Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

That kiryu scene was painful 😔

Gaiden reintroduced Kiryu in a relatively different character to the original one. In which as a long time Kiryu Kazuma fan, i found it to be somewhat offensive..

The new "Gadgets" gameplay was fun but also disappointing since the fights are generally easy, and do not require any "Gadgets" to finish them! Throwing punches was and still is enough to simply get a Fight done.. let alone the terrible investment in RPG elements inspired from "Yakuza: Like a Dragon"

However, the story was shallow to the point that it felt like a Filler with so many side quests that are forced throughout the gameplay. That is regardless of the importance of its plotlint which deeply connects to future entries.

The ending hits hard. I don’t know about you guys, but the ending is the best ending of this year. I’m more excited for 8. Hell I already pre ordered the ultimate edition 🔥.

First thing I will say is that The Man Who Erased His Name goes so hard for a video game title. It sounds like you're about go down a deep rabbit hole of conspiracies and drama. Unfortunately the story does not live up to the title of the game.

TMWEHN is a tribute to the Kiriyu Yakuza games we've been getting since the inception of the series. The last hurrah of the old era before Like A Dragon permanently moves on to be an RPG franchise instead of action.

The game is more of a bite size Yakuza game, rather than a full one. Honestly, this could be considered DLC to Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon.

The game takes place during the same time as Yakuza 7, but this time shows Kiriyu's side of the story up until the climax of Yakuza 7. The problem is this side of the story is not nearly as engaging/exciting as Ichiban's story.

The gameplay doesn't do anything new if you've played Yakuza 0-6, it's more of the same with some added fighting styles. The locations are nothing new too, except for one area. If you've played a Kiriyu game before, then this game will be very familiar to you.
The RGG team perfected the combat system in Lost Judgement, yet somehow the combat has regressed here.

It's still a solid Yakuza game, and the story ties up nicely and gives really good closure to Kiriyu's chapter. It sets up Yakuza 8 nicely and has one of the most gut wrenching beautiful endings in the entire series. I would only recommend this though if you are a die hard fan of this franchise like I am, otherwise it's better to just wait for Yakuza 8: Infinite Wealth.

Like a dragon gaiden: the game that make you cry. (2023)

"Little Side Game" my ass