Wow! So. What an ending, huh. I'm not going to explain it all because this is my garden and not a professional site. If you haven't experienced the ending to [[Like a Dragon - Infinite Wealth (2024)]], go watch it. Or better yet, play the game! It's very good. All that said, I have pretty mixed thoughts about how it ends. **However** I think it mostly succeeds, which is most important. First I'll focus on what's good: I think it not being what I expected is fine. I figured Ichiban would fight Ebina, his half-brother, but that would have just been a repeat of *Yakuza 7*, which is boring. Ichiban also has no reason to go for Ebina because they have no personal connection - that's something that Ichiban clearly values. I think Bryce is a perfectly fine final boss for Ichiban, one ethat he hasn't had yet. He killed the JRPG God metaphor! Looking at it like this, I actually really appreciate that Ichiban got to do that. May there be many more gods to kill in the future. I also think Ichiban getting to convince Eiji to turn himself in was fine too. Getting to carry him to the police station to turn himself in wsa completely in-character for Ichiban. He got to do for him what he couldn't do for Ryo Aoki, which made it a nice mirror to *Yakuza 7*. As for Kiryu: I'm fine with him not dying, in fact I prefer that. This is the biggest thing that has me not in step with other thoughs that I've seen: Kiryu's arc is like, perfectly handled as a fan of the series. Getting to go through memory lane, seeing characters I've connected with for 20 years now, was an incredible experience. Watching him listen in on the thoughts of the people who knew him, and that being the strength for him to keep living as he decides to go for chemo at the end of the game is perfect. I loved how he had to learn how to let others help him take on the burdens he always shouldered alone, and the sequence where his party protects him from the onslaught of the old Yakuza might be my favorite bit of the game.[^1] On top of this, I *like* that all of this is optional. It makes sense to me because there are people who started playing *Yakuza* games with *Like a Dragon*. They might not care about Kiryu, and so they can just power through if they don't care that Kiryu and Date are best friends forever. The fact that you get stat bonuses is incentive enough to do it either anyways, and if you're a long-time Kiryu fan, it's not like it being optional hurts you - you were going to do it regardless. I saw people complain about not seeing Kiryu and Haruka's reunion. We don't need to! We saw it in *Yakuza 6*! Haruko knows that her Uncle Kaz will always be there for her, and the audience does as well. We got to see him being there for her again, and using his real name lets us know that he's stepped out of the shadows once more. There are things I've seen people say are unresolved, but I actually don't think so for a lot of them. For example, Ichiban's story with his mom ends when he gives her Arakawa's remains on the beach. That scene was more than enough wrap-up between a guy and the mother he never met. She can always show up later. Same with the left-over sleeper agents that Bryce left behind - I feel like ethose threads were left dangling on purpose. # WITH THAT SAID. It didn't land perfectly. For all the points I make about how good Kiryu's sections were...that's it. That's gotta be it. Please God, no more fucking Kiryu. We've had enough Kiryu! It's so obvious that this game was trying to do double-duty by being Ichiban's next game and a proper farewell for Kiryu. As a result Ichiban's plot lags behind. When I look back on the game, I don't even think about Ichiban outside of his last scene - all of the stuff that sniper-spreed my emotions in the butt was Kiryu related. This game felt like a necessary step to pass the torch from Ichiban to Kiryu, it just took a mainline title to do. In fact I'm now even *more* excited for Yakuza 9 because it will mean that we can focus fully and clearly on Ichiban from now on. The game is 95% of the way there: the combat has been perfected moving from *Y7* to *Y8*. The individual character and party moments are fantastic, the cast is all vibes, and the side-content is plentiful and exciting. I loved every moment of this game. But I hope the next game ups the ante of the main plot now that we've said goodbye to Kiryu. ## Other Thoughts - I don't give a flying fuck about Saeko and Ichiban. Romance is boring to me and their teen drama way of communicating is embarassing. You're grown-ass adults! As far as I'm concerned that shit isn't even canon. It's worse than anything in the main plotline, lol. - The ending did feel rushed in other ways. Ebina returned to his home planet, I guess? What's the status of people's feelings about Ichiban now? Many questions, few answers. - My crackpot theory: Eiji and Chitose were at one point the same character. This would explain Ichiban's connection to Eiji that we don't seem to see onscreen. It would make much more sense for that to hit harder if Eiji was hanging out with Ichiban all game before betraying the gang. I feel like Chitose got split away from him and became part of the betrayal so we could have three weapon in the game instead of two lmfao. Anyways I loved it but I bet I'll love *Yakuza 9* even more! [^1]: When my guy got into the real-time brawls after each boss lost all their HP...good *LORD*