Yeah money is very tight if you don’t do the side stuff. Couldn’t even afford to change jobs.
The game really expects you to go through a lot of the jobs not just because you get minor persistent stat bonuses for job levels but because you can also mix and match skills from multiple secondary jobs to balance out a primary job.
Cash becomes looser later in the game, but yeah, side activities are the way to go early on. Early on mahjong is quite a good source of money, but it’s not as over the top as it is in some other yakuzas so eventually it stops being useful.
I wish there were more Dondoko Island content. I’ve pretty much wrung it dry, but would happily put in dozens of hours more.
Those stat bonuses disappear when you switch to a new job. I saw there was a mod on steam to fix that, unsure whether it is a bug or by design. The skills you keep.
As much as I just stick to the story, I do enjoy some of the side content. I taught my kid blackjack and how to get the odds of winning as high as you can…but told her that you can never be 50 percent or above cause the house would lose then…so be careful in real life. Showed her how to play Texas Holdem. Played a bunch of the challenges in the batting cage. Darts is ok. Karaoke boring. The arcade games are not my thing. Damn, I’m at work and just want to head back into this!
Just play Baka Mitai every time. Never boring. :)
I love doing the karaoke where I’m cheering on the other party members.
Planning on finally picking this up during the Spring Sale, but I’m wondering if either the Deluxe or Ultimate edition are worth it? I see a lot of anger over apparently NG+ being locked behind Master Vacation Bundle, which is awful . . . but thankfully the deluxe edition which includes it is “only” $8 more than the base game and it’s “just” $19 on top of that for the ultimate.
Any thoughts from those who’ve engaged with the DLC on tap for the game?
I have the Deluxe edition, and I’d say just go with the base version. I don’t know about NG+ since I haven’t really looked into what that contains, but everything else is either a cosmetic I haven’t touched, or upgrade materials that would trivialize progression.
I think mortismal gaming’s review might be what you want. In short, he thinks the Master Vacation Bundle DLC adds almost nothing of value (in fact, he thinks it actually makes the experience worse), so picking the base game (with perhaps the additional jobs DLC) is the way to go.
I’m in chapter 12 now and just read I should be 40-42 in level to have a chance. My dudes and dudettes are level 33 so I got a lot of grinding to do. The new location though is nice and I enjoy Kiryu’s memory stuff so it’s not all bad. Might have to run some dungeon levels over and over. Still love the game though. I might replay it and take my time and do a lot more of the side story stuff…it’s that good of a game.
Ah, yeah, I’m almost 20 levels ahead and a chapter behind, but I’ve been doing every side story I can come across. After pushing forward with the story a bit, I’ll probably pause here to wrap up the photo hunt and visit every restaurant.
It was a slow month. Nothing else was out around the time.
I’m in the last chapter and the game is just great. The one thing I do wish is in regards to boss fights. I’ve been fighting the bosses when I’ve been around the same level or maybe one level higher and they are tense and exciting and you really need to use your items and buffs as much as possible. Just awesome battles.
I lost one battle as I was a little under leveled and then came back to the boss when I was 3 levels above him and it was too easy. So, I was a little bummed it was not a tight, close fight.
I would love for there to be a chapter level cap for your guys so you can keep doing side quests and fighting for money but your level would not go higher than the boss until you fight to defeat him/her/it so it makes the fights that much more tactical and enjoyable. I guess I just love having to really think about the battles and use all the items as best I can and being higher level makes that less satisfying.
Obviously, I can keep my party’s level where I want it to have those great battles but If I forget and do side quests and then out level the boss, the battles just are not as enjoyable.
Favorite game from the past few years for sure.
PSA: don’t try tackling the final dungeon at level 43.
I was hoping I wouldn’t have to grind, but oh well, this is in many ways a classic JRPG after all. 7 levels? Gotta go to that dungeon and I’d rather not, but I’m too close to the end to back down, I suppose. But I’ll guess I’ll play something else to unwind. :)
Yea, last night I hit the dungeon in Hawaii for a few hours and I’m at level 48 now after being at 43. I love the game and was totally ready to name it GOTY but the grinding the last chapters with both groups is making it a bit more tedious. The final boss on level 3 in the hawaii dungeon took me a few tries as I had no healer but Chitosee came back into the group and made all the difference with her healing powers.
I guess if I had taken more time doing side quests and side games I would have been leveled higher than I was but I love the story and didnt want to dick around too much.
Still, cant wait to fight the final bosses, epic I’m sure!
Finished at 50 hours and 50 minutes. Really, really good game. Would have been great but had to grind 6-8 hours before the last boss fights which was a bit annoying.
Haven’t played a game over 50 hours in a long time but this was worth it. My kid watched me play almost all of those hours as the story was that enjoyable and the humor was great, just about everything. Wont need to look at reviews for the next installment, if they make one, day one purchase for sure.
Anyone that finishes, watch through the credits…very important.
I am very close to finishing, so thank you for this advice!
And that’s a wrap. 113 hours and 58 minutes.