Yeah, so I finally got the game after initially sending it to the wrong address, somehow 
and, well, as a fan of the franchise I'm not disappointed so far.
All of my thoughts from the demo pretty much remain true twelve hours in; the tweaks, new minigames and new cast members are a whole lot of fun to varying degrees, but this remains primarily for people who liked the previous four titles. The tech is still outdated, the gameplay is by and large exactly the same, and there are any number of silly 'videogame' aspects to it that'd drive the mainstream up the wall... often with good reason. At the same time, Sega have visibly tweaked it; the gameplay is as fun as ever it was; and if you're into old-school, this is pretty much as good as it gets, nowadays.
The characters are introduced one by one, seems like, though I'm on Saejima's (tough guy) fourth chapter and I've had a cameo from one of the others. Akiyama (moneylender) is the first character, and he plays through a sequence of events without knowing much about what's going on (no, I barely speak any Japanese, but some of the story is readable from just watching the visuals - it seems pretty obvious he's kept fairly in the dark through most of it). Then someone else turns up (won't say who!) and says okay, I'll give you some pointers as to what this is all about; it all began many years ago when... and then Saejima's story begins. You can't switch between them (at least not so far) or go back to previous chapters, though I think achievements and collectibles carry over.
I'm really enjoying the story, at least from as much of it as I can pick up. Akiyama was fun, but Saejima's just kicked the awesome through the roof - his introduction, where you see
is one of the most bone-chillingly terrifying things I've ever seen in a videogame. Not new, if you've ever seen more than a handful of gangster movies, but brilliantly, brilliantly done. The narrative seems fairly serious, with none of the outlandish touches of #3 -
- though the revelations and sidequests are frequently as ludicrous as ever. The nods to the previous games are a lot of fun, though oddly if there's a recap in there I don't see it. Perhaps they figured given it's a fairly standalone narrative you shouldn't need one.
The rest is by the numbers; collecting, brawling and the minigames are all in fine form, though sexy ping-pong is annoyingly limited - very little moving around and no way to gauge your power that I can see. If only they'd just ripped off Rockstar Table Tennis...
Oh, and for conspiracy theorists/angry nerds, I'd like to see them cut managing the hostess clubs this time - it seems to be a fairly vital part of Akiyama's story that he has to go through it at least twice.
I doubt many people will be playing it, but hey - there you go, if you were curious. If you want to know anything else and can't be bothered to track down ThePatrick on GameFAQs, I'll do my best to answer.
and, well, as a fan of the franchise I'm not disappointed so far.All of my thoughts from the demo pretty much remain true twelve hours in; the tweaks, new minigames and new cast members are a whole lot of fun to varying degrees, but this remains primarily for people who liked the previous four titles. The tech is still outdated, the gameplay is by and large exactly the same, and there are any number of silly 'videogame' aspects to it that'd drive the mainstream up the wall... often with good reason. At the same time, Sega have visibly tweaked it; the gameplay is as fun as ever it was; and if you're into old-school, this is pretty much as good as it gets, nowadays.
The characters are introduced one by one, seems like, though I'm on Saejima's (tough guy) fourth chapter and I've had a cameo from one of the others. Akiyama (moneylender) is the first character, and he plays through a sequence of events without knowing much about what's going on (no, I barely speak any Japanese, but some of the story is readable from just watching the visuals - it seems pretty obvious he's kept fairly in the dark through most of it). Then someone else turns up (won't say who!) and says okay, I'll give you some pointers as to what this is all about; it all began many years ago when... and then Saejima's story begins. You can't switch between them (at least not so far) or go back to previous chapters, though I think achievements and collectibles carry over.
I'm really enjoying the story, at least from as much of it as I can pick up. Akiyama was fun, but Saejima's just kicked the awesome through the roof - his introduction, where you see
is one of the most bone-chillingly terrifying things I've ever seen in a videogame. Not new, if you've ever seen more than a handful of gangster movies, but brilliantly, brilliantly done. The narrative seems fairly serious, with none of the outlandish touches of #3 -
- though the revelations and sidequests are frequently as ludicrous as ever. The nods to the previous games are a lot of fun, though oddly if there's a recap in there I don't see it. Perhaps they figured given it's a fairly standalone narrative you shouldn't need one.
The rest is by the numbers; collecting, brawling and the minigames are all in fine form, though sexy ping-pong is annoyingly limited - very little moving around and no way to gauge your power that I can see. If only they'd just ripped off Rockstar Table Tennis...
Oh, and for conspiracy theorists/angry nerds, I'd like to see them cut managing the hostess clubs this time - it seems to be a fairly vital part of Akiyama's story that he has to go through it at least twice.
I doubt many people will be playing it, but hey - there you go, if you were curious. If you want to know anything else and can't be bothered to track down ThePatrick on GameFAQs, I'll do my best to answer.
, does it give you any bonus items if you have a save from Ryu Ga Gotoku 3 like with the previous games.
, the heat moves where you can
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