Let's start with the parts I did not like... being the latter half of the Hawai story line. Not going to lie, it was a weaker story for Kasuga and the gang. I was invested in the whole "Ichiban gonna meet his mom!" story. And they finally meet, Ichi gives her a bit of the ashes of Arakawa, tears are there... and then nothing. When the game ends, there is a throwaway line which mentions that Akane is with Lani, looking forward to the future of Palekena. That's it. It was felt just like a big nothing burger essentially. The game trailed off when the whole Palekena story came to unfold, with Bryce being the big bad in the story and the connection to Ebina in Japan. And really, Bryce sucked. One of the more weaker LAD villains.
It just felt empty. When compared to LAD, with how emotional the story is for Ichiban, this was a step back. There are some great character moments. Ichiban being the eternal optimist is still a great thing and appreciated. I saw some comments on other sites making the argument that Ichiban got Apollo'd (Ace Attorney) to a certain degree, which I can definitely see. For a character destined to follow in Kiryu's footsteps, he got a bit sidelined in his own game with a less interesting storyline. Here is hoping that with the next installment, they will make it a Ichiban only story and give him the full spotlight, because RGG did show us that they are able to give Ichi his big story.
The who Eji thing was weird too. Him being Ebina's second in command for Bleach Japan was weird and his fall of grace was handled poorly. And yeah, I know, Ichiban is a great dude, but him forgiving the guy is a bit much.
And oh, RGG, please; why do you hate your main characters love life? Ichi loves Saeko (I love the part where he finally gets what he missed during his proposal to her, thanks to a talk with Kiryu) but during the ending, come on. Don't treat it as a joke. I mean yeah, I can totally see Ichiban making the same mistake for a second time. It's all or nothing for the guy, but I did hate the fact that it was a gag. Please let them be together in the next game.
Best side character plot goes to Yamai. He felt strangely like Majima, but his whole arc was done wonderfully. Hope he will return in the future.
Things I did like in this game... everything with Kiryu. I loved everything about how they handled it. Okay, the final battle is somewhat strange, considering Ebina being Ichi's half brother, but everything else was beautiful.
- Kiryu having cancer hurt, but his almost suicidal run was interesting to watch. He's the most stubborn man alive, giving out free advice on everything, but getting advice himself, unheard off!
- Especially that scene where he wants the help of Majima, Daigo and Saejima was particular hilarious; everybody against Kiryu: dude you need to slow down, shit is falling apart. Please you have to understand! Kiryu: *sniff sniff * does it smell like bitch in here? It's the only way I can describe it, as the audible gasps of these legendary Yakuza is like "You just did not say what I think you just said, ya punk".
- You know what I found one of the most wholesome scenes in the game? The moment Date returns, they start drinking during those stories and Date calls Kiryu his best friend. And while normally he's reluctant to say anthing, I love the fact that he said the same thing to him. (Plus Date has the best summon in the game, ha)
- Kiryu's "farewell" tour with Nanba, Seonhee, Saeko and Zhao was great. The many memoirs of a Dragon moments were an amazing trip down memory lane and the many faces we've seen during his adventures.
- Akiyama being mad at Kiryu was awesome. And I agree; dude did him dirty.
- Don't want to talk about Kaoru; she is still holding a candle for the guy. Poor lass. I truly feel for her.
- The ending though... with the Dragon of Dojima doing one last trick... that was glorious. Still I am glad that Kiryu isn't working for the Daodji anymore. His name restored, reunited with Haruka (I see people saying we still haven't seen them in the same room rabl rabl, but its cool guys. Haruto calls Kiryu Grandpa. They're together again) and wanting to live is a perfect ending.
- But his fighting days are over; he looks incredibly sick at the end. I still think he's going to beat the cancer, but he won't have an active roll anymore in the series. I can see him being a guide/guru towards Kasuga for future installments. We'll get cameo appearances in future games, most def. And that's fine.