completion reward system and odd-jobs from previous titles that was sorely missing for the first few Chapters. Once I finally unlocked it my various personality traits all went crazy with a ridiculous amount of bings and bongs as I'd unwittingly completed a lot of these completion rewards just by pottering about Yokohama. I have found since unlocking this mode I have gone back to my old ways of buying all items at the restaurants (which now also ties into the bonds with party members and powerups you can get from specific combo meals) and playing more of the mini-games to get my completion percentage higher.

 

The actual Part-Time hero quests have been pretty basic fetch quests like find x type of bug and stuff which were nothing to write home about but there was a funny one which repeated itself where I had to help a guy out who had run out of toilet paper and was stuck in a toilet ?, there's another one I haven't completed yet which pays out 2,000,000 Yen to snap 10 photos of statues dotted around Yokohama, definitely gonna do that once I learn where the statues are! The side quests themselves (outside of the part time hero quests) haven't been anything as zany as Yakuza 0 etc. yet but there was a really funny one where a baby was crying and I found out it was a bunch of Yakuza role playing as babies and another where a guy gets kicked out of a 'Soapland' and you have to escort him to a clothing store to get him some clothes, all whilst avoiding ladies throwing water over the streets. 

 

The longer I play this game the more I think the developers wanted it to be more and more like Persona. You have the obvious influence which is the battle system (very similar to Persona 5) but it goes further and provides the social links and opportunities to level up the social links like in those game along with a clubhouse, it even has the gardening mini-game that Persona 5 had and the visual touch where the characters appear talking on the screen at some points. I don't mind it, it just seems to sometimes ape Persona a little too much and has lost a little of its own identity in the process.

 

So yeah, I've had a ton of fun with the side quests and mini-games so far but I'm still reticent to go back to the main story questline as it has just been so damn slow so far. I think I know how things are going to play out in the short term too (infiltrate the HQs of the other two of the 'Inchijo Three') so I'm just kind of waiting for it to play out as I expect it to, hopefully I'm wrong. But yeah, the only thing letting the game down for me thus far is the story, if this picks up later on (as I expect it to) it could be a very special game once all the puzzle pieces are fitted successfully together.

[Nag]

So I finished this today and unfortunately I cooled on it a lot during its run time, to the extent that i skipped every talking scene in the final couple of chapters as i just could not be bothered.

 

It's a shame but I think it even fell down on the combat side for me by the end too, no real tactics to talk of... I just ended up brute forcing everything in the end using the same few abilities in every single fight.

 

Promising start that ended up out staying its welcome.

[DisturbedSwan]

Shame it didn't stick the landing for you @Nag, I find that issue in a lot of JRPGs. I did exactly the same thing skipping the dialogue in the last dungeon in Persona 5 as I just couldn't be arsed and wanted to get it finished. 

 

Played a whole lot more of this since my last post, now up to about 34 hours played and it has finally clicked with me, I absolutely adore it now. 

 

I haven't made a great deal of progress on the story but it has gotten much better with the introduction of

Spoiler

Zhao and Lao Ma. I really loved the section leading up to to Lao Ma's introduction where all the crew were investigating the Luimiang undercover at the docks, felt like something out of Shenmue or something, very cool. A dungeon segment followed which featured the same dull environments from the one in Chapter 1 (or 2?) but I still had a lot of fun with it, considerably bigger than the last as well with tons more floors to explore. I am surprised how fully fleshed out these dungeons are to be honest, aside from the repetitive environments they are all well thought out and just as complex and labyrinthian as other JRPGs I've played. Then more mysteries after this with the guy in White which leads into the introduction of the Geomijul and their surprise surveillance HQ and then revelations about Nanba being an undercover homeless guy to try to dig up some info on his missing brother. All really intriguing stuff and can't wait to see where it goes next. I will say as well that I absolutely loved the Geomijul HQ, fighting baddies on these dense rooftops with tons of wires, detritus and decrepit kanji neon signs dotted all over the place was reminiscent of Hong Kong and Kowloon from Shenmue as long as 90s Hong Kong-style action movies. Loved every second of it. 

 

What has been the main draw for me though is just how much the game has opened up. I've been to almost every area of the city running about doing a myriad amount of side quests and Part-time Hero missions which seem to be abundance once I reached Chapter 7. The management mini-game took awhile to get used to and I didn't know what the fuck I was doing initially, failing every single investors meeting but after reading up on it online and trying (and failing) the investors meetings a few more times I finally got the knack of it and have now make a ridiculous amount of money from it.

 

I will say though that it doesn't seem anywhere near as long or in depth as previous management style mini-games from previous games, it does seem much shorter too (I've already got my company to rank 42 from 157 or something!) but it's fun and when you manage to nail the investor meetings to a good success rate, knocking out all the shareholders that are complaining it's a cool feeling to see your share price rice and Ichiban get some cash for his efforts. On the cash-flow front though, folks were right when they said you don't get much money from this as previous management mini-games, I'm sitting at about 250,000 Yen at the moment and would probably have at least triple that amount from Yakuza 0's real-estate mini-game for an example. 

 

So yeah, everything is bubbling away nicely now and I can't wait to put a few more hours in to it tonight. I can't wait to see where the story goes and continue on with the management mini-game to make some more cash. 

 

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[mfnick]

Shame you skipped the dialogue at the end. Some of my favourite moments happened then. But I loved it all the way through too.

[Nag]

It says a lot when, if I'm being truthful, I'm having more fun replaying Skyrim than I had with this... them's the breaks though, can't love everything.

[DisturbedSwan]

51 hours into this now and still besotted with it. 
 

Put around 3-4 more hours in to the Management mode alone and managed to get Ichiban Holdings to number 1 in Yokohama which was cool. Just seeing the numbers the company was making go up and up and Ichi’s bank balance gradually rise and rise was incredibly compelling even if the actual mini game itself is a little disappointing compared to other instalments in the series. I did find towards the end that it just wasn’t really worth upgrading your businesses anymore though as you’d get a gaggle of new companies available to you (once you improve your share holding) that would bring in significantly more revenue than the companies you already have, that you’ve spent a great deal investing in and upgrading. Quite short in the end compared to other entries in the franchise but didn’t outstay its welcome, netted me about 13 million Yen so I can splash the cash when out on the town so was definitely worthwhile. 
 

Done a load more side quests, my favourites being one where a Scientist builds a gigantic vacuum cleaning robot that then predictably goes haywire and tries sucking up everything in sight. There’s a cutscene where a cat almost gets sucked up by the robot and is seen clinging on for deer life that is just hilarious, and one line from Ichiban which questions whether the scientist is a pervert or genius for building such a robot in the first place. Another one where you encounter a circus act with an animal that continually escapes every time, a bear, then a tiger and lastly a chimpanzee. Every time you have to battle them to get them back under control and it’s implied that the Circus owner lets them out on purpose so Ichi will put on a show for the audience battling them. 
 

Now up to Chapter 10 in the story too, which is still the weakest part of the game for me. I’m not sure why but I just find myself zoning out way more in this than the story segments of previous games, the action has hotted up, things are nicely teetering on the edge of calamity and I am enjoying it a lot more than I was in the beginning but it still seems needlessly dense at the moment, something is just preventing me getting fully in to it. I have to say though that I loved Nanba’s arc

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from turning on Ichi to find his brother at the Geomijul HQ to them redeeming himself a couple of chapter later, helping Ichi & co. Battle the Yakuza Lieutenants. It was just very sweet and sincere how Ichi welcomed him back with open arms and forgave him so easily for betraying and misleading him back when they first met. 

I will say though that I have loved the boss fights and the combat system has gone from strength to strength now I have the full suite of party members (I think) and can switch in and out whoever I wish at will. A lot of the boss fights are just so over the top and mad, there’s one against a Yakuza in a wrecking ball machine and another against an actual Tiger. I like how challenging the combat system has got as well, it seems to of well and truly taken the training wheels off now and can be pretty brutal at times, I failed the Geomijul HQ boss and had to use a load of medicines against the Tiger with party members being KO’d all over the shop. Might have to do a bit of grinding soon, at the moment it’s just the right side of challenging without being frustrating though. 

[DisturbedSwan]

Near enough 70 hours into this now and loving every second, I absolutely adore it. 

 

It's one of my favourite entries in the series so far, up there with Yakuza 0 for top spot. I love pretty much everything about it and when I'm not playing it I spent almost every waking minute thinking about it ?

Up to Chapter 13 in the story now and from about Chapter 11 onwards it has gotten to be incredibly gripping.

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All the intrigue with Aoki and Arakawa-san, never knowing whether the former or latter are good guys are bad guys really kept me guessing. That meeting with Aoki at the end of Chapter 11 was tense as hell, him explaining everything to Kasuga, getting an insight into his personality and just how ruthless he is. 

 

Then Chapter 12 took the game all the way up to a 10 for me. Infiltrating the Omi HQ, getting to the end and seeing Majima and Saejima show up, my face lit up and I was like AHHHHH, just loved seeing those guys again. Fuck me they were tough though! I spent ages grinding at the Sotenbori Battle Arena before hand, had all my party at Level 50+ and still got my arse handed to me twice before managing to make it through by the skin of my teeth. The revelations afterwards were absolutely bonkers as well, from the beginning I had an inkling Arakawa was still a good dude and it seems I was right. The highlight of this chapter though was seeing fucking Kiryu again! The way they reintroduce him was amazing as well, as soon as Majima and Saejima show up I thought he might make an appearance but they do it in one of the best ways I've ever seen, right as some grunt is about to attack one of the Chairman a fist flies into his face, it slowly pans to the owner of this fist and it's Kiryu in a suit and sunglasses, fucking badass as fuck. I let out an audible 'No, no, nooo, no fucking way! It's Kiryu!!!' when I saw who it was, just such a fucking amazing moment in such a magnificent game. 

 

I have to say the scene afterwards with Kasuga and Arakawa just chatting and catching up with everything on the Yokohama promenade was just such a special moment. It's clear Kasuga saw Arakawa as the Father he never had, and Arakawa saw Kasuga as his other son. That bond between them, the writing and delivery of the VO was just perfect, such a special moment that made the tragic events afterwards all the more poignant. 

 

 

Aside from the story stuff I spent a lot of time grinding at the Sotenbori Battle Arena (as mentioned above) to get myself ready for the rest of the game. 30 floors of increasingly difficult enemies with bosses and sub-bosses at every 5 levels or so, wasn't the most interesting of things to do after awhile but I just set it to Auto Battle and went on my phone for most of it and it wasn't too bad at all. The item rewards and experience you get are well worth the effort as well. Sotenbori itself has always been my favourite Yakuza area to explore and its no different here, it seems a much smaller area than previous games but seeing all the neon buildings either side of the river still brings a smile to my face as I potter about.

 

Spent the rest of my time just pottering about Sotenbori and Yokohama having an absolute blast, taking in the scenery and battling plenty of 'threatening men' walking about. This is just the perfect game to procrastinate in. Although the Part-Time Hero delivery requests are mindless, there's something addictive about them and I spent a lot of time just googling different items to find and then deliver, eventually making my way up to the 'Executive Hero' Rank. I learnt the other day I haven't even played all the mini-games yet either! Crazy. Going to put some time into Darts and Pachinko next time I fire up the game I think.

 

I want to try to get all of Kasuga's personality traits levelled up to 10 if I can, at the moment I only need the Charisma and Confidence stats to go, which are both at Level 9. Hopefully the rest of the story will bump those up to 10, if not then some of the mini-games will hopefully bump it up, or I can buy a stat boosting book with my vast millions of Yen.

 

So yeah, a magnificent game, will be very difficult to budge this from my GOTY spot towards the end of the year.

 

Pics:

 

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[Snaggletooth]

Well, I finished thus over tge weekend and ultimately im middling on it. 

 

I love the main story and characters think Ichiban could make a good new protagonist however the story continues in the future. 

 

However after the initial novelty of the RPG system wore off i felt it just didnt fit the series, could have worked as a side quest or mini game., but ultimately it just pulled me out of the action. 

 

The Grinding is horrendous it just kept making me want to turn off, if it wasnt for the story I may not have finished. 

 

I ultimately hope future entries go back to action roots, otherwise the franchise may end with 6 for me. 

A shame, as had potential to be one of the better entries. 

[DisturbedSwan]

I weirdly love grinding in most games, especially ones where you can set it to auto battle and just go on your phone for a bit ?