Gaming in autumn
I had plans for video games for 2025. I created a spreadsheet and everything, neatly listing down the games in my library I've yet to touch, ones I want to replay from start to finish, some titles I want to get back into either because I dropped them or because I want to 100% them and and a couple of personal projects I wanted to spend time with (checking out random Sonic spinoff titles I've missed, replaying the entire Legacy of Kain series). I had a list, it was in order, there was enough wiggle space to allow for some improvisation, change of plans or brand new releases.
Best laid plans, etc. While there is the fact that this year has generally been a little all over the place and I haven't had as much focus and time for games as I'd like, and that has meant I haven't had as much idle time to properly devote to games as I'd like, there are other factors involved as well. One of those being...
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
I've never played any of the Yakuza games but they've been in my periphery for years, as I'm sure they have been for anyone who follows any kind of video game media. For a good while now they've been most famous for their surreal sense of unexpected madness that inspires countless posts, videos and articles on the sheer batshit insanity that occurs within the games, despite ostensibly being open world crime stories about the Japanese underworld. The soap opera theatrics, the bizarre absurdist side tracts, unbelievable minigames and the general unhinged energy are almost designed to be gawked at and "reacted" to - yet they're also meant to be genuinely excellent games, the likes of which can genuinely move you once the initial novelty period has passed.
There's plenty of Yakuza titles though and generally speaking I'm not a huge fan of open world action games, so I've never directly touched them. But Like a Dragon exists: the sudden and unexpected JRPG variant, which proudly and openly wears its Dragon Quest-inspired heart on its sleeve. Quite literally, as the in-universe justification for the RPG party mechanics and turn-based combat is because the protagonist Ichiban spent so much of his childhood playing DQ that he now imagines his life as a game. I'm not a JRPG regular and I can be quite picky with them, but I do love a good one when it arrives in my path, and the sudden genre switch intrigued me - certainly, a lovely party-based, turn-based RPG experience ticks my boxes an awful lot more than an open world game. Maybe it made some strange sense in its own right that my first Yakuza experience would be the atypical spin-off title - and a price drop during a Steam sale made it all too easy to finally cave in, just when I was in the mood for something new and something to sink into when the world around me was getting a bit hectic.
I still haven't finished Like a Dragon - it's a big game and there's been distractions (more on those shortly) - but I can safely say that I get it. I understand why these games have not only grown such a devoted following, but also why they're so successful instead of living on as the kind of cult games they resemble at first glance. The charm does truly lie on that very special blend of magical realism: the machinations underneath its plot beats is pure criminal underworld drama set in our very own real world, but it's told through the lens of an epic fantasy adventure where nothing is more extraordinary than the ordinary itself. The emotions are always running on high, be it tied to the tragic fates of the people caught in the crossfires and the betrayals that ensue - or the sheer wild multitude of feelings you thought you'd never experience as you step into the side adventures which range from Mario Kart send-offs to ghost stories, ensuring a young boy has the best birthday or fending off counterfeiters in a mascot costume. Everything is over the top and larger than life, and Like a Dragon treats it with pure honesty and love rather than crazy for crazy's sake. There's pure passion in everything and even the silliest things are pushed through with such earnestness that you can't help but be pulled into the world. You never know what's behind the next turn in either the main storyline or the side features, and that's so much fun.
Plus it's just mechanically incredibly sturdy. There's no great innovations to the JRPG formula here and that's to the benefit of the experience - the game is comfortable to get into immediately, and what makes this distinctive instead comes from how the usual tropes are converted into this setting in the most surprising and thrilling ways (a hobo spitting booze through a lighter flame counts as a fire mage, etc). It makes it easy to pick up and cosy to play, and for someone who doesn't play tons for JRPGs it taps into that vague vibe that I seek out from these games, while still pulling off a wholly unique experience to other games that are similar from a gameplay perspective. It's also not a chore to advance in as there's no requirement to grind (unless you want to do it for the materials) and just by fighting what comes across my way, I've been able to maintain a challenge level that's a good balance between straightforward yet thought-requiring. The barrage of minigames and other side hustles is bewildering but for most parts they've all been pulled off so well that you don't mind spending big chunks of time on each one, coming off as honestly fun ways to spice up the main game. We can also specifically add the the company management minigame into the list of side attractions that almost overshadow the rest of the game, right next to the first Kingmaker's kingdom management sim aspect. It's simple but incredibly (positively) addictive as you micro-manage your foray into capitalism and the way it ties into the main game - with many of its most eccentric side characters deciding to hop into your business plans - is rewarding on both sides.
Sure, let's hire the giant roomba as an employee in my confectionary shop. Why not.
I have picked up Like a Dragon again in the past few days and it's like I've never been away, immediately finding myself captivated by it again. Sure it's stolen tons of my time away from other games, but I'm having fun and that's exactly what I've needed. But in all honesty, at one point around August/September I was sinking so much time into Like a Dragon regularly that maybe by this point I would have completed it already, if not for one thing...
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
Well of course it's the latest Sonic game that has derailed my derailment.
I'll keep this simple and straightforward: CrossWorlds is a work of art. It's the true sequel to Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing Transformed, which easily claims the title of the greatest kart racer of all time; the sort-of sequel Team Sonic Racing was also rather good, but was a little too caught up in its own gimmick to jump out as a true inheritor of the title. But here we are - CrossWorlds is it. The gameplay is ironed out to excellence, the balance is almost perfect, the artistic design is pure peak in both visual and audio departments (the remixes on the soundtrack are great throughout but the jukebox feature is just marvellous on top of it), the level designs are consistently engaging and fun (I can't think of a single level I dislike from the core stages, even the weakest one is still somewhat enjoyable). The rival system is honestly so much fun too, even though in its core it's super simple: each race a random character gets turned into your rival who not only gets a bit of a stat/AI boost, but who will then interact with your characters through various bits of dialogue throughout the cups and the individual races. The balance is slightly off at harder difficulty levels (the rival basically steals the attention away from all the other AI racers), but just by adding that touch of extra dialogue and personality makes each race feel even more fun. Every aspect of the game radiates with love and it's expressed through gestures big and small, and the fun nods and references to the wider series scattered abundantly brim with respect for the history. The whole affair is exciting... and addictive.
There's so much to do in singleplayer alone that CrossWorlds has largely claimed all my gaming time single-handedly recently on that alone - and I'm actually enjoying all the random extra challenges like time trials etc, instead of it feeling like a grind. But then there's the online mode. I can't remember the last time I played a game where I actively wanted to engage in the multiplayer mode with just pubs, playing random races and having a blast. I've also now lost several weekend evenings to online matches with friends and acquaintances, joining up in lobbies to challenge others and to just have a great time. CrossWorlds is absolutely the multiplayer game of the year for the sheer amount of consistent fun it brings, where even the most bitter defeat is brushed off because the race itself was so fun.
If I have qualms with the game it's to do with everything not related to the franchise it represents. When the whole "across the dimensions" element was hyped up, many people (including myself) figured this could mean the roster could expand across the Modern and Classic separation that the franchise is so keen to enforce right now, or bring in characters from spin-off media, or others we thought to have lost forever (RIP Infinite). Instead, it just means cross-brand promotion. A few Sega representatives is perhaps to be expected, especially with the All Stars Racing lineage, but the internet meme Hatsune Miku being shoehorned into that line-up was the first warning sign. Things have exacerbated in the post-launch DLC, featuring the likes of Minecraft Steve, Spongebob (to be coming) and the datamined/rumoured appearances from e.g. The Turtles. None of it fits with the game's aesthetics and it massively dilutes the appeal of a Sonic-themed racing game - and the Minecraft level being easily the worst stage in the entire game hasn't helped. Now, I do readily admit that a bunch of this is just the whinings of a Sonic fan who wanted a Sonic-exclusive racer, but all the game's big event weekends so far have tied into the guest appearances and it makes these "festivals" a lot less exciting when all your rewards are filler content from wholly different places that clash with the rest of the game's impeccably crafted design. I also can't see anyone genuinely picking this up just because Spongebob appears in the game so the cross-brand promotional aspect seems a little hollow to me, but hey - I'm not an exec making these deals.
(I am also wondering just how I am going to include the main theme from the game in my annual mixtape of the year. I've certainly listened to it enough in and out of the game for it to warrant to be there, but I feel like a song with a lyric like "with a stroke of luck you'll become a monster truck" will perhaps not mash together perfectly with the usual moody indie Flintcore...)
I've generally had a really good year in games, both in new releases and older games I've gotten into just now. I plan to do a little annual round up towards the end of the year and go into more detail on some of my other ventures, but right now these two games are to blame for the lack of any video game related posting here. And I can't be mad about that - they're great timesinks.