If you told me 2025 would’ve started with me playing Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Stellar Blade, I would’ve laughed at you. Not out of rudeness just because I never thought those two games would’ve been on my radar.

Happy New Year’s folks, and as the saying goes, new year, new me.

Well, not really since I’m still playing catch-up to games I should’ve played when they released. Better now than never though.

Kickstarting the year, I’ll take you through a brief look at what I’ve been playing, and possibly, what’s up next. Spoiler alert, if you’ve been following my completed games list from last year, you’ll know where the “up next” is heading.

Stellar Blade is not what I expected, and I liked it

Leading up to its release, Stellar Blade didn’t move the needle for me. Sure, the combat looked super cool, but I was under the impression it was another Souls game that would punish me for being shit. The demo only furthered those suspicions since I got demolished when I reached the Abaddon boss in the Parking Lot on Eidos 7.

Funnily enough, after playing the full game, I realized my demo struggles were actually a skill issue, probably that cursed “journalist” difficulty.

With its stylish combat akin to Devil May Cry, beautiful visuals (although there’s a lot of brown due to the end-of-world setting), and a difficulty loop that matches the recent Star Wars Jedi games, there’s a lot to like with Stellar Blade. While it’s mostly hack-and-slash, there are a few gameplay changes that come later on that caught me off guard, in a good way.

That said, my biggest gripe is when you transition to the open-world hubs like the Great Dessert and Wasteland, the pace slows to a crawl. Even though you can fast travel, and you get a hefty movement boost for quicker traversal, the pace felt painful.

Petition to get Eve a motorcycle for the first anniversary.

I’m not the best at masterfully articulating cohesive thoughts on a game’s narrative, even more so after spending a year experiencing the pure madness of Yakuza. What I will say is Stellar Blade’s narrative is pretty engaging, as it blends together narrative elements from Horizon Zero Dawn and NieR:Automata.

ALSO, THIS GAME’S MUSIC IS INCREDIBLE.

LITERAL MASTERCLASS IN MUSIC.

THE PAUSE MENU EVEN PLAYS THE MUSIC BUT IN A DIMMER TONE, IT’S SO COOL.

Musical outburst aside, Stellar Blade’s a little rough around the edges, especially in the narrative department and character-wise. I won’t go into too much, but while I was somewhat engaged by the story, I was genuinely confused about whether the cast’s performances were supposed to be the way that they were. It comes off so robotic, I thought everyone was an android until I found out some weren’t.

If you can look those shortcomings aside, Stellar Blade is still a solid showing from Shift Up’s first non-mobile title.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is quite the switch-up to a decades-long formula

When I started playing Yakuza last March, I had no idea what to expect. Seven games later, I’m knee-deep in Yakuza and glad I stuck my toes in the water.

I’ve finally caught up to this decade’s slate of games, as I’m currently playing Yakuza: Like a Dragon. This one’s big for many reasons, with a new character at the helm, a new playable space, and a massive leap to RPG combat akin to Persona versus the “beat ’em up” it’s been forever. 

I have a like/dislike relationship with the new combat system in the game, most of which is on me. Aside from Pokémon, your prototypical RPG never really stuck well with me since the loop of taking turns fighting doesn’t hook me as much as I wish it could.

In the game’s opening hours, it was pretty fun. I sat down and thought: “Okay, I can do this.” It works, it’s nice to see Yakuza make a daring change, but after 30 hours of turn-based Yakuza, I’m kind of over it.

It doesn’t help some of the enemies feel randomly “tanky,” even when they’re vastly under-leveled to your party. I’d sit there and do the math, and I’m like: “Damn, how many more times do I need to do 500 damage to this level 30 fisherman??”

What really bugs me about the RPG shift is I really like the new gameplay additions that are a product of the change.

I like getting new members to join because it opens up unique bonding missions that are pretty memorable, and the new party member jingle is so damn catchy. I like the job change system, which lets you turn homeless Nanba into a five-star chef who can deal massive fire damage or Saeko into a pop idol. I like the tag-team attacks you can unlock because they’re absolute chaos.

I just don’t like the actual minute-to-minute battle system.

I also think it’s hilarious watching everyone stand around waiting to attack each other.

The rest of the game is what I’ve come to expect from the series, with new minigames like trying to stay awake while watching a movie or “Can Quest” a welcome addition to the wide array of activities. Of course, there are very memorable side quests, and RGG hasn’t lost its touch with designing those random encounters.

If I had to rate this game, I’d give it a 7.5/10 with the Yakuza formula I’ve come to know and love heavily carrying the combat shift.

Honorable mention

Today’s honorable mention goes to Marvel Rivals for being one hell of an Overwatch clone that I actually enjoy! Let me preface by saying I don’t hate Overwatch, but it’s insane how well this game’s done for itself by throwing Marvel characters into the mix. While some roles don’t make sense *cough cough* Loki *cough cough* it’s a fun time overall.

Here’s hoping it doesn’t go down the drain after its really strong start.

Up next

Looking ahead, I plan to jump into Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Like a Dragon: Ishin! However, timelines may change with Avowed creeping up on the horizon (all the big-time publishers are getting their hands on it for review purposes, and I’m jealous).