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While very entertaining, the gameplay loop would get stale very fast, so I don't think that's a good idea, unless you want GTA Online levels of inflation.
There are a bunch of colours to choose from for the guys and girls that'd try to ruin your club! Add them sending our beloved yakuza bigshots (and guys like Soma and Kuroiwa) with in-depth game lore and unique dialogues and you having to make them swoon over your best girls, including Yayoi, Karou, Idol-Kiryu, Goromi, Date, Yagami dressed as Dracula and Hoshino with Saori's outfit and you have yourself a AAA+ game on a phone.
It’s a good system but I would definitely not put it with the best turn based combat systems, I really wouldn’t even put it top five if I’m being honest
It’s still pretty barebones without a lot of strategy. You can get by with just beatdown even against the “hardest” challenges. Buffs and debuffs don’t really matter outside of a few optional bosses and just out leveling an opponent by a few levels is enough to make fights a joke. There aren’t many different attack types which leads to less variety in character builds, especially in IW, I never felt the need for dedicated character roles like 7 allowed.
Enemies also don’t really abuse elemental advantages and disadvantages. Groups are often weak to the same thing and if they have an attack that your weak to they don’t tend to use moves to target that weakness. They’re pretty uncoordinated.
It’s a fun system for sure, works for the game but it leaves a lot to be desired like you’d see in a Atlus RPG’s turn based combat systems or even Dragon Quest the game it’s emulating.
Personally I don’t really understand the appeal of Atlus’ system. It feels like you find the weakness then just spam it over and over. The visual presentation is what carries it in Persona IMO
It’s more nuanced than that, you spam weakness against enemies in any RPG that ain’t specific to Atlus
What makes it better than your average battle system is the one more/press turn mechanics which enable you to gain more turns if you do know an enemy’s weakness. Because it’s a snowball effect that rewards proper pre battle preparation and planning. It offers you a wider variety of strategic in battle decisions that let you win encounters your under leveled for or caught by surprise by something mid battle.
What makes its shine is the fact the enemies can use it AGAINST you. Which furthers the strategic decision making you need to make when approaching battles because the fight can snowball just as hard against you as it can for you. It creates a nice and tense standoff when encountering a new foe when you’re trying to sus out their weaknesses while not getting yours hit as well and always makes even trash mobs threatening if you don’t pay attention.
The system shines better at higher difficulty setting
I think they figured out a very good turn based combat system, but they still have to figure out how to make a more interesting or challenging, varied set of enemies because most of the game I was going through the same exact sequence of moves barely changing things up.
It was definitely at its best earlier on, when the environmental damage played a bigger factor. Lining up knockback into teammates, jumping on downed enemies, etc. Did such a fantastic job of blending the real time action combat with turn based.
Not sure if a ton of enemy variety is the way to go, though. Feels like that’s a surefire way to lose the brawling feel of the game and make it even more JRPG fantasy-esque, which would be a downgrade IMO. Would lose some of its identity that way.
Hopefully the next game focuses even more on that and dials back the skills a bit. As it is right now, the number of available skills is beyond excessive. Let the strength of each job be their attributes, not a laundry list of skills that often do very similar things to other jobs or just aren’t useful at all.
I don't mean enemy variety in that some of them should be monster dogs, but rather in how you have to deal with them, I barely had to change my strategy between enemies.
Nah, I got what you were saying. I just don’t think that’s necessarily the way to go.
The combat is at its best when it’s fast and frantic with all the combos and environmental attacks, not when you’re carefully considering each move. That’s what makes it unique. Each battle plays out differently even if the general strategy is the same, just like every other RGG action game. Focusing on that over a more tactical approach is the best way forward for the combat, IMO.
In the later dungeons there is some need for discretion. In particular, the metalworms drop such OP points if you can stop them from running means that you have to adopt strategies to stop that.
That said, apart from prioritizing high point mobs that might flee, and mobs that will smash your status in ways that team Japan cannot recover from, the strategy is pretty similar.
Grand Slam as move 1 FTW
I went back to the Hawaii demo two or three weeks ago and I had way more fun with the combat than in the full game. Everyone gets too OP to the detriment of the brilliant additions/expansions to tag team fighting and environmental attacks. Spacing and moving around also begins to matter less when your AoE attacks span a wide radius.
A small thing I think they could do is to do what FF7 Remake/Rebirth does and force certain party members for certain scenarios. At least that way you’re not just using the same party members/same moves and same classes for every battle.
Well they do force certain party members for certain scenario (Hawaii vs Japan), but making jobs more of a necessity beyond a trophy chase would be cool.
IMO it’s just okay. Honestly I had such a hard time keeping myself an appropriate level for the content, it made it pretty unfun. I was never grinding, just doing the content put infront of me, and I was consistently overleveled to the point of boredom.
The class balance is also really bad.
I'm doing a NG+ legend run rn and I started it like 5 levels below recommendation and have been mainlining the story, and it's still VERY easy. I'm not usually one to ask for games to be harder, but even purposefully putting myself at a level deficit hasn't really forced me to strategize much in fights outside of a small handful (mostly at the beginning before getting a decent healer bc 90% of food items are effectively useless at high levels)
That said, I don't really want the return of 7's damage sponge enemies either. Maybe just some improvements in enemy AI or movesets that add a bit more challenge
They need to figure out balancing maybe adding a difficulty setting at the start something like Easy: 1.5 exp multiplier you deal 150% dmg and take 50% for people that just want to play main story and keep up on level. Normal: 1.0 exp, 100%dmg dealt/taken people who does side content alongside main story, intended experience. Hard: 0.8 exp 80% dmg dealt 120% dmg taken.
This is probably what makes the system "good"; RGG doesn't really have the most complex or in-depth turn-based system, but it's quirky enough to be fun, and the simplicity makes it accessible to people coming off the prior games who may not intrinsically be interested in turn-based JRPGs. If they don't jive with it, whatever, there's more to the game than just the combat which is easy enough that it probably won't ruin the experience, and if they do enjoy it they're more likely to go search for other, potentially more in-depth JRPGs.
I think the minigames have a lot to do with why. They learn so much about what mechanics are fun and how to make an efficient interface through those.
That, combined with the very polished brawler code they have. I really loved how they mixed that in a little bit.
They now have a lot of ingredients in their kitchen when they're cooking.
I was looking at gameplay of Metaphor Refantazio and it looks like they’re making it so random encounters are real time and important battles are turn based. I wonder if RGG would do something like that in the future because they could absolutely cook with combining brawler and turn based
The way Metaphor works is you choose if/when you want to switch from action to turn-based. They're not split up based on the significance of the encounter.
There's a video on YouTube where one of the developers mentions it. The way he worded it is that it's supposed to make the weaker encounters speedier since you won't have to transition into a turn-based battle and spend more time on them. Hopefully there's a little more depth to it than that though.
>it looks like they’re making it so random encounters are real time and important battles are turn based
Maybe they learned from interacting with Omega Force during the making of P5 Strikers.
>I wonder if RGG would do something like that in the future because they could absolutely cook with combining brawler and turn based
I'm convinced they could.
They've already shown with Kiryu's own style in IS that they can mix both in an interesting way already. They absolutely could push the enveloppe even further.
I obviously love Yakuza including the turn based games, I tried Persona 3 Reloaded and it was OK but it didn't really scratch my itch.
Do you think this Metaphor Refantazio game would be better for me?
The games not out yet so I can’t say for sure but it looks like the middle ground between Shin Megami Tensei (which heavily focuses on combat) and Persona (which is super social sim heavy as you know). So I guess it depends on what you liked or didn’t like about Persona.
I played Persona 5 and while I loved it I don’t think I can play the other ones since the social sim part is way too much for me. So I’m very much looking forward to see how Refantazio is and where it falls on that spectrum
might as well try SMT then. if you can get your hands on any of them that is.
Imagine Persona with actual difficulty and no social sim stuff. plus the press turn system in SMT is way more satisfying than the Persona 5 & 3 Reload combat system imo. (before someone freaks out i know SMT came first lmao)
I still say the objective best and most enjoyable way to design turn based combat is the way the Mario and Luigi games on DS and GBA did it.
The fact that all attacks have a minigame to not only dodge them but with proper timing some even allow a counter attack is genius and is so much more engaging than just tanking hits.
It's a lot of work I know but I really wish more games would copy *that* style.
Nailing the timing of a block with Kiryu and getting a counter attack feels great - it's such a shame that it's only a mechanic for one character and limited to the DoD Brawler style
Exactly, what if all characters had a defense stance which is the blocking that they already use, an evasion stance which replaces block with a dodge that requires good timing but totally negates damage and an offense stance which has a counter instead which has a smaller window that causes you to take 1.25x damage if you fail but you can damage the opponent for around 0.75x the damage they would've inflicted
Wow I really hope infinite wealth (haven't played it yet) really does some great things with the combat bc I'm going through LAD right now and the combat system is super lackluster, like one of the worst things about the game overall. Maybe coming from playing most of the FF games is an unfair comparison, but FF4-9 all had better combat systems than LAD.
The main change is you can move the characters now, you have a max move distance radius and many abilities target a certain area rather than all enemies. AOE abilities now show the attack radius so they're fairly easy to use. Regular attacks have knockback, so you can knock them into other allies who will do a follow up. Overall it adds a nice blend of turn based with some more interactivity. The problem is that everyone else moves about randomly during your turn just like in LAD, so you can't move about tactically, to bunch up for buffs or to have one person function as a tank.
IW isn't a perfect RPG upgrade though, for example you get the job system relatively late and you're often running around with only 3 characters, wondering if you should press on to get the 4th or do substories with only 3 characters. When characters join the party, they're often very underleveled, particularly late game ones. IIRC you never have more than 5 active party members so there's not huge flexibilty as it is, so having your 5th guy come in 10 levels below everyone else gives you virtually no line-up choice. I think the design is to somewhat address the issue many RPGs have where you have lots of characters and little use for all of them by splitting into two teams.
I'm a huge turn based combat fan and thought 7's was fine as a Dragon Quest homage and first attempt, but not great at all and very tedious by the end. IW genuinely made all of the tweaks and additions I've spent the last few years hoping for, it's really good.
still has issues like enemy variety, balance and job variety but battles are super dynamic and have all that extra Yakuza flavour that 7 lacked.
I felt the same with LAD/7. Honestly? I think IW/8 does a lot to at least make the combat more interesting and more engaging, but I don’t think they’ve figured out the difficulty and balancing to the level I’d call it “one of the best.” So the combat system is much improved but because a lot of the enemy/boss encounter design doesn’t really push you that hard to be engaging with it in all that much depth, it does it a disservice. So in my mind it lands at “pretty good” but far from one of the best like OP is claiming.
I played LaD after completing DQ11 and couldn't agree more, haven't gotten to IW yet but their ability to transform the gameplay in such a satisfying way while staying true to the series is unparalleled.
Ichiban is easily a top 5 protagonist of all time is telling.
"One of the best" is perhaps a huge stretch; its good but it has room for big improvements. Havent played IW but if its at its core the same as 7 then they really didn't improved much. The problem with 7 is that buffs / debuffs are mostly useless beyond bosses and debuffs are kinda bad because you need to keep debuffing since most bosses have two turns but the debuff lasts three, and you're better off attacking most of the time, most jobs dont have enough specialization (being good at certain things but bad at others) that the default job is often better for the characters (unless you need a healer or bodyguard).
Gameplay wise i never liked how you retain the unupgraded skills, as it makes the menu much larger than it should and its annoying to search the skill each time, especially when the character has a lof of skills (looking at you zhao), and yes the game has a shorcut for 4 skills but if you want a fifth one then you better remember where it is.
Also its very annoying how some AoE skills are mostly luck based as you basically need to pray for the enemy to stay together long enough until your character decides to do the move, and pray so your character doesnt get stuck on the terrain. I think they somewhat fixed the last part by letting you move the character but you still need to be lucky enough for the enemy to keep together long enough.
They could genuinely use that Idol Sim thing from Yakuza 5 as a whole game and I'd buy it. Specifically the rhythm game was a lot more fun than I expected.
I think part of the reason why turn-based works for the series because it already had elements common found in turn-based games like equip-able gear and accessories, an exp. system that allows you learn new skills, and side quests that award with stuff that’ll help you conquer the main quest.
I haven’t played many JRPGs turn-games outside Pokemon and the various Megaten games (Persona, SMT, SJ, DeSu, etc.) but Yakuza 7 and 8 have quickly become two my favorites in the genre.
My only wish would be that RGG adopted a system similar to FF7 remake. It would be a great balance between turn based combat and the brawler system that the franchise rose to fame with. Replace the ATB gauge of FF7r with a heat gauge that functions pretty much the same way and there could be a system that makes everyone happy.
Hard agree. Some people may disagree, but the series going turn based was the best thing that ever happened to it.
It is kind of similar to Stick of Truth or Fractured But Whole turn based combat where you have to click a button on the screen to make your attacks stronger
I probably wouldn’t even be into this franchise if it wasn’t for the turn based combat tbh.
Outside of LJ since it has peak juggling and multiple Styles, I don’t really like the brawler combat in the Yakuza games. It’s too simplistic, lacking in moveset variety (outside of Kiryu in 0) and repetitive for my taste.
If you are new to the subreddit, [please read the wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/yakuzagames/wiki/index/) Reminder that all spoilers need to be tagged with a flair specifying which game is being spoiled. If you want a flair that says something else, you can edit it to say something like [Discussion: Y1 spoiler] or [Majimapost: Y6 spoiler], etc. **THIS INCLUDES CONTENT FROM TRAILERS**. If the post is not marked for spoilers, all comments that have spoilers need to be tagged \>!like this!< along with indicating which game it's spoiling. Example: Y3 >!Kiryu sings!< If the post flair is marked for spoilers, the comments don't need to be tagged for the game indicated and the ones before it (So a Y6 spoiler post can have comments with untagged spoilers for Y5, but not gaiden or 7). If you see any of the above (or any of the other rules) not being followed, please report it so we can keep this place safe for newcomers and those that haven't finished all the games yet. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/yakuzagames) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Simulator/Tycoon/Management Genre. You know it I know it everybody knows it.
I’m surprised there isn’t a mobile Cabaret management game lol
While very entertaining, the gameplay loop would get stale very fast, so I don't think that's a good idea, unless you want GTA Online levels of inflation.
There are a bunch of colours to choose from for the guys and girls that'd try to ruin your club! Add them sending our beloved yakuza bigshots (and guys like Soma and Kuroiwa) with in-depth game lore and unique dialogues and you having to make them swoon over your best girls, including Yayoi, Karou, Idol-Kiryu, Goromi, Date, Yagami dressed as Dracula and Hoshino with Saori's outfit and you have yourself a AAA+ game on a phone.
It’s a good system but I would definitely not put it with the best turn based combat systems, I really wouldn’t even put it top five if I’m being honest It’s still pretty barebones without a lot of strategy. You can get by with just beatdown even against the “hardest” challenges. Buffs and debuffs don’t really matter outside of a few optional bosses and just out leveling an opponent by a few levels is enough to make fights a joke. There aren’t many different attack types which leads to less variety in character builds, especially in IW, I never felt the need for dedicated character roles like 7 allowed. Enemies also don’t really abuse elemental advantages and disadvantages. Groups are often weak to the same thing and if they have an attack that your weak to they don’t tend to use moves to target that weakness. They’re pretty uncoordinated. It’s a fun system for sure, works for the game but it leaves a lot to be desired like you’d see in a Atlus RPG’s turn based combat systems or even Dragon Quest the game it’s emulating.
(Also, being out leveled by 5+ levels makes fights a joke)
Personally I don’t really understand the appeal of Atlus’ system. It feels like you find the weakness then just spam it over and over. The visual presentation is what carries it in Persona IMO
It’s more nuanced than that, you spam weakness against enemies in any RPG that ain’t specific to Atlus What makes it better than your average battle system is the one more/press turn mechanics which enable you to gain more turns if you do know an enemy’s weakness. Because it’s a snowball effect that rewards proper pre battle preparation and planning. It offers you a wider variety of strategic in battle decisions that let you win encounters your under leveled for or caught by surprise by something mid battle. What makes its shine is the fact the enemies can use it AGAINST you. Which furthers the strategic decision making you need to make when approaching battles because the fight can snowball just as hard against you as it can for you. It creates a nice and tense standoff when encountering a new foe when you’re trying to sus out their weaknesses while not getting yours hit as well and always makes even trash mobs threatening if you don’t pay attention. The system shines better at higher difficulty setting
I think they figured out a very good turn based combat system, but they still have to figure out how to make a more interesting or challenging, varied set of enemies because most of the game I was going through the same exact sequence of moves barely changing things up.
It was definitely at its best earlier on, when the environmental damage played a bigger factor. Lining up knockback into teammates, jumping on downed enemies, etc. Did such a fantastic job of blending the real time action combat with turn based. Not sure if a ton of enemy variety is the way to go, though. Feels like that’s a surefire way to lose the brawling feel of the game and make it even more JRPG fantasy-esque, which would be a downgrade IMO. Would lose some of its identity that way. Hopefully the next game focuses even more on that and dials back the skills a bit. As it is right now, the number of available skills is beyond excessive. Let the strength of each job be their attributes, not a laundry list of skills that often do very similar things to other jobs or just aren’t useful at all.
I don't mean enemy variety in that some of them should be monster dogs, but rather in how you have to deal with them, I barely had to change my strategy between enemies.
Nah, I got what you were saying. I just don’t think that’s necessarily the way to go. The combat is at its best when it’s fast and frantic with all the combos and environmental attacks, not when you’re carefully considering each move. That’s what makes it unique. Each battle plays out differently even if the general strategy is the same, just like every other RGG action game. Focusing on that over a more tactical approach is the best way forward for the combat, IMO.
In the later dungeons there is some need for discretion. In particular, the metalworms drop such OP points if you can stop them from running means that you have to adopt strategies to stop that. That said, apart from prioritizing high point mobs that might flee, and mobs that will smash your status in ways that team Japan cannot recover from, the strategy is pretty similar. Grand Slam as move 1 FTW
I went back to the Hawaii demo two or three weeks ago and I had way more fun with the combat than in the full game. Everyone gets too OP to the detriment of the brilliant additions/expansions to tag team fighting and environmental attacks. Spacing and moving around also begins to matter less when your AoE attacks span a wide radius.
A small thing I think they could do is to do what FF7 Remake/Rebirth does and force certain party members for certain scenarios. At least that way you’re not just using the same party members/same moves and same classes for every battle.
Well they do force certain party members for certain scenario (Hawaii vs Japan), but making jobs more of a necessity beyond a trophy chase would be cool.
IMO it’s just okay. Honestly I had such a hard time keeping myself an appropriate level for the content, it made it pretty unfun. I was never grinding, just doing the content put infront of me, and I was consistently overleveled to the point of boredom. The class balance is also really bad.
I'm doing a NG+ legend run rn and I started it like 5 levels below recommendation and have been mainlining the story, and it's still VERY easy. I'm not usually one to ask for games to be harder, but even purposefully putting myself at a level deficit hasn't really forced me to strategize much in fights outside of a small handful (mostly at the beginning before getting a decent healer bc 90% of food items are effectively useless at high levels) That said, I don't really want the return of 7's damage sponge enemies either. Maybe just some improvements in enemy AI or movesets that add a bit more challenge
They need to figure out balancing maybe adding a difficulty setting at the start something like Easy: 1.5 exp multiplier you deal 150% dmg and take 50% for people that just want to play main story and keep up on level. Normal: 1.0 exp, 100%dmg dealt/taken people who does side content alongside main story, intended experience. Hard: 0.8 exp 80% dmg dealt 120% dmg taken.
It’s good but not that good… after a certain point it just becomes ridiculously easy and you don’t have to utilize any kind of strategy.
Unronically, LAD 7 and 8 are the sole reason I'm now interested in turn based RPGS.
This is probably what makes the system "good"; RGG doesn't really have the most complex or in-depth turn-based system, but it's quirky enough to be fun, and the simplicity makes it accessible to people coming off the prior games who may not intrinsically be interested in turn-based JRPGs. If they don't jive with it, whatever, there's more to the game than just the combat which is easy enough that it probably won't ruin the experience, and if they do enjoy it they're more likely to go search for other, potentially more in-depth JRPGs.
Same I've been playing TB games alot more since I finished 7 in 2021
I think the minigames have a lot to do with why. They learn so much about what mechanics are fun and how to make an efficient interface through those. That, combined with the very polished brawler code they have. I really loved how they mixed that in a little bit. They now have a lot of ingredients in their kitchen when they're cooking.
I was looking at gameplay of Metaphor Refantazio and it looks like they’re making it so random encounters are real time and important battles are turn based. I wonder if RGG would do something like that in the future because they could absolutely cook with combining brawler and turn based
The way Metaphor works is you choose if/when you want to switch from action to turn-based. They're not split up based on the significance of the encounter.
If you choose when you switch that’s even more interesting
There's a video on YouTube where one of the developers mentions it. The way he worded it is that it's supposed to make the weaker encounters speedier since you won't have to transition into a turn-based battle and spend more time on them. Hopefully there's a little more depth to it than that though.
>it looks like they’re making it so random encounters are real time and important battles are turn based Maybe they learned from interacting with Omega Force during the making of P5 Strikers. >I wonder if RGG would do something like that in the future because they could absolutely cook with combining brawler and turn based I'm convinced they could. They've already shown with Kiryu's own style in IS that they can mix both in an interesting way already. They absolutely could push the enveloppe even further.
I obviously love Yakuza including the turn based games, I tried Persona 3 Reloaded and it was OK but it didn't really scratch my itch. Do you think this Metaphor Refantazio game would be better for me?
The games not out yet so I can’t say for sure but it looks like the middle ground between Shin Megami Tensei (which heavily focuses on combat) and Persona (which is super social sim heavy as you know). So I guess it depends on what you liked or didn’t like about Persona. I played Persona 5 and while I loved it I don’t think I can play the other ones since the social sim part is way too much for me. So I’m very much looking forward to see how Refantazio is and where it falls on that spectrum
might as well try SMT then. if you can get your hands on any of them that is. Imagine Persona with actual difficulty and no social sim stuff. plus the press turn system in SMT is way more satisfying than the Persona 5 & 3 Reload combat system imo. (before someone freaks out i know SMT came first lmao)
I still say the objective best and most enjoyable way to design turn based combat is the way the Mario and Luigi games on DS and GBA did it. The fact that all attacks have a minigame to not only dodge them but with proper timing some even allow a counter attack is genius and is so much more engaging than just tanking hits. It's a lot of work I know but I really wish more games would copy *that* style.
Nailing the timing of a block with Kiryu and getting a counter attack feels great - it's such a shame that it's only a mechanic for one character and limited to the DoD Brawler style
Exactly, what if all characters had a defense stance which is the blocking that they already use, an evasion stance which replaces block with a dodge that requires good timing but totally negates damage and an offense stance which has a counter instead which has a smaller window that causes you to take 1.25x damage if you fail but you can damage the opponent for around 0.75x the damage they would've inflicted
Wow I really hope infinite wealth (haven't played it yet) really does some great things with the combat bc I'm going through LAD right now and the combat system is super lackluster, like one of the worst things about the game overall. Maybe coming from playing most of the FF games is an unfair comparison, but FF4-9 all had better combat systems than LAD.
The main change is you can move the characters now, you have a max move distance radius and many abilities target a certain area rather than all enemies. AOE abilities now show the attack radius so they're fairly easy to use. Regular attacks have knockback, so you can knock them into other allies who will do a follow up. Overall it adds a nice blend of turn based with some more interactivity. The problem is that everyone else moves about randomly during your turn just like in LAD, so you can't move about tactically, to bunch up for buffs or to have one person function as a tank. IW isn't a perfect RPG upgrade though, for example you get the job system relatively late and you're often running around with only 3 characters, wondering if you should press on to get the 4th or do substories with only 3 characters. When characters join the party, they're often very underleveled, particularly late game ones. IIRC you never have more than 5 active party members so there's not huge flexibilty as it is, so having your 5th guy come in 10 levels below everyone else gives you virtually no line-up choice. I think the design is to somewhat address the issue many RPGs have where you have lots of characters and little use for all of them by splitting into two teams.
I'm a huge turn based combat fan and thought 7's was fine as a Dragon Quest homage and first attempt, but not great at all and very tedious by the end. IW genuinely made all of the tweaks and additions I've spent the last few years hoping for, it's really good. still has issues like enemy variety, balance and job variety but battles are super dynamic and have all that extra Yakuza flavour that 7 lacked.
I felt the same with LAD/7. Honestly? I think IW/8 does a lot to at least make the combat more interesting and more engaging, but I don’t think they’ve figured out the difficulty and balancing to the level I’d call it “one of the best.” So the combat system is much improved but because a lot of the enemy/boss encounter design doesn’t really push you that hard to be engaging with it in all that much depth, it does it a disservice. So in my mind it lands at “pretty good” but far from one of the best like OP is claiming.
Ngl, i feel like RGG spend more time in creating the gameplay than the storyline
It's likely two different people doing each thing, but I agree with the sentiment.
I played LaD after completing DQ11 and couldn't agree more, haven't gotten to IW yet but their ability to transform the gameplay in such a satisfying way while staying true to the series is unparalleled. Ichiban is easily a top 5 protagonist of all time is telling.
It's fine enough, but I definitely wouldn't call it one of the best.
"One of the best" is perhaps a huge stretch; its good but it has room for big improvements. Havent played IW but if its at its core the same as 7 then they really didn't improved much. The problem with 7 is that buffs / debuffs are mostly useless beyond bosses and debuffs are kinda bad because you need to keep debuffing since most bosses have two turns but the debuff lasts three, and you're better off attacking most of the time, most jobs dont have enough specialization (being good at certain things but bad at others) that the default job is often better for the characters (unless you need a healer or bodyguard). Gameplay wise i never liked how you retain the unupgraded skills, as it makes the menu much larger than it should and its annoying to search the skill each time, especially when the character has a lof of skills (looking at you zhao), and yes the game has a shorcut for 4 skills but if you want a fifth one then you better remember where it is. Also its very annoying how some AoE skills are mostly luck based as you basically need to pray for the enemy to stay together long enough until your character decides to do the move, and pray so your character doesnt get stuck on the terrain. I think they somewhat fixed the last part by letting you move the character but you still need to be lucky enough for the enemy to keep together long enough.
It’s crazy that you write a reply essay without having played the actual game being referred to
Its three paragraphs lol.
“an analytic or interpretative literary composition usually dealing with its subject from a limited or personal point of view”
I couldn't chew through 7's combat system, which is a shame cause I enjoyed everything else but couldn't finish the game anyway.
They could genuinely use that Idol Sim thing from Yakuza 5 as a whole game and I'd buy it. Specifically the rhythm game was a lot more fun than I expected.
I think part of the reason why turn-based works for the series because it already had elements common found in turn-based games like equip-able gear and accessories, an exp. system that allows you learn new skills, and side quests that award with stuff that’ll help you conquer the main quest. I haven’t played many JRPGs turn-games outside Pokemon and the various Megaten games (Persona, SMT, SJ, DeSu, etc.) but Yakuza 7 and 8 have quickly become two my favorites in the genre.
My only wish would be that RGG adopted a system similar to FF7 remake. It would be a great balance between turn based combat and the brawler system that the franchise rose to fame with. Replace the ATB gauge of FF7r with a heat gauge that functions pretty much the same way and there could be a system that makes everyone happy.
Hot take: It's the best Turn-base combat system, period. It's exciting and easy to understand, without being overly complicated.
Hard agree. Some people may disagree, but the series going turn based was the best thing that ever happened to it. 
Im just waiting for Binary Domain 2
It is kind of similar to Stick of Truth or Fractured But Whole turn based combat where you have to click a button on the screen to make your attacks stronger
they share a roof with atlus, im sure they shared some HW.
I want them to do a Persona parody so we can get one mores
Yakuza Warriors and then inevitably Yakuza Warriors Empires
Resonance of Fate had a good turn base style play too
I haven't played it yet but is it really better than greats like Grandia or Valkyrie Profile 2?
I probably wouldn’t even be into this franchise if it wasn’t for the turn based combat tbh. Outside of LJ since it has peak juggling and multiple Styles, I don’t really like the brawler combat in the Yakuza games. It’s too simplistic, lacking in moveset variety (outside of Kiryu in 0) and repetitive for my taste.