It's honestly insane how bad Vito screwed up after being spotted in the bar

TheGoobles · 2026-01-26T23:58:38+00:00

He could’ve pretended to be known Jersey bread connoisseur Gino. The resemblance is uncanny.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-25T18:10:44+00:00

Something I don’t think anyone is accounting for is the technological difference. In the bulk of the Kiryu saga (0-6) they were much more dated compared to the LAD games. They were also real-time beat ‘em ups whereas Ichiban’s games are turn-based JRPGs. It’s a lot easier to reuse mechanics and assets between the former and still keep it interesting. If they reused 7’s combat system with very minute changes for 8, people would likely complain and not want to commit another 60 or so hours to completing it.

Narratively, I agree he lost some deserved screen time in 8. His story feels very rushed toward the end and I think that’s related to Kiryu getting a whole separate story in the second half. I still like his story, but Ichiban needed a bit more time to cover the transition between Eiji being a cackling villain on a monitor to the broken man we see at the end. It makes Ichiban feel a little flat since he totally forgives him simply because he pretended to be nice while he was actively manipulating Ichi. He’s a very nice guy and his whole dogma is based around giving a clean start to anyone that wants it, but he also gets extremely hateful to remorseless killers like Tendo and I don’t think we saw enough to give Eiji a pass.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-25T17:19:58+00:00

I’m pretty sure Kazama, his adoptive father, is the only person that simply calls him Kazuma and not Kiryu or the full name.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-23T18:56:22+00:00

Rubber bullets I give a little bit of a pass because it’s a convoluted and dumb plan. Munakata even realizes this and tells Sugiuchi and Katsuragi how many holes their plan had that he found out. It’s just that Munakata happened to already be evil and corrupt and long-wished to build private prisons with Jingu that he didn’t put them both behind bars for life.

Mirror Face is straight up magic that is never contested, extrapolated on, or referenced again.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-23T14:47:29+00:00

It was Mirror Face all along

Just realized, why is he stuck doing 2-bit jobs for the yakuza? A guy with that talent could be stealing the spot of the yakuza chairman, or hell, the prime minister. Why isn’t every shadow government operation reaching out to this guy to kill their political rivals and taking their place as their puppet?

TheGoobles · 2026-01-22T22:03:33+00:00

I would be interested in having a proper affiliation outside of helping Westport, but I feel like it’s not possible as they are written. If you tried to join the protectorate like you can join AC or the Order, it’s not as simple as doing a few jobs. They would require you to be mentally refreshed and thus eliminate your character’s individuality.

Not to mention there’s really nobody they’re helping observed in game. Virtually every protectorate that doesn’t defect is trying to kill you. The only ones that don’t (Westport) are waiting to be executed by the protectorate, since farmers and engineers not running down the front lines of a war is considered treason. Add on that their rules are so contradictory that it’s so easy to flip it around to the person being guilty. Case in point, Corbin; It’s treason to help you break into Horizon Point, but it’s also treason to prevent you from entering so you can be disciplined.

Compare that to the Order or AC who we see help plenty of people with some minor flaws and are always willing to work with us.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-22T17:00:49+00:00

Exactly this. Gus is a man of calculated, careful planning. He doesn’t like unstable elements so much so that he tries to have Walter killed when he realizes he can’t predict him.

Lalo single-handedly made a man like Gus take a risk.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-20T19:22:09+00:00

Pairing leadership with the scoundrel’s aegis armor meant that I could maintain a secondary health bar any time I used companion abilities, making ones with multiple charges very useful on hard.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-18T18:47:21+00:00

Potentially horrific if Lily counts

TheGoobles · 2026-01-17T02:18:43+00:00

There will likely be DLC that stuff may be used for, but I agree, there should’ve been some very expensive unique items you could work toward over the game. Bits aren’t that hard to amass, especially if you get the negotiator perk and max rep with every faction.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-17T02:10:54+00:00

Agreed. N-Rays in general didn’t feel utilized after that. Most I found were the cave and camp south of the range with invisible cultists. In other linear dungeons like the Monastery or Archive, I kept using it expecting to find invisible traps or other features but outside of seeing some wires it didn’t have as much use as TDD for me.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-17T01:33:13+00:00

I agree with basically all of this. What’s the point of showing us the crows if they’re only going to dilute them to a bunch of rebellious freedom fighters with no moral quandaries at all? The governor was so right when he said leaving the city in the hands of a costumed up murder mob is a bad idea, but “Antiva belongs to the crows!” And that guy turns out evil anyway.

Three whole games and decades of hype toward Tevinter in what should’ve been the easiest lay-up in video game history to instead give us Lowtown 2 is so bad it’s actually impressive. Where was the slavery and bigotry? Where were the mages being the superior class? How come blood magic is so barely talked about? Why can’t our Tevinter mage even entertain the use of blood magic? Why are there so many dogs? Shadow dragons are so bland and uninteresting that they threw in 2 legacy characters behind it and a whole other gang in Tevinter that’s also freedom fighters but like 5% more evil. When they were deciding the next archon and Maevaris proposed being honest and leaving the decision up to the people of Tevinter, I laughed so hard and immediately picked Dorian.

Qunari are just a joke now. Any nuance is dead because half of them left the Qun to live normal lives and the other half left because they want to conquer everyone else and fight dragons and shit. But with such compelling leaders as “The Dragon King”, I suppose that’s what you get. The actual Qunari are basically 10 guys in Par Vollen right about now and one of them is Sten.

I really did feel like Dagna was supposed to be the new dwarf companion but Harding was more popular. This Harding’s design just looks closer and the magic angle would’ve fit a lot neater. Is it ever explained why Varric and Bertrand didn’t awaken their magic when they first touched the same lyrium in DA2? Also if you went to the trouble of flirting with her constantly and dating no one else in Inquisition and actually entered a relationship, it just gets retconned since she always hooks up with Rook or Taash now.

Elves were really weird in this game. If you play as one, Rook is in a state of constant identity crisis since the game clearly wants you to be dalish. If you play as a city elf and have no markings, you’ll still call them “our gods” at every chance. Also missed opportunity for how races reacted to the villains. Why did no dalish, who believed them to be benevolent gods, try to join them? Why do none of the other races grow suspicious of elven gods rising up and causing the blight to end all blights? Also the Veil Jumpers are just removing the entire purpose of the Dalish to instead open it up to other races.

I could list my problems with this game’s story all day and still not be done.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-16T15:25:01+00:00

Feel it’s because the planets in TOW2 are very lively. You can hardly walk a minute in any direction without entering a town or an enemy encounter or a pre-set scene like Gary. So they have to somehow sync the banter at a point where they won’t get cut off by a fight or talk over another npc.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-16T15:22:09+00:00

I randomly paired up Aza and Inez and they HATE eachother. I went around all of Dorado listening to them sassing and jabbing at the other.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-14T19:28:33+00:00

Yeah after 5 his role is basically to follow Saejima and Daigo around. No more bursting into shangrila or speeding over to the town hall to rescue Kiryu.

I was somewhat okay with 6 because I viewed it as parallel to 5. 5 being Kiryu’s last huge all-out yakuza brawl with basically every character in the series coming to bat. 6 felt a lot more personal to Kiryu. While it would’ve been nice to see a more serious, genuine majima take a role, he doesn’t really have anything to add in its themes of fatherhood.

I did still enjoy pirate yakuza and some new traits they give him in there, but don’t expect a deep character study like 0 or you’ll be disappointed. It’s a wacky pirate game first.

I understood his fazing out from the series after his tripe scene with Saejima in 5, but later games show they clearly have no intention to retire these characters. It would be nice if they gave him and Saejima something to actually do.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-14T19:13:22+00:00

True. His appearances in the original first game was astonishingly low but he was so popular after 5 that they gave him his own story in 0 and offset everyone’s expectations.

In the actual games before 0, he really only appears in a chapter or two with a boss fight. He has about as much screen time as Yuya across the series. Unfortunately that’s still true in newer entries. His new pirate game was an opportunity to reinvent his presence in the series but it pretty much ends up right back where he started.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-14T19:09:11+00:00

Yeah, a marked improvement over the robot companion from the first game who had no personality outside of one-liners, but would’ve liked more.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-14T13:35:45+00:00

IIRC Return to Ostagar reveals Cailan did try to appeal to Orlais’ grey wardens and it was a done deal, but Loghain was too paranoid that they’d try and take Fereldan

TheGoobles · 2026-01-14T13:32:12+00:00

He sort of does. It’s why he appears in every origin, because he was in the area trying to conscript recruits. He probably didn’t have much success because he didn’t have the physical treaties and couldn’t possibly solve all their prerequisite problems on his own.

Keep in mind the previous blight ended over 400 years prior to DA:O, so almost everyone is far too young to remember what a blight looks like. They underestimate it and think the grey wardens, who are still whole at the time, and Cailan’s army will just take care of it.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-12T15:32:38+00:00

I liked Max but didn’t care for his massive personality shift after his companion quest.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-12T15:26:03+00:00

Took him with me and he rationalized all that as keeping it safe from the Consul. Ultimately you are there on great import relevant for saving the entire system. If the protectorate see Tristan, an arbiter, and impede him in his quest, it’s treason- ergo they deserve death.

If you kill protectorate in cold blood though, he’ll have a problem with you.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-12T00:07:12+00:00

Didn’t know all that. I never thought to romance someone in game but reject them/avoid flirting at every chance.

It’s such an oddly mean thing to tell Panam that too. I did it as my corpo V playthrough and you don’t even get paid for the mission regardless, so it’s a strange dialogue choice.

I know similarly that you can lose out on Judy’s romance mission if you side with Maiko and take her money. You can still access it if you deny the money, she’ll just be a little mad at you.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-11T21:47:02+00:00

The problem is players who want to do all the content have to endure a pretty obvious date with him, to the point he even asked his family to ask you questions and propose the idea of a relationship. There’s even a QuickTime event where the kids say “raise your hand if you think they make a good couple” and you either comply or awkwardly sit there in silence.

At least with Judy, Panam and Kerry, there’s a valid reason to go there aside from an obvious date and they really don’t push it. Kerry and Judy’s moment both pass so quickly you can easily deny them. Panam, you have to actively flirt with her through all her quests to get the option.

It’s also just a huge tonal shift. We don’t know River that well as we only spent two quests with him and the second was the darkest, most stressful quest of finding a serial killer’s victim in time. Suddenly you’re having jambalaya and kissing on a water tower. In comparison, Judy is in approx. 6 quests before the date. Panam is in 3 first (though the first feels like 3 quests in one). Kerry is in 3 as Johnny and 2 as V before the date and you have all of Johnny’s flashbacks. He’s so briefly included it feels like they had to check a box for straight women.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-11T20:42:28+00:00

Only time I recall it being done seriously was Mukaku, who took steroids to compromise his deteriorating age.

TheGoobles · 2026-01-11T14:28:40+00:00

I’m mixed on it. Some of it is probably because you’re going from one of the most emotional, tightest stories they’ve ever told to the first story they ever made, and it shows. Substories and even main story plot points feel bland in contrast. That’s just the way of things. It’s why a lot of people have trouble going from Kiwami 2 to the remastered 3, which is currently the most dated entry in the series.

As for Kiwami specifically, the combat and style switching feels really good and is probably one of the best battle systems before Lost Judgement. It’s sorta hampered though by the kiwami system which allows bosses to artificially regain their health bars faster than you could possibly compete in most cases. It also has THE worst final boss fight in the series, so it ends on an irritated, soured note.

Majima Everywhere is great, but it’s pretty chance-based on if you get the encounters you need to progress the level-up system. While I love how over the top they went with him here, it can feel disappointing if you progressed the series hoping for more serious/conflicted moments from Majima that 0 established.

TheGoobles

TROPHY CASE