Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
The Dragon of Dojima still lives!
It may be the penultimate adventure for our Dragon of Dojima, but where there's finality, there's a boatload of Awesome Moments to be had.
Story
- The re-awakening of the Yakuza style. After Shishido's Dynamic Entry by way of crashing the car that Joryu, Hanawa, and Tsuruno were in, he intercepts Shishido's blade before he could kill Hanawa. From there, Joryu uses the Agent style to challenge Shishido with his mask still on. After that fight ends, Shishido flat-out tells Joryu to make it a fight to the death, and how does Joryu respond? By switching to his iconic fighting stance, and reawakening the Oryu within. Cue the Awesome Music that is the main battle theme for the Yakuza style — "Bring It On"
. - When Joryu finds the homeless victims behind padlocked doors he simply takes the lock in his hand and rips it off. He does this again after beating the welfare thieves, along with kicking one clean off the door.
- At the end of their fight, Kiryu saves the fake Goda from tigers by grabbing the fake Goda and using him as a bat on the tiger, who is then sent flying on the other tiger and both animals are out. What makes it even more awesome is Kiryu's line toward the fake Goda implies he used him as bludgeon for ruining his former rival's image.Kiryu: You got the look down. But nothing else. He'd never trust a tiger over his own two hands. He'd much sooner die than pull that.
Final Chapter
Yes, the entire final act of the game is so unapologetically amazing it warrants its own section. So to wit:- After arriving to greet Watase, the latter, Joryu, and Tsuruno are treated not only to Shishido's betrayal but also by a sudden ambush from the Kijin Clan, with Nishitani III being alive and well after all (albeit injured). Realizing that the Kijin Clan can't interfere with the disbandment, Watase and Kiryu, alongside Tsuruno, fight alongside each other once more as they fend off a massive horde of Kijin members, with the fight managing to flat-out surpass the Tojo Clan fight of Yakuza 5 by the sheer amount of mooks you're faced with.
- Not only does Watase show his time in prison hasn’t killed his fighting skills, he's also got Tsurono helping him take down not just the hoards of Yakuza, but Nishitani and Shishido as well!
- Then after that, we're treated to a familiar scene from Yakuza: Like a Dragon - the Omi Alliance Feast. After Watase and Daigo announce the disbandment of their respective clans, well... chaos ensues. The Heroes of Tomorrow hold the line alongside the Tojo legends - Majima and Saejima. Right when it seems that all is lost and Watase is about to be stabbed - again - BAM! Joryu comes in and sucker punches the unlucky mook square in the face and steals the show. Sure enough, what follows is the same fight as in LAD, only this time from Joryu's perspective, and in the classic real-time beat-'em-up combat that the series is known for. And just to drive the point home, "appassionato" from the latter game is given an incredible remix in "Un altro appassionato", arranged by none other than ZENTA himself. Work it fix it rock it!
- After the above, as Joryu and company try to haul out of Omi HQ, Shishido - refusing to quit - makes his last stand against the dissolution. And if you thought Ryuji and Saejima were tough bastards, Shishido is a total beast of his own. Not only does he take a knife to the hand from Majima, but the guy also manages to do that AND hold back Saejima - the same man who is considered Kiryu's equal, by the way - and even tosses them to the ground like a sack of potatoes! The fact that he keeps Majima's dagger in his hand for so long before tossing it to the ground (by pulling it out with his teeth, no less) makes Kiryu's description of Shishido as a cornered animal more than appropriate. This then leads right into...
- The Tojo Clan's Last Dance. The four surviving pillars of the Tojo - Kiryu, Saejima, Majima, and Daigo - all make their last stand against what remains of the Omi Alliance outside their home turf. Especially notable since this is the first - and on a bittersweet note, potentially the last - time we see these four characters fighting on-screen together. It's as epic as it almost brings a tear to one's eye, especially knowing what's to come in Infinite Wealth.
- Clearly not content with Iwami themselves, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio threw in one hell of a Salvaged Story in the form of this game's Final Boss, Kosei Shishido. Perhaps the True Final Boss of Kiryu's journey, this guy makes his last stand against the Dragon of Dojima as his unwillingness to quit puts him at odds with the grim reality of the yakuza's current state. And boy, oh boy, does he make it abundantly clear that he's not gonna go down gently.
- The Dynamic Intro itself - Shishido charges at Kiryu, blade in hand, and the latter catches the blade. Shishido manages to graze Kiryu, but the Dragon of Dojima only gives him a nasty Death Glare in response as the Boss Subtitles pop in.
- If you felt underwhelmed by Iwami having just one health bar back in 6 (the same can be said about other bosses in that game, but anyways), you'll be more than happy to know Shishido surpasses that. A whopping twelve health bars total, to be exact. Not even Aizawa or Ryuji (in Kiwami 2, at least) can compare to this guy!
- The final phase of the fight sees Shishido and Kiryu duke it out on the roof of the Omi HQ's entrance, within view of everyone else (Majima, Saejima, Daigo, Tsuruno, and Watase, to be exact) as they look on at the symbolic End of an Age. A truly poignant sight if there ever was one. At the fight's end, Kiryu sends Shishido flying with a devastating Megaton Punch onto the ground, finally putting the Yakuza to rest once and for all.
Gameplay
- After its initial appearances left much to be desired, to finally see the Yakuza style at its fullest potential from a technical and gameplay standpoint is nothing short of incredible. Right from the start, Kiryu has access to Charged Attacks, and on top of that, the style is leagues smoother to play and still every bit as satisfying to use, especially with the juggles integrated from the Judgment series. The brilliant red Battle Aura adding to the game's eye candy is icing on the cake.
- The Agent style is no slouch, either. Especially with how it contrasts with Joryu's signature style. Whereas the Yakuza style is all about brute force and Tiger Dropping mooks into the dirt, here, the Agent style combines swift precision with Roger Moore-era Bond gadgets to make Kiryu feel like a proper secret agent. Whether flinging enemies around like ragdolls with the Spider (often to hilarious effect given the Dragon Engine's physics), charging through them like a juggernaut with the Serpent, or blowing them to smithereens with the Firefly, the Agent style is as amazing to use as it is hilariously absurd.
