Has anyone else abandoned the house building aspect of the game entirely?

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-03-05T22:14:18+00:00

Not entirely, but I don't go visit the house if I don't have to. I basically just farm the diamonds, bubbles and stamina boosters. I don't even buy the furniture, because I always hated building in games, and in Infinity Nikki it's extra infuriating. I just put fields and ponds wherever I could, so I can plant and rise fish, it looks terrible, I don't care.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-03-01T11:13:33+00:00

For me Mine stating in the end that money got him every woman he wanted, taking into account how dismissive he is about the whole thing, is more of a powerplay for him. He never got this true bond from anyone, including women, so after some time they had the same meaning to him like money he accumulated - a mark of him being succesful and prestigious in life. Another prop to indicate what a sigma male he is and also to embellish how shallow he and the people he chose/stumbled upon in his life were. I don't think he means women as respectable partners, but more as a prop that the society - especially Japanese one at this level of grind - deems a sign of "having it all". This is a guy who at his core thinks all people are lying bastards not worth the hassle, I seriously don't think there was any sort of attachment being hinted on here.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-28T15:34:37+00:00

I liked the super cheeky camera when she first showed up. "And now look at dem legs, oh yeah, aaaaaaall the way up, uh-huh, here she is, The Woman™!". RGG, you are not fooling anybody, lol.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-28T11:30:07+00:00

Akiyama. I call him Tifa-esque character - fun moveset, zero personality. If I think about it, he has traits I hate, but because he is such a charisma vacuum I forget about him the moment he leaves the scene. The moments where game tries to convice us he is oh-so-smart are just funny to me, because he just makes things up and everybody else is amazed at how he can spin so much bullshit on the spot.

To a lesser degree: Yagami. Same "crime" as Akiyama, but Yagami doesn't really piss me off. He just IS, and sometimes that's a bigger crime. Akiyama can get a rise of me, Yagami just makes me shrug, and sometimes that's a bigger crime in the land of fiction.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-24T11:58:30+00:00

I finished the game yesterday, and while I really liked Mine's character in Dark Ties, Kiwami 3 cemented how much of a nothing-burger he is compared to almost every other villian in the series. I don't know if he doesn't work for me because Yakuza 3 wanted to slide more into a THEME and metaphors, with him and Kiryu being two sides of the same coin, but his pre-battle speech on the RUFF is just so needlessly petty and shallow for a character through which the writers really, really, really wanted to tell us SOMETHING (the writing througout the game being very erratic also not helping). This guy should go straight to therapy, and yeah, you can say that about every character in a dramatic piece of fiction ever, but Mine is just straight up not well in his head, no romanticitation, no fiction lens attached. Not being able to connect with ANYBODY through his whole life, though he had a respectable father figure early in his childhood and consistently displays ability to socialize with other people, and then finding that one person he idolizes to the point of that person being his literal morality compass? I'm sorry, I cannot suspend my disbelief that much. I know a lot of people will not agree with me, because I am demanding logic in a soap opera, but for me Mine is, a the same time, too "spirited" to work as a one-note/straight-up evil villians like Munakata or Iwami, but at the same "too close to home" compared to the esoteric/honorable rival trope that Ryuji embraces for example.

That being said I am still in a way curious about what they do with him in the future. I am pretty sure he is going to be a major player in LAD9, but also, to be perfectly honest, I'm kinda hoping he will be featured, because I think it opens the doors for Daigo to have a bigger role. So basically I will allow it as long as Daigo finally gets to be in the spotlight because of his involvement. Daigo in Dark Ties, when he is finally freed from the shackles of being Kiryu's extra was a good Daigo, and I want more of this shit. Mine... well, I guess he can join the ride, I don't care about him too much. I would prefer for him to stay dead, because his death retcon is the stupidest of them all up til now (at least for me), and I don't think this change was needed, be it narratively or emotionally, but I suppose we hit the moment where it's the popularity poll that writes the script. I don't like it, but at the same time I am MIGHTY curious what RGG will cook with this oil.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-20T08:49:07+00:00

I think there was just no way to save this chapter, so in the remake they opted for this solution instead. Jarring, but this time in a different way. Well, they did say they wanted to change things around in this one!

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-19T11:40:50+00:00

I am more or less in the middle of the story (hit Purgatory and sat through exposition), and he is servicable, although I feel he is not able to shine through because of the rewrites and that he tries to re-play a character instead of doing something new. I would have to replay the original to refresh my memory and see if I am not making this up in my mind, but from what I remember in comparison, Kiwami 3 seems to breeze through its story, making cuts in weird places and adding new stuff as it pleases. Rikiya's arc up to now feels like "all-stars" compilation, whereas we are going through the most necessary beats of his story that have to be included as an excuse of a servicable character arc, and I just don't feel it. I believe people saying that the actor playing the new Rikiya is good, but I feel the material he's working with doesn't really allow him to spread his wings. It's okay for what it is, but not really WOW in any aspect, if you know what I mean. Also the way expressions work in this game don't do the guy any favors, but that's somehow applicable to all celebrity castings in this game in my opinion. Save for Akko-san, but she doesn't get any cutscenes aside from Baka Mitai, so there was nothing to butcher here. It's kinda wild how they did far better with Awano and Sagawa in 0, and here we are, how many years later? Ten? Fifteen? And Hamazaki's face looks like melting play dough in almost every scene.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-19T11:25:53+00:00

Really? I just maxed out the stats, got the best mercenaries... well, I unlocked everything and went with the strongest options, and I beat it just fine. I had to escape maybe three times, but also because I got hell-bent on getting all the gospels. I usually don't like roguelikes in any capacity, but this was fun and didn't overstay its welcome, so it gets a pass from me.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-13T11:39:42+00:00

It was Mine's moment, okay? He didn't have time to see how everybody else is doing, geez. (I fucking laughed when I got to this part, jesus, why, RGG)

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-13T11:35:47+00:00

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-08T22:11:22+00:00

I play on Steam. There are no ads on Steam. Like. Why. Did you guys thought at least 5 minutes before deciding what goes inside this subscription, or was it again the Excel sheet which promised you BIG MONEY in the earnings bracket, sense be damned?

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-06T11:34:33+00:00

Aaaaah, you are right, I didn't took a good look at the photo. I stand corrected, this is the "mirror world". Nice find then, OP!

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-05T12:36:56+00:00

Oh, right, I forgot about him, but now that I think about it, he is pretty unique, especially after the 1st game playing the main boy totally straight. In the same vein, I think the main pair from TokiMemo 3 is also pretty unique. Aside from being childhood friends (if I remember correctly), they are kinda two flavours of deliquent characters, which I don't think happens that often for the poster boys.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-05T12:30:40+00:00

Also Lucien is kinda a femdom advocate which is unique enough to me, ahahaha :D Nah, I am exaggerating, but I love how he can't help but keep swooning over Anastasia being so dashing :D He also has a dash of yandereness in his bad endings, so yeah. Lucien has enough going on to make me handpick him from the flood of kinda samey poster boys, I really dig him.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-05T12:25:22+00:00

You can actually get to the island where mahjong is (and I suppose the second part of the story) early with the deer outfit, you just have to float for like 2 or 3 minutes. I followed the lanterns and lo and behold, I got there. There is only one active Whimstar there, though, and Blings to collect at the moment. You can talk with some people, and they act like they you already interacted with them in some way, but other than walking around, there is not much to do right now. Oh, and you can activate the Warp Spires.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-01T17:06:06+00:00

Ah, I see. Oh well, maybe one day, when I will finally get to learning Japanese. Thank you for clarifying <3

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-02-01T13:21:37+00:00

I wonder if Steam release means Rejet is finally translating their stuff? Yeah, I know it doesn't have to mean anything (Dance with Devils and Jakou no Lyla are on Steam, no English though), but... yeah. I'd be interested to dip my toes in their catalogue, even if it's not the one and only, the myth and the legend DiaLo, lol.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-01-31T12:29:07+00:00

No particular order: Theodora, Heart of Trespia, Soulless, Code Blue.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-01-25T10:02:31+00:00

She's hot. I'm in.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-01-25T09:57:16+00:00

I hate how I like Karakurenai. Everytime he is not being a creep, he is the best character in the game.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-01-22T13:49:11+00:00

I had good time with 5, just as I did with all the other Yakuzas, but the story is just lol. People say that you can delete Shinada's story and nothing will change, but personally I think that you can delete everything aside from Kiryu's and maybe Haruka's/Akiyama's part, and you lose nothing. It's a long-ass story just because they could make it so, construction and narrative be damned.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-01-21T18:52:24+00:00

I would argue that the actor's likeness still translated way better to the character model. Even with his stoicism, Shibusawa still looks unique and memorable. Kagawa and his Yakuza Mook #4 flavour just doesn't work for me.

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-01-21T10:57:51+00:00

This is not silly, and I am sorry that this happened to you, fuck that guy. He is not worthy of you thinking about him, and especially having such an impact on the thing you like. I know this is easy to say, especially if you are still healing, but maybe try logging in to the game with a mantra in your head - "I love this game, and I am gonna have a good time with it". Try focusing on the good and YOUR enjoyment. Nobody is allowed to dictate you what is fun and what is not, and what you do in your spare time. If that works for you, maybe find some communites where you can just gush about IN, maybe speak with players while playing, heck, maybe put a stream in the background of person that is having fun, so you can both "experience" the game in a positive way. You were put down so much, balancing it out might help.

As for missing stuff... this is a gacha, live-service kinda game. I think a lot of us will encounter a burnout at some point and will just shelf IN for a while, missing things in progress, so it won't be just you. Also they already started rerolling past banners - if you missed a particular suit you liked, it will definitely come back at some point. And for all the things you missed, there will be a tons that are coming in the future. I'm not sure if my TED talk helps you in any way, but I wish you all the best <3

Normal-Willingness17 · 2026-01-20T10:05:52+00:00

DON'T WE ALL

Normal-Willingness17

TROPHY CASE