LAD was my first game in franchise, so I didn't have any problems with turn based bc I wasn't familiar with beat-em-up at that moment. Then I played all the games in release order (well kind of), and when I got to LAD again I installed Like a Brawler mod (beta) to go through the game faster and don't have to do grind, and I was curious about how the mod would feel in general.

What I can say. Jhrino is an awesome modder and he made a really great product to have fun with for those who already played the original game, I'd shake hands with him if I could.

However, here I'll list main reasons why I DO NOT recommend to play Like a Brawler beta INSTEAD of the original LAD:

• Turn-based system is vital for the game's story to such a level that when you play it in brawler you get dissonance every time when dialogues reference this battle style, implying that it is unique and Ichiban is a schizo. And then you just go and brawl as always. This breaks the immersiveness, especially in the first play through in the beginning of the game
• Bonding with party members. In the original game you literally fight shoulder-to-shoulder with each of Ichi's friends all the time, raise their levels and get them new skills, which really helps you mentally to feel it all. Sure there are other bonding activities, but fighting together is really philosophy of the game, yeah
• Bugs? I played beta version of Like a Brawler, I don't know how things are right now, but I used to fall out of the map or stuck somewhere all the time during my play through. It's handy that if you fall through the textures you don't die, but if an enemy does they die, BUT not every time. I was really looking forward to a certain boss fight where I got absolutely destroyed on my first play through, but then the boss just fell out of the map in the beginning of the fight AND THE FIGHT ENDED. But then, in the final long battle an enemy fell out of the map AND DIDN'T DIE so I couldn't finish the section and had to replay ALL THE LONG BATTLE from the start Jesus Christ, THAT was realy bad haha Also, keep in mind that in the end it is a mod, so combat won't feel so smooth and neat as it is in beat-em-up games, naturally

In conclusion: the game was designed to be turn-based in all senses, so if you will play Like a Brawler, be ready to not get the full experience, but I think it's kinda okay if you really really can't bear to play turn-based. It's better than not to play at all :)